Small Crimes (33 page)

'What
do you mean?'

'Why
do you want to do this?'

'Because
I was a lousy cop,' I said. 'I want to make amends for all the years I let
people down.' "That's bullshit.'

'Not
completely,' I said. 'Maybe that's not the whole reason, but it's a good part
of it.'

Her
lips almost disappeared as they pulled into a thin smile.

She
asked, 'What are you really after - hurting Vassey
or
some of
your fellow cops?'

'Neither.
And I don't have any fellow cops anymore. I haven't had any for almost eight
years.'

'Does
this have anything to with the fact that you've obviously been beaten up
recently?'

I
shook my head. Absolutely nothing at all to do with that. And I wasn't beaten
up. All that happened was I walked into a tree. At least, that's my story.'

That
made her lips pull up a little higher. As she smiled, I couldn't help noticing
how pointy her canines were.

'Can
I call you Joe?' she asked.

'Sure.'

'What's
the urgency, Joe? Why does this have to be broadcast tonight?'

'Does
it matter? I'm handing you the story of the year for your station. And you'll
end up having dozens more breaking from this one.'

'It
matters. I don't like being used,' she said.

'Everything
I've said about Vassey and his son is true. So do you want this or not?'

For
a moment I thought she was going to tell me to go screw myself, and I think she
surprised herself even more that she didn't. Instead, her smile faded from her
face, and she nodded slowly. I guess she wanted the story more than the
satisfaction of telling me what I could do with myself.

'If
you're lying about any of this, I'm going to make your life a living hell,' she
said.

All
I could think was, you and everyone else. Instead I simply shrugged. 'I'm not
lying about any of this.'

She
turned to Wolcott. 'Steven,' she told him, 'go tell Tina and Eric we have an
assignment for them.'

Wolcott
nodded, got up and left the room. As she turned back to me, she showed me her
thin smile again. The skin across her cheeks stretched tight against her face.

'The
DA in your county, Phil Coakley, the person you maimed. Tell me about that
shooting two days ago.'

'I
had nothing to do with that.'

Her
smile stretched tighter. "That's not what I asked.'

'I
also have nothing to say about that,' I said.

She
sat silently, her thin smile pulling tighter as her pale blue eyes stared at
me. I couldn't imagine her skin stretched any tighter without it ripping. I met
her stare for a while and then got tired of the whole thing.

'Look,'
I said. 'I'm going to need some paperwork guaranteeing that if what I tell you
pans out you're going to air the story tonight.'

'You'll
get the paperwork before you leave.'

The
door opened and Wolcott walked in, bringing with him a pretty blonde and a tall
skinny kid with a scraggly goatee and a matching ponytail. I recognized the
blonde from their newscasts. She looked younger in person, probably no older
than early twenties. Eileen Bracket addressed the two of them, telling them who
I was and what they'd be doing with me. The blonde was named Tina Hodges and
she forced a smile as she held out a hand to me. The skinny kid with the
ponytail, Eric, was going to be our cameraman. He kept his distance from me.

It
took an hour before I was able to get the paperwork that I wanted, and another
forty minutes after that before we got underway. We drove in one of the news
vans with Eric behind the wheel and me next to him giving directions. Other
than my pointing out where to drive nobody said a word during most of the trip.
At one point near the end, Eric asked how I broke my nose. When I didn't answer
him he shut up for good. Tina Hodges didn't make a peep from the back seat
during the ride.

We
arrived at the old tannery a little after ten
thirty.
This time
there were five cars parked alongside it. I
directed
Eric toward*
the
two dumpsters on the other side of the building.
When
we
got there, we pulled up next to them and parked.
I opened both

dumpsters and read off the labels of some of the
containers.

'All
the ingredients for crystal meth,' I said.

Eric
took his camera out and started shooting video of
what
was inside the dumpsters.

"This
is so unbelievably brazen,' he muttered. 'Just
throwing
the stuff out where anyone can get to it.'

I
said, After fifteen years of doing whatever you
want
without
any fear of the police, you get sloppy. Ready
for what
's next?'

'We're
just going to walk right in there?'

'That's
right.'

And
you don't think this is dangerous?' Tina asked,
speaking
for the first time. Her face paler than before and not
quite
as

pretty as when I had first seen her. 'I don't
think so, but we'll see.'

I
was pretty sure Junior wasn't going to have any
muscle
around. Why would he? After over fifteen years of being
left
alone, why bother? Of course, anything was possible, but
I
didn't expect to see any of his goons. We got back in the
van and drove to the front. I got out first and checked the main door and
almost broke put laughing when I found it unlocked. I signaled for the other
two to join me.

I
opened the door and led the way. I'd been in there before and knew where the
gambling operations were. I turned and could see Eric sweating as he carried
his camera. Tina looked more distant and scared with each step.

The
hallway we were in was lit by a single bulb. I took
us
down
it to the outside of the room where the
operations
used to be run
from.
I put my ear against the door and listened.
After
less than
a minute I heard a phone ringing, and then
someone talking. I checked the door. It was unlocked. I nodded to Tina and Eric
and then opened the door and walked in.

I
knew with football season underway things would be in full swing. In the middle
of the room were several chalkboards with spreads written on them. To the
right, sitting behind a long table, were three guys. They all had computers and
phones in front of them. Each of them was staring at us with total
bewilderment. One of them was on the phone and I could see his mouth drop as he
gawked at us.

'What
the hell's this!' one of them yelled. I recognized him from years ago. I
couldn't place his name but I knew he'd worked for Manny from almost the
beginning. He had always been this fat greasy slob with badly pockmarked skin.
Now he was fatter, greasier, and with worse skin. He got up and started towards
us. The other two were trying to hide from the camera.

'What
the hell all of you doing here?' he demanded. He was moving quickly, heading
towards Tina with a clenched fist. I intercepted him, spinning him around and
pushing him to the floor. He made kind of an oomph sound as he hit the deck.

'You
assholes are in trouble,' he hissed as he lay on the floor. 'Big trouble! Just
wait 'til I tell—'

I
stepped down on the back of his neck. He let out a high-pitched yelp and then
shut up.

Eric
took video of the chalkboards and moved to the two guys who were now trying to
hide behind their chairs. Tina stood frozen as she stared at me while I pressed
my foot down on the slob's neck. He squirmed red-faced on the floor as I put
more pressure on him.

'Are
you going to just stand there,' I asked, 'or are you going to do your job?'

'What
are you doing to that man?' she asked, horrified. 'Don't worry, he'll be fine.
Come on, we don't have all day.'

She
shook herself out of whatever stupor she had fallen Into and moved so she was
standing next to the chalkboards. She was still shaking, but Eric took video of
her as she pointed out the football spreads and the computers and phones on the
long table. He followed her as she moved over to the two jokers who were still
trying to hide themselves.

'Are
you under the employ of Manny Vassey Jr.?' she asked both of them.

Neither
of them said a word. They just looked like idiots as they tried to squeeze
themselves behind their chairs and out of sight of the camera.

'Are
you taking gambling bets?' she asked.

'Get
the hell out of here and leave us alone,' one of them moaned.

We
had taken enough time. I wanted to get to the crystal meth lab while we still
could. From where the dumpsters were located I had a pretty good idea where it
was. I went across the room and checked a door there and found it unlocked
also. It was so damn careless of them. I swung the door open, and sure enough
the lab was right there in plain sight. Two kids were working in it. My guess
was they were both probably chemistry majors in college. They looked annoyed
when I walked in, and then both went wide-eyed when Eric trailed behind with
his camera. Tina squeezed past Eric. She had more color in her face now.

'Who
are you guys?' one of the kids muttered.

'We're
with WVRT news,' Tina announced as she held out her microphone in their
direction. She moved towards them so Eric could take video of her sticking her
microphone inches from their faces. Are you manufacturing crystal meth here?'

'Yeah,'
one of the kids answered. He looked shell-shocked. I guess it hadn't quite
dawned on him what was happening until it was too late. When it did hit him, I
could see the color bleed out of his face.
H
^e
turned
his back to the camera, trying to shield himself from view. His friend was
already covering his face with his shirt.

'Are you working for Manny Vassey Jr.?' Tina asked.

'Leave me alone,' he begged.

'Can you please answer my question?'

He didn't move or say a word.

I looked out the door and could see one of the
guys talking frantically on the phone. I grabbed Tina by the arm. 'Let's get
out of here,' I said. 'I'd like to ask them more questions,’

‘We better get out now.'

She
was going to argue with me, but I swung her towards the door and something about
the look on my face told her she'd better listen. Eric followed, muttering to
himself how unbelievable the whole thing was.

The
slob had picked himself off the floor and was standing off to the side,
glowering at us as we passed by. I should've paid him more attention. All of a
sudden I heard Eric yell out. I turned and saw the slob trying to wrestle the
camera away from him. I moved fast, got behind the slob, and pushed my foot
hard into the back of his knee, and at the same time dug my forearm into his
throat and twisted my body. His face turned purple and he let go of the camera
so he could claw frantically at my arm. I let go of him and he tumbled to the
floor, gasping for air.

All
three of us got out of there then, with me trailing behind to make sure none of
the jokers we
¹
were leaving tried any more tricks. By the time we
got outside both Tina and Eric were giggling, more from nerves than anything
else.

I
got behind the wheel this time and told Eric I'd drive. He didn't seem to mind.
He was still shaking from the adrenalin rush of the last few minutes.

'That
was, what can I say, fucking unbelievable,' he said, his body still shaking.
'It sure beats shooting video of foliage or a moose wandering around downtown
Burlington. Damn, I felt like a real newsman in there.'