Scout's Honor

Not obvious, since there had been a few dozen cases he'd been involved in, and Nick had never actually asked the questions he'd been trying to. Angelo had kicked him out first.

Angelo's face was pretty dark by the time Broen finished his explanation. It was... well, it was pretty much dirty cop 101. And while it was entirely possible that Broen was lying--that the whole thing was fabricated--in order for that to be true, Broen was going to have to have his own dirty cops reporting back.

It was a mess either way.

Angelo reached up, pinching at the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut for several minutes.

This had messy paperwork written all over it.

"Does it have prints?" Angelo said finally, leaning back in his chair. Broen was... well, it he was even halfway competent he'd know the answer.

He knew what the cellphone was. He knew because he'd seized several himself. There was a stack of them sitting in evidence somewhere, waiting for someone else to look them over properly.

Why was there one on his desk?

"And now you want me sniffing around, and if you're lucky, I'll nail Nick to the wall for being a dirty cop."

Angelo was agitated. Not even at Broen, just at the situation. Because it was a mess, and it was going to be more of a mess, and Broen getting angry and showing off...

Well, Angelo knew what those were. He wasn't stupid. Old and faded, but still there, and Angelo grimaced.

"You don't have to show me," Angelo said. He kind of wished that Broen hadn't. It was one of those things, another layer on top of the pile that was already in serious danger of toppling.

"I'm already going to look into it. Anyone reports that someone might be dirty, I look into it. I kick it up the chain. I dig around. So you don't have to try and prove it to me."

He leaned forward, picking up the phone and flipping it over to stare at where the crest would be.

"I'm keeping this, I guess?"

Apparently it was a sore subject. Or something beyond a sore subject, something that bothered a kid that seemed to be consistently described as nearly impossible to bother.

"Unless you run into one of them on the way out," Angelo said, "they aren't ever going to know you're here. Internal affairs might, but not right away. That's last resort. But..."

Angelo paused, wondering if he should hold back since Broen was so obviously bothered, and then decided against it.

"Don't know where this all happened, but if you pull the tapes, it makes my job a hell of a lot easier. Nothing puts an end to he-said-she-said faster than here's a tape of him doing exactly what I said he did."

A lie. Kind of a stupid lie, if Angelo was being serious, but also the kind of stupid lie that he could understand. Broen was trying to put himself between Angelo and Zora. Trying to keep her out of it. Simple, easy, whatever.

"Doesn't matter," Angelo said. "If you got a tape, and you can get me a copy of the tape, that'd help a lot. Makes it quick and easy. Good solid evidence stops any possible he-said-she-said from happening. Get a copy of the tape, leave the original where it is, and then the police can pull an official copy."

Broen wasn't quite getting out without a few words.

"This isn't about favors," Angelo said very, very firmly. "And you don't owe me anything. I'm doing this because I've got an even bigger chip on my shoulder about dirty cops than most people, and if I'm doing this as a favor to you, that makes me a dirty cop."

Angelo huffed as Broen was out the window, moving over to close the glass behind him, making sure it was secured.

What was with Jude's friends?