White sister

Chapter 34

What the Hell's going on?" Tommy said. He sat down on the amphitheater bench beside me.

"I've been wondering how an LAPD sergeant, like Slade, can pull guns on civilians and then walk out from under the I. A. complaints with just some days off and a departmental reprimand," I said. "Why didn't any of the civilians this guy was pulling down on go to the District Attorney and get him to file a criminal complaint?"

"If Alexa was involved with him, maybe she kicked those charges loose and made peace for him with the D. A.," Tommy said.

"And then she calls up the County Sheriffs and tips them to the voice print idea on the nine-one-one call in Malibu? How's that fit?" I said. "She helps him beat the road-rage beefs but turns him in on the nine-one-one thing?"

"Shane's right," Tommy said. "Doesn't make much sense."

They exchanged looks, so I went on. "Since I'm on everybody's shit list, I was hoping to get you guys to check with PSB tomorrow.

Get somebody down there to pull those old road-rage incidents. See exactly who the original complainants were. I need full background checks on them. I'm going to give you guys Alexa's computer; you'll find a file marked overtime deployment schedules. It opens with the password 'Lacey.' Scroll down a few pages and you'll find a lot of e-mails between Slade and Alexa. They're from the last two months. On the surface, they look like love letters, and at the end there's some kinda blackmail threat on Alexa from Slade. But I don't think that's what they are anymore. They talk about having a floor score, which I originally thought was sex, but it's not. It's "

"A rap group," Rafie finished. "Curtis Clark. I just got his new CD, Savage Bitch."

I nodded. "The e-mails contain the names of rap groups and music management companies in messages written to sound like love letters. One e-mail mentions the Biltmore Hotel on Pico. There's no Biltmore on Pico. They talk about having a meeting at the Crypto Motel in room four-fifty-seven. No such place. But my son tells me there's a rap group called Crypto Four-Fifty-Seven. I think the whole thing is code. You need to take the computer to Secure Documents and get somebody you trust down there to decode it. But you guys need to keep this to yourselves. I think when we get the cheese, it will blow the top off this murder case and it might not make the guys on the sixth floor happy."

"It still doesn't lay down for me," Rafie said. "Why is she passing e-mails back and forth with Slade, who was dirty?"

"Yeah," Tommy said, "the guy was a shitcake."

I didn't want to lay it all out yet, but Rafie read my expression. "You got a theory, don't you?" he said, then added, "If you want us in this, we need all of it."

"There's only one way it makes sense," I finally said. "The reason the road rage incidents didn't go to a full Board of Rights or a criminal justice proceeding is because I think they were all setups. Those motorists didn't pursue their cases after I. A. gave Slade those wrist slaps, because they were all in on it. Maybe they were the families of cops helping the department dirty up Slade so he could go undercover. That's what I want you to find out."

They nodded, knew there was more, and waited.

"I think Alexa tipped the sheriffs to the voice print idea for the same reason," I continued. "The department was cementing David Slade's cover as a rogue cop, so he could infiltrate Maluga's music business, start by working security, and then worm his way up. Before Lou went to prison, he and Stacy got separated. But they didn't get divorced. I think the reason for that is Stacy's the brains behind Lethal Force. Lou supplies the street cred and keeps the acts in line. They stayed married because they needed each other. When Lou went to the Q, they were already living in separate houses. Nobody was in Stacy's bed. Slade was a notorious ladies' man, so he hit that. What better way to get info than in the bedroom?"

They looked like they were buying it, so I went on. "Add to that a few more facts. Slade was already a Crip from the same hood in Compton and knew Stacy and Lou from Compton High, making him a good undercover choice. Alexa wouldn't have been his friend at the Academy unless he'd made a complete life change." I looked at them and said, "I don't think David Slade was a rat. I think he was a hero who gave up his life on the job."

"So where's the computer?" Tommy finally asked.

"Under seat B-twenty-three. Call me when you know anything."

I stood to go, and they stood with me.

"You're saying this sting started with Alexa and Slade back in 'ninety-eight?" Rafie said.

I nodded. "Alexa and Slade weren't shot because of a busted relationship or a blackmail attempt. They were shot because Slade's cover got blown."