Silent Prey

‘Jesus’ . . .”
    “Here comes the cavalry,” Fell said. A blue Plymouth jerked to a stop at the door, and they heard screeching tires from up the block. A uniform came through the door, his gun out.
    “Davenport and Fell,” Lucas said to them, holding up his badge case. “Working for Kennett with the Bekker team. These guys are cops too, but they’re cuffed for a good reason. I want them left like that, okay?”
    “What’s going on?” the uniform asked. He was a sergeant, older, a little too heavy, uneasy about what he’d walked into. Another car screeched to a stop outside.
    “Politics,” Lucas said. “Somebody’s got their tit in awringer and the top guys are going to have to sort it out later. But these guys will shoot you if they have a chance. They already shot one cop . . .”
    “Bullshit, motherfucker,” said one of the cuffed cops.
    “ . . . So stay cool. Their weapons are on the floor, but I haven’t checked them for backup pieces, which they’ve probably got.”
    “I don’t know . . .”
    Two more uniforms squeezed in, their pistols in their hands.
    “Look, half the goddamn department will be here in five minutes,” Lucas said. “If we’re fucked up, we can always apologize to each other later. For now, just freeze the place.”
    “What about you guys . . . ?” the uniform asked.
    “We’re going upstairs. You stay here, don’t let anybody or anything in or out. Just freeze the scene and be careful. Bekker might be down below, for all we know, and he’s armed.”
    “This is Bekker?”
    “This is Bekker,” Lucas confirmed. To Fell, he said, “Come on. Let’s get him.”

CHAPTER
28
    Lily called the patrol lieutenant at the Fifth Precinct and ordered backup squads to Lacey’s building: “It’s Bekker,” she said. “Get them there now. ”
    She dropped the phone back on its cradle and sat down, heavily, in O’Dell’s visitor’s chair, sorting it out.
    They were in the car  . . .
    O’Dell peered at her across his expansive desk. “What was that all about?” he asked. “The call from Davenport? I believe I was mentioned.” His voice was ugly, peremptory. Cold.
    Lily shook her head.
    “I want to know what he said, Lieutenant,” O’Dell barked.
    “Shut up, I’m thinking,” she said.
    O’Dell’s eyes narrowed and he sat back. He’d been a politician for five decades, and he instinctively reacted to the warning tone in her voice. Balances had changed somewhere, and he didn’t know exactly where. He tried a probe.
    “I won’t be maneuvered, Lieutenant,” he said,emphasizing the rank. “Perhaps a precinct-level job would be more your style after all.”
    Lily had been peering at the wall above his head, her lips moving slightly. Now she dropped her eyes to his face: “You should have wiped out the ticket requisition for Red Reed before you sent him to South Carolina, John. I’ve got the ticket vouchers with your signature, I’ve got the reports on his alleged statements, I’ve even got the Columbia University transcripts showing that he took classes you lectured at. I also know you fixed at least one drug arrest for him. So don’t give me any shit about precinct-level jobs, okay?”
    O’Dell nodded and settled in his chair. This could be handled. Everything can be handled by he who waits. He sat silently as she stared at the wall above his head. Finally, a tear trickled down her cheek and she said, “I need your help with the computer.”
    “What about the Red Reed stuff?” O’Dell asked.
    “I’m not going to use it, for Christ’s sakes. I mean, I can’t conceive of any circumstances that I’d use it. It was just something . . . I found out.”
    O’Dell grinned in spite of himself. This could be handled, all right. The question now was, who would do the handling? “Davenport,” he said. “You told me not to underestimate him. But he looks like a fuckin’ brawler with that scar on his face, and what he did to Bekker . . .”
    “Two Robin Hoods just showed up at Bekker’s hideout. Lucas is going to take them.”
    “What?” Now O’Dell was confused.
    “The computer?”
    “Tell me what’s going on . . . .”
    “I want you to run Copland against Kennett.”
    O’Dell stared, his thick lips going in and out as he did the calculations, a nursing motion, wet and unpleasant.“Oh, no,” he said. He turned, pulled himself across to the computer terminal, flicked a switch, waited until the computer booted