Fat Tuesday (20 page)

But he listened anyway.

"I caught old man Salley looking at your tits. I glared at him. He blushed up to the roots of his toupee," Duvall chuckled."By dessert, he and every other man around the dinner table was using his napkin to hide a hard-on."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true."

"I don't believe that."

"Believe it, Remy. When a man looks at you, all he can think about is pussy." More rustling, the readjustment of limbs."See what I mean?"

She murmured something so softly the microphone failed to pick it up.

Whatever she said pleased Duvall because he chuckled with selfcongratulationso "You know what to do with it, sweetheart."

A moment later, a satisfied grunt from Duvall.

Burke bowed his head and rubbed his eye sockets hard.

After what seemed like an eternity to Burke, Duvall groaned, "Jesus, baby, that's making me crazy. Come here." Then, "What's the matter with you? How come you're not wet?"

"Let me up, and I'll get something."

"Never mind. Pull your knees ... yeah, like that. Like Pinkie taught you."

Burke threw his head back against the headrest. He continued to listen.

He listened to Duvall's chant of vulgarities, to his grunts and groans.

He listened through it all, until Duvall climaxed, swearing in loud gasps.

Then there was nothing transmitted into the earphones except a faint, electronic hiss. He listened for several more minutes. When his jaw began to ache, Burke realized that his teeth were clenched. His fingers were wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel they were white.

Slowly he pried them off. Removing the headset, he irritably tossed it onto the empty seat beside him. He wiped his sleeve across his sweating forehead.

Eventually, he started his car and drove away.

Burke left the newly painted van parked behind an abandoned warehouse, hoping it would still be there, intact, when he returned for it tomorrow morning. Before rounding the corner, he glanced back at the vehicle, and was pleased with his stencil. From this distance, the Jenny's House logo was barely legible. It looked like an amateur job, which was what he'd wanted.

Lost in thought as he made his way along the banquet, he didn't see Mac Mccuen until the man was directly in front of him, blocking his path "Burke! Christ, man, I've been looking all over the city for you."

Mentally Burke groaned. The last thing he needed was Mac's distracting chitchat. But he attempted a smile and pretended to be glad to see him.

"Hey, Mac. How're you doin'?"

"I almost didn't recognize you. What's with your hair? Where's your mustache?"

"Last time I saw, the bathroom sink."

"That'll take some getting used to." Then, changing pace from reflective to charged, he asked what the hell Burke had been up to.

"Not much. How'd you find me?"

"It wasn't easy. I started asking around a few days ago, but nobody knew where you were at. Either that or nobody was talking. Then I thought of Dixie. She remembered seeing you."

"How much did that cost you?"

"Ten bucks."

"I paid her twenty to forget it." "Well, Mac said with a philosophic shrug, "you know whores."

Yeah, he knew whores. Some would sell out a friend for ten dollars.

Others held out for limousines and mansions.

Knowing that Mac wouldn't be easy to shake, Burke bit the bullet and offered to buy him a beer. To his surprise, Mac declined."I'm in a hurry now. But the reason I've been looking for you is to invite you to dinner. Tonight. Sort of a retirement party."

Burke couldn't think of an occasion better avoided."I appreciate the thought, Mac, but no thanks."

"Relax. Dozens of people aren't going to pop out from behind the furniture and yell Surprise." Nothing like that. Just you, me, and Toni.

She wants to cook."

"Sounds nice, but " Mac, being his irrepressible self, poked his index finger into the center of Burke's chest."I won't take no for an answer. Five dollars says you've got no other plans for tonight. So be there. Seven o'clock Know where I live? I wrote the address on the back." He pressed a business card into Burke's reluctant hand.

Even for Mac, who was always overeager and hyperactive, this was strange behavior. As he turned to leave, Burke caught his sleeve.

"You've never invited me to dinner before, Mac. What's up?"

"Your future." Burke tilted his head quizzically. Mac said, "Tonight."

Then he pulled his arm free and struck off down the banquet, walking briskly.

Burke turned over the business card and read what Mac had written down.

It wasn't his street address.

Burke had been to the Mccuens' house only once, when he'd dropped Mac off after work. Mac's car had been in the garage, and he hadn't wanted to inconvenience his wife, so he had inconvenienced Burke instead.

On that occasion, it had been after dark and Burke hadn't given the neighborhood any particular notice. Now, as he arrived at dusk, he was surprised to see how well the Mccuens lived, which was much more affluently than he and Barbara had, or the Stuarts. The houses on Mac's street were spaced far apart, separated by clipped hedgerows and manicured lawns. Cars in driveways were expensive, late models.

Mac opened the front door before Burke reached it."Glad you're here, Burke. Come meet my wife." Smiling, shaking hands, and slapping Burke on the back, Mac pulled him into a wide vestibule. There was no trace of mystery in his bearing, none of the nervousness evinced earlier that day. Burke had brought with him a six-pack of imported beer and a bouquet of flowers.

He handed Mac the six-pack and presented the bouquet to Toni Mccuen when Mac introduced them.

She was a petite blonde who was as good-looking as her proud husband had boasted. She thanked Burke for the flowers in a heavily accented, deep South, sugar-coated voice that was genuine."I'm so pleased to finally meet you. To hear Mac tell it, Burke Basile is a living legend."

"Hardly. It's a pleasure to meet you, Toni."

"It's nice out tonight. Why don't y'all take your beeah out on the patio. I'll call you when dinner's ready. It shouldn't be too long now."

As they moved outside, Mac showed him where they were planning to install a swimming pool."I gave Toni a choice a pool or a baby.

She chose the pool." Mac winked." Course I'm still doing my best to knock her up. Bet you ten to one she'll be pregnant by the time the swimming pool is in, but what the hell."

The patio furniture wasn't the kind bought cheaply in the hope that it would last at least one summer season. The barbecue setup was the Rolls-Royce of outdoor cooking. By the time Toni called them to dinner, Burke had deduced that either the Mccuens were living way beyond their means on credit, or that Toni had brought a sizable dowry into the marriage, or that Mac's gambling was providing a substantial second income.

One thing was certain: They couldn't live this high on the hog on a cop's salary.

After a superb dinner of pork tenderloin with all the trimmings, the charming Toni shooed them out of the dining room so she could clean up.

"Is it too cold for you outside?" Mac asked.

"Not at all."

They returned to the patio with brandies and cigars and, for a while, sat silently enjoying both. Burke waited for Mac to commence the conversation which he'd obviously orchestrated to take place out of his wife's hearing. Burke had determined not to bring up Mac's obscure reference to his future, or question him about the warning he had scribbled on the back of his business card: Watch your back. Others are.

This was Mac's party. It was up to him to provide the entertainment.

Out of the darkness, Mac asked, "Why'd you quit, Burke? And don't give me that bullshit about burnout."

"It's not bullshit. After Kev died, my heart just wasn't in it anymore."

"You hated it when I got bumped up to detective sergeant and took over leadership of his squad, didn't you? No, don't say anything," Mac said when he saw that Burke was about to object."I know you didn't like it.

I understood how it was between you and Kev Stuart."

"You make it sound like we were lovers or something."

Mac snuffled a laugh."I know better than that. But I also know how hard you took it when he died."

Burke couldn't think of a suitable response, so he said nothing.

He wasn't going to discuss his innermost feelings with Mac, first because his sentiments were nobody else's business and, second, because he didn't entirely trust Mac.

He had no specific reason to mistrust him. He just had a gut feeling that Mac's flashiness and amiability concealed a darker, more sinister aspect of his personality. Until Burke could identify that character flaw, he would remain wary of Mac.

Mac continued: "What I'm saying is, I don't think that what happened to Stuart is a reason for you to quit."

"That wasn't all of it."

"I know about the split with your wife."

"News travels fast."

"Especially when it's about a legend."

Burke cursed."That's the second time tonight I've heard that crap Keep it up and it's going to piss me off. I'm no fucking legend."

Mac chuckled, but his laughter didn't quite ring true. He leaned forward, placing his forearms on his knees and focusing on the fiery tip of his cigar."Was Kev the one, Burke?"

"The one what?"

Mac lifted his gaze and gave him a direct look."The leak in our division."

If Mac had offered him the alluring Toni for a night of amorous frolic, he couldn't have been more stunned. Then his shock turned to anger.

"Is that what you think?" "I don't think it, no," Mac said."It's just that people talk."

"What people?" "You know," he said, lifting his shoulders."People. Within the division. And I.A. has been asking questions, too."

Internal Affairs was asking questions? Did that mean that the probe l he had campaigned for had finally come about? He'd raised the hackles of everybody from Doug Pat right on up to the commissioner by insisting that a covert investigation be conducted within the department until the mole was exposed and eliminated. What an irony it would be if they suspected Kev.

"Some guys, not me," Mac clarified quickly."But some guys have speculated that maybe you discovered Kev's treachery and, when the opportunity presented itself, you popped him and dropped him. Is that the way it went down?" "No," Burke said tersely.

"Or ..."

When the other man stalled, Burke pressed him."Come on, Mac. What else are they speculating?"

"That it was you." Burke showed none of what he was feeling, but Mac must have felt the heat emanating from him and feared an eruption of outrage because he spoke now in a breathless rush: "Well, look at it from their standpoint, Basile. We pulled down a hell of a raid the other night."

"I read about it. Congratulations."

"So it looks " "Mighty suspicious that things start turning around in the division's favor the minute I got out."

"It would look a hell of a lot better if you'd come back."

"Not a chance." "Then tell me they're wrong," Mac said, raising his voice to an argumentative level.

"I never asked to be your goddamn idol, Mac. I didn't ask to be anybody's." "Who was selling us out?"

"I don't know, and I don't care," Burke lied.

"You may not know, but you care. You care a hell of a lot. I'd stake Toni's ass on that, and I'm very attached to her ass."

"With good reason." He tried to smile, but it didn't quite work, and Mac continued to glare at him, demanding an explanation.

"Okay, Mac, I care. I care because the son of a bitch got Kev killed.

But the harder I tried to root him out, the more unpopular I became around the N.O.P.D.

"After the business with Sachel, and Ray Hahn turning up dead, I reached a saturation point of disgust, thought Screw this," and got out.

I've breathed easier ever since and haven't regretted my decision."

Mac thoughtfully puffed his cigar."That's your official line.

Give it to me unofficially."

"Unofficially? When I find out who was working both sides, I'm going to kill him."

Burke and the younger officer exchanged a long stare. After a moment, some of the tension went out of Mac's broad shoulders."It makes me feel better to hear you admit it. How can I help?"

"No." Burke adamantly shook his head."Kev was my key man and my friend, and he died by my gun. It's my problem."

"Okay, I understand where you're coming from. But I don't think you can do it on your own, and it'll be much harder to do from the outside.

Come back to the department and work it from the inside."

"Can't do that."

"The time to resign is when everything is going right," Mac argued.

"Not when everything's in the shitcan. Your friend dies bloody. Your marriage collapses. You're under a lot of pressure within the division.

Everybody knows you're bummed out. So, if something happens to one of the guys in Narcotics and Vice, who're they going to suspect first?" Mac's argument had merit, but Basile said, "That's a chance I'll have to take." He narrowed his eyes against the smoke rising from his cigar.

"Did Pat put you up to giving me this lecture?"

"No. But if he was here, he'd be telling you the same thing."

"He already has told me the same thing. Just today, in fact."

Burke had had his first appointment with a divorce lawyer early that morning. Barbara hadn't wasted any time in filing, and that was fine with him. It just irked him that he was out the expense of an attorney when he'd already told her she could have her football coach her divorce, and anything else she wanted.

"Pat called Barbara and got the name of my lawyer. He left a message with him for me to call," he explained to Mac "And?"

'"He tried to talk me into coming back, just like you're doing.

But you're both wasting your breath. I'm out and I'll stay out." "Okay, fine," Mac said irritably."But it's not just your reputation that needs protecting, Burke. It's also your hide."

"Ah, the warning on the back of your business card. I thought I'd walked into a detective TV show."