“Those aren’t your shoes, Cap.”
The shoes on the dead body were Murdoch’s. I knew because he loved to brag about the fancy leather and was an asshole if they got scuffed.
“Dammit, you’re good,” Captain Talbot said as he peeked over the counter. “Why couldn’t you be this good on your damn case?”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Are you hurt?”
Because setup or not, he’d actually been crying. The tears on the phone had sounded too real, and the quick glimpse I got of his splotchy face and puffy eyes confirmed it.
“Drop your phone and weapon,” he ordered instead of answering.
I dropped my cell.
“Weapon,” he prodded.
“And then what? You kill me?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. This is a mess. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. He said they were doing what was best for the city.”
“Were you compromised, Cap? Because this isn’t like you,” I said, trying to appeal to the good man inside him. Or that used to be inside him.
“It’snotme. I’m not the bad guy here. It’s this city. It’ll suck and suck and suck until there’s nothing left. I woke up every damn day for thirty-four years and tried to make it a better place. To protect it and its people. Sacrificed my marriage. My relationship with my kids. Everything. And for what? It’s the same thing day after day after day. One mess is cleaned up for ten more to spill before we even file our report.”
“And they told you they would clean it up?”
“Exactly. I just had to look the other way about some stuff, but collateral damage would be kept to a minimum. No more gang wars. No more territory fights. No more senseless violence, kids selling drugs, robberies, any of it.”
“But what about the drive-by? How was that not senseless?”
“Because Walker is running drugs from his bar. Fentanyl-laced party drugs that killed those bankers last month.”
“No, he’s not.”
“He is. I put you under to find it. I told them that you could bring down Walker, the bikers, all of them without more bloodshed.”
That explains why he kept me under so long even though nothing was happening.
“Cap, they’re not doing anything illegal,” I tried. “There’s nothing to bring down.”
But he didn’t believe me. “You’re my best detective. Hell, you’re the best detective I’ve ever worked with. If anyone could do this, it was you. But you didn’t. You followed the wrong trail. And now they… they want me to…”
If the man wasn’t stating he’s about to kill me, I’d almost feel bad for him.
At least he’s broken up about it. A small consolation.
Very small.
Microscopic.
“How’s Murdoch fit into this?” I asked.
I didn’t actually expect an answer. It was a stalling technique, and we both knew it.
But Captain Talbot was feeling chatty in his stalling. Or maybe it was his crash-out running his mouth. Either way. “He came to me earlier with the link between the Irish crime family and Butler.”
He believed me?
Shit, now I feel bad for all those names I called him.
