Pearce Hudson: #1 My Italian Devil

32. Loving him was red

Piling back in the car was awkward. Jake didn't say a word and I didn't try either. Great. I blew it again. It was sweet of him to come and comfort me but I just...it felt wrong for some reason, when I was crying because Dante killed a man to let Jake comfort me.

Crawford called my phone as Ross pulled in the drive thru of a McDonald's haven eaten a couple hours ago I was still hungry. Being scared to death does that to people, I've heard.

"So there's no way of getting that autopsy report?" Crawford asked after we filled him in the situation.

"Nope. I mean we can try to get a warrant but I don't what judge would write us one on the grounds we just wanna know about the autopsy," I replied.

"No we can't have that," he muttered.

"Where's Jones?"

"He went back to the warehouse to see if any of Dante's men came around."

"Well what do we do from here?" Jake stuck his head through the gap between the passenger and driver's seat.

"I...we need to confirm that Dante killed or had James killed. We may officially be able to have a non-undercover mission, which would be hell of lot easier."

"But first we have to determine how many cops he has working for him then," Ross pointed out.

"What are you guys up to?" I sighed. We hit another brick wall.

"Not much...actually nothing at all. We can't make a move without knowing if the mission is blown."

"What if we hacked into morgue computers?" Ross suggested. "And by we I mean Jake."

"Hacking is illegal," Jake frowned.

So is murder, yet Dante still commits it.

"How about we take the night off? Cool our heads before doing something rash," Crawford said. Possibly pointed at me.

"Alright we'll talk in the morning." Ross disconnected the line. He turned to me. "What ideas do you have?"

"Let me call Jack," I dialed up his number.

"Hey," Jack answered. "Did you guys find anything?"

"We visited the crime scene but they refused to give us the autopsy report."

"What can I do?"

"I need a name of a cop or detective that Dante hasn't been able to bribe. Someone reliable."

"Dante has bribed a lot of cops but there is one detective he hasn't been able to corrupt. Tony Esposito."

With Jake's help we found his precinct. I realized it was the same precinct Jessica and I had gone to. Ross parked across the park as we formulated a plan to get Esposito out of the precinct. According to Jack, the 11th precinct was filled with Dante's cops. So if we wanted to speak with Esposito it would have to be out of the police station.

Alone I walked into the precinct and went up the desk sergeant. "Is Tony Esposito on shift?"

"Who's asking?"

"His girlfriend."

The man picked up the phone, "What do you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him I'm waiting outside."

I stood in the shadows of the building my hoodie turned up and hands jammed in the pockets of my jacket. A man judging by his face a few years older than me stepped out in the night. He was the detective me and Jessica had spoken to. He walked down a few steps giving me an opportunity to grab him and bring him into the dark corner.

"Sarge didn't do you just by calling you a pretty, tall brunette," Esposito said.

I flashed him my badge, "This is important."

"Isn't everything?"

"This is about Dante Capaldi."

His face went cold, "What about Capaldi?"

"Me and my team have been working undercover for the past two months trying to find evidence to incriminate him and his illegal activities. We know for a fact a number of cops are under his thumb."

"I'm not."

"We know but we need your help."

"I've seen the bodies of his victims of course I want to help."

"Good. We need a copy of an autopsy report. The floater they found in the Charles a few hours ago. James Gomez, he was Capaldi's bodyguard. We apprehended but he ran from our custody. The detective on the case refused to give us a copy because we weren't there on official capacity."

"The 11th precinct is looking into the floater but I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"If you need any help," he handed me his card. "Call me. I've been trying years to put him behind bars."

"Okay."

After we dropped Jake off at the apartment to keep an eye on James's bank accounts, Ross and I drove my and down the warehouses long the Charles trying to find where James was killed and dumped from. The attempt was vain but better than doing nothing. We gave up after 30 minutes and drove back home. Ross wanted to check up on Jake but it was 3 in the morning and he was probably asleep.

Since it was so late I let Ross stay over. I made up his bed as he changed into a pair of sweats bored from Jake.

"After this case," Ross strode into the room shirtless and his pants. "We need a vacation. A long vacation."

I saw down on the coffee table, "Mmm. That sounds good. How about Hawaii?" My eyes closed.

"Let's just finish this case first."

My eyes fluttered open, "This case. Dante, will be the death of me." I squinted, spotting something on the couch fabric behind Ross.

"What is it?" Ross asked.

I pushed him aside to see two large red stains.