Stephen Cannell - On The Grind

I certainly didn't want to climb up to the roof and try to rappel down onto the balcony like some character in a Bruce Lee movie.

It felt too much like comedy.

I also knew that if Alonzo didn't get the 911 call soon, he and Roulon Green would come looking. With the elevators broken, they'd probably also use the less-traveled fire stairs and would find Horace. I had used up too much valuable time already and knew I couldn't stand around scratching my head.

The damned roof gag boiled down to my only decent choice. I returned to the stairwell and looked down one flight at Velario, who was still cuffed to the railing with my socks in his mouth. His left eye was now swollen completely shut, but the other one was glaring up at me with murderous hatred.

"Comfy?" 1 whispered down at him.

Then I turned and climbed up the one additional flight and came out onto a flat, silver-painted roof. 'There was a half-moon lighting the night and I could see a minefield of hardware-store clutter up here. It looked as if the apartments' residents used this roof for a sundeck. Beach chairs and hibaehis shared space with several flourishing marijuana plants with protective signs that read HECTOR'S BUD or PROPERTY OF JUAN GARCIA-NO TOGA.

I picked my way across this campground of flowering happiness and crossed to the interior edge of the building, then walked along counting apartment windows below me until I got to the spot I hoped was directly above Rocky's balcony. I looked down at the dead citrus trees in the courtyard below. To do this, I was going to have to hang down from the rain gutter, dangling four stories up. I hated it, but there was no other way.

I lay on my stomach and slowly lowered myself over the edge, gripping the rain gutter with both hands and extending to my full five feet eleven inches. Then I searched for the balcony railing with my toes. After half a minute of this, the gutter started to pull loose, coming aw ay from the eaves of the roof with a loud metallic shriek.

It suddenly gave way and I crashed painfully onto the balcony below, landing on some wooden patio furniture, shattering a small glass-top table. Electric pain buzzed up my arm from my funny bone. I felt a sharp stab in my side like a rib had just broken.

I groaned and tried to collect myself. just then the door to the balcony flew open and Rocky was standing there butt-naked, fists up, read}' to kick my ass again. Despite the pain, I scrambled to my feet.

"You!" he said, quickly recognizing me from the jail.

He started to advance. I didn't want to waste any more of my blood on this guy, so I pulled the Para and aimed it at him with the safety still on.

"Stop," I ordered. "This isn't what you think."

Despite the automatic in my hand, Rocky was still advancing, about to deck me.

"juanito, what is it?" a woman's voice called from inside the apartment.

"I need four minutes," I said. "Put on a robe and listen to me."

"You're the cop with that culo Bell."

"Rocky, I'm not with Bell. Fin an LAPD officer working undercover inside the Haven Park PD. Your life is in danger. Not from me, from them. You need to hear what I have to say."

He still had his fists up.

"I was sent here to kill you, but I came to warn you instead. There are others outside the building to make sure I do the job. We don't have any time. I know you have no reason to trust me, but you've got to take a chance."

"You're the one holding the gun, and I'm supposed to take a chance?"

I needed to do something dramatic to turn him, so I handed the Para automatic over and said, "You hold it, then."

He stood there with the small automatic in his hand, trying to decide what to do. Then he turned his head and yelled, "Carmen. Put something on. We have company."

We went into the small one-bedroom apartment, where Rocky grabbed a silk fight robe with EL ALBOROTADOR embroidered on the back. The furnishings in the unit were sparse. No pictures or personal effects. A queen-sized bed dominated a small bedroom barely large enough to accommodate it.

I caught a glimpse of a naked woman as she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Okay. Who's trying to kill me?" Chacon said suspiciously.

"C'mon, you can't be that dense. You really think you can take all this away from Bratano and still get to city hall?"

"I've got people coming to protect me."

"Yeah. The Marines from Pendleton." He looked surprised. "Your phones are tapped. They know those guys aren't coining till tomorrow. That's why this is going down tonight. Right now there are two cops outside to make sure I do it right."

"You're Bells partner. How can I believe anything you say?"

"Come here," I said, moving to the front door. "I want to show you something."

I stepped into the hallway. He hesitated, not moving.

"Whatta you afraid of? You got a gun."

He followed me reluctantly into the hall and then into the staircase. We walked down one flight, where Horace was still cuffed to the railing, glaring malevolently out of one swollen eye.

"Remember this guy?" I reached down and yanked my socks out of Horace's mouth.

"You're gonna fucking die, Scully," he growled through broken teeth. "You're a corpse."

"That's enough," I said, holding out the socks. "Open wide."

He clenched his broken jaw, so I kicked him in the shin. He opened his mouth to scream out and I jammed my socks back in.

"You really fucked him up," Rocky said.

"I'm supposed to kill you and Carmen, put the gun in her hand so it looks like a street divorce."

He thought about it. "Okay, let's say I believe you," he said. "Whatta we do about it?"

"Not here."

We left Horace where he was and climbed back to the fourth floor and entered the hallway. As I passed the window, I looked at the street out front. Alonzo's white Escalade still wasn't there.

We went back into the apartment and locked the door. Carmen had changed into a conservative black pantsuit. Rocky immediately stripped off his robe and started to get dressed while I filled both of them in on the rest of the plot and how Alonzo had instructed me to do it.

After I was finished, Carmen said, "Is Bratano insane? Mow does he think lie can get away with that?"

"Me controls the cops, so he controls everything from the crime scene to the booking desk. Believe me, if I hadn't managed to slip in between these guys, it would have worked."

Just then, my shoulder rover clicked twice. Alonzos impatient signal for me to check in and tell him what was taking so long.

"I lave you got a car wc can use to get out of here? We can't use Rocky's Mercedes. We'll never get it out of the garage."

"I have a little red Mustang," Carmen said. "It's parked on the street half a block down."

"Okay. We'll use that," I said. "We have to get out of this jurisdiction. There's supposed to be some FBI or Homeland agents around here somewhere to back me up, but so far I haven't seen them."

"It's gonna be next to impossible to get out of Fleetwood going east," Rocky said. "All they have to do is block the three bridges that cross the L. A. River. We're better off trying to head toward Monterey Park or Cypress."

I nodded, then explained exactly what we needed to do.

I had Rocky go down the hall earning the gun and take a position by the front window overlooking the street. My shoulder rover had squelched twice more in the last minute. Alonzo was impatient, demanding a reply. I pulled my sidearm and looked over at Carmen.

"I've got to fire this thing because I'm supposed to be committing a double murder," I explained. "They could be close enough to hear the gunshots. Ready?"

She nodded.

I aimed my police revolver at the wall that overlooked the courtyard and pulled the trigger. The first bullet punched through the plaster and started bouncing around inside. The second and third rounds hit a wall stud, thunking loudly. I jammed the gun back into my harness leather, then used the apartment phone to dial the number Alonzo had given mc.