Cross-Over Murders by Frank F. Atanacio Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven 

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Nick Barnum was one of the few job seekers standing at the corner of North and Madison. He had a thermos of coffee and a bag of jelly doughnuts. He was proud to be the only one really prepared. He stood next to a blue mail box resting his coffee on top of the box. He reached into the bag and pulled out his first treat.
“Hey Nick,” O’Brien called as he pulled his unmarked cruiser up to the curve. “Whatcha got there?”
“You smelled the doughnuts?”
O’Brien smiled.
“I’m serious.”
“No, I didn’t smell the doughnuts, you ass!”
“So what are you doing here early this morning?”
“Checking on the progress,” he said.
“Not too many would be workers,” Nick said.
“We had to thin out the herd.”
“What?”
“Get rid of a lot of these guys,” said O’Brien. “It makes it too difficult to get picked up.”
“So these are all decoys?”
“No, we kept a few in,” he said. “We just wanted to give you and the other decoys a better shot.”
Nick nodded.

“You know, give you and a few of the other decoy’s a better chance of getting picked up,” he explained. “I guess the captain felt there were too many job seekers, and not enough jobs. I didn’t really agree until I drove by earlier. This corner was pasted with job seekers.”
Nick nodded.
“Is it like this every morning?”
“Everyone’s got to eat,” Nick said. “And these guys just want to bring home the bacon. Really should be no law against that.”
“You shouldn’t have to die for doing it either,” O’Brien added.
“I suppose not.”
“Not enough jobs for everyone, sad,” O’Brien said.
“Isn’t that always the way it is?”
O’Brien smiled.
“Hey Pete, do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
“See that kid over there?”
O’Brien noticed that Nick was pointing to a thin teenage Latino with lots of hair gel evenly spread throughout his head, and a thin moustache.
“That’s not a decoy,” O’Brien said.
“That’s someone Zoraida knows,” he said. “I want you to clear him from this area too. I want him safe.”
O’Brien nodded.
“I had this guy walk into my office yesterday who was related to Manual Rodriguez,” Nick started explaining. “He came in trying to get me to find him, but ...”
“Janet brought him down,” O’Brien keyed in so Nick wouldn’t have to finish.
“If Zoraida should ever come see me,” Nick started. “It’ll be to have her way with me. I don’t want to see a tear in that woman’s eyes.”
“I understand,” said O’Brien. “I’ll pick him up as soon as you give me a doughnut.”
“What?”
“I’m hungry!”
Nick smiled and handed O’Brien a treat.
“Make sure you tell him he’s not in trouble.”
O’Brien nodded as he stuffed the treat into his mouth.
“Pig,” Nick whispered softly as O’Brien drove away.