BULLETS by Elijah Drive Read Free Book Online

a match. Navajo Joe knew they’d run right to Rawlings with that nugget of information.
    “Where are we at, you drop the charges again?” Navajo Joe asked her.
    “No. No deal, all charges still stand, as per the defendant’s wishes. He wants a trial, can’t wait for it, it seems. So I’ll do what I can. You’ll bail him out?”
    Thumper nodded. Melvin stepped out of interrogation, looking for them. He walked over and leaned in to whisper.
    “Mr. Elder requested that Mr. Olson leave before he comes out.”
    “What? Why the fuck for?”
    “He thought it for the best.”
    “They worked him over, didn’t they? Motherfuckers! You cowardly cocksuckers! I swear, you’re gonna pay for this—”
    “Thumper, come on,” Navajo Joe said, “let’s do what he asked. We got him out, that’s the thing, right? No need to get yourself arrested for beating up some sorry sack of shit in a deputy’s uniform, let’s go.”
    “Mr. Elder also asked that you find a suitable place for him to get something to eat. He said, and I quote, ‘It better not be fucking Red Lobster or Outback Steakhouse, either, it has to be food that I can eat.’ That’s a direct quote. Find a good place and he said that he’d meet you there. I can drop him off in my car.”
    “He’s a vegetarian?” Camilla asked. “There’s that new organic Indian place off of Main, they have a vegetarian menu. Joe, you know it?”
    “I know of it. Never been there. Always felt a bit too complicated, me going to an Indian restaurant and not finding buffalo or maize on the menu.”
    “I’ll bet,” Camilla laughed. “Go on, I’ll wait with Melvin here until your friend is released. He’ll be okay. My word.”
    They shook hands and Navajo Joe led Thumper out of the station, the short man glaring bloody murder at the deputies as he left. Melvin went to the back to get Slick and Camilla checked her phone for messages.
    “Pretty chummy. You’re supposed to be on our side, aren’t you?”
    She turned. Brower appeared, leaning on the counter with both forearms, working on a stick of gum. Camilla just looked at him for a moment and then hung up.
    “I’m on the side of law and order. People who obey the laws, I’m on their side. People who enforce the laws, I’m on their side, provided said laws meet constitutional scrutiny and requirements. People who break laws? I’m not on their side.”
    She stepped closer, leaned in.
    “People who abuse positions of authority and break the law? Definitely not on their side. If you did beat him while he was in custody and I find evidence of it, I’ll bust you so fast you’ll have atmospheric burns on your ass. The defendant seems pretty confident he can prove without a doubt that THAT’S what happened to him. If he can, and you go before a judge and jury and perjure yourself, I’ll make it my business to see you do time, deputy, you and anyone—ANYONE—who does the same. I’ll be spreading that word around town, by the way. I’ll make it my mission. That’s my word.”
    Brower shook his head, chuckling.
    “Funny. I know you’re speaking but damned if I can follow a word you’re saying, all my eyes wanna do is follow the bouncing balls,” he nodded to her chest. “Pretty damn distracting, can’t imagine what it’s like down in the DA’s office. Have to make it hard to get things done down there, you and your tits getting in the way of everything.
    “Gotta think that at some point George is just gonna have to clean house, if only in the name of efficiency and teamwork. ’Cause that’s what it’s about, right? Teamwork. My boss and your boss, they go back, all the way to kindergarten. Me? Same with all these boys here. You? Where do you go all the way back to? It’s obviously not the same place we come from, and at some point that’s gonna bite you in the ass, sweetheart. Go ahead and tell your boss I said that, and George will call up my boss, one of his best friends, to ‘complain’ about it,