Sin City Uniform 02 - Copping an Attitude Read Free Page A

made up. It was one he’d hoped to use in a graphic novel one day. Instead, Julio had forever sullied it for him.
    “No more!”
    Julio’s sudden shout jostled Slade’s thoughts and brought him back to whatever it was that Julio continued to bitch about.
    “No more of this small-time shit. Motherfuckers are gonna pay if they want the goods.” Julio narrowed his eyes and jabbed his finger at him. “And you. No more Harold for you. Don’t think I don’t know that it was you who put those ideas in his head.” Julio muttered to himself again. “Thinks he’s gonna get away from me. Thinks some suburban pussy is gonna save his skinny ass.”
    Julio finally halted on the rug, gritting his teeth as he slowly rubbed his hair back across the top of his head. Slade braced himself for the beating he was sure would come. Julio took a deep breath.
    “Until I decide what to do with you, keep to your regular tricks. But you’ll also have to find a way to replace my income from Harold. Hustle up some fresh meat on the Strip.”
    “But I’ve been trespassed by so many—”
    Slade flinched as Julio raised his hand. In a surprising move, Julio lowered it, but continued to glare at Slade.
    “Don’t want to mar the goods, just in case. But don’t think that gets you off the hook, you piece of shit. Just ’cause I can’t hurt you on the outside, doesn’t mean I can’t make you pay in other ways.” Julio’s black eyes took on an even more menacing gleam. “Make you hurt on the inside.”
    Before he could stop himself, Slade whimpered. He was more terrified of Julio than he’d been since those first days. Those were times that he’d tried to erase from his memory. He wasn’t sure he could survive anything like that again.
    Julio continued to stare at him as Slade pressed himself against the headboard, his stomach twisting on the inside. Slade’s throat tightened to the point that it gave him the impression it was trying to choke him.
    After one final glare, Julio whipped around then stormed out of the bedroom. Slade exhaled, alarmed at how shaky he was. He couldn’t control the tremors that racked him all over and he thought he might vomit.
    At least I don’t have to worry about Harold anymore. That’s good, right?
    Slade had an ominous feeling that there was nothing good about it at all.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    The briefing at the station the previous day had been troubling at best. According to their informants, the violence would be increasing as the two main providers of sex workers in the area had plans to take the other out. The most disturbing part was that their insiders didn’t have the specifics on what would go down or when it might occur.
    Parker turned the cruiser onto Tropicana Avenue headed toward Paradise Road, which ran parallel to the main drag. A call on the scanner had gone out that there was a fight between two white and two Hispanic males behind Bally’s. Instead of continuing to Paradise, he made a left onto Koval Lane that ran immediately behind Bally’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood and other casinos nearby.
    Some of the worst incidents happened on the streets immediately adjacent to the Strip. Being away from the bright neon glare of Las Vegas Boulevard mistakenly gave troublemakers a sense of invisibility. In truth, the cops tended to spend more time in those areas because of that. Foot, bicycle, motorcycle and mounted patrol maintained a more visible and immediate presence on the Strip. The cruisers were typically only called in for backup or if they spotted something that needed immediate attention.
    The cruiser’s tires squealed as Parker gunned the vehicle into the lot, narrowly missing a car that had slowed down to gawk at the violent display. They’d barely rolled to a stop when Parker and Darren leaped out, guns drawn, both of them shouting for the men to cease. Chaos erupted as a second unit arrived and three of the men took off running, the fourth injured and splayed on the