"Yeah, it's a big fucking deal, and if you were a halfway decent cop you'd know that."
"I'm more cop than you'll ever be."
"Not by the time I'm done with you," she answered.
The phone rang, startling them both. Ike stared at it, then at Frank. She answered, listened. She chewed her lip, glanced at Ike.
"Bring Claudia and Gloria in for formal statements." Then, "No, that's okay. Just come back to the station. I need to talk to you. And Nook."
Frank hung up, saying nothing.
"Let me guess," Ike snickered. "That was Bobby conveniently calling to tell you poor Tonio threw another clot, only this one killed him. Am I right?"
Frank pushed the phone at him.
"Bingo."
Ike doubled over, "There is no way I'm falling for that. Fuck, I'm insulted!" Smoothing his hand over his slick hair, he chuckled, "Thinking you can run a scam on me. Give me a break, Frank. I'm not some moron off the street."
"No, you're not. That's why beating Tonio to death surprised me. What do you weigh? About 200? A two-hundred pound cop kicks the shit out of a 14-year old that weighs 120 if he's wet. And you think a jury in LA.'s gonna smile at that? You better hope Johnnie Cochran's your lawyer, man."
Smiling viciously, Ike punched a number into the phone.
"Give me intensive care."
Neither cop took their eyes off the other.
"This is Captain Foubarelle, LAPD. Let me talk to Detective Nukisona."
A pause that filled years, then, "Hey Nook. It's Ike. What's going on with that Estrella kid, man?"
Frank was sure Ike could hear her heart and she prayed, Come on, Nook! Come on!
"He did, huh? What of? Oh yeah. What time? Really? Nook, man, I hate to say this but it sounds like you're bullshitting a bullshitter. What the hell's going on over there?"
He stared at her, listening. An icy drop of sweat splashed onto her ribs and she had to remind herself to breathe.
"You levelin' with me? 'Cause it doesn't sound like you are, man. Let me in. What's going on?"
Ike's face split nastily and he faked surprise when he said, "She told you to tell everyone that, huh?"
Frank depressed the phone button.
"Okay. You get round one. But your worst nightmare's just starting."
Ike cackled, slamming the handset down, "Oh baby. That was a good one! You actually thought you'd get me blabbing didn't you, spilling my guts like some punk-ass bitch. Thought I wouldn't notice I hadn't been Mirandized. You're incredible, baby, just incredible."
Hanging over Frank's desk, he went on, "Let me tell you, Frankie-girl, don't waste your time. I am Mr. Teflon and you are not going to get anything to stick on me. You hear me? Nothing. Now, is there anything else before I go outside for a smoke?"
"Go ahead," she said, "Go get your smoke. The condemned man having one last cigarette — I like it."
"You're the one that's condemned. Your career?" He dove his hand toward the floor. "Crash and burn, le Freek. Film and pictures at eleven."
He laughed all the way out of the squad room. Frank stared at the blank rectangle of her open door. She wondered idly if she was going to throw up or slam the wall again. Neither seemed like a good option. She'd had her shot and she'd blown it. Frank just stared at her phone for a while. Finally she reached for it. It was time for Nelson to set his dogs loose, muzzled as they were.
Chapter Thirty-one
Frank had put too many people in jail to appreciate an unexpected knock on her door. She put her beer on the counter, glancing at the 9mm holstered on the table.
"Who is it?" she bellowed over the stereo.
"It's me. Gail."
Checking through the peephole to make sure someone wasn't holding a gun on the doc, Frank thought, I am becoming one paranoid asshole.
"Hey. Why aren't you home in bed?"
"I wish I were," Gail groaned. "I had a date with the mayor."
"Uh-oh."
"I wanted to call you but I didn't want to wake you up in case you were sleeping. So I drove by and when I saw the lights on ... do you mind if I come in for a minute?"
"You're in, aren't you?"
"I'm serious. Do you have a sec?"
"Sure," she answered, nudging Gail toward the kitchen. "Can I buy you a beer? Something stronger?"
"No. Just an ear," she said slumping onto a stool at the counter. "You were right. He wants me to bury her blood-alcohol."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," she groaned. She picked at a chip in the lively Mexican tile.
"He threatened to out me."
She looked up at Frank, clearly agonized.
"And you too."
"Amazing," Frank blurted. She sought refuge from this additional betrayal in the cop's time-honored use of crude humor. "You're not even getting any and they're twisting you. You'd think they'd at least have the decency to wait until you were getting properly laid before they blackmailed you."
"It's not funny, Frank. They've seen us around. One thing leads to another."
Frank was leaning on the opposite side of the counter. Her hand found the back of her neck as she marveled, "We can't send a man to jail for killing eight people — and a dog — but we can ruin one woman's career because she has dinner with another woman. What a country, huh?"
"I don't want to drag you into this," Gail said and Frank gave a short, hard laugh.
"Drag away, doc. This is stupid. This is so fucked. All of it. If they kicked me out tomorrow I don't know that that would be such a bad thing."
"Maybe you're ready to go but I just got here and I've worked damn hard to get here too. I don't want to lose it all now."
"Gail, you're not going to lose it all just because the fucking mayor tells KABC you're a lesbian. He's a dick, you're a dyke. Let public sentiment decide."
"I wish it were that simple, but he's a very powerful player. He said in so many words that he can make things very ugly. For both of us."
"Whatever," Frank said. She drained her beer and pulled another out of the fridge. Slapping the top off against a ceramic opener set into the wall, she asked, "Sure you don't want one?"
"I'm sure. She was blind drunk, Frank. She killed three kids before their lives barely even got started. Talk about your public sentiment. That would bury him in a heartbeat. If I lie, I keep my job. Until the next ugly incident. But if I lie, I don't know that I could get out of bed in the morning. I hate this."
"Don't tell me you've never been asked to do anything like this before."
"Not this bad."
Gail looked at Frank as if she had an answer and Frank nodded. Bending over the counter Frank confided, "You know, I was thinking about this the other day. I offered a deal to the kid we originally thought capped Placa. He and his home boys talk to me, give me their alibi, and except for smoking someone, I'd look the other way. It wasn't right, but neither was losing a case against Ike. Sometimes it's okay to look the other way and sometimes it's not. There's just a hairline between right and wrong and I only hope I don't cross too far onto the wrong side.
"I've done things I'll never tell anyone about. Some of them seemed like the best choices at the time. I figure by and large I'm a pretty good cop, and I can do more good on the street than off. I can't help anyone if I'm not out there. I've made choices that kept me in the game, choices that I justified for the long run. Remember what they always told you when you were a kid? It's not who wins or loses, but how you play the game? Might be true in games but it's bullshit in politics.
It's all about who wins and loses, and that's all it's about. Problem is, you and I, we're still in it for the game."