Chapter 8 – Quick Thinking
Rolling over, he buried his head in the sheets, breathing in her scent. He looked around the huge mattress. No that he was alone, his small stature started to sink in. He got up and looked around the room. It was huge. Heading to the edge of the bed, he looked over the edge down at the floor. Without her, he was not going to be able to do anything. Determined to prove to himself that he could still function as a human being, he looked for a way down. He sound a ripple in the bed sheet and climbed down as far as he could, jumping down the last few feet to the hardwood floor. He looked across the floor at the door. It looked like a mile away. He started walking toward it, when something caught the corner of his eye. He looked over to his right see Deborah's high heels on the floor. He walked over to them and stood behind the heel. It was almost up to his neck. He walked around the side and ran his hand down the gold letters spelling nine west. He knelt down and smelled the leather sole. There was a slight scent of her foot.

Standing back up, he stared at the sandal and it's overturned cousin. “I miss her already.” he said to himself. “Where's my phone?” he started walking towards the door.

Deborah pulled up in front of the mansion belonging to the Bosati family. The had never been officially  connected to organized crime, but it was widely suspected that Antonio Bosati (who had been murdered a week earlier) was silenced by the mob. She got out of her police cruiser and walked up the path, showing her badge to the officers standing guard outside.

Walking through the front door, she looked up at the huge chandelier hanging in the foyer. “Up here.” she heard Captain Morris say from the top of the marble stair case. Walking up the stair case, she felt her phone buzzing in back pocket. She looked at a text that read “What's going on there?” It was from Carlos. “Fuck.” she said out loud. “How the hell?” she muttered. She deleted it just as she got to the top of the stairs. “Where's Munoz?” Morris asked her. “He got held up.” Deborah replied.
“Held up?” he asked. “I thought he was at your place?”
She had to think fast. Morris was a twenty-five year veteran officer and was no dummy. He would sniff out any bullshit in a second. She didn't say respond right away, then looked down at her phone as it vibrated. It was another text from Carlos. “Tell Morris that I have to go to King's County Medical. My brother's been in an accident. You can bring me up to speed tomorrow.”
“There you go, speak of the devil.” she said as she handed her phone to him. He read the message and grunted. “He always takes the heat fro that kid.” he snarled, passing the phone back. She quickly types “tnx” and touched send.
“He could be hurt.” Deborah said.
“Could be drunk is more like it.” Morris said as he turned and started to walk down the hall. “She's in here.” he told Deborah.

She followed him into a large, opulently decorated bedroom. She looked around as the continued into a bathroom. It was marble from top to bottom. In the centre of the floor was a body covered by a sheet. There were a few investigators taking pictures of the room and the body. Morris crouched down and lifted the sheet. Deborah looked down at the body and grimaced. “Wow.” she said. “Somebody beat the hell out of her.”
Morris pulled the sheet back over the body and stood up. “Listen.” he said to Deborah. “First Tony Bosati, now his wife? We have no witnesses yet. They have a security camera. We're looking into that. They had a maid, but she only speaks Spanish. That's why I wanted Munoz here. Anyway, we found her locked in a closet. One of the guys says that she keeps saying she was stuffed in there and didn't see or hear anything.”
“She was ten feet away and didn't hear anything?” she asked.
“So she says. Anyway, I want you and Munoz on this tomorrow morning.” he told her.
“It's Saturday tomorrow.” Deborah said. “There not much we can do on a weekend.”
“Yeah, maybe you're right.” he said. “Monday then. You and Munoz meet me in my office at seven.”
“Unless his brother is hurt.” Deborah said.
“Right.” he said, taking his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Munoz's number, leaving it on speaker. Deborah waited nervously as it hit the fourth ring. “I'll call him later, he's probably...” she said, but was cut off by Carlos' voice over the speaker on Morris' phone. “Yeah?” he said.
“Munoz, where are you?” Morris asked.
“I'm at King's County.” he replied.
“What's wrong with your phone? You sound so far away.” Morris asked.
“I don't know man. I guess the signal is shit in here.” he replied.
“So what's is going on with Marco?” Morris asked.
“He got the shit kicked out of him at a bar. Nothing that serious. I'll be here a little while longer.” Carlos explained.
“Ryder is here with me.” he said.
“Hey sweet cheeks.” he said. “You miss me?”
“Knock it off Munoz.” he told him. “I want both of you in my office on Monday morning at seven. This is a high-profile case and I want it solved fast. Got it?”
“Sure man.” Carlos replied. “Hey Ryder, you want to get together tomorrow and get a head start?”
“Uhhh I guess so.” she replied.
“I promise I'll be good.” he said. “You know me.”
“Yeah, I know you.” she replied with a chuckle.
“Are you two done?” Morris asked. “Okay, Monday morning then.”

“You still want that transfer?” he asked her as they walked back through the bedroom. “I know Munoz can be a bit of an ass hole”.
“It's all an act.” she replied. “I can handle him. I'll keep him under control.”
“Good.” Morris said. “He needs someone level headed like you.”
“I'm going to take a look around before I go.” she told him.
“Alright.” he said. “Monday at seven.” He walked out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. Deborah exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. “I don't believe it.” she said, laughing to herself nervously, wondering what story they would come up with on Monday.

She went back into the bathroom and took another look at the body. Her face was bruised and her nose smashed in. The rest of her was bruised too. “What could have caused this?” she asked one of the forensics guys. “I'm not sure.” he said. “The facial injuries look like blunt-force trauma of some kind. We're looking for any traces of blood on stuff to try and find something. Nothing yet.”
“What's your time of death?” she asked.
“Eight to ten hours, maybe.” he replied.
“We think she might have been killed somewhere else and brought here.” he stated.
“Really?” She asked.
“Yeah, there's no blood anywhere, and the position of the body is quite contorted. So she could have been dropped here.” he said. “Anyway, I have to get this finished.”
“Sure.” she said. “Thanks.”

It had all the hallmarks of a gangland hit. She took a few notes before head down the stairs and back to her car. Driving back home, all she could think about was how Carlos was able to get his phone and do all that. She laughed to herself as she drove. It was about one in the morning when she arrived home. Walking up the stairs to her apartment, she stopped and took off her shoes. “Better be careful.” she said to herself. Putting the key in the door, she unlocked it and open the door. She scanned the floor, then stepped carefully inside. “Carlos?” she said, looking around the floor. Carefully taking a few steps, she called out again “Carlos?”. Entering the bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief seeing his little body lying on the pillow. Walking over, she noticed he was asleep. His phone beside him, with a post it stuck to it. The note read “Turn me on.” She picked it up and looked down at him as she pressed the on button. She covered her mouth and almost started to cry. Carlos had taken a selfie, standing in front of her high heel. He was making a heart with his hands. She shook her head, wondering how he did it all. It was sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

She went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she got back to the bedroom, Carlos was waiting for her. Taking off her earrings, she looked down at him and said “You're weren't asleep, were you?”
“No.” he said. “I was faking it.”
“Nice.” She said, putting the earrings down on the night stand. “So how did you get your phone, anyway?” she asked him, climbing over him and lying down on the bed.
“With great difficulty.” he told her. “I almost killed myself.”
She was resting her head on her hand and just raised her eye brows at him. “Nice work with Morris by the way. Now he expects us to be in his office Monday morning.”
“That's all you can say?” he said sarcastically. “I save your ass and that's all you can say.”
She looked at him and said “I would have just made something up. But it was cut what you did.”
“The picture?” he asked.
“No, that selfie is beautiful. The phone call and texts were cute.”
“What happened over there any way?” he asked her.
“Bosati's wife got it. She's dead.” Deborah answered.
“So what's......” he said.
“Forget it. It looks like a hit. Anyway, I don't care about that.” she said.

He stared at her for a few seconds then blurted out “I'm in love with you Deborah.”
She didn't say anything and he shook his head and asked “Are you going to make me ask?”
“No.” she replied. “I love you too sweetie. But....”
“But what?” he asked in a dejected tone.
“I just want to make sure you are not in love with my size, that's all.” she told him.
He didn't know what to say. Was she right?