Page 26 of Bazooka

Best Served Cold

Bazooka

“Boys, girls, and theys, I just saw a dead body.”

At the sound of Luz’s excited voice, everyone in the station looked at him. Patricia rolled her eyes, while others seemed more or less amused.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to,” Jordan said with a smile.

“I’ll tell you all about it,” Luz said before plopping down in my lap. “Did you miss me, kochanie ?”

“Remove yourself from my lap,” I said through my teeth. “Now.”

He shrugged and did what I said, only to sit on top of my desk.

“Anyway, I have been to John Smith’s boudoir—”

“You mean the Coroner’s Office across the street?” Adam cut in, cocking his eyebrows.

Luz snapped his fingers. “That’s the one, asshole Adam. Anyway, John Smith has a saw there. A real saw that cuts through bone . Also, some kind of weird chisels, and those thingies that pull the chest apart so you can look inside. But I had to leave ‘cause he has to do a cremation.”

Maddox burst into laughter, and it was the first time I’d heard the man laugh.

“You mean an autopsy?” I said with a sigh.

Luz blew me a kiss. “No one knows me like you know me.”

I was toying with the idea of locking him in the interrogation room when Chief Bibb walked in.

“Yo, Chief B.,” Luz exclaimed, sliding down my desk. “You will never believe what I just saw.”

Chief Bibb looked as if he was about to run for the hills, and it made me chuckle. In fact, I was still smiling when my phone rang.

“Hey, Marcello,” I answered.

“Hey, Bazooka. I have some good news. I identified the guys who attacked your friend.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. A server at the local pub recognized them. They’re playing for the rugby team here, and they have a reputation as bullies.

I just emailed you their info. One of them is Judge Sommer’s son, so the charges against them usually don’t stick, if you know what I mean. Do you have evidence against them?”

“All circumstantial. Photos of the victim. The witnesses, who saw them molesting the victim and his friends.”

“Yeah, you’ll need more,” Marcello told me what I already knew. “Incidentally, they’re playing against your home team today.”

“No shit. Here in Smitsville?”

“Yup. Although, they could have left already since the game was at noon. I would have let you know all this earlier, but it’s a recent development. They’re staying at the Bradford Motel on the highway. Room forty-three.”

“I owe you one, Marcello. I mean it.”

“Don’t mention it. By the way, how is the hunt for Mendoza going?”

“Not too good,” I replied honestly. “He left a trap for us, made a few threats, but he’s keeping his head under water.”

“We, on the other hand, tracked some suspicious movement on our side of the fence. We may have identified his liaison in Grangetown, but I’m waiting for the final confirmation. I’ll keep you posted.”

“I didn’t know you were assigned to Mendoza’s case, Marcello. Since when?”

“I had a run-in with that psycho, so it’s a recent clusterfuck. Don’t ask. Anyway, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yup. Thanks, buddy.”

I wrote the motel info on a piece of paper and headed to the only option available to me with the skill set I needed.

“Hey,” I said when I approached Maddox’s desk. “Would you mind getting your hands dirty sometime today?”

When the cold, black gaze met mine, I almost regretted my decision.

“How dirty?” he said, his face impassive.

“Nothing you would lose sleep over.”

He gave it some thought.

“I can pay you,” I added.

“I don’t need your money, but you will owe me,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Deal?”

“Deal,” I said, hoping I wasn’t making a deal with the devil.

I handed him the piece of paper with the address written down.

“The gentleman occupying this room… if he’s still there, I need him detained for the time being. His three friends will probably be with him. It needs to happen now. Text me when it’s done.”

Maddox reached for his jacket, and then he was gone. Luz disappeared somewhere too, so I had some time to go over the plan in my head.

On the one hand, I didn’t want to upset Luz. On the other hand, I wanted to give him the option of choosing what would happen next. He deserved it, and I could give it to him. And maybe, just maybe, I wanted to bloody my knuckles and avenge him for what he’d been through. Then I got a text.

Pest: I’m hungry .

God, he had the worst timing in the universe.

Me: I’m busy.

Five minutes later, Chief Bibb bellowed from across the room, startling me.

“Bradley. In my office.”

I headed there, only to find Luz sitting in the chair across from the chief’s desk.

“Take a break,” Chief Bibb said, looking at me sternly. “And take Zablonsky with you. That’s an order.”

That manipulating little shit.

“Goody, ‘cause I’m starving,” Luz said, jumping out of the chair. “Chief, I have a sandwich with your name written on it.”

“Thank you, but no. Missus made me granola with yogurt and those seeds that get stuck between your teeth.”

“Are you sure?” Luz asked him. “I’m talking about turkey, grilled cheese, gherkins, and extra mayo.”

Chief Bibb made a painful grimace. “Goddamn you, Zablonsky. Bring that sandwich over here. Bradley, you keep your mouth shut about this. If Missus ever finds out, I’ll know who talked.”

“I’m not a snitch, sir,” I said, rubbing my forehead in frustration.

I also didn’t have nerves in endless supply, which I shared with Luz after we reached the nearby park.

“Do something like this again, and you’ll regret it,” I threatened as he spread the picnic blanket on the grass. “I won’t have you messing with my job. I catch criminals for a living, remember?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Luz said, blinking innocently. “Besides, we need to eat sometime, don’t we? And I’m starving .”

“You have ten minutes,” I said, sitting down on the blanket. “Eat the damn sandwich and stop pissing me off. I have work to do.”

“Yes, Master.”

After we ate our sandwiches, he hoodwinked me into letting him put his head in my lap.

“Please,” he murmured, lying down on his back. “Just ten minutes. Otherwise, my stomach will start acting up.”

He was soo lying, but I relented, because I was a good person and because I had a stopwatch on my phone.

“Five minutes, plus an hour of non-flirting,” I said sternly. “And don’t fall asleep. It’s my final offer.”

“Okay, but only if you touch me.”

“Touch you where?”

“You choose.”

I considered all the safe options before finally running my fingers through his hair.

“That’s nice,” Luz purred. “Keep doing that.”

It was kind of nice. His hair was soft like silk, and it felt good to touch it.

I watched shadows playing on his face and I traced them with my finger, making him chuckle.

I smiled too, loving the way his expression turned peaceful, and his body relaxed.

His lips pouted, making me think of that kiss, but it suddenly didn’t seem like such a big mistake anymore.

It seemed like something we could overcome.

Luz raised his hand, moving it blindly until it found mine.

When our fingers intertwined, I looked around, feeling as if I were in a parallel universe.

It was a beautiful day, and the park was filled with people lounging in the sun.

For a moment in time, it made me forget about my line of work.

Perhaps it even made me forget who I was.

It was also why the text I got was more difficult to stomach.

Maddox: It’s done.

“Let’s go, Luz,” I said with a sigh. “We need to leave.”

As if he could feel that something was wrong, he immediately straightened up.

“What is it?”

“Something I need to take care of. Work-related.”

After we packed our things, I led him to my car.

“Aren’t we going back to the station?” he said, frowning in confusion.

“No, I need to deal with this first. It won’t take but an hour, yeah?”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“Does it have anything to do with that Mendoza guy?”

“No. These guys are worse.”

After a short and silent drive filled with tension, we reached the Bradford Motel.

“Stay in the car,” I said and turned off the engine. “I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t want him in panic mode before it was necessary, so I kept my mouth shut.

After I found the room that I was looking for, I knocked on the door.

“Come in.” I heard Maddox say.

I entered the room and closed the door behind me, scanning my surroundings.

Maddox was lying on the bed and watching a cartoon on TV.

He was cackling, but his gun was pointed at the four large guys kneeling in front of the bed.

I ignored the voice in my head, which told me something was very wrong with my colleague, and concentrated on the perps.

I recognized them immediately from the photos Marcello sent me.

One of the guys had a black eye, probably courtesy of Maddox.

The other one had blood running out of his nose, also courtesy of Maddox.

All four of them were gagged with… their socks?

“They weren’t cooperative,” Maddox explained. “I had to convince them to stay.”

“What’s that?” I said, pointing at the bunch of incriminating stuff on the table.

“Oh, the usual,” Maddox replied. “Three kilos of heroin, a few bags of oxy, some cocaine, two hunting knives, and a gun they don’t have a license for.

These boys were having a party, and they didn’t invite us.

They even tried to convince the maid to join them, but her screams for help told me she wasn’t in the mood.

I told her to go to the hospital so they could fix her broken nose, and I gave her some money.

She refused the money and said something that sounded like, Mata a esos malditos imbéciles de que lo haga yo mism o.

Or something like that. I don’t speak Spanish.

She also said she wants to press charges.

Oh, and the local drug dealer dropped by, but he split when he saw me. ”

“‘Kay, give me a minute.”