Not in the Cards Read online

  “I’m looking for Julio, and I haven’t found him in the usual places.” The woman with the wig smiled. She had perfectly straight teeth.

  “Try Chuckie’s. Julio’s been hanging there a lot.”

  “Chuckie’s Steak House?”

  “Mm Hm. And that’ll cost you, Sweet thing.” Candy pushed her hand through the window and held her palm up.

  Delta looked down into her hand and grinned. “Bill me.”

  “I’ll take your handsome partner for payment,” Candy said, winking at Tony and rolling her tongue over her thick lips.

  Delta shook her head. “You don’t want him. He’s an amateur.”

  “Oh, Sugar, that’s just how I like them.”

  All three woman laughed. “Now you get outta here, girl, before you ruin our action.”

  As Delta drove away, Tony cleared his throat. “Uh, Delta? What was that all about, and why didn’t we bust them? They were obviously hookers.”

  Delta couldn’t help but smile. He was so young. “No, Carducci, they were prostitutes, and I don’t bust prostitutes.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s a victimless crime. And if there ever is a victim, it’s usually one of the girls. Women have the right to do what they want with their own bodies.”

  “But what about diseases and stuff?”

  Delta shrugged. “Hell, we should legalize it, tax it, and pull this country out of debt. With AIDS spreading the way it is, legalization and registration of all prostitutes may be one of the safest ways to go.”

  “I doubt a lot of the guys would agree with you on that one.”

  Running her hand through her hair, Delta nodded. “Probably not. I wish we cops were a little more progressive, but cops don’t like change. Do you know how long it took police departments to go from the night-stick to the PR24?”

  Tony nodded. “A long time.”

  “Right. Because cops, like most people, detest change. And even though the PR24 is harder to master than the straight baton, with the handle, you can do so much more with it.” Pulling into Chuckie’s parking lot, Delta looked around for Julio. “Damn him. I hate when he does things like this.” Opening the door, Delta told Tony to wait in the car.

  “Julio doesn’t like other cops very much. I won’t be long.”

  When she opened the door to the steak house, Delta stopped in her tracks when she saw Julio behind the counter flipping burgers.

  “Julio?”

  Turning to see her, Julio shook his head and cut his eyes over to a door that said “Employees Only.”

  Delta got the hint and followed him through the door. “Whatcha doin’, man? Tryin’ to get me fired?”

  “Fired? You work here?”

  Julio closed the door behind Delta and led her back to the store-room. “Yeah, I work here. Wussa matter? Think Julio’s too stupid to get a job?”

  Delta shook her head. “Not at all. ” It was the first time in three years that Delta had ever seen Julio not baked out of his mind. “I’m just...surprised, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, well, if my boss sees me talkin’ to you, he may think I done somethin’ wrong, know what I mean?”

  “I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”

  “So, now that you found me, wussup?”

  Delta felt like she was talking to a stranger. Julio had never been straight during any of their previous encounters. As a member of the Crips, Julio had been a dope man, always making sure the gang had plenty of party goods. One day, when Julio’s girlfriend was facing a possible gang rape by rival gang members, Delta and Miles had saved her. This had earned Delta his eternal loyalty, a gift she heartily accepted.

  “What have you heard about snuff flicks lately, Julio?”

  Julio bowed his head and scuffed his shoe on the ground. “Man, I was hopin’ it was anything but that, Officer Stevens.”

  “Why?”

  “Killin’ kids is a mean business, man. Gangs don’t do it, the mob don’t do it, man, nobody who isn’t loco does.”

  “Well, Julio, someone is doing it, and I need help finding out who.”

  Julio shook his head before peering around the corner. “Word has it some dude from Venezuela or Brazil is in town looking for green. Guy goes by the name of...oh shit, man... what was it? Papa, or Poppy, or something like that. No one knows what he looks like, but his main man is a tall skinny dude who been askin’ about buyers and shit.”

  “What else?”

  Julio thought for a second before answering. “Chit has it he lookin’ for dark meat, if you get my drift.”

  “African-Americans?”

  “Naw. Not that dark.”

  Delta nodded. “He’s been looking for Hispanic kids?”

  Julio nodded. “Something like that. Guess the dude is here to show his goods to the locals, you know, to make ’em hungry for more. That’s all I know, Officer Stevens. Nobody wants to mess with these guys.”

  “Because of the kids?”

  “Naw. ‘Cause the feds are after them.”

  This surprised Delta. How had word already leaked out that the feds were in town? “How do you know?”

  Julio shook his head. “You know the deal, Officer. I tell you stuff, but I ain’t gotta tell you where I got it.”

  Delta nodded. “Sorry.”

  “Look, man, you better go. I don’t want no trouble. I need this job.”

  “You do? Since when?”

  Julio bowed his head again. “Since my ol’ lady’s knocked up.”

  Delta stopped. “You’re having a baby?”

  Julio looked up at her and grinned sheepishly. “Yep.” Pushing past Delta, Julio retied his apron. “I want you to nail those fuckers, Officer Stevens, before my baby comes. I mean, you wouldn’t want to see someone who fucked with my family.”

  Patting Julio on the back, Delta started out the door. “That’s the plan, Julio.”

  “Funny how having a baby changes how you see things.”

  “Even funnier how things change when you’re not high.”

  Julio grinned, displaying the cap on his front tooth. “Yeah. That, too.”

  “Thanks, Julio. And good luck with your bambino.”

  “Ah, man, don’t start with all that fatherhood shit. Being a father ain’t gonna change my ways, Officer.”

  Delta patted him on the back. “Talk to me in nine months, amigo, and we’ll see if you’re singing the same tune.”

  With that, Julio headed back behind the counter. “I also heard you gotta airhead for a partner. You watch your ass out there, Officer Stevens. Even good cops get killed.”

  “I’ll do that.” Stepping out the door, Delta inhaled the smell of freshly cooked hamburgers. Julio had a job and was going to be a father. Maybe there was hope yet.

  “You sure have some weird connections, Delta,” Tony said when they pulled out of the driveway. The night felt like a stranger peeking through their windows. Delta had Tony tell dispatch they were back on the air.

  Delta glanced out the window for one more look at Julio as he snatched a new order from the little silver spinner. “Weird is in the eyes of the beholder, Carducci. That kid is my eyes and ears on the street. He’s more valuable than five undercover cops. Julio always knows what’s going down and he gave me another piece to the puzzle. Pull over at the next payphone so I can call Connie and let her know what I found out.”

  Delta jumped out of the car as soon as it had come to a stop, raced to the phone, called Connie, and was surprised to get Connie’s voicemail. She left a brief message about Papa’s or Poppy’s name and told her she’d tell her the rest later. When Delta returned to the car, Tony was staring out the window.

  “You okay?” She asked, lightly touching his arm.

  Tony shrugged, but did not look at her. “When I was a kid, one of my friends was kidnapped from our neighborhood. Her name was Anya and she was only ten. I remember how panicked the adults were as they searched everywhere for her.”

  “Did she e
ver turn up?”

  Tony shook his head. “Never.”

  “I can’t imagine anything worse than having your child snatched. Some people never know what happens to their children. I think that’s the worst.”

  “I’d rather know.”

  Delta turned as she slowed to a stop. “Know what?”

  “That my kid was dead. I’d rather know the truth than to spend my life wondering if he was still alive, hurt, or being mistreated. Man, that’s a torture no one should have to go through.”

  Delta listened carefully to Tony’s words as she measured the weight of the plans she was tossing about in her head—plans that might get them both into a lot of trouble.

  But trouble was a part of Delta’s life she had come to expect. She knew, from the age of thirteen, that controversy followed her everywhere and that rebelliousness was simply a glitch in her character. Police work kept her balanced between her rebellious nature and the rules of life—rules she too often disregarded, rules she was contemplating disregarding at this very moment.

  She wanted to be an impact player, a person who could make a difference in the lives of people tossed aside like an unmatched sock. Being a cop was the best way she knew of to make that difference. And she had. So far, apart from individual successes on her beat, she had saved a police department from ruin, and a hotel full of people from being killed. She had made an impact.

  She wanted to do it again.

  Only now, she would be risking the wrath of a captain who had put her on TP in an effort to save her already tenuous position in the department. Delta had been a rogue cop and a hero all in one night. She had been placed on TP to teach, to learn, and to remember all the rules she had bypassed over the last couple of years.

  But what good was teaching, learning, and remembering, if the people she had sworn to protect were being victimized? What good was she as a teacher if her student never experienced success; if she followed the damn rules yet seldom made the major busts?

  Turning around to Carducci, Delta inhaled, blew out a breath and pulled the car over.

  “What’s the matter?” Tony asked when they came to a stop. “Want me to drive?”

  Shaking her head, Delta licked her lips and turned the radio down. “Carducci, I want you to listen carefully to me because I am only going to say this once, okay?”

  Nodding, Tony’s face was a mixture of secrecy and excitement.

  “My job is to teach you the streets, right?”

  “Right.”

  “And so far, I’ve done that, haven’t I?”

  Tony nodded. “Yep.”

  Delta smiled. “I’m glad. But we have a little problem here.”

  Tony’s face fell. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Oh, no, Carducci. This isn’t about anything you’ve done wrong.”

  Visibly relieved, Tony relaxed. “Whew. For a minute there—”

  “You’re doing fine. Well...with a few minor incidences, but that’s not the problem.” “Then what is it?”

  “A long time ago, I promised a friend I would do whatever I could to keep his children safe. As we speak, children are being hunted out here and the feds are getting so bogged down in red tape, they’ll never find them. Government guys usually have far different agendas than the rest of us. They’re always looking for the big score; they always play for keeps. Look at the Waco fiasco. They had a chance to save lives, but instead, they botched things up royally. They failed because they went for the whole pie. In the process, little slices of that pie—children— were killed.”

  Tony nodded, his face changing from apprehension to comprehension.

  “Look, I’m going to be totally honest with you. I’ve been put on ice here on TP. My job is to train you to the best of my ability. But I’m a cop, Carducci, not a teacher. And when I see crimes against the people on my beat, it’s my job to go after them, regardless of my title. I don’t give a shit about ‘the big picture’ or ‘the big fish.’ My job is to arrest people who victimize others. And FBI be damned, that’s what I’m going to do. Are you following me?”

  Tony nodded. “Loud and clear. You want to go after the porn ring.”

  Delta nodded once. “I can’t sit back and play teacher while children are being whisked away practically out from underneath my nose. If that’s the way the captain and everybody else wants this played, they can have my badge, because it isn’t worth the metal it’s made of.”

  Fiddling with his pen, Tony looked up and locked his eyes onto Delta’s. “So you want to know if I’m with you. Is that it?”

  Nodding, Delta tore her eyes from his and stared out the window. “I know it’s asking a lot. You’re just a rookie and you have a lot to lose.”

  Drawing circles with his pen, Tony did not respond.

  “I might be able to do this on my own time, but that reduces the amount of time I have to work on it. I’ll understand if you don’t want to have any part in it. Hell, I’ll even help you get transferred to another FTO if you want.”

  Inhaling slowly, Tony stared out the window as well. “I didn’t become a cop to sit on the sidelines while someone else played my position. If you want help with this, Delta, then count me in.”

  Looking back at Tony, Delta shook her head. “You’re taking a big, big risk by doing this. If we’re caught nosing around, I’m history and you’re...well, I don’t really know what they’d do, but it wouldn’t be good.”

  Tony shrugged. “I don’t know either, but anything’s better than just sitting on our hands. I trust your instincts, Delta. And if you think we have a shot at nailing these bastards, then let’s go for it.”

  The pressure in Delta’s chest eased a bit as she pulled back into the thin nightly traffic. “Sometimes principals overrule practicality.”

  Tony smiled. “I’ll remember that.”

  “Good. And while you’re at it, remember that when all is said and done, it doesn’t really matter how you catch a criminal as long as you get the job done.”

  “I will, boss.” Smiling his big toothy grin, Tony turned the radio back up.

  Delta suddenly wondered if including him was the right thing to do.

  “Carducci?”

  “Yeah?”

  “If our conversation leaves this car, both our careers are ruined.”

  Tony turned and offered her a smile she hadn’t seen on his face before.

  “Delta, you may think I’m a jerk and that I’m young and a bit stupid, but there’s one thing I want to do more than anything else in the world.”

  “And that is?”

  “To solve a major case with you. If we do that, I can write my own ticket anywhere I want. So if you’re gonna let me in on this, then let’s do it.”

  Delta opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t really know what to say. She had her copilot, she had her map, and she had Connie. The race was on and Delta knew where her first pit stop would be.

  “Storm, you’re playing with fire. You know that, don’t you?”

  Swinging the chair around so she could sit backwards, Delta grinned. “I like it hot.”

  Connie called up some files. “That’s what worries me. Including Tony in this scares the hell out of me. But I know better than to try to stop you. What’s done is done.”

  “Good. What do you have so far?”

  “Apparently, our suspects have traveled through the southern half of the U.S. on their way here. There have been snatchings from Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as well. We’ve been able to tie those kidnappings together by witnesses who say the kids were snatched by the same tall, skinny guy. His MO is he steals a car first, cruises around playground and park areas, does a drive by, and then makes the grab.”

  “Not very elaborate.”

  Connie shook her head. “Doesn’t need to be. Once they make the snatch, we figure they meet up with another car, probably a van, hide the kid, dump the stolen vehicle, and then they’re long gone.”

  “Any pattern to the kinds of ca
rs they steal?”

  Working the computer like a massage therapist, Connie called up more information. “Great question. I wondered that myself a few hours ago.” Studying the file, Connie nodded. “Our thin man has a predilection for Camaros and Mustangs. Oh, and one Trans Am.”

  “Easy to hot wire.”

  “Yep.”

  “What else?”

  “Eddie’s having a hard time getting into the fed’s system. What we’ve gotten so far comes from a favor I called in, and from my own research.”

  Delta wrote down a few notes and waited for Connie’s fingers to stop flying over the keyboard. “The fed’s little task force believes that the guy who does the snatching is just a flunkie. They think the video man is an ex-con who was in for kidnapping or child molestation, or something of that nature. They’re going back to the last ten years in their files to cross index every felon who’s out on parole.”

  “That’s a lot of work.”

  “A lot of useless footwork.” Turning from the computer, Connie rubbed her red eyes. “There are two keys to catching these guys before they leave town. One is in the stolen vehicle pattern, and the other is infiltration of the ring.”

  Delta considered this for a moment. “That’s an interesting angle. Do we have enough information to be able to do that?”

  Connie nodded. “Just about.”

  “And what about the stolen vehicles?”

  “The cars are the only tangible pattern we’ve come up with. Our thin man likes fast, red ones. He probably doesn’t even realize he’s carved out a pattern. It’s one of those simple things that usually gets crooks arrested.”

  Delta nodded and watched Connie work on the computer. “I like the idea of getting someone on the inside. Do you think the feds have anyone in there?”

  Connie laughed. “I hardly think so. I saw two of them talking to the captain earlier and they’re just chasing their tails. The problem I see with the feds is that they all look like agents. Like someone cut them with a cookie cutter; there isn’t one of them who wouldn’t be spotted before they could even get out of the car.”

  Delta nodded. They did all have that Clint Eastwood look about them. Even now, few women held top government positions, and the FBI was no exception. It was, unfortunately, still a ‘good old boys’ organization.