Dying For LA by Ian Jones (top fiction books of all time .txt) 📕

what he would say. He could be very pissed off, see it as a slight against the CIA, and worse maybe a slight against race. He looked like he was considering it, weighing up the pros and cons, then shrugged, much to John’s relief.

‘No problem. I guess that sounds about right. Just don’t do nothing that’s gonna bring down any heat OK?’ He laid back down again and folded his hands behind his head.

‘Got it,’ Keane said, and the two men shook hands.

They left the hotel and climbed into Keane’s car. He drove out into the evening traffic and headed south and east.

‘So what’s the deal with Billy? He could cause us a lot of problems if he starts running off at the mouth,’ John asked.

‘No, he ain’t that stupid. His dad was the main man around Santa Monica, right from way before I was a detective and still going when I was the chief. Tony ran a tight ship, lot of rackets, but he was always real tidy about everything. We knew what was going on alright, but nothing stuck and the real truth was he never caused us any problems, in fact it was a two-way street. He gave us a lot of information, anyone he didn’t like the look of came our way. If he got rid of somebody, we never found them and nobody complained. I knew some of the boys in the precinct were getting paid, but I never took a single cent. Billy started working for him, just being a gofer really. Anyway, one day, some other team starts trying to operate on their turf. A pair of Ukrainian brothers, real hard cases. And they were making life difficult, being real noisy and getting in people’s faces, but we got nothing, they ain’t breaking any laws we can see. So, Tony asks to see me, saying what am I going to do about it. What can I do I ask him? I tell him I’m sure they are up to their necks in shit but we can’t find nothing. Of course, he ain’t happy. We have this whole long conversation and I say; look if they commit a felony and we catch them that’s that, but I can’t do nothing if they’re clean. He is real pissed about it, so tells me he’s gonna get Billy to deal with it, about time he started doing some real work. So, I say fine, but any shit turns up, it don’t matter that we had this conversation.’

‘OK. So how did that go?’

‘Suddenly we got a war. Guns going off all over the place. For about three months we had a lot of extra patrols on the ground permanently, it didn’t let up. And people are scared, the phones are going crazy and the brass are all over us. So now I’m really pissed. I go speak to Tony but he just says he don’t know nothing, but I can see he’s getting upset. Then we get a body. Eleven bullet holes. This guy, I don’t recall his name but known to be an enforcer for the Ukrainian brothers. So, I go back to Tony and he’s smiling and offering me whisky and still saying he knows nothing. Next, we got another one, and now it’s the elder brother; Vladimir Cheskov his name was. He’s got half a dozen holes in him, and then nothing. Nice and quiet. It all goes back to normal, so I’m thinking Billy must have done OK.’

‘But?’

‘But. Tony gets shot in the back getting in his car. Survives, he is a tough old man. Must be about six, seven years ago now. He can’t walk, and has to pee in a bag but he’s still going. He handed over to Billy soon after that, set him up under the bar we were at. Tony cleared up; sold off his clubs and his pawnshops and all the other bits and pieces, lives down in Orange County now, I never hear from him. Billy ain’t so bad, he’s learning, but he’s only interested in the right now; make some dollars on this, make some doing that, while Tony was all about the long term. My guess now is there was another firm, probably more than one making life difficult back then.’

‘I have to say going in the bar wasn’t like the TV. I thought you’d have your gun out and be breaking down doors.’

‘Nah, I don’t do that. In fact, LAPD don’t roll like that no more. Too many civil liberties. Whether that’s for the good, I don’t know. LA is famous for the gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, and they’re there, they’re real, and a whole bunch of others who wanna be just like them. Truth is, we got busy police in this city, real busy.’

‘Do you mind me asking Ron, what exactly is your unit? I thought maybe counterterrorism but I’m guessing that’s not it, you seem too streetwise to me.’

Keane grinned.

‘Ha, no, not counterterrorism. Hell, I got no fucking clue about that stuff. We’re kinda fortunate here, we seem to be escaping the worst of that. I sure hope that continues. It’s a fair question John. Thing is, my unit doesn’t really exist but I’m the chief. The chief of me.’

‘You’re on your own?’

‘Yeah, in a nutshell. I mean, I got direct links to plenty of other departments and teams, I can get SWAT on the ground in minutes if I need to. Judy said I was the FBI liaison, which I guess is as good a way of saying it. I do that, and the CIA, plus Interpol, and a couple of others so far if needed. My job is to be the front line between the LAPD and all these other agencies. Before, it was the chief of whatever precinct or division was involved, now, they got to come to me first. I got the call on this even before we even got ID on that guy Ritorsky.