That was something he could offer her, he thought: a better climate somewhere else. “Where would you like to live, if you could live anywhere?”
“Paris,” she said unhesitatingly.
“That’s a nice thought,” Teddy said. “Do you have the language?”
“Two courses in high school. I can order dinner.”
“That’s about the extent of my French, too,” he admitted.
“I think if I lived in Paris the language would come to me quickly enough.”
Teddy changed the subject. “When you nail this Bruno character, what will your next job be?”
“The next big crime, I guess.”
“Wherever it is?”
“Wherever in Florida.”
So she might get yanked away from him. He didn’t like that.
“Our charter from the government is to investigate ‘major’ crimes, but Hurd Wallace has a lot of discretion over what cases he works. Of course, the governor could call at any time and send him off to Miami or Jacksonville or someplace to solve some murder that had statewide or national implications.”
“Are you having Bruno followed?”
“No, not yet, anyway. But I’ve told Jimmy Weathers-you met him-that Bruno is a suspect, so I expect he’ll be paying a lot of attention to him until we break the case.”
“Does he spend most of his time in the office?”
“Jimmy says he works odd hours. Sometimes he’s at the station in the middle of the night. It’s like he’s always checking up on the people who work for him.”
“I’m no cop,” Teddy said, “but I should think that if he’s your suspect, you’d follow him night and day, until he made an incriminating move.”
“To do that, Hurd would have to request more manpower from the state police, and then it starts to get political. If he meets with resistance, he has to get the governor involved. I think Hurd is reluctant to do that, or we’d already be following Bruno.”
“He’ll make a mistake eventually,” Teddy said.
“Let’s hope so,” Lauren replied.
Teddy was thinking he wouldn’t wait for Bruno to make a mistake.
32
Jimmy Weathers worked until after midnight, then, as he was locking his desk, he saw a light go on down the hallway. Bruno was in his office.
He walked down the hall toward the rear door to the parking lot and stopped at Bruno’s door. “Evening, Chief.”
“Good evening, Jimmy,” Bruno said.
“Did you just get here?”
“Yes,” Bruno replied. “You, too?”
“No, I’m just leaving. You going to be late?”
“Probably an all-nighter,” Bruno replied. “I’m working on personnel files, and, by the way, I’m giving you a good performance rating.”
“Thank you, Chief. Good night, now.”