seventeen

Mallen pushed the broken-looking buzzer next to the rotted wooden door of the warehouse where Ali held court. He’d parked the Land Cruiser nearby, hoping it would still be there when he came out. If he came out. Either way, this wasn’t a friendly hood at all. The warehouse reminded him of an abandoned, derelict ship dropped from above. He knew from his days back on the force that the place had been many things in the past. Shooting gallery. Gang headquarters. Even a dog-fighting club. The listed owner was a front company called Intellectualized, LLC. The real tenant was Teddy Mac’s sister, Ali McCane.

All he needed was to get into the same room with her so he could plead his case. It was, however, a good fuckin’ bet they wouldn’t even let him through the door. That was okay. He was ready for that possibility. Ready like back in the old days. Ready for it to go either way. He pressed the buzzer and waited. Glanced up at the camera stationed above the door, carefully made to look like it was broken.

The door lock buzzed. He pushed inside, instantly confronted by a large, white bald dude, Louisville Slugger in his hands. Both naked arms were completely sleeved in jail and prison tats. Took Mallen a moment to realize that it was Griffin himself who stood there—the guy who’d tried to kill him more times than Mallen cared to remember, the last time punctuated by a dive into the frigid San Francisco Bay.

Griffin stepped forward, heavy boots scraping over the dirty concrete. You fucker, Griff’s eyes said.

“Griff!” Mallen said. “Love your new look. Who does your hair, man?”

Griff grabbed up a handful of Mallen’s collar. Mallen could swear the guy’s face turned a deeper shade of red he was so fuckin’ pissed. It took a long moment for him to come back to his senses. There was the crackle of a hidden speaker. It worked on the man like a dog whistle.

“Lady says for you to hand over your weapon, Narc.”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m an ex-junkie now.”

“Can the comedy. Just hand it over, man.”

“Ain’t got one.” And it was true. He’d decided that to come in this way, without a gun or knife or anything, might resonate with her. He wanted Ali to see he’d come for information, not for war. Open palmed, as they say in Buddhist circles. It was a roll of the dice he hoped would land him a seven.

Griff thrust him against the wall. Frisked him. “Well, goddamn,” the man said to himself. “What a dumbfuck you turned out to be, hypo-head.” Mallen was then grabbed by his collar and pushed down the hall like a homeless pussycat.

“Easy on the threads,” Mallen said as he straightened his coat, “they cost me a day’s wages.”

They went down a short hall that ended abruptly in a large, open space. Dirty windows let in a hazy light two stories above. He counted six other men in the room: four sitting on a large couch and loveseat setup, complete with oak coffee and side tables. Two other men were at a bar that looked like it was taken right out of someone’s home, complete with marbled mirrors behind it. The whole fuckin’ thing reminded him of a movie set on a soundstage. The soldiers on the couch were rewatching a football game on a nearby big screen TV. Oakland against New England. Guns were everywhere, as was weed.

“Well, my love has returned,” said a deep, husky voice. Ali appeared from behind a harshly painted screen that sat in front of what he remembered was “the office.” She was living well, he figured, evidenced by the amount of diamond she had on her fingers and ears. Her hair was still raven black, still worn swept up into a long top-knot, like her brother’s.

“You got balls coming back here,” she told him.

He could feel Griffin behind him move in closer. Stood just to the left. Setting up for a take-down. All eyes were on Mallen now, the air filling quickly with a thick tension. He heard an inner voice in his head tell him he’d been an idiot for leaving the gun in the car and now “ha ha ha” on him, as he was about to die. The voice scolded him that he should’ve come with a bat, not an olive branch. Oh well. That can be fixed.

“I need to talk with you, Ali,” he said to her, “about your brother, T-Mac.”

“Miz McCane to you, junkie.”

“You’re behind the times. It’s ex-junkie now, just like it’s ex-cop.”

She strolled over. He could smell her expensive perfume. Didn’t know which one it was, but it smelled good enough to be high-priced. She looked into his eyes. Laughed.

“You want something? And after what you did? You come here, wanting something? Fuck you, Mallen.” Spoke then over her shoulder to the men at the bar, harsh and loud. “Send this guy out on a stretcher.”

It was the cue he’d been waiting for. Even mostly out of practice like he was, he still remembered the moves drilled into him during his time at the academy. No way he could’ve done this a couple months ago, but ever since getting clean, he’d felt better than he could ever remember feeling. The running, the homemade lifting, the yoga—all had gone to help him get slowly back into shape. And along with that shape came the muscle memory of defensive moves pounded into him since the first day he signed up to be a cop.

He stepped back and twisted, blasting his knee into Griffin’s groin. The guy groaned, dropping the bat in favor of his slammed sack. Mallen managed to snatch the bat before it even hit the ground. Swung around behind the man, pulling the yard of maple hard under the thick neck for a chokehold. He felt a little like Jet Li then, and he really had to admit that he didn’t mind that feeling. Nobody moved. He could see stunned expressions on just about everyone in the room. That alone made it worth it.

“Everybody take it easy,” he said loudly. Knew his chances of actually getting out of the place were for nil if the shit went any more south. Looked right at Ali as he said, “I’m not looking for trouble, okay? Just need to talk to Miz McCane here.” She hadn’t lost one bit of her beauty. He added quietly, straight to her, “I’m sorry about what happened before. I was trying to do my job, but I fucked it up. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t!” she said, her eyes flaring up in anger. She lunged toward him, but he pulled back on the bat. Griff gasped, struggled for breath. Mallen pulled on it even more.

Ali looked him in the eyes. Could read his intentions clearly. “Stop. Everyone relax.” Retreated a step. Nodded at him. “Okay, talk.”

“Okay, but first just tell your pack to step back against the far wall, hands in view. Then I’ll let Hulk Hogan here go.”

“You will?” she said, eyeing him, not believing.

“If they do that, yeah, I will.”

She motioned for the other men to get up and go stand against the wall. They weren’t happy about it. Acted like pit bulls barely on the leash. Mallen moved forward as they moved back, until he was near the coffee table laden with handguns. Before anyone tripped to it, he let Griffin go and grabbed up a nickel-plated Colt automatic. Trained it right on Ali. An angry murmur rose from the other side of the room. Griffin, whose balls he’d sent north, slowly got to his feet, eyes slits of anger and vengeance.

“Just relax everyone,” he said to the room. “Man, you guys are way too fuckin’ high strung. I just need to talk to Ali. Alone.” She never took her eyes off of his as he stepped closer. He couldn’t tell what the hell was going on inside her. Never could. “I just need an answer to one simple question,” he said to her. “Where would T-Mac go if all the places he could think of that he thought were safe, weren’t safe anymore? That’s all I need. See, there’s some shit brewing. And not the regular strain, either. Big wave of it. Big enough to wipe him the fuck right out, leaving no trace behind.”

“Why the hell would I tell you?” she said.

“Like I said: someone’s after him. And I mean a big someone.”

“Who’s this ‘big someone’?”

He glanced around the room. Needed a better place to have the conversation. One less crowded. “Come on. We’re going for a walk.”

“And I’m going to say yes to that because …?”

“Because maybe both of your brother’s lives are stake, that’s why.”

She stood there for a moment. Weighed options. In the end she nodded. Instructed her men to stay put. He walked her outside, never putting his back to the room.

_____

They walked to the end of 25th Street. The air was cold. Strong with salt and impending rain. The gray sky above seemed the color of loss. They found an old concrete bench, worn by the decades of wind and the elements. There was no talking for a few minutes as both of them just looked out at the bay. A slow-moving freighter made its way to the Oak’s yards. A couple sailboats were out there, flashes of white on a somber canvas.

“I lied back there,” she said as she gazed out at the water. “It hurt, what you did.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It was a hard job.”

“Did you ever do that with any other women?”

“No. That’s what made it so hard.”

“You’re the only one to ever get away with lying like that.”

He nodded.

“I could’ve had you killed. Any time I wanted, Mallen.”

“I know. I appreciate that you never tried.”

She smiled then, but there was little warmth in it. “It made my heart happy knowing you were out there just shooting your life away. Wasting away. Kept me warm on cold winter nights.”

He chuckled at that. “Sorry I ruined it by getting clean.”

“Fucker.” After a moment, she said, “So, what’s this about Teddy and Carp?”

“Bad people, and a lot of innocent blood.” He told her about the dead girl. About the setup. About all of it since the day he and Gato had first gotten a line on her brother. She shook her head sadly the more he told her.

“That stupid asshole. Assholes, I mean. My brothers don’t have a brain between them. Pimping, shooting dope. Jesus, but my mother would be proud of her boys,” she said, bitter tone heavy in her voice. “Why you so hot on this? So much you’d come into the lioness’s lair?”

“Has to do with a friend of mine. His sister is one of Teddy’s girls. Or maybe was, if what Teddy told me was the truth. The deeper we got into it, the more we found out. Teddy’s into something really bad, and I think that Carpy’s in it now too. And like I said, it looks big. Big, dark, and full of guys in suits not caring about collateral damage.” He then told her about what Teddy said in Half Moon.

She grew more and more concerned the more she heard. Sighed. Stared up at the gray ceiling of the sky.

“I’m not sure where he would go, if it was as bad as you say,” she finally said. “He’s no hero, but he’s no coward, either. Not him.” Added, “But he can be a vengeful fucker when he wants to be.”

“Ali,” he said, “have you heard anything at all about who he pissed off? What it could be over? It might be a big help to me. I know I don’t have a right to ask, but I am.” Shifted on the bench. “Whoever they are, they’re coming after me now. I’d sure like to know what I’m up against.”

“Isn’t the trap they set for you enough? If I were you, I’d fucking drop this and forget about it. Tell your buddy to have a funeral for his sister and move on.”

“Can’t do that.”

She studied him. “No,” she said finally, “that’s not you, is it?” She stared out at the bay, and finally said, not looking at him as she said it, “I’d heard a little whisper that Teddy’d made some bad enemies. Very bad. I didn’t want to believe it. He’s usually more … cunning. Did some checking anyway. Low-like, so no one would know.”

He rested his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. Gazed down at the ground. “What’d you get?”

“Did I ever tell you that my brother wanted to be a filmmaker? That’s what he wanted to be, back when he was a kid. Would shoot video of Carpy, dressed up like a Star Wars character, doing all sorts of Star Wars crap. Teddy wanted to be like that guy that did E.T. Did I ever tell you that?”

“No.”

“He’s always had a thing for movies.” She got up then. “But,” she added with a smile, “you didn’t hear it from me. I know how to read the signs, and I’m not afraid to keep my nose down. You could learn from me, Marcos.”

Mallen winced at the use of her old nickname for him. “Maybe so. Thanks.”

She walked off. Heading back up the street. He thought long about what she’d just told him. So that was it: Teddy Mac had some camera content that someone was willing to kill to get back.