“I believe you could disprove my suspicion that you are constantly searching for violence. I’ll be very astute in assessing you. If you exhibit the slightest suggestion of being violent toward another individual without reason, then I apologize, but I will bring you in as a criminal. I understand you are an invaluable asset to the 5th Precinct, which is why I’m giving you another chance before reporting you to higher authorities.”
“That means a lot, Allen, thanks.” I lit a dart and slapped Allen on the back, my hand ringing in pain. “Just to make things easier for both of us, we’ll do things your way. I don’t care if it’s slow or painstakingly thorough. I’ll concede and let you lead.”
“Excuse me?” Allen’s head turned toward me at lightning speed. I’d genuinely surprised it.
“You were right I’m a reckless mess of a human being. So to keep things, er, manageable, we should do things by the book for now. Your way.” Both of us straightened up. “This time. And only this time. Let’s see how effective you are as a leader, not just a partner. But remember, if things get iffy, I’m back on top.”
“Well, that’s an interestin’ change of pace for ya, Roche.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, reaching for my empty holster as I turned. Sinclair — that rat bastard — was sitting on my couch with a smirk on his face. Allen must have asked him to come over after what happened yesterday. He lit a cigarette.
“Fuck, man …”
“Blind as a bat, even after sleeping off the drink all night. Man, you caused one hell of a ruckus yesterday. The G-men went wild and locked down Times Square after your stunt. ’Course, we covered for ya, as usual.”
I looked at Allen, who was giving me a stare to remind me that this was yet more damning proof of my recklessness. “What are you doing here, Paddy?”
“Whoa, it’s Patrick to you in front of the recruit there.” He jammed a finger at Allen before sucking on his dart. “Toby came to me lookin’ for you, and almost immediately after that the metal man over there called to tell me about last night. We heard about what ya found up on the Plate — about the Automatic signals. Toby did some scoutin’. Says he used to buy parts from a bunch of racketeers at Chelsea Docks. And since there was a crime in the Lower East End early yesterday, that has to be the place.”
“It, not he,” I reminded him. Habit.
“El, just drop it for —”
“You know which warehouse on the docks?” I asked.
“I mean, they’re all connected. There’s three, right? If we don’t find the stuff in one, I’m sure the other two got something.”
“And how did you hear about what I found at GE?”
Sinclair’s face went white, and he struggled to keep from looking at Allen. “Y-you rang, don’t you remember? Yesterday, before noon.”
“Right … I did.” We couldn’t talk about her around Allen. I did feel a bit hurt that she’d told Sinclair about my findings before I got a chance. She must have been awfully anxious to break my trust and tell him. Of all people.
Sinclair continued. “We’ve been thinking about looking for smugglers or racketeers in Chelsea, maybe organizing a raid, but that’s the 7th’s jurisdiction, so we didn’t want to step on any toes. And while we can’t go up there, you don’t exactly have the same limitations.”
“Right. We’ll head to the 5th, get Robins in the loop, and organize a raid on the docks, hopefully a discreet one. Get a couple of the 5th’s boys pulling their weight for once.”
“You’d think smugglers would try to be discreet, but it seems they’re trying to draw as much attention to themselves as possible with that business at GE. And they’re still selling crap after the stunt they pulled at the speakeasy,” Sinclair said. “Maybe they want to be caught?”
“Like someone on the inside got cold feet and wants out? I wouldn’t complain. Case closed, smuggling operation toppled. Two birds, one bullet — right, Allen?”
“Of course, Detective. I believe you’ll be needing this, for now.” For a moment I thought I saw it smirk as it handed my revolver back to me. A quick check revealed that it had removed the rounds from the cylinder. I supposed it thought I could use it as a deterrent. Or maybe it could tell what this hunk of steel meant to me.
“No bullets, huh?”
“When we arrive at a juncture that requires you to be armed, I’ll happily give them back to you.”
“How many did I have on me?”
“Fourteen total.”
“You’ve done more damage with less, Roche.” Sinclair threw his dart into my ashtray and grabbed his coat. “Toby is waiting in the car downstairs. You planning on riding with us?”
“Nah … I’ll take my car. Let’s get this done tonight.”
“Prick … I don’t drive that slow,” Sinclair said, laughing.
It was two in the afternoon. Not much time today to pull this off. We had to hurry. If she’d spoken to Sinclair, it meant she was flexing her muscles, telling me that if I didn’t get this job done, he’d become a target, along with Toby.
Not on my watch.
CHAPTER 15
IT HAD BEEN A FEW DAYS SINCE I’d shown my face around the 5th, but that had been for the best, as Robins didn’t need my presence making the G-men more suspicious. I wasn’t one for wasting time during an investigation, but letting things calm down after my little stunt in Times Square hadn’t been a bad idea.
We rolled up to the station as the afternoon faded away far above the Plate. This deep in the city, the only way you could tell it was getting late was the dimming of the bulbs on the Plate as the control room workers prepared
