Maggie came back, her heels clopping on the mold-spotted floor, her face bunched in frustration.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I started my dinner.”
She dismissed my remark with a brush of her hand. “I don’t care about that. It’s good to see you eating.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go out on a murder.”
“Send Wu and Froelich.”
“They’re not answering their phones. That’s some thumb you’ve got them under. Now I have to go with Josephs.” She dropped pesos on the table. “We’ll continue this later.” She hurried across the dining room and out the door.
The waitress appeared. “What did you do to your date?”
I looked up. “I need a brandy.”
“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” She cocked her hip to one side and tugged at an earring. “What you need is a mature woman.”
“Brandy,” I repeated, practically snarling the word.
“Your loss.” Her hip snapped back into place, and she headed for the bar.
My phone rang. Maria the bodyguard. I listened to what she had to say, my teeth biting down on my lip.
The brandy arrived by the time I hung up. I slugged the glass down, hoping the spurned waitress hadn’t added a splash of saliva.
I waved for another glass of instant courage. I was going to need it.
Fucking Mota.
I leapt for the riverbank, one foot landing in the mud, the other splashing water halfway up my pant legs. I guess the skiff wasn’t as close as I’d thought. Next time, I’d have to remember to push up my shades for a better look before I jumped.
I waved at the skiff’s pilot and started scrabbling up the riverbank to the sound of the boat’s motor puttering for deeper water.
“Here,” said a voice.
Looking up, I saw a hand reaching over the embankment’s edge. “That you, Deluski?”
“Yep.”
Taking hold of his hand, I scrambled the rest of the way. “Kripsen and Lumbela here yet?”
“They’re just up the way there.”
“Good.” I fell in step with the young officer, one shoe squishing with every step.
Kripsen and Lumbela approached, both of them wearing white, loose-fit linens. Kripsen’s were too long in the legs, the short man’s cuffs dragging on the ground. Lumbela’s whites shone bright on his dark skin. They fell in alongside, the four of us now marching in a line.
“What’s up, boss?” asked Lumbela. There was a small bandage under his temple.
“Maria called. She said a uni’s been posted at the head of the alley, and he’s scaring all the business away.”
“Just one cop?”
“That’s what she said.” One cop. One. Mota was an amateur. After his little show of bravery on the phone, I’d expected him to make a move, but not one so feeble. He had no clue what he was up against. Like I said, he had no business running a protection racket.
“Anybody heard from Wu and Froelich?” I asked. “They won’t answer their phones.”
“They went upriver,” said Lumbela. “They like to bet on the lizard fights up there.”
“Why won’t they pick up?”
“Did you tell them they’d be on call?”
Is he serious? I actually stopped to stare at him.
“If they didn’t know they were on call, they might’ve turned their phones off.”
I was speechless. Genuinely speechless.
He caught on. “You expect us to be on call all the time?”
“Twenty-two-fucking-seven.”
“Okay.” We started moving again. “Good to know.”
We turned left. A bonfire raged in the middle of the street, making the air reek of smoke and ash, melted plastic and burned rubber. Several people worked the asphalt with fern-frond brooms, creating piles of debris left by the riot.
Silently, we marched from one ravaged block to the next. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Lumbela checking me out. I tried to ignore him, but he kept watching me instead of looking where he was going, his shoes scuffing and bumbling.
“What the fuck?”
“I–I was just wondering if you could see okay with those glasses?”
“I see fine.”
A pair of butchers wheeled a cart of monitor carcasses up to the closest fire. They each grabbed a pair of thick, stubby legs and swung the gutted lizard from side to side, counting one-two-three before heaving the carcass into the flames, where it landed like a heavy log, a cloud of sparks kicking up for the sky. We passed the cart as they grabbed hold of a second monitor. By the smell of it, the meat had been taken by the rot. The power was back on in this neighborhood, but not soon enough to save their unrefrigerated stock.
What a fucking mess this city was, the riots just the latest blight on an already spoiled fruit. It was hard to believe Koba once had thrived and bustled with energy. Those days were long gone, gone for generations.
Every step took us closer to where it happened. I remembered the way it felt when I’d let go, when I’d surrendered to the madness. Exhilarating. Pure. Totally insane. My stomach fluttered, and my feet felt light on the ground. I did my best to purge the strange emotions inside me. Now wasn’t the time.
I looked where the spice shop used to be-nothing but a pile of charred rubble. An old woman sat on the pavement outside and used a piece of paper to scoop spilled spice into a plastic bag, picking out pieces of glass in the process.
We stepped up to the lone uniform at the head of the alley.
“Hey, fellas,” he said. “That you, Juno?”
Son of a bitch. Not Jimmy.
“Shit, I knew it was you soon as I saw that hand of yours. Shit, man, why don’t you get that fixed? I bet them doctors can give you some pills or somethin’.”
I knew this kid. Jimmy Bushong. Ex-army and a fellow Tenttowner. I’d met him during the Vlotsky case and helped him get a post at KOP after he gave Maggie and me the inside dope on his army unit. “What are you doing here, Jimmy?”
“Jus’ followin’ orders. My sarge told me to stand right here by this alley. I asked him why, and he told me the order came from up the chain. Pretty fuckin’ weird if you ask me, but I ain’t complainin’. This shit’s way better than workin’ riot duty. This neighborhood sure got worked over last night.” He punctuated the statement with a whistle.
“You got that right.”
“What you guys up to? You come down to get some action?”
“How did you guess?”
“I ain’t goin’ to stop another badge. You go on in if you wants to. With me scarin’ the little action they’s gettin’ tonight, they ain’t busy in there. I bet you can get some discounts tonight. I’m talkin’ bargains galore.”
“I bet so,” I said with a lascivious leer. “We’re going to give those whores a helluva workout, aren’t we, boys?” I gave Deluski a guy-to-guy elbow.
Picking up on my lead, Deluski said, “Shit, they’re gonna have to sit on ice when we finish with them.”
The rest of my crew played their parts, horndog smiles all around.
I leaned toward Jimmy. “So how do you like the job so far? Been about a year, hasn’t it?”
“You know how it is, ain’t so much fun with all them riots and shit, but it’s way better than the army. Livin’ in the jungle, fightin’ them warlords.” He shook his head. “It ain’t no picnic, you see what I’m sayin’. I gotta thank you for gettin’ me this job, Juno. I sure do owe you one.”
“You don’t need to thank me. You earned your place. All I did was ask them to move your app to the top of the pile.”
“Shit, that ain’t nothin’ small. You done helped me, and I ain’t never goin’ to forget it.”
Lumbela asked, “You wanna come in with us, Jimmy?”
“No. I best stay out here.”
“It’s our treat.”
Jimmy was tempted. I could see it in his eyes. But he shook his head no. I liked Jimmy. Good kid. And probably a good cop.