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“Minute. ”
Polk waited for nearly three minutes, then a voice at the other end said, “What do you want? I’m in the middle of a valve job. ”
“I just had Andy McClintock in my office, came to report him missing. ”
There was a brief silence. “Yeah? And?”
“I told him what I told all the others. ”
“How many’s that? How many have actually been into the office to make reports?”
“Six, so far. That’s a lot for just a few days, Vic. ”
“How many of them does Gus know about?”
“Maybe two. I’ve been doing the day work, so I’ve been taking almost all of the reports, and the ones I don’t take usually come across my desk at some point. The only two I couldn’t intercept were filed with someone else when I was off shift, but I can get into the computer and fix those. ”
“Has Gus said anything?”
“Nope. Far as he knows, it’s just a couple missing persons. I’ve been inputting vacation notices for some of them, too. That way our guys are even doing drive-bys to make sure no one breaks in while the residents are away. I got all of this nailed down. Gus never checks, and I mean never. It’s why he made me sergeant in the first place, because he knows I like to handle all the reports and shit. We’re building a nice smokescreen, and public panic is helping. At least a dozen families have left town anyway because of the manhunt, and a lot of people have pulled their kids out of school. That’s stuff that happened without us doing anything, so it’s working as a nice cover. We’re covered here, Vic, but if this thing goes on longer than a couple more weeks then it’s going to get hard to fudge it. For right now, though, no one knows shit and that goes double for Gus. ”
“You’d better make sure you keep it that way, ’cause I don’t want him even getting so much as a whiff of this. Not until the Man says so. ”
“No sweat. Gus ain’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. ” He cleared his throat. “Even so, Vic, I think it would be a good idea to have Ritchie call his dad, maybe say that he’s down in Atlantic City, or up in New York. Someplace he’d go with his buddies. Better for Andy to hear from him than to start a fuss. ”
There was a short silence before Vic said, “That’s a pretty smart idea, Jimmy-boy. ”
“We should have some of, um, them, make some calls to relatives or friends—and especially to their jobs. Call in sick, or say they have to go out of town for some reason. Have Carby and the other parents write notes to the schools saying the family’s going to visit relatives somewhere. Y’know, settle things down, make it look normal, otherwise people are going to start talking, and then they’ll starting wondering…”
“I get it,” Vic said. “And you’re right, that’s a good plan. I’ll get some of the others to make calls, or send some e-mails. Good friggin’ call. ”
“Great, that’ll help calm things down. Otherwise who knows who might start putting two and two together. ” Polk paused and braced himself before heading off onto a new tack. “Look, Vic…this stuff you got me doing is pretty risky…. ”
“And you’re getting paid, so what’s your point?”
“That’s just it…I’m not sure I got paid enough for this sort of thing. This stuff can get me a federal rap, let alone state time. You have no idea the kind of risks I’m taking. I just think what you’re asking me to do is worth more than you’ve given me so far. ”
Vic’s voice was soft and wintry. “Am I hearing this right? Are you putting the squeeze on me? Is that what I’m hearing? Maybe you’d like me to come over and deliver it personally. Kiss your ass, too, to show my respect since you’re doing such a stellar job. ”
“Vic, I—”
“Maybe you want to bang my wife, too? Would you like that? A little roll in the hay with Lois just to show my appreciation for all your hard work? Maybe a tidy little thank you blow job. How ’bout that? Just my way of saying thanks for being supercop. ”
“C’mon, Vic, I was just—”
“Or maybe,” Vic said, his voice becoming even colder, “maybe you’d like one of them to deliver it? How ’bout that? Would you like that? Hey…I can have Ritchie himself bring you your cash. Bring you your reward. ”
Polk’s throat seized shut. Blood roared in his ears and he could feel his gut knotting like a fist.
“Maybe even Karl himself? How would that be? Would you like Karl to hand deliver your blood money? That way you could explain to Karl how valuable you’ve been to us. I’m sure he’d be very impressed. You know how much Karl likes cops anyway. I’ll bet he’d think you were the cat’s ass, Jim. Yeah, maybe that’d be good. You and Karl. I could have him drop by tonight. Bring you a token of our esteem. ”
Only strangled sounds wormed their way out of Polk’s throat.
Vic snorted with disgust. “Listen to me, asshole—you got your money, and you’ll get more—but I’ll be the one to decide what you get and when you get it. Do you understand me?” Polk gurgled something and Vic snapped, “I didn’t quite hear that, Jim. ”
“Y…yes…!” Polk gasped.
“Good. Now you go and you do your frigging job and don’t you ever dare try and put the squeeze on me again. Don’t even dream about it. You just do your job and you’d better do it right, or so help me God I’ll arrange a whole party at your place. Karl and Ritchie and all of them. I’ll bet they could make it last a long time for you, and you really wouldn’t like that, Jim, no by God you would not. ”
