Sons of the City (42 page)

And yet City Councilman Sonny Knight was standing there, beat to shit. And he had clearly identified Mutt and Roy as his assailants.

Sonny Knight, who was as pro-cop as anyone on City Council. We all knew he had gotten us more funding, new radios, the latest generation of vests. Which we were wearing right now.

“Why would he lie?” I asked Mutt and Roy.

They both shrugged.

“Maybe it was one of those gay things,” said Mutt. “You know, maybe he picked up a male prostitute or something, and didn’t pay.”

“Yeah, but then why would he blame you guys?” I asked. “Why wouldn’t he just say somebody tried to rob him, or carjack him, and he resisted? That’d be a lot simpler.”

They shrugged again.

Knight had finished his phone call, but now he was pushing buttons again, and talking to someone else. Who was it this time, the mayor? The president?

The dogs were still watching us. Above them, along the top of the fence, were strands of rusted and sagging barbed wire, interwoven with strings of some of the red and blue and yellow triangle-flags. But the way the flags flapped in the darkness, sending shadows dancing at our feet, they looked like they had been snared in some kind of trap, and were flailing around, trying to escape.

I looked back at the dogs. Hell, they saw what happened, maybe I should ask them.

What did you see?

Bark, bark.

Really? You willing to testify to that?

With some juries in Philadelphia, that might be enough to reach a verdict.

Knight was slowly heading back toward us, still on the phone.

“You’re leaving now, right?” he said. “I need you here, Carl.”

Mutt turned to me. “Carl?”

I shrugged. Knight was talking in a low voice, and we strained to make out his words.

“I haven’t talked to her yet. I don’t want her to worry. Yes, I’m sure I’m OK.”

We missed the next sentence or two, but then heard Knight say, “No, that’s not a good idea. The media does not need to be here.”

Knight glanced up and we looked away, pretending we couldn’t hear.

“No, you don’t need to call Channel 7. Carl. Are you listening to me, Carl?”

“We’re screwed,” said Mutt.

“Yeah,” I said. “We probably are.”

This book owes a lot to two good friends: Marc Kristal, the finest writer I know, and retired Philadelphia Police Sgt. Joe Escher, a cop’s cop if there ever was one.

I’m grateful to my agent, Barbara Lowenstein, and to my editor, Claire Wachtel. Thanks also to the others who helped along the way, including Mike Lynsky, Marisol Bello, Jim Nolan, Kitty Caparella, Vince Kasper, Yvonne Latty, Dan Hawes and Dr. Gilbert Palley.

But perhaps the greatest thanks goes to my wife, Karen, whose wise counsel helped the book through its final stages, and whose encouragement and love helped the author through the publication and beyond. It’s fair to say she cared for this book as if it were her own.

A dazzling debut, crackling with electric tension and breathtaking authenticity, Scott Flander’s

SONS OF THE CITY

marks the emergence of a major new voice in crime fiction

“A gritty first novel … Readers who relish police stories, whether true crime or fiction, should enjoy
Sons of the City.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“It’s rare enough to find a book that captures the nuances of Philadelphia; it’s rarer to find a police novel with this much authenticity … A fine summer read. Buy it, and ride along with Philadelphia’s finest.”
Dayton Daily News

“Flander is very good at describing the gritty life and conversation of Philadelphia street cops.”
USA Today

“A riveting look at a cop’s daily grind in the toughest neighborhoods, where murder, Mafia, interracial tensions, and high-level corruption are all part of the scene.”
Harrisburg Patriot

“Scott Flander has nailed dead-on … the milieu of the Philadelphia street cop …
Sons of the City
is more concerned with life beyond the promotional images of Philly cheesesteaks and patriot walks.”
Newark Star-Ledger

SELECTED BY
BOOKLIST
AS ONE OF THE BEST FIRST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR!

F
OUR TO
M
IDNIGHT

SCOTT FLANDER is an award-winning reporter for the
Philadelphia Daily News
and the author of two crime novels,
Sons of the City
and the upcoming
Four to Midnight.
He lives in Philadelphia. Visit his website at
www.scottflander.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AVON BOOKS
An Imprint of
HarperCollins
Publishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, New York 10022-5299

Copyright © 1999 by Scott Flander
Excerpt from
Four to Midnight
copyright © 2003 by Scott Flander
ISBN: 0-06-054278-0

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-03963-7

First Avon Books paperback printing: June 2003
First William Morrow hardcover printing: July 1999

Avon Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. and in Other Countries, Marca Registrada, Hecho en U.S.A.

HarperCollins ® is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1