Read Online Gin Palace 02 - The Bone Orchard by Daniel Judson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Daniel Judson
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someone knows her. Flashy car like that, she probably doesn’t go unnoticed.”
It was obvious what he wanted from me. But I didn’t see how using Tina to identify the dead girl would help Augie. I could only see how it might help Frank.
“You know that girl can only bring you trouble by the truckload,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that she’s sixteen now. Maybe I’m all wrong, maybe you really aren’t banging her like you say. But when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what I think. Whether it’s innocent or not doesn’t matter. You’re still asking for a fall by keeping her around.”
“What do you want me to do, Frank? Stick her in a motel?”
“Send her off to someone. Anything. Her being there is exactly what the Chief is looking for. You know that.”
“I’m on top of it, Frank.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“You’ve got a dirty mind.”
“Me and everyone else in town. Just because you’re known around here doesn’t mean people won’t be willing to believe whatever shit they hear. Trust me on this. You’ve made the papers, MacManus. The minute they put hero by your name, everyone began waiting for the first hint to that flaw which proves conclusively in the scheme of things you’re really no better than they are. It’s human nature; it’s the way of the world. You might want to wise up to it fast.”
A few years ago I had found the kidnapped daughter of an ex- girlfriend of mine, when no one else could. It was just luck. Since then people have sometimes come to me for help, mostly out of desperation. I was never comfortable with that, and I often wondered what freedom might come from having that status Frank spoke of stripped from me forever.
“I’m just a guy who washes dishes, Frank,” I said. “That’s all I am. It doesn’t mater to me what anyone thinks.”
He sighed, then shook his head. He eyed me skeptically for a moment. I caught the smell of him then, the smell of his expensive cologne and the fabric of his well-tailored clothes.
“Do you want to make trouble for yourself?” he said.
“Just the opposite.”
“Do you want to keep living like a criminal, crawling around like a rat?”
“I didn’t choose this life, Frank,” I told him.
“I don’t believe that. Not for one minute. You know, I take that back, MacManus. You don’t live like a criminal at all. You live like a man who’s got something to hide, like a man with a secret he’s keen on keeping buried. That’s what you look like to me. That’s what you’ve always looked like.”
“Believe what you want to believe, Frank. It’s what you’re good at. It’s what you get paid for.”
“We’ve all got secrets we want to keep, kid. We’re all alike in that way.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head from side to side. “You think no one knows what really happened on that boat.”
“No one can know but me.”
“But they can think they know, and in the end, in this town, that’s all that matters.”
“What do you want from me, Frank?”
“It’s not just what I want. I’m fairly certain that if you had the chance to get rid of the Chief you wouldn’t pass it up. Even to your way of thinking survival is the top priority.”
“What does the Chief have to do with all this?”
“Someone’s pulling his strings. The whole thing looks too much like a puppet show to not be a fucking puppet show. Someone owns the Chief, that’s common knowledge. We find out who, we get proof, and the Chief’s history. And you get your life back.”
“I didn’t know I lost it.”
“Knock off the Gandhi shit for a second, MacManus, and take a look at the big picture for once. The man is as corrupt as a man can get. We’d live in a much better town without him as chief of police. If you’re looking for a higher road, I can’t think of one any higher than that.”
“What I don’t understand is how my destroying the Chief is going to help Augie’s
It was obvious what he wanted from me. But I didn’t see how using Tina to identify the dead girl would help Augie. I could only see how it might help Frank.
“You know that girl can only bring you trouble by the truckload,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that she’s sixteen now. Maybe I’m all wrong, maybe you really aren’t banging her like you say. But when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what I think. Whether it’s innocent or not doesn’t matter. You’re still asking for a fall by keeping her around.”
“What do you want me to do, Frank? Stick her in a motel?”
“Send her off to someone. Anything. Her being there is exactly what the Chief is looking for. You know that.”
“I’m on top of it, Frank.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“You’ve got a dirty mind.”
“Me and everyone else in town. Just because you’re known around here doesn’t mean people won’t be willing to believe whatever shit they hear. Trust me on this. You’ve made the papers, MacManus. The minute they put hero by your name, everyone began waiting for the first hint to that flaw which proves conclusively in the scheme of things you’re really no better than they are. It’s human nature; it’s the way of the world. You might want to wise up to it fast.”
A few years ago I had found the kidnapped daughter of an ex- girlfriend of mine, when no one else could. It was just luck. Since then people have sometimes come to me for help, mostly out of desperation. I was never comfortable with that, and I often wondered what freedom might come from having that status Frank spoke of stripped from me forever.
“I’m just a guy who washes dishes, Frank,” I said. “That’s all I am. It doesn’t mater to me what anyone thinks.”
He sighed, then shook his head. He eyed me skeptically for a moment. I caught the smell of him then, the smell of his expensive cologne and the fabric of his well-tailored clothes.
“Do you want to make trouble for yourself?” he said.
“Just the opposite.”
“Do you want to keep living like a criminal, crawling around like a rat?”
“I didn’t choose this life, Frank,” I told him.
“I don’t believe that. Not for one minute. You know, I take that back, MacManus. You don’t live like a criminal at all. You live like a man who’s got something to hide, like a man with a secret he’s keen on keeping buried. That’s what you look like to me. That’s what you’ve always looked like.”
“Believe what you want to believe, Frank. It’s what you’re good at. It’s what you get paid for.”
“We’ve all got secrets we want to keep, kid. We’re all alike in that way.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head from side to side. “You think no one knows what really happened on that boat.”
“No one can know but me.”
“But they can think they know, and in the end, in this town, that’s all that matters.”
“What do you want from me, Frank?”
“It’s not just what I want. I’m fairly certain that if you had the chance to get rid of the Chief you wouldn’t pass it up. Even to your way of thinking survival is the top priority.”
“What does the Chief have to do with all this?”
“Someone’s pulling his strings. The whole thing looks too much like a puppet show to not be a fucking puppet show. Someone owns the Chief, that’s common knowledge. We find out who, we get proof, and the Chief’s history. And you get your life back.”
“I didn’t know I lost it.”
“Knock off the Gandhi shit for a second, MacManus, and take a look at the big picture for once. The man is as corrupt as a man can get. We’d live in a much better town without him as chief of police. If you’re looking for a higher road, I can’t think of one any higher than that.”
“What I don’t understand is how my destroying the Chief is going to help Augie’s
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