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

yard, Voorhees was there for sure,’ Brady continued.

‘Can they have gone back there?’ Judy asked.

Brady shook his head.

‘No. Well not so far, we got a twenty-four-hour watch on the place.’

‘What about the other guy? The one John hit?’ Reed asked.

Brady scanned the sheet of paper.

‘One Rolf Gardner. Thirty-one. Chicago know all about him. Armed robbery, he did four years in Lawrence. Last known whereabouts was St Louis, he got pulled in after a drug dealer got hit in a parking lot but was released without charge. Again, we can’t find any connection to Voorhees, Pinsky or anyone here in the city.’

‘Recruited. It’s how they work. Probably the promise of some serious money,’ Judy stated.

‘And we also got another body, you don’t know about this one. Gregory Tilson, twenty-nine. We found him when we followed the trail into an underground parking lot at the apartments which back onto the land that separates them from the yard. Shot in the head, and the remains of a cellphone were found close by. Judy confirmed the number is this goddamn Pinsky. Local residents heard the shot, it would have been well before we entered the yard. There have been reported sightings of three men in the street around the time, we believe they took a cab, we’re trying to trace it,’ Brady continued.

‘Gardner? Tilson? We didn’t have those names right Judy?’ John asked.

Judy shook her head.

‘No. I got people looking into them right now, try to find out how long they been in the city.’

‘There is no trace of either of them at the apartment in Mount Pleasant,’ Brady told them.

Judy made a note, as usual she had her worn notebook and a bulging folder in front of her.

‘So, instead of beating each other up how about we try and get our heads together to find these assholes,’ Reed said reasonably.

Braxton huffed and said nothing, Jennings nodded slowly.

‘Yeah, you’re right. I apologise captain. It ain’t a good feeling losing men, especially when it’s clear as fucking day it could have been avoided. You guys got any details on the other guys with Pinsky?’

‘All I have is one Rico Perez, we weren’t sure about him but John believes he saw him walking to the yard from the hotel with Pinsky this afternoon, we don’t know much about him.’

Judy slid some sheets across the table, Perez’s brief record.

Brady read through and looked up.

‘Armed robbery, but with a toy gun. No history of violence here.’

Judy shrugged.

‘This is always the problem with these guys, it’s damn near impossible to piece them together. We can’t connect Pinsky, Voorhees, Tilson, Gardner or Perez or the guys from the Metro station we know about. And we don’t know any more about Voorhees than the LAPD. They seem to be able to recruit out of nowhere, they find these guys who fit what they are looking for somehow. If we could find out how the hell they are doing it then that would be a major step forward.’

‘Well, I can make a guess,’ Brady said sombrely.

Everyone looked at him.

‘Cops. They are the connection. They know these guys, they are in the system, it has to be them. A simple request, right? I need a couple of guys; yeah, sure I can get you some names. So it’s everywhere, it ain’t just Keane here in LA, it’s all over.’

Everybody stared at him as the reality of the situation set in.

‘Cops? But how many?’ Judy asked.

Brady shrugged.

‘I got no idea. But it isn’t like they will turn up with a Ferrari nobody knew about. My guess it’s the same deal we get with the press, always someone happy to talk. For a couple of hundred dollars, who’s to know? And it’s probably no more than a chat in a bar to start with, the exact same in every city I guess. I will make a start with my precinct and I will pass it on you got my word on that.’

‘Well, I want to …’ Braxton started but was interrupted by Brady’s mobile phone ringing. He raised his eyebrows while Brady jabbed the screen to silence it.

‘I was going to say; I believe that I don’t have that problem here. But I will make enquiries,’ Braxton continued.

Brady’s mobile rang again, and he silenced it. He shrugged and looked around apologetically.

‘It makes sense. I don’t like to hear it, but yeah, it does add up. I have to admit we never considered that, and it’s been something we have wondered for some time. We decided they must have a database, but this is much more obvious. And simple.’ Judy said, still writing in her notebook.

‘But it doesn’t help us now,’ John said woodenly.

‘So it’s a waiting game?’ Reed asked.

‘We don’t even know if they are still in the city,’ Jennings admitted.

There was a knock on the door and a police officer entered. He looked embarrassed as he made his way over to Brady, holding a radio.

‘Er … sir?’

Brady looked up at him irritably.

‘Can’t you see I’m busy here?’

‘Er … yes, I am truly sorry sir. But it’s control. And they say it’s real urgent.’

Brady snatched the radio and keyed the button on the side.

‘Brady here, what’s so goddamn important?’

He held the radio to his ear. His face dropped. His eyes widened. He scrabbled around for a pen and started to write.

‘You absolutely sure about this?’ he asked tersely.

Everyone in the room could hear the raised, rushed voice from the radio.

‘Ok. I’m on my way.’

He passed the radio back and stood up.

‘We just got a call. Somebody called 911 name of Sal Rodriguez. And he claims to be who we are looking for. He named the train yard. He’s waiting for us, at a hotel.’

Chapter Forty-Two

Sammy King watched Moran shouting and raving at another unlucky individual. Normally whenever she saw this happening she would feel grateful it wasn’t her for a change but now it just made her angry. Why did Costas bother with him? Despite their recent successes morale in the office had plummeted, cliques