Hooked

been lingering outside getting an earful?
    “Excuse me, Mr. Russo, I saw two men on the security camera. They identified themselves on the intercom as police officers. They want to see Mr. Cooper. Like right now.”
    “Hold them off for a few minutes, will you?” Mario said calmly.
    “Yes, sir.” Charles turned and hustled out.
    “Mr. Russo?” Benny yelled after Charles. “Why are you telling him? Who the hell pays your salary? Whose place is this anyway?”
    “Shut up, Cooper, and get dressed,” Mario said. “Everyone else, do what I tell you.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven
    Would’a, Could’a, Should’a

    L inc tapped his foot impatiently at the long time it took between speaking into the intercom and someone opening the door. When He pushed his way past the doorman. “Took you long enough,” he said.
    “I had to reprogram the code. Sorry.”
    Linc flashed his badge and absorbed the posh surroundings. “I’d like to see Mr. Cooper. Tell him Detectives Walsh and Hyde are here, please.”
    “He has guests.”
    Linc stepped forward. “Call him.”
    The doorman nodded nervously and picked up the phone. He punched one number and told whoever answered that the police were there. He listened. “Yes, sir.”
    “Mr. Cooper will be right out.”
    Linc didn’t see anyone else in the place and wondered where Tawny was, whether she was still here. He couldn’t ask. Not yet.
    Moments later, Benny strode down the hall with a slight hitch in his step, a pained expression, and an extended hand. “Detective Walsh. We spoke on the phone a couple of weeks ago, right?”
    “Correct.” Linc took Benny’s hand. “About Sarah Marshall. My partner Dennis Hyde.”
    Cooper nodded toward Dennis. Linc expected Cooper to give him a hard time—mention his lawyer, ask for a warrant, but instead Cooper said, “Yes, I remember. Awful about Sarah. Of course I knew her through my wife as Serena. Lovely girl.”
    Linc searched the reception area, craning his head down the hall. “Nice place.”
    “What can I do for you, Detective? I’m entertaining guests in my apartment.”
    “You own this building, correct?”
    “One of my corporations does, yes. Is that why you’re here? To find out if I own this building?”
    Linc ignored the not-so-subtle jab. “Are these all apartments?”
    “Yes.”
    “You rent them?”
    “Yes. I make them available for the night to visiting acquaintances.”
    “Like a bed and breakfast,” Dennis said.
    “Without the breakfast.” Benny clicked his tongue. “What’s this about?”
    “You keep an apartment here when you live on the other side of the park. Why is that?”
    “If you must know, I don’t like to stay in that big apartment in the summer when my wife and children are on the island. Now that’s the last question I’m answering until you tell me why you’re here asking them.”
    “I’m looking for a young lady, Tawny Dell. I know she was here earlier this evening.”
    Benny hesitated a beat too long. “How do you know that?”
    Finally. He’d hit a nerve. “I know.”
    Benny took his time. “Yes, Ms. Dell was here earlier. She occasionally rents one of my apartments to…entertain. She usually stays for a couple of hours, then leaves.”
    Denying Tawny had been there would be more suspicious than telling the truth, and except for the bullshit story that Tawny rented a room to entertain, that’s what Cooper did.
    “What does she do when she’s here?”
    “You’d have to ask her. I’m not her keeper. I just rent the rooms. In fact, I’ve only met her once. People come and people go. There’s no law against that, is there?”
    Cooper was lying, but until Linc knew Tawny was safe, he would tread carefully. “She hasn’t left.”
    “And you know this how?” Benny said.
    “She’s a friend.”
    Benny smirked. Linc figured what he was thinking. Not quite, Cooper. Not even close.
    “Amazing to think Ms. Dell has a… friend in the police department.” Benny turned to Charles. “Ms. Dell left, didn’t she, Charles?”
    Leading the witness, Cooper. Naturally, Charles said she left right after eleven. If Tawny left, it wasn’t on her own steam.
    “I’d like to check the building, starting with your apartment,” Linc said.
    “Don’t you believe me?”
    Linc didn’t respond.
    “Do you have a warrant?”
    There it was. “No, but I can get one.” Talk about bullshit. At this hour of the night, getting a warrant would take long enough for Cooper to sanitize