the 911 call. You told the operator that you witnessed a shooting—”
“I told you, I made a mistake when I said that,” Morales said. “When I got there the guy was already shot.”
“Or maybe when the cops came you decided to change your story,” Geri said. “Figured,
Do I really wanna get in the middle of somethin’ like this?
But let me be honest with you right now, okay? Whoever the shooter is, he or she—I’m assuming it’s a he—knows what’s going on. This guy shot somebody, and if he thinks you saw him he’s not gonna forget about it. If he doesn’t know you’ve been talking to us, he’s gonna find out you’ve been talking to us, and he’s gonna start making assumptions, know what I mean? Even if you didn’t ID him, he’ll
think
you ID’d him, so for you it’s the same difference. You have family in the area, right?”
Morales, distracted and terrified and a little dazed—Geri knew she was getting through to her—didn’t answer.
“She’s asking you about your family,” Shawn said, to jolt her out of it.
“Yes, my whole family’s in the city,” Morales said. “I told you that yesterday.”
“So I don’t have to connect the dots for you, do I?” Geri said. “If, as we suspect, this is DDP-related, I’m sure you’ve heard how brutal they can be, how ruthless, how…” Geri tried to come up withanother word to scare the crap out of Morales, but went with, “You know what I’m talking about, right? So the question you gotta ask yourself is how you’ll feel if somebody in your family gets hurt. Because, like I said, they could hurt someone anyway, even if you don’t say a word to us. But if you help us out, we can get this guy, take him off the street before he has a chance to hurt anyone you love.”
Geri furrowed her eyebrows to show how serious and dangerous the situation was, but she hoped she wasn’t overdoing it, that it didn’t seem like an act to get her to talk.
“And what about his friends?” Morales asked. “You gonna take them off the street too?”
“I thought you didn’t see anything,” Geri said.
“I didn’t,” Morales said quickly. “I’m just saying even if I did see something and you got him off the street, that doesn’t mean I’d be safe.”
“Him?” Geri asked.
“Sabes lo que quiero decir,”
Morales said.
“What’s she sayin’?” Shawn asked.
“If you saw him,” Geri said, “that means he probably saw you.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Morales said. “You’re just trying to scare me.”
“You’re right, we are trying to scare you,” Geri said, “but that’s because you’re in danger. I guarantee you if this guy knows you saw him, he’ll come after you. Yeah, he might not be the only threat, but chances are he’s just concerned about saving his own ass. It’s doubtful anyone else in DDP cares about you, and the NYPD will do its very best to protect you from any threat that might materialize, including providing you with twenty-four-hour police protection. But we can only help you if you cooperate.”
“Well, I’m not cooperating,” Morales said, “’cause I told youeverything I know and I don’t know nothing else. So all you’re doing right now is wasting your time.”
Geri and Shawn exchanged looks, as if saying to each other,
Well, at least we tried
. They’d been through this act so many times, they had it down pat.
Then Geri said to Morales, “Fine, you want us to go, we’ll go. But the last thing I’ll say is if, God forbid, something does happen to somebody you love, then you’re gonna have to live with your decision. Take it from me, somebody who’s seen lots of people in your situation—talking is a lot better than not talking. At least when you talk you can live with yourself after.” After giving Morales a long, serious glare—she deserved an Academy Award for this—she headed toward the door and
“I told you, I made a mistake when I said that,” Morales said. “When I got there the guy was already shot.”
“Or maybe when the cops came you decided to change your story,” Geri said. “Figured,
Do I really wanna get in the middle of somethin’ like this?
But let me be honest with you right now, okay? Whoever the shooter is, he or she—I’m assuming it’s a he—knows what’s going on. This guy shot somebody, and if he thinks you saw him he’s not gonna forget about it. If he doesn’t know you’ve been talking to us, he’s gonna find out you’ve been talking to us, and he’s gonna start making assumptions, know what I mean? Even if you didn’t ID him, he’ll
think
you ID’d him, so for you it’s the same difference. You have family in the area, right?”
Morales, distracted and terrified and a little dazed—Geri knew she was getting through to her—didn’t answer.
“She’s asking you about your family,” Shawn said, to jolt her out of it.
“Yes, my whole family’s in the city,” Morales said. “I told you that yesterday.”
“So I don’t have to connect the dots for you, do I?” Geri said. “If, as we suspect, this is DDP-related, I’m sure you’ve heard how brutal they can be, how ruthless, how…” Geri tried to come up withanother word to scare the crap out of Morales, but went with, “You know what I’m talking about, right? So the question you gotta ask yourself is how you’ll feel if somebody in your family gets hurt. Because, like I said, they could hurt someone anyway, even if you don’t say a word to us. But if you help us out, we can get this guy, take him off the street before he has a chance to hurt anyone you love.”
Geri furrowed her eyebrows to show how serious and dangerous the situation was, but she hoped she wasn’t overdoing it, that it didn’t seem like an act to get her to talk.
“And what about his friends?” Morales asked. “You gonna take them off the street too?”
“I thought you didn’t see anything,” Geri said.
“I didn’t,” Morales said quickly. “I’m just saying even if I did see something and you got him off the street, that doesn’t mean I’d be safe.”
“Him?” Geri asked.
“Sabes lo que quiero decir,”
Morales said.
“What’s she sayin’?” Shawn asked.
“If you saw him,” Geri said, “that means he probably saw you.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Morales said. “You’re just trying to scare me.”
“You’re right, we are trying to scare you,” Geri said, “but that’s because you’re in danger. I guarantee you if this guy knows you saw him, he’ll come after you. Yeah, he might not be the only threat, but chances are he’s just concerned about saving his own ass. It’s doubtful anyone else in DDP cares about you, and the NYPD will do its very best to protect you from any threat that might materialize, including providing you with twenty-four-hour police protection. But we can only help you if you cooperate.”
“Well, I’m not cooperating,” Morales said, “’cause I told youeverything I know and I don’t know nothing else. So all you’re doing right now is wasting your time.”
Geri and Shawn exchanged looks, as if saying to each other,
Well, at least we tried
. They’d been through this act so many times, they had it down pat.
Then Geri said to Morales, “Fine, you want us to go, we’ll go. But the last thing I’ll say is if, God forbid, something does happen to somebody you love, then you’re gonna have to live with your decision. Take it from me, somebody who’s seen lots of people in your situation—talking is a lot better than not talking. At least when you talk you can live with yourself after.” After giving Morales a long, serious glare—she deserved an Academy Award for this—she headed toward the door and
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