Shadow Prey

around,” he said.
    “They call him Harry Dick?”
    “Yeah. Maybe I seen him around,” Stone repeated. “What you want?”
    “I don’t want anything, Elwood,” Lucas said. “I just want you to give the boy some credit on a couple of eight-balls.”
    “Shit, man . . .” Stone turned away and looked up the street, doing a comic double-take in disbelief. “Man, I don’t give no credit, man. To a crackhead? You fuckin’ crazy?”
    “Well, it’s like this, Elwood. Either you give Harry a little credit—and it’s got to be tomorrow—or I’ll talk to Narcotics and we’ll run your little round ass right off the street. We’ll have somebody in your back pocket every day.”
    “Shit . . .”
    “Or, I can have a talk with Narcotics and tell them you’re temporarily on my snitch list. I’ll give you some status for say . . . two months? How about that?”
    “Why me?”
    “ ’Cause I know you.”
    Stone considered. If he went on the snitch list, he’d have virtual immunity from prosecution. It was an opportunity not to be missed, as long as nobody else found out.
    “Okay,” Stone said after a moment. “But keep it between you and me. You don’t tell Narcotics, but if I get hassled, you jump in.”
    Lucas nodded. “You got it.”
    “So where do I find this motherfucker, Harry Dick? It’s not like I know where he lives.”
    “We’ll spot him for you. You give me your beeper number and I’ll call you. Tomorrow. Probably early afternoon.”
    Stone looked at him for another long minute, then nodded. “Right.”

CHAPTER
15
    Lucas put a thousand dollars on the street between ten o’clock and noon, then headed out to the airport in a city car. Sloan called him on the way.
    “He’s there,” Sloan said. “I talked to the next-door lady. She said he’s usually out of there in the early afternoon. Sleeps late, usually leaves between one and two. His mother’s gone out to South Dakota to see the old man.”
    “All right. Keep an eye on the place,” Lucas said. “You got our friend’s number?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Lily’s plane’s on time, so I ought to hook up with you before one. If our boy goes for a walk before then, take him. No fuckin’ around.”
    “Gotcha. Uh, our little Indian helper . . .”
    “I’ll pick him up. Don’t worry about Larry.”
    “He could be a problem, the way he’s talking,” Sloan warned.
    “I’ll take care of it,” Lucas said.
     
    Hart bitterly fought the idea of putting money on the street, and threatened to quit. Daniel went to the director of Welfare and Hart got a call.
    When Lucas talked to him that morning, Hart seemed more sad than angry, but the anger was there too.
    “This could fuck me forever, man,” Hart said. “With the Indian people.”
    “They’re killing guys, Larry,” Lucas said. “We gotta stop it.”
    “This is not right,” Hart said.
    And when Lucas outlined the proposal to pick up Harold Richard Liss, Hart laughed in disbelief.
    “Don’t fuck with me, Lucas,” he said. “You’re setting that boy up. You’re going to plant the stuff on him.”
    “No, no, this is a legitimate tip,” Lucas lied.
    “Bullshit, man . . .”
     
    They’d left it like that, Hart heading down to Indian Country with a pocket full of cash and a growing anger. He could be handled, Lucas thought. He loved his job too much to risk it. He could be cooled out . . . .
    Lily’s plane was early. He found her in the luggage pickup area, watching the carousel with the suppressed embarrassment of somebody who suspects she has been stood up.
    “Jesus, I missed you at the gate,” Lucas said, hurrying over. She was wearing a beige silk blouse with a tweed skirt and jacket and dark leather high heels. She was beautiful and he had trouble saying the words.
    “God damn it, Davenport,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. That was just a general ‘God damn it.’ About everything.” She rose on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. “I didn’t want to come back.”
    “Mmm.”
    “There’s a bag,” she said. She stopped a suitcase and Lucas lifted it off the carousel. “And there’s the other, coming through now.”
    Lily’s second bag came around, and Lucas grabbed the two of them and led the way to the parking ramp. On the way, he looked down at her and said, “How’ve you been?”
    “About the same as I was yesterday,” she said with mild sarcasm, squinting as the outdoor light hit her face. “I was out of here.