At Their Own Game (23 page)

She didn’t answer right away and I knew why. She damn well knew I was right.
 

“My only hope,” I said, “was to show you the truth. Let you see and hear it for yourselves. Then I knew you’d work the case, or at least there’d be too much evidence for SPD not to.”
 

Lauridsen eyed me with disdain. “Well, congratulations. You have officially succeeded in putting me and my detachment right in the middle of your little soap opera.”
 

“At least I’m safe, though, right?”
 

Lauridsen didn’t answer. She stood up and turned around. “Debrief him,” she told Manning on her way out the door. “And then get him the hell out of my squad.”
 

She let the door slam shut behind her.
 

Manning let out a weary sigh. He settled into the seat across from me. Without ceremony, he opened his file folder and clicked his pen.
 

“Do you actually know the drug dealer you identified as Ozzy?”
 

“I know there’s some guy that goes by that name who slings meth in Spokane,” I said. “But I’ve never met him.”
 

Manning made a note. “Detective Falkner claims you deal in stolen property. Is there any validity to his claim?”
 

“None.”
 

“So he just made it up out of thin air?”
 

“Mostly.”
 

“If I get his case file and start following up on it, what am I going to find?”
 

“Look,” I said. “I buy and sell stuff on Craigslist and eBay. I’m good at it. I scratch out a living doing it. I’m
sure that, occasionally, some of the stuff that crosses my hands is stolen. That’s just the odds of it all, right? But I wouldn’t know it, and I certainly don’t engage it.”
 

“Pawn shops have been saying that same thing for decades.”
 

I shrugged. “Well, I can see where someone could draw their own conclusions about it, if that’s what they want to see.”
 

“Detective Falkner says—”
 

“Detective Falkner has a case of the red ass for me because I used to sleep with his wife. Because she did things with me she wouldn’t do with him. You get my meaning?”
 

He paused. “I think so.”
 

“Well, that can drive a man crazy. And apparently that is what has happened with Detective Falkner. It drove him so crazy that he’s abused his position and his power to lob baseless allegations at me in order to get revenge.”
 

Manning didn’t answer.
 

I went for one more at-bat. “When all of this is said and done, believe me, Detective Manning, I will sue the city for seven figures. And I’ll win, too.”
 

Manning watched me. He’d stopped taking notes. Finally, he put his pen down. “You used to be a cop, right?”
 

“I did.”
 

“So tell me something, cop to cop, okay?”
 

“Sure.”
 

“Are you telling me the truth?”
 

“Yes,” I said without hesitation.
 

“And he’s really doing all of this over a woman?”
 

“Yes.”
 

He was quiet another moment. Then he said, “Seems shaky to me, is all.”
 

“You should meet the woman,” I told him. “Then you’d understand.”
 

Manning considered that, then shrugged. He kept me busy answering some perfunctory questions for another thirty minutes. He told me I was probably going to be charged with the gross misdemeanor of Making a False Statement. I figured as much. I also figured that I’d have very little difficulty convincing at least one of twelve jurors that I did it to save my own skin because I was so scared of one crazy detective.
 

When he finished with his questions, Manning walked me to the door. I stepped through, then stopped.
 

“My car is still at the factory,” I said. “I need a ride.”
 

“Your car has been impounded as evidence,” Manning said.
 

“Evidence of what?”
 

Manning just stared at me. Then he said, “You have a phone, right?”
 

I tapped my pocket. It was still there. “Yeah.”
 

“Then call a taxi.”
 

He pulled the door shut with a resounding click.  
 

TWENTY-FOUR
 

The next time I heard a door click shut, it was Helen’s hotel room door closing behind me. She was all over me, squeezing and kissing and asking a hundred questions all at once.
 

After a few moments I took her by the hand and stopped her.
 

“What’s wrong?”
 

“Nothing,” I said. “There’s nothing that I’d rather do more than lose a couple of hours with you here. But I don’t have that luxury. Things are moving too quickly.”
 

“But you said on the phone that you were safe. That it worked.”
 

“The part with Falkner worked,” I said darkly. “And I figured out who’s loyal to me and who’s not.”
 

She gave me a strange look. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound like that before.”
 

“Like what?”
 

“So…dead. So scary.”
 

“I’m not trying to be scary. Just practical. I have more business to attend to. I only came by to see you for a minute, and to show you I was safe.”
 

She drew me in for another embrace. “I’m glad you’re safe.” She hugged me quietly for a long moment. Then she added, “You should let me help you with whatever you have left to do.”
 

“No,” I said firmly. “I’ll come for you after.”
 

“Jake, I can –”
 

“I said no!” I snapped at her.
 

She recoiled from the words and fell silent.
 

“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. “I didn’t mean to yell.”
 

She shrugged. “I just want to help.”
 

“And I just want you to be safe. Goddamnit, we’ve been through this once already.”
 

“No,” Helen said. “You’ve had your say once already but we have definitely not settled this.”
 

“What do you want, Helen? You want to go along with me while guys try to kill me? While cops try to arrest me? You want to be part of fighting back against that?”
 

“Yes,” she breathed. “I want to be with
you
.”
 

I shook my head. “Not right now. Not until this is over. Meanwhile, did you call your friend in Arizona?”
 

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. He’s willing to be our supplier.”
 

“What’s the deal?”
 

“We still have to meet with him and pass his smell test.”
 

“
Smell
test?  What the hell is that?”
 

“He said he wanted to make sure you didn’t still smell like bacon.”
 

“What the fuck, Helen?”
 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just his way of saying he has to meet you and make a final decision about whether he wants to go through with the deal.”
 

“Fine. But did you discuss details?”
 

She nodded. “The price of the product fluctuates, as you might imagine. But he’ll wholesale it to us at a price that will allow us to triple our money.”
 

An ironic smile sprang to my lips.
 

“What?” she asked, looking slightly perplexed. “Is that funny somehow?”
 

“No. But tripling our investment is what got us doing business with Ozzy, too.”
 

“Arturo is no Ozzy,” Helen said. “Or, rather, Ozzy is no Arturo.”
 

“Fine. What else?”
 

“Arturo guarantees the shipment and the quality. And early on, if we need it, he’ll rent us some enforcers.”
 

I thought about that. “We’ll see. But call him back and accept the terms. And set up a time for us to meet him within the next week or so.”
 

“Here, or in Phoenix?”
 

“I’m thinking he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t go to people. He’s probably used to people coming to him. Besides, some sunshine might be nice.”
 

“All right. I’ll do it, Jake. But...”
 

I raised my fingers to her lips. “No buts. This is how it has to be. I am going to finish this. Give me six hours, then I’ll meet you back at my place. It’ll be over, and then we’re going to start a new chapter together, you and me.”
 

“Partners?” she asked.
 

“Absolutely. And all those nice things you got used to down in Phoenix, you’re going to have them here, too.”
 

She smiled warmly at me. “Six hours.”
 

“Six hours,” I agreed.
 

“Okay. But be careful out there.”
 

I chuckled, but she didn’t get the unintentional reference to Hill Street Blues that she’d just made. So I kissed her lightly on her confused mouth, then a little harder, and that took all the confusion out of it.
 

TWENTY-FIVE
 

I took Helen’s rental car and drove to one of my storage units. On the way, I kept watching for any kind of a tail. I didn’t know who I was most worried about. Falkner was likely in jail or tied up with administrative matters either with the Staties or down at the PD. But he might be able to reach out with just a phone call.
 

I knew Ozzy could. Still, I couldn’t think of why he’d care enough about me at this point to have me followed.
 

I wondered briefly if Manning’s curiosity or Lauridsen’s anger at me was enough to merit keeping tabs on me. I doubted it.
 

Plus, I was in a rental car that no one would be familiar with.
 

I told myself all of this as I drove. But I still watched for a tail, and I still took the most circuitous route possible to the storage facility.
 

In the end, I chalked it up to me being somewhere between paranoid and careful.
 

I figured it wasn’t a bad place to be these days.
 

At the storage unit, I slid the door up, stepped inside and hit the light switch. Then I lowered the door immediately. The eight by sixteen chamber was filled with stacks gaming consoles, stereo equipment, three lawn mowers, two snow blowers, power tools, hand tools, and boxes full of miscellaneous items.
 

I found a good shovel and set it by the door. Then I went to the pile of boxes. I lifted the top one and reversed the stack until I got to the bottom box.
 

When I opened it, two other boxes were inside. One was a large wooden box where I kept jewelry. It was always good to leak those items out slowly in ones and twos, and preferably out of the area.
 

The other box was made of hard plastic. I removed it, flipped the latch, and stared down at the compact prize inside.
 

After he didn’t answer the first time, I knocked on Matt’s back door even harder the second time. I pounded against the wooden door with the heel of my hand relentlessly, calling out his name. The glass in the small window panes rattled with each blow.
 

When he finally answered, his hair was askew and he was shirtless. The jeans he’d probably just pulled on were still unfastened.
 

“You busy?” I asked.
 

He rubbed his eyes. “Busy sleeping.”
 

“I thought I had you on a mission.”
 

He squinted. “Mission?”
 

“To figure out how we’re going to handle the Brent situation.”
 

“Oh.” He rubbed his eyes again. “Yeah, well, uh, I was meditating on that, you know?”
 

I brushed past him and into the kitchen. “You got a girl here?”
 

“No, not since…” he shrugged, then said, “No.”
 

“Good.” I looked around the kitchen and spotted his wallet and cell phone on the counter. “That’s one less thing to worry about, then. Get dressed.”
 

Matt nodded and slipped out of the kitchen. A few moments later, I could hear thumping from his bedroom as he looked for clothes.
 

“What’s up, Boss?”
 

“Well, seeing as how you haven’t come up with a master plan, I took it upon myself to figure something out.”
 

There was a pause, then he said, “Uh, what?”
 

“I’ll tell you later. Get dressed.”
 

“I am getting dressed.”
 

“No, you’re standing in your bedroom, half-dressed and listening to me because you can’t fucking multi-task. Now put your clothes on.”
 

There was a moment of silence and then the thumping renewed. A couple of minutes later, Matt returned to the kitchen, wearing a T-shirt and an unbuttoned long sleeve shirt. The laces of his work boots were still untied.
 

He sat down at the kitchen table and went to work on the laces. When he looked up at me and opened his mouth to speak, I held up my hand.
 

“Do me a favor and just shut up. I’ll explain everything once we’re set up. But this isn’t easy for me, and I don’t want to dwell on it, okay?”
 

A shadow passed over his features. He swallowed, and nodded. “Yeah, okay, Boss. Sure thing.”
 

“Good.”