Loss of Innocence

“Right. But sometimes the easy answer is the right answer,” said Sheehan. Lehka was nodding her head.

“I’ve got to agree Max,” Lehka added. Even though she disagreed with me I knew her heart was in the right place. I had nothing to prove them wrong. But I pressed on, into the firing squad. I could not let go. I felt in my gut I was right.

“Look Cap, I’m going to the Mayor’s office for the funds to continue surveillance on Shevchenko.”

“You’re going over my head?” Sheehan asked, incredulous. “Max, you’re chasing shadows.”

“These scumbags live in the shadows Cap.”

“I can stop you, but I’m not going to.”

Lehka gave me a stern look. “Chain of command Max, but I guess to you that doesn’t mean much.”

That hurt. Leah ran a department. Chain of command was her watchword. I was showing up Cap and offending her. The stupid Max was winning.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t let go of it. I can’t stand the thought of Carina being separated from her baby, and I just know that Shevchenko is behind this. He’s smart enough and devious enough to do this.”

Chapter Seven

Heather

I knew Lehka was pissed at me, but I had to play out my hunch. Shevchenko was clever. Was he too clever for his own good? I wanted to double the surveillance on him, and that meant more overtime. We were already over budget on our operation, and Cap wasn’t willing to support my theory, so it meant a trip to the Mayor’s office to beg for more funds. I was certain Cap would approve it if there was budget for it.

Fortunately Alan Parsons (the weasel), the Mayor’s former chief aide, was languishing in prison, and his aide, Heather Murtaugh had stepped into his place. As Chief of Staff, she sat on the Police Commission as his representative. It was the Police Commission that had to approve our budget overage.

I made an appointment to meet with Heather the next day, and spent most of the afternoon with Lanny preparing the revised budget. We made sure we covered every contingency to make sure there wouldn’t be any questions.

I felt a low level electric current when I thought about my trip to meet with Heather. My first meeting with her was like a boxing match, with each of us landing solid body blows. I wanted to be prepared for anything. But another part of me had another agenda. Heather stirred something in the dark part of my heart. Her classic, sultry beauty. You’d have to be missing a pulse if you weren’t attracted to her, attached or not.

I spent extra time getting ready, and even put on some light make-up, which I never did when I wasn’t on duty. I made sure my uniform was ironed and crisp. I felt guilty, but this was a business meeting, not a date. Lehka would certainly be jealous if she saw her. But I had no choice. I needed the money. Carina’s baby needed the money. I could suck it up, get the money, and not do anything stupid.

City Hall was in the middle of downtown. It was a historic building, erected in the 1800’s in a Romanesque style. I didn’t know much about architecture, but I liked this building’s style. I parked in a reserved parking space on the street (to whom it belonged, I didn’t know and didn’t care) and walked up the stone steps. I took a deep breath.

My heels of my dress shoes echoed on the marble foyer as I made my way to the elevator bank. I pushed the button for the seventh floor. I was nervous and fidgeted with my uniform as the elevator made its way up.

The doors opened, and I was met with the familiar sight of the reception area. Another new face was manning the reception desk. It was a young woman with short black hair and a nose ring and tattoos on each of her fingers. Onward and upward for HR.

I checked in with her and took a seat on a leather couch. I started to leaf through a well thumbed issue of People magazine. After spending a few minutes with it I concluded that maybe my life wasn’t so fucked up after all. I was concentrating on a picture of Jennifer Aniston and wondering how a woman of fifty could look that fucking good. My attention to the lives of the rich and famous was broken when I sensed someone’s presence above me.

“Hello Max,” Heather said in a silky smooth voice. She couldn’t help but exude sex out of her pores. She looked like she had just stepped off the cover of Vogue, but I knew under that fashion model exterior was a razor sharp woman who was not to be fucked with. I admired the way she carried herself, so cool and confident.

“Heather… uhhh… good to see you.” My voice cracked like a schoolgirl when I said it. The suave, cool Max crumpled like a wet cardboard box after seeing her.

She led me to her office, which used to be Alan’s. As the Mayor’s new Chief of Staff she had redecorated it. Instead of the trappings of power, it now had an understated elegance, just like her. We sat in a conversation area instead of her behind her desk, with us sitting in matching white leather covered chairs with a low rise glass table between us.

“Coffee?” she asked. I nodded and she used the silver teapot on an ornate lacquered tray to pour each of us a cup.

She reached to pick up her cup and take a dainty sip. I couldn’t help but notice the bit of cleavage her forward lean revealed.

“I’m so glad you called me,” she said. I think she meant it.

“You are?” I asked, as if I was questioning her sanity. I drank from my cup. The coffee was delicious.

She gave me a puzzled expression. “Of course Max… are you being silly?”

Yes I was. But not intentionally. How do you answer a question like that? “No, I’m not. It’s just that your former boss, Alan, was such a prick to me. I guess I’m not used to politicians being nice to me.”

“Politician? Me?” she said in disbelief, even though she was the Mayor’s Chief of Staff. She almost sounded insulted.

I tried not staring at her legs. I drank more coffee to distract me.

“Yes. Don’t you have the ear of the Mayor?”

“Well, yes I do, but I’ve always worked behind the scenes.”

“The power behind the throne.”

“You flatter me Max.”

“You are the Chief of Staff.”

“In no small part thanks to you. You exposed Alan for the worm that he was. It made my skin crawl that I had to work for him. You saved my career.”

Well, when she put it that way, I could see why she was glad to see me.

“I think you saved it yourself. You did the right thing to give me that tip about Lester Marsden. It helped us crack the case.”

She leaned over to top off my coffee out of the silver coffee pot. Her blouse opened slightly. I couldn’t help but see the fine lace of her bra. I felt a shiver down my spine.

She settled back into her chair. “So Max, what can I do for you today?”

“The Mayor’s police commission. You sit on it as his representative. You’ve heard the briefings. We’ve got reason to believe the Ukrainians are behind the abduction of those four women.” I didn’t tell her the reason was my gut instinct.

“Terrible tragedy… especially the woman who was literally ripped away from her small child.”

“Yes… that was Carina De León.”

She folded her hands on her lap and waited for me to continue.

“We need budget approval for the overtime for this case.”

“How much?” she asked.

I pulled a folder out of my briefcase and handed it to her. “It’s all in here. A breakdown of the expected cost, by unit.”

She opened the folder and pulled out the thirty page document. It took me and Lanny almost a day to prepare it. Lehka had washed her hands of my harebrained hunch.

“It looks thorough Max. The Mayor’s going to like that. Let me see if I can get him tomorrow afternoon. I know he’s got a hole in his schedule then.”

“That’s great.”

She crossed her legs. Her skirt rode up, showing me more of her leg. She knew what she was doing. She watched my eyes. My eyes were glued to her fabulous legs.

“You promised me a drink Max.”

She was right. I told her I’d share a drink with her after she gave me the tip about Lester.

“Bearcat Club, right?” I asked.

“That’s right Max.”

“Of course.” It’s one of those offers you never expect anyone to accept. Heather was way out of my league.

“We can discuss it tomorrow. Say around seven?”

“Looking forward to it,” I told her. I was of course looking forward to it, but I sounded too eager. It wasn’t like me to show my soft side to a politician, but I’d never met a politician that looked like her.

* * *

After my meeting I went back to our apartment. Lehka was there, and was still pissed at me.

“Sometimes I don’t know who you are.” She took a sparkling water out of the refrigerator and slammed the door. “Max, don’t you respect the chain of command?”

That was a loaded question. “Of course I do Lehka.”

“Then why did you go over Sheehan’s head?”

“You know I can’t let go of this.”

“A hunch?”

“It’s more than that,” I insisted.

“Not from where I sit. Max, I make the same decisions Cap makes every day. What would happen if everyone under me decides to do their own thing? It would be chaos. Let it go Max. Fucking A, let it go.”

“I can’t. I think of Carina De León in my sleep. I can’t let this go.”

“So you met with Heather what’s her name?”

“Murtaugh.”

“That fucking barracuda?”

Shit, Lehka did know about Heather.

“She’s not like that,” I insisted, maybe sounding a bit too defensive.

“Bullshit. She’s a politician. Her and her perfect fucking teeth. Perfect body. Perfect everything. Fuck her. You’re going to go over Cap’s head and begging that brazen little hussy for money?”

“Lehka, it’s not like that.” Jesus, I had stepped in a big hot steaming pile of shit.

“It’s exactly fucking like that. So when are you going to beg for your money?” Her voice had an ugly edge. I didn’t like this version of Lehka.

I sighed. “Tonight.”

She was a detective. This wasn’t going to play well.

“Tonight? It’s Friday night!”

“It was the only time she could meet with me.”

What a lame ass lie. It just slipped out that way.

“Right Max. Do you think I’m fucking stupid?”

“Lehka. No… it’s just business.”

“Liar.”

Her face was getting red. That wasn’t a good sign.

“You go ahead and meet with this Heather Murtaugh. I’m going back to Columbus for the weekend to see my family and get more clothes.”

“I’ll miss you,” I offered. I noticed she didn’t invite me along.

“I’m not sure I will,” she answered.

“Where are you going to be this weekend?” she asked with a tone of indifference. That meant she had better hear something good.

“I’m planning on being in office this weekend to catch up on paperwork, including more intelligence on Columbians.” I thought the latter statement might buy me a smidge of goodwill.

“Too little too late Max,” she replied.

I was wrong. Again.

* * *

It was late Friday afternoon. Lehka had already left for Columbus. I picked up my phone to call Heather and cancel.

I started to press the call button when I saw an image of Carina De León flash before me. Holding her baby. I put the phone down. Lehka didn’t understand. It wasn’t about my pride, or chain of command. It was about a baby that didn’t have her mother. I knew deep down inside that I was right. I just couldn’t let go. Addie… Steph… Rachel… Brianna. Would I add Lehka to that list? Was my warning to her a self-fulfilling prophecy?

I went into my closet and picked out a conservative outfit, one where my intentions couldn’t be mistaken. I needed the money. I had to play the game on her terms. I’d handle the meeting, get the money, and call Lehka and apologize my ass off. I would not fuck this up.

Friday’s were busy at the Club. By the time I got there all of the bar stools were taken and it was two deep at the bar. Grace of course was there, holding court on the far end while a couple bar backs were feverishly working to help keep up with the demand. The dark side of me wanted a drink. Feeling the pressure of being between a rock and a hard place didn’t help. And I was standing at the epicenter of the perfect Manhattan.

Grace spotted me and put a napkin in front of me and one of her signature Manhattans on top of it.

“You look like you need this,” she told me.

“You can’t imagine.” And just like that I crossed that invisible line that Lehka had been defending so vigorously. I took the first magical sip. Sweet, smoky, earthy. It was like making love to a woman. I took a deep breath, taking in the seductive smell of the perfect drink and then letting another sip fill my mouth with the most delicious taste. And another sip… then another… and soon I noticed the glass was empty and I was sucking on the cherry.

I checked my phone. She was ten minutes late. I tapped my fingers on the bar. It had been two weeks since I had a real drink and that familiar glow from the first one made it easy to order a second. This is where I needed an intervention but no one was there to be my conscience. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Brianna made that clear. There’s a dark seed in an addict. And the drink for me was the sunlight that made that seed grow inside me.

A second drink was set up for me by an efficient bar back. The evidence of my first sin was taken away. The second stared at me. I’d have to face Heather, and convince her that the Mayor should approve the funds to help with a suspicion where I had no hard evidence. I needed a second glass of liquid courage. I thought about how I was going to ask for it, running through the scenarios in my head. Then I noticed my glass was empty.

Twenty minutes late. Maybe she was going to stand me up. Great. Lehka was ready to kill me, Cap was pissed at me, and I would go home with an empty bag for Carina.

Now I really needed a drink, and having had two, and getting the third was like falling off a log. I had fucked everything up, and good. Fucking Heather. Why did she have to be so beautiful that I’d agree to a Friday night meeting?

I signaled Grace for another. She brought it herself.

“Meeting someone?” she asked, putting a napkin down and my drink on top of it.

“A business acquaintance,” I answered.

“Not that lovely woman… Lehka?”

“No. Someone I met here before.”

“The blonde?”

She remembered I met with Heather. I guess you don’t forget someone like that.

“Uh huh,” I said with as much disinterest as possible.

“Business huh?” she said skeptically.

“That’s what I said.”

She looked me over with her critical eye. It was Friday night. Everyone at the bar was either picking someone up or being picked up.

“Max, you’re such a fucking liar,” she said in her gravelly voice.

“I’m keeping this strictly business,” I assured her.

“Not with her,” she fired back right away. “You just keep thinking that Max.”

She went back to attend to her other guests. I questioned my own motives. Why did I so eagerly agree to a Friday night meeting with a gorgeous blonde? When I was attached to someone else? I didn’t want to answer that question.

I took a sip of Grace’s Manhattan. It was divine. It stirred the dark place in my soul. I was mopping up the bottom of the drink with the cherry when my other nemesis, the beautiful woman, walked in. Just when I was convinced I was stood up, Heather made her entrance a fashionable thirty minutes late.

As the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, she was political royalty. She looked every bit a queen in the Queen City. She was wearing a short black dress. Her platinum blonde hair was down, past her shoulders. Black pumps. I watched all the men salivate over her entrance. Grace came over to wait on us.

“Two more,” I told Grace. Heather’s attention was elsewhere for a moment.

“Liar,” Grace said under her breath for my ears only.

* * *

Grace brought over our drinks. We adjourned to the private room in the back of the bar. I unlocked the door with my special key. There was no one else in it. The room was old school, with black velvet curtains, a thick Persian rug, and studded dark brown leather furniture. Heather took a seat on a settee and I settled into an oversized upholstered chair. She crossed her legs, letting her dress fall open. I could see almost all of her top leg. Like the rest of her body, her thigh to her ankle was exquisitely shaped, and the designer heel only made it that much more alluring. I tried to think of how much I loved Lehka, but those thoughts were drowned out by the alcohol and Heather’s insane beauty.

“You look lovely Max. Such a pleasant change from your police uniform.”

“I don’t have to tell you how attractive you are Heather. If good looks were a crime, your body would be illegal.”

She laughed. “Max, you say the funniest things.” She took a sip of her drink.

“Grace makes a mean Manhattan.”

“Yes she does,” I replied, starting in on my fourth.

I drew a deep breath. “Heather, I’m not sure why we had to meet this way, but I need the Mayor’s approval for surveillance on Shevchenko.”

I was trying to stay focused. I was feeling the effects of the alcohol.

“I studied the materials you gave to me. And I did some due diligence of my own. Quite frankly, I don’t see why you went over Captain Sheehan’s head to come to me. Is it because you wanted to see me? That’s the only conclusion I could come up with.”

“No, that’s not it at all.”

“But you have no hard evidence.”

“You have to trust me Heather.”

“Seriously? I’m starting to believe that you don’t like me.”

“What?” I was confused.

“You want me to stick my neck out on a ‘trust me’? You’ll have to do better than that.”

I was angry. I started in on my fourth drink. “I can’t. You have to Heather.”

“I can, and I won’t.”

This was not going my way.

“I don’t want to beg… ” I started before she interrupted me.

“Don’t bother.”

“I guess it’s time to go home.” This meeting was over.

She saw me wobble a bit when I stood up. “You’re driving home?”

“Uh huh,” I grunted.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight.”

“You’ve been counting?”

“No Max. I can smell it on your breath. How many have you had tonight?”

“None of your fucking business. Why do you care?”

“We may have a professional disagreement, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you.”

“I’ll manage.”

“I’ll drive you back to your place. You can come and get your car tomorrow.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“It’s non-negotiable. Let’s go.”

We walked out together. She drove. We left my car at the Club. I directed her to the Royal Palms. Even though I was living in a corporate apartment with Lehka, I had a standing reservation for Room 204. I didn’t want to sleep in the apartment, not that night. Not in my condition.

She helped me up the stairs. I unlocked the door and went straight for the bathroom and retched. Heather came in and waited for me.

“I’m leaving now,” she said. “Take care Max.”

She shut the door after herself.

I watched Carina’s last chance walk out the door. I was drunk and had messed everything up.

How did I react to hitting bottom again? Not well.

It was late and pitch black outside. I was feeling claustrophobic in my motel room. I was watching some stupid reality show on TV but I couldn’t get my mind off of how I was played by Shevchenko and Heather and lost Lehka in the process — the only good thing I had going in my life. There was too much to feel sorry for, and the weight of it pushed me outside into the darkness, where I could hide among the other creatures of the night.

I took a cab to the all night liquor store and told the driver to wait for me. As usual, a group of women was hanging out on the far edge of the tired asphalt parking lot, passing around a joint and waiting for their next customer. They eyed me as I got out of the taxi, and assessing me as a no sale, went back to their conversation. I took another look at them, somehow thinking I would see Brianna among them, but in a moment of lucid thought remembered she, like many others before her, were part of the flotsam and jetsam that were the wreckage of my life.

I tugged on the battered aluminum framed door of the convenience store and stepped into the bright, white lights of my personal mausoleum. A familiar face was behind the counter. Nigel was perched on a stool, reading his organic chemistry textbook, lost in thought, when he looked up and saw me approaching the counter. A glint of recognition crossed his gaunt face, giving me a smile with his crooked teeth.

“Max, good to see you again,” he said in a thoroughly British accent. He marked his page and closed his dog eared textbook. “Usual?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“Two?”

“Uh huh,” I grunted.

“Tough night?” He must have been bored to be engaging in conversation with me. I guess organic chemistry would do that. I was bored as well, and desperately in need of human interaction.

“You can’t imagine.”

“Girl troubles?”

He was an observant motherfucker. He remembered me in there with Brianna.

“The worst kind.”

“My girlfriend broke up with me,” he offered, as if to share our mutual pain. I remembered he came here to Cincinnati to follow his American girlfriend. He was cast to sea as I was.

“That sucks.”

“What happened to… Brianna was her name?” His powers of memory were impressive.

“She died,” I told him. No need for all the details. The punchline was sufficient. He could fill in the blanks himself.

“A shame,” he said, shaking his head. He knew she was a prostitute and a drug addict. A college man like him could put two and two together.

“Yeah,” I acknowledged.

He stretched his lean frame and pulled two Smirnoff Green Apple vodka pints off the top shelf. I pulled out my credit card. He scanned and bagged them and then authorized my card on his register.

“You take care Max,” he said as he handed me the bag.

“I’m not sure I can,” I admitted to him. I shrugged my shoulders, picked up the bag, and shuffled out of the store.

I was delivered back to the Royal Palms. I went up the stairs and jiggled the key to open my door. The television was still blaring some mindless infomercial and I could still smell Heather’s perfume, yet another reminder of how I’d messed things up. I needed to go to sleep. I wanted to go to sleep. To forget the nightmare I created. I was halfway through the second bottle when I finally fell into a drunken slumber.

* * *

Chapter Eight

The Reckoning

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Olek Shevchenko was holding a small sledgehammer. I was watching him pounding an anvil with it. I was naked and forced onto my knees on cold concrete. Two of his thugs were holding me as I struggled in vain.

He loomed over me and glared at me with hate filled eyes. “You little cunt. You have nose in place it don’t belong. Put her hand here.” He pointed to the flat striking surface of the anvil. I recoiled in fear, but was held in place.

One of his cronies twisted my arm and pinned my hand against the warm steel surface. Olek raised the hammer high over his head. I let out a blood curdling scream.

I woke up in a cold sweat.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Someone was pounding on my door. The front window overlooking the parking lot was rattling in its frame. Fortunately the drapes were closed and whoever was outside couldn’t see in.

I checked my phone. 6:15 a.m. Fuck. My forehead was throbbing.

I got out of bed and staggered to the door. I almost tripped over my dress, which is where I left it after I stripped down for Heather. I was wearing only my panties. I cracked open the door, leaving the security chain on.

“Open the fucking door,” said the voice behind the door.

It was Lehka. She had come home early. The day of reckoning for my sins.

I closed the door and undid the security chain. She pushed her way in. She was royally pissed.

“I called you at least a dozen times yesterday. You weren’t in the apartment. I figured you were here or dead. What the fuck were you doing?” she demanded.

I was still half asleep and hung over. I was in no position to conjure up a believable lie. Instead I shrugged my shoulders.

She kicked an empty vodka bottle that was laying on the floor. It tumbled over and over and thudded against the wall.

“Drinking again Max? What the fuck is wrong with you?” I’d never seen her this angry. She threw back the covers on my bed. A pair of thong panties came flying out. They obviously weren’t mine. Fuck. She picked them up with two fingers. They were half the size of the ones I wore, and besides which, I never wore thongs. Her eyes burned like hot embers.

“Whose are these?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I had no idea where they came from.

“I’m leaving Max. You broke my fucking heart again. You warned me. I didn’t listen. I’m the fucking idiot. You’re just pathetic.” She threw the panties in my face.

She stormed out of my room and slammed the door behind her. I heard her stomping down the outside stairs.

I really fucked up. It was her first real relationship. She was the innocent in this. I let my demons get the best of me.

* * *

I took the rest of the morning to sober up and mentally get my shit together after another ride to the basement. Physically I felt awful, but mentally I felt even worse. Lehka’s tongue lashing was going to leave mental scars for years. I took a long, hot shower to clear my head and took a cab back to City Hall to retrieve my car. I was back in our corporate apartment when my phone buzzed. It was a text message from Cap telling me to get to the station.

I put on my uniform and dragged my ass there. You wouldn’t have known it was late Saturday morning from the bustle of activity in the station. I walked past Cap’s open door on my way to the break room to make my first cup of coffee.

“Pemberton!” she shouted.

I peeked into her office.

“Sit. Now.”

I slunk over to her guest chair. It was still warm from the last victim.

“Singh was in my office. She quit. She’s going back to Columbus. What the fuck did you do?”

I stuttered.

“You know what, don’t answer that question. Nothing you’d say would surprise me. When I Google ‘fuck up’ your picture is the first result.”

“Sorry Cap.”

“Look, I still need to solve this case. It’s killing me and ruining my stats. You’re all I’ve got now. I’m giving you Lanny back. He’s waiting for you. Get the fuck out of my office and solve this case.”

I left her office with my tail between my legs. I still had a nagging feeling that Shevchenko was shining us on, but I had no proof and no leads.

I continued on to the break room. Fortunately Lanny was there waiting for me. He handed me a cup of hot coffee. My blend. I took a sip and nodded to him.

“Cap told me about Lehka.”

“Yeah, long story.”

“Cap gave me the short version.”

“I heard about you going to see Heather.”

Lanny had met Heather before. He knew she was a beautiful viper and not to be trifled with.

“Yeah, that turned out to be a mistake,” I admitted.

“Max, remember how you told me that everything you touches turns to shit, present company excluded?”

I’d told him that more than once. “Yeah?”

“Apparently it does.”

“Fuck you Lanny, it’s too early for that.”

Did everyone need to remind me that I fucked this one up?

“Well, I got something that may cheer you up.”

“What’s that?”

A glimmer of hope? I desperately needed something to make me want to get back out there.

“Remember Charlene LaFleur?”

“Syd’s wife?”

“Yeah, she’s up for parole.”

“No shit.”

“I shit you not, partner.”

A break that I’d been waiting for.

“I love you Lanny,” I told him. I leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek. This was the small opening that I needed.

“I love you too Max?” he replied, unsure of exactly how I was going to capitalize on that tidbit of information.

* * *

Lanny and I got into the patrol car. He was behind the wheel. I felt invigorated. The coffee and the new information. My optimism returned. I’d put Lehka mentally in the back of my mind. Solve the case first.

“Syd’s?” he asked. He’d finally figured out the angle as well.

“Yep.”

It was around noon when we went deep into the West End. Even though the station was bustling, this area was still asleep. Syd’s was closed, but there were a couple cars parked in the back of their lot. The weathered front door was locked. I took the butt end of my flashlight and rapped it against the dented mental surface.

“Syd!” I called out. I keep hitting the door and calling his name until he opened the door.

Syd jerked open the door. His soulless dark beady eyes peered out. He was shirtless and wearing torn jeans. He looked like he’d just woken up.

“What the fuck do you want?” he sneered, keeping the door open only a crack.

I used my charming voice. “Gee Syd, aren’t you happy to see me?”

He squinted in the bright morning light. Made him look like a hairless rat instead of a man. “Fuck off Max. Can’t you see that we’re closed?” He started to shut the door.

I pushed back and forced the door open. I probably had a twenty pound advantage on his scraggly ass. He had to give ground and let Lanny and me through into the darkened bar.

“This is harassment. I’m going to call your supervisor,” he said. He just as well could have threatened to hit me with a wet noodle.

“Go right ahead Syd. Lanny, why don’t you look up Captain Sheehan’s number. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear from this dirtbag.”

“Sure boss.” He pulled out his phone.

“While he’s looking, let’s talk about Charlene.”

He raised his thick eyebrows and glared at me. “What about her?”

“I hear she’s up for parole.”

“What of it?” The fight was leaving his voice.

“It would be a shame if the parole board were to deny it. She’s still got five years left on her sentence and the women’s jail… there’s not many nice people that live there.”

“You… you… wouldn’t,” he sputtered.

“Oh, but I would,” I told him, waving my finger at him. “It would give me great pleasure to tell them about the little fencing operation you’re running out of the storeroom. Not to mention you’re harboring known felons in your bar.”

Lanny stepped forward and grabbed him by his collar. “You know Max is a mean motherfucker. I wouldn’t mess with her. Not if you love your wife.”

I was proud of Lanny, playing the good cop.

“What do you want?” His shoulders drooped. He seemed resigned to his fate.

“Information,” I told him.

“About what?”

“About whom?” I corrected him.

“Just fucking tell me.”

“Shevchenko.”

“No.”

“You know, I have a lot of friends in prison that owe me a favor. They’d love to introduce Charlene to the joys of female love. Being married to a scumbag like you, that’s got to be an improvement.”

“He’ll kill me.”

“Wouldn’t that be a shame.”

“Please.” The sniveling bastard was pinned, pleading me for mercy. Precious. I wished I could have bottled that moment.

“Just give me something useful and I’ll do what I can on her parole application.”

“I’ll think about it. Now get the fuck out of here.”

“You know how to reach me.”

I was certain he would. Shitbirds like that were easy to read.

“That went well,” Lanny said to me outside the bar.

“He’s got to have something,” I said. Shevchenko holds court in there. He sees who’s coming in and out and can probably overhear a bunch of it.”

We got back into the cruiser, hopeful.

“Where to boss?”

“Nicky’s. For some reason I feel hungry as a horse.”

* * *

We were at our usual table, finishing a very satisfying meal. Most of the noon lunch crowd had left and Nicky was cleaning off the tables. We ordered the veal parm, and of course I got a tomato stain on my uniform. I was dabbing it off with a wet napkin when my phone rang.

“I’m not calling you.”

It was Syd. And he was definitely calling me.

“OK Syd. I’ll play. Since we’re not talking, what would you not have told me?”

“I wouldn’t tell you that Olek was talking to someone in the Mayor’s office.”

“Really?”

“Whose name wouldn’t you be telling me?”

“Heather… Heather Murtaugh.”

What the fuck? I thought. Heather?

I threw my wet napkin on the table. “Lanny, drop me off at City Hall and then go back to the station. Tell Cap it’s definitely Shevchenko. Ask him if he’ll approve surveillance at Shevchenko’s house, Syd’s and Kolba’s. I’ll see you back there after my meeting.”

“With who?”

“Heather Murtaugh.”

“Heather?”

“Don’t ask.”

* * *

I showed up at the reception desk. The same cute twenty something with multiple piercings and tattoos was texting on her phone. She looked at me annoyed.

“May I help you?”

“Heather Murtaugh please.”

She checked her computer.

“Ms. Murtaugh is in a meeting.” She went back to texting on her phone. I might as well as been invisible.

No one was going to stop me. Not now. I walked with purpose to the security door to the executive suite of offices.

“Officer! Officer!” I heard the receptionist calling me.

I looked back at the receptionist. “Open this. Now,” I told her. I can be intimidating when I’m in uniform. I can also be intimidating when I’m not in uniform.

She seemed shellshocked. She pushed the button to let me into the executive suite. Heather’s door was closed. I opened it. She was standing, leaning on her desk, pointing at a document with an older man looking over her shoulder. The man looked at me. I recognized him. It was Mayor Whitefeather.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Officer Pemberton. I have official business with Ms. Murtaugh. It’s private.”

He looked at Heather. She shrugged her shoulders.

“OK, I’ll leave you to it.” He left her office and closed the door behind him.

“Max… what the fuck?” Heather asked. She of course was impeccably dressed and radiating her special brand of beauty. Her eyes travelled to the tomato stain on my pants.

“Heather… Olek Shevchenko.”

She gave me a puzzled look. “What about Olek Shevchenko?” She was a beautiful actress as well.

I walked up to her and grabbed her wrist and squeezed.

“Hey… that hurts,” she complained.

“Heather…” I tightened my grip.

“OK…”

I let go. She rubbed her wrist. It was already turning red.

“He threatened me.”

“How?”

“My sister.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s in care. She was in an auto accident ten years ago and needs 24 hour nursing care. He told me he was going to hurt her.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I got a call from someone with a heavy accent telling me to go to this bar called Syd’s. He told me it was concerning my sister.”

“OK.”

“A car picked me up here and took me to Syd’s. It’s a horrible place by the way.”

It was a bad visual seeing Heather in a dump like Syd’s. I saw where this was going.

“Anyway, there’s this big guy sitting in the back. He says he’s Olek Shevchenko. I knew who he was. His name came up during our police commission meetings. Anyway, that’s where he threatened me.”

“About what Heather? You’re stalling.”

“Uhh. He asked me about you.”

“Me?”

“He asked me how well I knew you. Apparently he knew about our meeting at City Hall and why you wanted the money. He also knew about you and Lehka living together.”

“So?”

“He asked me if I liked you. I told him I did. He asked me to be friendly with you.”

“How friendly?”

“Very friendly.”

“So it was all an act? Making us meet at the Bearcat Club on Friday night? And wearing that fucking sexy dress?”

“No Max. I swear. I like you.”

I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“What about the panties?”

“When I took you back to your room you went into the bathroom to vomit. I… I took them off and put them under the covers.”

Damn. Shevchenko was devious and so was Heather. If Lehka and I split up, it would cripple our investigation.

“You were trying to drive a wedge between Lehka and me,” I accused her.

She admitted her sin. “I guess so. I’m so sorry Max. I didn’t know what to do.”

“You could have told me.”

“I was afraid for my sister. That Shevchenko guy scared me.”

I started to leave.

“Max?”

I whirled around. She could see I was still angry.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re a politician. Sorry’s not in your vocabulary. Have a good day Ms. Murtaugh.”

I slammed her door. I never imagined I’d do that to her.

* * *

I went back to the station. Lanny was waiting for me.

“Cap wasn’t impressed by the connection between Shevchenko and Heather. She didn’t approve anything.”

“Would it do any good if I went in there?”

“No. In fact I think it’d make it worse. You’re not exactly on her good list right now.”

“I don’t think I’m on anyone’s.”

“I think we need to keep working this. Something will come out of the woodwork,” Lanny said, trying to buoy my hopes.

“I hope you’re right.”

“Max, why don’t you do some paperwork to get your mind off this and then get a good night’s sleep? We’ll hit this again in the morning.”

Lanny had a point. I needed sleep, and I needed to get my head on straight. I felt like a ship being tossed around in a storm. I tackled the mountain of paperwork on my desk, and before long realized it was pitch black outside.

I couldn’t stand being in the corporate apartment with reminders of Lehka everywhere. I went back to the Royal Palms to recover from my conversation with Heather. Not only was Shevchenko the kidnapper, he framed the Columbians and discredited me in the process. I got into my motel room and flicked on the light. A pig would be ashamed to live in my room. I picked up the empty vodka bottle and threw it in the trash. I took the half full one and sat down on the shabby upholstered chair that faced the television set. There were cigarette burns on the arms, ones I didn’t put in them. I turned on the television and twisted off the cap off the unfinished pint. There weren’t any paper cups within reach so I took a swig directly out of the bottle. I welcomed the burn in my throat. It reminded me I was still alive.

My phone buzzed, There was a text message on it. It was from Syd. It simply said “See me.”

I was glad I was only a few sips into the bottle. No chance of a DUI. Fortunately, I never got around to donating my car. It still had a few good miles in it, rust spots and all. It was almost midnight, and there was no traffic on the road. As I approached his bar I saw the usual assortment of homeless people wandering aimlessly on the sidewalk. I parked my car two blocks away and got out of my car. I pulled a baseball cap low on my face and walked to the back entrance of the bar, standing away from the light cast by the overhead fixture above the door. I texted him back that I was waiting for him.

A few minutes later the door opened. Syd spotted me in the shadows and cozied up next to me.

“We’re not talking Max.”

I was tired of his senseless game. “Right Syd, just fucking spit it out.”

“Charlene’s parole hearing is next week.”

“I know that.” I didn’t, but he didn’t know that.

“You said you’d put in a good word.”

Now I did remember saying that. And even though it pained me, I keep my promises, even to a shitbird like him.

“Yeah, I did, and I will if you’ve got something good for me.”

“Shevchenko’s moving the women. He thinks the heats off so he’s sending them to Detroit.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Where can I find them?”

“Detweiler Street.” He gave me the address.

Fuck, that was the same street Brianna died on.

“You promised,” Syd reminded me, as if I had already forgotten.

“Right Syd, if this pans out, you’ll see your honey soon.”

“Shevchenko will kill me…”

“I know, I know,” I said, interrupting him.

He looked around the parking lot. There wasn’t anyone watching us. He went back into the bar without looking back at me.

* * *

Finally. My hunch paid off. The hunch that cost me Lehka. It was a Faustian bargain, one I’d made many times in my life. I woke up Captain Sheehan and met her at the station. I shared the information I so dearly paid for. She was delighted. It was our first big break in the case. She authorized a stakeout of the address, mindful of the warning I gave her about Shevchenko’s ability to sniff out surveillance.