Free Catch Her If You Can by Merline Lovelace

rolled off his Teflon-coated conscience. Shrugging, he popped in a stick of Big Red. “Brenda and me thought Rich might be more agreeable if she took the thousand in and asked for an extension.”
    Especially with her newly refurbished boobs and butt, I thought nastily. I managed to bite back that comment but couldn’t refrain from an acid reminder.
    “Your problems are not my concern, buddy boy.”
    “You say that, but you gotta think of the fallout if Brenda doesn’t talk Richie into another grace period.”
    “Fallout?”
    “You already made the news with this severed head thing. I turn up dead, too, and the cops are gonna wonder if there’s a connection.”
    “Dammit, Charlie, I don’t appreciate being dragged into your mess.”
    “I know, babe.”
    That little boy whine seeped into his voice. I couldn’t believe I used to think it was cute. Now it made my lips pull back.
    “I’m sorry, Sam. I really am. Just put me up until they fix my truck. Soon’s they do, I’m out of here. I promise.”
    I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and weighed the options. I could leave him here at the dealership. Or dump him at the nearest motel with best wishes for a nice life. Or . . .
    Or if I was really, really honest, I might be forced to admit Charlie did me a favor when he got it on with Brenda Baby. I didn’t think so at the time, of course. But catching him in the act riled me so much I chucked him along with my dead-end job and marched into an Air Force recruiter’s office. And despite my own and my entire family’s expectations to the contrary, I’m still in uniform and actually doing something productive with my life.
    I wasn’t about to share these profound revelations with Charlie, however. Instead, I merely sighed and put the car in gear.
    “Okay, okay. But you stay at my place only until Tuesday. If the part’s not in by then, you sleep on the dealer’s couch instead of mine.”

    WISH I could tell you Charlie was my only annoying visitor that weekend.
    No such luck. When I pulled into my assigned parking space at my apartment complex, a car door opened two slots over. I was barely out of the convertible before a thin, fox-faced type in a shiny green suit, white shirt, and a string tie hurried over.
    “Lieutenant Spade?”
    I had no intention of confirming my identity until I found out who he was and what he wanted.
    Charlie was every bit as gun-shy. With good reason! He was the one with the Mob after him. “Who wants to know?” he asked suspiciously.
    “My name’s Nowatny. Jim Nowatny.” Fox Face palmed a card in my direction. “I believe your brother, Don, spoke to you about me, Lieutenant.”
    Recognition dawned. “You’re the lawyer who got Don out of paying back taxes.”
    I hadn’t intended it as a compliment but Nowatny preened. “That’s right. Saved him close to twenty thousand.”
    Charlie’s blue eyes lit up. The light blinked out again when I pointed out that those savings were all on paper. Except for Lawyer Nowatny’s hefty fee, of course.
    “Donny had to fork that over,” I told my disappointed ex as we retreated toward my apartment.
    “This is different.” Nowatny dogged our heels. “I would take your case on a contingency basis. You don’t get paid, I don’t get paid.”
    “I don’t have a case. Besides, your card lists an address in California. Are you even licensed to practice in Texas?”
    “No, but I have a colleague who is.”
    Surprise, surprise. I could visualize his colleague’s office. Two musty rooms in some strip mall down close to the Rio Grande, the better to snare clients coming over or being escorted back across the border.
    “Sorry, I don’t need legal representation.”
    “Yeah, babe, you do.”
    Leave it to Charlie to add his one and a half cent’s worth.
    “You said this agency you work for has all kinds of rules and regulations. They might get in the way of you collecting your fair share of the reward. I bet this guy . . .