*
Freshly showered and changed into jeans and a pale blue shirt his sister had given him, Pepper slipped on an old leather jacket that he loved and grabbed his keys. He checked himself in the mirror once more. He could do with a haircut, he thought, but other than that, not bad. Satisfied, he reached forward and closed his hand, "Fist bump, buddy," he said to himself as he tapped his knuckles against the mirror, remembering how cute Wallace's little daughter had looked when she'd given him the power bump first thing in the morning.
Twilight was giving way to the night as he left home, stopping at the Masonville area Loblaws on his way to Shauna's. He picked up a little gift for her there, and then stopped by the liquor store in the plaza across the street, picking out an Italian red that he hoped she'd like. Not sure what she was going to be cooking, he picked up a bottle of chilled white as well. He'd just finished paying and was stepping away from the cashier's counter when a voice behind him brought him up short.
"Hey Pepper, any news on the Redmond case?"
Pepper recognized the voice before he even turned around, instinctively looking over his shoulder to see Anthony Fragakos paying for his own purchase at the cash register next to Pepper's. The reporter caught up with him as they made their way to the door.
"Fragakos, you know the Inspector speaks for the department." Pepper said calmly, even though simply having the guy near him set his teeth on edge.
"C'mon, Pepper, you've got to have some leads by now. Even I can't believe you guys are that inefficient."
"Look Fragakos, you're barking up the wrong tree. You know as well as I do I'm not gonna tell you anything." They were outside the store now, Pepper eager to get to his car and away from the annoying reporter.
"What's with the song lyrics?" Fragakos said.
"What?" Pepper stopped abruptly and looked at the reporter, wondering if he'd heard him right.
Fragakos stepped up right in front of him. "The song lyrics on the note they found on the girl. And the arrow, what's that all about?"
"Where are you getting your information, Fragakos?" Pepper felt his heart racing, wondering how the hell the reporter had gotten wind of those pieces of information.
"A good reporter never reveals his source."
"You watch too many movies, Fragakos. And you better be careful on what you're reporting. You don't want to be charged with jeopardizing a police investigation."
"Come on, Pepper, then give me something I can report. Nobody has to know it came from you. Scout's honor."
"Yeah, right. And I believe in the Easter Bunny too."
"You know, Pepper, you're a real asshole sometimes. You don't seem to understand the power the media has in this day and age. I could help your career, you know that. But we both know you already tried to fuck with my career before, and there won't be a second time-I can guarantee it."
Pepper looked at Fragakos, the reporter's rat-like eyes glistening angrily. "Are you threatening me, Fragakos?"
"It's a promise, Pepper. Trust me, you don't want me as an enemy."
Pepper could feel himself seething, like a flickering fire catching on dry tinder. "Get away from me, Fragakos-now."
"You don't want to go down this road with me, Pepper," the reporter said as he started to walk away. "You don't realize what a small man you really are in the big scheme of things."
Pepper stood as Fragakos slid into a car parked about four spaces down from his. The reporter backed quickly out of the spot and drove away. Pepper noticed that the car was a Toyota Camry-four door-silver. As his eyes locked on the retreating car, he started to wonder about Anthony Fragakos, and if he was the one who was calling him Sting.
Every Breath You Take Page 33
