"Simon Hawke - Wizards 08 - Wizard of Lovecraft Cafe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

the same; Tina Morin, Emily Tuzson, Eve Jackson, and Michel Leckband, for calling every now and then
to see if I'd self-destructed yet; Adele Leone and her staff, for helping to keep all the balls in the air; and
all my fans, who help keep the madness going.

PROLOGUE

Detective Lieutenant John Angelo had never busted a sorcerer before and he wasn't crazy about the idea
of starting now. In fact, he was furious about the whole thing. Fresh out of the academy, he had started
out in vice, which meant working undercover, something that appealed to Angelo. He enjoyed the thrill,
the edgework. He had stayed there, turning down a transfer to the more glamorous homicide division and
piling up an enviable record of arrests until he was assigned to the D.A.'s special Organized Crime Task
Force. He had never worn a uniform and didn't look anything like a cop. What he looked like was a
gangster, or a cheap hood, or a pimp. Angelo could look like almost any sort of lowlife, but he had
trouble looking like a cop. Still, when the B.O.T. agents had arrived at headquarters, it had been his bad
luck to be there, pulling files on a case he was working on, and he had been swept up for the Bureau's
raid.

"You don't understand," he had protested, "I work for the D.A . : . ."

"Not today," the agent had replied. "Today you're working for the Bureau."

"No way, Jack," Angelo said. "I'm undercover."

"Perfect. We can use you."

Listen, jerkoff, I'm undercover, you know what that means? Organized Crime Task Force. I get spotted
on your raid, my fucking cover's blown. Forget about it."

"What's your name, Detective?"

"Angelo. Lieutenant John Angelo. And if you've got a problem, you can take it up with the D.A. I don't
have time forтАФ"

"I'm not the one who's got a problem, Lt. Angelo," the B.O.T. agent had said. "What I've got is a warrant
signed by Superior Court Judge Chambliss and a carte blanche from Chief Morgan to requisition any
personnel I need. You just got requisitioned."

"Yeah? Well, requisition this," said Angelo, grabbing his crotch. "I work for D.A. Mathews."

"If I want your balls, Detective Angelo, I'll have them on a plate," the agent replied dryly. "It so happens
the D.A. is very interested in this case. She's liable to ride into the mayor's office on this one, so I don't
really think she's going to give a shit about one undercover cop's cover being blown. Now you can either
come with me right now or you can hand over your shield. I don't have time to argue. What's it going to
be?"

There had been nothing more to say. He knew the Bureau man could take his badge, just like that, and
getting it back would be damn near impossible. All he could do was go along on the damn raid, try to
keep his head down, and hope like hell he wasn't spotted by anybody who could blow his cover. The
Bureau didn't care.