Page 68 of Delusional

“I would say my arrogance is worse. Trust me.” I gave the lawyer a sly smile. “Still not over Harold Chubb. Is that it?”

That shut him up. He looked at the patrol officer escorting him and told her to take him to his client.

As soon as Heitz was out of earshot, Sally asked, “Who’s Harold Chubb?”

“A guy I arrested on the Upper East Side for murdering his girlfriend. Apparently he offered Heitz a boatload of money, but the majority of it was contingent on a win in court or at least some kind of settlement plea to a lesser charge. Instead, Chubb got convicted. I heard he stiffed Heitz, and a few months later the lawyer’s vacation home in the Hamptons burned to the ground. Rumor is, it was some of Chubb’s friends. He was connected to a loan-sharking operation out of Brooklyn. Heitz took it hard and has always held it against me. In fact, I would go so far as to say he hates me. Not just professionally but personally.”

Sally said, “I always thought Heitz was a jerk. Now I see he’s vengeful as well. I hope this client burns him too.”

I laughed as I said, “Why not? The guy’s already tried to burn himself tonight.”

CHAPTER 83

THE ONLY THING that Tom Owens liked about riding in Pry’s beat-up pickup truck was that Kimmy sat right next to him. He enjoyed having her crammed up beside him on the bench seat.

Ellis Warrenton was doing the driving. No one had seen Pry all day. He rarely risked driving his own truck because, as Owens understood it, his driver’s license had been suspended some time ago. Not that Owens was any great judge—though he had a license, he had never owned a vehicle. Owens did recognize that the truck was more obvious in the city and fit in a little bit better out here, near New Rochelle and Bronxville.

Ellis asked Owens, “What do you think? Have you seen any banks that would be easier targets than the one I picked out in Westchester?”

“I told you, I don’t care anything about banks. I don’t care which one you want to rob. It doesn’t advance our agenda in any way.”

Ellis let out a little sigh as he stared straight ahead through the windshield. Finally, he said, “What about the off-track-betting office we saw? If we were patient and did some surveillance, we could figure out the right time to hit it. It’s government-run. That way we’ll have some cash and you get to make a statement against the government.”

When Owens didn’t say anything, Ellis added, “We don’t need any kind of fancy device. No glitter or any shit like that.”

“Why use a bomb at all?” Owens realized he was starting to pick apart anything Ellis said. But the more the guy talked, the less interested Owens was in hearing what he had to say. Kimmy stared out the passenger-side window, clearly not willing to engage in the argument between her companions.

Eventually, Ellis mumbled, “I wish Pry was here.”

“Why? We’re not breaking anything or doing stupid things. Isn’t that his specialty?”

Ellis defended Pry. “Hey, we all didn’t go to MIT. But Pry is dedicated to the cause. He even soaked a cop with acid to take a stand for the oppressed.”

Owens was skeptical. “I thought he did that because he was upset about a parking ticket.”

Ellis didn’t respond.

They drove around for a little while more, then headed back toward Bronxville. Ellis pulled the truck up in front of the Bronxville Diner, on Kraft Avenue.

Ellis said, “C’mon, let’s go in. We have to eat.”

“Who’s paying?” Owens asked.

“We still have some of the money from your brother,” Ellis answered. “Don’t worry. We’ll be flush soon. At least if we eat now, without Pry, it’ll be a lot cheaper.”

Ellis’s phone rang. He looked at it and said, “Oh, shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Kimmy asked. “Who is it?”

“It’s that attorney, Heitz, who’s helped us a couple of times. I don’t know why he’s calling, but it can’t be good news.” Ellis answered the phone and immediately put it on speaker.

The first thing the lawyer said was “Your friend, Leonard Barr, has been arrested.” Heitz quickly explained what had happened and answered the questions Ellis threw at him.

Once Ellis understood that Pry had assaulted a police officer, he whooped and said, “That’s our Pry. Always fighting for the cause.”

Now the attorney sounded more forceful. “No, you don’t understand. The prick who arrested him is a homicide detective I know. He’s absolutely relentless. This is a big deal.”

“What do you recommend?”