On the Grind (2009) by Stephen - Scully 08 Cannell Page A
Authors: Stephen - Scully 08 Cannell
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Mayor Bratano and these crooked cops."
I stood there trying to sort out my mixed feelings. Finally, I said, "Is there anybody on the job down here I can look to for help or is the whole damn department in the cafeteria line?"
"There's one Hispanic officer, Oscar Juarez. He's a clean-cut kid. Most of the cops I've got are rejects from other departments who can't get employment elsewhere. Juarez started out here because he was born here. He seems to be heading in the other direction. He's applying to departments all over Southern California. So him, maybe. One other thing. His second cousin is Anita Juarez."
"Who's that?"
"She's a reporter on the Courier and Rocky Chacon's current girlfriend." That helped to explain the great press he was getting from that paper, not that he needed much help.
"What about his lawyer, Carmen Ramirez? It looked to me at the jail like that was more than just professional."
"If Rocky has a personal shortcoming, its women," Ross said. "He goes through a lot of them. He's left a trail of broken hearts. Anita is his current squeeze and her second cousin is Oscar Juarez. It might mean something. I don't know."
We stood in awkward silence, still studying each other. Then he asked, "You got anything concrete to give me? Something that could actually serve as evidence?"
I knew it was foolish to hold back on him, especially since he was the one who had arranged to put me undercover in the first place, but some part of me, some cop instinct, told me he might have an ulterior motive. If he wasn't just trying to carry out his original threat from ten years ago, maybe he needed me to cover his ass in case the FBI ever came against him, as they had with his predecessor, Charles Le Grande.
I decided not to tell him about the envelope with eighty bucks in towing kickbacks that I'd turned over to Agent Love for fingerprinting, or about Alonzo's scam of switching out the tags on the COz bottles at Mama's, or that the assault on Rocky in our I-room was really an attempted murder, which I couldn't prove anyway because it would come down to Alonzo's word against mine.
Instead I said, "I'm just working into it with Sergeant Bell."
"I'll check in with you later."
"Don't do it this way next time. Get a message to me. Set up a meet somewhere, outside where I can see it coming."
He nodded and walked to the door, but he stopped again before opening it. "I guess all this attitude is about what I yelled at you in the Parker Center garage all those years ago. You probably still think I've got it in for you."
"You said you were gonna see me dead, no matter how long it took. Hard to forget stuff like that."
"I was drunk. I was losing it. That's not me anymore. This isn't gonna work unless you start trusting me, Shane."
"Hey, Rick, you think I'd be down here at all if I didn't trust you?"
"I got eyes, man. You think I'm dirty. It's all over your face. But I've changed."
"The new Ricky Ross."
"Maybe that's your character flaw," he said, smiling slightly. "You lack the ability to forgive."
"Look around you, Rick. Lack of forgiveness is a big Haven Park problem. I'm just trying to stay alive in this fucked-up place."
"Good luck with that," he said, then turned and left.
Ten minutes later, I'd loaded everything in my bag and was checking out. I needed to find a better place to live.
I also needed to set up my meeting with Sammy from Miami. I was running out of time and my nerves were rattling like dice in a tin cup.
Chapter 19
I ended up at the Bicycle Club Casino Hotel in Vista. The hotel favored southwestern colors and somebody had decorated my room in a weird mixture of tan and orange-peach colors. But the space was clean and the room service fast. I also liked the fact that there were a lot of hotel cops as well as closed-circuit video in the casino and hotel corridors.
Of course, I knew that for the right price anyone could be bought off, including the plastic badges who worked hotel security, but its
I stood there trying to sort out my mixed feelings. Finally, I said, "Is there anybody on the job down here I can look to for help or is the whole damn department in the cafeteria line?"
"There's one Hispanic officer, Oscar Juarez. He's a clean-cut kid. Most of the cops I've got are rejects from other departments who can't get employment elsewhere. Juarez started out here because he was born here. He seems to be heading in the other direction. He's applying to departments all over Southern California. So him, maybe. One other thing. His second cousin is Anita Juarez."
"Who's that?"
"She's a reporter on the Courier and Rocky Chacon's current girlfriend." That helped to explain the great press he was getting from that paper, not that he needed much help.
"What about his lawyer, Carmen Ramirez? It looked to me at the jail like that was more than just professional."
"If Rocky has a personal shortcoming, its women," Ross said. "He goes through a lot of them. He's left a trail of broken hearts. Anita is his current squeeze and her second cousin is Oscar Juarez. It might mean something. I don't know."
We stood in awkward silence, still studying each other. Then he asked, "You got anything concrete to give me? Something that could actually serve as evidence?"
I knew it was foolish to hold back on him, especially since he was the one who had arranged to put me undercover in the first place, but some part of me, some cop instinct, told me he might have an ulterior motive. If he wasn't just trying to carry out his original threat from ten years ago, maybe he needed me to cover his ass in case the FBI ever came against him, as they had with his predecessor, Charles Le Grande.
I decided not to tell him about the envelope with eighty bucks in towing kickbacks that I'd turned over to Agent Love for fingerprinting, or about Alonzo's scam of switching out the tags on the COz bottles at Mama's, or that the assault on Rocky in our I-room was really an attempted murder, which I couldn't prove anyway because it would come down to Alonzo's word against mine.
Instead I said, "I'm just working into it with Sergeant Bell."
"I'll check in with you later."
"Don't do it this way next time. Get a message to me. Set up a meet somewhere, outside where I can see it coming."
He nodded and walked to the door, but he stopped again before opening it. "I guess all this attitude is about what I yelled at you in the Parker Center garage all those years ago. You probably still think I've got it in for you."
"You said you were gonna see me dead, no matter how long it took. Hard to forget stuff like that."
"I was drunk. I was losing it. That's not me anymore. This isn't gonna work unless you start trusting me, Shane."
"Hey, Rick, you think I'd be down here at all if I didn't trust you?"
"I got eyes, man. You think I'm dirty. It's all over your face. But I've changed."
"The new Ricky Ross."
"Maybe that's your character flaw," he said, smiling slightly. "You lack the ability to forgive."
"Look around you, Rick. Lack of forgiveness is a big Haven Park problem. I'm just trying to stay alive in this fucked-up place."
"Good luck with that," he said, then turned and left.
Ten minutes later, I'd loaded everything in my bag and was checking out. I needed to find a better place to live.
I also needed to set up my meeting with Sammy from Miami. I was running out of time and my nerves were rattling like dice in a tin cup.
Chapter 19
I ended up at the Bicycle Club Casino Hotel in Vista. The hotel favored southwestern colors and somebody had decorated my room in a weird mixture of tan and orange-peach colors. But the space was clean and the room service fast. I also liked the fact that there were a lot of hotel cops as well as closed-circuit video in the casino and hotel corridors.
Of course, I knew that for the right price anyone could be bought off, including the plastic badges who worked hotel security, but its
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