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bills in your pocket before summer’s out. Off the books, if that don’t offend you.”
    “I’ll give it some thought, Jack.”
    “You do that. Don’t think too long, though. I’m probably gonna need someone on Tuesday,” he added, closing his eyes. “If you can fill in until I get another regular…”
    “I said, I’ll think about it.”
    He raised his hands in mock defeat. “That’s all I’m asking.” He turned toward the door and stopped. “Can I have Ricky’s phone?”
    “Nice try. You know I gotta give this to my uncle. It’s evidence, Jack.”
    “Had to give it a shot. Can ya at least text the picture to my phone?”
    I gave that some thought and looked at Rachel.
    “Take a photo of the screen,” she said. Before Jack could respond, she added, “We’re turning the phone over to Uncle Ray. You don’t want a record of you receiving the photo by text from Ricky’s phone a few hours after the shooting.”
    Jack gave that some thought and then did as my sister said. After taking the photo of the photo, he put the phone back in his pocket. I went into my bedroom and found my cell still sitting on the bureau. When I got back to the living room, I took my own picture of the girl on Ricky’s phone.
    “Let me know soon about this week, Ray. I got three inspections coming up, and I haven’t even checked my e-mail today.”
    “I’ll call you, Jack.”
    “Looking forward to it, Ray.” He looked at Rachel. “I’ll see ya around.”
    “I’ll try and wear my good boots next time.”
    Jack laughed and shook his head. “Same wiseass as your brother.” With that, he turned and left my apartment.
    “You’re not seriously considering working with him, are you?” Rachel asked as the door closed.
    “You heard him. It wouldn’t exactly be working with him. More like a freelance gig where we won’t have to have too much contact.”
    “ Any contact with him is too much.” She accented her point with a fake shiver. She was quiet for a moment and then added, “He was involved in that Frankie Rivas thing, right? The part of the story you never told me?”
    Bright girl, my little sister . “Yeah.”
    “You ever going to tell me the whole story, big brother?”
    “Maybe on my death bed.”
    “Let’s hope that’s a long way off.” She put her arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze I accepted in spite of my pain. “A long way off.”

 
    Chapter 4
    “RAY,” SOMEONE SAID. “YOU IN there, sweetie?”
    The question was followed by a long gentle kiss on the lips. Nice.
    “Mom?” I said opening my eyes.
    Allison raised her hand to smack me, but thought better of it. “You’re lucky you got a concussion, tough guy.” She put her hand on my leg, leaned over, and gave me another kiss. “How’re you feeling?”
    I looked at her hand on my leg. “Better now.” It was going to take a while to shake off the nap. “How long was I sleeping?”
    “I got here an hour ago. Rachel told me you’d been out for an hour and to make sure I woke you up.” She picked up her hand and made a peace sign. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
    I took her hand and brought it to my mouth. “Two.” I kissed the hand. “Two really cute fingers.” I inched myself up and waited for the lightheadedness to fade away. I looked around my living room. “Where’s Rachel?”
    “She’s out on the back deck talking with your mom.”
    I sat up straighter. “Fuck, she’s here?”
    “Relax.” Allison put her hand back on my leg. “She’s on the phone. Has been for forty-five minutes. Judging from what I’ve heard so far? Your sister’s doing most of the listening.”
    “Good. That means Mom’s not thinking of driving into Brooklyn.”
    “She’s worried about you, Raymond. She’s your mother and you’ve been in a horrible … I don’t know … incident?”
    “Sure wasn’t an accident.” I reached up and touched the lump on my head again. I wouldn’t swear to it, but I thought it had gone down