Read In Death 15 - Purity in Death for Free Online Page A

he walked past her, and jerked his head toward her office.
    "Thanks." She hooked her thumbs in the front pockets of her trousers and headed into her office.
    Lieutenant Don Webster sat in her single spare chair, his polished shoes kicked up on her cluttered desk. He was drinking her coffee.
    "Hey, Dallas. Been a little while."
    "But somehow never long enough." She knocked his feet off her desk. "Is that my coffee in that mug?"
    He took a long sip, let out a happy sigh. "It must be nice, being able to call up the real thing whenever you're in the mood. How is Roarke these days?"
    "Is this a social call? Because I don't have time to chat. I'm on duty."
    "Not social, but it could be friendly." He moved his shoulders when her expression stayed set and stony. "Or not. Gotta say though, you're looking just swell."
    She reached behind her, shut the door. "You'd have gotten the report of the incident occurring yesterday between nineteen hundred and nineteen-thirty involving a uniformed officer assigned to Central who, while off-duty, responded to-"
    "Dallas." Webster held up a hand. "I got the report. I know the incident. I know Officer Troy Trueheart - hell of a name, huh - is in Testing at this time. Internal Affairs will interview the subject and investigate the termination after the results of said Testing are evaluated."
    "He's twenty-two years old. He's still green but he's solid. I'm asking you to go easy on him."
    Irritation settled over his face. Toughened it. "You think I get up in the morning thinking about how many cops I can destroy that day?"
    "I don't know what you or the rest of your pack think about." She started to order coffee for herself, then spun around. "I thought you were coming back. I thought you'd decided to be a cop again."
    "I am a goddamn cop."
    "After all that dirt came out from inside IAB-"
    "That's why I stayed in." He said it quietly, and cut off her tirade. "I thought about it." He pushed a hand through his wavy brown hair. "I thought about it long and hard. I believe in the Bureau, Dallas."
    "How? Why?"
    "Checks and balances. We need checks and balances. When there's power there's corruption. They go hand-in-hand. A wrong cop's got no right to a badge. But he deserves having another cop see it's taken from him."
    "I've got no use for dirty cops." Annoyed with the world in general, she took the coffee mug from him and drank. "Damn it, Webster, you were good on the street."
    It gave him a quick zip to hear her say it. To know she meant it. "I'm good in the Bureau. I think I make a difference."
    "By hammering at a rookie like Trueheart because he did what he had to do to protect a civilian and himself?"
    "You know, the first thing I did when I went back into IAB was move out all the racks, thumbscrews, and other torture devices. I read the report, Dallas. It's clear there was immediate jeopardy. But there are holes, and there are questions. You know it."
    "I'm looking into it. Let me clear it up."
    "You know. I'd love to do you a favor, just so you'd owe me one. But he has to be interviewed, he has to make a statement. He can have his rep there. He can have you there. Jesus, Dallas, we're not looking to fuck this kid over. But when a uniform terminates using his weapon it has to be reviewed."
    "He's clean, Webster. He's goddamn spanking clean."
    "Then he's got nothing to worry about. I'll take it personally if that means anything to you."
    "I guess it does."
    "You tell Roarke you were tagging me for this? Or is he going to get riled up so I have to kick his ass again?"
    "Oh, is that what you were doing when you had to be carried out of the room unconscious?"
    "I like to remember it that I was just getting my second wind."
    Webster rubbed a hand over his jaw. He could still remember what Roarke's fist had felt like plowing into it. Like a well-aimed brick.
    "Whatever works for you. And I don't report to Roarke."
    "You go on thinking that." He took the coffee back from her, finished it off. "You're so