Read Wolf's Deal: A Nick Lupo Novella (The Nick Lupo Series) for Free Online

being farfetched, what they were asking
was just strange. Didn’t matter how much they would pay him.
    “I’m not
sure I can—”
    “Sure you
can. We’ve paid you. We are paying you. Your job is to find out a few things
about Lupo.”
    He sighed
silently. “All right, I’ll see what I can do. He has to liaise with me on this
homicide, so I can try to stick close.”
    “See that
you do. We’ll be in touch.” They clicked off.
    The sudden
silence was accusatory.
    His
discomfort increased to a fever pitch, suddenly. He didn't like being a pawn in
anyone's game. He didn't like selling himself, but it was too late.
    He wondered
what was brewing. What did they want to know? What had he set in motion?
    Charlie
looked up into the night sky as if answers might be written there. According to
various tales in his heritage, some might be. But he didn’t think he would like
the way they turned out.

 
            
    LUPO

 
    Charlie Bear had given them Rosskov’s address from her file,
so they left a couple uniforms to take more statements from casino staff. Lupo
was convinced it wasn’t likely anything would come from it, as most people said
they barely knew their coworker. Meanwhile Lupo scooped up DiSanto and they
headed back to the Third Ward, where they’d started the night. Turned out
Rosskov lived there – a loft in a converted warehouse that housed an art
store and a day spa and various curio shops on the first floor. They walked up
the three flights, hoping the roommate they’d been told about was home.
    Lupo hated this part of the job. Most cops do. He wasn’t
very good at it.
    As they reached the apartment door, DiSanto said: “This
isn’t one of your high-end remodels, is it?” There was dust and grime on the
steps, and the elevator was broken and stuck on the second floor.
    Lupo smirked. “Guess not. Seems like she didn’t have any
money, really, so we can scratch that as a motive.” It was starting to look
like a premeditated random killing, a weird hybrid. Like the killer just wanted
to kill somebody , and Rosskov came
along at the wrong time. Both premeditated and random – Lupo figured that
kind of killer would be hardest to catch. Unless
he continued his streak in the same general location .
    “Yes?”
    The woman who answered the door was average height, but
somehow almost elfin, with short dark hair and pointy bangs. Wearing a Packers
sweatshirt and tight jeans, she looked like a slightly too old college student.
Maybe a grad student or doctoral candidate.
    Grimly, Lupo flashed his badge and introduced them, and her
eyes widened. And then she started to cry.
    “What’s happened? What’s—” She took a breath and
gasped as if it hadn’t helped. “Oh, God, Tanya, what’s happened to Tanya?”
    Was it as if she’d been expecting something, Lupo wondered,
or was she just a worst-case scenario kind of person?
    “May we come in?” DiSanto normally took over at this point,
because he tended to come across more sympathetic than Lupo, who was gruff by
most people’s standards – at least on first impression.
    She nodded and stepped aside, shivering and sniffling.
    “Are you Laura Hastings? Tanya’s roommate?”
    “Yes.” Her lower lip trembled and the tears flowed down her
cheeks. “And I’m her—we’re… we’re not just roommates, we’re partners . What happened?”
    Ah fuck . Lupo swallowed. “I’m afraid we have bad
news,” he said, trying to whisper.
    “Something’s happened to Tanya,” DiSanto said. “I’m sorry to
tell you she’s dead.”
    Laura stepped back once, twice, and half-fell onto a small
wooden bench tucked into the apartment’s foyer. Lupo and DiSanto grabbed her
before she could slip off. Her body had loosened into rubber, and her face
contorted into one of intolerable pain. Her crying turned into a keen.
    She wasn’t involved , Lupo thought, giving DiSanto a shake of
his head. Too hard to fake this kind of
shock and pain.
    DiSanto nodded and