and I had to come up with a way to do it fast.
At end-of-watch I loitered in front of my locker waiting for Alonzo. I figured I might buy him a few drinks at A Fuego and try to smooth all of this over, but I didn't see him. Somebody on the day watch finally told me Sergeant Bell had left Haven Park to see some people up in L . A .
I grabbed my jacket and walked to my car in the parking area next to the school. I got in and pulled out, heading to the Haven Park Inn, where I was still registered.
I was tired and angry as I climbed the stairs to the second level. My lip was killing me and my nose was swelling. I knew I'd probably wake up tomorrow with two giant shiners. I unlocked the door and entered.
The lights were off, but as I dropped my jacket on a chair, I knew instantly someone was inside the room. I spun and snatched my backup Smith & Wesson .38 out of the clamshell holster at the small of my back, extending the titanium AirLight in the direction my senses told me the danger was. I almost fired. But at the last instant some instinct stopped me. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a man in silhouette sitting calmly across the room from me.
"Don't shoot," he said lazily. "I give."
It was Rick Ross. He was wearing a blue windbreaker, tennis shoes and khakis from the Gap. A Dodgers ball cap was pulled down over thinning blond hair.
"You just break in here?" I said, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. "What the hells wrong with you?"
"We need to talk."
I was still trying to get my heart rate to slow. I didn't like Ross. I certainly didn't trust him. I hated that he thought he could just break into my room uninvited.
"I don't want you in here without asking me first."
"It's such a palace," he quipped, looking around. "I can certainly understand why you'd feel that way."
"Don't do it again. I was less than a second away from shooting you."
He stood and moved up to where I was standing. "You forget I rode with you for six months in the Valley. You aren't a shoot-firs t g uy"
"What do you want?" I asked, still surging with wasted adrenaline.
"Brief me," he said, treating it as an order. "Let's go. I want to hear what you got. I don't have much time."
"You might want to slow your roll, Rick. I don't work for you. I'm here to help you if I can, but don't get the dimensions of this arrangement stacked up wrong."
"You're riding with Alonzo Bell," he pushed. "Start with that. Bell's a violent officer."
"I knew him from the job in L . A . Ran into him when I first got here. Since he's our day watch sergeant it actually worked out pretty well. Bell was a good shortcut."
"I hear you're on the pad with the Avilas."
"If you know all this, why did you break in here?"
We stood in silence looking across two feet of mud-brown carpet. I didn't want to tell Rick Ross anything.
"The jail sergeant called me this afternoon," Ross said. "He told me you and Bell shut down Mama's Casita on fire regs, busted Rocky Chacon for verbal assault and then got him for battery in an I-room."
"Pretty much what happened."
"Whose brain-dead idea was that?"
"Alonzo's," I said angrily. "He didn't exactly think it through."
Rick Ross hadn't changed much physically and maybe that's why I felt he hadn't changed emotionally. He was still a very twitchy guy who sent a strange vibe. "Alonzo's already leaked the I-room tape to the press," I added.
"What the fuck for?" Ross snapped. "That isn't gonna help put Chacon out of business. It's just gonna make him stronger, more of a hero down here."
All my warning buzzers were going off. If Rick Ross was on the level with me and was really trying to clean up Haven Park, then he should want Rocky to win the election.
"What do you want from me?" I said. "I can't control Alonzo. He's not real bright."
"You got anything else?"
"What's with this gang problem you've got? How come the South Side Crips ar e moving back in?"
"I'll deal with the Compton Crips," he said. "You're here to put the hat on
At end-of-watch I loitered in front of my locker waiting for Alonzo. I figured I might buy him a few drinks at A Fuego and try to smooth all of this over, but I didn't see him. Somebody on the day watch finally told me Sergeant Bell had left Haven Park to see some people up in L . A .
I grabbed my jacket and walked to my car in the parking area next to the school. I got in and pulled out, heading to the Haven Park Inn, where I was still registered.
I was tired and angry as I climbed the stairs to the second level. My lip was killing me and my nose was swelling. I knew I'd probably wake up tomorrow with two giant shiners. I unlocked the door and entered.
The lights were off, but as I dropped my jacket on a chair, I knew instantly someone was inside the room. I spun and snatched my backup Smith & Wesson .38 out of the clamshell holster at the small of my back, extending the titanium AirLight in the direction my senses told me the danger was. I almost fired. But at the last instant some instinct stopped me. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a man in silhouette sitting calmly across the room from me.
"Don't shoot," he said lazily. "I give."
It was Rick Ross. He was wearing a blue windbreaker, tennis shoes and khakis from the Gap. A Dodgers ball cap was pulled down over thinning blond hair.
"You just break in here?" I said, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. "What the hells wrong with you?"
"We need to talk."
I was still trying to get my heart rate to slow. I didn't like Ross. I certainly didn't trust him. I hated that he thought he could just break into my room uninvited.
"I don't want you in here without asking me first."
"It's such a palace," he quipped, looking around. "I can certainly understand why you'd feel that way."
"Don't do it again. I was less than a second away from shooting you."
He stood and moved up to where I was standing. "You forget I rode with you for six months in the Valley. You aren't a shoot-firs t g uy"
"What do you want?" I asked, still surging with wasted adrenaline.
"Brief me," he said, treating it as an order. "Let's go. I want to hear what you got. I don't have much time."
"You might want to slow your roll, Rick. I don't work for you. I'm here to help you if I can, but don't get the dimensions of this arrangement stacked up wrong."
"You're riding with Alonzo Bell," he pushed. "Start with that. Bell's a violent officer."
"I knew him from the job in L . A . Ran into him when I first got here. Since he's our day watch sergeant it actually worked out pretty well. Bell was a good shortcut."
"I hear you're on the pad with the Avilas."
"If you know all this, why did you break in here?"
We stood in silence looking across two feet of mud-brown carpet. I didn't want to tell Rick Ross anything.
"The jail sergeant called me this afternoon," Ross said. "He told me you and Bell shut down Mama's Casita on fire regs, busted Rocky Chacon for verbal assault and then got him for battery in an I-room."
"Pretty much what happened."
"Whose brain-dead idea was that?"
"Alonzo's," I said angrily. "He didn't exactly think it through."
Rick Ross hadn't changed much physically and maybe that's why I felt he hadn't changed emotionally. He was still a very twitchy guy who sent a strange vibe. "Alonzo's already leaked the I-room tape to the press," I added.
"What the fuck for?" Ross snapped. "That isn't gonna help put Chacon out of business. It's just gonna make him stronger, more of a hero down here."
All my warning buzzers were going off. If Rick Ross was on the level with me and was really trying to clean up Haven Park, then he should want Rocky to win the election.
"What do you want from me?" I said. "I can't control Alonzo. He's not real bright."
"You got anything else?"
"What's with this gang problem you've got? How come the South Side Crips ar e moving back in?"
"I'll deal with the Compton Crips," he said. "You're here to put the hat on
Similar Books
