An Honorable Man

by Margaret Watson

  As he moved through the empty, dimly lit building he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. Dropping to one knee and spinning to face it, he pulled out his gun with a fluid motion and aimed it with a steady hand.

  No one shouted at him and no shots cracked the silence of the empty warehouse. Focusing hard, he finally realized that what he’d seen was the flapping of a sheet covering something on the far side of the building. Easing his gun back into his holster, he walked quickly over to inspect it.

  A pile of boxes stood under a white sheet, and when he threw the sheet back, his lips tightened at the words stenciled on the sides of the four boxes. If they were labeled correctly, they contained automatic weapons. He’d heard about a theft of these guns from a local warehouse. They’d become the weapons of choice for many drug dealers, but he hadn’t thought the Demons were that sophisticated.

  Apparently the Demons were moving up in the world. Dropping the sheet back over the boxes, he hoped grimly that after tonight those weapons would be going nowhere except to an evidence room. Backing away from the boxes of guns, he noted another door behind them big enough to accommodate a truck and a smaller door in the third wall of the building. Two separate telephones hung on the back wall, their newness in sharp contrast to the decay around him.

  The Demons had a nice little setup here. In this neighborhood, they could come and go and no one would call the police if they saw lights where there weren’t supposed to be any. Everyone minded his own business in this neck of the woods.

  There was no way he was going to be able to do this by himself, he realized grimly. There were too many ways in and out of the building, and too many places for the gang members to hide. He had no choice. He’d have to call the captain and have him send some men over. He had no time to come up with an alternate plan.

  Hurrying to one of the telephones, he dialed the precinct and in a low voice asked for the captain. Thank God he was still there. In a terse voice, he outlined what was going on and gave the older man the names of the men he thought were involved.

  “Thanks, McKinley,” Captain Lewis said, exhaling quickly. The man sounded edgy. “I’d heard rumors, but no one seemed to know anything concrete. I’ll get right on it.”

  “They’re supposed to meet here at ten o’clock, so wait a while before you come in. They may not start on time.”

  “I’ve been doing this for a while, McKinley. I think I can manage.” The captain’s voice was sharp. “Now get out of there. We don’t need any civilians screwing things up.”

  “No thanks, captain. I think I’ll stick around.” He hung the phone up slowly, disturbed by what he’d heard in the older man’s voice. Captain Lewis hadn’t seemed too surprised when he’d told him the names of the men involved. Was it because he already knew? And did he know because he was getting a cut of whatever they made?

  There was no way he was leaving this place until every one of those cops and every one of the gang members was under lock and key, even if he had to do it himself. Grimly assessing the warehouse, he decided that the best place to hide was behind the piles of boxes that stood along one wall. Glancing at his watch and noting that it was almost nine o’clock already, he slipped between the rows and found a place to sit. As he waited in the silence broken only by the occasional car passing on the street, he watched the shadows of the warehouse as night gradually descended outside.

  No more than a half hour later he became aware that he wasn’t alone in the building. He hadn’t heard any of the doors open, but he felt air currents that shouldn’t have been swirling through the closed building pass over his face. Moving slowly, he raised his hand to the handle of his gun and let it rest there while he strained to listen in the inky blackness that had enveloped the warehouse.

  Something scrabbled against the concrete floor on his right side, and he jerked his gun out of his holster and waited for whoever was there to come into view. There was a scraping sound next to one of the boxes directly in front of him, and the next second something small and light colored twined itself around his ankles.

  A cat. Closing his eyes, he shoved his gun back into his holster, hearing the rasp of metal against leather as it slid home. He’d been spooked by a damned cat. Leaning down, he tried to shove the thing away from him, but the animal apparently had decided that Luke was his friend and wouldn’t leave. Bending over to give it another push, he saw a pair of expensive Italian loafers on the floor in front of him and slowly straightened.

  Chapter 15

  “Don’t even think about going for your gun, Luke.” Eddie’s voice echoed hollowly through the cavernous building. “Just stand up nice and straight and put your hands on your head.”

  Slowly raising his hands, Luke tried to look behind his ex-partner to determine the odds.

  Eddie set his flashlight on one of the boxes next to them, casting a dim, shadowy illumination over the area surrounding them. “There isn’t anyone else here, Luke, if that’s what you’re wondering about. I clean up my own messes.” His voice hardened. “But before I do, I want to know how you found out about us. Was it that bitch from Internal Affairs?”

  Luke clenched his jaw at Eddie’s reference to Julia and stared at his ex-partner with hard eyes. “Do you see her anywhere? If it was Internal Affairs, don’t you think they’d be here?” He allowed himself to smile coolly at Eddie. “Internal Affairs cleans up their own messes, too. No, this one is strictly personal.”

  “You always were distressingly straight, Luke. You cramped my style for a long time when we were partners.” Even in the dim light Luke could see Eddie’s mouth harden. “But you were too straight for your own good. I laughed myself silly the day I testified against you at that hearing. I’d been looking for a way to get rid of you for months, and you handed it to me on a silver platter.”

  For a moment, Luke allowed the rage to burn through him. He tensed his muscles, prepared to spring at Eddie. Then he saw the expectant light in Eddie’s eyes. His old partner was waiting for him to do just that.

  Slowly he forced the rage back into its hiding place, deep in his soul. He wasn’t going to give his old partner any convenient excuses to kill him. If Eddie pulled that trigger, it was going to have to be in cold blood.

  “So when did this all start, Eddie?” He rocked back on his heels and spoke in a conversational voice, never taking his eyes off the man with the gun.

  Eddie’s eyes narrowed, and Luke saw his hand tighten around the handle of the gun. Then he shrugged and gave Luke a cold smile. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. You’re history, McKinley. You might as well know what you missed out on.”

  Ignoring the taunt, Luke shifted closer to the boxes, speaking as he moved. “Is this just your game, Eddie, or are there other guys involved?”

  “If you knew enough to be here, Luke, you know I’m not the only one. But I’m the one that makes the decisions.”

  Eddie always had been a braggart. Maybe Luke could use that trait to his advantage. “If you make the decisions, what made you pick a bunch of losers like the Demons to deal with? These guys are pathetic.”

  “Maybe they are, but they control most of the drugs coming into this part of the city.” Eddie smiled again and shrugged lightly. “It was strictly a business decision. We went where the money was.”

  Luke edged over another half step and slowly lowered his elbow until it rested on the top of one of the dusty boxes. If he got an opportunity to use his gun, he didn’t want his arm muscles trembling and weak because he’d had to hold his arms on top of his head for too long. “Tell me something, Eddie,” he asked in an even voice. “Did you even once think about the fact that what you were doing was wrong? Or does it feel good to be one of the scumbags?”

  Eddie’s face darkened and he took a step forward. Luke braced himself, watching Eddie’s eyes as he prepared to lunge to the side. Eddie raised the gun, but just as Luke was tensing his muscles to move, Eddie relaxed and lowered the gun a hair. He gave Luke a twisted smile.
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  “You’re too much of an idealist, Luke. I prefer to think of it as creative justice,” Eddie explained, waving the gun around the warehouse. “Nine guys out of ten would agree. Hell, I got seven other guys in our precinct alone to go along with me.” He stopped, realizing what he’d given away. After a moment, though, he shrugged and smiled again. The smile told Luke what Eddie had planned for him.

  “I only did what anyone else would have done under the circumstances,” he continued. “The department doesn’t pay us enough to live on, and they expect us to risk our necks every day.”

  “They never told us anything different than that when we signed up to do this job, Eddie,” Luke answered softly. Tomorrow, he knew, he would grieve for the man who used to be his friend. Right now, he just wanted to figure out a way to get out of this warehouse alive. He thanked God he’d sent Julia home with Piotyr, that he hadn’t led her into this.

  “You call this creative justice?” he asked, his voice echoing in the darkness. “These people are killing kids every day, Eddie. Where’s the justice in that?”

  Eddie scowled. “Who gives a damn if a bunch of drug dealers knock each other off? Makes our jobs easier. Besides, we’ve gotten a lot of them off the streets.”

  “I’ll bet that doesn’t go over real big with your buddies the Demons,” Luke mocked.

  “It’s part of the deal and the Demons know it.” Eddie’s voice was matter-of-fact. “For every load we let them deliver, we arrest a few of the low-level dealers.” He flashed his brilliant smile at Luke. “That’s what I mean by creative justice. We’re rounding up more of the dealers now than we ever have before.”

  “Is that how you’ve managed to avoid being caught until now, Eddie?” Luke felt sick to his stomach. The arrest statistics had actually been protecting Eddie and his buddies, but thank God Julia had been smart enough to see beyond them. “Pick up enough of the expendable kids, and no one will wonder why you never make the big bust?”

  “You got it, pal. We’ve been doing a public service here. Have you seen my statistics?” he asked with pride in his voice. “Since you left and I haven’t had to work behind your back, we’ve put away dozens of these guys. We cleaned up the streets and made some money for ourselves doing it. It’s been the best of all possible worlds.”

  “But the drugs haven’t stopped coming into the neighborhoods, Eddie. The kids haven’t stopped dying. And you can arrest as many of the low-level scumballs as you want. There’s always two more to take their place. Until you get the guys in charge, nothing’s going to change.”

  “Who wants it to? Nobody’s holding a gun to people’s heads, telling them to buy the stuff. The Demons are just filling a niche. The law of supply and demand, McKinley. That’s all it is.”

  “You’re supplying death, Eddie.” Luke’s voice was hard. He didn’t care whether he made Eddie mad. He’d heard enough. “Don’t try to fool yourself. For every kid that dies of a drug overdose, you are just as liable as the Demons. More. You could stop it, but you haven’t. You choose instead to buy your big-screen televisions and your exercise equipment.”

  Luke took a breath and edged closer to the box. Eddie wasn’t smiling anymore. “Tell me, Eddie, what do you watch on that big TV? Do you watch the cop shows? You know, the ones where the bad cop is always caught in the end?” he taunted softly.

  Eddie looked at him scornfully and clicked off the safety on his gun. “No one’s going to catch me, Luke. And do you know why? Because I know you too well. You’re Mr. Big Shot, Mr. I-can-do-it-myself. You didn’t tell another damn soul about this meeting tonight.” He must have misinterpreted the flicker in Luke’s eyes, because he laughed softly. “I didn’t think so. And you know how I knew? Because that’s the way you operated when we were partners. We were partners, but somehow you always got credit for whatever happened. You were the loner, never giving anyone else the credit they deserved.”

  “Looks like I was right, doesn’t it, Eddie?”

  Something brushed against one of the boxes behind Eddie, and he tightened his hold on the gun. Luke could see that it took all his effort not to turn around and look. “Is that you, Joe?” Eddie called.

  Eddie’s voice echoed in the silence, and there was no answer from the darkness beyond them. “It’s probably that damned cat,” Luke said casually, but he strained his eyes to see behind Eddie. Nothing moved in the inky blackness.

  Eddie turned his attention back to Luke. “Do you feel like a hero, buddy?” he mocked as he raised his gun again. “Because the papers tomorrow morning are going to have a story about an ex-cop found dead in a real nasty area of town. There’s going to be a lot of speculation about why you were here, Luke. And after everything’s said and done, you’re going to look real bad.”

  “And what about you, Eddie?” Luke kept his voice steady as he concentrated on the place behind his ex-partner. Something had moved back there, something that was darker than the blackness around them. “Do you think of yourself as a hero?” He laughed harshly. “The only person you’re a hero to is the salesman who sold you all that fancy stuff you have in your house.”

  Eddie shrugged. “Like I said, I just did what anyone else would do in the same circumstances.”

  “Not a cop, Eddie.” Luke stared at his former friend, and felt a vicious kick of satisfaction when he looked away. “I know there are dirty cops, but I figure they were never real cops in the first place. Maybe other people would accept money and look the other way, but a real cop never would. Cops are held to a higher standard.” He continued to stare at Eddie as he lowered his voice. “A standard where justice is more than a word. A standard where justice actually means something besides a convenient way to justify what you’re doing.”

  “I’m touched by your high ideals, Luke. Just look where they’ve gotten you.” Eddie raised his gun to fire just as something came sailing out of the air behind him. Before he could pull the trigger, one of the dusty wooden boxes that were stacked all around them slammed into his head, knocking him to the ground at Luke’s feet.

  Luke kicked the gun out of his hand and watched it spin into the darkness between two stacks of boxes. Yanking his own gun out of his holster, he held it steady on the semiconscious man while he searched him for another weapon. Finding none, he stood up slowly and saw Julia standing in front of him.

  His heart leapt in his chest at the sight of her, then began to race. “Julia!” he whispered. “Where did you come from?”

  She stepped up into the area illuminated by the flashlight and looked down at Eddie, still sprawled on the floor. She looked back up at Luke, but it was too dark to see the expression in her eyes. “I dropped Piotyr off and came back, of course. Did you think I’d leave you here alone?”

  Joy expanded in his chest. In spite of the way he’d treated her, she’d come back.

  “This is my case,” she continued, and the joy withered to dust. “I’m going to be here to finish it.”

  “Thanks for showing up when you did.” His voice was flat. “Eddie wasn’t too happy about finding me here.”

  “So I heard.” She moved to one side and looked down at the man lying on the concrete floor. “What are we going to do with him?”

  “We’re going to tie him up, gag him, and leave him here, then get the hell out of this warehouse. I called the captain and told him to send over the troops. They’ll find him when they arrest all the others.”

  She stood gazing at him, her eyes still unreadable. Finally she said, “Is that what you were planning to do?”

  He scowled. “I was planning on busting these creeps myself. I especially wanted to watch him—” he poked Eddie with his toe “—get thrown into the wagon personally. But there’s no reason the uniforms can’t take care of it. Let’s go.”

  Slowly she shook her head. “Are you leaving because I’m here?” At his silence, her lips tightened. “Forget it, McKinley. I’m not going anywhere.” She looked at him, and for an instant the soft light of the flashlight reflecte
d off a shimmer in her eyes. “I have to stay and make sure.”

  Her voice had dropped to a whisper and he looked away, uncomfortable with the raw grief in her face. Suddenly he understood. Just as he’d had to be sure about Eddie, she had to be sure about her brother.

  And with that thought came another, even more uncomfortable one. How different was what she’d done from what he’d planned on doing? Hadn’t he taken this case thinking he’d do everything in his power to prove that Eddie wasn’t guilty?

  “Julia,” he began, turning to her impulsively.

  “Shh,” she warned, freezing. “Did you hear that?”

  There was a faint scraping sound coming from the other side of the warehouse, and Luke swore savagely to himself. It was too late to leave now, even if he wanted to. Someone was trying to open the door.

  Grabbing the flashlight Eddie had placed on top of the boxes, he switched it off and pulled Julia down next to him in the darkness. Eddie groaned once, quietly, and he could feel Julia tense next to him.

  “I’m going to gag him and tie him up,” he whispered into her ear, and he felt her nod. Her scent drifted up to him, and he had to stop himself from reaching out to touch her. Even if he hadn’t driven an insurmountable wedge between them, this wasn’t the time. If he touched her just once, he’d forget all about why they were here.

  “Do you have anything I can use?” he whispered, struggling to remove his belt.

  After a moment, he heard her barely voiced answer. “I’m wearing a bodysuit. I’ll take it off and you can use that.”

  He froze, holding the belt suspended over Eddie’s hands, and listened to the soft rustlings in the blackness. She was taking off her clothes. He couldn’t see a thing, but his imagination supplied all the details.

  After a moment, he felt a soft piece of clothing dangling over his fingers. He crushed it in his hand, trying to resist the urge to bring it to his face and inhale her essence. It was still warm from her body, and his hands began to tremble as he tightened the belt on Eddie’s hands, then used the soft cloth to tie Eddie’s feet together.