On The Grind

Chapter 28

When I woke up there were four sets of hands holding me down. I was looking up into Alonzo Bells brown frying-pan-shaped face.

As soon as I opened my mouth to speak, he shoved a pair of socks between my teeth. I fought, but was rolled over onto my face. Handcuffs were snapped onto my wrists.

Someone pulled a pillowcase over my head and my world went peach-orange. I had recognized two guys in the room from the day watch. One was a mid-watch officer named Gary Singleton, a Pasadena PD reject. Another was a black cop from the day watch, Roulon Green. Over by the door was a huge, overbuilt, linebacker-sized guy I'd seen once or twice during shift changes. I think his name was Horace Velario. I'd heard he was Alonzo's best friend from high school.

Then Bell leaned down and whispered into my ear. "Here's the drill, m'ijo. You walk where we lead you. Trouble buys pain."

I was pushed blindly out of the room, led across the carpeted hall and down some concrete fire stairs. I had no idea where we were or what time it was. Once we were out of the stairwell, our footsteps echoed loudly on hard concrete. I figured from the sound that we were leaving the casino through some kind of basement corridor.

Then I was being pushed up into the backseat of either an SUV or a high van. I was sandwiched in with a man on each side. The engine started and we were in motion. I kept trying to talk through the sock jammed in my mouth, but every time I did, I caught a sharp blow to my rib cage.

"Stay quiet," Alonzp growled.

Maybe an hour later, the car turned off the paved street and we were driving on some kind of a rough dirt surface. My mind was racing, trying to figure this out. Had they found my cell phone in the elementary school bathroom and despite its waterlogged condition managed to retrieve the text message? Had they seen Agent Love's wire recorder that I'd carelessly left on the dresser, or had they missed it in their hurry to get me out of there? I was starting to panic.

The car finally stopped and I was pulled out and forced to walk across uneven ground. I smelled the rich odor of moist soil mixed with the pungent, sweet smell of orange blossoms.

I was pushed to my knees. The pillowcase was suddenly ripped off. My eyes adjusted quickly to the dark. I saw by the faint light of the quarter-moon that we were out in the middle of an orange grove someplace. I was surrounded by the entire Haven Park day watch as well as a few other cops from other shifts. All were dressed in street clothes. The sock was pulled out of my mouth, but my hands remained cuffed.

Alonzo Bell took a position about ten feet away facing me. "We know you're the one who's been ratting us out," he said.

I didn't respond. Same rule. Let the other guy go first. Learn as much as you can before saying anything.

"We know you blew us in to the feds on the Crip ambush," he continued. "We know you met in that deputy chiefs condo in Manhattan Beach and were debriefed. We know almost all of it. If you want an easy death, you're gonna tell us everything else."

My mind was racing through this problem, looking for an exit. Had Ophelia Love failed to lay down my condo cover story in time? Had Ricky Ross finally made good on his threat to kill me? Was there anything that would get me out of this?

Whatever I said next, it needed to be convincing. They weren't going to make stupid mistakes.

"You tell me everything," Bell said. "If it matches exactly what I already know, then you get a nice clean head shot and you're gone. You fuck around with me and I will blow off little pieces of you until you're begging me to finish it."

My only shot was to bluff. "Go fuck yourself," I said angrily.

"Not the response I'm looking for, Scully."

"I'm not your rat. I don't know who's been selling you out, but after you kill me, your problem isn't gonna go away, because you got the wrong guy."

"And that apartment you went to didn't belong to Chief Arnett?"

"I told you. I was with Tiffany Roberts in the furnished model. You can believe me, or you can stick it up your ass. I'm fuckin' done arguing with you about this."

He pointed his gun at me and fired. I think he was just trying to scare me, but the bullet came very close and nicked my left ear. I could feel blood running down the side of my face.

Then he pointed his nine-millimeter at my heart. I could see his trigger finger turn white as he added pressure.

Here I come, Jesus, I thought as I knelt in the moist soil. I took my last breath and got ready to die. He pulled the trigger and I watched the hammer fall.