Savage Art (A Chilling Suspense Novel) (48 page)

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Authors: Danielle Girard

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"Thanks. What's up with Lori?"

"Over," he answered flatly.

"Why?"

"She threw a fit when I wanted to watch the game." He shrugged then looked over. "I missed breakfast. Want to run by Noah's?"

"I'm dying for a cup of coffee," she agreed.

His seat belt clicked into place as she started the car. "Miss your morning fix?"

She nodded.

"Coffee machine broken?"

"Something like that."

"I heard you missed a pickup, too."

"I overslept, Roback. Drop it, okay?"

"Sure. You overslept. From the woman who never sleeps. I'll buy it."

Alex didn't answer him, but she was thinking he was right. She'd never even slept through the garbage pickup. How had she slept through driving somewhere in her car?

Greg pulled something off the seat. "Alex, this is gross."

She looked over at one of her chewed-up pens and snatched it from his hand. "Deal with it. At least it doesn't stink up the car like that monstrosity you eat for breakfast."

"It's getting worse. Everywhere I look, I find some slobbery pen. You know, there are easier ways to get out that aggression. Joe in Narc's always looking at you. I bet he'd go for some one-on-one."

"No way." She backed the car out of their spot and pulled through the parking lot.

"This must be the no cops rule. You ever going to explain that to me? What did a cop ever do to you? I mean, besides that jackass fiancé. Is that what this is about?"

"I get enough of cops at work, thank you."

"Speaking of which, when are we going to do that report for the captain?"

More at ease, she gave him a smug look. "Finished it yesterday after you went home."

"You didn't."

She grinned.

"I knew there was a reason I loved having you as a partner."

"We both know there are a thousand reasons. But don't think I'm giving you any credit for this one, Roback."

He grinned. "You wouldn't leave me out."

"I'm actually looking forward to it," she said.

"Yeah, right."

She winked. "What about this one: AH the clocks in
Pulp Fiction
were set on one time."

Greg smiled. "Four-twenty."

"You've heard that one before."

"It's one to one." He looked over at her. "See the game last night?"

"Knicks won?"

"You missed the game?"

She shrugged. "I was busy."

"Busy last night, overslept this morning. You going to tell me about him? He's got to be something if he's getting you to fall asleep. He wear you out, or what?"

"Quit probing," she teased. "What are you—jealous?"

"You're dreaming," he snapped back. After an awkward beat, he said, "Did you know the giant squid has the largest eyes in the world?"

Alex laughed. "Did you know an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain?"

"They use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean elephants."

She looked over. "What the hell's Murphy's Oil Soap?"

Greg smiled. "How the hell would I know? I'm a bachelor, for Christ's sake."

She laughed again. "Did you know cats have over one hundred vocal sounds and dogs only have about ten?"

"Dogs are still cooler," Greg responded.

"Definitely."

They drove the rest of the way to Noah's in silence. Another police car sat at the curb in front. Alex smiled at the way Noah's bagel shop had replaced Dunkin' Donuts as a cop hangout. At least it was healthier.

For them, stopping at Noah's had become a ritual, always ordering the same thing. For him, it was an onion bagel with garlic cream cheese. The smell in the car got so bad even the people who had to ride in the back complained about it.

"Hey, I'm addicted," he would say with an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. She had taken to keeping a pack of breath mints for him in the glove compartment.

"The usual?" her partner asked.

Nodding, she leaned back against the interior of the front seat and closed her eyes. She heard him close his door and walk around the car.

"Maybe I should get you a decaf."

Prying her eyes open, she looked at Greg, his long, skinny frame bent down in the door. She smiled and closed her eyes again. "You trying to kill me?"

He laughed. "That obvious, eh?"

Squinting against the sun's morning glare, she opened her eyes. "If I don't have coffee in my stomach in three minutes, I'm going to get violent."

Greg raised his arms in surrender. "Sheesh, I can take a hint."

She blinked hard, taking in the familiar sights of downtown Berkeley. Across the street was Barnes & Noble. It was where she came on her days off—her favorite brewpub, Jupiter, was two blocks in the opposite direction. In the last decade, this area of Berkeley had really cleaned up. That change made it very easy to patrol and she was thrilled that it was part of her beat.

Of course, bagels and coffee on the way to work in the morning didn't hurt, either. And nothing made her happier than a cup or three of black coffee first thing.

Motion caught her eye and she glanced down the side street, her internal alarms sounding. An older female lay on the sidewalk, and she spied a young Caucasian male running up the street.

Alex glanced toward the bagel shop, but Greg was nowhere in sight. The woman started to get up, so Alex revved the engine and sped after the suspect. Sirens screeching, she lunged through traffic. A car leapt in front of her. She swerved to miss it. "Shit!"

The running man made no move to stop.

Almost on his tail, she halted. The bumper of the squad car came within feet of the perp. Moving quickly, he ducked down a narrow alley. Her hand was on the door before the car was completely stopped. The emergency brake on, she threw open the door and bolted after him.

Alex drove her feet against the pavement, determined to catch him even if it meant a marathon around the damn city. She pressed her shoulder radio. "Officer Kincaid here." Her eyes nailed to her suspect, she sucked in a quick breath.

"Go ahead," came the voice of dispatch.

"Female down on Dwight at Shattuck. Suspect proceeding down alley at Shattuck and Channing," she panted. "I'm on foot pursuit. White male juvenile, seventeen or eighteen years, six foot, plus or minus. Dress is jeans, red T-shirt, black baseball cap."

"We read," came the response.

Alex knew backup would be on its way immediately, but there was no time to waste. If she stopped, she was guaranteed to lose him.

The suspect shot a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Stop, police," she yelled.

The kid leapt onto the fence at the end of the alley and climbed like a monkey scaling a tree. She had no doubt he had done this before. But so had she. On the other side, he jumped to the ground and continued running. He had a good head start.

"You can't outrun me," she muttered. She pulled herself up the fence. The sharp wire cut her hands, but she didn't ease up. She swung her legs over the top and dropped to the ground on the other side. Concrete jolted her ankles as she landed.

The perp disappeared and she forced her legs faster, keeping her breath at an even pace. She hoped the suspect wasn't a damned marathoner.

At the other end of the alley, she bolted onto the street, glancing in both directions. He was gone. "Damn."

Spinning around, she caught a glimpse of the suspect just as he came down on top of her. She hit the ground with a thud, her head knocked sideways against the hard pavement. The perp was above her, holding her arms.

Trapped, her breath came faster. She struggled against his strength, fighting off the wave of nausea that always came with being confined.

His grip tightened.

Focused, she contained her breathing until she felt a slight loosening of his tension. Then, in a lash of anger, she freed one leg and rammed her shin into his groin.

With a groan, he rolled off her onto his back. She was on him before he could recover.

Shaking off the pain in her head, she pulled her cuffs from her belt. His right hand in her grasp, she bent it back and rolled him over with a forceful tug. Her heel digging into his back, she cuffed his right hand. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Fuck off."

She wrenched his left arm behind him and cuffed it. "I don't think so."

With a hard yank, she dragged him to his feet and shoved him toward the street.

Just then, Greg pulled around the corner and jumped out of the car. "Saw the car down the street and knew something had happened. You okay?"

She nodded, pushing the perp toward the car and letting Greg handle him. As Greg put the suspect in the back, she touched the area just above her ear and felt a warm spot of blood. She moaned.

In the car, she leaned back as Greg drove toward Shattuck. "Arbor's bringing the woman down to the station to identify him," Greg said. He motioned to the perp. "We just have to drop him off. Arbor should meet us out front. He'll do the paperwork."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, but where's my coffee?"

"I didn't have time to get it. We've got to run back after we drop the thug off."

A moan fell from her lips as she closed her eyes.

In front of the station, Greg stopped and pulled the suspect out of the car, handing him over to Arbor.

Alex waved to Arbor as Greg drove off again.

"Let's get some coffee before you attack your next victim," Greg joked.

"I'm serious. I don't think I could do it again without some caffeine."

He parked in front of Noah's. "This one's on me, Wonder Woman."

She smiled. "It's the least you could do, Robin."

"I don't even get to be Batman?"

"Not the way you drive."

In less than a minute, he was back. When he opened the door to hand her the coffee, he touched her head.