Cop Town (16 page)

She had a point. CT was what everyone called Colored Town. The area wasn’t exactly welcoming to white officers. Even the blacks were nervous about taking calls there after dark.

Gail said, “If China Doll’s still around, this’ll be a good lesson for her.”

Maggie didn’t want to think about what kind of lesson Gail had in mind. “You ever hear of a bar named Dabbler’s?”

Gail reared back in horror. “How the hell do you know about Dabbler’s?”

“I’m a cop. I know about everything.”

Gail shook her head, recognizing her own line.

“You know where it is?”

“Hell no, I don’t know where it is. And don’t you try to find out, you hear?” She nodded toward Kate. “Especially with China Doll over there. They’ll peel the flesh right off her.”

“Don ever mention it?”

“Of course he didn’t. What the fuck is wrong with you?” She looked disgusted by the thought. “This is taking too long. I’m gonna get some smokes from the restaurant, then go knock on the door.”

Maggie started to follow, but Gail waved her off.

“Just keep an eye out.”

Maggie leaned against the car. She watched Gail walk toward the Colonnade. Maybe Don had gotten the matchbook off a suspect. Considering Gail’s reaction to the place, that made sense. Cops were always taking things off suspects. Maggie had yet to walk onto a murder scene where some homicide detective wasn’t going through the victim’s wallet looking for cash.

Her bigger concern was Gail’s drinking. She was always a little lit, but this was different. She’d never been sloppy on the job before. Maybe there had been more to her relationship with Don Wesley than she was letting on.

Kate’s door opened and slammed shut. She still had her notebook out. “She’s lovely.”

Maggie said nothing.

“Maybe she’ll let me buy her a drink.”

Maggie ignored that, too. She watched Gail inside the restaurant. She was banging her fist against the cigarette machine.

Kate said, “Can I ask you something serious?”

“I guess it’s possible.”

Kate took the remark in stride. “You already have this Circe’s name. Why do you need to trouble a prostitute for it?”

Maggie bit her bottom lip. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d troubled a prostitute. “Because everybody lies. What you do is ask a bunch of people the same question, and if they all give the same answer, or most of them give you the same answer, then it’s probably as close to the truth as you’re going to get. And since I’m in the mood to give you the benefit of my wisdom, you need to go easy on Gail.”

“Because of her temper?”

“Because what you see when you look at her isn’t who she is.” Maggie turned, making sure Kate was listening. “That stuff they teach you at the academy, what you learn from the books—none of that matters out here. How you learn to be a cop is by watching other cops. Everything I know about the street came from Gail.”

“Such as?” Kate held up her pen and pad.

Maggie’s mind went blank, but then she remembered, “There are always exceptions, but pretty much it’s like this: White people tend to kill white people. Black people kill black people. Black men rape black women. White men rape white women.”

Kate said, “Therefore …?”

“
Therefore
, don’t be scared going into bad places. You’re probably in more danger in your own neighborhood.”

“That’s comforting.”

“Golly, isn’t it?” Maggie could do sarcasm, too. “You could do worse than having Gail Patterson back you up.”

“I’m certain you’re right.”

Maggie gave up. She had better things to do than kick Kate Murphy off her high horse.

Gail was walking across the parking lot to the hotel. She tapped a pack of cigarettes against the heel of her palm. Her trajectory wasn’t that straight. Maggie wondered if she’d grabbed another drink in the restaurant.

Kate asked, “What about the Shooter?”

“What’s that?”

“The man who killed Don Wesley last night.” Kate clarified, “Your brother said he was black, right? I’m assuming Don Wesley was white.”

Maggie walked to the front of the car. Gail had reached the hotel. “Like I said, exceptions.”

Kate obviously wasn’t satisfied by the answer. Still, she closed her notebook and joined Maggie. They both leaned against the hood of the car. It took a few seconds for Kate to get comfortable. Her hat kept slipping down to the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t get her nightstick and Kel-Lite out of the way at the same time.

Maggie scanned the area, making sure Gail wasn’t about to be ambushed. The hotel consisted of four two-story buildings with four rooms on each floor. The parking lot was shared with the restaurant. The buildings were as run-down as you’d expect. Some of the windows were broken. Others had plastic taped over them. Chips of paint had fallen off the siding. The structures were depressingly similar to the Lawson home.

Gail lit her cigarette as she walked past the first building. She stopped at the second building, second door, lower level. She was a good fifty yards away, but Maggie had a straight line of sight. Gail’s fist went into the air. The door opened before she could knock. A surprised-looking man in a suit stood in front of her. They were both silent for a moment, then the man scampered toward the parking lot.

Kate said, “Jimmy told me that if anybody ever runs away from you, you should chase them.”

“He’s not running away from us. He’s running home to his wife.” Maggie kept her eyes on Gail, who was watching the man, too. She looked annoyed, and then she looked startled as a high-pitched scream filled the air.

Maggie had her revolver in her hand and was running toward the hotel before she knew what was happening. Her brain put it together on the fly. Someone inside the room was screaming like a banshee. The whore came into view. Her mouth was opened wide. She was naked from the waist up and high as a kite. A tourniquet was still tied around her arm. She kept screeching as she tackled Gail to the ground. Her arms started flying. She windmilled her fists into Gail’s face.

“Stop!” Maggie screamed, rushing toward the women.

The whore didn’t stop. Gail’s face was bloody. She was barely fighting back.

Maggie jumped over a pothole. They were still thirty yards away. “Stop, goddamn it!”

The whore looked up. Her breasts were small, like a second set of eyes. She seemed shocked to find Maggie gunning for her. For Maggie’s part, her only shock was that Kate Murphy was keeping pace beside her. She had her elbows locked, gun straight out in front.

“Fan out!” Maggie said, pointing Kate to her right. “Don’t let her run.”

But of course she ran. The whore weighed the odds and ran to Maggie’s right, figuring Kate couldn’t catch her. Not exactly a genius-level deduction. Kate had already lost a shoe. Her pants were coming unhemmed. One of her sleeves had unrolled so that it flapped behind her like a pennant.

Still, Kate chased after the whore full on as the bare-chested woman headed into a service alley between the hotel and the restaurant.

Gail was already up and running after them. “Thass’a dead end,” she slurred. Blood streamed down her face, but she was running so hard that Maggie struggled to keep up. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill that cunt.”

They both rounded the corner into the alley. The whore had started screaming again. Kate was still chasing her. They were each locked in their own kind of tunnel vision. Kate’s hat had slipped down to the bridge of her nose. She probably couldn’t see more than three feet ahead. Neither of them had yet to notice that there was nothing but a cinder-block wall at the end of the alley.

“Stop!” Maggie warned. “Murphy, stop!”

“Chrissake,” Gail hissed. “Doesn’t she know you’re supposed to bend your arms when you run?”

“There’s a wall!” Maggie yelled. “Kate! There’s a—”

It was too late. Both the whore and Kate saw the wall, but by then momentum had taken over. They slammed into the cinder block. Kate staggered on her feet for an almost comical few seconds before falling straight onto her back.

Gail reached into her purse. Instead of pulling out a gun or a set of cuffs, she grabbed her radio receiver. Maggie didn’t know what she was going to do until she did it.

“Stupid bitch!” Gail brought the plastic brick down on the whore’s face. Blood sprayed the wall.

The whore slumped to the ground.

“You think you can beat me?” Gail kicked the woman in the stomach. “And then you run from a cop?” She kicked her again. “Fucking whore!”

Kate was still on the ground. She was too scared to move. She had her hands up like she expected to be next.

Gail didn’t even see her. Her rage had caught up with her. She kicked the whore again. “Are you fucking stupid?” She kicked her again. “Are you?”

“Gail,” Maggie tried, because sometimes it worked.

“Shit.” Gail wiped her mouth. Blood was smeared down her chin and neck. Her nose was crooked. There was a wild look in her eyes. Adrenaline did that. Fury. Pain. It was all there, all working to ramp her up. “I still got my teeth?” She gave Maggie a bloody grimace.

Maggie didn’t know how to answer. All she saw was red. “Yeah.”

“Well, thank God for that.” She noticed Kate was still on the ground and pulled her up by the arm. “Good going, Sheep. You chased somebody into a brick wall.” She looked at the wall. “Cinder block. What the fuck? Same difference.”

Kate was breathing too hard to respond.

“You all right?” Gail brushed the dirt from Kate’s uniform. “You okay, Sheep?”

Kate tensed as Gail slapped at her clothes.

“Look at this one,” Gail told Maggie. “You’d think she sprinted a mile instead of chased a doped-up whore down an alley.” Gail rattled off another cough. “Some advice from me sweetheart: bend your arms when you run. All right?”

Kate nodded furiously.

“All right?” Gail repeated. “You look like a goddamn sheep when you run.”

“Okay.” Kate’s hand was clutched to her chest. She looked terrified.

“You.” Gail prodded the whore with the toe of her shoe. Maggie wasn’t sure how she’d managed to keep on the high heels while she was running. Gail’s feet were bloody where the straps had cut into her flesh. She didn’t seem to notice as she pressed her foot into the whore’s shoulder. “Come on, bitch. Don’t make me hit you again.”

Maggie said, “Let me—”

Gail held her back with one hand. “What’s the name, sugar? What’s the name you got for me?”

The whore turned away, curling against the wall. Her hands covered her bare breasts. She was pathetic to look at. Her bleached hair was lank and filthy. Her skin was the color of flour. Her waist was a spindle. Her ribs stuck out like pickets.

“You gotta name for me?” Gail repeated. She was seeing the same things as Maggie, but that only ramped up her anger rather than dialing it down. “What’s the name, sweetheart? Give me the name.”

“Violet.”

“I know
your
name, dipshit. Remember we talked about this? I need to know the pimp what’s running gals on Whitehall. I got some questions for him.”

Violet shook her head. She wouldn’t look up.

“You want me to kick you in the kidneys?” Gail pushed the tip of her shoe into the girl’s back. “You wanna be pissing blood for the next two weeks?”

The girl didn’t answer. Gail reared back her leg.

“Wait!” Kate screamed. Her hands were out in front of her, palms down. There was a panicked look in her eyes. “Just wait, okay?”

“Wait for what?” Gail asked.

Kate didn’t have an answer.

“Do you even know what we’re doing here?” Gail took one step, then another, until Kate was backed into the wall. “Don Wesley’s dead, lady. Somebody killed him, gunned him down like a fucking dog in the street, and then went after
her
brother.” She jabbed her thumb toward Maggie. “This whore you’re so worried about is hiding a cop killer. A cop killer who could be out there right now murdering more of our boys.” She thumped Kate on the side of the head. “Has your three fucking minutes on the job got you thinking like a cop yet?”

Gail went to thump her again, but Maggie caught her hand.

That was all it took. Like all bullies, Gail just needed somebody to call her on it.

She turned away from Kate. Black tears smeared her mascara. Her jaw was clenched so tight that Maggie was reminded of Jimmy chewing his breakfast that morning.

Gail said, “All right, darlin’. I’m all right.”

Maggie let go of her hand.

Gail paced out the width of the alley, once, twice. She obviously had a conversation going on in her head. She kept nodding. And when she wasn’t nodding, she was shaking her head.

Then she stopped.

Gail steadied her hand on Maggie’s shoulder. She slipped off one
high heel, then the other. Then she turned. Then she jumped up into the air and landed with both feet on the whore’s leg.

A crack of splintering bone shot up the alley.

“Fuck!” Violet grabbed her leg with both hands. She rocked back and forth on her side. “Oh, God! Oh, Jesus! Oh, fuck!”

Maggie went numb. She couldn’t even feel her own heart beating in her chest. Kate slumped back against the wall. Her face was ashen.

Gail got down on her knees. She rubbed the whore’s back like she wasn’t the one who’d put her into so much misery. Her voice took on a maternal tone. “Just tell me the name, darlin’. Tell me the name and we’ll leave.”

Violet’s body shivered with pain. “What name?”

“Don’t play me like that, Vi.”

“I ain’t—”

Gail pressed her hand into the whore’s broken leg.

Really pressed it.

Violet howled like a dying animal. Gail didn’t let up. If anything, she pressed harder. Maggie saw the indentation in the flesh. She imagined the shards of bone clashing like forks thrown into a drawer. And then she had to open her mouth just enough to take in a deep breath so she didn’t throw up.

The screaming wouldn’t stop.

Maggie took another breath. Then another. She tried to think of a song from the radio.
Tapestry
. Lilly’s thin voice singing about Smackwater Jack and feeling like a natural woman. Anything that might take the edge off the screaming.