The Holy City Hustle: A Duke Dempsey Mystery by Ron Plante Jr

Author:Ron Plante Jr [Plante Jr, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Freeman's Point Press
Published: 2020-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16 – Guardian Angel

The haze lifted from Duke as he looked around trying to get his bearings. Deep throbbing pain in his neck limited him from twisting his head around to see where he was.

He could make out the silhouette of a man. The shape was blurry, and it almost looked as if it had lines obstructing his view. Duke rubbed his eyes trying to get a clearer look at what he was seeing, and the blurry figure started to come into focus. He rubbed his eyes once more, and could finally make out the disheveled gray suit and his old friend, but the lines now became clear as well.

They weren’t lines at all, but bars. He picked himself up off the steel cot he had been lying on and sat up, facing his friend.

“You did it this time,” Stampkin said.

“How about you give me a smoke instead of a lecture?”

“You realize that I can’t cover this up. Slate has been licking his chops since they brought you in. They got you on a B and E, illegal trespass, espionage, and whatever trumped-up charge they can get to stick to the wall. My advice to you is don’t say a fucking word until your lawyer gets here.”

Duke looked down at the concrete floor, trying to remember the events that had gotten him where he was. “Why did you call your friends? If you’d come alone, I wouldn’t be in here.”

“Listen, smart guy, I didn’t call anybody. They showed up just as I got on the scene. I had to play dumb and act like I’d heard the call come in on the radio,” Stampkin said, as he passed a Lucky through the bars.

“Somebody said something, because you and my new friend were the only ones that knew I was there,” Duke said as he took the smoke and leaned over for a light from Johnny.

“Anybody could’ve seen you sneaking around like a damn thief and called it in. Here’s the deal. When we showed up, all we saw was you taking a nap next to an open safe in the mayor’s office and his desk had shit all over it as if you ransacked it. Talk about caught red-handed.”

Duke took a drag trying to ponder his situation. “Yeah it looks bad, but I had the guy. We need to get a description out to the public, pronto.”

Duke was interrupted as the iron door that separated the cells from the rest of the station opened.

“I give you a little rope and you manage to hang yourself,” Slate said to Duke as he walked in. He turned to Stampkin and said, “You two, in the interview room now, and he stays in bracelets!”

“Yes, sir,” Stampkin said, knowing he didn’t have a leg to stand on for a rebuttal.

As Duke and Johnny sat in the interview room waiting for Captain Slate, the tension between them was starting to build. Stampkin sat on one side of the table and Duke sat on the other in cuffs.

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