Cop Hater (12 page)

Alice lay in a chaise near the open window. She wore a white blouse and a straight black skirt. She was barefoot, and her legs were propped up on the window sill, and the black skirt rustled mildly with the faint breeze that came through the window. She had drawn her blond hair back into a pony tail. He went to her, and she lifted her face for his kiss, and he noticed the thin film of perspiration on her upper lip.

"Where's that drink?" he asked.

"I'll mix it," she said. She swung her feet off the window sill, and the skirt pulled back for an instant, her thigh winking at him. He watched her silently, wondering what it was about this woman that was so exciting, wondering if all married men felt this way about their wives even after ten years of marriage.

"Get that gleam out of your eyes," she said, reading his face.

"Why?"

"It's too damn hot."

"I know a fellow who claims the best way..."

"I know about that fellow."

"Is in a locked room on the hottest day of the year with the windows closed under four blankets."

"Gin and tonic?"

"Good."

"I heard that vodka and tonic is better."

"We'll have to get some."

"Busy day at the mine?"

"Yes. You?"

"Sat around and worried about you," Alice said.

"I see all those grey hairs sprouting."

"He belittles my concern," Alice said to the air. "Did you find that killer yet?"

"No."

"Do you want a lime in this?"

"If you like."

"Means going into the kitchen. Be a doll and drink it this way."

"I'm a doll," Bush said.

She handed him the drink. Bush sat on the edge of the bed. He sipped at the drink, and then leaned forward, the glass dangling at the ends of his long muscular arms.

"Tired?"

"Pooped."

"You don't look very tired."

"I'm so pooped, I'm peeped."

"You always say that," Alice said. "I wish you wouldn't always say that. There are things you always say."

"Like what?"

"Well, like that, for one."

"Name another."

"When we're driving in the car and there are fixed traffic signals. Whenever you begin hitting the lights right, you say 'We're in with the boys'."

"So what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, the first hundred times."

"Oh, hell."

"Well, it's true."

"All right, all right. I'm not peeped. I'm not even pooped."

"I'm hot," Alice said. "So am I."

She began unbuttoning her blouse, and even before he looked up, she said, "Don't get ideas."

She took off the blouse and draped it over the back of the chaise. She owned large breasts, and they were crowded into a filmy white brassiere. The front slope of the cups was covered with a sheer nylon inset, and he could see the insistent pucker of her nipples. It reminded him of pictures he had seen in National Geographic at the dentist's office, the time he'd had that periodontal work done. The girls on Bali. Nobody had breasts like the girls on Bali. Except maybe Alice.

"What'd you do all day?" he asked.

"Nothing much."

"Were you in?"

"Most of the time."

"So what'd you do?"

"Sat around, mostly."

"Mmmm." He could not take his eyes from the brassiere. "Did you miss me?"

"I always miss you," she said flatly.

"I missed you."

"Drink your drink."

"No, really."

"Well, good," she said, and she smiled fleetingly. He studied the smile. It was gone almost instantly, and he had the peculiar feeling that it had been nothing more than a duty smile.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" she asked.

"Not yet," he said, watching her.

"Hank, if you think ..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I've got to go in again later," he said.

"They're really pushing on this one, aren't they?"

"Lots of pressure," he said. "I think the Old Man is scared he's next."

"I'll bet it's all over," Alice said. "I don't think there'll be another killing."

"You can never tell," Bush said.

"Do you want something to eat before you turn in?" she asked.

"I'm not turning in yet."

Alice sighed. "You can't escape this damn heat," she said. "No matter what you do, it's always with you." Her hand went to the button at the side of her skirt. She undid it, and then pulled down the zipper. The skirt slid to her feet, and she stepped out of it. She was wearing white nylon panties frilled with a gossamer web of puffed nylon at each leg. She walked to the window, and he watched her. Her legs were long and clean.

"Come here," he said.

"No. I don't want to, Hank."

"All right," he said.

"Do you think it'll cool off tonight?"

"I doubt it." He watched her "closely. He had the distinct impression that she was undressing for him, and yet she'd said ... He tweaked his nose, puzzled.

She turned from the window. Her skin was very white against the white of her underwear. Her breasts bulged over the edges of the inadequate bra. "You need a haircut," she said.

"I'll try to get one tomorrow. We haven't had a minute."

"Oh, goddamn this heat, anyway," she said, and she reached behind her to unclasp the bra. He watched her breasts spill free, watched as she tossed the bra across the room. She walked to mix herself another drink, and he could not take his eyes from her.
What's she trying to do?
he wondered.
What the hell is she trying to do to me?

He rose swiftly, walking to where she stood. He put his arms around her, and his hands cupped her breasts.

"Don't," she said.

"Baby..."

"Don't." Her voice was firm, a cold edge to it.

"Why not?"

"Because I say so."

"Well, then why the hell are you parading around like . . ."

"Take your hands off me, Hank. Let me go."

"Aw, baby..."

She broke away from him. "Get some sleep," she said. "You're tired." There was something strange in her eyes, an almost malicious gleam.

"Can't..."

"No."

"For Christ's sake, Alice..."

"No!"

"All right."

She smiled quickly. "All right," she repeated.

"Well . . ." Bush paused. "I'd ... I'd better get to bed."

"Yes. You'd better."

"What I can't understand is why..."

"You won't even need a sheet in this weather," Alice interrupted.

"No, I guess not."

He went to the bed and took off his shoes and socks. He didn't want to undress because he didn't want to give her the satisfaction, now that he'd been denied, of knowing how she'd affected him. He took off his trousers and quickly got into the bed, pulling the sheet to his throat.

Alice watched him, smiling. "I'm reading
Anapurna,"
she said.

"So?"

"I just happened to think of it."

Bush rolled over onto his side.

"I'm still hot," Alice said. "I think I'll take a shower. And then maybe I'll catch an air-conditioned movie. You don't mind, do you?"

"No," Bush mumbled.

She walked to the side of the bed and stood there for a moment, looking down at him. "Yes, I think I'll take a shower." Her hands went to her hips. Slowly, she rolled the panties down over the flatness of her stomach, past the hard jut of her crotch, over the whiteness of her thighs. The panties dropped to the floor, and she stepped out of them and stood by the bed looking down at Bush smiling.

He did not move. He kept his eyes on the floor, but he could see her feet and her legs, but he did not move.

"Sleep tight, darling," she whispered, and then she went into the bathroom.

He heard the shower when it began running. He lay on the soggy sheet and listened to the steady machine-gunning of the water. Then, over the sound of the shower, came the sound of the telephone, splitting the silence of the room.

He sat up and reached for the instrument.

"Hello?"

"Bush?"

"Yes?"

"This is Havilland. You better get down here right away."

"What's the matter?" Bush asked.

"You know that young rookie Kling?"

"Yeah?"

"He was just shot in a bar on Culver."

Chapter TWELVE

the squad room
of the 87th resembled nothing so much as the locker room of the Boys' Club when Bush arrived. There must have been at least two dozen teen-agers crammed in behind the dividing rail and the desks beyond it. Add to this a dozen or so detectives who were firing questions, the answers to which were coming in two languages, and the bedlam was equivalent to the hush of a hydrogen bomb explosion.

The boys were all wearing brilliantly contrasting purple and gold jackets, and the words "The Grovers" decorated the back of each jacket. Bush, looked for Carella in the crowded room, spotted him, and walked over toward him quickly. Havilland, a tough cop with a cherubic face, shouted at one of the boys, "Don't give me any guff, you little punk, or I'll break your goddamn arm."

"You try it, dick," the kid answered, and Havilland cuffed him across the mouth. The boy staggered back, slamming into Bush as he went by. Bush shrugged his shoulders, and the boy flew back into Havilland's arms, as if he'd been brushed aside by a rhinoceros.

Carella was talking to two boys when Bush approached him.

"Who fired the gun?" he asked.

The boys shrugged.

"We'll throw you all in jail as accessories," Carella promised.

"What the hell happened?" Bush wanted to know.

"I was having a beer with Kling. Nice, peaceful off-duty beer. I left him there, and ten minutes later, when he's leaving the joint, he gets jumped by these punks. One of them put a slug in him."

"How is he?"

"He's at the hospital. The slug was a .22, went through his right shoulder. We figure a zip gun."

"You think this ties with the other kills?"

"I doubt it. The m.o.'s 'way off."

"Then why?"

"How the hell do I know? Looks like the whole city figures it's open season on cops." Carella turned back to the boys. "Were you with the gang when the cop was jumped?"

The boys would not answer.

"Okay, fellas," Carella said, "play it smart. See what that gets you. See how long The Grovers are gonna last under a rap like this one."

"We din' shoot no cop," one of the boys said.

"No? What happened, he shoot himself?"

"You ting we crazy?" the other boy said. "Shoot a bull?"

"This was a patrolman," Carella said, "not a detective."

"He wass wear a suit," the first boy said.

"Cops wear suits off-duty," Bush said. "Now how about it?"

"Nobody shoot a cop," the first boy said.

"No, except somebody did."

Lieutenant Byrnes came out of his office and shouted, "All right, knock it off! KNOCK IT OFF!"

The room fell immediately silent.

"Who's your talk man?" Byrnes asked.

"I am," a tall boy answered.

"What's your name?"

"Do-Do."

"What's your full name?"

"Salvador Jesus Santez."

"All right, come here, Salvador."

"The guys call me Do-Do."

"Okay, come here."

Santez walked over to where Byrnes was standing. He walked with a shuffle which was considered both hip and cool. The boys in the room visibly relaxed. This was their talk man, and Do-Do was a real gone stud. Do-Do would know how to handle this jive.

"What happened?" Byrnes asked.

"Little skirmish, that's all," Santez said.

"Why?"

"Jus' like that. We got the word passed down, so we joined the fray."

"What word?"