“Go on record, my people? No, no.” Angel laughed. “Testify against the police, in this town? I think not.”
“Do they have the names of these officers?”
“No, no names. I am sorry.”
“But that’s proof of nothing, it’s simply hearsay at best, Sergio could have just easily gone back to Mexico, he could have—”
“And I wish that he had. You don’t understand, even if Sergio was still alive, which I assure you he is not, he wouldn’t testify as to what he’d done or knew. No.”
“You’re telling me he was murdered by two policemen, but offer no proof—”
“I’m not here to offer proof, only information. I was asked to pass it along, and I honored that request. You can judge the veracity of the information for yourselves. But I’m certain that Mr. Elder has no problem believing the tale.”
“No,” Slick said. “I do not.”
“But if Sergio was murdered and we don’t have his body, how can we—”
“Sergio is not the issue, Pedro is,” Slick said. “The girl is. We prove Pedro is innocent, not only do we fuck Ted over, we then force them to reopen Roger’s case, too, which will result in justice for Roger and for Sergio. We focus on the girl.”
Camilla seethed for a moment, stifled by the enormity of what she’d heard. Slick watched her as she stuffed it all back inside and put her game face back on. “Do you have any idea who the girl is?”
“None,” Angel said. “I will make some inquiries, of course. If I find out anything, I will contact you right away. Now, if you don’t mind, in light of Sergio’s sudden demise, I am leaving the area tonight, without delay.”
Angel stood up.
“You are? Why?” Camilla asked.
“Because I can be detained and taken out to the desert to dig a hole just as easily as anyone. I may be a naturalized citizen, but I’m still a brown person. And to be honest, I’m a facilitator, not a fighter. I leave those battles to others, which is the only reason I’ve lived as long as I have.
“I especially avoid conflict with white people whenever I can. In most circumstances I would have stayed out of this, but in addition to Sergio’s request, I have found myself in Mr. Elder’s debt, and it’s my belief that all debts must be paid.”
“Debt? You said you didn’t know him,” Camilla asked Slick.
“I don’t, I’ve never met him before,” he replied.
“We haven’t, but we do have a mutual friend,” Angel said. “His name is Esteban and he has a younger sister who was recently the victim of violence. You were of considerable assistance in their circumstances and for that you have my gratitude.”
Slick sat up straight as he got that. Angel was the man who arranged for the disposal of Stutz, evidently he’d interceded with the broker and thus was the sole reason for Slick’s presence in Arizona.
“What is he talking about?” Camilla asked. “I thought you were a professional poker player?”
Slick didn’t answer right away, taken aback. Thankfully Angel spoke up.
“We are, none of us, only just what we get paid for, but also for what we do. I make my living pouring drinks, but I do much more than that, sometimes for money, sometimes for more complicated reasons. You make your living as a lawyer and an officer of the court, Ms. Leon, but I’ve heard there is much more to you than meets the eye, however pleasing on the eyes you may be.
“And as for Mr. Elder, while it’s true that he makes his money at the card table, he has other, even more appreciable, talents.”
Slick felt her gaze on him and didn’t look back.
Angel held out his hand to Slick. They shook.
“Mr. Elder, I hope this information was of assistance to you. If you decide to stay in town, which is seems you have, please use caution. Extreme caution, yes?”
“I will. And, please, my friends call me Slick.”
“Then it will be my honor to call you such. Ms. Leon, I imagine this will be our only meeting in person and I want you to know it was a distinct pleasure.”
“Thank you, but I still don’t trust you,” she said as she shook his hand.
“What was it a wise man once said?” Angel asked. “Trust, then verify.”
S
lick felt Camilla’s
anger as a palatable presence as he guided the old Nova away from the bar. He wasn’t quite sure what she was angry about, but the anger was heavy in the air between them. He just kept quiet and drove. Finally she spoke.
“What did he mean, he OWED you? What did you do for him?”
“For him? Nothing. But it seems I once helped out a friend of his.”
“What did you do?”
“A favor.”
“For this … Esteban and his little sister, who was a victim of violence? What happened to her? And you helped them? How? What did you do?”
“Like I said, it was a favor, the nature of which is just between me and them.”
She snorted. “Uh-huh. You think you’re a priest now?”
“Uh, hell no.”
“And you’re not a lawyer, there’s no privilege to violate. So answer the question.”
“Just some kids in trouble. I can’t really say any more than that. Kids in a jam and I helped them out. I do that from time to time, get involved in small local dramas. I’m weak like that.” He smiled at her but it didn’t really thaw her out. “As I said, sometimes it’s hard for me to let certain things go. That’s my fatal flaw.”
“What are these other ‘appreciable talents’ of yours?”
“I play a mean game of Scrabble.”
“I don’t appreciate your jokes right now.”
“That’s one of my other appreciable talents.”
“I’m being serious.”
“Me, too.”
She whipped her eyes front and steamed, cursing under her breath in Spanish.
“What are you so pissed off about? Do we or don’t we know a LOT more than we did this morning?” Slick asked.
“It’s all hearsay and conjecture.”
“Like every case you work doesn’t start off exactly like that. Conjecture is a tool of your trade and so is hearsay.”
“Don’t tell me what my job is.”
“So what’s your beef? And not the one you have with me. What’s your beef with Angel’s story, what are you bumping up against?”
She didn’t answer right away, just sat and burned. Finally she turned to him.
“I just cannot believe that two of our uniformed officers picked up a man, drove him out to the desert and murdered him, I can’t believe that.”
“Why is that so hard to believe?”
“They’re officers of the law, not murderers!”
“Officers of the law, deputies, who told me when I was in custody that they were gonna beat me to death if I didn’t confess to a crime I did not commit.”
“That’s what they SAID. That doesn’t mean they would have followed through.”
“Oh, COME ON!”
“I believe you were abused, I have no trouble with that, but they were simply trying to intimidate you into—”
“No trouble believing they were beating my ass but not gonna go all the way and kill my ass, that’s what you’re saying?”
“I can believe that Ted and his cronies bend the law, lean on suspects, tailor testimony to fit what they think they know and can prove, yes. That happens in every police department in every major city. I don’t condone it, but it happens, in ours especially. I believe that they have a significant racial bias, absolutely, and use that accordingly against non-whites and illegals. I believe that they’ve committed police brutality as a result of that bias.
“What I don’t believe is that there is some murderous conspiracy afoot and they’re taking people out to the desert and executing them. Ted is bigoted and dumb, but that’s it. He’s not some criminal mastermind. He’s guilty of manslaughter and terminal stupidity. But I don’t for a second think any of this was premeditated by him or his department. I work with these people! They’re far from perfect but I don’t … I can’t … buy this premise. I can’t. I think this ‘Angel’ character is telling us stories for his own purposes and I don’t trust him.”
“You’ve had suspects die in custody?”
“Sure, but—”
“And you don’t think it was ever intentional?”
“No, violent offenders get arrested and sometimes when they resist… I’m not condoning, it’s wrong but happens, happens in every city in America—”
“I’m talking about THIS city, this department, this sheriff. You believe he’ll beat suspects, force confessions from innocent people, fabricate evidence—”
“I believe he’s CAPABLE of that, I don’t have solid proof that he’s actually done any of that. If I did, I’d be all over him in a second—”
“You believe he’s capable of THAT, but not outright murder?”
“No. No, I just … I can’t imagine it.”
“Yet what other explanation is there? Why would Angel lie about this, what does he have to gain from this? All he’s done is expose himself for no real reason and invite heat upon himself for talking to you or me about it. Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. And that’s what makes me suspicious.”
Slick shook his head and cooked up a real beauty of a retort in his head, but before he could let it loose upon her a black SUV appeared out of nowhere and sideswiped the Nova, nearly putting it into a storefront.
Camilla screamed and Slick wrestled with the steering wheel as the SUV rammed the old car again, nearly pushing it into a truck parked nearby.
Slick slammed on the brakes. The SUV shot past them on the deserted city street. It braked hard and spun around three hundred and sixty degrees to a stop, facing them. The windows were tinted so they couldn’t see inside. The license plates had been removed, too. The SUV raced its engine and jolted forward at them.
“Buckle up,” Slick said and stomped on the accelerator. The Nova jolted forward and Slick cranked on the steering wheel, turning down a side street. The SUV slid around the turn close behind, ramming the rear bumper. Camilla screamed again.
Slick grappled with the wheel, struggling to keep the old car on the road as the SUV rammed them again and again. It was clear that whoever was driving it was trying to put them into a wall. Slick had the pedal all the way to the floor but the old car was pushed to its very limit as it was.
He reached the end of the block and cranked another turn, SUV right behind him. A big crash as the larger vehicle rammed their rear wheel. They wouldn’t be able to take many of those. Slick looked around quick as they roared down the street. It was an old business district, dying and dark, many of the shops closed for the night or simply closed for good. Sooner or later the SUV was going to total the Nova and likely them as well, once it started ramming it wouldn’t stop until there was nothing left but a stain.
Slick had an idea. “Hang on!”
The SUV zoomed up parallel to them and bashed the right front wheel. Slick reached down and yanked up the emergency brake, putting the old car into an extended spin. Camilla braced her arms on the dash as they spun around twice and the SUV again shot past them. It skidded to a stop, turned around and roared back.
Slick threw the Nova into reverse and backed away as fast as he could get the car to go. The SUV bore down on them, a head-on collision imminent. As the last moment, Slick spun the steering wheel and drove the Nova backwards into a narrow alley between two old buildings. Sparks flew as the sides of the old car scraped the alley walls.
The SUV stopped at the alley entrance, too wide and large to enter the narrow space between the buildings. Slick kept going until the exited out the other side of the alley, spun the wheel again and sped off down the road, away from the SUV and danger.
Now that they were away and clear, Slick chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Camilla demanded.
“It looks like I just bought a shitty beat up car from a waiter.”
Camilla let out a deep breath, her hands shaking.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No! Someone just tried to kill us!”
“You sure they weren’t just trying to intimidate our ass, they actually INTENDED to kill us?”
“That’s not funny!”
Camilla pulled absently at her hair, her whole body shaking now. Slick softened.
“It’s okay, we got distance on them now. We’re all right.”
“We are NOT all right, someone tried to kill us! How can you be so calm?”
Slick shrugged. “I guess I’m just used to it.”
S
lick parked on
a dark street a few blocks away from the organic restaurant where Camilla had left her car. He didn’t know if they’d been followed from when they left in the Nova or they’d just had Barrios staked out, but either way it was best to be cautious. He left the old junker where it was and slipped into the shadows of a nearby storefront. Camilla started to get out but stopped when Slick held up his hand and clocked the nearby streets carefully. Finally he nodded and she joined him on the sidewalk.
They huddled close to the restaurant and Slick stopped them again at a corner, leaning around it to see what there was to see. He took in everything, her car, and the restaurant, which was just closing up, it all seemed normal, a slow, quiet and dark weeknight.
“Let me have your car keys,” he said.
“Why?”
“I want to check it out.”
“Is this really necessary?”
“You asked me that before, remember?”
She handed him the keys without a word. Slick glided over to the car, unlocked it and, with his pocket flashlight, checked the entire vehicle, inside and out, engine and underneath. He stood up and dusted his hands off, beckoning her over. She went, holding her purse tight against her body. Slick noticed her hands still shook and she was barely holding it together.
“All clear. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure? You don’t look fine.”
She swallowed and shook her head, flipping her hair back out of her eyes in a manner that momentarily distracted Slick from the purpose at hand. He focused.
“We’re okay now. I promise you,” he said. “And it’s normal to be scared.”
“I notice that you’re not.”
“That’s just practice.”
“You’ve had practice with someone trying to run you off the road?”
“In a fashion, yeah.”
“You’re not really a card player, are you?”
“Well, I also play cards.”
“I was screaming like a girl.”