'Okay, we're running completely without cover now,' Tony said. 'I expect to hear from Robert Virtue any minute. He's bound t' sic his bunch of crewcuts on us. He's also probably gonna demand I hand the three of you over for obstructing justice-failing to obey a direct order from Homeland. Depending on what's going on, they might even be able to gin that up into a threat against national security.'
Tony picked up the transmitters and put them back in the box. 'The FISA court doesn't have to divulge its reasons for approving wire taps or arrest warrants. They can bust you and hold you without ever saying why. We can't beat these guys. Once you go into the system, you could be reclassified as enemy combatants or people of interest-whatever they need to put you on ice till this is over.'
The room got very quiet.
Chapter 40
Cubio said, 'I think, under the circumstances, we need to put these men into a deep-cover assignment.
Get them the hell out of here, find a secure location, and have them report in on SAT phones.'
'I agree,' Tony nodded.
'Chief, this morning you mentioned we needed to be totally covert and not confide in anyone,' Roger said. 'But if we're going to be effective, we need to confide in a few people.'
'Such as?' Tony asked.
'Something strange is happening between the CIA and the Israelis,' Broadway continued. 'Eddie Ringerman and Bimini Wright were meeting tonight at the Russian Roulette. Ringerman used to be an LAPD detective. Now he does security for the Israelis. Bimini's head of the CIA's Western section station. We may need to start by getting them to brief us. Eddie used to wear blue and Wright's a straight shooter. She also owes us on the Lincoln Boulevard shooting last year. We put the case down without questioning any of her people. We could've blown a lot of covers and we didn't.'
Tony stood thinking about it, and then looked over to Cubio for his opinion.
'Might as well. We ain't foolin' anybody anyway,' Armando said.
'Okay, but not Ringerman,' Tony said. 'I don't trust a guy who changes sides like that. Start with Agent Wright, but don't talk to anybody else unless you clear it with Lieutenants Scully and Cubio or directly with me.
'Yes, sir,' Broadway said.
'And we need to code name this,' Tony added. 'I don't want the feds to subpoena any internal memos using your names.'
'How about Unusual Occurrence?' Cubio suggested. 'It's the section in the CTB Operations Guide pertaining to tactical and covert operations. It's vague and it's already in our literature. Shouldn't attract much interest.'
'Unusual Occurrence it is,' Tony agreed. 'All communications will be under that heading. No names. Broadway, you're One. Perry, you're Two. Scully, Three. Cubio, Lieutenant Scully, and I will be Four, Five, and Six.'
We left the chief's office and moved into the hall. Alexa was just coming out of the elevator. She'd made it back to headquarters from home in less than twenty minutes. A new record.
'We'll meet you across the street in the park,' Cubio said, nodding a greeting at Alexa.
Once the doors closed, Alexa took my hand and led me across the hall toward her office.
'Tony called and told me what happened in the garage,' she said.
'I must be kicking over some of the right rocks,' I smiled.
'I'm worried. It's one thing fighting criminals; it's something else when it's our whole federal government.'
'This is not the U. S. government,' I responded. 'And it's not Big Brother either. It's just five or six assholes on a power trip. Tony wants us to work this undercover from a secure location.'
'I think that's a good idea.' Then she looked furtively around and planted a quick, secret kiss on my lips. 'Once you get settled I want a call every five hours. If I don't get that call on schedule, I'm going to crank up this department and come looking.'
Chapter 41
It was almost midnight when I walked into the park across from the Glass House. Lieutenant Cubio was pacing in the mist-wet grass, talking on his cell. Emdee Perry was on his SAT phone, speaking low, gesturing, trying to explain to some lap dancer in Inglewood why he was going to be out of pocket for a few days. Broadway sat on a concrete bench a few yards away under a streetlight, doing the same thing with his wife. When they rang off, their faces were tight.
The lights from the windows in Parker Center shown through the trees and made strange patterns on the grass where we stood. Bums drinking wine out of Evian bottles eyed us suspiciously from the benches near the sidewalks. We were standing out here because we didn't think ESD had found all the bugs inside Parker Center.
'You guys know that asset-seizure house off Coldwater?' Cubio asked.
'Yeah,' Broadway said. 'The stilt house on Rain-wood where we busted the gun drop last spring.'
'It's still in our property inventory and it's furnished. That's where you'll set up.' Cubio handed us a set of keys. 'Except for the chief, Lieutenant Scully, and the four of us, nobody else will know that's where you are. We're gonna run outta clock fast. If you don't get the shit in a bag by Monday, we're gonna be facing a flock of subpoenas and federal court demands.'
'We're full throttle,' I said.
He nodded. Then he shook each of our hands, wished us luck, and walked briskly back across the street.
'I guess church is over,' Emdee drawled.
The mechanics at the Flower Street garage pulled two bugs off my Acura. The Navigator also had two. Broadway selected a blue Chevy Caprice from the motor pool. Perry took a gray Dodge Dart. I arranged to meet them at the safe house in an hour because I had something I needed to take care of.
It was after midnight on Saturday, so the psych ward at Queen of Angels was crowded. Doctor Pepper was still on duty, but he looked like an assembly line worker whose conveyor belt had overrun him. He clearly wasn't happy to see me.
'Who are we going to be tonight? How about Detective Farrell's Uncle Harry?'
I showed Pepper my badge. 'We're working an important case. I didn't think you'd let me in.'
He glanced at one of his clipboards then handed it to a passing nurse. 'I couldn't seem to help your partner, so I'm not his doctor anymore. I'm having him transferred to an abnormal psych unit that's better equipped to deal with his kind of problem.'
I didn't like the sound of that. 'I need to see him,' I demanded.
'This time I guess I should find out if you're armed. It's considered terrible form to allow firearms inside a psych ward.'
'Locked in my car.' I opened my sport coat and showed him.
I waited while he called a male nurse to escort me to Zack's room. I was lugging the LAPD murder book on Arden Rolaine in one hand, and my briefcase in the other. The nurse pushed some buttons, cleverly hiding the combination with his body. The door swung open, I entered and heard the disconcerting sound of the electric lock buzzing the door shut behind me.
Zack was at the window, still dressed in the same clothes. He looked up as I entered, then leaned against the wall and studied me. There was something different about his demeanor, something distant and slightly lost.
'Hi,' I said.
He nodded but said nothing.
'Brought the Arden Rolaine binder like you wanted.' He just stood there, so I handed it to him.
