Suicide Hill (9 page)

Finishing his pitch, Rice said, “A few other things: park your car on the nearest big street to the chicks' pads. That's Ventura for the Issler woman, Lankershim for Confrey. Wear gloves, but don't put on your ski masks until right before you go in the door. Carry briefcases and dress well so you'll blend in with the neighborhood. We meet at my place, Room 112 at the Bowl Motel on Highland up from the Boulevard,
one hour
after I call you at the girlfriends' pads. Tie the chicks up and tape their mouths, but make sure they can breathe. Questions?”

Bobby Garcia said, “Yeah. You said you been casing both gigs for three days. What do you mean by that?”

“We've got two on-the-sly romances going down,” Rice said. “Hawley from the B. of A. and his bitch Issler; Eggers from Security Pacific and his babe Confrey. Both men open their banks early, by themselves, and pilfer from the tellers boxes, probably small amounts. Okay, three days now, I've seen them tap the tills before opening. I've watched the guards and tellers arrive, parked across the street with binoculars. At both banks the money at the tellers stations is left there overnight!”

Joe Garcia raised his hand. “Why are these banks so lax about their security?”

“Good question,” Rice said. “I thought about that, then I did some more checking. First off, Hawley is a fuckup, too wimpy to run a tight ship. He's got nothing but party-hearty types working there, you know, everybody smokes dope on their lunch hour, young squares with no ambition, so they've got to get wasted to make it through the day. Also, the Security Pacific is only half a block from an L.A.P.D. substa tion—maybe Eggers thinks he's robbery-proof. Who knows? And who cares?”

Bobby held up his hands, then brought them together and began slowly cracking the knuckles on each finger. Finishing, he said, “Let's cut the shit and get to the cut. It's a righteous fucking plan, but how much are we gonna make?”

Rice said, “I'm guessing at least thirty K per bank minimum, sixty-forty split—sixty for me, forty for you guys to split.”

Bobby snorted. Joe said, “That sounds fair to me, you did all the wo—”

“Shut up,
pindejo
!
” Bobby yelled. Lowering his voice, he said to Rice, “I like you, Duane, but you're giving me the big one where it hurts the most. Fifty-fifty, or you go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.”

Rice faked a sheepish look; his split strategy had worked to perfection. “Deal,” he said, sticking out his right hand for the brothers to grasp, wincing when Bobby slammed it with both callused palms, grinning when Joe's tagalong hands followed. “Day after tomorrow for Hawley and Issler. I'll meet you here tomorrow night at nine for a final briefing. If you need me for anything, call me at Louie's bootleg number.”

The three men stood up and shook hands all around. Rice turned to walk out, and Bobby tapped him on the shoulder. “Ain't you forgetting something, Duane?”

Rice smiled and did a two-gun pirouette, drawing one .45 from his back waistband and another from his shoulder holster, flipping them up by the silencered barrels and catching them by the grips. “Be cool,” he said as he handed the guns to Bobby.

Bobby “Boogaloo” Garcia grinned and emptied both .45s at his back living room wall, blowing Roberto Duran to shreds and the wall itself into a rubble heap of rotted wood, dust and plaster chips. Joe squinted through the gun smoke and saw that the shots had ripped apart the connecting door to his bedroom. Screaming, “You rape-o motherfucker, you wasted my albums!” he ran back to inspect the damage. Bobby bowed to Rice and said, “Never liked Roberto since Hearns kicked his ass. Silencers work good, Duane.”

7

D
eputy Chief Thad Braverton slammed down the phone and muttered, “Fuck,” then buzzed his secretary. When she appeared in the doorway, he said, “Ring Captain McManus at Robbery/Homicide and have him come up immediately, then call Captain Gaffaney at Internal Affairs and have him come up in fifteen minutes, no sooner.”

The woman nodded and about-faced into her vestibule. Braverton sent exasperated eyes heavenward and said, “Crazy Lloyd. Jesus fucking Christ.”

McManus rapped on the doorjamb only moments later. Braverton took his eyes from the ceiling and said, “Sit down, John. Close the door behind you. Fred Gaffaney is joining us shortly, and I don't want him to hear any of this.”

McManus nodded and eased the door shut, then sat down, waiting for the superior officer to speak first. Close to a minute passed before Braverton said, “Hopkins isn't accepting the retirement deal.”

McManus shrugged. “I didn't think he would, sir. I also didn't know that you'd spoken to him.”

“I haven't,” Braverton said. “Someone leaked the word to him in Frisco. Hopkins went out looking for an attorney to represent him at his trial board and blundered into the office of the most prestigious left-wing firm in the city. He ended up shoving around the head shyster and punching out a bookcase.”

McManus breathed out slowly. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“My initial reaction, too.”

“Charges filed?”

Braverton shook his head. “S.F.P.D. talked the shyster out of it, applied pressure somehow. I just spoke to the station commander who caught the squeal. He said when the beef came in, Hopkins got a standing ovation from the detective squad.”

McManus felt chills dance up his spine. “Typical. Have you decided what you're going to do?”

“No.”

“Would you like my feedback?”

“Of course. You're his immediate supervisor, and, as cops go, an atypical thinker.”

McManus didn't know if the chiefs last remark was a compliment or a jibe; Braverton was a poker voice all the way. Trying hard to keep his own voice level, he said, “Sir, I've been Hopkins' supervisor since Gaffaney made captain and went to I.A.D., and I've handled him the way Fred and his previous bosses did. Let him pick his own shots, let him head up investigations that should have gone to field lieutenants, let him work without a partner. The results he's given me have been outstanding; his methods of obtaining them either dubious or outright illegal. For example: he solved Havilland-Goff brilliantly, but in the process shot it out with Goff in a crowded nightclub, then let him get away. Then he pulled at least two burglaries to obtain evidence. You know how I feel about violation of due process, sir. Hopkins is essentially a criminal. What sets him apart from a run-of-the-mill street thug is a one-seventy I.Q,. and a badge. And he's slipping. That foul-up at Oldfield's arraignment is just the beginning. He's obsolescent. Cut him loose.”

Braverton remained silent for long moments. McManus fidgeted, then said, “Sir, why have you called Gaffaney in? He was Hopkins' previous sup—”

Braverton cut him off. “I'll tell you after he's, left. What you said makes perfect sense, John. You're probably the world's only liberal Irish cop. I th—”

The sound of a buzzer interrupted him. Braverton said, “There he is,” then pressed a button on his phone console. There was a tapping on the doorjamb. Braverton called out, “Enter!” and Captain Fred Gaffaney walked in and nodded briskly at both men. “Chief, Captain,” he said.

Braverton pointed to a chair. McManus stood up and shook the I.A.D. adjutant's hand, feeling like he had stepped backward in time—Gaffaney's crew cut and bargain-basement blue suit always reminded him of his rookie days, when departmental regulations demanded such a visage. His bone-crusher handshake was another anachronism, and McManus sat down wondering what kind of game Braverton was playing.

Gaffaney settled into his chair and fingered his cross and flag lapel pin. Braverton looked straight at him and said, “Lloyd Hopkins is about to be brought up on a trial board. Dereliction of duty, maybe a criminal prosecution for perjury if he doesn't accept the retirement deal the Department is going to offer him. We're looking for backup dirt. What have
you
got on him?”

“Internal Affairs has a substantial file on Hopkins,” Captain Fred Gaffaney said. “Notations covering his numerous insubordinations and illegal search and seizures. What are you using for ammo at the trial board?”

Braverton smiled. “The court transcript of his perjury, a psychiatrist's report that states, essentially, that he's a burnout. If need be, we may utilize his I.A.D. file. Your personal testimony might help.”

Gaffaney's left hand jerked up to his lapel pin; McManus watched the witch hunter's eyes narrow as he said, “You mean as to the information in the file?”

“That's right.”

“Of course I'll testify, Chief.”

Braverton sighed. “Thanks, Fred, I knew I could count on you.”

Gaffaney got to his feet, then said, “If there's nothing else, I have an interview in ten minutes.” Braverton nodded dismissal, and McManus watched the crew-cut anachronism exit the office looking
strange.

The chief's silent deadpan stare compounded the feeling of strangeness. Knowing he was being tested, McManus dropped his usual “sir” and said, “What was that all about?”

Braverton responded with an open-armed gesture that took in his whole office. “You may well be sitting in this chair one day. If you make it, you'll be dealing more with ambitious brass like Gaffaney than with street dicks like Crazy Lloyd.”

McManus' whole being tingled; the testing was moving toward a veiled offer of patronage. “And, sir?”

“And I have a nominal regard for due process myself. Gaffaney is on the promotion list. He'll be a commander very shortly, and he'll probably take over I.A.D. when Stillwell retires. As far as that goes, he deserves the job; he's a good exec.

“But he's a born-again Christian loony, so far right that he scares
me.
He's been playing savior to some very well placed junior officers—field sergeants in Metro, I.A.D. dicks, uniformed officers in a half dozen divisions. Sergeants and lieutenants, all born-agains and all ambitious. He's offered them his patronage and promised to move
them
up as
he
moves up.”

McManus whistled, then said, “What's his ultimate end?”

Braverton repeated his expansive gesture. “Chief of police, then politics? Who knows? The man is forty-nine years old, twenty-three years on the Job and fucked up on religion. My wife suggested male menopause. What do you—”

McManus raised a hand in interruption. “Sir, where did you get this information?”

“I was getting to that. Gaffaney has a son in the Department, Steve Gaffaney, a rookie working West L.A. Patrol. The kid has been pilfering from the station, clerical supplies, ammo, that kind of thing, for months. Finally the daywatch boss got pissed and called Intelligence Division, because if he initiated an investigation through I.A.D., Gaffaney senior would pick up on it. Intelligence checked the kid out and discovered that he had been suspended from high school for pilfering from lockers and that Captain Fred had bribed the principal of the school to erase all notations pertaining to disciplinary problems on the kid's record, and to improve his grades. Junior wouldn't have been admitted to the Academy with his real transcript.”

McManus whispered, “And, sir?”

“And Intelligence did some more checking on Jesus Freak Fred and got wind of his little cross-and-flag coterie, which of course is perfectly kosher within departmental regulations.”

“What's the upshot?”

“For now I'm going to sit on it. If the kid fucks up big or Captain Fred gets obstreperous, I'll lower the boom.”

McManus smiled as the chief of detectives' machinations moved into out-and-out barter. “Sir, you still haven't told me where Hopkins fits in, and you want something.”

Smiling back, Braverton said, “The Intelligence dicks said that Jesus Fred has got a shitload of personal dirt files on officers he hates and wants to curry favor with. He hates Hopkins' guts, and I know for a fact that he's privy to a lot of the sleazy stuff Lloyd has pulled over the years. That charade was to confirm that the files exist. His reaction proved that they do.”

“And, sir?”

“And, John, what's
your
reaction to all this?”

“Cut Hopkins loose, blackmail Jesus Fred into retiring by threatening to expose the kid, fire the kid and stonewall the whole fucking mess.”

Braverton gave his new protégé a round of applause. “Bravo, except your love of due process and lack of paranoia is appalling. First we have to neutralize Gaffaney's files, which may take awhile.”

“Then?”

“First things first. Today is December sixth. On January first you will leave Robbery/Homicide and take over the Violent Crime Task Force in South Central L.A. I want a broad-minded man down there, someone who can deal rationally with blacks.”

McManus' throat went dry; his first reaction was to offer effusive thanks. Then respect for the barter game took over. “What's it going to cost me?”

Braverton's eyes clouded. “I want to ease Hopkins out,” he said. “Hopefully without a trial board. I want you to call him back from San Francisco and give him some sort of assignment that does not involve homicide and will not insult his intelligence. I want him around Parker Center where I can talk to him. He's got to be cut loose, but I want it done gently.”

McManus winced at the price of his high-visibility promotion. “You could have made it an order.”

“Not my style,” Braverton said. “Liberals should be adept at trading up, seeing as how they're handicapped from the gate.”

The epiphany clicked into McManus' head and made him forget caution. “You love him.”

“Yes. And I owe him, and you owe him. He got the Slaughterer and Havilland and Goff within fifteen months. Do you know the story on the Slaughterer?”

“No.”

“Then you don't want to know. Will you do this for me?”