She nodded, though her jaw was set in defiance. “Yes, sir.”
The matter resolved, the captain looked toward his door and waved the person standing on the other side in. One of his aides hurried over to give him an updated situation report.
Alders and I were now on our own.
Chapter Eight
And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.
–Book of Enoch 7:5-6
I could see Alders was barely controlling her rage. It was bad enough she’d had to escort me around the police station, but her assignment to accompany me during my stay in New York was tantamount to a babysitting job.
If our roles were reversed, I’d be pissed, too.
On top of all that was the fact that she’d unleashed a lifetime of anguish on me in the hall before we went to the interrogation room. Now that I’d had some distance from the incident, I felt it had been more of a purging of emotion on her part rather than a declaration of her specific hatred for me. Not that I believed I was going to be her favorite person in the world, at any rate.
In a way, I was somewhat glad the captain had assigned her to me. It might give me an opportunity to find some closure in Goodwin’s death; not just for me, but for Alders.
I could tell by the ice in her expression she wasn’t thinking along those lines at the moment. I’d have to give her some time to cool her jets before I reached out.
She hissed the words, “What now?”
“We need to find out where Putnam’s set up his base of operations; talk to his employees.”
“I’ll call down and get him back into the interrogation room,” Alders said, struggling to keep a professional demeanor.
“No, that’s all right,” I said. “Just show me to his holding cell. After all, he wants to give me the information. No need to go through the pains of an official interrogation.”
Not to mention there weren’t any video cameras or microphones in the holding cell. I wanted to limit who heard Father Putnam if he let anything slip out about the Watchers.
Giving me a quick, questioning glance, Alders finally nodded and headed off down the hall. All around us, the rest of the officers in the precinct were in full motion, gearing up for the troubled times ahead.
* * *
I looked through the reinforced window of the holding cell’s metal door. Putnam was by himself. He looked up as the guard put a key in the lock.
Alders took a step forward, but I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Let me talk to him alone.” I tried to make it sound like a suggestion.
It looked as if she were going to explode. “You don’t have any authority here; you’re a consultant. You heard the captain.”
“Yeah.” I smiled and made way for her. “I heard him.” Keeping my voice light, I gestured toward the open door. “Go on ahead.”
She blinked at my unexpected deference, and then went into the cell with determination, obviously intent on taking the lead in the interview.
Father Putnam’s face turned dark when he saw her, and his lip curled.
“What do you want?” His words dripped with acid. “Come to arrest me again?”
Even through her personal outrage with me, Alders must have realized the priest wasn’t going to say anything while she was around. We had a job to do, and if she let her emotions get in the way, it would not go well with her in her captain’s eyes.
As she strode back out of the cell, she huffed at me and her eyes narrowed to angry slits. I didn’t care. She could throw any kind of tantrum she wanted as long as I got to speak with Father Putnam alone.
When I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, the priest grinned.
He said, “You came back for me?”
“I’m afraid you’re here for a while, Putnam. Even if they drop the charges against you, you still have an outstanding warrant in Chicago for real estate fraud; not to mention that you’re a person of interest in the murders of twelve innocent priests. My captain back there has already started the extradition paperwork.” It was a lie, but I wanted the priest to squirm.
I guessed the sour look on his face was more because of my use of the word ‘innocent’ rather than from the news that he would continue to be locked up for the foreseeable future.
He glowered. “Then you’re not going to help me?”
“I want to know about your computer technician,” I said. “More particularly, any information he has on the … terrorist video. Maybe he’s come up with something we can use.”
“Bah.” He snorted. “He’s not important; now that we’ve hacked the Watcher database. It’s the geneticist, Clarence Brigson, you need to speak to. He’s working on a final solution to the Watcher problem now.”
“I’d like to speak to both of them,” I said convivially. No sense getting the priest agitated. It would take a psychiatrist to render a full diagnosis, but it was safe to bet that Putnam wasn’t playing with a full deck.
Putnam’s face darkened.
“What?” I asked.
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time. Clarence is missing. I haven’t seen him in two days. He doesn’t answer his cell phone, and his apartment is empty.”
“Great.” I sighed. “All right. Give me what you’ve got, and I’ll see what I can do.”
A bright smile plastered on his face, Putnam said, “I knew you’d pull through for me. You certainly showed that Lawrence character what’s what. Now that I’ve recruited you to my cause, our chances have increased greatly.”
I was about to argue that I had most decidedly not been recruited, but I wanted the information, so I made a noncommittal grunt. Whatever I found out, I intended on passing along to Yates and Anderson; they could figure out whether there was anything to it.
Putnam told me where he’d set up his base of operations—a small industrial space near the Hudson, very near where he’d collided with the police car.
As I turned to leave, he said, “You may think I’m psychotic for having sunk that ship. I assure you I had no choice in the matter. I truly feel sorry for the loss of those lives, but the truth is that under Father Webber’s leadership, our side was certain to lose. With him out of the picture, we now have hope. You see that, don’t you?” The look he gave me was somewhere between pleading and impassioned. “Don’t you?”
I didn’t answer; I didn’t trust myself not to say what I really thought of him and what he’d done.
If there were any justice in the world, they’d lock him up in the darkest cell they had and throw away the key.
* * *
“So?” Alders asked as she hurried to keep up with me. I deliberately took long strides down the hall. I knew I was being petty.
“What’d he say?”
We arrived at the staircase to the parking garage, and I followed them down, taking the steps two at a time.
I paused at the first landing, noticing there were two levels. “Where’re you parked?”
“P2,” she said. “What’d the priest say?”
Continuing down to the lowest level, I said, “Just the address where he set up shop. With any luck, we’ll be able to round up his ‘employees’ and finally get some straight answers.”
Alders reached into a pouch on her utility belt and produced her car keys.
“I’ll drive,” I said. I reached for the keys, and she pulled her hand away as if I’d been a snake ready to strike.
“It’s my town,” she said. “And my car. I’m driving.”
“We don’t have time to argue.”
Nodding, she said, “That’s right. So get your ass in the car, or find one of your own.”
Without another word, she used the remote to unlock the vehicle and quickly got into the driver’s side.
I hated being a passenger, but it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.
Almost as i
f to prove she was in control, she wound the car through the garage at an uncomfortable speed.
As we went out the exit, a pedestrian appeared out of nowhere. Alders slammed on the brakes and barely missed running into the guy.
The man raised his fist and shouted at her, then nimbly hurried past us.
I gave Alders a sour face as she pulled the squad car forward—this time with extreme caution as she maneuvered her way onto the street.
She was careful not to look in my direction.
* * *
Mid-morning traffic in New York was normally just this side of completely insane; now that news had broken of the cop killings, it was worse.
We crawled from one intersection to the next. Drivers shouted at each from within the perceived safety of their vehicles. Tempers were flaring.
Several squad cars were in the vicinity, and the motorists immediately around them gawked as if expecting them to be randomly attacked at any moment.
It was almost noon before we got to the Gowanus area near the Hudson. Even though it had been twenty-five years since I’d been back, I remembered the layout of the neighborhood like I’d lived there all my life. The office space Father Putnam had rented was in a two-story building a few streets back from the river. I’d been to that part of the city a few times.
I gave Alders directions, but she snapped at me, “I’ve got a GPS; I don’t need you to tell me where I’m going.”
Sighing, I threw my hands up in exasperation. When I noticed she’d taken the wrong turn, ending up on a one-way street, I tapped the GPS.
“Are you sure you’ve got it programmed right?”
“Shut up,” she said, and quickly pulled into an alley behind a strip mall.
We only got halfway down before Alders realized the way was blocked by a garbage bin that had slid out into the alley.
“We’re wasting time,” I said. “Just back out and go the other way.”
“Come on and help me move it,” she said, putting the squad car into park and opening her door. Mumbling to myself that I should have insisted on driving, I got out and followed her to the garbage bin.
I couldn’t tell if the foul smell came from the garbage, or from the Gowanus Canal, two streets over. I tried to keep myself from gagging.
Alders positioned herself on one side of the bin and began to push. It began to spin, and I jogged the last two steps over to get on the other side. Together, we managed to wheel it back against the wall. Now we had more than enough room to get the squad car through.
I held my open hand out to Alders. “Gimme the keys,” I said. “I’ll drive.”
The look Alders gave me when she turned in my direction was unexpected. Instead of being outraged, her skin was pale, and her eyes were wide.
I felt a tingle run up the back of my neck, and I slowly turned around as a thickly accented voice spoke.
“I can settle the argument,” a young man, no more than eighteen, said. Three others of similar age stood in a semi-circle around him. They were between us and the squad car. One of them held a baseball bat, and two others had their hands held low and behind their backs; obviously hiding weapons.
The leader flicked open a switchblade and said, “How ’bout you give me the keys and let me drive.” He grinned. “I insist.”
Chapter Nine
And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures.
–Book of Enoch 8:1-2
My first reaction was to reach for my gun. I hoped Alders had enough street smarts to back me up and not panic.
“Uh-uh,” the leader said, and his two friends who had been shielding their hands raised them up. Each held automatics.
I froze before getting my gun out of its holster.
“Hold on, now,” I said. “No need to get all worked up over this.”
“You know it, man.” The leader took a step forward and stretched his hand out. “The keys, and I’ll let the both of you walk away with your lives. Otherwise…” He shrugged and nodded toward his men.
I chanced a glance back at Alders. She’d also reached for her gun, and a part of me recognized that she was struggling to keep her cool. She gave me a questioning look.
The gang leader spoke again, his voice growing weary. “Look, man, whadya gonna do, call for backup? Every cop in the city is busy doing something. It’s just you and us, here. I’m in a damn fine mood today, which is why I’m going to give you the count of three: one … two … thr—”
“All right,” Alders said, and moved her hand from the butt of her gun to the car keys in her pocket. “Take ’em. But you have to know you’re not going to get away with it.”
She tossed the keys at the gang leader, and he easily caught them in mid-air. “But we are getting away with it,” he said. His face broke out in a wide grin as he passed the keys to the young man with the baseball bat.
One of gun-wielding gangsters stepped up near the leader and extended his weapon toward me. “Clip ’em now, Manny?”
The leader shook his head. “Nah. They ain’t worth anything dead. We’ll get another opportunity tonight.” He let out a crazed laugh. “No one’ll suspect us rolling up on ’em in a cherry topper.”
I remembered that one of the police officers had been killed by a roving gang of youths with baseball bats. I didn’t think these four were the same ones, but it sounded like they were expecting a second contract to be offered tonight and were gearing up for the hunt.
When the leader’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward us, I thought he’d changed his mind and decided to kill us; after all, we’d seen his face.
He gestured at us. “Gimme your wallets, guns, cell phones. Put ’em on the ground.”
I stood in defiance for a few seconds, but I knew we were outmanned. The two other gangsters still had their automatics trained on us.
Reluctantly, I complied with the leader’s instructions.
As I did so, he said, “You may be wondering why you’re not dead, my friend.”
I didn’t dignify his words with a response, but I was keenly interested in the reason.
The one with the baseball bat hurried over and gathered our surrendered items.
The leader said, “You’ll be our messenger. There’s a payphone a block over.” He dug a few coins out of his pocket and dropped them on the cement. “I want you to use it and tell all the other pigs that their time is over; after this, anyone wearing a uniform is fair game. It’s time for us to take back the city.”
Keeping an eye on us, the four of them piled into the squad car, all the while congratulating each other on a job well done; cat-calling us as they put the vehicle into reverse and squealed out of the alley onto the one-way.
“Damn it,” Alders barked. Her face a deep red, she glared at me.
I was about to say, “This wouldn’t’ve happened if you’d let me drive,” but thought better of it at the last minute.
* * *
When Alders hung up the payphone, her face was ashen.
“Let me guess,” I said. “Captain Armstrong was less than pleased.”
Slowly shaking her head, Alders said, “I think the only reason he didn’t fire me on the spot was that he needs everyone he can get.” I thought I saw tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away before they could fully form.
There was a look of reluctance in her eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“He said he regrets calling you in. He suggested you head for the airport and catch the next plane home.”
“Figures.” I asked, “He say anything else? Like, is he going to send a squad car to pick us up?”
She shook her head. “We’re going to have to find our own way back; he can’t spare anyone.”
“I guess we can try to flag down a taxi�
��”
I looked around. The streets were so congested with traffic, it might have been faster to walk back to the precinct.
“Even if I get to keep my job,” Alders said, “I’ll probably never see a gold badge.” She turned on me, her eyes flashing. “And it’s all your fault!”
“Mine?” I put my hand on my chest. “You were the one driving. I didn’t do anything.”
“You showed up here, didn’t you? I haven’t been able to think straight all day.”
“Hey,” I said, “if you can’t handle stressful situations, maybe this isn’t the job for you.”
“I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much,” she said.
“And on top of that—” I pulled myself up to my tallest height. “—you’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that I wasn’t responsible for your father’s death. There was no way to predict what went down.”
“So you say.”
“Yeah.” I huffed. “That’s exactly what I say.”
We were at an impasse, but I could tell Alders didn’t want to be the one to back down. She still held on to far too much anger over losing her father, even after all these years.
“Listen,” I said, “if you want, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee sometime and tell you everything you want to know about that day.”
She didn’t reply, but it seemed the fire in her diminished somewhat.
“But that can wait.” I looked around, getting my bearings. “We’re only a few blocks from Putnam’s office building. Why don’t we hoof it over there and check it out? Who knows, we may find something to bring back to the captain that will salvage your career.”
It took her a moment to come to a decision: follow her orders and head back now, or chance redemption coming with me.
“Fine,” she said finally. “Lead on.”
* * *
As we walked, we received more than a few stares from drivers and other pedestrians. More particularly, they were looking at Alders in her uniform. If anyone wanted to challenge us, we’d be defenseless. We couldn’t even call for backup.
The Complete Book Of Fallen Angels Page 85