Casey sat by an interrogation table, hands calmly folded on its metal surface. He looked up as he heard footsteps approaching the interrogation room door. A guard walked in escorting a belligerent younger man with a shaved head and an intricate tattoo. The guard nudged the man down into a chair and handcuffed one of his hands to its arm.
"If he gives you any trouble just call," the guard said, and then he left.
The man glared suspiciously at Casey. Casey smiled and extended at arm.
"Hello, son, I'm Captain Casey Rybeck," he paused and waited for an introduction.
The man said nothing and sat stonily.
Casey leaned back and sighed. "I already know who you are, boy. I know you're in with the White Fence and you've got a rap sheet as long as your sentence. I know I've cleaned better things than you off my toilet."
"Then what do you want, pinche pendejo?" the man snarled.
Casey didn't miss a beat.
"I want to know about your cellmate. We go back a long way," he said softly.
"Krade? He was nuts, man. I don't wanna complain- he kept the tough guys away- but all he ever talked about was some punk cop and what was he was gonna do to him when he got out," the man said.
"Did he give you any details? A location of a hideout?" Casey asked.
"Why would I tell you? I ain't no snitch. All we got in here is our honor," the man said.
"It will be worth your while. Maybe you'd like to be laundry duty instead of outside digging ditches in the sun? Maybe you've got a little senorita back home who could use a few conjugal visits?" Casey said.
"Why would you do that for me? Why you wanna know so bad? Oh…" the man said. He smirked at Casey and sniggered crudely. "You're the punk. You're the one he never shut up about. You got a senorita, whitey? I hope so. Krade told me so many times what he was gonna do to her. Kept me company a lot of lonely nights. You wanna hear about that?"
As he drew in another breath to continue, Casey's hand clamped around his throat and yanked him forward until his handcuff jerked him back. The man's eyes flew wide open and the air stopped in his throat.
"I want to hear where Krade is," Casey whispered. "Is that simple enough for you? I want to hear exactly where Krade went the moment he left this pit. Are you going to tell me, or do I have to ask again?"
He tossed the man back in his seat. The man gasped in air and sat shaking with rage and fear.
"What you doing, cop? You can't do that. I want a lawyer," he said in a hoarse voice.
"You want a lawyer? You want the guards to come rescue you from the big bad wolf? Go ahead. Give them a call," Casey said. He slapped the man lightly. "Call them. I'm waiting."
The man said nothing. Casey slapped him harder.
"I think we both know how it is. I'm a cop. You're nothing but a con. Justice is blind, but you know one thing about us cops? We protect our own," Casey said.
The man hurled a string of profanities at Casey. Casey waited until he was finished, then grabbed him by the back of the head and smashed his head against the table. The man screamed and blood ran freely from his nose.
Casey grabbed his collar and pulled him so close their noses were inches apart.
"You ready to help me now?" he said serenely.
The man's lip curled into what looked like the mother of all vulgarities. Casey transferred his grip to the man's shattered nose and twisted mercilessly.
The man squealed like a stuck pig. His free hand shot up to break Casey's grip, but Casey's other hand snatched it and bent it back until the man's fingers touched his wrist. Casey kindly let go of the man's nose so he could stop screaming long enough to talk.
"There's a cabin," he whimpered. Casey didn't let up on his wrist.
"Was that so hard?" he asked.
Within minutes Casey had a complete address and description of the cabin, which was an old dropoff point for drug deals. He also had detailed directions. He stood up quickly. The man flinched back in his seat. Casey walked past him to the door and let the guard in.
"You'd better get him back to his cell," Casey said of the bloodied, trembling prisoner. The guard looked at him and smiled knowingly. "Poor man just suddenly got a nosebleed."