Read Night and Day for Free Online Page B

correct?”
    “So, Martinez, the guys around the station call you Shorty?” I looked at Holstein. “Back in
the day, he wouldn’t have been with the squad five minutes before somebody tagged him with
that nickname, right?”
    Holstein flashed a quick grin, but remained silent.
    “Iverson and Wilkowitz, you threatened them, correct?” Martinez said.
    I held out a hand, putting my thumb and forefinger close together. “It was just a little
threat.” I glanced at Holstein. “So, Ray, you’re here . . . what, to arrest me for being mean to a
couple of cops?”
    “Threatening a couple of cops, Charlie,” Holstein said, straightening in the chair. “Uttering
a threat against a police officer has been a crime since before we were both cops.”
    I just stared at him.
    He was silent for a moment, then shook his head slowly. “No, we’re not here to arrest you
for fucking with a couple of assholes. We’ve all gone off, said things we shouldn’t have, right?
Anyway, I’m sure they deserved it. You were always an even-tempered guy. If you talked shit to
them, you probably had a good reason.”
    Martinez didn’t say anything. He continued to stare at me, the open notebook resting on his
lap.
    “I understand you have a carry permit, Charlie,” Holstein said. “10mm Glock, if I remember
right?”
    I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never had to use it, but it’s good to know it’s there, if you know what
I mean.”
    “Oh, sure, sure,” Holstein said. “I don’t leave home without mine.” He paused.
“Interesting choice, though. That’s a real man-stopper.”
    I smiled. “Hell, Ray, if it’s not going to stop somebody, why carry it?”
    Holstein smiled back. “Good point, buddy. Very good point. I bet you could . . . well, for
instance, blow a guy’s heart apart with one shot from that hand cannon. You think?”
    That’s the problem with a talker like Holstein. They’re so in love with the sound of their
own voice that it takes a while for them to get to the point. “No idea,” I said. “Never tried it.”
    “Of course not,” Holstein said quickly. “You just said you haven’t had to use it. So how
would you know?”
    “I wouldn’t.”
    “Exactly,” Holstein replied. “In fact, I was telling Burt, before you got here of course, that
you probably had no clue how powerful that pistol on your belt really is. Am I right?”
    “As I recall, you were almost always right, Ray,” I said evenly.
    “That’s a hell of a nice thing for you to say about me, Charlie,” Holstein said with a grin.
“Almost embarrassing, really.” He looked over at Martinez, then back at me. The smile was
gone. “You ever swing a machete, Charlie?”
    “If he’s cutting sugar cane instead of investigating cases, I need to have a talk with my
partner,” came a voice from the doorway.
    I glanced past Holstein. “Evening, Joshua,” I said.
    Holstein almost fell on the floor in his rush to get out of the chair and turn around. “Mr.
Thomas,” he said quickly. “Ray Holstein, Uptown District Homicide.” Martinez slipped
the notebook back into his jacket and stood. “This is my partner, Burt Martinez.”
    “I’ve seen you around the station,” Joshua said as he came into the room and slowly closed
the door behind him. “You two work for Al Ferrer, right?”
    “That’s right,” Holstein said. “Captain Ferrer runs the Uptown District Homicide Unit.”
    “Al’s a good man and an old friend,” Joshua said, coming closer. He ignored Holstein’s
outstretched hand and said, “So what does my old friend want?”
    “Excuse me?” Holstein lowered his hand.
    Joshua laughed. “I’m sorry. I just assumed that Al had sent you down here on an errand.”
    Holstein curled his lip, almost involuntarily, then laughed. He didn’t like Joshua’s
implication, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. Joshua can be a scary guy. He’s
almost 6'3, with a muscular body that looks like it was carved out of a single piece