thought he spotted two of Christian’s guys out front and that you might be involved in something worth checking out. I told him to hit the brakes and let me look into it a bit, that those kinds of accusations against someone like you were nothing to mess around with. Now I’ve got to figure out what to do.” The man’s voice was quiet as he broke the bad news.
“Are you sure he hasn’t been flashing the pictures around anywhere else? Why would he bring them to you? We can’t be that lucky.” The judge’s tone changed from frustration to alarm.
“I know the kid. You’re going to be pissed to hear this, but he was Grafton’s neighbor. He practically idolized the guy. Grafton’s the reason he became a cop in the first place. He thinks I’m one of the old timer good guys like Grafton was. He thinks he can trust me,” the man said and Piper could hear his growing irritation with the situation.
“So let’s take care of him the same way we did Grafton, and let’s do it quickly before he realizes you’re not quite as good a guy as he thinks,” the judge retorted sarcastically.
“Things are different now. We can’t go around taking guys out anymore, Randy. Luring a cop into a building, shooting him, and pinning it on some mystery criminal won’t fly anymore. There’s too much technology, too many people with damn camera phones everywhere. Not to mention, Internal Investigations isn’t on our side. We don’t have as many of the guys as we used to in there. They’ve all retired. We’ve got to be smart about this.” The man’s voice was forceful as he tried to deter the judge from making a rash decision.
“Come on, Red. Buy him off, everyone has a price. If he’s such a determined kid I’m sure we can find a place for him in our organization,” the judge snapped, clearly underestimating the situation.
“You don’t get it,” the other man roared, pounding his fist against a desk or a wall that Piper couldn’t see. “He’s like Grafton reincarnated, it’s actually scary sometimes. I can tell you right now a payoff wouldn’t have worked on Stan and it won’t work on this kid either.”
“So what exactly are you proposing? I’m hearing a lot of objections and not too many solutions. You know this kid, what’s it going to take to get him off this?” The Judge was now pacing the room and Piper could hear his voice growing louder as he came closer to her, then fading as he headed back in the other direction.
“I’ve been wracking my brain and the only thing I can come up with is we hit him where it hurts. He’s got a thing for Grafton’s daughter I think, and I know he’s real close with Grafton’s old lady too. Maybe we let him know if he doesn’t drop this then they’re not safe.” The man cleared his throat frequently as he spoke and Piper tried to make a mental note of this habit. If she couldn’t turn and get a good look at him, then she’d need to try to piece together his identity any way possible.
“If we can’t kill him, and we can’t buy him off then let’s scare the hell out of him and see if that works,” the judge said arrogantly.
“I’m going to try one more time to get him off this whole kick first. Maybe I can get through to him. I really don’t want to start messing with anyone’s damn family, especially a dead cop’s wife and kid. I’m getting too old for this shit.” The man’s voice trailed off as he turned in the other direction away from where Piper was hiding.
“Well if you find yourself getting cold feet about this then I’ll have Christian take care of it for me. He’s got no problem doing what needs to be done. Maybe that’s why he’s stepping on your toes so much lately. Maybe it’s time you retire.” The judge knew this was a hot button and he enjoyed exploiting it.
“Christian might have the stomach for all this, but he’ll never be able to give you what I do as a cop on the force. We haven’t found one decent officer to recruit, and I’m one of your last guys left on the inside. You might want to drop the retirement bullshit. If anyone should be bowing out of this game, it’s you. You’re getting sloppy. We wouldn’t be in