Page 36 of Iron Will
“Nah. It’s nothing like that. At least, not exactly.” I grin. “I think you might even enjoy this.” I flip my thumb toward the entrance. “I’ll be across the street.”
I go outside and cross over to a small, deserted park, taking a seat on top of a paint-chipped picnic table. Joe joins me there a few minutes later.
“Okay,” he grunts, taking a seat on the opposite end. “What the fuck is so important you need to bother me at work?”
I reach for my smokes and offer him one. “A couple things. First, what do you know about a loser named Mickey King? Ever heard of him?”
Joe looks down at the pack, hesitating. “Peggy doesn’t like it when I smoke.”
“Yeah. It’s a filthy habit.” I don’t put them away, and after a second, Joe snorts and takes one. I hand him my lighter.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of Mickey King,” he says, taking a long drag. “Jesus, that tastes good. Fuck these cancer sticks anyway. So, Mickey. We’ve brought him in a couple times for various things. Usually drunk and disorderly. I think he’s got a couple other things on his record, too. Petty theft, from a while back. Oh, yeah, he did…”
Joe trails off. His face closes off, turns ‘cop neutral.’
“What?” I demand. Something tells me he just remembered something about Mickey that makes him more interesting to him than he’s willing to tell me.
“Nothing.”
“Fuck it, Joe,” I complain. “You really gonna bust my balls on this?”
“Look, man,” Joe shoots back. “I don’t know why you think I have some obligation to tell you shit. You’re lucky I don’t go lookin’ around in your club’s business. You oughta leave well enough alone.”
I ignore him. “What if I told you you could nab Mickey on a drug charge?” I suggest. “If I could hand him to you on a platter?” I wait a beat, until I can see he’s considering it. “I bet that fucker would sing like a bird about anything and everything he knows, if he thought you could put him in county for a good long time.”
Joe’s jaw works as he thinks about my words. “Why would you do that? Did he run afoul of the Lords or something?”
“Not exactly,” I shake my head. “He ran afoul of me, though. And someone I’m trying to protect.”
I let Joe ask me a couple more questions, just to show him I’m on the up and up. Then, when I can tell I’ve got him on the hook, I tell him about my plan. At first he doesn’t look like he’s gonna go for it. But when I explain why I’m doing this, his face grows dark. Like I said, he’s got two little girls at home.
“Why would I just happen to be at the hospital at the precise moment when he’s trying to steal drugs ?” he asks skeptically.
I shrug. “Does it matter? Say you’re visiting your Aunt Matilda or something. No one’s gonna be asking why a cop is anywhere, Joe.”
He waits a couple more seconds. Finally, he pulls on the last drag of his cigarette and stubs it out on the table next to him. “I wouldn’t mind putting the fear of God into that little shit.”
I can see by the gleam in his eye he’ll be getting more out of it than that, but I don’t push it. I don’t give a rat’s ass what he does with that peckerwood, as long as he puts the asshole behind bars for a while.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Sure.” He smiles for the first time. “I ain’t been over to the hospital for a while. Maybe I will visit my Aunt Matilda after all.”
“Good deal. I’ll figure the details out, and get you down there in time to catch him in the act.”
“That it?” Joe starts to stand.
“One more thing,”I say, stopping him. “What do you know about the cops down in Louisville? You know any precincts there with a reputation for being on the take by anyone? Any gangs or syndicates?”
Joe furrows a brow. “I don’t know much about shit down there. I’ve heard bits here and there, but nothing really useful. Why?”
“No reason,” I tell him, keeping my face expressionless.
Joe snorts. “Yeah, right. But you know what? I’m gonna let it go that you asked me that question, because I donotwant to know.”
“Probably better that way,” I agree.
I didn’t expect to find out much from Joe about whether any PDs in Louisville are in the pocket of rivals to the Dos Santos cartel. But it was worth a shot, anyway.