Summer Cool

23

Chief Bryers, with his car and driver, was waiting for Paine at LaGuardia Airport. As they pulled away from Sims and Martin, who had personally flown back with Paine and who stood smiling and waving at the curb outside the American Airlines terminal, Bryers removed Paine's handcuffs.

"Relax," Bryers said. "You're not being charged with anything."

Paine looked at him levelly_; there seemed to be a hint of amusement on Bryers’ face behind the bureaucrat's veneer. "Then what am I doing here?"

"There was a time, for about twenty minutes yesterday, when you were directly connected with the murder of Jim Coleman."

"Who issued the warrant?"

Bryers smiled slightly. "I did. Let's just say I was politely asked to do it."

"By who?"

"The U.S. Attorney's office. And let's say he was asked by someone else above him."

"You were ordered to have me sent back to New York?" Bryers said,

"Asked." The chagrined smile remained.

"Don't you care about being jerked around?" Paine asked.

Bryers’ demeanor darkened. "That's not the way I'd put it."

"How would you put it?"

"Let's just say a lot has happened since yesterday. A lot of it I have you to thank for."

Paine waited for more.

Bryers suddenly smiled widely and slapped Paine on the knee. "You're a good man, Jack. You're honest, and you're tough. I'd like you to work for me."

"Didn't Coleman make me an unauthorized job offer a few days ago?"

"This is different. You've helped me clean up the whole department in less than a week, and I'd like to have you around for good. Rank of detective, second class, to start. We can talk about salary over drinks."

Paine studied Bryers’ face to see if he was joking. But Bryers didn't have the kind of face that joked.

Bryers said, "Don't you realize what you've done?"

"You did break into Coleman's house, didn't you? You left no prints but I know it was you."

After a moment, Paine said, "Yes."

"You didn't plant that stuff in the hutch drawer, did you?"

"It was there already."

Bryers almost laughed. "Well, don't you realize that Coleman's log contained the names of every crooked cop in the department, and half the dealers in Yonkers? That would have taken me months, maybe years, to get at. I've got ten indictments already, and another five in the works! And then the department's clean!"

"That's nice."

"Jack, in twenty years, I've never had a day like this! We even solved Roberto Hermano's murder." He laughed. "Turned out it was a lover's quarrel, if you want to call it that. Hermano was a fag. Apparently he and some other fag named Philly Ramos were an item. When Roberto started fooling around on the side with a sixteen-year-old named Jeff Samuels, Ramos found out about it and killed him out of jealousy. This kid Samuels came to us with his parents. They were white as a sheet, their little boy, good background, all-white school, mixed up with this kind of homo crap. The kid was a wreck, told us everything. He said Bob Petty had been protecting Hermano, and that after Petty disappeared Roberto wanted to leave New York with Samuels, but the kid wouldn't go with him." Bryers’ enthusiasm dropped a notch. "Jack, I am sorry about your friend Petty turning out bad-"

"Who said Petty was involved?"

"His prints were all over the club where we found Coleman's body. So were yours. You tell me what to think."

"Was his name in Coleman's ledgers?"

"No. But he and Coleman could have had a separate agreement. Or Petty may have gone on the take recently. Or maybe Petty decided to take over the whole operation."

Paine was silent.

"Look, Jack, you have to be reasonable," Bryers said. "I've got Petty directly connected with a murder in Yonkers, one in Fort Worth, Texas, and now I have an APB in from Tucson for Petty for the murder of someone named Enrique Quinones and his girlfriend. All of the bodies were hacked to pieces and decapitated. I think it's safe to say that Petty is involved, and that he may be out of his mind. What do you think? Of course, you were there, too. And you look like you were in a war. So talk to me."

"I don't know what to think."

"Listen, Paine," Bryers said. "I'd really like you to come back to the department. It would be good for you, for me, for everyone."

"How would it be good for me?"

Bryers showed surprise. "Don't you miss the police force? Your father was a good cop, from what I hear."

"I don't miss the force."

Bryers’ surprise increased. "Do you mean that?"

"Look," Paine said, facing Bryers, letting anger run into his face. "I was a cop once, I was in love with it then, but I'm not a cop anymore."

"But with all the corruption gone-"

"The way I see it, this is your way of keeping the feds happy by putting a lid on me. You know if you charge me with Coleman's murder I'll be out in six hours."

Bryers just looked at him. "There's something else. The U.S. Attorney's office informed me that they're investigating a government leak they think breached national security."

Paine said nothing.

"It's serious stuff," Bryers continued. "They told me five to ten, just for being involved. They'd really like to find the leak."

"All I want to do is find out what happened to Bob Petty."

Bryers suddenly became very formal. He turned away from Paine, staring straight out through the glass partition, through the windshield of the car. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Part of the deal I made with the U.S. Attorney's office was that you stay in New York."

"You made the deal, I didn't."

"It's not that simple. If you try to leave New York, I'll have to arrest you for Coleman's murder."

"But you told me-"

"That's right. I told you. But I didn't say it was official. Officially, for the sake of the U.S. Attorney's office, I let the warrant stand."

"I told you it wouldn't stick."

Bryers was humorless, the bureaucrat again. "They've got a job to do. We all do. Is this your office?"

The car had stopped in front of Paine's building. The driver in front sat unmoving, hands on the wheel, waiting. Paine said, "Thanks for the ride."

As he was getting out of the car Bryers put his hand on Paine's arm. "Think about my offer." A hint of a clinically friendly smile came back to his face. "Like I said, it would be good for everybody."

"Good for you?" Paine said, and Bryers removed his hand from Paine's arm.

"Everybody," Bryers said, stonily.

Paine got out of the car and closed the door. He watched Bryers make a motion to the driver, and then the car pulled away from the curb and moved off.