CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The desk sergeant at the Clayview Police station was standing behind his desk lollygagging with two uniformed officers when a big white Cadillac Escalade drove up. All three looked out at the wall-sized window as the SUV they hadn't seen around town before came to a screeching stop as if the driver had been speeding.

"Wonder who that is," said one of the officers.

"Your mama perhaps?" joked another officer.

But when Mick got out from behind the wheel, and Charles got out on the passenger seat, they took notice. Mick's long white coat and turtleneck shirt could be appropriate for the weather. It was a chilly day. But it wasn't that chilly. And Charles in his nicely tailored suit reminded them of a banker or the local owner of a tool and dye shop. He seemed familiar to them. Like he was from small town America too. But their eyes kept going back to the guy in the coat. He scared them.

They didn't realize they had reason to be scared until their police chief came up front to leave a file at the desk and he saw the two men talking outside, and three other men getting out of the SUV too. "Well I'll be damn," the chief said as if he could not believe it.

"What's that, Chief?" asked the desk sergeant.

"Y'all know who that is? The one in that white coat?"

"No, who?"

"That's Mick the Tick."

"Who?" asked the youngest officer.

"That's Mick Sinatra!"

The sergeant was stunned. "You're right! I knew he lived in Philly, but I didn't think I'd ever run into him in my lifetime. And he's here in Clayview? I'll be damn."

"Who's Mick Sinatra?" the youngest officer asked again.

"The most vicious mob boss that ever lived," said the chief. "The boss of all mob bosses is what they call him. He's scary as fuck." Then the door clanged open and Mick and Charles entered the station.

"Let me handle this," the chief said as he moved up and supplanted his sergeant as the main man up front. "Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to Clayview. How may I help you?"

Mick hated police stations. He was uncomfortable as hell in a place like that. That was why Charles took the lead. "Good morning. My name is Charles Sinatra. I believe you have my sister in your custody."

That was news to all four of the policemen. "Your sister? There must be some mistake. We ain't got your sister in my jail. We only got one gal back there, and she's a Negro."

Charles's eyebrows raised. Mick looked at the yahoo too. "A negro?" he asked. "Really?"

The chief realized he had revealed too much of himself. "I mean a black. An African-American. What I'm saying is I don't have no I-talian lady in my jail."

"Actually you do," said Charles, who knew how to be diplomatic to get what he wanted: his sister back. "My sister is black and Italian. Her name is Amelia Sinatra."

Then the chief's heart began to hammer. "You mean Amelia Reese?"

Mick and Charles glanced at each other. They could not recall a time when Amelia referred to herself as Mrs. Reese alone. Almost always she was just Amelia Sinatra. Sometimes Amelia Sinatra-Reese. But never just Amelia Reese. "Yes, that's her," Charles responded.

All of the officers were stunned when they realized the black woman they had locked up in their jail was the sister of Mick Sinatra! They were floored. Were they now on his enemies list?

When they all just stared at Charles and Mick, Charles spoke up. "Could you go and get her?"

It was only then did the chief snap out of his shocked state. "No," he said. "She's still being processed."

Mick had retained a local law firm to get their top guys there fast to see if they could get the charges dropped. "Has her attorney arrived?"

"A team of them arrived. But they called her Mrs. Reese too. They're back there now in the visitors' room. But they can't see her yet either."

Mick ran his hands through his hair and had to walk away from the desk to cool himself down. He hated cops with a passion. Despised them.

"Has her bail been set?" Charles asked them.

"No, sir."

Charles's temper flared too. "What the fuck are you waiting for?"

"The process is the process and the process has to play out," said the chief. "We don't play favorites here."

Charles exhaled. He looked over at Mick. Mick didn't know what to say either. If it was left up to him they'd storm the place, get Millie out of there, and take off. But it wasn't left up to him.

And then another SUV drove up and the officers immediately assumed that unknown SUV was also related to the same matter. And when Atticus Wales stepped out, every one of those officers recognized him.

Even the youngest one. "That's Atticus Wales!" he declared. "That's the owner of the Pelicans."

When the cop said that name, Mick and Charles looked too. They both were surprised by how quickly Atticus got there.

"Why in the world would he be here?" asked the chief. Then he looked at Mick and Charles. "Unless he's a friend of yours?"

But Mick nor Charles felt any obligation to tell the chief anything. They just wanted Atticus to throw his weight around and get their sister released. Although, they both knew, it wasn't going to work.

Atticus hurried up to the entrance door and entered with a wide sweep of the door. Then he hurried over to Mick and Charles. They both could see the concern in his eyes.

Charles took Mick's arm and Atticus's arm and moved the group away from earshot of the chief and his men. Then he extended his hand to Atticus. "Thanks for coming, Atti."

Atticus shook his hand. "Where is she?"

"In lockup. They won't let us see her. They won't even let her attorneys see her yet. Mick hired some local stiffs but they're basically useless."

"What are the Police saying?"

"They're using the excuse that she's still being processed-in. Which is a big fuck you."

"I'm surprised the Feds aren't here yet if I heard Mick right when he said the victim is a senator."

"You heard me right," said Mick.

"Then the Feds will definitely take over. Or whichever bureau handles a senator's death." Then Atticus shook his head. "I still can't believe this shit. Millie's no choirgirl, but she's no cold-blooded murderer either."

"They don't have any evidence on her," said Charles. "They probably found out she had words with the senator last night and decided she must have done it. Which is bullshit."

Atticus hadn't heard that part before. "She had words with him?" he asked. "What, she was dating him or something?"

Charles frowned. "No she wasn't dating him. What's with you and Hammer about this dating shit? She's still a married woman and she respects that."

"We just need to get her out of here," Mick said. Of all three men, he seemed to be the most bothered. But Charles knew why. Mick was uncomfortable in a police station. He always had the fear that they might lock him up.

"I'll see what I can do," Atticus said and walked over to the chief. Mick, his temper about to boil over if it didn't go right, was about to follow Atticus to the desk. But Charles pulled him back. "Sit down, Mick," he said. "It's tense enough in this bitch."

Mick sat down in one of the chairs against the wall. Charles sat beside him and watched as Atticus asked to speak privately with the chief. They moved to the opposite end of the elongated desk.

Charles and Mick knew exactly what Atticus was going to try. "That shit won't work," said Mick.

"What shit?" asked Charles.

"A bribe. I could have told him to save his breath. If I sensed that prick could be bribed, I would have bribed him myself."

"That's right. Atticus used to work for you when you were hustling on the streets. Used to be one of your enforcers. Then you brought him along to the corporate side of your world. Why?"

"His brains. And he's somebody you can trust."

"He had a thing for Millie."

Mick didn't respond to that. He was still staring at Atticus. "Bribing don't work around here," he said instead.

But Atticus had no other cards to play. He looked the chief in the eyes. "Name your price," he said to him.

"Excuse me?" asked the chief.

"Name your price. How much to drop the charges and let her go?"

"That black gal?"

"That black woman, yes," said Atticus.

The chief smiled. "I can arrest you for bribing me."

Atticus's pleasant demeanor turned deadly. "I want your ass to try," he said with such intensity that the chief's smile immediately left.

And he remembered who he was dealing with. He was there on behalf of Mick the Tick's sister. He was no angel either. "Dropping charges are impossible at this stage," said the chief. "She's been booked. That creates an automatic record. Only the DA can drop the charges now. And he's a tough-on-crime elected official He ain't gonna do that."

"Who's the DA?" Atticus asked just as they heard the young cop say who's that?

They looked at him and then looked out the window where he was looking. That was when they saw a limousine stop in front of the station. Ozzie, the driver, got out and opened the back door while what looked like a Secret Service agent got out from the front passenger seat and was looking around. Then Hammer stepped out buttoning his suit coat and with the agent in front of him and Ozzie in the back of him, they entered the station.

Mick inwardly shook his head. "Secret Service protection," he said to Charles. "Leave it to Hammer."

"His position is a big deal in DC. He has enemies."

"Which is probably why Millie's locked up now," Mick said.

Hammer and his men walked up to the chief as he moved away from Atticus and walked back in front of the desk. "May I help you, gentlemen?"

"Are you in charge?" asked the agent.

"I'm the chief of police, yes."

"Is there a Sheriff?"

"I'm the highest-ranking officer in this town. What do you want?"

The front agent pulled out his badge. "I'm with the Secret Service. Where is Mrs. Reese?"

"She's in Lock up."

They began heading toward the back.

"But you can't go back there," the chief admonished them.

Hammer, whom nobody realized, had his cellphone in his hand. He reached it out to the chief.

"What is this?" asked the confused chief. "Who are you?"

"That's Hamilton Reese," said the front agent.

The chief knew that name. Reese was that badass that used to run the FBI or the CIA or some such agency. Then the chief realized the connection. Reese. "My prisoner is related to Hamilton Reese?"

"She's his wife," said the agent. "You have the wife of Hammer Reese in your jail."

The chief's heart fell through his shoe. He knew how powerful Hammer Reese was. He knew what strings he could pull to shut down their entire police department. He was upset. He looked at the phone Hammer was reaching out to him, and he took it.

It was already on Speaker. "Yes?"

"Who am I speaking to?" the voice said over the phone.

"This is Bill Carlings. The chief of police here in Clayview."

"Well Bill I'm Chet Logan, the Attorney General for the great state of Delaware. Release Mrs. Reese and I want her out of there now."

Mick and Charles, delighted, glanced at each other.

"My office has reviewed the charges you filed against her and there is not enough evidence to hold her. The charges have been dropped."

The chief frowned. "But I can't drop any charges. It don't work that way here. Our DA has to--"

"That's who dropped the charges you idiot!" the AG yelled. "Release her!" Then the AG ended the call.

And just as he did, the desk phone rang at the station. The desk sergeant answered. Then he reached out the phone to his chief. "Chief, it's the DA's office."

The chief took the call. Listened more than he spoke. And then he ended the call. He seemed subdued. "Go get her," he motioned to the younger cop. The younger cop looked at Hammer and the Secret Service agent and Mick and Charles too, and he went to get the prisoner. One kind of justice for the rich and famous, he thought to himself. Another kind of justice for the rest of them.

But Charles didn't give a shit. Amelia was being released. That was all he wanted to hear.

Even Mick was impressed with the way Hammer handled it. That's how you do that shit, he said to himself. Then he looked at Atticus.

But Atticus was staring at Hammer. The man who won out. The man who treated Amelia like shit from what he'd heard, but Millie always loved the bad boys. Which was why, once upon a time when he worked for Mick, she loved Atticus.