Free Copp On Ice, A Joe Copp Thriller (Joe Copp Private Eye Series) by Don Pendleton Page B

a bit nervously as he replied, "There are some here, Chief, with fierce loyalty for Chief
    Murray, who think maybe there's a chance he'll be reinstated. I think they're scared to death that your appointment might stick."
           I said, "I think it's more than that. I think there's some heavy garbage buried within this department, and I think a lot of someones are scared to death that I'm going to sniff it out."
           He said, "Now that you mention it. .."
           "Yeah?"
           "I think you're right. I've caught the whiff myself, now and then."
           I said, "Thanks for leveling with me, Tony. I don't know what it will cost you in the long run, but... thanks, I appreciate it."
           He smiled and replied, "Hey, I just try to do my job." He looked about him, lowered his voice to add, "But thanks, I'll keep the eyes and nose open."
           "That would be wise," I said, and went on down the steps toward my car.
           He came down behind me, called to me, said, "I had the feeling you were going to tell me more about the narcs."
           I looked him up and down, asked him, "Think you can handle it?"
           "I'm willing to try."
           "I believe that one or more of those patrol officers this morning were ordered to hit those guys, one way or another. Maybe it was set up that way and maybe it simply fell in that way . . . but I think it was a hit, sure and certain, and I think the order went down before anyone knew that the hit on me had failed."
           That shocked him. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"
           "Well, I don't want to get dead serious," I told him.
           "I've been working with these people for more than three years. I find it hard to believe that..."
           "You've been a cop for more than three years," I guessed out loud.
           He nodded. "Worked back east for awhile. My wife loves California, so ..."
           "You know how the mob does it, then. They hire the hit then hit the hitter. It's cleaner that way."
           "You're not saying that the mob is behind this."
           "Not that mob," I replied. "But every town has its counterparts. I think we could have a mob here, yeah, right in this department."
           "I'd rather not believe that."
           "Don't believe it, then, but open the eyes in the back of your head, too, if you're not one of them—and especially if you are one of them. There's a death squad in this department, Zarraza. And right now it's on a rampage."
           He said tightly, "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind."
           "Do that," I said, and then I went to find Tim Murray again.
           The thing was closing in on me. I felt it in the bones, and I felt it in other people's bones too. Had to keep pushing, keep the pressure on. And then hope that I'd be standing in the right place when the bubble burst. Trouble was, as it turned out, the bubble was really a powderkeg, and   there would be no "right place" for anyone to stand.
           Already five were dead.
           And I'd been in charge for only one night. How many more could I last?
     
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Maybe I should remind you once again that this was a police department in shock. It gets bad enough when a single officer is slain; it disturbs the equilibrium, reminds these guys that they are mortal, after all, and involved in highly hazardous work. It shakes up the wives and girl friends, frightens the kids, and invades the dreams of everyone affected. Here, we had four dead cops and an apparently related killing of an ex-cop. You didn't see tears or that many long faces around the department but this was symptomatic of the shock itself; what you saw was precision drill and machine efficiency in the daily routines, all imbedded in a palpable atmosphere of gloom approaching despair. It was as though the killings were the final straw for an organization