Hard News by Sullivan Mark T

Author:Sullivan, Mark T. [Sullivan, Mark T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781453268766
Amazon: B06XYRQHFT
Goodreads: 34749456
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1995-11-01T08:00:00+00:00

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BY SEVEN O’CLOCK THE next evening, Gideon McCarthy was on his second beer at the Slotman’s Bar and Grill. He waited on a stool bar for Prentice LaFontaine, who’d called him from home.

“I needed a mental health day off,” News had said. “But let’s have a drink tonight to celebrate your Virgil-like ascent from hell. I’ll bring Brad for you to meet.”

McCarthy declined at first, wanting to be with Carlos and Miriam after the endless days of work, but Estelle had insisted he go for a little while. He didn’t have much of a social life. The kids would wait up for him.

He sipped at the beer, knowing he should be ecstatic at breaking the biggest story of his career, but he wasn’t. Several of the events of the past twenty-four hours nagged at him. He sat there trying to block out the Slotman’s irritating Muzak, thinking about it all.

Carlos and Miriam woke him early, jumping on his bed with the paper. The headline over the copyrighted story said:

Cops Heard Arranging Murder of Prostitute

All hell had broken loose. Mayor Ricardo Portillo and Police Chief T. Lawrence Leslie called a press conference at 11:00 A.M. in city hall to handle the media clamor.

McCarthy sat front row center with Isabel Perez and Kent Jackson. They were all loving the way Paul Fairbanks and the other television reporters held up the front page of The Post to the cameras as they did their stand-up introductions.

Even better was Karen Rivers’s reaction. Her normally olive-tone skin had paled considerably. Her eyes were puffy, probably the result of a 3:00 A.M. wake-up call from The Beacon. She bit at the quick of her fingernails. No doubt about it: she evinced all the signs of making her first trip to the hot seat of the missed big story. Better to give than receive, McCarthy thought.

Mayor Portillo, a handsome man, some would say an elegantly handsome man, in a navy blue suit and matching tie, strode to the podium. He was ordinarily a consummate politician, cool under pressure, articulate without appearing slick, forceful but not a tyrant. This morning he fumbled with the paper his statement was typed on. Arlene Troy, who was flitting in the background with a sheaf of papers, stepped forward. Before she could reach the podium, Chief Leslie, a tall man with a deep tan that spoke of weekends on the tennis court reached over and found the mayor the correct page. Fisk leaned against the wall well behind the chief and the mayor, obviously annoyed. Next to him stood Steve Cohen, the district attorney’s right-hand man.

“I have a brief statement and then we will open the floor to your questions,” Portillo said. “Two of this city’s police officers were arrested this morning on charges of conspiracy and first degree murder. Officer David Patrick, a patrol officer assigned to the Boulevard precinct and Lt. Diego Blanca, a shift supervisor in the same precinct, will be arraigned later today in connection with the slaying of Carol Alice Gentry.

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