A Favor

"

I

need you tail a guy for me."
I stared at Captain Prince of the Long Beach Police Department for at least 30 seconds trying to wrap my head around what he was asking. It didn't make any sense. He has at least 35, 40 guys working for him. What's he need me for?
         "I know what you are thinking. 'Hey, this is a Captain of the LBPD. He's got 38 guys to order around. Why not use one of them?' Well, it's complicated."
         I take a quick glance above my head to see if there is some kind of thought bubble above it with my thoughts in it like the Sunday funnies. I didn't see one.
         Using all my special PI interrogation training, I ask him, "Complicated?"
         "Yeah, I think Sergeant Hancock is moonlighting as an enforcer for Nicky Carrina but he is a popular cop so I can't assign anyone on the force to do this. And pretty much everyone on the force already hates you, so it's not going to change anything for you."
         Of course, it was for no money but it was a favor for the Captain of the LBPD. That's worth a bit in my books. He fills me in on the Sergeant's schedule and likely hangouts.

I

start the next night. It's pretty boring, he goes to a local bar that caters to cops, then home to the wife. She is a plump little woman who likes nice things. Things that are just barely affordable on a Sergeant's salary, if he isn't saving a dime for retirement and that kid he's got in college is on a full-ride scholarship. I wait all night but he doesn't budge until he goes to work in the morning. I sleep all day and pick it up again the next night.
         This repeats every night until Thursday. He skips the bar and heads over to a seedier part of town and picks up a big guy that was standing on a street corner. This guy looks exactly what one would expect a mob enforcer to look like. Huge. The car leaned when he got in.
         They drive to downtown Long Beach and park. I get as close as I can and park, too. They sit for an hour until it's fully dark but the shops are still open. They get out and head up the street. I follow.
         I am standing in a dark alley across the street from a nondescript shoe store a couple of blocks off Main Street. I watch Sergeant Michael Hancock and the big guy go in. I give them a couple of minutes, cross the street and stand by the door. Fortunately for me, the door didn't close all the way. The conversation seemed to be about what I expected. Threats, pay up, blah blah blah.
         It seems the shop owner isn't interested in what Mike and his buddy were selling. The voices got louder then a loud bang followed by some cursing, a second bang and the sound of feet running towards me.
         I did the only decent thing and stuck my foot out. The guy running caught his ankle and abruptly kissed the pavement. It's the big guy. I wait a few seconds but he doesn't move. I poke my head into the store and see two bodies, the shop owner and the Sergeant. I pull my spare handcuffs out and cuff the big guy. I was fortunate that there is a city street sign embedded in the pavement near the guy's head. I manage to get his arms cuffed around it without getting a hernia. During that activity, his hat fell off, and I got a good look at his face.
         He'd been a boxer and taken a lot of hits to the face. A lot of hits.
         I know half a block up there is a phone booth. I head that way to call the Captain.

W

hen we return to the crime scene, the big guy is gone. The street sign is lying in the street with a chunk of pavement still attached. I leave the Captain before any of his men or the press arrive.
         The next morning I grab the Herald on the way to the diner near my office. Apparently, LBPD lost one of its own last night during a robbery gone wrong. A Sergeant Hancock, while off-duty, was killed when he interrupted a robbery attempt at a shoe store. There is no mention of the owner of the Shoe store.

It's good to have a Captain of the LBPD owe me a favor. It'd be better to have a paying client, though.