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Cabot glanced at the man in the corner and said, “Da
“Hello, sir.”
Pettiway nodded.
“He’s sort of an agent.”
“Sort of?”
Pettiway nodded again. “Da
“They’d do that?”
“They would, yes. They’d like you on the team real bad.”
“This’s sounding pretty good,” Washington drawled.
Pettiway fell silent. Then Cabot nodded at him and the man continued. “Well, Da
“What’s that?”
“You’re playing them tonight, right?”
“The Lakers? Yessir.”
Pettiway said, “I could arrange for this contract for you-but the Lakers have to win.”
“Man.” Da
The big player couldn’t bring himself to say “throw the game,” but he wasn’t so stupid he didn’t understand Pettiway’s meaning. “The Lakers want me to do that?”
“No, no,” Cabot said. “The team doesn’t know anything about it. This is something Mr. Pettiway and I’ve been working on. I told you my job is making money for people. We’ve got a lot of money tied up in bets on this game tonight. With Hamilton out and this being Johnston ’s first game in two months, you’re right-the odds are real good for your team. So if the Lakers win we’re going to make a lot of money. If that happens then Mr. Pettiway’ll pull some strings at the Lakers and get you that contract. We can guarantee it.”
A blank look filled the player’s face as he looked around the room. His eyes settled on the van Gogh. What was he thinking? Cabot wondered. Anything at all?
Finally the player turned back to Pettiway. Washington squinted and said, “You guarantee it in writing?”
Cabot looked at Pettiway and gri
Pettiway pulled a document out of one of his briefcases and slid it toward the player, who read it slowly, his lips moving. He read it again. Then once more. “Some of this I can’t scope out. Maybe I should have my lawyer look it over. I get into trouble sometimes if I don’t do that.”
“Um, Da
“Oh, right. That’d be bad.”
“Yes, it would.”
Washington took the pen and looked over the paper again. “I don’t know. I never done anything like this before.”
At a glance from Cabot, Pettiway opened his second briefcase, revealing stacks of hundred-dollar bills. “Here’s a signing bonus, Da
Washington ’s eyes slid to the memo from the head coach. “I gave the team everything I got and they treat me like that? Man, that’s low.” He gripped the pen in tight fingers.
“Go ahead, Da
The big man signed the letter. Then. Pettiway did too and gave Washington a copy.
They shook hands.
Cabot gri
But before he got halfway to the kitchen T. D. Randall pulled what looked like a walkie-talkie from his pocket and shouted, “I need backup, now!” He leapt to his feet, drawing a pistol from the back of his waistband and training it on Cabot.
“Jesus,” Cabot gasped, eyes wide.
Pettiway stood up, confusion on his face. “What’re you-”
And then the apartment door burst open and two men in suits, also brandishing guns, pushed inside. Badges hung from their necks.
Cabot snapped, “What the hell’s going on?”
Pettiway looked horrified. One of the policemen-a short, muscular man-grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. “Don’t move.” He roughly frisked the man and cuffed him. The other did the same to Cabot, then to Washington.
The taller of the cops said, “I’m Detective Harvey, Midtown Vice.” Then he recited, “You men are under arrest for conspiracy to alter the outcome of a sporting event and for wagering on the outcome of said event.”
“You!” Cabot turned to T. D. Randall. “You’re undercover?”
Randall’s only response was to read the men their rights. He then took a tape recorder out of his pocket. Harvey played a portion of the tape. All their voices were clearly audible.
“Oh, man,” Washington said. “I don’t understand. What’s this mean? What’s-”
“It means you’re going to jail, big fella,” Harvey said.
“No, I can’t-”
“You lying son of a bitch!” Cabot snapped at Randall.
The little man said evenly, “You say your job’s making money, Andy? Well, mine’s arresting people when they do it illegally.”
A third man in a suit, a badge around his neck too, walked into the room. Balding and pudgy, he surveyed the men in the room. “Hey, Lieutenant Grimsby,” Harvey said. “We got the contract, the tape and the perps.” He laughed and looked at Washington. “The case’s a slam dunk.”
The lieutenant followed Harvey ’s eyes to the basketball player, who stood, with his hands cuffed in front of him, staring miserably at the floor. Then the lieutenant frowned. He said, “Wait a minute, that’s Da
Randall shrugged and said, “The warrant was issued last week-before Cabot decided on Washington.”
Grimsby looked Washington up and down. He said to Harvey and his partner, “I’ll take over from here. You guys can go.”
“But-”
“It’s okay. I’ll call for transport. Officer Randall, you stay here.”
“Sure thing, lieutenant.”
When the two detectives were gone the lieutenant gestured Randall into the corner of the apartment and they spoke for a minute or two. Randall glanced at Washington a couple of times and nodded.
“Officer,” Pettiway muttered, “I want a lawyer. I’m entitled to one!” The policemen ignored him. Cabot sat miserably on the couch.
Randall and Grimsby finished their discussion and Grimsby walked up to Washington. He looked his unfortunate prisoner over once more, then said, “Let’s step into the hall for a minute, son.”
You got yourself into a mess here, didn’t you?” the lieutenant asked, lighting a cigarette.
“Yessir, I did.”
Grimsby offered a Marlboro to Washington, who shook his head. “I read that story about you. In the Times. How you take care of your mother and grandmother. You go home regularly to see them. You stay off drugs and out of those gangsta clubs in Midtown. You lead a good life… Why’d you get mixed up with Cabot?”
“My team was going to fire me and I-”
The lieutenant gave a sour laugh. “You believed that? Cabot and Pettiway faked it all. That memo in there? Cabot probably wrote it himself.”
“What?”
“The team’d be crazy to drop you. They find another two-guard could shoot like you?”
“Why’d Cabot do that?”
“He had to make you mad at your team so you’d agree to throw the game. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have, right?”
“Course not.”
“They had their bets all lined up in Atlantic City and Vegas. Put a ton of money on the Lakers. They stood to win two million if your team lost.”