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dig up the lieutenant governor to sign a writ. Everybody else is out of town. They ve all run off.
Have you booked this man? Donaldson said.
I m interrogating him.
Have you booked him?
No.
Then let him go.
Captain, maybe you and I should have a little talk?
I said, he s released!
This bastard s a cop-killer
You shut your mouth, Willson, or I ll sue you for slander, Gray s attorney said. Gray smoothed his hair,
dabbed the blood from his mouth with a handkerchief, and stood up.
Sergeant, it has been a pleasure, he said. His lawyer put his arm around him and they left. Willson
turned to Donaldson.
What the fuck are you doing? I had him!
What do you mean arresting this man?
He killed Francis on Friday night, Willson said.
How do you know? Do you have a witness?
It s him, Willson said. Francis said it was him, and now he s dead. That s all I need to know!
You can t arrest Simon Gray. Even if he killed Lingeborg on the front steps of City Hall, you can t do it.
He s got to finish his work.
He s a fucking maniac!
He s got a cure for Hun!
Willson turned away. Gently, Donaldson went on. Dooley. This town can t take it anymore. If we get hit
like we did before we re finished.
I don t give a shit.
You heartless son of a bitch, I ve lost seven people in my family to this thing. If he can cure it, I don t
give a fuck what else he does! You understand?
I understand. Willson turned his lapel and took his badge off. Here, he said. Take it.
You can t quit! I need every man now.
No, Captain. You don t need anyone at all. Because what you just told me is that we don t have laws
anymore. That we re making up new ones as we go. That man is a murderer. He should hang, even if he
takes that cure to the grave with him.
You wouldn t talk that way if you were a white man!
I ain t a white man, Willson said. But I am a cop. And I m following the rules you white men made.
That s all I have to do. Follow those rules until every last one of you is gone. I enjoy that. Makes me feel
like those rules had a purpose after all.
Us dying won t make this world any better, Donaldson said.
Does mine, Willson said.
The sheriff s going to deputize some of Theo Rostek s boys, Dooley. Is that how you want it? You want
to leave things to men like him?
He s one of us.
He isn t one of you at all, and you know it. You can t quit.
Good luck, Captain, Willson said and left the station.
| Go to Table of Contents |
Chapter
30
It was during batting practice
that Lou Ravelli had first smelled
the smoke. He could see it rising
over the buildings beyond the
center field fence. He figured
there must have been a house fire
going pretty good close along
Lake Street, and thought nothing
more of it, even though the
smoke darkened the sky and his
eyes began to smart. The team
finished batting, and went back
to the locker room. That s when
Kelly came in with a pistol
shoved into the belt of his
uniform. He was wearing his
derby instead of a Miller s cap.
Boys, he said, there ain t going to be no contest today.
Nobody on the team said anything. They all figured it was more sickness, and they didn t want to hear
about it.
We ve locked the gates. We re all going to sit tight til this thing blows over.
What thing, skipper? Nick Cullop asked.
There s a mob on Lake Street right now. They re smashing windows and looting.
What the hell for?
How the hell should I know? Maybe because they can get away with it. There ain t no cops around
anymore.
Kelly looked Lou right in the eye. Now, since I know some of you boys got a nose for trouble, I m
telling you again that we re sitting tight right here. They re settin fires, and we re only a block away from
Lake. You know this rat box would go up in a second. So, it s gonna be up to us and the Monarchs to
stay here and defend the ball yard.
Why would they want to do anything to the ball yard? Sammy Bohne asked.
Because it s here, stupid. Because it d make a nice bonfire. Because they want to roast us for th mess
we made o that double-header yesterday. Because we been losin to the Monarchs. Because the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
dig up the lieutenant governor to sign a writ. Everybody else is out of town. They ve all run off.
Have you booked this man? Donaldson said.
I m interrogating him.
Have you booked him?
No.
Then let him go.
Captain, maybe you and I should have a little talk?
I said, he s released!
This bastard s a cop-killer
You shut your mouth, Willson, or I ll sue you for slander, Gray s attorney said. Gray smoothed his hair,
dabbed the blood from his mouth with a handkerchief, and stood up.
Sergeant, it has been a pleasure, he said. His lawyer put his arm around him and they left. Willson
turned to Donaldson.
What the fuck are you doing? I had him!
What do you mean arresting this man?
He killed Francis on Friday night, Willson said.
How do you know? Do you have a witness?
It s him, Willson said. Francis said it was him, and now he s dead. That s all I need to know!
You can t arrest Simon Gray. Even if he killed Lingeborg on the front steps of City Hall, you can t do it.
He s got to finish his work.
He s a fucking maniac!
He s got a cure for Hun!
Willson turned away. Gently, Donaldson went on. Dooley. This town can t take it anymore. If we get hit
like we did before we re finished.
I don t give a shit.
You heartless son of a bitch, I ve lost seven people in my family to this thing. If he can cure it, I don t
give a fuck what else he does! You understand?
I understand. Willson turned his lapel and took his badge off. Here, he said. Take it.
You can t quit! I need every man now.
No, Captain. You don t need anyone at all. Because what you just told me is that we don t have laws
anymore. That we re making up new ones as we go. That man is a murderer. He should hang, even if he
takes that cure to the grave with him.
You wouldn t talk that way if you were a white man!
I ain t a white man, Willson said. But I am a cop. And I m following the rules you white men made.
That s all I have to do. Follow those rules until every last one of you is gone. I enjoy that. Makes me feel
like those rules had a purpose after all.
Us dying won t make this world any better, Donaldson said.
Does mine, Willson said.
The sheriff s going to deputize some of Theo Rostek s boys, Dooley. Is that how you want it? You want
to leave things to men like him?
He s one of us.
He isn t one of you at all, and you know it. You can t quit.
Good luck, Captain, Willson said and left the station.
| Go to Table of Contents |
Chapter
30
It was during batting practice
that Lou Ravelli had first smelled
the smoke. He could see it rising
over the buildings beyond the
center field fence. He figured
there must have been a house fire
going pretty good close along
Lake Street, and thought nothing
more of it, even though the
smoke darkened the sky and his
eyes began to smart. The team
finished batting, and went back
to the locker room. That s when
Kelly came in with a pistol
shoved into the belt of his
uniform. He was wearing his
derby instead of a Miller s cap.
Boys, he said, there ain t going to be no contest today.
Nobody on the team said anything. They all figured it was more sickness, and they didn t want to hear
about it.
We ve locked the gates. We re all going to sit tight til this thing blows over.
What thing, skipper? Nick Cullop asked.
There s a mob on Lake Street right now. They re smashing windows and looting.
What the hell for?
How the hell should I know? Maybe because they can get away with it. There ain t no cops around
anymore.
Kelly looked Lou right in the eye. Now, since I know some of you boys got a nose for trouble, I m
telling you again that we re sitting tight right here. They re settin fires, and we re only a block away from
Lake. You know this rat box would go up in a second. So, it s gonna be up to us and the Monarchs to
stay here and defend the ball yard.
Why would they want to do anything to the ball yard? Sammy Bohne asked.
Because it s here, stupid. Because it d make a nice bonfire. Because they want to roast us for th mess
we made o that double-header yesterday. Because we been losin to the Monarchs. Because the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]