Underbelly

Read Underbelly for Free Online Page B

Book: Read Underbelly for Free Online
Authors: Gary Phillips
out who has what problems. If it’s legal entanglement, a lot of that’s public records, right?
    â€œSo one day a swell-dressed man or, better yet, smart-looking woman shows up on my dilapidated doorstep and says ’Hey, we’re not asking you to be a sell out or anything like that.’”
    â€œOh, no,” Bonilla snarked.
    He continued in character. “We’re 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 don’t draw attention to yourself, don’t be asking a bunch of questions.” Magrady spread his arms wide and slumped in his seat. “Sit andlisten and every now and then we’ll 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€œThen why bust us for our undocumented members? If I was a spy, I’d want to wait until I had something more juicy.”
    He wiggled his fingers on both hands. “One branch doesn’t know what the other is up to. If the spy is on the private ticket, there wouldn’t necessarily be coordination with the popo. Anyway, this is just early morning after we got our ass kicked speculation. Like I said, y’all 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.”
    Bonilla rubbed the back of her neck. “We have been trying to recruit some of those latte liberals as allies. It’s not like they shouldn’t have a place to live. But they also can’t act like their shit, and that of their boutique pooches, don’t stink. Their attitude is it’s them bringing up the neighborhood while the poor get booted out.”
    â€œHow’s that working out? Getting them to see you have some common interests?”
    â€œDon’t be cute. It doesn’t suit you.”
    â€œI take your point,
subcomandante.”
    She was reflective, then. “You think that’s what Floyd was doing? Why he was hinting about how he was about to get over?”
    â€œExcept it seems he had the goods on someone, doesn’t it? And there is that SubbaKhan magnetic swipe card he had.”
    Bonilla pointed at Magrady. “He saw the CEO try to rape this woman. She resisted and when they fought, he accidentally bashed her head in and Floyd, who’d been hired on a disabled program, was in the office late and decided to blackmail the dude.”
    â€œAmusing. I saw that movie too. Only that guy was a professional thief.”
    â€œJust trying to be as devious as you are, champ. So what if Floyd stole that card from a SubbaKhan employee?”
    â€œCould be. Of course that raises the question of where the hell Floyd could have been with the employee.”
    â€œYou’re the one playing peeper.”
    Magrady grunted. “Playing is right.” He yawned. “I keep getting vamped on but no further along in figuring this out.”
    She yawned and playfully slapped his knee. “The case is young yet, you’ll get onto something.”
    He stood and stretched, “Yeah, blisters on my feet from hoofing it all over Creation and a couple of knots upside my head.”
    â€œTough guy.” She also stood and nodded toward her front room and the couch where she’d given him a blanket and a pillow. “You gonna be okay?”
    â€œThis is great, Janis, I really appreciate it.” He touched her shoulder.
    She covered his hand with hers and let it linger. “I told you it wasn’t a problem. I’ll ask around if anyone knows of someplace for you to rent out like a room or something.”
    â€œCool.”
    â€œGood night,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. He flushed and was glad she couldn’t tell. At

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