My Brother's Keeper Read Online Free PDF Page A

pointed with his chin at the ambulance crew loading the girl onto the stretcher and then loading the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. The paramedic already had her hooked up to a monitor and was preparing an IV.
    â€˜Honestly, Mitch? It doesn’t look good.’
    â€˜If she dies the Inquirer will have a field day. They’ve been crucifying us lately.’
    â€˜Why’s that?’
    â€˜Homicides are up. Manpower is down. Every thug in the city is running around with a gun in his pants.’
    â€˜Since when are you guys to blame for that?’
    â€˜Since when did it matter?’
    Jimmy Patterson was wiping the blood off his hands with a paper towel as he walked slowly toward Lou and Mitch. His eyes seemed to have glazed over and the color had drained from his face.
    â€˜You all right, Jimmy?’ Lou asked. ‘You look like you could use a drink.’
    â€˜I’m fine,’ Jimmy answered. ‘Funny how it all comes back to you. After so many years in the business you just know what to do.’
    â€˜What kind of business is that?’ Mitch asked.
    Jimmy looked at Mitch as if he’d just noticed him standing there, as if Mitch had interrupted a private conversation, poked his nose in where it wasn’t wanted. And if he hadn’t had a badge pinned to his chest and a gun on his hip, Jimmy might have taken a swing at him. It was the kind of look that cops used to intimidate people, only nobody was intimidated by cops anymore.
    â€˜The cop business,’ Jimmy barked, ‘the business of helping people.’
    Mitch grabbed hold of his duty belt with both hands and hiked his pants up a little higher over his protruding belly. The gun in his holster had an undisturbed layer of dust on it about half an inch thick. He started to get back in his car and paused.
    â€˜Try to stay out of trouble, would ya, Lou?’
    Mitch slammed the car door shut before Lou could answer and sped away.
    â€˜How the hell did you tolerate that guy for all those years? He was one of the reasons I wanted out.’
    â€˜He’s not as bad as he looks.’
    â€˜I guess that’s a matter of opinion.’ Jimmy was looking down at the towel in his hands, smeared with fresh blood. ‘Can I ask you something, Lou?’
    â€˜Yeah, sure, Jimmy.’
    â€˜How does someone go about hiring you, like, for a job?’
    â€˜What kind of job did you have in mind?’
    â€˜It’s Franny. She hasn’t been herself lately. She’s worried. I mean, really worried. I don’t know what it’s about. Something’s up and she won’t tell me what it is. I think it has something to do with her husband.’
    â€˜Since when does Jimmy Patterson ask for help, especially when it comes to his family, and especially from a private detective?’
    â€˜It’s a different world out there, Lou. Maybe I’m different. I don’t know. And you don’t know this husband of hers. Franny married money, big money. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of him. I could take him without battin’ an eye. But if he wanted to, he could get the muscle to push back and I don’t want to put Franny in the middle.’
    â€˜If he wanted to?’
    â€˜Yeah, if he wanted to.’
    â€˜Who is this guy?’
    â€˜His name’s Haggerty. Brian Haggerty. Ya heard of him?’
    â€˜I’ve heard the name.’
    â€˜He talks all high and mighty, always polite, the college boy charm. But he don’t fool me. I know Franny falls for that shit. But I’m telling you, Lou, the guy’s nothing special, grew up on the same streets we did. He’s no different than me or you.’
    â€˜OK.’
    â€˜His old man was a big shot in the city but that was a long time ago and you know how we are around here, Lou. We got short memories.’
    â€˜More like selective memory. We remember what we want to