Dirty Harry 04 - The Mexico Kill Read Online Free PDF Page B

Harry. Harry was good, he could handle delicate, messy situations, and hell, if it didn’t work out and he somehow failed, why then that was one less pain in the ass.
    Harry had his reservations about Keepnews, not being especially comfortable with people who were born to ten million and got it to forty, but he still couldn’t help liking the man. There was something charming and boyish about him, especially when he got carried away, which he frequently did. A man with more ideas than he had money, with no time to execute them all. But above all, what Harry liked about him was his impatience, his insistence that if something were worth doing it was worth doing right at that very moment. No sense waiting around for times to get better or the conjunction of stars to improve.
    In the end, partly because of Harry’s testimony, Keepnews was exonerated; the D.A. decided against bringing charges of manslaughter in return for Keepnews’ promise to stay out of the limelight for a while and keep his thoughts regarding the use of guns and the benefits of vigilante groups to himself. It was all a very informal agreement, but Keepnews abided by it. He was always as good as his word. It was something he prided himself on.
    More than that, he made it a point never to forget those who had helped him—as well as those who had betrayed or otherwise fucked him. Harry luckily was one of those who fell into the former category.
    Whenever possible, Keepnews would provide Harry with valuable information, and the kind of information he acquired was not easily obtained. You had to move in certain circles, and Harry by himself would have no way of gaining access to them. Harry got the feeling that Keepnews would like to hire him away, not for anything in particular, simply to have, like he had so many things; his house, his cars, his private jet, his yacht, his buildings in downtown San Francisco, his software company, his biological research center, and his wife. Harry figured Keepnews would stick him away in a closet somewhere, forget all about him until the occasion for his services arose, like a tuxedo you brought out for a wedding or funeral now and again. Not that it wouldn’t be a real nice closet, but spending much of his life in mothballs, no matter how good the pay, was not his idea of the way he cared to spend the years that remained to him.
    Keepnews was aware of Harry’s feelings, and he’d stopped courting him long ago. But this was a special occasion, as he’d indicated over the phone.
    He started off apologetically, saying he knew how pressed Harry was for time. “But there’s no one else I can turn to, no one I can think of. Fact of the matter is I spoke to the Coast Guard and I talked to your people. Did everything proper—not because I expected satisfaction, mind you, but I wanted the record to be straight. I wanted it shown that I went through proper channels and that I got shit for my troubles, if you understand my battle plan?”
    Harry understood all right, but wondered what he was leading up to.
    Keepnews did not take long in coming to the point. It wasn’t his nature to be evasive. He thrust forward a file full of photographs and documents pertaining to the Hyacinth.
    “I realize you’re a busy man, Harry . . .”
    “You’d be surprised. I seem suddenly to find myself with a great deal of free time.”
    “Oh yes? How so?”
    Harry didn’t go into detail, but he did mention the most important part—that he was without a job for the foreseeable future.
    “Well, that changes everything. I was thinking that I would work out some arrangement with you in your spare time. But seeing that your spare time isn’t quite so restricted, maybe we could come to a more formal agreement. I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize your relationship with the department, of course.”
    Harry laughed. “Frankly, I don’t see how you could jeopardize it any more than it is.”
    “I see your point.” Keepnews rose