Deadlocked Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mason," she said. "I didn't meet you the other night. I'm sorry."
    "It didn't seem like the right time for introductions. I'm sorry for your loss," he added, hoping the sentiment was more comforting to her than it had been to Nick.
    Mary looked around, craning her head up to the second floor. "Is this really your office?"
    Mason grimaced, not usually embarrassed by his modest digs. "I'm up on the second floor. Are you here to see me?"
    "If you have time for me. I mean, I didn't call for an appointment, so I understand if you don't."
    "You're in luck," he said.
    Mason led her inside, up the back stairway, down the hall past the open door to Blues's office. Blues sat at his desk reading his mail, not looking up. Mason continued on, unlocked his office, picked his mail up off the floor, and turned on the lights before he noticed Mary still standing in front of Blues's office, her eyes riveted on him.
    "Mrs. Kowalczyk?" Mason asked.
    Mary gave Blues a last hard look. "That man," she said as Mason closed the door behind her. "Do you know him? Did he use to be a police officer? A detective?"
    "As a matter of fact, he did. That's Blues. His real name is Wilson Bluestone Junior. He owns the bar and this building," Mason answered, finally making the connection Mary had made.
    "He is a terrible man," Mary said, leaving no room for debate. "He treated my son like he was the worst scum imaginable, throwing him against the wall like he was a dangerous criminal when all he was, was a boy taken advantage of by his friend."
    Mary's words poured out, carrying venom that welled deep inside her. Mason knew that Blues probably did throw her son against the wall and treat him like a dangerous criminal because that's undoubtedly what Blues thought when he and Harry arrested the boy for double homicide. Blues was never gentle. A mother convinced that her son had been wrongfully executed would never forgive anyone who had a hand in his death. There was no point in defending Blues.
    "Have a seat, Mrs. Kowalczyk," Mason said, pointing to the sofa. "What can I do for you?"
    She sat, barely filling the corner of the sofa, her feet just touching the floor. "You mustn't discuss our business with that man," she said. "I won't allow it!"
    Mason walked around his office, opening the blinds on the windows that overlooked Broadway, fishing two bottles of water out of the small refrigerator behind his desk, giving Mary time to cool down, not wanting to tell her that, so far, there was only her business, not their business. He handed her a bottle of water and sat in a leather chair at one end of the sofa.
    "Everything we discuss is confidential, Mrs. Kowalczyk," he said, leaving out that Blues often worked with him when he needed special expertise in violence or protection. "How can I help you?"
    Mary put her unopened bottle of water on the butler's table in front of the sofa, wiping the moisture from the bottle on her pants. Straightening her narrow back, leveling her chin at Mason, she told him. "My son was innocent. I want you to prove it."
    Mason rolled his bottle of water between his hands, fumbling with the cap, taking a sip. He was never surprised by what people in trouble asked him to do. If their lives were on the line, they'd ask for the stars and settle for the moon. Mary Kowalczyk's trouble had come and gone. No celestial magic would change that, though he knew she wouldn't be convinced. He tried a different tack.
    "Mrs. Kowalczyk," he began.
    "Please," she interrupted. "Call me Mary," she said, forcing a smile over her grief.
    "Mary," Mason began again, gently. "The other night, there was a priest. I couldn't help but overhear what he told you. He said that your son confessed."
    Mary waved her hand. "Father Steve is a fine priest, a good man. He was taking care of Ryan the only way he could. It was important that Ryan make confession before he was taken from me."
    Mason was even less certain of Catholic tradition than Jewish tradition. "I'm sure that