Or words to that effect.
On this occasion, however, it doesn’t mean that. The man Doyle is chasing is called Edwin Jones, but nobody other than his mother ever calls him Edwin. They know him as Freezeframe Jones, or Freeze for short. And the reason they call him that is because one of the ways he chooses to scrape a living is by selling pirated DVDs. Doyle knows he’s built up a thriving business over the years. Freezeframe prides himself on always being able to get hold of the latest movies, sometimes even before they hit the theaters. His boast is that he had the first Harry Potter movie before J. K. Rowling had finished writing the book.
Freezeframe stops and turns, then affects a grin of recognition. He is as tall as Doyle, but gangly with it. He has an angular face, with prominent cheekbones. His arms seem too long for his body, and he has a habit of waving them around with abandon, threatening bodily harm to those who get too close.
‘Yo, D! S’up, man?’
‘Hey, Freeze. For a minute there I thought you were avoiding me.’
‘Who, me? Nah. Just didn’t recognize you, is all. Can’t blame a cat for tryin’ to stay safe and shit, you know what I’m sayin’?’
‘Got something worth protecting?’
‘Only my
‘My heart bleeds for you. I was talking about the movie business. You made director yet? Producer? Or is sales and marketing still your thing?’
Freezeframe feigns puzzlement. ‘You lost me, D. I don’t know nothin’ about no movie business.’
‘Uh-huh. I bet the bodega owner does. What’s his thing? The new Tom Cruise? Or is he more your alien invasion kinda guy?’
‘Only thing I know is he sells gum.’ Freezeframe digs a pack of chewing gum from the pocket of his hooded top and shows it to Doyle. ‘You want a stick?’
Doyle shakes his head. ‘What’s in the backpack?’
Freezeframe looks over his shoulder as though he’s just been told there’s a bug crawling there.
‘This? I don’t know.’
‘You don’t know what’s in your own backpack? The one you think is important enough to be carrying around in the rain like this?’
‘I found it, D. Planning to hand it in to the po-lice at the next opportunity.’
‘But you didn’t bother to look what was in it?’
‘Nah, D. None of my business, you know what I’m sayin’?’
Doyle sighs and looks up at the rain clouds. It seems to him that they don’t plan on dispersing anytime soon. Seems more like they’re waiting for reinforcements.
‘Step over here,’ says Doyle, moving under the awning of a hardware store. Reluctantly, Freezeframe joins him.
‘I tole you, D. I don’t know shit about no DVDs. This ain’t-’
‘Forget the DVDs. I want some information.’
Freezeframe pulls his neck back in surprise, his head disappearing turtle-like into the shadows of his hood before it slowly emerges again. Then he suddenly breaks into raucous high-pitched laughter as he slaps his thighs with those elongated arms of his.
‘You fucking with me, right?’
Doyle keeps his face straight. ‘No, I’m serious.’
Freezeframe stops laughing. ‘I ain’t no snitch, D. And if I
‘This ain’t an offer of permanent employment, Freeze. It’s a one-time deal.’
‘I still ain’t interested. I got a reputation, yo. Folks get to hear I been talking to the man, they be smokin’ my ass.’
Doyle pulls out his wallet, opens it up and strips out a few bills.
‘Tell you what. I can open up your backpack there and then I can run you in and we can talk about this down at the station house, or you can make yourself a little green for one small piece of information and then walk away. What’s it to be?’
Freezeframe looks out into the rain as if for guidance, then back at Doyle.
‘Shit, that ain’t no kinda
‘What’s it gonna be?’
Freezeframe looks around again, this time appearing a little more nervous. Which tells Doyle that he’s on the verge of accepting his offer.
‘Suppose I ain’t got this particular piece of information?’
‘Do your best, Freeze. Ain’t nobody else I know mixes with the criminal fraternity like you do.’
As Doyle suspected he would, Freezeframe takes this as a compliment, and his face brightens.
‘I do got a lot of contacts, that’s true. Aiight, what you wanna know?’
‘I’m looking for someone. Man called Anton Ruger.’
Wide eyes now. Astonished eyes.
‘Uh-uh, D. You don’t wanna be messing with that shit. That cat is
‘I wanna know where he is.’
‘I don’t know where he’s at. Nobody does.’
‘Somebody does. Somebody must have mentioned his name to you, at least.’
Freezeframe pauses. ‘You didn’t hear this from me.’
‘No problem.’
‘Aiight. There’s a white boy I know. Likes to talk big. Says he did some work for Ruger.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Likes to go by Cubo. Thass all I know.’
‘Where can I find him?’
‘He cribs at his girl’s place. Skinny-ass ho called Tasha Wilmot. She live at 309 Stanton. Top floor. Apartment 5D.’
‘That’s pretty damned specific, Freeze. How’d you know all this?’
‘Boy likes to watch movies, when he’s not getting it on with his girl.’
Doyle nods. He scans the street himself, then palms off the wad of bills to Freezeframe.
‘You made the right decision.’
Freezeframe slips the money into his pocket. ‘Yeah, and you be making the wrong one. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
LeBlanc tries every which way he can to justify it to himself.
I’m young, he thinks. Relatively inexperienced. Still got a helluva lot to learn. Older, wiser cops are still capable of surprising me. Sometimes I need to hold back before I interfere. Give them a chance to-
Scratch that. It’s bullshit.
This is Wrong, with a capital W.
LeBlanc has seen many things that have made him feel uncomfortable. Cops who have accepted one too many ‘freebies’. Cops who have been a little bit too free and easy with their fists during their interrogation of suspects. Cops who have suggested that LeBlanc look the other way while they have a ‘private conversation’ with a perp. He has witnessed all these things. He is not naive. He knows how the world turns.
But this. .
He can’t let this go.
When he enters the squadroom he is ready for a fight. Not a physical fight — he knows that Doyle would put
