I said, 'I don't see where I come in.'
'Freshen that drink for you, Matt?'
'No, I'm fine. Where do I come in,Broadfield ?'
He cocked his head, narrowed his eyes. 'Simple,' he said. 'You used to be a cop so you know the moves. And you're a private detective now so you can operate freely. And- '
'I'm not a private detective.'
'That's what I heard.'
'Detectives take complicated examinations to get their licenses.
They charge fees and keep records and file income tax returns. I don't do any of those things. Sometimes I'll do certain things for certain friends.As a favor. They sometimes give me money.As a favor.'
He cocked his head again,then nodded thoughtfully, as if to say that he had known there was a gimmick and that he was happy to know what the gimmick was. Because everybody had an angle and this was mine and he was sharp enough to appreciate it. The boy liked angles.
If he liked angles, what the hell was he doing withAbnerPrejanian
?
'Well,' he said. 'Detective or not, you could do me a favor. You could see Portia and find out just how tied up in this she wants to be.
You could see what kind of a hold they got on her and how we could maybe break the hold. One big thing would be finding out who it is that's got her filing charges. If we knew the bastard's name, we could figure out how to deal with him.'
He went on this way, but I wasn't paying too much attention. When he slowed to take a breath I said,
'They want you to cool it withPrejanian . Get out of town, stop cooperating, something like that.'
'That has to be what they want.'
'So why don't you?'
He stared at me. 'You got to be kidding.'
'Why did you tie up withPrejanian in the first place?'
'That's my business, Matt, don't you think? I'm hiring you to do something for me.' Maybe the words sounded a little sharp to him. He tried softening them with a smile. 'The hell, Matt, it's not like you have to know my date of birth and the amount of change in my pocket in order to help me out.Right?'
'Prejaniandidn't have a thing on you. You just walked in on your own and told him you had information that could shake up the whole department.'
'That's right.'
'And it's not as though you spent the last twelve years wearing blinders. You're not a choirboy.'
'Me?'A big, toothy grin. 'Not hardly, Matt.'
'Then I don't get it. Where's your angle?'
'Do I have to have an angle?'
'You never walked down the street without one.'
He thought about it and decided not to resent the line. Instead he chuckled. 'And do you have to know my angle, Matt?'
'Uh-huh.'
He sipped his drink and thought it over. I was almost hoping he would tell me to fuck off. I wanted to go away and forget about him. He was a man I'd never like involved in something I couldn't understand. I really didn't want to get mixed up in any of his problems.
Then he said, 'You of all people should understand.'
I didn't say anything.
'You were on the force fifteen years, Matt.Right? And you got thepromotions, you did pretty good, so youmusta known the score. You had to be a guy who played the game. Am I right?'
'Keep talking.'
'So you got fifteen years in and five to go for the meal ticket and you pack it in. Puts you in the same boat as me, doesn't it? You reach a point where you can't hack it anymore.The corruption, the shakedowns, the payoffs. It gets to you. Your case, you just pack it in and get out of it.
I can respect that. Believe me, I can respect it. I considered it myself, but then I decided it wasn't enough for me, the approach wasn't right for me, I couldn't just walk away from something I had twelve years in.'
'Going on thirteen.'
'Huh?'
'Nothing.You were saying?'
'I was saying I couldn't just turn my back and walk away. I had to do something to make it better. Not all the way better, but maybe just a little bit better, and that means some heads will have to roll, and I'm sorry about that, but it has to be that way.'A wide grin, sudden and alarming now on this face that has been so preoccupied with the
