Rhuarc Black's Scrolls Index Page 8 страница

Miles nodded. “They’ve been coming in. Quietly but coming in, ” he said glaring at the people below. “What else? ” he asked after a moment.

“Alright! I see different colours. Too many. But the red on black is the stiff’s colours, ” Dona said quickly, starting to warm up to Miles’ game.

Miles smiled at her and nodded encouragingly. “Good. That’s the colours of the Kats. The only major female gang in the city. ”

“I thought those had gone out with the eighties or something, ” Dona said in disbelief.

Miles shook his head negatively immediately. “Or something, Dona. Not in this city. Where there is red and black, the Kats rule. And where the Kats rule... ”

“Yeah... yeah. Heard it a hundred times before, ” Dona said dismissively, waving the concern away. It was always like this. Different cities, different colours but the same story. “Who’s the stiff anyway? ” she asked.

“Wait... wait. What else, Dona? ” Miles was shaking his head at her again.

“Oh shit! I don’t know what the fuck else, Miles. Fuck me! Looks like you got some citizens down there too. Wrong funeral maybe? ” Dona replied after a moment of observing the funeral.

“Ha! ” Miles laughed. “Right funeral, I’ll have you know. ”

“Come on! How big a family did your stiff have? ” Dona shook her head. This sounded more and more like a joke.

“No family. She was an orphan, ” Miles said quietly, his tone serious.

Dona looked at Miles questioningly. His tone seemed almost sad to her. “Miles... ”

Miles sighed heavily. He took a few moments to reply. When he did, his voice was heavy. “The woman in that box down there? That’s Canon, Dona. Canon of the Kats. Lieutenant of the Kats as long as I can remember. And the only person in this goddamned city that could get all gangs, the Russians and a fuckload of citizens at the cemetery. Together. ”

Dona looked at Miles in disbelief. She searched his face carefully. It was not unknown for older detectives to rib a newbie in all sorts of ways. Yet the gaze that met hers unflinchingly held no humour.

“The name sort of rings a bell. Hell, if I remember why though, ” Dona replied finally, her tone changing. She narrowed her eyes at the crowd in the funeral below. Miles seemed too serious for her liking. It looked like there was something here after all.

Miles nodded. “I’m pretty sure, you’ve heard the story by now. Hell, I’ve been all over the country and people know the fucking story. Ever heard of a gangbanger that saved a cop’s life and the fucking DA put her in the can for it? ”

“Holy bloody fuck! That’s just a fucking urban legend, ” Dona answered immediately.

Miles smiled at the disbelief in her voice. “Urban maybe, Dona, but a legend it’s not. See that sister down there? Sitting next to the Kat and the ice queen? ”

Dona nodded immediately. She had spotted the woman from the very beginning. She did not quite fit with the rest of the crowd, odd as the gathering down below was. “Aha... ”

Miles spoke quietly. “That’s Detective Amanda Lewis. The cop. And the stiff? That’s Roberta Carver, aka Canon. The gangbanger that saved her life. ”

Dona looked at Miles but the veteran detective was clearly serious. Dona whistled softly. Of all things, this she had not expected. “So? ” She asked finally, clearly interested.

“So what? ” Miles fired back immediately.

“So what’s your point? ” Dona asked.

Miles smiled at the eagerness in Dona’s voice. Yet his own was low and hard. “It’s a new city, you’ve come to, Dona. And we... any of us... we don’t know fuck all about it. Canon’s been there since I was a rookie walking the beat. And now Canon is gone. For good... ”

End

Thanks for reading. Any comments, good or bad, are welcome at rh. black@hotmail. co. uk ~RB.

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