Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm (17 page)

“I’m so sorry, but Dr. Rosenbaum was giving an exclusive reading from his new novel just for faculty, and he invited me to come along. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but you don’t just get up and walk out of a reading. It’s really rude.”

“I’m sure. How is good ol’ Doc Rosenbaum?”

“He’s fine. Delta, are you okay? You sound funny. You are mad, aren’t you?”

“No, Hon, I’m not mad. Just concerned.”

“Well, I’m okay and I’m on my way home.” Delta gripped the phone hard. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, but I don’t think we should talk about it over the phone.”

“Well, I have to go to work. How about dinner tomorrow or the next night? Just the two of us. We can talk, or not talk. But let’s try to spend some time together.”

“I’d like that.” Megan’s tone softened.

“Good. So would I.”

“Del?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going to be okay. You have to believe that.”

Sighing, Delta looked at her own reflection in the mirror. “I’ll try. See you in the morning.” Hanging the phone up, Delta continued to stare at herself in the mirror. Suddenly, she felt as if she wasn’t the one who had the choice to make. Maybe it was Megan’s key sinking in the water and Delta was just standing by to see what she chose. Maybe they had spent so much time worrying about Delta’s job that nobody was paying much attention to what was happening to Megan.

And maybe, Delta thought as she lay her head on the table, Megan’s key and my key had already sunk to the bottom.

Sitting next to Connie, Delta ran her hand through her hair. She was beginning to feel old and it bothered her. Suddenly, when she looked in the mirror, she saw two deep green eyes with a wizened look about them and worry lines running across her forehead like the Grand Canyon. And it was no wonder. Ever since she had busted the guys who killed Miles, her every move was examined with scrutiny. She felt like a microbe under a microscope and couldn’t shake the feeling that she was always being watched. Now, with a volatile rookie in her hands, her lover, her shrink, and her friends gauging her every choice, it was as if the entire world was watching to see if someone could tame this wild bronco.

And Delta was beginning to wonder about it herself.

“How’d it go?” Connie asked, turning from Eddie and pressing the screen saver button.

Delta shrugged. “We didn’t see each other. She kinda had other plans.”

Connie looked out at Delta with one eye. “Uh oh.”

“It’s no biggie. She’s just enjoying school, that’s all.” Delta leaned across the desk and saw a list of city names in Arizona. “You been working hard?”

Connie slid the paper toward Delta. “Is there any other way? The problem I’m having is sorting the leads from the nonleads. Our guys don’t leave many clues, and the ones they do leave are circumstantial at best.”

“What about the task force?”

Connie shook her head. “Word has it, they’re willing to forfeit the little fish for the shark.”

“Damn it.”

“Yeah, my sentiments exactly. I want you to consider what getting in their way might cost you. We’re not talking about a piddly little city P.D. here, Delta. We’re talking about G-men, and they carry a lot of weight.”

Delta shrugged. “So does my guilt. Thanks for the concern, Chief, but I want this bust.”

Turning back to the computer, Connie punched in a few numbers. “I figured you’d say that. I have a few angles I need Eddie to assess, and after I run them, I’ll let you know what I come up with. But Del,” Connie swiveled around in her chair and laid her hand on Delta’s shoulder. “You mess this up, and IA won’t have a choice but to pull you.”

Delta nodded, keeping her eyes on Connie’s. “Chief, if I mess this one up, then I’ll let them.” Looking around and then checking her watch, Delta wondered where her student was. “Junior must have slept in.”

Connie grimaced. “Ugh. You sound just like Leonard.”

Delta laughed. “That little guy has a way of growing on you.”

“Right. Like mold on cheese. Anyway, Tony already came in and told me to tell you he’d be waiting by the patrol car. He mumbled something about checking the unit out before you hit the road. It sounds like he’s trying to get on your good side.”

Delta smiled. “At least he’s learned
something
since we’ve been on the street. For a minute there, I was beginning to wonder if he didn’t have some major learning disabilities.”

“We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”

Grabbing her gear, Delta tapped her finger on the list of names and looked at Connie with questioning eyes.

“This is some info I pulled from the feds’ system.” Lowering her voice, Connie turned back to the screen and pretended to work. “The perps came from either Arizona or New Mexico, I’m not sure which. It’s possible they may have Arizona plates, which would fit in around here in the summer time.”

“They might have stolen a California vehicle when they got here.”

Connie nodded. “Maybe. My guess is they have some pretty elaborate equipment that they keep either in a van or motor home, or someplace confined. The feds have a video of the suspects’work. Don’t ask me how they got it, but it’s Code Green—for private consumption only. Leonard’s been trying to get his hands on it, but they’re not buying. I’m seeing it later.”

“How do you rate?”

“Captain Henry called me in and asked if I wouldn’t mind viewing it. As the department’s think tank, I suspect they simply want my take. Maybe it’s in Spanish or French or something. I don’t know. But I’ll fill you in on all the disgusting details later.”

“Great. Beep me when you have something.” Moving toward the glass doors, Delta started to push them open, when Connie called her back.

“Del, nobody wants this collar more than you and I. But you’ve got to be careful. I mean it this time. Don’t mess around with the feds.”

Smiling, Delta cupped Connie under the chin. “You got it.” Whirling back around, Delta shoved open the glass doors and headed for the parking lot.

Mess with the feds? They’d better hope they don’t mess with her. Federal agents or not, they weren’t going to stop her from continuing with this investigation. Rounding the corner, Delta found Tony and another officer battling away at each other like two ants on an ant hill. In the scuffling and scraping, they were locked in combat like two wrestlers, each trying to get a better grip on the other.

“What in the hell is going on here?” Delta asked, standing back in time to avoid Tony’s errant swing at the other cop. When the other cop stopped in mid-swing and looked over at Delta, Tony grabbed him in a headlock and bent him in half.

“God, Carducci, haven’t you caused enough trouble already?” Delta asked, shaking her head. “Whatever you boys are fighting about should be done on your time, not mine. Goddamn it! Let him go.”

The officer struggled to free himself from Tony’s large bicep, but Tony treated him like a slight nuisance and tightened his grip.

“You heard her. Let go of me!” the officer growled, his voice rasping against the force pressed against his neck.

“Damn it, Carducci, are you
trying
to get yourself tossed out of the department? I said let him go.”

Angrily shaking his head, Tony wiped his bloody lip with the back of his free hand. “No way. Not until he apologizes.”

Bending over so she could see the red face of the other officer, Delta shook her head. “Apologizes? For what?”

Tony squeezed his neck harder. “Tell her.”

Glancing back up at Tony, Delta’s eyebrows knitted together. “Tell me what?”

“Apologize, Miller.” Tony’s voice was low and cold.

Straightening back up, Delta jammed her hands on her hips. “What is this about?”

“Miller?” Tony wheeled Miller’s head around so that he was as close to facing Delta as possible.

“All right, all right,” Miller wheezed. “Just let go. You’re hurting my neck.”

“I’ll hurt more than just your neck if you don’t apologize nicely to my partner.” Letting Miller go, Tony folded his arms across his chest like a father waiting for his son to explain how the car got dented. Miller, a man who stood a shade over five-seven, was no match for the larger, stronger rookie, who stood glowering at him like some dime store totem pole.

Bowing his head, Miller rubbed his left jaw as he approached Delta. “Look, Stevens, I said something about you to Carducci and I’m really sorry for it.”

Now, Delta folded her arms as well and she and Tony stood like bookends towering over the shorter officer. “What could you possibly have said that would piss Carducci off so much?” Delta had an inkling, but she wanted Miller to own up to it.

Looking away from her piercing eyes, Miller shook his head. “I’d rather not say.” Tony suddenly took a step toward him. “If you had the balls to say it to me, at least have them to say it to my partner’s face.”

Delta tried not to grin at Tony’s constant use of the word “partner.” Clearly, he took the idea of a partnership seriously. Ah, she thought, a strength in his character she could appreciate.

“Well, Miller? It appears as if you owe me some kind of apology for saying—” Clearing his throat, Miller inhaled deeply and glared at Tony before eventually spitting out, “I said you were a...”

Tony moved a little closer to him.

“...a pussy-eating dyke.” His voice was barely audible, and Delta had to strain to catch every syllable.

“And what else?” Tony growled.

“And I’m sorry, Stevens. I shoulda kept my mouth shut.”

Delta nodded, feeling bitter that she had to work with someone so close-minded and puny. “Yes, you should have.”

“Can we just forget I said anything?” Miller stuck his hand out to Delta, who only looked at it with disdain.

“Sure. I think I’ll also forget that you are a homo sapien. You know what that translates as? Of course you don’t. It means, `man who thinks.’” Delta inhaled through flared nostrils. “I should have let Carducci twist your little pencil neck like the rotten twig it is. Get the hell out of my face before I let him.”

Picking his hat up off the ground, Miller quickly scurried away.

“Son of a bitch,” Tony muttered, straightening his own uniform.

Walking over to him, Delta slapped him in the shoulder. “And what’s the matter with you? You can’t go around beating people up who say things you don’t like. For God’s sake, Carducci, do you have to act like such a Neanderthal?”

Buttoning his collar button, Tony shrugged. “I can take a shot at someone who thinks they can spread rumors about my partner just because she’s a better cop than he’ll ever be. Miller’s an asshole who obviously doesn’t have anything better to do with his time than run around gossiping like a little old lady.”

Delta simply shook her head. He was so frustratingly naive. He envisioned himself as her champion, as the partner who would waylay anyone who said a bad word about her. And she knew she couldn’t just let this go. If he was going to jump into every bit of gossip with both feet, he at least deserved to know the truth about the person he was defending.

“Carducci, I appreciate you defending my honor, but there’s something you should know.”

Nodding, Tony waited.

“What Miller told you is not a rumor.”

Tony leaned toward her as if he hadn’t heard her correctly. “What?”

Delta grinned. He looked as if she had just slapped him across the face with a dead fish. “I said, it is not a rumor. I am exactly what he said I was. Well...maybe not in such gross terms.”

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. For a moment, he stared at her, as if trying to understand a foreign language. After a thick moment of silence, his only words were, “You are?”

Delta nodded. “I am. Although his wording was more vulgar than I prefer, the sentiment is the same. I am a lesbian.”

Tony just stared at her. A tense silence hung heavily in the air as they waited to see who would be the first to break it.

Finally, Tony cleared his throat and quietly said, “So...let me get this straight. What you’re saying is...that you’re gay.”

“If that’s an easier term for you than lesbian, yes, I am.”

Shaking and scratching his head, Tony’s face showed utter confusion. Finally, he looked up at Delta and grinned. “You sure had me fooled.” Brushing a smudge off his shirt, Delta started toward the unit. “Fooled? How so?”

“I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s just...you look...so normal.”

The word made Delta cringe. “Just what does `normal’ look like, Carducci?”

Tony shrugged again and Delta knew by the pinkening of his cheeks that he was straining to find the right words. So far, he had been unsuccessful.

“Well...I don’t really know. I mean, I watch the news. I’ve seen lesbians and stuff before, but I never thought—”

“That you’d actually work with one?”

Tony bowed his head. “Something like that. I also thought...”

“Yes?”

“Well, that you all looked alike.”

Delta smiled. “Oh, I see. You thought we all looked like truck drivers with flannel shirts, big leather belts, chewing tobacco in our mouths, and sporting traditionally male haircuts.”