Rogue Alliance (15 page)

             
“Oh, that?
” he chuckled, “y
eah, Blake boiled some eggs last Friday then had to leave on a call before he could eat them.
He stashed them behind the microwave
so that no one else would, but then
completely forgot about them and they sat there all weekend. I’m not sure how everyone on the weekend crew didn’t find them but we just discovered them this morning. The whole place stinks like rotten eggs. We’re trying to air the place out, but that’s just a smell that lingers, dang it.”

             
Shyla still had her nose scrunched up.

             
“No kidding. I say we make a rule against eggs in the building from now on. I’m ruined for life after this.”

             
Hal chuckled again.

             
The
pho
ne rang. Shyla reached for it.

             
“Meeting,”
Hal whispered discreetly, “
Tonight. 7
o’clock
.”

             
He turned and walked away.

             
“
Got a meeting wi
th the Mayor later today, Shyla, m
ake sure you’re there. I need you to take minutes,” he tossed over his shoulder.

             
“Sure thing, Boss,”
Shyla returned, picking up the phone,
“Redding Police Department, how may I help you?”

             
“Well
,
hello, Sunshine,”
Quentin Solero’s familiar voice purred over the line, “
I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. What are
doing down there? Sleeping in? Are y
ou falling right into country bumpkin ways already?”

             
“Hardly,” Shyla smiled, “i
t’
s good to hear your voice
, Quentin. Enough chit chat though. What’s up? I know you’re not calling every half hour just to check in and see if I’m wearing over-alls and
smoking a pipe.”

             
“Over-alls and a pipe,” he
quipped,
“d
ang, girl, its worse than I thought.”

             
He laughed.

             
“Okay, okay,” he said, “y
ou’re right. Is it okay to talk on this line?”

             
“Yeah, we’re good.”

             
“Oka
y. So our pig farmer girl
- she’
s a Miss Samantha Higgins,
aka Sammy,
age twenty
-one
. She doesn’t have a tight connection with Victor, but I did find a small one after I found out who she was and did some digging
of my own
.
She’
s been running with Ricardo’s gang for almost a year
and dating Ricardo for the past six months or so
. When she first met him she was dancing
at
a
crusty place downtown called, get this, The Wet Spot.”

             
“That just sounds nasty,” Shyla said.

             
“I know
,
right? Anywho,
s
o
one day,
she and on
e of her dancer friends, Shelly
-
she’s the girl I talked with
-
they get invited to do some d
ances at a private party. They’
re told they’ll make some fat cash but they’ve got to keep their mouths shut
in regards to anything and everything that takes place at this party.

             
“
Shelly says she thought it was going to be some sketchy
rave or something, but it turns out they we
re dancing for some seriously high
rollers, one of them
none other than Mr. Victor Champlain.

             
“
Shelly says that neither she nor Sammy
ever got too close to Victor
,
but that he and Ricardo disappeared upstairs for about forty-five minutes. She remembered it distinctly because Sammy was starting to get really pissed off that Ricardo wasn’t paying attention to her.

             
“So
,
Shelly doesn’t ever confirm a
nything about a drug exchange or
any kind of deal, but she did say that Ricardo started making the big bucks after that.
She also said that Ricardo started doing business with a guy out of San Francisco
, too
.
”

             
“Really?” The information was juicy but not shocking.

             
“Yeah, I thought you’d find that last bit interesting. Victor has a few contacts in San Fran, doesn’t he?”

             
“That he does,” Shyla said, “i
n fact, he’s scheduled to go d
own that way this next weekend. Do you happen to know the name of this contact?”

             
“Uh, Shelly said she couldn’t remember it exactly, but it wa
s the name of an animal. She remembered that
.
There is still no known motive for killing this girl
that the department can find,
n
or any clue as to who could or would have killed her.
”

             
“
Still, Quentin, this is incredible news
. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a solid connection between Victor and Ricardo. No one believed me when I claimed that Ricardo was just one of many of Victor’
s lower rung grunts.
Who kno
ws who killed her or why - i
t could have been a domestic violence issue. We all know Ricardo has anger-management issues. He has multiple assault charges.
What else you got?”

             
“Pshh, what else? Dang, isn’t that enough?”

             
“Yeah, it
’
s great, Quen
tin,” Shyla laughed,
“
I appreciate it more than you kn
ow. As always, you are the best!
”

             
She could hear the smile in his voice.

             
“Damn straight, and don’t you forget it.
So speaking of Victor,
how
are
things going up there?”

             
Shyla shook her head.

             
“Don’t ask. I’d love to give
you the full run down but it isn’t
something I want to share over the phone.
”

             
“Sure. I understand, b
ut you be careful, Sunshine. I don’t want you to
wind up as pig slop
.
Well
,
I’d better be running along
,
anyway. I got lots of dead bodies lying around. I better
see to them. Miss you, Girl
.”

             
“Miss you too, Quentin,” Shyla smirked,
“t
alk to ya later.”

             
She was smiling as she hung up the phone. She looked toward the front door as it swung open.

             
In walked Carmen. She was wearing a much too short denim skirt over torn
black tights. Her make-up was thick as ever and her hair was tangled
around her head
in purpose
ful disarray
.

             
“Hey. The
re you are.
Are you ready to hang out?
” she shouted across
the room as she clomped over in her combat boots.

             
Shyla suppressed a groan and stood up.

             
“
No, I’m not ready to hang out. I’m working.
That’s what grown-up
s
do on M
onday mornings. Just like thirteen
-year-old girls are supposed to be at school. What are you doing here, Carmen?”

             
Carmen gave her crooked smirk. Clearly, she thought Shyla’s question was ridiculous.

             
“What do you mean, what am I doi
ng here? I’m talking to you. We’re supposed
to hang out remember?
”

             
A
flicker of something broken and desperate passed over her features.

             
“I knew it
,” she said, “y
ou didn’t really mean it, did you? Figures.”

             
She turned to walk away.

             
A memory flashed in Shyla’s mind. It was there and then gone again. But with it came a brief connection to how she’d felt at that same age. Suddenly, she felt a new empathy toward Carmen’s loneliness. She
reached out.

             
“Of course I meant it
,
Carmen. Come here. Sit down.”

             
She led her to the other side of her desk and pointed to the chair she normally sat in. Then she sat in the one just to the left of the desk and leaned forward.

             
“
I’m gl
ad you came down,” she said,
“
I just don’t want anyone do
wn here to know that I’m going t
o teach you some moves. I’m just the secretary
, remember?
I wouldn’t want to threaten their soft egos, you know?”

             
Carmen’s hurt expression softened into a small grin.

             
“Yeah, I get it. Ninja by
night, right?” she quoted
.

             
“That’s right,” Shyla grinned,
“s
o…
I get off at five.
What are you doing around that time?”

             
“Nothing.”

             
“What about your parents? What time will they want you home for dinner?”

             
“Um, how about never?
” Carmen scoffed,
“
No, s
eriously. It
’
s not
like there is a big family meal
every night. We just kind of figure it out, you know? Trust me. They won’t even know I’m gone.”

             
That’s right, Shyla thought. Her parent
s were practically non-existent,
which was why she was always out running around the streets in the first place and needed to learn to protect herself.

             
“
Why don’t you meet me here and we’ll both go get a burger so that we have plenty of fuel to get
us through our grueling session. Does that sound good?”

             
Carmen’s face lit up.

             
“I’m down with that. But let’s not go to th
at joint on the corner. Their
burgers suck a fat one.”

             
“Jeez, Carmen, w
atch your mouth,” Shyla warned.

             
“What? I’m serious. I threw up for three hours after eating one of their nasty burgers. We should go to Charlie’s. Now that’s a damn good burger.”

             
Shyla shook her head. Yep, this girl was going to be trou
ble.

             
“Fine. Charlie’s.
Meet me here at five. N
o wait, I got a meeting later. How about four
, that should give me enough time.
”

             
They both stood up
as Carmen was getting ready to leave.

             
“
But what I want you to do now
,” Shyla said, “
is get your butt to school.
I happen to know that today is the first day.
”

             
Carmen gave a “yeah right” look.

             
“I’m completely and totally serious, Carmen. I’m going to pretend I’m your mom and call the school to find out if you made it.”

             
“Yo
u don’t even know my mom’s name,
”
Carmen said, skeptical.