out who has what problems. If itâs legal entanglement, a lot of thatâs public records, right?
âSo one day a swell-dressed man or, better yet, smart-looking woman shows up on my dilapidated doorstep and says âHey, weâre not asking you to be a sell out or anything like that.ââ
âOh, no,â Bonilla snarked.
He continued in character. âWeâre not asking you to put the finger on anyone, but just let us know, you know, in a general way what they say at those meetings you go to. Now donât draw attention to yourself, donât be asking a bunch of questions.â Magrady spread his arms wide and slumped in his seat. âSit andlisten and every now and then weâll call to ask a few harmless questions and in exchange, a few hundreds in nice, crisp twenties will find their way into your house fund or maybe junior gets community service rather than jail.â
âThen why bust us for our undocumented members? If I was a spy, Iâd want to wait until I had something more juicy.â
He wiggled his fingers on both hands. âOne branch doesnât know what the other is up to. If the spy is on the private ticket, there wouldnât necessarily be coordination with the popo. Anyway, this is just early morning after we got our ass kicked speculation. Like I said, yâall are easily targets of opportunity, or this went down simply because those self-absorbed, Lhasa Apsoowning loft-dwellers you despise have been complaining, and this is how the cops respond.â
Bonilla rubbed the back of her neck. âWe have been trying to recruit some of those latte liberals as allies. Itâs not like they shouldnât have a place to live. But they also canât act like their shit, and that of their boutique pooches, donât stink. Their attitude is itâs them bringing up the neighborhood while the poor get booted out.â
âHowâs that working out? Getting them to see you have some common interests?â
âDonât be cute. It doesnât suit you.â
âI take your point,
subcomandante.â
She was reflective, then. âYou think thatâs what Floyd was doing? Why he was hinting about how he was about to get over?â
âExcept it seems he had the goods on someone, doesnât it? And there is that SubbaKhan magnetic swipe card he had.â
Bonilla pointed at Magrady. âHe saw the CEO try to rape this woman. She resisted and when they fought, he accidentally bashed her head in and Floyd, whoâd been hired on a disabled program, was in the office late and decided to blackmail the dude.â
âAmusing. I saw that movie too. Only that guy was a professional thief.â
âJust trying to be as devious as you are, champ. So what if Floyd stole that card from a SubbaKhan employee?â
âCould be. Of course that raises the question of where the hell Floyd could have been with the employee.â
âYouâre the one playing peeper.â
Magrady grunted. âPlaying is right.â He yawned. âI keep getting vamped on but no further along in figuring this out.â
She yawned and playfully slapped his knee. âThe case is young yet, youâll get onto something.â
He stood and stretched, âYeah, blisters on my feet from hoofing it all over Creation and a couple of knots upside my head.â
âTough guy.â She also stood and nodded toward her front room and the couch where sheâd given him a blanket and a pillow. âYou gonna be okay?â
âThis is great, Janis, I really appreciate it.â He touched her shoulder.
She covered his hand with hers and let it linger. âI told you it wasnât a problem. Iâll ask around if anyone knows of someplace for you to rent out like a room or something.â
âCool.â
âGood night,â she said, kissing him on the cheek. He flushed and was glad she couldnât tell. At
Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney