Chapter Eighteen
Leroy was waiting outside for us when we left the office. There were too many of us to pile into the cab, so we walked and told Leroy to meet us at the Seventeenth precinct. Leroy was smart and didn't ask any questions as he pulled away.
The walk was long and dreary. No one spoke as we made our way the few blocks to the precinct. Rose walked next to Max, Jackson led the way and I followed close behind with Kali. Kali was particularly pensive as we walked, she frowned to herself and didn't look at anyone.
“Are you sure you're all right?” I asked quietly as the precinct came into view.
“Yeah,” Kali assured me, just as quietly. “I was just thinking.”
“About taking over Jones' practice?” I asked, hopefully.
“Kind of,” Kali admitted. “It's just so brutal, I guess I had forgotten that the bodies I work with used to be people who had feelings and families and stuff. This has been kind of a harsh wake up call for me.”
I nodded. I knew what she meant. I went through the same thing right before I quit the force. Too many dead bodies piled up in your subconscious. Too many broken people passed through your life. If you couldn't find a way to keep it from bogging you down, you started to lose yourself in the darkness. I'd seen it happen to good cops, too. Most of them found ways to cope, usually it was found at the bottom of a bottle. Kali kind of had the opposite problem. She saw all the dead bodies but never had to deal with the people attached to those bodies except for when they made the identification. She saw emotional breakdowns on a regular basis, but she wasn't there to talk it out with the people in mourning, so she forgot what it was like to have attachments.
And yet, she was somehow more socially adept than I was.
I wrapped my arm gently around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze of reassurance. “You're one of the good guys, remember?”
Kali smiled. “I know,” she told me. “I just forgot how nice it is to have someone who cares about you so much that they're willing to kill to keep you safe.”
“I never stopped feeling that way about you,” I told her as we walked up the stairs to the station. I pulled my arm away from her and grabbed the door as our little procession made its way inside.
We were all back in business mode as soon as we crossed that threshold and entered the station.
A young girl, who I could only assume was Lola saw us first. She was sitting at Stringer's desk and her eyes lit up with joy as she saw us walk in. “Max!”
Jackson stepped out of the way to let the siblings embrace one another. Lola was sobbing into her brother's shoulder and babbling incoherently.
“Where have you been?” Max asked quietly.
“Hiding!” Lola replied, wiping her tears away. “There was this guy in a suit following me, so I ran and lost him. I tried to go home, but he was waiting at the apartment and I didn't dare to lead him to the Doctor's place, so I hid.”
“Smart kid,” I commended.
Stringer walked over to us, sauntering as he did. Egotistical prick that he was.
“Get lost, Stringer., I growled.
“You're interfering with my case,” Stringer replied.
“Bite me,” I challenged.
Stringer bared his teeth at me in a grimace.
“Boys, no need to fight,” Kali interjected. “Stringer, if you don't mind, I think Chief Fredricks should come and have a chat with Lola's brother.”
“What are you doing with him?” Stringer asked, jerking his head towards me. “He's not a cop anymore, Kali.”
“No, but he's still a friend.”
I felt a burst of pride at the familiar term, but a pang of disappointment that she didn't call me her boyfriend.
Stringer snorted. “I'd be careful what kind of company you keep,” he warned. “You know that words can do a lot of damage to your career.”
“So can kissing the wrong asses,” Kali pointed out. “Now go and get the Chief.”
Stringer bit his tongue, thankfully, and did as Kali demanded as the siblings continued their tearful reunion. I beamed at Kali, impressed with her badassery and refusal to be cowed by Stringer's ego.
It was only a moment before Fredricks joined us, Stringer following behind.
“Detectives,” Fredricks said by way of greeting. “Good to see you,” he cast a glance at Kali. “Doctor.”
“Hey boss,” Kali said casually. “Hope you don't mind that I was helping Detective Tuesday as a consultant?”
“Not at all,” Chief Fredricks agreed with a nod. “Always good to see inter-agency cooperation.”
My firm was an agency in this case? I couldn't argue with that. “Thank you, Chief.”
Fredricks looked at our rag tag group with a question on his lips. I held up my hand before he could start asking anything.
“Perhaps it would be best if we took the upcoming discussion into a more private place?” I suggested. “Jackson will watch over Rose and Lola, and Max here will come and tell you what he told me.”
I had to hand it to the Chief. He certainly knew when to take a hint. He turned and looked at Stringer. “You can get back to work,” he said flatly. “As far as I remember, you still have a murder to solve, haven't you?”
Stringer glared at me but didn't argue. He mumbled his assent and stormed off, grumbling under his breath.
Jackson looked at me. “We'll go grab a soda,” he announced, ushering the two girls away without hesitation.
“Now that that's all settled,” Fredricks announced, “I'm positive that my office isn't in use.”
We piled into the Chief's office. It was cozy with all of us in there, but no one dared to complain. Kali stood quietly by the door, ready to call in the uniformed guards who were waiting outside. I was thankful that Fredricks had dismissed Stringer. I sat quietly next to Max as he recounted his story to Fredricks.
Chief Fredricks sat in silence for a long moment as Max finished his admission.
“You do understand that you will be taken into custody now, right?” Fredricks asked finally.
Max nodded.
“And you understand that until such a time as we can extract a confession from the man you claim hired you, I am bound to prosecute you to the full extent of the law?”
Max's face paled and he swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
Fredricks tented his fingers against his lips. “You've done a brave thing, confessing like this. I agree with Detective Tuesday that if, and this is a huge if, we can get a confession from the man who hired you, that you will receive a lesser charge.”
Max opened his mouth to say something, but Fredricks silenced him with a wave of his hand. “This isn't how the justice system usually works. I am making a huge exception for you because I feel that there is a bigger criminal running loose on the city streets and I would rather see that person be taken down than see a kid who is trying to turn his life around rot in the can for twenty-five years.”
“Thank you, sir,” Max mumbled.
Fredricks nodded and looked up at Kali. Kali opened the door to the office and the uniformed cops came inside and took Max into custody. Max didn't fight, or hesitate as the cops led him away to a holding cell while we figured out what was going to happen next.
“Shut the door please, Kali,” Fredricks said. “And stay a moment longer?”
Kali did as she was told and took the seat next to me.
“You realize that you've opened a horrible can of worms, right?” Fredricks asked me immediately.
“I didn't open it!” I insisted. “Wayside came to me first. The murder just happened to fall into my lap.”
“We're looking at a conspiracy that includes some of the richest, most powerful people in this city,” Fredricks told me.
“Oh, I know,” I replied, grinning. I wanted to bring these bastards down. They'd been playing in the mud and hiding it behind their squeaky clean facades. Now it was time to show off what that mud really looked like.
“And you're positive that
Wayside is the good guy in this whole mess?” Fredricks pressed.
“Pretty sure, anyway,” I agreed. “I still don't think that anyone is totally innocent here, but I'll take what I can get at this point.”
Fredricks nodded. “And what are you up to in all of this?” he asked Kali.
“I consulted on the sub-dermal images I found and matched them to Max's implants,” Kali said. “And I cleaned Blaze's apartment. Other than that, absolutely nothing.”
Chief Fredricks frowned and blinked rapidly in confusion. “Cleaned Blaze's apartment?” he asked. “Is that some sort of young people's slang for something I didn't need to know about?”
Kali's face turned beet red and I couldn't help but bark a rough laugh. “No, she actually cleaned my apartment yesterday,” I assured the Chief. “I was late for our meeting and she was bored,” I shrugged. “It pays to be friends with a coroner with OCD.”
“I'm not OCD!” Kali insisted adamantly. “I just prefer things to be tidy.”
“When's the wedding, you two?” Fredricks asked lightly, smirking in our direction.
“Half past never,” Kali replied bluntly.
Ah, it was just like old times.
“Well at any rate, I think we owe you quite a lot right now, Blaze,” Fredricks told me, changing gears. “I'll be giving you a personal commendation once we get the screws tightened up on this case and we can go to court.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Press is gonna be all over this,” Fredricks continued. “And I'm sure that you want Stringer to take credit for this as much as I do.”
“Which is to say not at all, right?” I asked innocently.
Fredricks chuckled. “He'd be insufferable if I let him have credit for this,” he agreed.
“I don't 'do' press,” I pointed out. “Never have, never will.”
“They're gonna want a sound byte or something.”
I shrugged. “Maybe Jacks will want to say something to the newspapers, but I'm not interested.”
“Even if we have an award ceremony?” Fredricks pushed. “Even if you get a commendation from the mayor on top of the one I plan to give you?”
Ooh, that was tempting.
“We'll see about that when the time comes,” I replied, evading the question as best as I could.
Fredricks nodded. There was no arguing with me when my mind was made up. “I still have your badge if you want it back,” he offered instead.
“If I come back, will you fire Stringer?” I asked, catching the incredulous look Kali was giving me.
“I'd have to have a damn good reason to fire him,” Fredricks countered.
“What about assaulting a police officer?” I suggested, still bitter about the bruise on my face.
“You'd have to be an officer before he hits you next time,” Fredricks pointed out.
I chuckled. “In that case, no thanks,” I said slowly. “I still have some work to do that will be easier to accomplish without the weight of a badge.”
“Understandable, but disappointing,” Fredricks told me. “Let me know when you're ready to be reinstated.”
I nodded and stood up. “Is there anything else, sir?” I asked.
Fredricks shook his head. “At the moment? No. You can go catch your bad guy.”
“Thank you,” I said, shaking the Chief's hand.
Kali followed me out of the office. “You're not taking him up on his offer to come back to the force?”
“Never will,” I replied.
“Why not?”
“In a word? Stringer. In a long-winded explanation, well, I'll save that for a night where candlelight and wine are present.”
Kali grinned and shook her head. “I'll hold you to that.”
“I'll be sure you do,” I replied.
“Where are we going now?” Kali pressed.
“I'm headed to my meeting at Five Points with Doctor Tekla,” I said. “You're going home to get some rest.”
Kali frowned. “Fine,” she agreed, grumpily. “Be careful.” She added.
“Always am,” I reassured her with a cocky grin.
We made our way back to the main hall where the bullpen was located. Stringer saw us grinning and stormed over.
“What did you tell Fredricks?” Stringer demanded.
“Nothing that you need to worry about,” I replied coolly. “Get out of my face, Stringer.”
Stringer grabbed my arm and I barely managed to restrain myself from decking him.
“This is my case, Tuesday,” Stringer growled.
“Sure is,” I said flatly. “Let go of my arm, though, Bo. I'm not afraid of assaulting a cop, and if I think about it, I certainly owe you one for the beating you gave me while I was unarmed and trussed up in custody the other day.”
Stringer let me go and glared at me. “Back off of the Doctor's murder, Tuesday,” he warned.
“I'm not even investigating that anymore,” I pointed out, rolling my shoulder. “I've got bigger fish to fry up at Five Points. You can keep your cold case.”
I leaned over and pecked Kali on the cheek, an innocent gesture the rest of the cops had seen me perform a thousand times over. I grinned and waved at Stringer, leaving before he could say anything else to ruin my day.
Jackson, Rose and Lola were walking back towards the precinct from the local convenience store. I waved to them as we met up on the sidewalk.
“What's the word?” I asked.
Jackson shrugged. “The girls are heading back to the Kitchen to try and settle in for a while, maybe get some rest.”
“Good idea,” I admitted. “Are you two gonna be all right?”
Rose nodded. “Nothing I can't handle.”
I smiled. “Good,” I placed my hand gently on Lola's shoulder. “Your brother will be all right,” I promised.
Lola nodded. “I know,” she assured me. “And Rose is gonna help me out 'til Max is outta the joint.”
I shook my head. Lola was far more street-wise than I think even I had been at her age. “All right. Be careful. We'll check on you when we can.”
Rose smiled. “Thank you, Detective Tuesday,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “You and Detective Early have really helped us.”
I nodded, unable to say anything.
Jacks and I watched as the girls walked away, headed back to the Kitchen alone.
“You wish that there was more you could do, don't you?” Jackson asked me.
“Did you actually manage to get psychic powers from your after-market mods?” I replied.
“That's a question you shouldn't be asking,” Jackson replied with a smirk. “Man was not meant to trifle with such things. Oh, and there's Leroy,” he added, nodding towards an approaching cab.
I shook my head in disbelief as the cab stopped in front of us. We climbed inside and buckled ourselves in.
“Hey Detectives,” Leroy said, grinning up at us in the overhead mirror. “Where to?”
“Five Points Engineering,” I replied. “As fast as you can. We have a murderer to catch.”