Anarchy (15 page)

Detectives looked directly at the brownstone then turned their attention to Alfonzo’s car. Her feet moved faster than wind. She raced upstairs and shook Alfonzo awake. Startled
,
he jumped up, eyes bloodshot and unfocused.

“What the hell?”

She put
a finger to
her lips, “
Shhh
, no questions.
Is anything
in the car
because there are squad cars outside
?”

Comprehension set in.
His eyes became alert
. He flew out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, reached beneath the sink and brandished a bag, “Sorry babe, but I have to get this out
of
the house. I’ll go out the back door.”

Her voice was controlled. “Are you thinking? The police are
everywhere;
they’re probably watching the exits.
You can’t go
anywhere
but I can.”

“No way.
Nope, y
ou’re not getting involved.”

“What’s in the bag?”

“Bloody clothes.”

“Whose blood?”

“Blood
…babe
,
of a dead man
but
I did
n’t
kill
him
.
”

The truth was in his eyes
. S
he believed him
.
“
Listen,
it will look incriminating if you’
re caught getting rid of evidence. You’ll look guilty as hell.”

His head swiveled from side to side
struggling to find
an alternative
solution. Alfonzo fought the wisdom of her statement, tearing it apart analytically
. He concluded the risk was too great.

“No, babe…I can’t let you do it.”

“
There
’s no time to debate. I’ll
be okay. Seriously, I’m not stupid. I can think on my feet. What choice do
we
have, wait for the police to come in with a search warrant
to
haul you off to jail?
”

Selange took
action
. S
he didn’t
have the details of what
happened
and at some point he’d tell her and
at the moment
she
refused to allow her husband to return to jail.
The last time
he
got
detained, he
nearly
died
. She moved to the closet.
Time was
of the essence.
Tampering with evidence
is
a felony offense
. To hell with the
legal consequences, she
told herself, keeping her
family
together
is
more important
.

“
Shit…o
kay
.
”
He said
,
putting his hands atop his shiny hair, interlocking his fingers as he reluctantly surrendered. Dammit, she was right, i
f the police secured a search warrant and found the items, they’d connect him to the shootings,
and
charge him with murder. “Fine, do it
.
Nothing public, understand what I’m saying?
”

“Totally.”
She
collected
her mane of curls
to make a ponytail using a decorative
hairclip
,
dressed in a yoga outfit, stuffed the
bloody
clothes inside her exercise bag and
took a deep breath. “Okay,
see you in a bit
.”

“Be careful and hurry back
to me.
”

With a nod and a smile, she turned and
ran downstairs
.
The moment
she opened the front door, the humidity sucked her skin.
Undoubtedly,
it
was going to be another day of record breaking temperatures in New York.

By
appearance
s
, Selange w
as
on her way to yoga or
Zumba
class.
Nothing suspicious in that, right?

Alfonzo’s
electronic
key dangled in her hand as she
skipp
ed down the stairs,
ignor
ing
the
plainclothes
officers
and
walked straight to the
driver’s side of the Audi.

“Whoa, hold up lady, is this your car?”

“Yes, is everything okay?”

“Ma’am, we believe this car was involved in a
n incident last night,” the detective said moving to her side.

A pair of detectives stood in the street talking with their backs turned. Whatever they spoke about they didn’t want
anyone
to overhear.
C
overtly
, she
scanned the car, looking for anything out of the ordinary
and
saw nothing.
B
utterflies
, no, bats
fluttered around
in
her stomach. She hid the anxiety, keeping her eyes on t
he officer, devoid of fear. “Well, unless my car transformed I don’t see how that’s possible. It hasn’t moved all night.”

“Do you mind if we search
your
car?”

A
sly
grin touched her lips, “I’m really sorry but that’
s
impossible. I’m running late for my yoga class.”

“Ma’am
are
you refusing?”

She shrugged, “I guess I am. I’m sorry I can’t help you out
. W
hatever car you’re looking for isn’t mine.” She
quickly
pressed the unlock button
on the remote
and slipped inside
then
started the engine. She rolled down the window and asked, “Can you please move your car officer?”

The detectives
standing nearby frowned. Unless they could prove that particular car was involved in their criminal investigation they didn’t have probable cause for a vehicular search. The officer joined his colleagues and she sat nervously
waiting
. Sitting there with her hands on the steering wheel she caught a glimpse of red streaks on the driver side door panel.

Oh damn honey, what the hell happened last night?

The officer reappeared at the driver’s window, “Ma’am, license and registration please.”

“Are you serious?”

He repeated the request, “License and registration please.”

She partially unzipped the duffle bag, swiveled her hand around until she touched her wallet and sighed, handing him her New York City license, “Here you go.”

                       “Thank you, registration please.”

This was harassment
, good old
NYPD
intimidation.

Once he had
the
items he walked to
an unmarked
car, typed in the information and
got
blank. No infractions, zero suspensions or revocations and sure enough the vehicle was registered and insured under her name. Detective Higgins scoffed, he
didn’t have probable cause to detain her
,
only an
instinct
her husband was the man seen speeding away from a quadruple homicide.
The car didn’t have any visible damage and none of the witnesses thought to get a partial license plate. In essence they had nothing!

Frustrated, he shook his head discreetly to signal to the other guys, ‘
she’s clean
.’

He returned to the beautiful
woman; the other half of suspected mobster and murderer Alfonzo Diaz.
Degenerates like Alfonzo Diaz always had
super models for wives or girlfriends.
He stooped down and passed the items
through the driver’s window
, “Okay ma’am, here you go. You’re free to leave.”

Detective Higgins dug his hands in his pocket and stepped
up
on
to the curb. The Audi reversed a
little,
squeezed through the narrow opening of cars and drove
out of sight
.

CHAPTER
TEN

Alfonzo
tied Allie’s shoe laces then passed the child over to Domingo’s wife Teresa. His daughter did not make a fuss when Teresa carried her
away.

Domingo
lingered to talk.
Earlier,
Alfonzo
filled him in on
what
happ
ened and he
grew
concerned. He waited until
Teresa
was out the door with the kid before speaking, “So, what next?”

Alfonzo took a bottle of water from the fridge
and rejoined his cousin
in the hall
, “
Got to get some answers and hope my ass
isn’t
a
rrest
ed
before I do
.”