WHEN I called Mama's the next day, the message was waiting for me. I met Morales on West Seventeenth, just off Twelfth Avenue. Whore corner. We watched the girls jump into cars for a while.
"What do you want…for what you gave me?"
"To get square."
"Most of it's the dead truth. Most of it. We checked it out. He knows things only the killer would know. Why would he take you off the hook?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"We can clear a couple of dozen unsolved homicides behind this. It means a gold shield for me."
"And for McGowan."
"He's my partner," he said, insulted.
"I'm not."
"No, you're not. But we're square. There was no paper on you anyway."
"I know. It's over."
He held out his hand. I took it.