James Swain - The King Tides

“What about your partner?”

“He’s been put on administrative duties. He’ll have to sit at a desk alphabetizing three-by-five cards and going through OD death certificates. You know the drill.” She paused, then said, “We kept up our end of the bargain. Now it’s your turn. I want you to tell me how you’re going to save us from getting busted. And don’t you dare screw us.”

He put the beer down, thinking hard. Daniels had confided that the FBI planned to bust the ring of drug-dealing detectives next week. The detectives would be caught receiving the coke at a restaurant and secretly videotaped in the act. This would provide a rock-solid case in court, and the ring would go down hard. All Vargas and her partner needed to do was not be present at the restaurant that day.

But sharing this information with Vargas was a problem. She might alert the other detectives in the ring, and ruin the bust. The FBI would realize the detectives had been tipped off, and that might find its way back to Daniels, and hurt her. His loyalty was to Daniels, not Vargas, so he chose his words carefully.

“Does your partner have any accrued vacation time?” he asked.

“I’m sure he does,” Vargas said.

“Tell him to take it, and leave town for a few weeks.”

“All right. What then?”

“When the two of you return, your problem will be gone.”

“You’re going to fix it?”

Her question gave him pause. Vargas didn’t suspect that the bust would be going down soon. She was in the dark, and the less he said, the better.

“Yes, I’m going to fix it,” he said.

“You still haven’t told me how this is going to work,” Vargas said.

“Enjoy your time off.”

He ended the connection feeling relieved. He’d made good on his promises to Vargas without harming his relationship with Daniels. Playing both sides of the fence was never easy, especially when people’s lives and reputations hung in the balance. Karissa was still holed up in Marathon, and he texted her, saying that it was safe to come home. Then he called Daniels to see how things were going. Daniels had been discharged from the hospital and was at her sister’s house recuperating.

“I’m doing shitty, thanks for asking,” Daniels said.

“What’s wrong?” he said.

“Fadi came by earlier. He wanted to talk to me in private, so I grabbed the walker I’m using, and we went onto the dock. He got down on his knee and gave me the biggest diamond ring you’ve ever seen. Then he asked me to marry him.”

There was a long pause, and she began to cry.

“You said no,” he said.

“Yeah, I said no. Fadi got really upset, and accused me of using him to make the Cassandra videos to capture Mates and Holloway. He took the ring back and threw it into the water. Then he said he never wanted to see me again and left.”

“I’m sorry, Beth.”

“So am I. Do you want to know the stupid part? I’m in love with him.”

“Then why did you turn him down?”

“Because he wanted me to relocate to California and leave the bureau. I’m not ready to do that. Does that sound crazy?”

“He wanted you to change.”

“Yes, he wanted me to change.”

Some cops couldn’t change but had to continue to fight crime and chase down evil. They were on a mission that often precluded them from having normal lives. He knew the deal because he’d been living it for most of his life.

“It doesn’t sound crazy at all,” he said.

Two weeks later, he took Daniels out to dinner. She was going to physical therapy every day and was already strong enough to walk without assistance. He showed up at the Pearls’ place at a few minutes before six. He’d gotten a haircut and bought himself a new pair of chinos and a Tommy Bahama dress shirt with fancy buttons.

The first thing he’d noticed was how quiet the neighborhood was. The street in front of the house hardly had any traffic. The last Cassandra video had been posted, and like magic, Nicki’s stalkers had crawled back under their rocks and stopped pursuing her.

The Pearls greeted him at the front door with hugs and smiles. Nicki told him how her parents had agreed to let her start taking horseback-riding lessons and how excited she was. Then Daniels came downstairs dressed in a pair of designer jeans and a shimmering gold blouse. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and the makeup she wore made her look like an actress. Before they left, Melanie snapped a photo on her cell phone.

“Where are you taking me?” Daniels asked in the car.

“I made a reservation at 50 Ocean. The views are amazing,” he said.

“Sounds wonderful,” she said.

A bootleg Jimmy Buffett concert played on the car’s stereo, and she hummed along while he drove. Something had changed, and he sensed that she wanted to talk about it but didn’t know how to begin. If they didn’t get past it, the night would be ruined.

“You seem different,” he said.

“How so?” she asked.

“Like a dark cloud’s been lifted. You almost seem happy.”

“I am happy. The nightmares I’ve been having since college have stopped. I’m waking up in the morning feeling great. It’s an amazing feeling.”

“That sounds like cause for celebration.”

“What are we celebrating? That Mates and Holloway are dead? That seems a little morbid, don’t you think?”

He stopped at a traffic light and faced her. “Mates and Holloway were evil, and evil never wins. That’s what we’re celebrating.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I sure do. The world is a good place, and so are most of the people who live in it. Evil people are a minority, and they’re not supposed to win. When they go down, we have every right to pop a bottle of champagne and cheer.”

She took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” she said.

50 Ocean was located on the same block as Boston’s, across the street from the ocean. He decided to park in a public lot a few blocks away to avoid the flooding.

“You strong enough for a little walk?” he asked.

“I did a mile today on the treadmill,” she said proudly.

As they walked to the restaurant, she talked about her childhood, and how she’d aspired to be a surgeon like her father and save lives. That dream had carried her to Dartmouth, and she would have gotten a medical degree and gone to work doing research had Mates and Holloway not abducted her. Lying in the trunk of their car, her life had flashed before her eyes, and she’d accepted that she was about to die. When the trunk had sprung open, bright sunlight had flooded over her, and she’d felt like she’d been reborn.

They came to the restaurant. The road in front looked different, and it took a moment for him to realize why. The water had receded, and the pavement was bone dry.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“This road had six inches of water the last time I was here.”

“That’s so strange. Does anyone know what causes the flooding?”

“No one knows what causes the King Tides. It screws everything up when it’s here, and when it’s gone, it’s like it was never there in the first place. I guess it’s the price we pay for living in paradise.”

“I want to stick my feet in the ocean,” she said.

They crossed and walked to the ocean’s edge. Taking off their shoes, they stood in the wet sand and let the gentle waves tickle their feet. The world felt normal again, and they stayed until the sun went down, knowing the feeling would not last.