C.O.P. Out by Nancy Herndon

Author:Nancy Herndon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

28

Wednesday, October 30, 10:05 a.m.

Elena called Glen Patkin, her contact in I.A., but not with much enthusiasm. No cop willingly interacted with I.A.

“Ma’am,” he said, “this is Internal Affairs. Perhaps the operator connected you with the wrong extension.”

“This is Jarvis,” said Elena. “Matilda Carr’s my alias, and you’re supposed to be my contact.”

“Oh, right.” He laughed. “Well, we’re faking an investigation. Of course, if we turn anything up on you — ”

“Are we cooperating here, or do I call the chief?”

“No sense of humor,” Patkin grumbled.

“I.A. isn’t supposed to be humorous,” said Elena.

“We’re much maligned. What can I do for you, Ms. Carr?”

“There’s a pusher named Paco dealing at H.H.U. One of his clients is Wayne Quarles, Junior. That’s the information my partner and I got when I still had a partner instead of some insurance-company geek. Can you get Narcotics to check this guy out? What I want to know is: Is it true? If so, how much does Quarles, Junior, owe this Paco? Incidentally, the pusher’s supposed to be an Anglo. Is Paco connected to the Diablo Kings? Would he arrange a hit so he’d get paid? Did he arrange a hit?” Elena checked off the last item on her list of questions. “That’s it.”

“O.K.,” said Patkin. “Anything else?”

She gave him the number of her new mobile phone. “Oh, and tell the chief I’m sorry about my mother,” she added.

“Your mother? What’s that about?”

“You don’t need to know. Just tell him.”

“Hold on.”

What for? Elena wondered. In seconds she had Chief Gaitan on the line and was stammering apologies. “I’ll try to keep her from acting on those threats,” Elena promised.

Gaitan laughed. “Your mother is a delight, Detec — ah, Ms. Carr. I’ll never forget the bicycle racer/gay activist/senior citizen protest she staged last year.”

“Me either,” Elena said gloomily.

“You needn’t discourage her.”

“But, Chief — ”

“The more bad publicity there is about your suspension, the more pressure we put on Quarles. Serves him right for accusing us of playing politics.”

“Okay.” Elena didn’t think the chief knew what he was getting into, but who was she to argue? He obviously had a vengeful streak when it came to people who tried to manipulate him. Now that she thought about it, he and Mayor Nellie had gone a few rounds with each other on occasion.

“I’d tell you to give Harmony my best, but she might smell a rat. And good luck — ah — Ms. Carr. We’re counting on you to find whatever’s out there.”

“Yes, sir.”

After hanging up with the chief, Elena made an appointment with Darrell Mindenhoff, wondering if her disguise would stand up to scrutiny from someone who had seen her in her other persona. Then she tracked down Pamela Honnecker by the simple expedient of calling the five Honneckers in the telephone book and asking for Pamela. On the third call an answering machine said, “Pamela and Rick aren’t at home. Bunnie and Tim have their own number. Call them or leave us a message at the beep.” Imagine having a separate phone line for your kids, Elena marveled.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.