his head. I glanced back and saw a plainclothes car, a black and white cruiser, and two motorcycles around the Lincoln. There were copsâand gunsâeverywhere you looked. I guess there were at least a dozen policemen, and I figured that was approximately the right number.
Stub Corey and the driver were getting out of the Lincoln, leaning forward with their hands on its top as the officer shook them down.
Bingo straightened up, rubbing the side of his face. âWhereâd they all come from?â he said wonderingly.
The officer whoâd pulled the door open was a detective sergeant, and I handed him the Colt .45.
âHereâs Kestelâs gun,â I said. âHe wasââ
Bingo didnât let me finish. âGun?â he said. âIt ainât my gun. I ainât got no gun. Gun, you crazy? What would I be doing with a gun? Why, Scott and me, we was just takinâ a drive. Then you guys started beatinâ me up.â
I looked at the sergeant and he looked at me. Neither of us said anything. There was no need. That was Kestelâs story and heâd stick with it. And it was eight to five heâd be on the streets again an hour after he was booked. Hoods have expensive lawyers. And the hoodsâ expensive lawyers have read, with delight, all of our omniscient Supreme Courtâs decisions defining and clarifying the rights of hoods.
âWhy donât you confess, Bingo?â I asked him. âHell, it canât do you any harm.â
âConfess what? I didnât do nothinâ. Here we are, takinâ a little ride and cops come out of the bushes. You beat me up. Everybody shoves me aroundââ
âYou want me to sock you again, Bingo?â
He shut up.
I got out of the car and went back toward the Lincoln, A lieutenant named Dan Peterson, a gray-haired detective working out of the Hollywood Division, was standing before Stub Corey and the pudgy-faced driver with the hook nose and speaking to them as I walked up next to him.
Iâd heard the refrain before. So, undoubtedly, had Stub and the other hood.
ââthat you have the right to remain silent,â he was telling them politely. âAnything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to the presence of an attorney to assist you prior to questioning and to be with you during questioning, if you so desire. If you cannot afford an attorney you have the right to have an attorney appointed for you prior to questioning. Do you understand these rights?â
Corey smiled, exposing the hole in his row of teeth. âWhat?â he said. âWould you say that again, officer?â
Petersonâs jaw muscles bulged slightly, but he said, âWill you voluntarily answer my questions?â
âWhy should I do that? You some kind of nut or something, officer?â
Peterson looked up at the sky, then stepped back, turned his head and nodded to me.
âThanks, Dan,â I said. âSpread my very large thanks around among the boys, will you?â
He smiled. âStub Corey and Little Phil here,â he said. âWhoâs the other guy?â
âLester Kestel.â
âOld Bingo, huh? What was going on?â
âHe had a .45 in my gut. The boys were escorting me out to see Jimmy Violet.â
âWhat for?â
âNobody told me. Iâll probably ask Jimmy after a while. I suppose you got Coreyâs silenced pistol. That should count as at least a misdemeanorââ
âPistol, yeah,â he interrupted. âNo silencer on it, though.â
He showed me the gun. There were grooves around the barrelâs end, but the bulky cylindrical silencer wasnât on the gun.
I sworeâknowing weâd probably never be able to prove heâd ever had a silencer. Possession of which is a felony and thus illegal. Even today. And he just might have a permit to carry the heater.
I said, âItâs
Anna Collins
Nevea Lane
Em Petrova
Leighann Dobbs
Desiree Holt
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Tianna Xander
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Victoria Laurie
Final Blackout