Heroes Often Fail by Frank Zafiro

Author:Frank Zafiro [Zafiro, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: USA, police, Mystery & Crime
Published: 2007-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

2310 hours

Traffic was light as Katie MacLeod cruised down Mission Street. She pulled into the parking lot of a dry cleaner’s that was closed and fished her cell phone out of her bag. It was an extravagance she couldn’t have afforded if she worked day shift. The company charged over two dollars a minute during those prime hours. But at night, she had thirty free minutes a month and only paid a quarter a minute after that. So it was an affordable luxury.

She dialed Kopriva’s number. He answered on the third ring.

“Hey, girl,” he said.

“Hey, boy,” she said back. “What are you doing?”

“Watching TV,” Kopriva said. “Doing sit-ups during the commercials.”

“How many?”

“Just twenty-five.”

“Per commercial?”

He laughed. “Per break. And I’m starting to hate advertisers,” he said.

Katie laughed back. “Well, keep it up. I like those tummy muscles.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What are you watching?”

“Clint Eastwood.”

“Which?”

“The Outlaw Josey Wales,” Kopriva answered.

“Is that the one where he’s in Mexico?”

“No. It’s the one where he’s the outlaw after the Civil War.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen it.”

“Yeah, you have. We rented it back before Christmas. It’s the one where he shoots the rope on the ferry.”

“Oh, yeah. With the carpetbagger guy.”

“Exactly. What are you doing?”

“I am on routine patrol,” she said, quoting an inside joke they shared.

“How is it?”

She thought she could hear a tinge of envy in his voice.

“It’s slow,” she told him, even though it hadn’t been. “But it’s my Friday.”

“That’s great. You want to do something after I get off work tomorrow?”

Katie smiled coyly. “Yes.”

He seemed to sense her smile in the tone of her voice. “You’re a naughty girl, MacLeod.”

“Shhhhh. This is a cell phone. People will hear. The secret will get out.”

“It’s safe with me,” Kopriva said. “You want me to come over after I finish with another one hundred boring and pointless phone calls?”

“That bad, huh?”

“Either it’s a crap lead or it’s someone trying to cash in on a reward.”

“Is there a reward?”

“Not that I know of. But that doesn’t stop them from trying to cash in.”

Katie shook her head in disgust. “Nothing like a little personal tragedy to bring out the vultures.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Anyway, I can come by around five-thirty, if you want,” Kopriva said.

“I’ve got a subpoena to court for tomorrow,” Katie told him. “I’m supposed to testify around nine. So I’ll probably go home and sleep after that. Why don’t I just meet you at your place?”

“I’ll have to clean,” he joked.

“You have all night,” she teased back.

There was an eruption of gunfire in the background on Kopriva’s end.

“What was that?”

“A couple of trappers just tried to kill Josey Wales.”

“Oh. I assume they failed.”

“To hell with them fellers,” Kopriva quoted in a barely passable Clint Eastwood imitation. “Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.”

“Baker-126, Baker-124, for an alarm,” Katie’s radio chirped.

She reached for the mike and answered up.

“I gotta go, Stef,” she said into the cell phone. “They’re sending me on a call.”

“Be safe.”

“See you, babe.” She hung up as the dispatcher chattered out the details of the call.

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