And with that thought he fell asleep. He didn’t wake until it was time for him

to go to work. He got ready and drove to the Grunt.

 

Helen Myers greeted him in the back hall of the bar. “Did you have a good night

off?” she asked. “It was pretty uneventful,” replied Rogers. “Nothing too

exciting, then?” “No.” Rogers was telling the truth. There had been absolutely

nothing exciting about throwing Chris Ballard out a four-story window and

watching his head smash into the cobblestones. “I wanted to let you know that

Josh will be in tonight with a party,” Myers went on. “Right, thanks for the

heads-up. He’ll be going up to his room?” “So you know about that?” “I saw him

head up there last time. I figured that’s where your VIPs go. They’re not going

to be in general pop, are they?” “General pop?” “Just a term I’ve heard used.

Should I just clear his whole party in without checking IDs? He seemed a little

ticked off when I did that the first night.” “Yes, just let them in. I’ll vouch

that they’re all legal,” she added with a smile tacked on. “Will Karl be in

tonight?” “He’s already here. In the back.” “I’ll stop in and see him before I

go on duty.” “Good.” He left her there and continued on to the back to see Karl.

The big man was seated at a table and looked better. Rogers saw no cane.

 

And Karl wore no sunglasses.

 

Karl motioned for Rogers to take a seat. He did so. “I heard about the

‘incident’ the other night.” “How?” “Cop on the beat is an old bud of mine. He

told me. These punks are starting to be a real problem.” “I can handle it.” “I

have no doubt of that. But the thing is, we don’t want that kind of trouble. You