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

like a robot, and sat in her chair, her eyes constantly flicking across to Moran’s office. She could see him through the glass wall, hunched over his desk, phone glued to his ear. Simon watched her but when their eyes met he looked away, fast.

She may well have made a major error this time, Moran would be really going to bat on what he thought about her, and Blanic would have no option but to listen. Moran was in charge, and she had just trampled all over him, gone right over his head, and she knew that Blanic would not approve.

She watched Moran shaking his head, still looking down.

She could even be out of a job.

Then his office door crashed open and Moran stomped out. He stared at her, then walked across, his head held high, never looking away.

He dropped her phone into her lap.

‘So off you go then, have fun at the beach.’

She stared at him.

‘Oh yeah, make me look like an asshole, thank you for that. You got forty-eight hours, and before you book anything I want to approve it. So don’t spend one cent of our money less I say so. ok?’

She nodded dumbly.

‘Yes, ok Frank. Thank you. I’ll hand over here, then get down to Santa Monica.’

He was still staring down at her, then he leaned forward and spoke right in her ear.

‘You know what cutie? Your tits and ass ain’t gonna keep on saving you from the real world. Nothing lasts for ever. And I’ll be waiting.’

He spun round and headed back to his office.

Unable to help herself Sammy broke out a big smile, which Simon joined in with, and she blew Moran’s retreating back a kiss.

***

The captain told them to wait in the canteen, which was on the next floor up. He insisted Judy go to his office so they could check in with the FBI before anything went ahead. He was justifiably nervous and needed to know that they would support any action like this. If there was any hesitation from their side, then Bortado was going nowhere.

John and Reed sat opposite each other at the end of a long row of tables, there were officers of all ranks dotted around, drinking coffee and eating. Reed was making small talk, but John was sitting still, stewing.

He put his rucksack on the table in front of him and looked around.

Nobody could really see what he was doing.

Carefully he drew the SIG Sauer toward him from under the clothes inside, all the time keeping it in the bag and then dismantled it, slowly and carefully until it was stripped down inside the bag …

Fuck.

Now he knew. After this morning he had started to suspect, he hadn’t wanted to believe it but here was all the evidence he needed. No question at all now.

‘It’s Keane,’ he told Reed, who looked back questioningly.

‘Keane’s the leak. It’s him,’ John repeated quietly.

‘What? No way, it can’t be. Why do you think that?’

John reassembled the gun and spun the bag around so it faced Reed.

‘Take a look at this. You remember I told you Keane got me to go down to the bar with him? This is the gun I got. Check it for yourself.’

Reed frowned and then repeated the process that John had just undertaken, still in the cover of the rucksack.

He looked up. Now he knew. John was right. ‘Shit. No firing pin.’

‘Exactly. It was a set up. I get a gun that’s no fucking use. It was convincing, I mean it’s loaded, it all looks kosher, but in the event of something happening I’m done. Out of the way. I bet there’s a tracker in that minivan, that’s how the two guys at the diner found us. And that’s how they knew where Kyle was staying, and probably Judy too as Kyle was running her around. Fuck. I can’t believe it, he was the last one I suspected. Apart from you that is.’

John stood up and walked round the table to the window. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on the cool glass, watching the traffic below.

Reed stared into the rucksack.

‘Fuck.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sal and Rico had got up, showered, and gone straight out for breakfast.

Something was going to go down, that was for sure. Leo had been prowling around for most of the night, neither of them got a great deal of sleep because of it.

Rico was also convinced that Greg and Rolf had no more idea about Leo than they did, at least they already knew Yann reasonably well for the lot of good it did them. He and Sal had been speaking with them yesterday evening, originally on the pretext of checking they had everything they needed but successfully steering the conversation round to trying to find out just what the fuck was going to happen next.

It was obvious the two men were equally mystified, neither of them had any real idea of what they should be doing, and it was clear that being sent to an old train yard in a city they had never been to before had not been in their plans.

They had been together for a while, and were doing their thing, whatever that was when they got the call, and made their way down to LA from Reno. Rico had mentioned that he had been told there would be four men, a team, which meant nothing to them. They had worked together, but only recently really, not more than a couple of months, so similar to he and Sal, in fact not even as long.

Rico had asked about Leo but they had just looked at each other and shrugged, which pretty much mirrored his and Sal’s own feelings.

Now they sat and ate, both men wondering how they could avoid going back.

The door opened, and in walked Greg and Rolf. Both groups of men looked at each other. Rico grinned.

‘Come sit with us.’

Greg spoke to Rolf who went to the counter to order, then walked across and sat down next to Sal.

‘So,