"He snuck out of Kim's the other night as soon as you walked in."

The corner of her mouth turned up.

"Lot of people wouldn't want to be seen sitting at a bar by a detective."

"Yeah, I know," I said and waited.

"Why else did you single him out, Max?"

"He seemed to have some kind of connection to the new bartender, the one who was watching us that day when we were interviewing Laurie."

"Connection?"

"Yeah. When he bolted, she kept looking from us to the spot he left, very nervous."

She was still looking at the photo, her eyes narrowed. There was something else there, I was sure of it. And she was trying to decide whether she was going to share it with me.

"He's a cop. Works patrol. Maybe even in that sector," she said, looking up into my face.

"No s.h.i.t," I said, mostly to myself.

"Easy, Freeman," she started. "Lots of cops wouldn't want to be caught at a bar by a superior officer, even if they're off hours. Who knows, maybe he doesn't want word getting back to the wife?"

"Can you get a name and run a history, get a look at his record?" I said, my head working the possibilities.

"Jesus, Freeman. You're b.a.l.l.sy," she said. "Trying to blow my case on the main suspect, and asking me to help you line up another officer for the fall guy? A defense attorney would have a field day with that. 'I understand, Detective Richards, you were also investigating another possible suspect? Doesn't that mean you aren't sure who may have done this?'" she said, making her voice deep and smarmy.

Maybe I should have just let it sit. She would think about what she'd said without my holier-than-thou response. But I didn't.

"Come on, Sherry," I said, stepping closer to her. "We're not like them, the lawyers trying to argue through who wins and who loses and to h.e.l.l with what's right or just. We're cops. We're here to stop it. If there's even an outside chance with this guy, you can't just kick it to the curb."

"I'm a cop, Freeman. You used to be," she said. "Maybe your old cronies up in Philadelphia forgot some of the basics of homicide investigation while they were covering themselves for getting laid on the job." She started to say something else, then held it.

"I've got a suspect who had opportunity, a suspect with a violent past, a suspect who is on the top of another agency's list in the disappearance of another vulnerable woman. I thought you were the one who never believed in coincidences."

Her eyes were still burning when Billy walked up.

"Sh-Sherry."

She put the photograph in the pocket of her slacks and extended her hand to meet his.

"You are l-looking great," Billy said, taking her hand in both of his and meaning, I knew, every word.

"Counselor," she said. "You were quite impressive in there. I'm sure I'll get a call from the prosecutor for not warning him who he'd be up against this morning."

He stepped in and at first I thought he might kiss Richards on the cheek, but instead he whispered: "It's not personal, Sherry." And then louder: "I s-still need a good crew person on my Sunday b-beer can races. Diane is learning, but slowly."

"I'll see if I can get a weekend evening free," she said.

"Wonderful," Billy said and turned to me. "Ready?"

He stepped away and I turned to Richards.

"I'll guarantee it," I said.

"What?"

"I'll guarantee that no one will be in jeopardy while O'Shea is out."

She didn't answer. She just nodded. When I caught up with Billy I looked back and her hand was back in the pocket of her slacks.

We walked over to the county courthouse which was next to the jail. Billy said he needed to visit an acquaintance. As an attorney, he might never show up in court, but the man had more connections than a senator at a lobbyist's convention.

"It w-will take a couple of hours for them to process O'Shea out."

"You paid his bond, cash?"

"A cashier's ch-check," he corrected.

"You just happened to have it in the exact amount?"

"I antic.i.p.ated."

"Pretty d.a.m.ned sure of yourself, Counselor."

He paused a second.

"It was n-not as unpleasant as I thought it might be, M-Max."

This time I paused, letting Billy consider what he was saying about his lifelong fear that his stutter was an intolerable flaw that society would forever hold against him.

"So if this goes to trial, you'll represent him?"

He stopped at the corner.

"They don't t-take aggravated a.s.sault to trial, M-Max. They deal them down and plead them out."

"I meant if they tag him for the disappearances," I said. This time he looked me in the eyes.

"Be careful, M-Max," he said without hesitation. "If they come up with enough evidence to indict O'Shea on homicide charges, w- we both may have made big mistakes."

CHAPTER 21.

She knew she'd made a mistake, and now she was paying for it. Scared as h.e.l.l, and paying for it.

They'd gone to dinner, his choice, the steak house that she was really getting sick of, but whenever she balked he gave her that look, the one that made her turn her face away, waiting, the skin on her cheek almost warming like she'd already been slapped.

But the dinner conversation went well. He was smart, no doubt about that. He kept up on current events and spoke intelligently about issues that she rarely paid attention to. They'd talked, like adults. Then they went to the movies, again, his choice. Again, somehow, they always ended up at the show he first suggested. Not that she hated them. It was just that if she mentioned another film, he'd say "Yeah, OK, that's a possibility. Let's see what else there is," and by the time they went through the listings in the paper, they'd be right back to his choice.

She'd thought about her father then, how they always "discussed" things but whenever it looked like she might get something her way, he'd pull his trump card: "Your holy mother and the Lord himself are looking down on us, Marci. Ask them. What would they do?"

Kyle didn't have to push those cheap b.u.t.tons. His trump card was now the back of his hand. In the last two weeks he'd stung her a couple of times. She'd told herself that was it. Then he'd show up with apologizing flowers. Then there was that "love light" with the candle in it that he said he wanted her to hang in her window to remind him that even brushing his hand too close to the flame could put it out, and he would never do it again. Christ, she'd thought. How do you dump a guy like that?

She'd told him after the movies that she didn't want to go riding again. She was tired. She had another double shift coming up. He started driving out Broward Boulevard and pulled the flask filled with Maker's Mark from under the seat and didn't bother mixing it, just sipped it, right out in traffic.

"Come on, Marci. Just for a little while."

"Kyle, no," she said. He didn't like no. But she wasn't sure she cared anymore.

"Oh, I see. I take you to dinner. I take you to the movies. Then when I want to do something for me, it's no."

She was silent and he looked over. She sat there, slack-jawed. Then she let that half-grin come into her face, the one she knew p.i.s.sed him off. The one he called her "It's almost amusing how stupid you are" look. Then she made her big mistake. They were already west of Dixie Highway, past where he should have turned to take her home.

"Christ!" she snapped. "Can't you give up this 'My way, my way, my way' all the time and give someone else a little say?"

She watched those marbles in his jaw start to roll, but didn't care this time.

"I mean, G.o.dd.a.m.n. It's not always about you, Kyle, and you ruin it when you're always making it about you!"

He still remained quiet, but she could feel the car accelerate as they pa.s.sed the Fort Lauderdale Police Department building doing at least fifteen over the speed limit. But what were his friends going to do? Pull him over?

"G.o.ddammit, Kyle. Take me home! Now!"

The movement was faster than she could catch in the soft darkness of the car. She didn't even pick up on it until the impact snapped her head to the side. He'd backhanded her with the speed and lightning-fast anger she'd seen him use on others. The sound of his skin and knuckles smacking her cheek and the bridge of her nose came a millisecond before the sting of pain.

For a moment she thought she hadn't even had time to close her eyes, and was astounded that someone's hand could be faster than a blink. Then she opened her eyes and oriented herself. She was against the door. Kyle was staring straight ahead, both hands on the wheel. She blinked through welling tears and looked out the windshield, thinking. Now they were pulling up to the I-95 entrance and she could make out the blur of colored traffic lights going from green to yellow. She felt the car slow, felt for the door handle and clack! clack! The locks snapped down. He'd antic.i.p.ated her move, flipped on his siren and lights and swung through the red light, gathering speed onto the interstate. She knew she'd made her big mistake. Now she was scared. The locks snapped down. He'd antic.i.p.ated her move, flipped on his siren and lights and swung through the red light, gathering speed onto the interstate. She knew she'd made her big mistake. Now she was scared.

CHAPTER 22.

Turnkey" sandwich. Maybe the food was better than the prison wit. I had coffee and watched the morning hustle. There were lots of ties and an equal number of wonderful women's dresses. There was an energy around the place, people moving, b.u.mping, saying h.e.l.lo or even avoiding eye contact. A guy shuffled a briefcase from one hand to the other to dig for change. A woman watched the eyes of the cashier, waiting for them to catch hers and take an order. A too loud guffaw sounded from the knot of three suited men, causing the rest to turn and look. People moved with purpose and checked their watches. In my semi-isolation I had lost some of my people-watching skills. It had been a constant when I'd worked a beat, watching, and not always just for the pickpocket working his way through the tourists or the smack dealer hooking up with a new face on the corner. You had to have a suspicious eye as a cop. But you also had to remind yourself that ninety-nine percent of what went on around you were folks just living, working honest jobs, filling their spot in the world. You got jaded if you weren't careful and did something stupid or just burned out. Richards's words were still stinging. She was right. She was the cop. I wasn't. But I resented her implication that I'd gone home and fallen back into the brotherhood of see-no-evil. I'd gotten jaded and left. The shadows followed, but I had left.After I left Billy I went across the street to the Barrister's Bagel and had breakfast. They had a special on a "Locks & I bought another large coffee to go and walked back to the jailhouse. I was on the outside bench when O'Shea came through the doors, automatically looked up into the sky and took a deep breath of air, and then spotted me.

"Thanks, Max," he said, shaking my hand, "and your friend Manchester."

His eyes were red-rimmed. He'd only been in overnight but looked like he'd lost weight. His clothes carried a stink that flashed me back to Philadelphia lockups that we as officers only had to stand for a few minutes and then joked about back in the squad rooms.

"You all right?" I said, watching his face.

"You see that b.i.t.c.h, Richards, standing in the back of the courtroom?"

I just nodded.

"Took that f.u.c.king gloat off her face, your boy Manchester did."

"He's good," I said. "You need a ride home? Want to get something to eat? It's almost noon."

O'Shea nodded and walked with me.

"What's with that guy's stutter, anyway?" he said after a few moments. "He puttin' that on for a sympathy factor or what?"

"Does he look like a guy who needs sympathy?" I said, sharp, snapping to Billy's defense even when he didn't need it.

"No. s.h.i.t, no. He kicked their a.s.s," O'Shea said and took my tone and let it go.

We got to my truck and as soon as I started the engine I hit the automatic windows and pulled out of the parking to get some air circulating. I got on Andrews Avenue and headed north. O'Shea put his arm out his window.

"Back in the world. Isn't that what the cons say?"

"Yeah."

"Christ, only one night and you can feel it," he said. "I can't understand why they even take the gamble."

I looked over at the side of his face when he said it. She was wrong, I thought again, shifting more of my doubt. O'Shea wasn't the one. When I got to Sunrise Boulevard I started east and then threw a U-turn at the crossover and pulled into a small lot at Hot Dog Heaven. Chicago-style dogs. Best in the city. Plus tables outside in the breeze. I bought two with everything for O'Shea and couldn't help myself and got a third for me. We sat at a picnic table outside, only fifteen feet from the street traffic. I let him finish the first dog.

"So tell me about the photo."

"Oh, yeah. OK," he said, wiping relish off his chin. "Sorry, had other things on my mind." He finished chewing, took a gulp of coffee, exhaled and looked across the street like he was seeing it.

"I took the third seat from the end of the bar, figuring, like you said, he liked the last seat and I didn't want to crowd him if he showed. I was a couple of beers into it when some woman sat down on my left. Not my type and besides she was taking up the trap so I belched once, trying to dissuade her.

"She asked a question about the game that was up on the tube, trying to be friendly, so I asked her if she ever heard the joke that goes: 'What did one tampon say to the other when they met on the street?'"

"Did she wait for the answer?" I said.

"No. She got up and left," O'Shea said. "Then about eleven the guy in the picture comes in and sits at the end. I can tell there's something up between him and the blonde bartender. She ignores him at first and he just sits there, same look on his face, pa.s.sive, not a bit bothered. I'm checking him in the mirror and he's playing the same game, watching me. Guy's got cop all over him. Tight haircut, like old Sergeant Rixson used to push on us.

"He's got that smell of talc.u.m like we all did in the days after we had to wear the Kevlar every night. Get so G.o.dd.a.m.n sweaty you had to powder up even after you showered at the end of the shift."

"What about him and the bartender? Did they talk?" I asked, maybe a little too suddenly.

"You didn't say you were looking for a cop, Max," O'Shea said, putting both elbows on the table and bringing his coffee cup up with both hands.

"No, I didn't," I said. I wasn't going to offer that I hadn't known I was looking for a cop until Richards ID'ed the photo two hours ago. "Did they talk?"

He sipped and made me wait.

"She finally came down and put a Rolling Rock in front of him without being asked and they looked at each other for a couple of seconds longer than a barmaid and just a regular would. Now mind you, she'd been pretty friendly before he got there, worked the bar nice."