Fat Tuesday(14)

Hopefully they could wear him down and by this time tomorrow night it would be Duvall they were locking behind bars.

Mac McCuen had already grilled Raymond Hahn. So had the cops in the Shriners fezzes. Before taking his turn, Burke poured himself a cup of tepid, rancid coffee, pulled out a chair for himself, and moved it close to the arrested man.

"Talk to me, Ray."

Raising his cuffed hands, the undercover officer took a long drag off his rapidly shrinking cigarette."It's iffy." His eyes darted about the room, briefly lighting on all the somber faces staring at him."He didn't have a lot on him. Right?" he asked, addressing one of the Shriners.." Couple of ounces. They're stripping down his car, but looks like it's going to be clean."

"So it won't be any big deal," Hahn continued."Duvall will plead him out of a long sentence. Not much threat, so there's not much for us to bargain with. Can you take these off now?"

One of the officers stepped forward to remove the hand restraints.

"Thanks." Raymond Hahn massaged circulation back into his wrists.

"Scared me shitless when you charged across that room, gun drawn," he said to Basile.

Hahn still looked edgy. Burke figured he was in reality a cokehead, and that's why he was so convincing to dealers.

"Since this morning, we've talked to several of Sachel's former customers who're doing time," Burke told him."They're willing to testify against him in exchange for early parole. Those raps, added to delays in trial dates, could keep Sachel out of commission for a long time. Say, long enough for his son to graduate LSU without his seeing a single game except maybe on TV."

"It might work," Hahn said, gnawing on a nub of a fingernail."But I don't know. He's a turkey with an ego big as Dallas, but he's no fool.

And for all his complaining about the boss, I figure he's scared of him.

Besides, he could be out on bail while all these delays are taking place."

Pat came in."Surprise, surprise. Mr. Duvall has advised his client to keep his mouth shut. Hope you've got something solid for us, Ray." Before the undercover officer could respond, Burke said, "Know what I'm thinking?" Slowly he came to his feet, rubbing the spot on his temple that was still throbbing."I'm thinking we were stupid to bust Sachel over a nickel-bag sale. We should have held out until we could raid his factory and warehouse."

"He doesn't do his drug trade out of there," Hahn said."I've tried to buy from him there. He refused. He makes a point of keeping his two businesses separate."

"A lesson he learned from Duvall," Mac remarked dryly.

"Besides, we've gone that route and got nowhere," Pat reminded Burke."We've got no probable cause to raid what appears to be a legitimate business. No judge would grant us a warrant." "All I'm saying is " "We blow another bust, we'll never nail Duvall. If it is Duvall."

"It's Duvall," Burke said tightly.

"All the more reason for us to keep our asses covered."

"I know that, Doug, but " "Littrell won't touch a case unless we've got solid evidence " "To back it up," Burke shouted."I've got it, okay?

God knows I've heard the sermon often enough."

"I just don't want another major f*ckup," Pat fired back."This department can't afford one, and neither can you."

Pat's shout reverberated around a sudden and uncomfortable silence.

The other officers averted their eyes from the two who were arguing.

"Come on, y'all," Mac mumbled."Stay cool."

It was well known, especially to Burke, that Pat favored him over other officers in the division. Not only because he considered Burke a good cop, but because the two had started out friends. They'd gone through the academy in the same class. Pat had chosen administration over street work, but rank hadn't made a difference in their relationship.

Until recently. The circumstances surrounding Kev Stuart's death had placed a strain on their friendship. Burke felt it. But he also understood where it was coming from. Doug had to answer to his superiors for the conduct and performance of each of the officers under his command. Being the go-between was difficult at any time, but especially when he was trying to protect the reputation of an officer who was also a friend.

Burke realized that Doug didn't want his career sacrificed to that one dreadful mistake. Doug had gone to the mat for him when his stability and reliability came into question following the incident. Publicly and privately, he'd backed him one hundred percent through the trial.

Despite the anger of the moment, Burke understood that Doug didn't want him to lose his head and do something reckless, providing the nervous decision-makers a good reason to seize his badge.

Since the outburst, he and Doug hadn't broken eye contact. His temper now under control, he said, "Give me a shot at Sachel."

"In your present frame of mind, I don't think so," Pat replied evenly."Tomorrow maybe."

'"He'll be sprung by tomorrow."

"We'll drag our feet on the bail hearing."

Burke sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, then gave each of the other officers a sour glance."Then I'm going home." "What about me?" Hahn asked.