Origins interlude
The neighborhood has been on edge since word got out about what had happened to Tony and Edie, so it really isn't the smartest of nights for Officer Phil Gardner to go poking around alone at Colucci's Bar to see what he can find out about the current whereabouts of Tony Napolitano. Still, his partner Bobby is in no condition to do anything, and Phil is antsy to do his part, so here he is.
But it isn't going well. Even if he is in plain clothes and trying to be inconspicuous, the locals know who and what he is, and he can feel the hostility in the air like the unseasonable warmth and humidity. One young man in particular is staring daggers at him from over by the pool table, and looks about ready to start something, when Phil feels a hand on his shoulder.
"Why don't you let me walk you home, honey?" asks a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman in a little too much makeup and a little too tight skirt. "Tommy there's a little drunk and on edge. We all are. Let's go."
He will never know what makes him leave with her. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recognizes her--Nina DiPasquale, busted a year ago for solicitation--but she seems to make sense, and all of a sudden he's not in much of a mood for trouble.
"You know the Napolitano kid?" he asks her, as they climb the steps outside to street level.
But she's clearly not in the mood for that. "You're cute, you know that? Be a real shame for something to happen to you down here. You oughta be more careful."
"I'm just trying to do my job," he says.
"And what a job you did, too," she mutters, before turning to look more closely at him. "Real cute. Nice eyes. They say they're the windows to the soul, you know that?"
"So I've heard. I don't know if I believe it."
"I do," she says. "You should see what I see through your windows."
"What is it?"
"Uh-uh," she chuckles, shaking a finger at him. "You're not getting it that easy. C'mere."
She tugs him into an alley down the block from the bar. Oh, it's no wonder why she's got the reputation she has--maybe it's pheromones, maybe it's boldness, maybe she just catches men off-guard, but she's certainly successful. It's not entirely satisfying, being a hurried thing, but it happens; and afterward, he leans against the wall and lights a cigarette.
She smirks up at him. "Been a while since I done it with a cop. You're not usually my type."
"I didn't know you did it for free."
"The occasional charity case..." She tilts her head, and moves as though to wrap her arms around him under his jacket, but comes back up with the gun from his shoulder holster, aimed at him.
"Hey, now," he says, holding his hands up. "Give that back, and nobody gets hurt."
"Look at you--you've got nothing to bargain with! And somebody's already been hurt. What's a little more blood, Officer?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Tony. It wasn't right, what you did to him. He was innocent, and you know it. The mayor knows it too. You're all fucking corrupt."
"We're just doing our jobs," he says, a note of panic creeping into his voice. "What's Tony to you, anyway? There's plenty other guys in town, and he was engaged anyway--"
"I'm his ex-girlfriend," she says simply, and pulls the trigger.