Special Operations (Badge of Honor 2)

“That kid you were talking to, Payne?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want a word with him,” Matdorf said. “Stick around.”

“He put six shots into the head, first time up,” Stennis offered.

Matdorf grunted again, but didn’t otherwise respond.

Matthew Payne finished pasting his target and walked back to the firing line. Stennis saw in his eyes that he was curious, but not uneasy, to see Chief Matdorf standing there beside him.

“You know who I am?” Matdorf asked as Payne walked up.

“Yes, sir.”

“We met at Captain Moffitt’s wake,” Chief Matdorf said. “Chief Coughlin introduced us.”

“Yes, sir, I remember.”

What the hell was this kid doing at Dutch Moffitt’s wake? And Chief Coughlin introduced him to Matdorf?

“I just had a call from Chief Coughlin about you,” Matdorf said.

“Yes, sir?”

“Turn in your gear,” Matdorf said. “Clean out your locker. If anybody asks what you’re doing, tell them ‘just what I’m told.’ At eight-thirty tomorrow morning, report to Captain Sabara at Highway Patrol. You know where that is? Bustleton and Bowler?”

“I don’t understand.”

> “I’m sure Captain Sabara will explain everything to you tomorrow morning,” Matdorf said. “If I didn’t make this clear, you won’t be coming back here.”

“And I’m to…clean out my locker right now?”

“That’s right,” Matdorf said. “And don’t tell anybody where you’re going.”

“Yes, sir,” Payne said. Stennis saw that he didn’t like what he had been told, but was smart enough to sense that asking Chief Matdorf would be futile.

“So get on with it,” Matdorf said.

“Yes, sir,” Payne said. Then he picked up his earmuffs and other shooting equipment from the firing position and walked off the line.

“You don’t say anything to anybody about him going to Highway, either, Dick,” Matdorf said.

“No, sir,” Stennis said.

“Curiosity about to eat you up?” Matdorf asked, flashing a rare, shy smile.

“Yes, sir.”

“The reason he was at Dutch Moffitt’s funeral was that Dutch was his uncle.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“His father was a cop, too. Sergeant John X. Moffitt,” Matdorf went on. “He got himself killed answering a silent burglar alarm in a gas station in West Philadelphia.”

“I didn’t know that, either. What are they going to do with him in Highway?” Stennis asked, and then, without giving Matdorf a chance to reply, went on, “How come his name is Payne?”

“His mother remarried; the new husband adopted him,” Matdorf said. “And I don’t know what they’re going to do with him in Highway. This was one of those times when I didn’t think I should ask too many questions.”