"Bring back memories?" "On a clear night, you can see Guardo's house from here." "Don't worry." "I haven't seen his ghost around." "Come on." "Who's the amigo?" "Luis Aramboles." "Intel operative for the Mexis." "He came up here to start some shit." "I told your boss you sold his box of sins to the Armenians, which means you're breathing on borrowed time." "He won't believe that." "They're already out looking for you." "Price on your head, I could retire." "It's time to disappear." "Unless you want me to just turn you over." "Who's he?" "Someone who wants to help you with your travel arrangements." "You would never wanna see an innocent man get killed." "Hey." "Hey." "You wanna give me a clue what all this is about?" "He's the key to defusing the Armenian time bomb you laid at my family's doorstep." "He's the keeper of the intel the Mexis are using to blackmail their way to the top, or was, till I helped myself." "And you made it look like this prick sold out to the Armos." "Which lit the fuse for the blood feud we're stirring up between Rezian and the Mexicans." "Nicely done." "Aramboles is the only one who can put my face to the grab." "So he's gotta go away." "I need you to hook him up with the coyotes we were using to get Lem set up down in Mexico." "Who's he working for--?" "I want him gone tomorrow." "Look, getting him out of the country's not a problem." "Setting him up on a goat farm with money and contacts, it would be nice to know who and what I'm dealing with." "Working with you to protect my family." "I'm down with that." "Trusting you?" "Not there yet." "No, that's a mistake." "You should have come to me first." "This piece of shit Rezian has taken something that belongs to me." "So drop a couple of low-level Armenian bodies on the street." "Scare him into getting your blackmail box back." "But trying to whack Rezian now goes too far, too fast." "It's already in motion." "Be prepared to help me control any blowback." "When's this going down?" "Today." "We have some people in county jail where he's at." "Look, when" " When all hell breaks loose out on the street because of this, it's gonna hurt your business." "And it's gonna hurt my ability to protect you." "I'm confident you'll be able to handle the job adequately." "Any other questions?" "Not at the moment." "Hey, Tina, have you seen Shane?" "Nope." "Haven't had the pleasure today." "What the hell is this?" "The mayor just released a list of the top 10 most wanted gangs to a press conference this morning." "Hey, are we making celebrities of these douche bags now?" "It's the latest initiative in the city's war on gangs." "It's just gonna get sets competing to move up the ladder." "Gang crime's up 14 percent citywide this year." "While Farmington's numbers are down." "I guess I can't be everywhere." "I weighed in against this with Phillips." "I was told that the mayor wants to be proactive in identifying gang problems to reassure the public." "Well, it made the front page, so hang on." "Well, fortunately, most of these bangers can't read." "Still, I got the over-under on one of these crews doing the first whack to move up the list in three hours." "Mm, I'll take the under." "Rumor has it that you're scheduled for a new hearing." "Four weeks from today." "Well, if you would like to spend that time with your lawyer or your PBA rep, uh, organizing your case..." "As long as I got this," "I'm gonna use it." "Nice try, though." "The arrangements have been made." "I got your cottage for you." "Have Aramboles ready at 10." "This war we've started is already spinning out of control." "Mexicans have overreacted." "Rezian's been greenlit." "They're gonna make a move against him tonight." "Protecting Rezian is the only thing that's keeping your family alive." "I'm not the one behind this." "We need to get Rezian into protective custody." "It's too late for that." "He'll be dead before the request is processed." "Oh, Jesus." "Okay." "Okay, maybe" "Maybe my Armenian problem goes away." "With Rezian dead, maybe he's the only Armo who knows enough about me to hold a grudge." "Or maybe Armenian number two knows what Rezian knows and blames us for getting the boss whacked." "You have to warn him." "Yeah, so he can get himself in the right frame of mind to take a shiv." "No, I'll figure out how to head that off." "Meanwhile, you get cred by giving him the heads-up." "And he'll owe you." "How you holding up?" "Oatmeal and bologna." "I haven't had a woman in weeks." "Well, oatmeal's good for the colon." "You think this is funny?" "The DA is squeezing the accountant who did my books at the port." "He agreed to turn evidence." "He's being deposed this afternoon." "I'll see what I can do." "In the meantime, you got a much bigger problem." "I got word that you're hard candy." "You been greenlit by the Mexicans." "The Mexicans?" "Why?" "Look, you just need to watch yourself until I can get you moved into protective custody." "I am going to protect you." "You better." "You know why?" "Anything happens to me, I've already given the order to go after your friend's family." "And yours too." "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't warn you." "Then let's just call it incentive." "Some of these bangers can read." "This is John Layton, Pasadena address." "No priors, no witnesses." "At least none of the sharing kind." "What's Mr. Layton from Pasadena with no priors doing walking around this stretch of misery?" "Gang turf, upscale victim, drugs." "This is not where whitey scores his powder." "Century Boulevard caters more to the paleface group." "He's got over a hundred in cash in his wallet." "No robbery." "Maybe trying to pick up a trick." "The stroll's six blocks that way." "Los Mags, One-Niners." "This is gang central." "We all know what this is." "Only difference is, you're the one who has to call the mayor and tell him that his list got a white guy popped." "We don't know it's top 10-related." "Drive-by?" "Look, this list is like the standings in the sports section." "Every gang is making a playoff push." "Find the shooter." "Okay, uh, Vic and I will take the One-Niners" "No, no, no." "Shane comes with me." "I'll" " I'll bring him up to speed." "You and Julien go press the Los Mags." "How'd Rezian take the bad news?" "He's a big believer in life insurance." "He gets whacked, they come after your family and mine." "We gotta figure out how many rungs on the Armenian ladder know about our money-train rip-off." "Jesus Christ." "How'd we lose control of this?" "Rezian's accountant's about to give him up." "Expects me to hose him down." "If we don't, that screws us up too." "The accountant, later." "Keeping Rezian alive, now." "Moses." "Just crashing by to say, "What up?"" "Redecorating?" "This is all your boys." "Pigs moved through here like a damn hurricane." "Tossed my breezie's crib too." "Shut down my weed spot right away and I ain't done no harm." "You waking up in the morning does harm." "Dead bodies on your turf, not a good look, Moses." "Like I told PoPo, don't know nothing about it." "Didn't stop them from messing up my place." "I guess you don't know nothing about the, uh, top-10 list in the paper either." "I know we repping at number five." "Blow a hole in a white man, get respect." "A shot at number one." "I'm a businessman." "And merking white folk is a no-go for my commerce." "What about one of your baby bangers trying to earn cred?" "One of my G's wilding out, I'd have heard." "There's plenty of nigs out there perpetrating felonious bullshit." "Why don't you swarm on them, stay out of my grill?" "Who else would pull a jack move like this?" "Athens, Piru, Spookstreet." "Spookstreet didn't make the list." "What I'm saying." "They need to step they game up, or they out." "You got any soldiers in County, Moses?" "Sure, I got soldiers in County." "We straight claiming County as One-Nine turf." "Got a deal for you." "We have an associate locked up there, needs protecting." "I ain't doing jack for you till this shooter's gaffled up." "Keep the cops out of my shit." "You do this, I'll make sure our guys back off." "You got till 4:00 to make the streets smooth, so I can be about my paper." "Then I'll see about your boy in County." "Deal." "Please get these people behind the yellow tape." "Victim's Lana Boyle." "Looks like a cinder block fell and killed her." "Death from above." "This is Doug Obermyer." "The victim's his girlfriend." "I'm Detective Wagenbach." "This is Detective Billings." "I'm really sorry." "One of those assholes murdered her." "You think this wasn't an accident?" "Those goddamn beaners have been hassling us since we rented this space." "Um, this a commercial building?" "It's a rehearsal space." "Lana was our lead singer." "Yeah, rent's cheap in this neighbourhood." "Tenants next door didn't like the music?" "It was one of them." "They killed her." "You're gonna arrest somebody, right?" "We're gonna talk to people, try and determine what happened." "I was out here when it happened, all right?" "They're always yelling out their windows, bitching at us to move." "And" " And you didn't?" "They don't like our smoke, they can go back to Mexico City and choke on the smog!" "Okay, Doug, Doug, don't go away." "I may need to talk to you again, okay?" "Standing right there." "Yeah." "Wonder if rock star boy's more upset about losing his girl or his lead singer." "Somebody did drop that cinder block intentionally." "Probably a resident." "Maybe still in the crowd." "Oh, right." "I'll, uh, get a read." "Don't wanna put you out." "I interviewed the boys in the band." "They were all out here when it happended but nobody was looking up when the cinder block came tumbling down." "The band was just here taking a smoke break." "Need you to track down the building manager." "I want every tenant with a window view of the street brought down here." "Policía." "We need everyone outside now." "Policía." "Hey." "Come on out." "We can hear you in there." "Great, we respond to a murder, we get a domestic." "What?" "Hey, a little more respect." "And didn't you hear us knocking?" "Listen up, a girl was killed outside." "We need everyone downstairs now." "Nothing to do with us." "Step aside." "And you shut up." "Tell your woman to put some clothes on and get downstairs for questioning right now." "Hey, put your hands where I can see them now!" "He was getting a shirt to cover her up like you asked him to." "Total news blackout on anything gang-related until further notice." "Wouldn't have anything to do with a businessman being shot this morning?" "Whatever the reason, something like this happens, it's a tragedy." "And the timing couldn't be worse." "Yeah, because the mayor doesn't wanna fuel speculation that his gangbanger hall of fame is the cause." "Who's working the case?" "Strike Team." "Mackey in the mix?" "Front and center." "Good." "Oh, don't tell me you're drinking his Kool-Aid now too." "Am I the only one who'll remember the trail his tornado left behind if and when he's finally thrown out of here?" "I'm under no illusions, but a day like this one," "I can live with him." "Who's that guy?" "Jamal just replaced Trinitron as the number-one shot-caller for Spookstreet." "Although he claims to be just another downtrodden black man in the struggle." "Join the club." "You know what the street's saying about your set?" "Calling you the clown posse." "As in laughing at you, not with you." "Hauled me out of bed without letting me take my pills." "Spookstreet's a joke." "They in my pocket." "Forgot to take them yesterday too." "And y'all making me on edge." "Hey, my wife, she takes these when she's on the rag." "Maybe I should get you a tampon too." "You gave the order to merk that white guy." "Let people know that Spookstreet's still around." "Maybe even get Spookstreet on that top 10 list." "Hell, I could put together a top 100 list." "Your piece of shit crew wouldn't be on it." "How am I trying to beef with some white dude I never seen?" "Maybe you were just trying to lay down the law." "Trying to get your soldiers to come correct." "Pasadena square biz walks into your line of fire." "Look, if this was accidental, maybe one of the guys in your crew has an itchy finger, we can help." "All you gotta do is tell us the truth." "Man, I got kids to feed." "Another one on the way." "My moms is dying." "I ain't a clown." "I ain't a bitch." "Just trying to look out for my own, make my way." "A man of peace." "With the most high as my witness." "I didn't shoot no man." "Don't know about no shooting." "Now, please, can I have my pills?" "Any, uh, gang presence in the building?" "Young men, tattoos, baggy T-shirts?" "Yeah, I know what gang members look like." "No, it's, uh, mostly families." "Uh, they pay their rents on time and keep to themselves." "Been complaints about the noise and smoking next door." "Anybody particularly more upset?" "Nobody's complained to me." "I can't think of anybody here who would do anything like this." "Where were you when it happened?" "At the hardware store." "To get a pipe fixture for a broken toilet." "Um, thanks." "I" " I'm gonna need that tenant list." "Sure." "It's too fancy for me..." "Can I, uh, steal him for a minute?" "I'll be back." "You get any good information?" "Well, if you mean her phone number, no, thanks to you." "Um, if this is the Billings level of effort" "I can look forward to, you may as well just go home." "No, me interviewing a witness is just as good as you doing the same." "I'm the only one working at maximum capacity." "Really?" "What did you come up with so far?" "Hey, Dutch," "I talked to every tenant with an apartment on this side of the street, and every one of them says they didn't see anything." "Same here." "Looks like they'd rather be watching their novellas" "Yeah, don't worry." "Dutch is on the case." "Young woman got her head bashed in." "You're not disturbed by the apathy?" "Why don't you take a look around you?" "We've been standing in the hot sun for how long now, and we are right where we started." "So if you got some magic beans in your detective bag of tricks that'll make these people give a shit, why don't you start planting them?" "You know what, Steve, you're right." "We have been here a while." "Excuse me." "Uh, could I have your attention?" "Hi, I'm pleased to announce that today you're all gonna have the pleasure of seeing your local tax dollars at work up close and personal." "Since none of you wanna do the right thing here, you're all coming down to the Farmington station for continued questioning." "And until someone comes forward who saw what happened," "I'm gonna make all of your lives as inconvenient and unpleasant as possible." "Have a nice day." "Better get a bus down here." "What's up?" "Colorado plates." "Visiting USC for graduation." "Ha!" "And they thought tuition was a bitch." "Same neighborhood," "M.O., victim profile." "Hey, Claudette." "You need to be back at the office on spin control." "We got this." "You're not used to a short leash." "I'm fine." "I saw what happened!" "I was right over there and I saw it all." "You need to stop snitching, bitch." "Why you helping One Time?" "You need to mind your mouth and get back to your mama." "You a straight rat, you old fool." "Stop snitching." "I lived in that building for 40 years and I seen these young folks turn these streets into living hell." "No snitching!" "Why don't you let us take you back to the station where you can make a statement someplace quiet?" "For safety?" "I'm not scared." "I'm too old for scared." "My sons are in jail." "My lesbian daughter won't give me grandchildren." "They wanna kill me." "I can't wait to see my Jesus." "Did you get a look at the shooter?" "There were two, and they were in gray do-rags." "Spookstreet." "You just told me you ruled them out." "Jamal lied his ass off, and I bought it." "Can you give a physical description of each man?" "Age, height, tattoos?" "They wasn't no men." "They were like 13 or 14 maybe." "There were babies." "Babies on bicycles." "Moses." "Yo." "Shooters are Spookstreet." "Case closed." "Now, call up your boys in County." "They need to be on the lookout for this Armenian dude, his name is Rezian." "Byz Lats looking to put him down." "Only you're not gonna let that happen." "So get off the weed and get on the phone with your boys in County." "You have a window that faces the street and you didn't see what happened?" "I always keep my blinds closed." "Even on a hot day like today?" "When I'm in my apartment, I like to be naked, so..." "Thanks." "Excuse me." "Where'd you get those?" "From that man." "Oh, come on." "Hey, Asher, take this little piece of shit Jamal upstairs." "Hey, guys, what a surprise." "Busy day." "What's going on?" "Why do you have somebody watching us and following us?" "You didn't get a tip from some banger in County?" "Mara told me about the whole Armenian thing you and Shane are mixed up with." "Now, what's the truth?" "Hey, calm down." "Let's not do this here, okay?" "Come on." "Cass, don't move." "What the hell is going on?" "Look, I'm handling it." "Oh, handling it is by tying up Mara and gagging her?" "That's a gross exaggeration." "Look, Shane got both of our families in a jam which I am currently getting us all out of." "I need you" "Trust you, right?" "We were working an undercover job." "Believe me, you don't wanna know the details." "Now, Shane used bad judgment." "That's why you have some ex-cop following me?" "He's just there to" "He's just there to make sure you're all right." "Look the truth is, something might be going down." "I wanna move you guys to a hotel." "I don't believe this." "I'm done." "I'm going to Connecticut." "My cousins" "I need you to stay in town where me and my guys can look out for you." "If you think I would let anyone hurt you or my children, you don't know me." "Do you work here?" "Eight hours a day, minus half-hour for lunch." "You need some change for the vending machine?" "I want someone arrested for a crime." "Yeah, who's that, sweetheart?" "My father." "Got a call claiming responsibility for the murders." "We already know it's Spookstreet." "Caller confirms it's Spookstreet working with al Qaeda." "Al Qaeda in the 'hood?" "This is serious." "Knock yourself out, but it's bullshit." "I've seen the FBI report." "There's Internet chatter." "Terrorist groups are trying to get in business with local street gangs." "We're rolling on Internet rumours?" "On the Internet, Dutch Boy is still a 13-year-old girl looking for her first training bra." "Terrorists funding their operations by selling drugs and weapons to gang members who deal drugs and weapons." "How is that a stretch?" "Look, we spend all day every day in the barrio." "That's just not what's going on." "Look, how does it look if we do nothing and, God forbid, the unthinkable happens?" "It's the world we're living in now." "All right." "We'll work the international terrorist thing." "We've notified Homeland Security." "They'll be taking over from here." "When the men from U.N.C.L.E. are cruising Alvarado looking for Osama," "I'll be sweating some good, old-fashioned, trash-talking American dipshit." "Jamal, your lying to me is unacceptable." "Man, I told you the truth and nothing but the truth." "Yeah, with the most high as your witness, I know." "Only I got a witness too." "Saw the shooters in Spookstreet colors." "There's niggas out there false-flagging." "Listen, shithead, the feds are gonna be here in a minute." "Once they get here, I can't help you." "Oh, white people get shot and it's a federal case now?" "Oh, we're way past black and white." "Your boys used the al Qaeda card, which means you got a rainbow coalition of law enforcement shitting multicultural bricks." "Look, I gots no love for them sand niggas." "I claim black man South Central-Eastside rider." "Well, you're gonna be the only cat in Guantanamo praying in that direction." "The rest of your homeys for life are gonna have their asses in the air, noses in the carpet facing Mecca." "And there ain't no calm pills in Gitmo." "I gave no order." "Some G, unaffiliated, outside my set, does the deed." "How's that on me?" "The shooters were baby G's." "They were kids." "What?" "We was watching CNN." "I made a joke." "You know, wanna stir shit up, say you riding with al Qaeda, taking flight on the white man." "Bad shit happens to him or one of his breezies that's all anybody talks about." "Period, point-blank." "You're the boss." "Someone took your joke as an order." "Who?" "Some kid called my phone from the barbershop talking crazy shit." "I didn't pay it no mind." "I need a name." "Who?" "I don't know, man." "Some little shorty always underfoot." "Step out of the room, detective." "What time did you get this call?" "About 2:30." "Hey, I need to look at Jamal Tillman's property." "Tillman." "Hey, man, don't push." "Hey, cut the shit." "Here you go." "Great." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Hi, I'm Detective Vendrell." "I need to speak to Mr. Grubman." "No visits." "Yeah, I'm the arresting officer." "I just need to speak with him before his deposition." "Sorry, I'm not supposed to allow anyone." "We have reason to believe he may have been threatened." "Now, he recants his previous statements to us under duress, an Armenian mob boss goes free." "Now you want that on your résumé, rookie?" "Look, you're just trying to do your job." "Why don't you come in with me?" "Hi, Mr. Grubman." "You were the cop who arrested Rezian?" "Yes, I was." "They have you down here today too?" "I'm always working." "I, uh" " I came to thank you for testifying." "We're very confident in our case against Mr. Rezian." "Just trying to do the right thing." "Is there anything else that we can get you to make you more comfortable?" "No, I'm fine." "And we'd all like it for you to stay that way." "Okay." "We don't want you to have any fears about testifying." "We're not gonna let any harm come to you or your daughter." "My daughter?" "Well, when we heard about the death threat we took every precaution to guarantee Katrona's safety." "You have my word." "Now, is there any part of your testimony that you would like to go over, so that we're clear?" "No." "I'm perfectly clear on what I need to say." "Great." "Great." "I might be able to help ICE think locally and act globally." "You interested?" "I'm a big-picture gal." "Of course I'm interested." "Look, I got the name and address of an illegal alien who's running weapons." "He's a fired Mexican intel op who's a possible connection to a local power player." "Now, this goes international, be better for you than me." "What's his name?" "Aramboles?" "Don't know him." "You're about to." "I'd get there now before someone else does." "Grubman's got a bad case of amnesia." "What about Rezian in jail?" "He's still alive as far as I know." "Can't call them up and ask and an hour later, he takes a knife." "Yeah, well, just have to trust that Moses' guys are gonna keep him breathing." "Claudette needs to see you." "In a sec." "Not you." "Shane." "Uh, you beckoned?" "I got a call from the DA." "Said you just visited the witness." "Rezian's bookkeeper?" "Yeah, yeah." "My, uh, jailhouse chats with Rezian, he didn't seem too worried about Grubman as a witness." "Which didn't give me a good feeling." "You didn't talk to Grubman about his testimony, did you?" "Just to make sure that he wasn't being pressured in any way." "Sheriff's deputy was present the whole time." "I know." "I just spoke with her." "Grubman's changed his story." "He's recanted everything." "Shit, Rezian got to him." "Now the DA wants to talk to you." "Make sure you didn't have a hand in it." "What does it benefit me to lose a high-profile collar like Rezian?" "I haven't figured that out yet." "Well, tell the DA I'm available to talk to him anytime." "Dutch... look, I" " I've spoken to my people twice now." "Is there a chance that nobody saw anything?" "No." "See, Some people would rather stay cowards, keep their mouths shut and not put themselves on the line." "You got a problem with me?" "Because if you do, why don't you just let it out?" "I don't know." "You tell me." "Or you gonna keep your mouth shut like the rest of these people?" "Right, right, unis are saying that you blame me because the guy cut out the back at the Army surplus bust." "Is that what all this shit is?" "Where there's smoke, there's fire." "You didn't clear a room, and a cop could've gotten hurt." "I cleared the rooms I was supposed to clear." "You wanna think it was me because you don't like me, fine." "But it was you who pulled out a gun today because you didn't think that I can handle the job." "Or were you just scared?" "Guess we should all, uh, get back at it." "You Lil' BK?" "Who asking?" "Jamal asking from the joint." "Mal ain't trying a put my name in his mouth talking to no police." "Look, you called his cell before he was arrested." "I didn't make no call." "Your number's on his phone, little asshole." "Look, a number ain't nothing but a number." "You want stripes for these 187s, you gotta name them and claim them." "No one steps up, Spookstreet doesn't make the top 10." "Maybe One-Niners start whispering they're the ones with bowling balls swinging between their legs." "Or you go down in 'hood lore as the punk who earned Jamal a 20-year stretch as an accessory for something he knew nothing about, since the phone call ties him to the shootings." "Yeah, it was me and my boys who blasted them fools." "Jamal wasn't knowing." "It was my own ingenuity shit." "My shit!" "Yeah." "So, what we gonna do now, Slow Man?" "Bullshit, man." "Repping at Spookstreet, my nig." "That's what's up." "S-P to the double-O-K." "Yo, take my picture." "Merked them slobs straight up." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet." "Spookstreet!" "Spookstreet!" "Spookstreet!" "Spookstreet!" "Meet al Qaeda's number two and three." "Want me to call Juvie or you wanna waterboard them?" "Hey, Vic, you got a minute?" "Not really." "It's about your daughter." "Cassidy wanted to file charges against you today." "She made some pretty crazy claims." "I just thought you should know." "Said that you assaulted Vendrell's wife." "You don't buy your kids a cell phone these days, they want you dead." "Who else did she talk to?" "Uh, just me." "I didn't write it up." "I figured it was just a kid acting out." "Hey, thanks for the heads-up." "Yeah." "Well, you know, I got girls of my own." "It's a living hell." "You should take the time." "Talk to her, though." "You're not really thinking of keeping these people in the Barn overnight, are you?" "I'm allowed 24 hours." "As fatigue sets in, someone will crack." "You sure this isn't about someone else?" "Billings may have gotten to me a little today." "He's selling them food from his vending machines." "He hasn't done anything to help solve this and he's making a profit." "You deal with it." "If he sees his lawsuit through to the bitter end, he's not going anywhere anytime soon." "And send these people home." "You know, if you made one move that even approached competence, this would look a whole lot different." "You think I don't know how you and the missus feel?" "That you want me to quit?" "Well, I'm getting my pension." "Every penny of it." "God, is that all that you want?" "That, and the tiniest bit of respect." "For what, Steve?" "You give that to a man, respect, you earn his hard work and loyalty." "That's what management here doesn't understand." "You show a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and people will do almost anything to" "Nacio." "The building manager." "Nacio?" "You assume people are indifferent, lazy." "Maybe they just found someone worth protecting." "Knock it off." "I'm sorry to have kept all of you here so long." "It's important to find out what happened to that girl." "I meant to ask you earlier, how long have you been the manager of the building, Nacio?" "Uh, this August, it'll be one year." "Apartment managers aren't usually well-liked." "Seems like you are." "Well, I made a lot of changes around the building." "Get things fixed right away, even if it means fighting with the landlord." "The little things matter." "Right." "Why has nobody come forward?" "They don't-- They don't know anything." "They're worried about the trouble it could bring." "Lot of them don't have papers." "Any other reason?" "Well, they're mad about the noise, the smoke." "They complain to the police over and over." "But in that neighborhood, it's tough to get a response." "You, uh, told me today you didn't know anything about the complaints." "Well, I" " I've been talking to, uh" "To people down here since we were waiting." "Where were you when it happened, again?" "Right." "Broken toilet." "And then you came back after the murder." "You put the bag with the pipe down, came out to talk to us." "Yeah." "So if we drove you back to the apartment right now, you could show that bag to us." "I can't remember where I put it." "It's been a crazy day." "There's an old saying, Nacio:" "If you never lie, you never have to remember anything." "I don't think you meant to kill Lana." "Look, it was your building." "You worked hard to keep it nice." "Probably asked those rockers politely." "But they didn't listen, did they?" "What were you trying do with the cinder blocks, scare them?" "You killed someone, Nacio." "You didn't intend to, but you did." "And all those people out there aren't talking for one reason:" "because you're the only guy that makes their lives any better." "Isn't it time to send those people home?" "Where's the boy's mother?" "Sucking your man's dick, because you won't, bitch." "Quiet." "I've advised my client not to answer any questions." "Shit, nigga, I got something to say." "We smoked them fools all day long." "All three of them." "Why?" "Just paying the white devil his due." "No more talk." "You're working my last nerve, nigga." "We was bringing the ghetto Heisman back to Spookstreet." "Like back in the day." "You realize that killing innocent people because of the color of their skin is a hate crime?" "You say it like I give a shit, nigga." "Haters taught hate." "That's why I bang it." "This word you're so fond of using..." "You're one of them N-word type of bitches, huh?" "You use that word, you turn a person into a thing." "Makes it easier for you to rob them, hate them, kill them" "Do I gotta listen to this church up in here from this nigga bitch?" "Do you realize how many black folks have fought and died to give us the opportunity they never had?" "Mm... four, five?" "Not only have you taken innocent lives, but you've turned yourself into a thing." "You can't even say the word, bitch." "White man even got you talking by his rules now, straight up." "I wouldn't waste the word nigger on someone as empty and godless as you." "Too many of our people have died being treated like niggers for me to belittle their suffering." "Yo, just make sure the streets know" "Spookstreet niggas merked them devils!" "They're filing a complaint against me?" "They're alleging that you used a racist epithet to intimidate and harass the suspect." "It didn't happen." "The lawyer said he witnessed it." "Oh, he's taking what I said completely out of context." "So you did use the word." "Some crack-baby tweener does a triple homicide and I'm the one being held over a barrel?" "You let him get to you." "Listen, all that's gonna come of this is a rainforest worth of paperwork and some chest-thumping." "At my expense." "I'll look at it for you." "Do you ever feel like you're being pulled right back into something that you have worked so hard for for so long--?" "No, don't even go there." "I gotta work out a plea." "The defendant dumped boiling water on her baby because the father came home with a hickey on his neck." "Tell Mackey and his guys, uh, good collar." "Hey." "That had to hurt." "Everything hurts." "New meds doing anything?" "Besides the fact they make you wanna jump out of your skin." "I heard your guy confessed." "Yeah, with a little elbow grease." "Brass have to be pleased to get these killer kids off the street." "They're too busy trying to plot how to hang me out to dry for being a racist." "Deflect attention from their al Qaeda thing not panning out." "So, uh, you're a racist now?" "How's that working out for you?" "Those are federal agents finding your arsenal of illegal weapons." "With enhancements, that ought to earn you 18 to 25 years." "On another front, your boss thinks you sold his blackmail intel to the Armenians." "That's the definition of a bad day." "The coyotes are waiting to take you across." "They even found you a casa with a little mountain view." "You like goat's milk?" "I got your boss so worked up, his orders were for me to shoot you on sight." "You ever try to come back here it'll be a race between the feds, the cartel and me to catch your ass." "The feds and the cartel catch you first, you'll be lucky." "Hasta la vista, shithead." "Now we just need Moses to come through on the Rezian front." "Hey." "You and me, we're on the road to being cool, right?" "Look, I handled Aramboles for you." "I saved your wife and kid from an assassin." "Look, I'm not your whipping boy for life, man." "That's what you got Ronnie for." "Mara ran her mouth to Corrine." "Got her all revved up about this Armenian crap." "I don't need her starting trouble when I'm dealing with shit coming out of both of my ears." "Handle your wife." "As far as making it sound like I owe you for anything" "County jail." "Yeah." "Okay." "I hold you responsible for this." "Who do you think made sure the Mexicans didn't finish the job?" "I warned you about the threat." "I put those bangers on the payroll to protect you." "Because those brothers sure as hell didn't pull that shiv-wielding ése off your ass to fulfil some community-service requirement." "I want the Mexican who did this to me." "I don't even know that the order was Mexican." "The Latino crime bosses need you out of the way so that they can get on with their brown revolution." "But Diro is my first choice, as previously discussed." "And I wouldn't rule somebody out in your own circle looking to spread their wings." "I want who did this to me." "Oh, I'll get right on that." "But the one thing that we did learn tonight:" "I may be the only friend that you can trust now." "Aramboles vanished." "Where?" "Well, looks like he took the money from selling your intel and booked himself a sea cruise." "Been a bad 24 hours for you." "You lost Aramboles and your hit on Rezian failed." "He's walking, and he's one pissed-off Eastern European." "He'll be harder to get to now." "I can help." "But this 30-day trial bullshit is over." "I want tenure." "You owe me for your badge." "You got my hearing delayed." "I found out who Aramboles was flipping your intel to." "Even Steven." "Anything else is subject to my availability and new negotiations." "Ten grand a week." "Any attacks on the Armos go through me first." "And no civilians get killed." "Wars are messy." "I like a buck as much as the next guy." "Can't feel good about spending it when some schoolgirl's collateral damage in a drive-by." "Because you've got morals." "A few." "Ten thousand is a lot." "Especially if someone's morals might get in the way." "A call girl gets a fraction of that to leave hers at the door." "Then get your answers from a hooker." "I don't like being told how to conduct my business." "Only two things I know about how you make a living:" "Employees get well-paid to get their hands dirty so you don't have to, and before you raise up a new building, the old one has to get torn down." "So?" "So 10 grand buys you a one-man demolition crew." "I'll need your answer in the morning."