Fly With Fire (32 page)

“We never knew the kind of
grinding poverty that breeds junkies like shit breeds flies. I say put the
money into that. I haven’t seen where billions of dollars in drug interdiction
has done much to destroy that foundation. Besides which, as you well know,
there are two separate sets of rules for white and black users. So what are
these arrangements?” Zack scrubbed his morning bristles with a yawn.

“I know a cop, someone we can
trust. He’s retiring but it’s not official yet. He’s not far from the warehouse
Ms. Villareal told me about. We’ll stop there and grab ‘im. It so happens he’s
friendly with the DA. Married to the DA’s aunt. So he went over Larson’s head.
Though my feeling is if we bust Bull, no one’s going to quibble about your
suspension.”

“Maybe, but the courts may
have a different idea about it.” Zack adjusted his seat. “If Lyons starts
talking after this, we might just find out who killed Ray.”

“Yeah, college boy, you’re
probably right. Gotta make it stick. Duke got a warrant for the warehouse based
on Ms. Villareal’s information. First priority is making sure she or no one
else gets hurt. She’s meeting Bull at the warehouse. I thought no but she
suggested he might spook if she didn’t. So what’s with you and the girl?”

“How’d you know?” He looked
at Al, puzzled. “You been spying?”

“Got to know who I can trust.
Besides you made the papers.” Al snorted into a laugh. “Now you’re a hero.
Suspended cop. Will that stick?”

“It’ll stick and cop killers
don’t exactly have an edge with juries. But he’ll cop a plea. He has to talk
sometime.” Zack felt a serious need for a cup of coffee. Early calls to duty
after making love half the night sure took a bite out if you didn’t have your
usual dose of caffeine. He looked at his ringing phone and felt like shit.
Gotta do what I gotta do. He ignored the phone. Better a lot of annoyance than
a lot of worry.

Al glanced at Zack and made
some kind of assessment Zack was aware of. He didn’t know what the conclusion
was but he couldn’t waste energy worrying about it. Al had never liked the “new
breed” of cop and thus had never had a liking for him. Al could like him or
not. His concern was finding out who killed Ray and clearing his name.  

Duke Washington hobbled down
the steps with his cane. The man was probably in his sixties and held the rail
of his brownstone porch, working his way slowly to the street. Zack let out a
sigh. “You’re kidding me right?”

“He’s still got a badge. Wash
is a good cop. Got shot a couple years ago taking down that Rangers’ drug lord.
He’s been on disability and will retire in a coupla weeks. Got pinned. One of
your own, don’t remember?”

“Yeah, I remember, decorated
for valor. Saved a kid’s life, got shot five times. Yeah, I was working on the
Patchett murder, then. Didn’t make the ceremony.”

“Too busy with high society
murders to honor one of your own?” Al got out of the car and opened the door
for Duke Washington while Zack sighed in annoyance. The guy did not let up. Why
should he explain why he’d been borrowed from his precinct for a Gold Coast
murder? Corruption and politics. Naturally.

“We got twenty four hours to
make this good or my nephew’s calling in the Feds.” Duke flapped the warrant.
“So you’re the young man Al said got Curtis Lyons in that robbery.  Didn’t
know who he was. I don’t know if Lyons is smart or lucky but he’s managed to
stay off the radar. His name came up during the Rangers investigation. Just in
passing. I passed it on to City but never got any intel back on it. The bureau
had nothing on him, nothing.” Washington put his cane on the seat beside him.
“I know I’m here just for the record but let me tell you. Big time drugs is a
nasty business. They got bigger weapons and more of ‘em. And a bad cop is a
desperate cop if he thinks he’s gonna get busted. I appreciate you two are
afraid to trust anyone but I wish we had more back up on this. Believe me…” he
tapped a wooden leg with his cane, “I know.”

Zack turned at the tap of
wood on wood. He saw a wizened but tough looking man who had probably resisted
retirement for the past decade. He seemed eager for a last bit of action before
settling on his porch to watch the world go by. “We watched them pull into the
ware house. Its five blocks away. We videotaped Shaughnessy and another man
unloading what looked like wooden crates from a small plane at Joliet airport.
What we were told is they’ll cut it there. Bull Shaughnessy rented it on a
short term lease. He’ll find out that was good thinking shortly. It looks like
it should be condemned but it’s for sale. Shaughnessy will have guards on the
goods. Mostly to keep other dealers from trying to get their hands on it. His
people will do the packaging and distribute it to local small timers all over
the south side. This is according to Al’s information.” Zack swung a nod at Al.

“Oh yeah, the beautiful
Honduran with financial problems. She could corrupt the whole force given half
a chance.” Duke chuckled. “If I was younger she’d get the whole chance.”

 Al ignored the
statement. His sense of humor was non-existent as far as Zack could tell. “We
don’t know if this stops with Shaughnessy or even goes up as high as the chief.
If it goes that high what’s to say the mayor’s not involved. Shut up, Burnham,
he your hero? What I’m saying is this is not Ray shake’n down small timers.
Bull knows how to grow a business, I’ll give ‘im that. We got something in
common after all, Burnham. We trusted partners who made fools of us. I know how
you must feel. Even though it’s been a few years since Bull and I… and I was so
damned proud of him. Whether or not Bull had anything to do with Russell’s
death, he’s still his murderer in my eyes. They all are. Duke, we got to do
this. We can’t call in the troops. We won’t know who’s gunning for who.” Zack
looked at Al and realized he’d go down to get Bull even if he wasn’t directly
responsible for his son’s death. He could understand the sense of betrayal. Not
only was Bull a cop, he was the cop who investigated other cops to weed out
corruption. Zack’s job had been on the line pending Bull’s investigation of
Ray’s death and he sure had been dragging his feet. But was it Lyons or Bull
who killed Ray? Or both? He hoped to have the answer soon.

Zack blew out as if steam had
been building in his chest for months. He thought of Mo again feeling a little
guilty. He’d left a note saying he’d be back in a few hours. He didn’t want to worry
her. He hoped he hadn’t lied. More than his job was on the line now and with
the possibility of death came a sense of not having really lived. He felt as if
he’d just come alive when he met Mo. She was just another woman really, why was
life more precious now than a few short weeks ago?

He knew there was always a
risk of being killed on the job. Being a detective might have lessened that
risk but it was still a fact of the job. It was something every cop knew and
lived with. He wasn’t afraid to do what he had to do. He just hoped when it was
over, he’d be able to figure out what he really wanted. How would Mo fit in?
Maybe she’d just want to go her own way. Could he let her? Did he have a
choice? He had a flash of them kissing two miles underground in the lightless
coal shaft of the Museum of Science and Industry, his favorite museum. He had
been delighted at her enthusiasm for its many and varied exhibits. She had
seemed to be realizing there was a whole life outside of her work. She’d
limited herself so long to the pursuit of perfection in her field that she had
missed many opportunities to explore the cities and countries she had been to.
If he had been with her…

“Mind somewhere else,
Burnham?” Al turned into an alley a block over from the warehouse. “We’ll get
out here, Duke. Let’s hope they haven’t decided to move. Burnham, she said
they’d get busy breaking it down and cutting it right there.” But would she
turn on them? Al didn’t think so but he had to accept it was possible. “She
said there was a broken window with plywood on it but the plywood was loose.
She said the window’s hidden by steel waste containers so if we can get in it’s
just a few steps to the main area. She’s going to put some music on and
distract Bull. Duke, I’ll radio as soon as I have him neutralized. You come in
when you get the all clear. This is your bust. We just happened to be in the
area. Prosecutors will feel fortunate to have the tape from the airport you
managed to get.  One last hurrah, Washington. Burnham, you better know
your job.”

“I’m following your orders,
Al. Let’s get this done.” Zack kept his gun holstered until they made it into
the alley. A large dirty brick building loomed over them. Al found the window
and let out a puff of air. It would take time to cut and bag the crates they
had seen unloaded. He wasn’t worried about being too late. They just had no way
of knowing how many. Rosalie said maybe five but she also thought Bull was
trying to get more. He had his own trust issues and Zack could understand why.
But Bull Shaughnessy sure wasn’t going to be bagging heroine himself. He just
hoped they didn’t find themselves faced with a small army. They climbed inside
and heard Latin music playing. She’d kept her word on that.

Al took the lead and Zack
remarked to himself how quiet and agile the big man was as he watched him
squeeze through the opening while avoiding the dirty shards of glass. Zack
followed cursing a small cut on his thumb. Little daylight came through the low
window making them adjust their eyes as they went. There were a few steps and a
set of steel doors they’d have to get through. Hopefully, the doors would not
creak but looking at them Zack knew they would. He felt a rat crawl onto his
shoe as Al spied through a hole where a deadbolt lock had once been. Zack shook
his shoe. He could barely see the rat scamper off. Al turned.

“Bull’s counting out bricks
from the crates in the back of the van. Rosalie’s at a table with two boys
getting ready to start cutting. The driver is smoking a cigarette leaning against
the van. He’s holding an AK but seems more interested in watching Rosalie. I
gotta give it to her, she’s come through. Van’s on the left, thirty feet. The
table is about ten feet from the van, off the back. We’ve got to make sure the
girl does not get in the line of fire. I can’t tell if the boys are carrying
but let’s bet on it. We know Bull is. I’m going to take out the AK and
neutralize Bull before he can draw. You’re on the boys, Rosalie is going to
drop. Look sharp, there’s plenty of places more guns could be hiding.”

Could they be going in
anymore blind? “Is this how you did it in Nam, Al?” Zack braced himself.

“Oh, no. We had much better
intel compared to this. Move.” Al pushed the door and said “Freeze!” The AK was
raised halfway when Al put a bullet clean in the center of the man’s skull. The
gun went sideways spraying bullets toward the wall as the man dropped. But Al
already had his gun aimed toward the back of the van where Bull had apparently
secured himself between the two open back doors. Rosalie had dropped to the
concrete floor. One of the boys put his hands up but one ran a few feet before
putting his up as well. Zack kept his gun on the boys. They were fifteen feet
apart from each other. If one drew and he had to fire, it would give the other
a chance to fire. He looked at the boys and realized how young they were.
Teens. Barely.

Al approached the van. “Give
it up, Bull. Cops all over the outside. Drop it and kick it. A gun was kicked
away from the van along the floor. “Rosalie, come over here.” She got up and
glancing toward the back of the van made her way around the table. As she edged
around the corner of it a shot rang out. Rosalie was pitched sideways from the
force of it as a bullet entered her neck. The boy who had run had a gun in his
hand before Zack and Al could recover from the shock. Al went one way and Zack
the other.  Zack fired as he dove shooting the boy in his gun shoulder.
The gun flew as the boy was knocked back a couple feet them slumped in agony.
The other kid had hit the deck arms spread. Bull raced around to the other side
of the van where there was a door to the side street. Al went around the front
of the van and just missed Bull as he flung open the door and ran out.

 Zack kicked the gun
away from the wounded kid and went to Rosalie. She lay bleeding from her neck.
“I can feel nothing,” she said struggling to speak. She looked at Zack through
unfocused eyes. Zack looked up as Duke came in. He moved rapidly despite the
cane, gun drawn.

“Al chased him up the alley.
I got back up coming. My precinct.” Duke looked at the woman lying on the
floor. “I’ll get an ambulance. You punks stay down!”  He aimed a nine
millimeter at them. He called for an ambulance and kept watch for more possible
gunmen.

“It’ll be all right, Ms.…Rosalie.
Why did you do this?” He knelt beside her.

“He kill Ray. He told me. He
kill him. Curtis no… Ray?” Her eyes froze into an empty lifeless stare. The
pool of blood had spread around her. He pressed her eyes shut and went after
Al.

Again Zack found himself in
an alley, chasing a partner who was chasing an armed criminal. He saw Al wave
him back, signaling he go around to try to get behind Bull who had barricaded
himself behind a row of dumpsters. He went back into the building and out the
window he and Al had originally used to get into the warehouse. He got through
the window as quietly as he could and came up behind Bull’s position. He
couldn’t see Al on the other side of the dumpsters but he heard Bull’s heavy
breathing behind the dumpster nearest his own position. He heard sirens. “What
you gonna do, Bull. Shoot it out? You wanna live? You need to put the gun
down.” Al spoke matter of factly.