fuck.”
“And if they find him before we do, and he talks, we’re in prison, which might as well be dead,” Jonas shot back. “Or do you think it’s coincidence the three dead cops happen to be members of our John Squad?”
“Keep your damn voice down.” But a quick look reassured Johnny that they’d garnered no attention from the bar. Other than from the beefy bartender who kept shooting them sour looks. He knew better than to hassle them about taking up space without ordering, though. Johnny had made sure of that long ago. “No, it’s not coincidence. Likely one of our business associates got greedy and decided to quit profit sharing. Once Hans and I find out which one it is, we’ll convince him of the errors of his ways.” And maybe give the bastard a taste of his own medicine while they were at it.
“Johnny and I have this thing in hand.” Hans had the type of soothing grandfatherly voice that calmed any crisis. Johnny watched it work its magic on Jack and Juan. Jonas still had a stick up his ass, but that was nothing new. “We’re following up on our various partners. We’ll find whoever’s responsible. In the meantime, just sit tight and don’t panic. We’ve been careful to avoid any connections over the years.”
“Don’t you get it?” Jonas’s palm slapped the scarred table top with enough force to draw the attention of the hulking bartender. “The torch has made the connection. Whoever is doing this knows the members of the squad. How’d he get that information, huh? We were always careful to split up the business areas. Different suppliers, different parts of towns. How could any one of them put us all together?”
A damn good question. But then Jonas always had been a smart one. He actually had more smarts than guts, and that’s exactly what worried Johnny.
“We don’t know that he has,” Hans pointed out matter-of-factly. “All we know is that he put Giovanni, Jon-O, and Johann together.”
“Jesus.” Jonas looked away, disgusted.
Hans leaned forward. “Listen, we’ve all got contacts on the street. We need to start tapping them for any scuttle on this thing. If one of our business partners is involved, there’s no way word isn’t going to be out somewhere about that. So I want you to lean on your informants. Hard. Just like every other cop in the city is going to be doing, right? Let Johnny or me know if you get something worth pursuing.” The other two were listening to him, and Johnny figured that was a good thing. Jonas was always the crybaby, but he didn’t have the balls to make trouble. Thank God for that anyway.
“We’re not standing still on this,” Hans was saying. “But this is no time to get stupid. The money’s still coming in, right? We’re all still getting rich, and there’s no way in hell any of it’s traced to us. So stay smart and careful. Keep your weapon close. Giovanni, Jon-O, and Johann were seasoned cops, and someone still managed to get the jump on them. So don’t trust anyone, even if you know ’em.” He smiled grimly. “Maybe especially if you know ’em.”
“What about the task force?” Jack’s anxious look swept all of them. “Any word who’ll head it up? The brass wouldn’t bring the feds in on this, would they?”
“Only if they want it fucked up.” Everyone snickered at Johnny’s remark except for Jonas. “Way I hear it, a homicide detective by the name of McGuire has been on the cases. No way of knowing who’ll be in charge if a task force is formed.”
“So we sit tight.” Juan was bobbing his head, looking to Hans for more reassurance. “I got a kid at Columbia. I can’t afford to have anything fuck this up. We lean on our informants, yeah, but I say we also try to get any details we can about the investigation. I almost hope there is a task force, since they leak info like sieves.”
Johnny actually smiled at the possibility. “That’s a thought. Because if a suspect surfaces in the case, Hans and
“And if they find him before we do, and he talks, we’re in prison, which might as well be dead,” Jonas shot back. “Or do you think it’s coincidence the three dead cops happen to be members of our John Squad?”
“Keep your damn voice down.” But a quick look reassured Johnny that they’d garnered no attention from the bar. Other than from the beefy bartender who kept shooting them sour looks. He knew better than to hassle them about taking up space without ordering, though. Johnny had made sure of that long ago. “No, it’s not coincidence. Likely one of our business associates got greedy and decided to quit profit sharing. Once Hans and I find out which one it is, we’ll convince him of the errors of his ways.” And maybe give the bastard a taste of his own medicine while they were at it.
“Johnny and I have this thing in hand.” Hans had the type of soothing grandfatherly voice that calmed any crisis. Johnny watched it work its magic on Jack and Juan. Jonas still had a stick up his ass, but that was nothing new. “We’re following up on our various partners. We’ll find whoever’s responsible. In the meantime, just sit tight and don’t panic. We’ve been careful to avoid any connections over the years.”
“Don’t you get it?” Jonas’s palm slapped the scarred table top with enough force to draw the attention of the hulking bartender. “The torch has made the connection. Whoever is doing this knows the members of the squad. How’d he get that information, huh? We were always careful to split up the business areas. Different suppliers, different parts of towns. How could any one of them put us all together?”
A damn good question. But then Jonas always had been a smart one. He actually had more smarts than guts, and that’s exactly what worried Johnny.
“We don’t know that he has,” Hans pointed out matter-of-factly. “All we know is that he put Giovanni, Jon-O, and Johann together.”
“Jesus.” Jonas looked away, disgusted.
Hans leaned forward. “Listen, we’ve all got contacts on the street. We need to start tapping them for any scuttle on this thing. If one of our business partners is involved, there’s no way word isn’t going to be out somewhere about that. So I want you to lean on your informants. Hard. Just like every other cop in the city is going to be doing, right? Let Johnny or me know if you get something worth pursuing.” The other two were listening to him, and Johnny figured that was a good thing. Jonas was always the crybaby, but he didn’t have the balls to make trouble. Thank God for that anyway.
“We’re not standing still on this,” Hans was saying. “But this is no time to get stupid. The money’s still coming in, right? We’re all still getting rich, and there’s no way in hell any of it’s traced to us. So stay smart and careful. Keep your weapon close. Giovanni, Jon-O, and Johann were seasoned cops, and someone still managed to get the jump on them. So don’t trust anyone, even if you know ’em.” He smiled grimly. “Maybe especially if you know ’em.”
“What about the task force?” Jack’s anxious look swept all of them. “Any word who’ll head it up? The brass wouldn’t bring the feds in on this, would they?”
“Only if they want it fucked up.” Everyone snickered at Johnny’s remark except for Jonas. “Way I hear it, a homicide detective by the name of McGuire has been on the cases. No way of knowing who’ll be in charge if a task force is formed.”
“So we sit tight.” Juan was bobbing his head, looking to Hans for more reassurance. “I got a kid at Columbia. I can’t afford to have anything fuck this up. We lean on our informants, yeah, but I say we also try to get any details we can about the investigation. I almost hope there is a task force, since they leak info like sieves.”
Johnny actually smiled at the possibility. “That’s a thought. Because if a suspect surfaces in the case, Hans and
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