to pick me up.â
âWhere?â Leeza asked.
âThe courthouse,â she replied, her voice hard as ice chips. âThat was the Crown attorney on the phone. The judge is sentencing the boy who put you here. I want to see his face when she throws the book at him.â
Chapter 7
The courtroom was packed. As soon as theyâd arrived, Karl Barker had hurried directly into the courthouse, his postman pants making sandpaper sounds as heâd threaded his way inside. Unlike Karl, Reef hadnât been worried about getting a seat. The one advantage of being the guilty party. He turned now to look at the crowd and saw there was standing room only, most of which was occupied by numerous reporters at the back. The one Bigger had threatened on the steps gave him a hard smile, but Reef ignored him. Sitting on the left a few rows in front of Karl were the man and woman in the newspaper photo. The woman was looking directly at him, as if trying to fry him with laser vision. He looked away, continued scanning the crowd.
Scar and Bigger waved from seats very near the back, but Jink wasnât there. And wouldnât be. Reef had told them so when theyâd spoken outside.
âWhy isnât he here?â Scar had demanded.
âJinkâs got his own troubles right now. He donât need more âa mine.â
âWhat happened?â
âCops picked him up last night for disturbinâ the peace. Fightinâ at Rowdyâs.â
âThereâs always fights at Rowdyâs,â Bigger had added. âUsually better ân the floor shows at that dump.â
âThis time.â Reef said, âthe cops got there before it broke up, ânâ they nailed Jink for drinkinâ under age. They shut the place down.â
âJesus.â Scar muttered. âHow could Jink be so stupid?â
âI know,â agreed Reef. âRowdy may lose his liquor license. He told Jink he better hope it donât happen.â Reef knew that losing the income from the run-down joint called âRowdyâsâ would be no hardship for its ownerâJink had said many times that Rowdy didnât make a helluva lot off the few boozehounds that frequented the place anyway. It was the bar itself that Rowdy needed: it was a front for more than a dozen shady operations that attracted more police attention than almost any other place in the city. Everyone knew the cops had been trying for years to find ways to shut it down, even citing the place for Health Code violationsâbut a rumor that Rowdy had a friend in the Health Department seemed to have proven true when the violations were suddenly rescinded. Now Jink had handed them a gift that, combined with all the other infractions, could very well be the one to close Rowdyâs for good.
Bigger had whistled softly under his breath. âI wouldnât want Rowdy and his goons lookinâ for me.â
If the situation hadnât been so grim, Reef wouldâve chuckled. âThatâs why I told Jink to stay put,â heâd told them. âThe cops donât need to see him connected with this shit. Donât need another reason to put the screws to him.â
So Jink would miss the big show. Somewhere there were hearts bleeding purple piss.
âAll rise.â
Reef turned to see Judge Thomas enter the courtroom, her black robe making her tiny frame seem even smaller. For a bizarre moment she looked a bit like Nan, but then he looked again and the illusion was gone. She was just a short woman with a long coatâand the power to put him away for a few months. But so what? What donât kill you makes you stronger . And then there was Life Lesson Number Two: Shit happens . Looking at Judge Thomas, Reef was reminded that itâs a whole lot better being the shitter than the shittee. Something else his grandfather used to say.
Reef ignored the court clerkâs opening crap about the presiding judge
Ellen Rimbauer
Sean D. Young
Susan Hammond
David J. Schow
Karina Sumner-Smith
Ron Corriveau
Angery American
Lyon Sprague de Camp
Martin Wilsey
John W. Campbell