Page 21 of Urban Justice

He didn’t have to look at Sloane to confirm her hackles were up, but he didn’t want to miss his chance with the homeless man by being distracted. “Yeah, well, that can’t be helped for now. I just want to know if you’ve seen strangers invading your territory lately but not the usual crowd.”

“Are you a cop, son? Because I’m not helping these kinds of people no more.”

Sloane cursed but didn’t say a word.

“We’re not cops, but we are after some bad guys.”

“According to you people, there’s a bunch of us considered exactly that.”

Luke didn’t want to give too much information away, just enough to convince him to trust them. “The people we’re after are the worst kind of humans. You have the right to live your life whatever way you want. You’re not hurting anybody here. They are.”

The man coughed a little, but Luke was being honest. Homelessness was an issue much more complex that needed to be addressed, but not by the police. Drug traffickers were an entirely different type of animal.

“I hear stuff, rumors. The tunnels are becoming busier. Never a good thing, especially as winter is coming. There aren’t many places in the city where you can get away from the wind.”

Luke reached in his pocket and retrieved some cash, handing it to the man.

“Are you trying to buy me, son?”

“No, sir, all I want is information. It’s payment for a service if you will. I know you could use the money, and if the information is helpful, there could be more.”

Expecting greed, Luke still saw doubt in his eyes.

“Dangerous guys going through the tunnels, you say? That’s bad. There are kids taking refuge there, good kids. Some are in trouble and they need a safe place.” His eyes went to the bills before lifting to his face. “If you’re playing with me, son...”

“I swear, I’m not. Take the money as a show of good faith. If you hear or see anything, let me know. I’ll leave you my number.”

Luke scrambled to find a piece of paper and pen, writing his number before wrapping it with the money.

The old man took it after a slight hesitation. “I’m Quincy, by the way.”

Luke took Quincy’s outstretched hand to shake it. “Thank you, Quincy. Stay safe.”

“You too, son. Ma’am.”

There was a slight disgust in his tone when he referred to Sloane, but before she could snap back, Luke took her arm and pulled her back in the direction they came from.

“You know he’ll never call you back, and if he does call, I doubt that anything he says will be useful.”

No surprise that Sloane would say that. As a cop, Quincy would’ve been reported as causing problems.

“Maybe, but if he decides to help, he may work way better than any camera. We have to be logical. The two of us can’t canvas every tunnel efficiently, not without spending a lot of time down here. We don’t know when the traffickers are using the tunnels or where, and we can’t be sure they’re using the known network. Quincy is a wild card, but if he doesn’t work out, we could find more of those tunnel rats and bribe them.”

Sloane stayed silent, and when they were far enough from Quincy, she switched on her flashlight. “I hate that you’re making sense, professor. Do we have time to check another spot?”

Luke looked at his watch. “I doubt it. It will be dark within the next hour. We need to leave now to avoid raising suspicion.”

The way back was faster, as they knew they wouldn’t run into any traps. Getting out was tricky as Luke had to lift Sloane on his shoulders, a circus trick that went surprisingly well. Once he finally pulled himself out of the hole and replaced the metallic lid, Luke looked around and saw a second truck parked beside them.

Pure survival reaction made him reach for his gun, but Sloane reassured him. “Easy professor, that’s my ride.”

“Your ride?”

Freeing her pink hair from her ponytail, Sloane winked before throwing keys at him. “Keep my truck for now, and head directly to the safehouse. You’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Good night.”

Sloane was out of sight before he could answer, leaving her equipment on the hood of the truck and Luke with even more questions. This time though, they were all about the elusive Slone Friday.

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