In the Midst of Death Read Online Free PDF
Author: Lawrence Block
you to do something for me." Maybe the words sounded a little sharp to him. He tried softening them with a smile. "The hell, Matt, it's not like you have to know my date of birth and the amount of change in my pocket in order to help me out.Right?"
"Prejaniandidn't have a thing on you. You just walked in on your own and told him you had information that could shake up the whole department."
"That's right."
"And it's not as though you spent the last twelve years wearing blinders. You're not a choirboy."
"Me?"A big, toothy grin. "Not hardly, Matt."
"Then I don't get it. Where's your angle?"
"Do I have to have an angle?"
"You never walked down the street without one."
He thought about it and decided not to resent the line. Instead he chuckled. "And do you have to know my angle, Matt?"
"Uh-huh."
He sipped his drink and thought it over. I was almost hoping he would tell me to fuck off. I wanted to go away and forget about him. He was a man I'd never like involved in something I couldn't understand. I really didn't want to get mixed up in any of his problems.
Then he said, "You of all people should understand."
I didn't say anything.
"You were on the force fifteen years, Matt.Right? And you got thepromotions, you did pretty good, so youmusta known the score. You had to be a guy who played the game. Am I right?"
"Keep talking."
"So you got fifteen years in and five to go for the meal ticket and you pack it in. Puts you in the same boat as me, doesn't it? You reach a point where you can't hack it anymore.The corruption, the shakedowns, the payoffs. It gets to you. Your case, you just pack it in and get out of it.
I can respect that. Believe me, I can respect it. I considered it myself, but then I decided it wasn't enough for me, the approach wasn't right for me, I couldn't just walk away from something I had twelve years in."
"Going on thirteen."
"Huh?"
"Nothing.You were saying?"
"I was saying I couldn't just turn my back and walk away. I had to do something to make it better. Not all the way better, but maybe just a little bit better, and that means some heads will have to roll, and I'm sorry about that, but it has to be that way."A wide grin, sudden and alarming now on this face that has been so preoccupied with the business of being sincere. "Look, Matt, I'm not some fuckingChrister .
I'm an angle guy, you called me on that and it's true. I know things thatAbner has trouble believing. A guy who's absolutely straight, he's never going to hear these things because the wiseguys'll dummy up when he walks into the room. But a guy like me gets a chance to hear everything." He leaned forward.
"I'll tell you something. Maybe you don't know it, maybe it wasn't quite this bad yet when you were carrying a badge. But this whole fucking city is for sale. You can buy the police force all across the board. Straight on up to Murder One."
"I never heard that."Which wasn't quite true. I'd heard it. I'd just never believed it.
"Not every cop, Matt. Not hardly. But I know two cases- that's two I know for a fact- where guys got caught with their cocks on the block for homicide and they boughttheirselves out from under. And narcotics, fuck, I don't have to tell you about narcotics. That's an open secret.
Every heavy dealer keeps a couple of thou in a special pocket. He won't go out on the street without it. That's calledwalkaway money- you lay it on the cop who busts you and he lets you walk away."
Was it always that way? It seemed to me that it wasn't. There were always cops who took, some who took a little and some who took a lot, some who didn't say no when easy money came their way, others who actually went out and hustled for it. But there were also things that nobody ever did. Nobody took murder money, and nobody took narcotics money.
But things do change.
"So you just got sick of it," I said.
"That's right. And you're the last person I should have to explain it to."
"I didn't leave the
"Prejaniandidn't have a thing on you. You just walked in on your own and told him you had information that could shake up the whole department."
"That's right."
"And it's not as though you spent the last twelve years wearing blinders. You're not a choirboy."
"Me?"A big, toothy grin. "Not hardly, Matt."
"Then I don't get it. Where's your angle?"
"Do I have to have an angle?"
"You never walked down the street without one."
He thought about it and decided not to resent the line. Instead he chuckled. "And do you have to know my angle, Matt?"
"Uh-huh."
He sipped his drink and thought it over. I was almost hoping he would tell me to fuck off. I wanted to go away and forget about him. He was a man I'd never like involved in something I couldn't understand. I really didn't want to get mixed up in any of his problems.
Then he said, "You of all people should understand."
I didn't say anything.
"You were on the force fifteen years, Matt.Right? And you got thepromotions, you did pretty good, so youmusta known the score. You had to be a guy who played the game. Am I right?"
"Keep talking."
"So you got fifteen years in and five to go for the meal ticket and you pack it in. Puts you in the same boat as me, doesn't it? You reach a point where you can't hack it anymore.The corruption, the shakedowns, the payoffs. It gets to you. Your case, you just pack it in and get out of it.
I can respect that. Believe me, I can respect it. I considered it myself, but then I decided it wasn't enough for me, the approach wasn't right for me, I couldn't just walk away from something I had twelve years in."
"Going on thirteen."
"Huh?"
"Nothing.You were saying?"
"I was saying I couldn't just turn my back and walk away. I had to do something to make it better. Not all the way better, but maybe just a little bit better, and that means some heads will have to roll, and I'm sorry about that, but it has to be that way."A wide grin, sudden and alarming now on this face that has been so preoccupied with the business of being sincere. "Look, Matt, I'm not some fuckingChrister .
I'm an angle guy, you called me on that and it's true. I know things thatAbner has trouble believing. A guy who's absolutely straight, he's never going to hear these things because the wiseguys'll dummy up when he walks into the room. But a guy like me gets a chance to hear everything." He leaned forward.
"I'll tell you something. Maybe you don't know it, maybe it wasn't quite this bad yet when you were carrying a badge. But this whole fucking city is for sale. You can buy the police force all across the board. Straight on up to Murder One."
"I never heard that."Which wasn't quite true. I'd heard it. I'd just never believed it.
"Not every cop, Matt. Not hardly. But I know two cases- that's two I know for a fact- where guys got caught with their cocks on the block for homicide and they boughttheirselves out from under. And narcotics, fuck, I don't have to tell you about narcotics. That's an open secret.
Every heavy dealer keeps a couple of thou in a special pocket. He won't go out on the street without it. That's calledwalkaway money- you lay it on the cop who busts you and he lets you walk away."
Was it always that way? It seemed to me that it wasn't. There were always cops who took, some who took a little and some who took a lot, some who didn't say no when easy money came their way, others who actually went out and hustled for it. But there were also things that nobody ever did. Nobody took murder money, and nobody took narcotics money.
But things do change.
"So you just got sick of it," I said.
"That's right. And you're the last person I should have to explain it to."
"I didn't leave the
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