The King Tides

Chapter 43 The Devil You Know

The best thing about not being a cop was that the rules changed. As a private investigator, Lancaster didn’t have to concern himself with a suspect’s rights or the protections afforded him or her under the Constitution. Those things stopped mattering.

Leaving the hospital, he drove to a trendy eatery on Las Olas called YOLO, which stood for You Only Live Once. It was not the kind of place where he usually hung out, and he didn’t expect to run into anyone he knew. The lunch crowd had thinned out, and he found a parking space on a side street and called the sheriff’s office main switchboard. He asked to speak to Detective Vargas and was patched through to voice mail.

“Good afternoon, Detective Vargas. This is your old pal Jon Lancaster,” he said. “I hear you’ve been going around town saying nasty things about me. Well, I’m going to pay you back for your trouble. You and your asshole partner are in a world of trouble. I’m talking prison, loss of pension, and having your bank accounts seized. If you’d like to hear more, meet me at YOLO. I’ll be at the bar.”

He was into his second beer when Vargas came in. She was breathing hard and had worked up a real sweat. She refused to sit down. He settled his tab and picked up his beer. They walked to the back of the dining room and took a booth.

“Where’s your ugly partner?” he asked.

“Booking a suspect,” Vargas said. “I was at my desk typing up an arrest report when your call came in. I didn’t like the sound of it, so I dropped what I was doing and came over. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Vargas was playing dumb, wanting to see how much he actually knew. A waitress pretty enough to model materialized at their table.

“You want a drink?” he asked.

“Can’t, I’m working,” she said.

“You’re going to want a drink after you hear what I have to say.”

Vargas waved the waitress away. “Spit it out, Jon. The less time I have to spend in your company, the better.”

There was no love lost between them, and he decided to let her have both barrels.

“The FBI is onto you,” he said.

The corner of her mouth twitched.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

“Let me refresh your memory. The FBI knows that a police dog trainer is stealing blow out of the stockade in his cowboy boots, and that he’s passing it on to detectives with the department who are moving it for him. The FBI also knows that you and your partner are strong-arming strippers into moving it for you. Is this ringing any bells?”

Vargas looked like she might puke. She got the waitress’s attention.

“A shot of Jameson and a beer chaser,” she said.

They shared a long, uncomfortable silence. Her drink came. Vargas belted the whiskey back and chased it down. It brought the color back to her face and helped her regain her composure.

“How did you find out?” she asked.

“That’s none of your god damn business,” he said. “What’s important is that I know, and I can help you.”

“You can make this go away?”

“I didn’t say that. There’s going to be a bust, and it will be ugly. What I can do is protect you and your partner. You won’t go down with the rest of them.”

“But the others will take the fall.”

“That’s right.”

“They might think we ratted them out.”

“Who cares? They’ll be in prison, and you won’t.”

Vargas was having a hard time dealing with the reality of what he was saying. Most criminals accepted that they might get caught and face prison. Vargas hadn’t considered this, and it was turning her inside out. She flagged the waitress and ordered another whiskey.

“What do you want in return?” she asked.

“There’s a guy named Zack Kenny I want you to bust. He has a library of kiddie porn stored on his iPad in the study of his condo. I’ll give you the address.”

“That’s it?”

“He needs to go down hard. You can’t screw it up.”

“We won’t screw it up. But we’ll need a good reason to get a warrant to search his condo. Otherwise, whatever we find will get tossed out of court.”

“Kenny kept a teenage girl in his condo for a few months,” he said. “The condo association found out about it, and there was a big ruckus. Everyone in the building knows, including the guard at the front gate.”

“Did Kenny screw her?”

“I’m sure he did.”

“Then it was statutory rape. Is the girl still there?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then how does that help us get into his place?”

“It establishes that Kenny has a history of dealings with underage girls. You need to coerce another teenage girl to say that Kenny lured her to his condo. Get her to say that she saw kiddie porn on his iPad. Then go to a judge for your search warrant.”

“That’s a tall order. If the girl trips up, I’m screwed.”

“Would you rather get arrested for dealing coke? The feds will take everything you have. When you get out of the joint, you’ll be broke. Pick your poison.”

Vargas was twisting on the end of an invisible rope. The waitress brought her a fresh shot. She belted it back, and would have probably licked the glass if he hadn’t been looking. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and took a deep breath.

“Give me this asshole’s address,” she said.