Free The Poisonous Ten by Tyler Compton Page A

events—”
    “Believe it or not, but the higher-ups, as you so put them, actually are looking out for you.”
    “As well as their own asses,” Parks said, making sure they both knew where they stood.
    “True,” Hardwick said, giving him the courtesy of the truth. “But that’s not what I need to speak to you about right now. You’ve been reinstated. IA has found no evidence of any wrong doing, on your behalf, on the Peter Kozlov case, or any of your previous cases. If they had, believe me, you wouldn’t be here right now. You’d be talking to your union rep and enjoying the life of a retiree or guarding a cotton candy stand in Calabasas.”
    “So what’s this about?”
    “Peter Kozlov.”
    “What about him?”
    “Well, he’s shit. You know that. I know that. Most everyone who can read a paper or watch the late night news knows that.”
    “He’s more than that. He attacked children. That makes him—”
    “I am aware, and I agree. But that doesn’t make his rights, as a US citizen no less, any less than yours or mine.”
    “Don’t tell me. He’s got a lawyer.”
    “He’s got a lawyer.” Hardwick nodded. “Adam Wolfe, no less.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Parks cursed. Adam Wolfe was a well-known, and much cursed name around the LAPD when it came to high profile defense cases. “And he’s claiming what?”
    “That he was framed,” Hardwick answered.
    “Son of a bitch,” Parks repeated. “And?” Hardwick stared, remaining silent. “And what? You’re saying he could walk? Seriously? He fed razor blades to children. He attacked his wife. Killed my partner. And he could walk? Seriously?”
    “Levinson planted evidence,” Hardwick said calmly. “It’s pretty well known by now.”
    “But I didn’t.”
    “No. So what we need right now is to separate your i nvestigation into Kozlov from Levinson’s. All files. Notes. Everything. I’ve already got a team going over everything. The only way we’re going to nab Kozlov is by painting you as a saint, which luckily for me, you damn near are. And—”
    “And painting Levinson as the devil,” Parks finished.
    “It’s going to be ugly,” Hardwick said, confirming his thoughts. “But if we want to get him for this then there’s no other way. Otherwise—”
    “He could be a free man,” Parks spat. “Seriously?”
    “You need to make yourself available.”
    “For?”
    “Adam Wolfe for starters. Anything he needs. Files. Documents. You. If he has questions you better answer them and have the evidence to back them up. This thing is being rushed to court within the next week and Wolfe is already aiming to have the entire case thrown out.”
    “I’m surprised he hasn’t convinced Kozlov to be deported back to Russia,” Parks said.
    “Oh, he won’t do that,” Hardwick said reaching into her side drawer and pulling out a file. “We came across this last week while you were on vacation.”
    Parks made a face, challenging her word choice.
    “What’s that?” Parks asked, accepting the file.
    “Let’s just say you caught on and identified Kozlov a hell of a lot faster than they did over in Russia,” Hardwick said.
    Parks picked up the file, flipped it open and immediately shut it. Inside were dozens of pictures, each person obviously the target of Kozlov’s wrath.
    “How many?”
    “Thirteen dead. Nine adults. Four children,” Hardwick said, her expression stone cold. “At least another fifteen harmed. Three of those children.”
    “This fucker goes after children,” Parks said, running his hands over his face. There was nothing more that needed to be said. He picked back up the file and flipped through it again.
    “I’m aware of that,” Hardwick said. “It appears he started after adults but then realized it was easier to … trick chil dren.”
    “I’m surprised someone from the Russian mob didn’t cut his dick off and feed it to him.”
    “They never identified Kozlov as the attacker over there. The attacks simply