“Behold.”
Joining the group, he glanced down at the monitor.
“Sons of Oklahoma,” Grace explained. “Ran over Malcolm, looks like.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sounded unsurprised “Indian told me word on the street is the Sons of Oklahoma are starting a ‘cleanup campaign.’” He made air quotes. “Telling the locals the cops aren’t doing their job so the Sons are going to do it for them. Get rid of all the drug dealers and the pimps. And the illegal immigrants.”
“Especially the ones with brown or black skin,” Bobby grumbled. “That’s how it usually starts, doesn’t it?”
“Vigilantes,” Captain Perry said, disgust in her tone. “We’ve all seen it before. They’re usually racist thugs disguising their motives by appealing to people’s fear. Then when they’ve got community support, they turn against the local authorities.”
“The community’s already turned against us,” Bobby said. “Crime-ridden neighborhoods, substandard housing … it’s hard for them to see what good we’re doing.”
“People in those circumstances don’t want to admit that things could be worse,” Captain Perry countered. “With no police force to protect them at all …” She shivered. “I wouldn’t want to be around to see that.”
Grace blew her bangs out of her angelic eyes. “Well, tougher times are here, aren’t they.” As she took off her halo, she gave Ham a pointed look. When Ham blinked, confused, she reminded herself that she’d hadthat conversation with Earl. Sometimes it was difficult to keep the men in her life straight.
Let’s see
, she thought.
One of ’em is trying to keep me from going to hell and the other one takes me to heaven on a regular basis. Okay, I got ’em straight
.
“If we have the Sons of Oklahoma to deal with on top of all this gang warfare,” Bobby said, “then people should be warned. They need to stay off the streets, go home at night …”
Grace thought of her family. Of Clay. Her stomach tightened. “Yeah, got that right. Kendra Burke—”
“Ol’ Softie’s woman?” Ham snickered.
“You know that’s not going to fly,” Captain Perry said. “Upstairs is telling a different story. But I’ll see what I can do.”
“Maybe we can cut the Sons off at the knees,” Ham said. “Start watching them, tracking them. They do anything, we bring them in. Keep sweeping until the streets are clear.”
“Yes,” Bobby said. “That would prevent them from building a relationship with the community.”
“Then they’ll start talking police harassment,” Grace argued. “If we bring ’em in but the DA lets them walk, they’ll be holding press conferences in front of the Murrah Building.” The Alfred P. Murrah Building was the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Grace’s sister Mary Frances had died there while getting Clay his Social Security card. Everybody on the squad had lost friends and colleagues.
“Yeah, and Kendra Burke will be interviewing them,” Ham said. “In a nice tight close-up, to show off those big white teeth of hers. That she is lying through.”
Whoa, the love for Kendra was leaving the building. If this kept up, no one would be going to Butch’s wedding.
“But if we can tie them to Malcolm’s hit and run
and
Haleem’s drive-by and/
or
the dealer’s shooting, we might be able to shut them down altogether,” Captain Perry said. “Like Bobby said, before they build up steam in the community.”
“One, two, three, like dominoes,” Grace said, making a flicking motion with her thumb and forefinger.
“Exactly. So there’s your mandate, Detectives. Solve these three cases as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. If we can prove the Sons are involved in any of them, we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
Her dark brown eyes glinted. “I want the Sons quick, and I want them legally. And this has got to be done by the book. I do not want procedural errors. I want
Joining the group, he glanced down at the monitor.
“Sons of Oklahoma,” Grace explained. “Ran over Malcolm, looks like.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sounded unsurprised “Indian told me word on the street is the Sons of Oklahoma are starting a ‘cleanup campaign.’” He made air quotes. “Telling the locals the cops aren’t doing their job so the Sons are going to do it for them. Get rid of all the drug dealers and the pimps. And the illegal immigrants.”
“Especially the ones with brown or black skin,” Bobby grumbled. “That’s how it usually starts, doesn’t it?”
“Vigilantes,” Captain Perry said, disgust in her tone. “We’ve all seen it before. They’re usually racist thugs disguising their motives by appealing to people’s fear. Then when they’ve got community support, they turn against the local authorities.”
“The community’s already turned against us,” Bobby said. “Crime-ridden neighborhoods, substandard housing … it’s hard for them to see what good we’re doing.”
“People in those circumstances don’t want to admit that things could be worse,” Captain Perry countered. “With no police force to protect them at all …” She shivered. “I wouldn’t want to be around to see that.”
Grace blew her bangs out of her angelic eyes. “Well, tougher times are here, aren’t they.” As she took off her halo, she gave Ham a pointed look. When Ham blinked, confused, she reminded herself that she’d hadthat conversation with Earl. Sometimes it was difficult to keep the men in her life straight.
Let’s see
, she thought.
One of ’em is trying to keep me from going to hell and the other one takes me to heaven on a regular basis. Okay, I got ’em straight
.
“If we have the Sons of Oklahoma to deal with on top of all this gang warfare,” Bobby said, “then people should be warned. They need to stay off the streets, go home at night …”
Grace thought of her family. Of Clay. Her stomach tightened. “Yeah, got that right. Kendra Burke—”
“Ol’ Softie’s woman?” Ham snickered.
“You know that’s not going to fly,” Captain Perry said. “Upstairs is telling a different story. But I’ll see what I can do.”
“Maybe we can cut the Sons off at the knees,” Ham said. “Start watching them, tracking them. They do anything, we bring them in. Keep sweeping until the streets are clear.”
“Yes,” Bobby said. “That would prevent them from building a relationship with the community.”
“Then they’ll start talking police harassment,” Grace argued. “If we bring ’em in but the DA lets them walk, they’ll be holding press conferences in front of the Murrah Building.” The Alfred P. Murrah Building was the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Grace’s sister Mary Frances had died there while getting Clay his Social Security card. Everybody on the squad had lost friends and colleagues.
“Yeah, and Kendra Burke will be interviewing them,” Ham said. “In a nice tight close-up, to show off those big white teeth of hers. That she is lying through.”
Whoa, the love for Kendra was leaving the building. If this kept up, no one would be going to Butch’s wedding.
“But if we can tie them to Malcolm’s hit and run
and
Haleem’s drive-by and/
or
the dealer’s shooting, we might be able to shut them down altogether,” Captain Perry said. “Like Bobby said, before they build up steam in the community.”
“One, two, three, like dominoes,” Grace said, making a flicking motion with her thumb and forefinger.
“Exactly. So there’s your mandate, Detectives. Solve these three cases as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. If we can prove the Sons are involved in any of them, we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
Her dark brown eyes glinted. “I want the Sons quick, and I want them legally. And this has got to be done by the book. I do not want procedural errors. I want
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