Free The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford Page A

phone. "How'd you make out?"
    "They let me talk to four Cuban guys wearing orange jumpsuits out in the yard. What they told me doesn't mean much, but they got my Omega."
    "Your wristwatch?"
    "Yeah. One of the bastards took it, but when we shook 'em down later, nobody had it on him. I didn't miss it, you see, until I was leaving and picking up my pistol and cuffs at the main gate. We went right back, but by then whoever took the watch had a chance to ditch it. Security said they'd shake down the barracks this morning and let me know if it shows up. But I'll never see it again, and I paid a hundred and eighty-five bucks for that watch."
    "You should've checked it with your pistol at the gate."
    "Tell me about it."
    "What about the tattoos?"
    "They said they weren't prisoner tattoos. Those stars and circles were new to them, and they thought the little V's might be initials. The dead men could be cane cutters, they said, Jamaicans or Haitians, but whatever they are, they aren't Cubans."
    "What made them so certain?"
    "Because the tattoos don't mean anything. And only cane cutters would be dumb enough to make meaningless tattoos. I don't see how any of this'll help. There's no cane in Miami to cut, so when I told 'em how the men were killed, they said they were probably -droguistas-."
    "It's more than we had before."
    "I had my watch before, too."
    "You don't need a watch. You notice I don't wear one. If you need to know the time, there's always some asshole around to tell you."
    "Well, don't ask this asshole again because I no longer have a watch."
    "Maybe it'll turn up in the shakedown, Teddy."
    "I don't think so."
    "I don't either. Buy yourself a nineteen-dollar Timex."
    "I'll do that, Hoke." Gonzalez laughed. "Soon's I make my last two payments on my Omega. They all shook hands with me when I left, so one of those slick bastards must've slipped it off then. Far's I'm concerned, those Marielitos can rot out there in Krome."
    "Write up your notes, and put 'em in the file. We might as well bury it in old cases now and give up on it. If they're alien Haitians or Jamaicans, we'll never find out who they were. Unless we get some new leads, it can't be solved till we get some positive ID. But you did well, Teddy. See you Monday morning."
    Hoke showered and then took Ellita grocery shopping at the Green Lakes Supermarket. Aileen stayed home to give Pepe a sunbath and then a sponge bath. Sue Ellen had gone to work at the car wash. Saturday was the busiest day of her six-day week.
    While Ellita fixed Hoke a turkey sandwich for lunch, Hoke tried to phone Quevedo and Levine to arrange a committee meeting. Mrs. Quevedo said she didn't know where her son was or when he would be back. Myra Levine said her husband had gone to the races at Calder, and she had no idea when she could expect him home. Hoke thought both women were lying, but he couldn't do anything about it if they were. He'd have to set up a meeting later on next week, when he could corner the two elusive detectives at the station.
    Feeling restless, Hoke drove Aileen to the Cutler Ridge Mall, bought her a pair of Wrangler's jeans, and then they went to the early bird movie at Multitheater No. and watched -Friday the i3th: Jason Returns-. Aileen spent most of the movie with her face buried in Hoke's right armpit. Afterward she told him that this was the best version of the Jason story she had seen so far.
    "That's because Jason killed mostly cops this time, as well as yuppies," Hoke explained. "People hate cops and yuppies, and old Jason keeps up with the trends in each new movie."
    "You always told us that policemen are our friends."
    "We are, and most people know that, sweetheart. But everybody feels guilty about something or other, and cops in uniform remind them of their guilt."
    "Why do people hate yuppies? I don't hate yuppies."
    "Americans hate anyone who's more successful than they are."
    "I don't know a yuppie from anyone else. How can you tell one? I dress well, but I'm