Switchblade

by Carsen Taite

  “You got somewhere you need to be? Because if it’s like the place you had to be last night, you can forget it. We’re having breakfast and then you can tell me all about what you were up to that got Nancy and Jackson shot.”

  “How are they doing?”

  “Don’t even think you can change the subject. Nancy’s fine. Bullet went straight through. Jackson’s a whole other story. Got hit in the spinal cord. They did surgery, but he’s in a coma and they don’t know if he’s ever going to wake up.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t know the guy, but I didn’t wish him any harm. Someone did though, and I found it hard to believe it had anything to do with me or the questions I wanted to ask him. “Where’s Nancy?”

  “They’re keeping her for the day. She’ll probably go home tonight or tomorrow. Why? You want to get in touch with her so you can keep your story straight?”

  I didn’t bother answering. Why had things between Jess and me gotten so contentious? Was it just the reappearance of Ronnie, or was it something else? Like my inability to say what I was really feeling, thinking? I decided to test the theory and see if things changed. “I want to tell you something, but I need you to promise you’re not going to blow up at me.”

  Jess pulled the car over into a gas station parking lot. Ever law-abiding, she parked in an actual spot, turned off the engine, and turned to me. Cash sat in the backseat, and he moved up a little and placed his head on my shoulder. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew the effect his picture-perfect handsomeness would have on Jess. She could barely hide a smile as she answered. “Okay. Spill. I promise not to get mad at you in front of your dog.”

  “I reviewed the file Moreno left for me about her brother’s case. There are a couple of fishy things about it. First off, he’d barely been promoted to vice when he’s making all these deals with established CIs. Doesn’t seem like he’d be in a position to go off on his own and set up an operation of the size he’s accused of.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  I heard a slight grating of teeth, but otherwise, her response was calm and measured. I pushed on. “Do you know who reported him to IAD?”

  She shook her head.

  I was genuinely surprised she hadn’t heard. “It was Perez.”

  Her turn to be surprised. “How would she know anything about it?”

  “She told IAD that a snitch she worked with on a homicide investigation tipped her off. I don’t buy it. Especially not when she showed up at the station last night to give me the fifth degree. If no one’s dead, then why is a homicide detective taking the lead on last night’s shooting?”

  “She was at the hospital too.” Jess wasn’t really talking to me. She was thinking out loud, and I wisely shut up and listened. “Stayed with Jackson like glue until they took him into surgery.”

  I waited to make sure she was done talking. “Okay, so what do you think that means?”

  She shook her head. “Could mean nothing, but I have to admit it is a little strange. I’ve never seen the two of them hang around together.”

  She seemed really calm and like she was actually listening to what I had to say, being kind of thoughtful about it, so I plunged ahead. “I’m supposed to meet Jorge this morning. To talk about the case.”

  “Luca, you need to stay as far away from him and this case as humanly possible.” Her voice rose with each word.

  I held up a hand and pointed at Cash. “Whatever happened to not getting mad at me in front of the dog?” Cash helped me out with a pleading look.

  “Whatever. Go meet him, see if I care. I’ll take you to your place. Whatever you do after that is your business.”

  I looked at the digital readout on her dashboard clock and did a quick calculation. It was seven forty-five. No way could we make it to my apartment and get back to the lake in fifteen minutes. But the getting to the lake in fifteen minutes part was doable if we skipped going by my place. “I kinda need a ride.” I talked real fast to squelch her protest. “Take me to the lake and drop me off. I’ll find a way home later. I’ll even check in later to let you know I made it back okay. Don’t you want to find out why Nancy got shot?”

  That last bit of play on her naturally curious mind was dirty pool, but it’s all I had. She started the engine and drove out of the lot. “I’ll take you to the lake, but I’m not dropping you off. I’m staying. I do want to know what happened to Nancy, but based on your inability to keep her out of trouble last night, I think you’re going to need some help.”

  “Wait a minute. This is my case. In case you forgot, you’re not a PI. You’re duty bound to do what some muckety-muck at DPD tells you to do, and right now, they’re trying to hang my client out to dry. Pretty sure you being anywhere near the case is a conflict.”

  “Then it looks like you’re the one who’s got a conflict. You want to meet Jorge, you take me along. You want to do this on your own, I can let you out here.”

  “Here” was a ratty part of town consisting of old warehouses and liquor stores. I wasn’t sure why Jess was being so persistent, but I’d figure out how to shake her later, after I got what I wanted. I nodded, and she drove us to the meeting place.

  Chapter Ten

  White Rock Lake was about as yuppie as I ever get. It was a haven for fitness freaks who liked to pretend they were actually in the great outdoors—a myth that was dispelled the minute you saw the downtown Dallas skyline on the horizon. Most mornings, you could find a bunch of chiseled riders on souped-up bicycles, running moms with strollers, and even a few sailboats if the wind was right. I liked it because it made me forget I lived in a crummy apartment, drove a beat-up Bronco, and wasn’t likely to ever be anything other than a bum.

  Jess pulled into the first parking lot we came to and idled the car. “Where exactly are you supposed to meet him?”

  “Tell you what. I’ll get out here and I’ll meet you at the Bath House.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’m not leaving you until you tell me where you’re meeting him.”

  Her expression was stern. She wasn’t backing down. I resorted to pleading. “Come on, Jess. You know he’s not going to talk to me with you around.”

  “Look at me. Do I look like a cop right now?” She pointed at her jeans and T-shirt. “I don’t know the guy and he doesn’t know me.”

  “Sure, not now, but he’ll eventually figure it out, and when he does…” I didn’t really know how to finish the sentence. What I wanted to say was Ronnie would be super pissed I’d brought a cop, especially Jess, to this meeting. Besides the jealous girl issue, Jorge was under indictment, and Ronnie had probably told him not to talk to law enforcement about his case. But I didn’t get the feeling Jess was here as a cop so much as she was here to make sure I didn’t get into trouble, a fact that once would have rankled. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but I knew the minute I verbalized that, she’d point out a million examples of times that hadn’t been the case. She was way better with specifics than me.

  I looked up from the conversation in my head to see her waiting. Either I came up with a good, neutral excuse to ditch her or I could give in.

  I gave in. “Come on, but no talking. You’re like my bodyguard or something. No talking. Get it?”

  She raised her hands. “Got it. You’re the boss. I’m in the background.” She drew a finger across her lips. “No talking. Got it.”

  I shot her a withering stare to let her know I knew she was mocking me. “We’re meeting him at the boat slip. Hurry, we’re running late.”

  Didn’t take long to reach the spot. I spotted Jorge the minute we pulled up, and while Jess fiddled with turning off the car, Cash and I jumped out of the car. I’d resigned myself to the fact she was coming along, but I wanted a two-second head start to keep from spooking him. He was standing at the edge of the water, tossing breadcrumbs to the birds gathered on the shore. Even from a distance, I could tell he was beat down, shoulders slumped, haggard expression. The first t
ime I’d met him, I’d known he was the type who’d be a cop for life. Well, no matter what the outcome of this investigation, he’d never be a cop again, and the realization was obviously taking a toll. Must be hard to want something so badly and lose it.

  He looked up and I ducked my head to keep from showing him the pity I felt. He called out, and Cash dashed from my side and ran over to him. Damn dog. I ran over to join them.

  “Jorge.”

  “Luca.” He bent down and rubbed Cash’s neck. “This your dog?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She’s beautiful.”

  I didn’t bother correcting gender or supplying a name. I already didn’t like that I had any feelings of pity for him. No sense making small talk. I heard footsteps behind me and remembered we did have one issue to clear up before we talked about his case. “I brought a friend. Her name’s Jess.”

  He looked over my shoulder, then back at me. “Hey, I’m barely comfortable talking to you. If I hadn’t promised Ronnie, I wouldn’t be here.”

  You and me both, brother. “Ronnie trusts me and I trust Jess. You want my help, you have to talk to both of us.”

  “You got your money, right? What’s up with setting conditions?”

  “Your rich sister can’t buy everything.” I was ready to leave. I didn’t need his help to figure out who’d set us up the night before and gotten Nancy shot, and I really didn’t need to be sassed by a loser who’d probably blown a promotion for a few bucks on the side. I whistled at Cash and started to walk away, when Jess spoke up.

  “She’s the best chance you have. You really going to blow it because you’re too proud to trust her?”

  He puffed up, but before he could say anything, I pointed to a nearby picnic table. “Let’s take it down a notch. I’m here to help you. If you want me to leave, I’m out of here, but I’m thinking you don’t have a whole lot of folks on your side right now.”

  His resistance faded away, and he followed me to the table and we all settled in.

  “Tell me about your partner, Greg Jackson.” I watched him closely to detect any sign that he knew what had happened last night.

  “He’s a decent guy, but he wasn’t big on me being assigned to him. He’d been with his old partner for years.”

  “And what happened with that?”

  “Don’t have a clue. I heard they had some kind of fight, and Davis, the other guy, asked to be transferred.”

  I resisted exchanging glances with Jess, but I filed away the bit of information for further investigation. So far, Jorge hadn’t shown any signs that he knew what had happened to Jackson last night. “You ever talk to Davis?”

  Jorge shook his head. “Never even met the guy. I hear he’s in homicide now. Went there right after he left vice.”

  A transfer was one thing, but a step up to a more elite unit was another. Cops don’t get to just pick and choose their assignments. Davis could’ve put in a request, but generally, a bump up would’ve required time and lots of hoops. I tried not to make too much of it. Could be the move was already in the works and Davis’s desire to move to another unit was what caused the friction and not the other way around. I could work all that out later. Right now, it was time to drop the bomb and see what Jorge had to say.

  “Jackson was shot last night. He’s in a coma.”

  Jorge sprang up from the table. “Holy hell. You’re fucking kidding me!”

  I snuck a look at Jess as Jorge paced around, muttering obscenities. She rolled her eyes, and I had to wonder about all the show for a guy who wasn’t “big on him.”

  I motioned for Jorge to sit back down and told him the rest. “Here’s the kicker. He got shot right after meeting with me to talk about your case. Any idea if there’s a relationship there?”

  He shook his head, too quickly in my opinion, and I pressed on. “And a good friend of mine, Nancy Walters, who arranged the meet, was shot too. Just so you know, that’s really the only reason I’m still interested in what’s going on.”

  He hung his head. “I’m sorry about your friend and Jackson, but I had nothing to do with them getting shot. Too many people are getting hurt.”

  I sensed he meant more than folks getting shot. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Just seems like whoever set me up will do anything to keep the truth from coming out.”

  “Maybe. Maybe it’s not really all about you. If I’m going to figure this out, I need you to be perfectly honest with me, answer whatever I ask, even if you think the details don’t matter. Can you do that?”

  He nodded and I turned to Jess, hoping she would read my mind. She didn’t need to hear the specifics directly from him. When he found out she was a cop, which was likely, she’d be in a weird position, not just with me, but with her buddies on the force. She called out to the dog, “Hey, Cash, let’s go for a walk.”

  I waited until she’d put some distance between us before I motioned for Jorge to start talking.

  “Jackson, he’s been around a long time. Knows all the CIs. At first, he set up all the deals. It was like he didn’t want to share, like I was going to steal his collars. I figured we were a team. An arrest would count for both of us, but it took him a while to come around.”

  “So, this CI that ratted you out, Garcia, is he one of Jackson’s or someone you brought in yourself?”

  “He had a record, but nothing recent. I picked him up and saw that he’d been registered with the department a while back. He hadn’t done any work for us in a long time though.”

  CIs had to be on the department’s registry in order to be paid. “Who registered him?”

  “I don’t remember. I was just glad I didn’t have to go through the trouble to get him on the books. We talked and he agreed to make some deals for me.”

  “You mean you and Jackson.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I meant.”

  That wasn’t what he meant at all. I made a mental note to find out more about Garcia. Maybe Jess wouldn’t mind a tiny bit of legwork since she’d bullied her way along to this meeting. I looked around and saw her and Cash playing fetch with a stick about a hundred feet away. For some odd reason, I liked seeing them get along so well. I’d never pictured Jess as an animal lover, although I had to confess I’d never really given it much thought. Her house was really neat, which seemed kinda like an animal-free zone. Of course, my place routinely looks like a bomb exploded in it and I never would’ve pictured me with a furry friend either.

  I focused my attention back on Jorge and the CI. “Describe a typical buy with this guy.”

  I hadn’t been on the force long enough to do more than hear about how vice cops did their thing, but I hung out with enough of them to hear war stories and figured I could tell if he was feeding me crap or not.

  “I got the cash and recorded the bill numbers. I gave the money to Garcia and then staked out the area while he did the buy. When he was done, he’d come back, describe the perp, give me the drugs, and I’d make an arrest.”

  “You turned in the drugs and the money?”

  “Whenever we made an arrest. You know how it is, sometimes the guy gets away.”

  “And you field-tested the drugs?” I asked, referring to the procedure where they tested a small amount of the contraband.

  “Sure. Either me or Jackson did.”

  “How did you decide?”

  “He did mostly. I mean, what was I supposed to do? He had seniority.”

  “Let me guess, the false positives were only on the buys that you field-tested.”

  “You got that right.”

  “Sounds like Jackson set you up.”

  “That’s what I thought. At first. But it doesn’t make any sense. I mean, what does he get out of it?”

  I may not have been a cop long, but I’d left the force way more jaded than this guy. Was he really so naive not to see that his partner, who didn’t like him in the first place, probably had a side deal with the CI to split the money and had conveniently set him
up to take the fall? Maybe Jackson’s talk the night before about how he didn’t trust this CI was meant to throw me off his trail. “Did IAD talk to Jackson?”

  “They talked to everyone.”

  “He’s your partner. I’m pretty surprised he got cleared. Seems like if they thought you were dirty, they would’ve figured he at least knew something about it.”

  “Maybe he’s not cleared. Maybe they were just waiting to see if they could get me to talk. Maybe he cut a deal with them. How the hell am I supposed to know? Not a single one of my so-called brothers in blue will even talk to me. About anything. And now you say Jackson’s in a coma? Well, sounds like we’ll never know what happened.”

  I watched him carefully through his rant, but I saw only fear, not satisfaction that the truth may never come out. Guilty guys have a tell. They protest too much, they can’t look you in the eyes, they wave their arms. Something. Jorge didn’t show any outward signs he was a bad guy, but I wasn’t fully converted to the Jorge Moreno fan club. I looked over my shoulder and caught Jess’s eye, willing her to rejoin us. She motioned to Cash and they both trotted over. Cash nuzzled my leg and Jess stood with her hand on his back. It was the most connected I’d felt to her since the afternoon of Mark’s wedding. I prayed she’d keep reading my mind for a few minutes longer.

  “Okay, Jorge, here’s the deal. Not a word from you to anyone about anything to do with the case.”

  “Ronnie already told me that.”

  “Yeah, but that was before you knew your former partner got shot up. Don’t show up at the hospital with flowers for Jackson or anything stupid like that. Go home, do whatever you family types do when you’re not working, and let us handle the rest. I’ll call you when I know something or if I have more questions. Got it?”

  He nodded. “When will I hear from you?”

  “Soon. I’ve got some ideas.”

  Jess looked like she wanted to say something else, but she took my lead and we headed back to the car. After Cash and I climbed in, she looked at him first, then me, and said, “Where to?”