Street Rules

'Hey, what's going on?'

'You tell me,' she answered.

Ike Zabbo's face screwed up.

'What are you talking about?'

Frank clucked and shook her head.

'You shouldn't have gone after Tonio, man.'

Ike grinned in disbelief, 'What the fuck are you talking about?'

'Landing him in the hospital like that? You fucked up. Cut his liver in a couple places. Busted his spleen. If he dies, it's a homicide with two witnesses.'

She shook her head again, disappointed. 'Sloppy work, Pink. '

'Hey, you called me in to roll. I don't know what's going on here but if there's no case, I'm leaving.'

'There's a case, Ike. We're on it. This is it.'

The detective squinted at his lieutenant.

'Are you drunk?'

'No.' Frank sat calmly behind her desk, ready to play her trump card. 'You shouldn't have lost it. Before this, you were pretty much home free. I gotta hand it to you. You panicked a little with Placa, but even there it was hard to pin you down. You'd have probably walked on her too. But after tonight...'

Frank made a who-knows gesture.

'I'm sure you've been calling the hospital. He's thrown three clots already. That's a lot and chances are good he'll throw another one. The doctor said his heart's wearing out. If he dies, Ike, you're fried and fucked. Twelve different ways.'

'I don't know what you're talking about. I'm out of here.'

He turned to go but she caught the sudden gleam of perspiration on his forehead.

'What I can't figure,' she responded evenly, 'Is how the fuck you thought you were going to get away with this. I admit though, the traces of horse hair and alfalfa really threw me off. Funny how after all this time my prejudices still color my judgment. I was thinking Hunt had done all this. Can you imagine? But you've got to admit he's the sort of asshole you'd expect to do something like this. Yet here you are, worse than that damn Okie,' she grinned with teeth.

'Tell me how you thought you were going to get away with this. I mean I always thought you were a smart cop, but this,' she threw up a hand, 'This is pretty stupid, Ike. Tonio’s rattled your cage and he's bringing you down. Some punk wetback's bringing the great Ike Zabbo to his knees. Go figure.'

Ike laughed, 'No one's bringing me to my knees, babe.'

Frank admired his confidence, as she asked, 'You want to talk to me or walk out that door?'

'I'm walking.'

Frank slid an arrest warrant across the desk. 'You won't get far.'

'What the hell's that for?'

'All I could get you on. But I'm not done.'

Ike picked it up and read it, put it down.

'You're making a big mistake,' he warned.

'How so?'

'I want my lawyer.'

Frank pushed her phone toward him. When he was done talking to his attorney, he jabbed a finger at her.

'You're going down in flames, baby doll. And I'm gonna laugh while you burn.'

'Did you get behind on the ponies? Is that what started this all? I like the way you hooked up with Barracas. That was good. He'd confiscate the shit, you'd report half of it or less, then you had all the contacts to sell it to. Your associates at the track. Then you guys got bigger and wanted to branch out so you bought that string of ponies. Trailer them back and forth to the races in Texas and Arizona, concentrate on the border states where it's easy to pick up a couple keys, stash it in the trailers. False bottoms in the tack trunks. I like that, too. Nice. Nobody looks twice. Run it back in. Get Jimmy's family to run it for you. You two probably have old buds in Narco that agreed to not sweat the Estrellas. And you never get dirty.

'Then Jimmy tried to muscle you out. He put up all the money for the ponies and he had all the contacts now. Didn't need you anymore. Told you to take a walk. And you should've, Pink. Should've been smart enough to get out then. But instead you took him out. Took the whole family out. Set it up to look like Luis. You put his sweatshirt and his shoes on, didn't you? Must've been a tight squeeze but you got blood all over both them. None on his pants, though. No way you could've got into those. Oh well, close enough, huh? Then you drove over to Claudia's. Told them what you did. Told them they were your new partners. Did you do Luis before or after that? Huh?'

'Fuck you, Franco. You got nothing on me and you know it.'

'Wrong, Pink. I've got you for this,' she tapped a warrant, 'and if Tonio dies, I got you for the rest of it too. Including Placa. You were good with the Estrellas and Luis. I admit, they'll be harder to nail you on, but give me time. I'll get you.'

Ike laughed, 'You're one delusional bitch. Yeah, so Tonio and I got in a fight. Little spic pulled a fucking knife on me. I was defending myself.'

When Frank said that wasn't Gloria's version, Ike laughed again.

'Like a jury's gonna believe that cunt over me? I don't think so.'

'They might when I pull some more rabbits out of my hat.'

'Like what?'

'Like her PERK results. Same as Placa's. Plus I combed the back of your chair for fibers, sent them up to DOJ with the wool ones we pulled off Placa. Think any'll match? You really gotta lose those suits. Way too incriminating.'

'So I got some gash. What's your problem, Frank, you jealous?'

'My problem,' Frank said tapping her murder book, 'is that phone records — and that was sloppy too — show you calling the Estrella's one hour and thirteen minutes before Placa died.'

'Since when is it illegal to call someone?'

'My problem,' she continued, 'is that she was raped sometime within that seventy-three minute period. How do you think your DNA sample's going to match up to hers?'

She didn't give him time to answer.

'That was your biggest mistake wasn't it? You underestimated her. Thought you could cut off a piece then dump her somewhere and that your cum would've dried up by the time she was found. But she got away from you didn't she? You had no choice but to fire right there. Fortunately for you, you always were the best shooter in the squad. But again, that was sloppy. Two wits placed a round-backed sedan at the scene. It was convenient for you that Ruiz drove a T-bird. They look a lot like a Lincoln down a dark street. But his has a brown interior. Yours is tan. I looked when you rolled Monday night. Got a carpet sample for DOJ too. Should match the fibers under Placa's nails and maybe the ones stuck in Luis' shoes. What do you think?'

'I think you're losing it, Frank. You've had your head up too many asses lately and you're short on oxygen.'

'My problem is you set her up, Ike. You knew she was going to tell me. You heard it all at the Alibi that night. Even offered to go with me, which I thought was overly generous of you. You must have gone over to Claudia's the minute I left the bar. Bought yourself some time 'til you could think what to do with Placa. But you underestimated her again. She got away from you, didn't she?'

'I can't believe you're serious,' he said in amazement. Frank's smile yawed like an arctic crevasse.

'Dead serious,' she said dangling a phony search warrant.

'They're in your crib even as we speak. What are they going to find?'

'Nothing,' he said, which was exactly what Frank expected. Even Ike wasn't stupid enough to have kept the guns or have a stash in his house. He leaned menacingly across the desk.

'You know what I don't get, is why you and half this ass-kissing squad give a fuck about these goddamn beaners. So somebody took out another milk maker and spared L.A. another dozen babies on welfare.' His hands flew up, 'Big fucking deal.'

Frank sucked on her bottom lip, savoring the sensation of wrapping her belt around Ike's thick neck and