On the Grind (2009) (15 page)

"Thank God you sent me that 911" Ophelia said without preamble. "Those guys were about to commit a mass execution."

"That's exactly what they were up to," I confirmed.

"This is supposed to be a country of laws," she stated vehemently.

"I'm running out of options," I said to get her off the 'country of laws' party line. "Alonzo Bell is all over me. He suspects I'm a plant. They even put a tracking device in my leather belt. I found it and left it in my room."

"Then we're pulling you out now, Shane," Alexa declared.

"I haven't gotten close to the real corruption yet. I haven't even met Mayor Bratano. If you pull me out now, we'll have accomplished nothing."

We sat silently on the hard wooden benches looking at each other across two feet of open space while the TV screens showed infrared panning shots of the parking lot.

"What about Rocky Chacon?" I asked Ophelia. "The way I see it, they're getting set to take him out."

Alexa said, "Maybe Ophelia can find a way to put more FBI security on him. But if you get involved, they're gonna know you're a plant."

Ophelia nodded. "I think Alexa's right. You're probably already compromised. Talbot Jones didn't believe my story about being there because of a street tip. He suspects somebody on the inside of leaking the ambush."

"I need a few more days."

Both women sat trying to decide what to do. I must have been frowning, because Alexa leaned forward.

"What?" she asked.

"Sergeant Bell knows I went to Manhattan Beach. He knows Deputy Chief Arnett has a condo in that building."

"Then you're definitely out of there," Alexa said, rising as if the meeting were over.

"Hold on," I said. "I told him I went to that condo to meet Tiffany--that we were using one of the furnished models. I told him Tiffany has a girlfriend at Century 21 who opened it up for us. He looked like he bought it, but he's going to check it out. We need to put a female FBI agent in at that real estate management company, somebody who can swear she opened the apartment for her movie star friend. If you guys can set that up, then my story will check out and I can give this a little more time." I didn't tell them that I'd lost my cell phone with the text message to Ophelia on it.

"They're bound to suspect you just because you're the new guy," Alexa rightly pointed out. "That's why they put a sattrack on you."

"I have some other action working. I put my street creds on display. I'm hoping to get an offer that will incriminate Mayor Bratano."

"What the hell does that mean?" Alexa said.

I waved this off. "I'm beginning to get a read on these guys. They think they have the game so rigged nobody can get to them. That' s why they pulled this bullshit tonight. They think they can't lose. It's making them careless."

"I don't think there's even a furnished model in that condo building," Alexa said.

"So what? Just put up a sign that says there is. I saw the Century 21 vacancy ads when I went there. All Ophelia's phony real estate agent has to do is say she let us use one."

"What happened to your face?" Alexa was staring at my swollen nose and the beginnings of two black shiners, slightly visible in the dim light in the truck.

"Slipped getting out of the shower."

"Shane, damn it!" Alexa was losing patience.

We all sat in silence for a minute.

"What's this work in progress you were talking about?" Ophelia finally asked.

"Can't tell. Sorry. It compromises one of my street contacts."

"That's such bullshit!" Alexa was now flat-out angry.

"Look, I think if this happens, it's gonna go down soon," I told them. "Give me two more days. After that, I'll fold up and get out."

"One day," Alexa said.

"Come on -- "

"One," she said, firmly. "I'm not kidding, Shane."

She looked over at Ophelia, who, after a moment, nodded he
r a
greement and said, "Listen, Shane. Put the belt back on. I can use that tracking signal just as well as they can. Til get the satcom guys at Quantico to dial in the frequency for me."

"What about Rick Ross?" I asked. "You just gonna leave him down there to sweat it out?"

"I'll talk to Tony," Alexa said. "We'll figure something out for him. You've got one day."

Chapter
26

"Leave your car here. We're gonna take a short trip," Alexa said, after Ophelia left. "We've got to go see someone."

"I can't be seen with you."

"Shut up," she said, and kissed me on the mouth. Then she stepped out of the truck and slammed the back door.

I heard her climb into the front seat and a minute later Little Swiss started up and we were rolling. As I sat there, it was very clear to me that I was betting my life on what Agent Love could set up overnight with Century 21. But I needed enough time for my Sammy from Miami ploy to pay off. I doubted if one day was enough. My strategy with Alexa was to take the one day she'd given me, then try to come away with enough good stuff to extend the time frame another one or two days after that.

But Alexa and Ophelia were right. I'd made mistakes in order to save lives. I'd compromised my cover to save Rocky and those twelve Crips. Both women knew I was skidding around on bullshit.

My best choice was to stay the course and see where I was when the clock ran out.

We drove for another twenty minutes and then the truck stopped and the engine shut off. Alexa opened the back door and said, "Follow me."

When I climbed out of the truck, I realized immediately we were at the beautiful Malibu Beach Inn, a swank contemporary luxury hotel located on a strip of beach known as "Billionaire's Beach." Because it was situated in an exclusive enclave, the hotel afforded its guests a good deal of privacy.

I followed Alexa to Room 26. She opened the door with a key from her purse and led me inside. The suite was gorgeous and had a private balcony with expansive ocean views.

Then I saw him. Chooch was standing in the room, leaning against the wall, looking very tall, handsome and uncomfortable.

"Tell him," Alexa said.

"The chief--"

"Forget the chief," she interrupted. "This isn't his family that's getting destroyed. It's ours. Tell him."

"Tell me what?" Chooch asked, obviously still in the dark about what was going on, not sure why his mother had asked him to meet us here.

Alexa had realized that it would be stronger coming from me so she hadn't told him any of it yet. But I couldn't speak. I just stood there.

"Your father didn't do any of the things they said he did," she finally blurted. "It was all faked with my approval. He's gone undercover in Haven Park and he's down there risking his life to expose a corrupt police department and city government. I won't take the chance that he could be killed without having the opportunity to set things straight with you in person." She had a very
de
termined look on her face.

"I'll wait in the other room," she said.

I took my son out onto the balcony. The surf was breaking on the cliffside rocks, frothing in the landscape lights from the hotel deck above us. I told Chooch everything that had happened --how we'd set up the sting. I explained that I'd never even met Tiffany Roberts, and why we had been instructed by Chief Filosiani to keep him in the dark.

"I would have never said anything, Dad," Chooch said after I finished. I could tell that our lack of trust in him badly hurt his feelings.

"How could they believe that I'd risk your life over stuff like that?" he said.

"Because they don't know you."

After a while I saw a sad look descend on him. "I'm sorry for what I said, Dad."

He stood up and reached out to me. We hugged each other, locked in a long, silent embrace.

"You know something funny?" I said after we finally parted. "I'd have been very disappointed if you'd acted any other way."

Alexa joined us on the balcony ten minutes later and we talked about everyday, unimportant stuff. What was happening at USC, what courses his girlfriend, Del, was taking. It was great to be able to leave Haven Park behind for a little while. We told each other how happy we were to be a family again.

"You can never tell anyone about this. Not even Del," Alexa cautioned Chooch. "Not until this is all finished and the department releases the truth."

"Do you think there's anything that would make me risk Dad's life? Are you kidding, Mom? I'd die first."

And I knew that's exactly what he would do.

An hour later, when Chooch left, Alexa and I made love. I'd felt so empty these last days, so without hope, that the act of our lovemaking filled me, cleansed me, made me reborn again. Afterward we went out onto the balcony and sat holding hands.

"You remember when we were in Aruba, that other time you were undercover going after bad cops?" Alexa reminded me.

"Sure, I thought I'd lost you."

She was referring to the case we worked several years ago, before we were married. I'd been undercover working the black market peso exchange where Fortune 500 companies were using their products to launder Colombian drug money. To set my cover, I had been asked by six rogue cops running the scam to shoot Alexa as my loyalty test. We had set up an elaborate hit where Alexa was wearing a Kevlar vest. I pulled the trigger, but didn't know that the rogue cops had put armor-piercing bullets in my gun. For two weeks, I thought I'd killed her. It plunged me into a deep depression. But we'd both survived.

"I'm trying to tell myself that this isn't anywhere near as bad as that," she said, smiling at me. "If we could get through that, we can get through anything."

But Alexa hadn't been down in Haven Park. She hadn't seen the way things worked there. Tow tickets, protection rackets, and extortion. Murder was just another dish on the cafeteria line.

As I sat holding her hand, watching the waves explode in foam grenades against the craggy rocks below, I wondered if we would be able to survive again.

Chapter
27

Time was short, so I couldn't spend the night with Alexa no matter how much I wanted to.

I sat in the back of Little Swiss while she drove to the lot by the Santa Monica Pier and parked. She opened the back door and joined me inside. We kissed goodnight and held each other.

'Tin never gonna sign off on something like this again," she told me. "I can't take it."

"It's an interesting thought," I said, "but if it's right, you'll do it again, because it's your job."

It was a little past three A
. M
. when I got back to the hotel. I went straight to my room, set my alarm for seven A
. M
. and fell asleep.

My next shift was a complete waste. As soon as I got to the station I found out Alonzo was scheduled to be in court all day testifying. Lieutenant Eastwood set me up for another dull day of shuffling paper.

Over in city hall all anyone talked about was the big SWAT
event at Haven Park High and how the feds' Special Tactics team had jumped our play. Most of the uniformed cops I talked to thought we had a rat in the department. Because I was Haven Park's greenest hoot, I was getting some serious stink eye.

At end-of-watch I got into the Acura and pulled out of the parking lot. I'd used up most of my twenty-four hours and had accomplished nothing. I was scheduled to check in with Alexa as soon as I was EOW, so I returned to the Bicycle Club and called her from one of the pay phone banks in the casino lobby.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Alonzo was in court.
I
spent the day filing paper."

While she was mulling that over I asked, "How about one more day?"

I knew from the prolonged silence that followed that something was up.

"Gimme another twenty-four hours," I pressed. "Today was a complete loss."

"They still don't know you have that Mustang, right?"

"I parked a few blocks away. Unless they get into the Hertz computer and start looking at contracts, it should still be clean."

"Get in it and drive north. Take Pacific Boulevard. I'm notifying Agent Love. She'll make a field stop."

"What's up?"

"Homeland took over the case. They got spooked by all the AK
-
100s that were booked at the high school. You work for them now."

I certainly didn't want my undercover op run by people I didn't know.

"I told Ophelia I want you out of there, but it's a federal case now, so her people have to sign off."

"I'll be careful, honey."

"Shane, I need to be in the loop. You know what information hogs the feds are. You've got to stay in touch with me no matter what."

"I'll call twice a day. I love you."

After we hung up I walked the two blocks from the casino to where I'd left the rental. I got into the Mustang and drove out of Vista on Pacific Boulevard, heading north toward a commercial district filled mostly with warehouses and freight yards.