Monday
Evening
Hillman led them into his small office. There was a comfy-looking couch against the wall but he directed them to the two uncomfortable metal chairs in front of his desk and sat down across from them. Keri could barely see him over piles of files that took up most of his desk.
"Good work out there, Detectives. Ray, you know that Brody's retiring at the end of the year, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"That means there will be an opening in Homicide. You interested?"
Keri watched Ray's mouth drop open. He stared at Hillman, then at her. She smiled at him even as her heart sank. That seemed to help him regain his composure.
"Do I have to answer right now?"
"Of course not. Just don't wait too long. There's a lot of interest but I want you to apply for it."
Thank you, sir."
Hillman nodded, then turned his attention to Keri.
"Locke, first off, well done. It was your tenacity that got this case rolling. We'd really be behind the eight ball if you hadn't gotten that head start. And after that rough beginning, you nailed the breakdown in the all-hands meeting in there. I think you've got a real future here."
She felt it coming.
"But…" she said.
Hillman looked genuinely pained.
"But this case is getting political fast. We have to tread lightly considering who's involved. And we're probably only hours from the Feds taking over. We can't have any missteps."
"There won't be," she promised.
Hillman's eyes flashed. Any sympathy he'd had disappeared from his face.
"Denton Rivers threatened to file a complaint against you for assault."
"For what?" Keri demanded, displaying more self-righteousness than she felt.
"How about that massive welt on his head?"
"He already had that when we got there. And then he tripped and hit it on a coffee table."
"Stow that bullshit! Don't insult my intelligence, Detective. The decision has been made. We can't have any more suspects tripping into coffee tables. You're off the case."
"Off?" she repeated, stunned.
Hillman nodded.
"We'll still tap you as a resource if need be. You're obviously well versed in the case particulars. But beyond that, yes, you're off. I can't risk anything that puts a conviction in jeopardy."
Ray cleared his throat.
"With all due respect, sir-"
Hillman held up his hand.
"Don't waste your breath, Sands. The decision has been made."
He continued to talk but Keri didn't hear it. An image flashed through her head of a little girl being tossed into a van, of a loud thud as her body slammed into the wall. Then a voice snapped her out of it.
"Locke, are you there?"
Hillman's voice was loud, as if he'd asked the question more than once.
She said, "Yes, sir."
"Okay. That's it then. Go home and get some sleep."
Ray stood up and said, "Sir, if she's off the case, I'm off too."
Lieutenant Hillman frowned.
"I need you to coordinate the surveillance footage with Patterson."
Ray exhaled, deciding, then said, "Detective Locke is my partner. We're both on or we're both off."
The look on Hillman's face was one Keri had never seen before. His mouth twisted into a warped pucker. The lines in his forehead formed even deeper grooves than usual. He seemed to be desperately struggling to contain his temper.
"It wasn't a request, Detective Sands," he finally growled.
"In that case, sir, I'm not feeling very well. I think I need to take some sick time."
Keri said softly, "Ray, don't."
He ignored her, staring hard at Hillman with his one good eye.
The older man stared back, and after what felt like an eternity, seemed to relent. He shook his head in disbelief and said, "Fine. Take your 'sick time.' Now get out of here before I suspend you."
They walked out of his office.
Keri turned to him; he looked as dazed as she felt.
"What do we do now?" Keri asked.
"Meet me at your car in five minutes. I have to wrap a few things up."
"Where are we going?"
"To get drunk," he answered.
*
Fifteen minutes later, at just after eight, they sat at a tiny corner booth at Clive's, a Culver City bar popular with cops. Keri was on her second Glenlivet. Ray sipped a light beer.
"Trying to keep your girlish figure?" she teased.
"I have to stay in shape in case the next suspect you attack tries to fight back."
"I deserved that. You know, I'm starting to think that having me for a partner isn't all that great for your career, Ray."
"Starting to think…?" he asked incredulously.
"Seriously-I don't have much in the way of impulse control and you always to seem to bear the brunt of that. You stood by me with Hillman, so now he's pissed at you, possibly putting that Homicide job at risk. I'm like a human tire fire. You should stay clear of me."
"What if I don't want to stay clear of you?" he asked with more sincerity than Keri was prepared for.
She downed some more scotch and let it warm her insides. The shots were starting to take the edge off and she considered giving a heartfelt response. Was there a better time to address this than now? Her position in the unit was in question. Ray might be moved to Homicide. Maybe they should finally shoot straight about what exactly they were to each other-partners, friends, more?
But before she could reply, Ray seemed to lose his nerve and spoke up quickly.
"I mean, if I lost you as a partner, who would teach me all those dope Krav Maga moves?"
Keri felt the moment passing and decided to let it go-for now.
"Yeah, you'd be lost without me. Otherwise, you'd have to depend on those boxing hooks and jabs and crewcuts."
"Uppercuts," he said softly, smiling.
"Yeah, those."
"You know, that's what I thought Lenny Jack was coming at me with in that last fight, an uppercut. But he surprised me with that hook and-blam-goodbye eyeball. I was too arrogant."
"Arrogant isn't a word that comes to mind when I think of you; cocky, maybe, but not arrogant."
"You didn't know me back then, Keri. I was arrogant. I was raking in pretty good money. I had nice things. I had a woman who loved me and two kids who adored me. And I took it all for granted. I burned through cash like it was going out of style. I cheated on my wife. I didn't spend time with my children. I treated people badly. And I went into that fight lazy, feeling entitled. I got what I deserved."
"Don't say that."
"It's true. I deserved to lose that fight. And I deserved to go bankrupt. I deserved to have Delilah leave me and take the kids. And I deserved to lose that eye too. Looking back, it actually changed my life
for the better. I actually started to give a shit about other people. It gave me the freedom to try to make a difference. It's weird to say, but it may be the best thing that ever happened to me. Well, almost the best thing."
Pretending not to pick up on that last comment, Keri nodded. They'd both had life-changing events which sent them on a new career path. The difference was that for Ray, law enforcement was a calling. For her, it was a mission with one ultimate goal-to find her daughter.
"I had the dream again last night," she said.
"The one at the park?"
She nodded.
"This time I got so close. I was running so fast. I looked down and saw my bare feet leaving bloody footprints in the gravel. I could almost reach out and touch the back of the van. Evie was looking at me through the rear window. She was screaming but no sound came out. The van hit a bump and she dropped out of sight. Then I woke up. I was so soaked in sweat that I had to change clothes."
"I'm sorry, Keri," Ray said. She refused to look up at him, afraid to let him see that her eyes were damp.
"Ray, am I ever going to find her?"
"We'll find her together. I promise. And when we do, she'll have a lot of birthday parties to make up. Maybe I'll come as a clown," he added, trying to lighten the mood. She decided to go along.
"Because that's not scary at all."
"What do you mean? I'm a sweetheart!"
"You're a pituitary case. Putting you in clown makeup isn't going to make it better, Paul Bunyan."
"Whatever you say, Fievel."
Keri opened her mouth to fire back when Ray's phone rang. He answered it before she could get a word out.
"Saved by the bell," she muttered.
"What's up?" he asked the person on the other end of the line. He listened, pulling out his notepad and writing furiously. He didn't say a word until the very end.
"Thanks, Garrett. I owe you."
"What is it?" Keri asked after he'd hung up.
"We gotta go," he said, standing up and dropping some bills on the table. They headed for the door.
"Who was that?"
"Detective Patterson. Before we left the station I asked him to call me with any major updates. He's been checking surveillance from near the school. You know how the front license plate on the van was covered up?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, it looks like the guy forgot to cover the rear one. The security camera from a tattoo parlor on Windward caught it. They got a hit. It belongs to a guy named Johnnie Cotton. He's got a long rap sheet. I can fill you in on the details in the car. But the most important one is that he's a small-time drug dealer."
"Why does that matter?"
"Because you know one of his clients."
"Who's that?" Keri asked as they hurried down the street to her car.
"Denton Rivers. Patterson said the kid just admitted it to Sterling and Cantwell. That's who gave him the first bump on his head and the scratches too. Apparently Denton hadn't been paying his bills."
"You're thinking that Johnnie Cotton took Ashley as collateral?"
"It's a theory."
"So why are we in such a hurry?"
"First give me your keys," Ray said.
"Why?"
"Because you don't handle your Glenlivet as well as you think you do."
Keri had to admit that the warm feeling from the shots hadn't subsided. She tossed him her keys.
"Now will you tell me why we're in such a rush?"
"Because Patterson told me that Hillman's assembling a strike team to hit Cotton's place. They'll be there in about forty-five minutes."
"So what?"
"So, Cotton lives near the Baldwin Hills oil fields."
"That's ten minutes from here," Keri said.
"Yes, it is. Care to go on a field trip?"
"I thought we were off the case."
"You're off the case. I'm on sick leave. But I'm feeling better all of a sudden. Can I help it if you were in the car with me when I decided to pursue a viable lead?" He was grinning from ear to ear.
"Hillman's going to kill you."
"Not if he wants me to take that Homicide job, he's not. So are you in or not?"
Keri raised her eyebrows.
Did this guy forget who he's talking to?
"Drive," she said.
Within seconds they were tearing down the street, siren blaring. If they made good time, they'd be at Cotton's place a half hour before the cavalry.
And if Ashley's hurt, you're going to be begging for them to show up.