Chapter 23

Back the office I had a brainstorm. When I sat down at my desk, instead of trying to do paperwork I got on the radio and called the Sergeant of the Watch. When he replied I said, "I got an idea. When you get to a place where you can, come on in and I'll see what you think of it."

When he came in, about 30 minutes later, I said, "I wonder if Ramos is here to get the stash."

"That's not a bad thought," he said. "I can't think of any other reason he'd be back in town."

"What's the situation at the house?" By now, of course, every cop in the department knew what "the house" meant.

"The tape is down, and the owner has fixed the front door. I believe he's also repaired the ceiling we smashed." I'd done the smashing, but I didn't bother to correct the plural.

"Okay," I said. "I want someone on that house. Don't use a department vehicle – he'll spot that. Get some good officers, have 'em use POVs, and watch that house." POV means privately owned vehicle – the officers' own cars.

"It'll mean overtime, and pulling officers off other things."

"I'll authorize overtime all over the place, and reimbursement for the POV use too. This is the biggest thing we've got. We can let someone drive around with a tail light out for a while to grab this mutt. If it doesn't work we can try something else, and we've got cops out looking specifically for him, but I want someone on that house, and others ready to roll forthwith. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think he's goona go back and try to grab his stuff. Five keys is a lot of money."

"Maybe half a million," the Sergeant of the Watch said. "Maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less. Yeah, it's an enticement."

"The only question I have is whether he'll find out we've raided the place. Refresh my memory – how did the coke go out of the house?"

"I wasn't there ... as I recall, they resealed the packages after the testing and put them all in a garbage bag – probably double bagged, to make sure there wasn't any tearing."

"And sealed the bags around the drugs, of course, with the necessary information ... it's possible, then, that anyone watching didn't realize that we were taking 10 pounds of blow out of the house." A kilogram – a kilo, or key – is actually 2.2 pounds, so five keys was 11 pounds rather than 10, but we weren't in court and an estimate that was a pound off wasn't a big deal.

"It's definitely possible. The idea could work." He got out of his chair. "I'll get with the watch commander and the lead investigator and see who we can spare. I'll set it up and let you know what we've got."

"Coolness. And pass this word on – if they spot him, I want to know."

"You will, Chief," he said, and went out.

It was late that night that the phone rang. It was on my side of the bed, since I was the one who got calls at all hours, and I scrabbled for it. Finally I got it to my ear, and noticed the clock – it was actually the next morning, not quite 1 AM. "Yeah," I said, being in no mood for politeness at that hour.

"Chief, this is Lieutenant Grove, the watch commander. I've just received word that Ramos has pulled into the house."

"Make sure he doesn't get away, but don't move in until I get there. I'm rolling now – make my ETA 15." And I slapped the phone down.

"They've seen him?" Cecelia asked from the bed as I grabbed my jeans.

"Yeah. You stay here – you're still on light duty."

"Darvin, I have done many things while I hurt – that's the nature of poverty and a refusal to take charity – but I am wise enough to know that if I were to try to engage in police work now, I would be incapable of doing more than walking gingerly toward the scene. I doubt that I'll sleep, but I shall remain here. If nothing else, I can pray."

"Now that is something I'll never turn down," I said as I grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer – when you live in a place long enough, you don't need light for some things.

"Darvin?"

"Yeah," I said at the doorway, in a frantic hurry to be gone.

"Come back to me."

"That, Cecelia, I fully intend to do." And I went on into the living room, where I turned on a lamp and pulled on my socks and boots. I snared my keys, slapped my hat on my head, and checked to be sure that the strap on my holster was over the hammer of my gun – I'd put the gun on as soon as I buckled my belt. Locking the door behind me, getting in my cruiser, and heading out took just a few seconds.

I spotted the watch commander's unit – Lima 3, for it was the mid watch now – and pulled in quietly behind it. I'd never turned on the light bar, and when I opened the door the dome light stayed dark. It's an old cop trick to disconnect the door switches so that they don't become targets getting out of their vehicles.

I slipped into the passenger seat of the watch commander's car. "Talk to me, Charlie."

"He's in there. I've seen a light moving around a bit, and I've had reports. We're going to have to move in right now, though – surely he's found out by now that the stuff's gone."

"Maybe there's something we missed, though we had good searchers. All right, move in."

Grove had the microphone in his hand already, and raised it to his mouth. "All units, go."

Flashing lights went on, headlights speared out, and cars roared toward the house, ours included. We all jerked to a stop in the yard, and were out and running. I took the right side of the front door, where Allan Mills had stood when he and Cecelia served the search warrant, and Lt. Grove took the far side of the window. He shook his head at me, meaning he saw nothing. I nodded back at him, and he raised his portable radio. "Kick ... now."