Faye Kellerman - Predator

Marge said, “In case you didn’t get it the first time. I take these, you take those.”

“How about if I canvass the neighborhood and Wanda gets her hands dirty.”

“How about we get this over with ASAP? This is reality, not a reality show, and I don’t have all night. Actually, I do have all night, but I don’t want to use up all night.”

Reluctantly Oliver bent down in front of the first pile of feces. “What I don’t do to earn a paycheck.”

“At least you’ve got a job.”

“This is disgusting.”

“True, but irrelevant. Just go for it. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, blah, blah, blah.”

He plunged his hand into the pile and groaned. “Frankly, Dunn, I prefer the past to present. I was younger, I had dark hair, and I had yet to pay a cent of alimony.”

Rina was an early riser, but Gabe must have gotten up with the sun. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” He ran his hand over his downy scalp. His hair was beginning to grow in. It was a few days away from looking like a buzz cut. “Want some coffee? Machine’s all set, but I didn’t want to turn on the pot until you were up. Stale coffee sucks.”

“That’s considerate of you. I’d love some coffee. How long have you been up?”

“About an hour.”

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“I slept a little. I’m all right.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“You did terrific yesterday.”

“No one was hammering away at me. I’m sure today will be different. It’s okay. Whatever happens … I mean what can I do about it?”

Rina took down two mugs. “You’re a pretty cool character, Gabe. You’ll be fine.”

He played with the knot on his tie. “Where’s the lieutenant?”

“He’s still at work. It was an all-night.”

“Wow. What’s the case?”

“This one is for the books.” Rina smiled. “Last night, he and animal control extracted a tiger out of an apartment.”

“A tiger ?”

“Yes, a tiger that was living in an apartment.”

“Wow.” A pause. “Cool.”

Rina poured the coffee and handed him a mug. “More like, wow … dangerous.”

Gabe smiled and sipped. “How’d they get the tiger out?”

“Someone from animal control shot it with a tranquilizing dart. Once it was down, they went inside and took it out in a cage.”

“Whoa.” He sat back in the chair and was silent for a moment. “I hear a composition in this. Like double bass for the growl, and tuba for the lumbering animal, and a high-pitched staccato from the violins every time it scratches and then this like almost trumpet clarion blare for the animal control, then several measures of rest followed by an earsplitting pop as the dart goes into the body and this shimmering but electrifying strings as it loses consciousness … and deep bass as it’s dragged out …” Gabe stared at nothing in particular. “I can hear it like … perfectly.”

All Rina heard was noise from the refrigerator. “Kind of like Peter and the Wolf on crack.”

Gabe laughed. “Exactly.” He put down his coffee and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “And this extraction took up the entire night?”

“No,” Rina said. “Once animal control got the tiger out, they found a dead body inside the apartment.”

“So the tiger killed the guy inside?”

“From what Peter told me, the body was the result of a homicide. The tiger was incidental and had nothing to do with the man’s death.”

“That’s really weird.”

“As a lieutenant, Peter only works on the weird cases. Because he was up all night, he may not show up to the trial until much later.”

“That’s okay. Life goes on.” He looked at Rina. “But you’ll be there, right?”

“Of course I’ll be there.” She put down her coffee cup and kissed his nearly naked head. “Don’t worry. It should all be over soon—”

The phone rang. It was a quarter to seven in the morning. Usually when that happened, it was one of the kids calling from back east. They never paid attention to the three-hour difference.

Rina said, “Excuse me. It’s probably Hannah either wishing you luck or she’s in crisis.”

“Either way, tell her hi for me.”

Rina lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me,” Decker said.

“Are you all right?”

“Just tired, but that’s not why I’m calling. Last night while I was dealing with wild animals, Dylan Lashay had a stroke. He’s in the hospital in critical condition. Nurit Luke talked to his lawyers. Everyone agreed to postpone the trial indefinitely.”

“Oh my!” A pause. “How does Wendy Hesse feel about that?”

At the mention of Wendy Hesse’s name, Gabe picked up his head. “What’s going on?”

Rina held up her hand to Gabe. “Could you repeat that? I couldn’t hear.”

“I said that Wendy’s not happy, of course. Her son is dead and she wants justice, but with these new circumstances, even she isn’t in favor of dragging it out any longer. The entire case should be pled out in a couple of hours, and that, my dear, is the end. Tell Gabe, it’s over.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate getting the monkey off his back.”

“What monkey off my back?” Gabe asked.

Decker said, “I’ll be home in an hour or so. Maybe we’ll all go out for breakfast before I drop off to sleep.”

Rina smiled. “That would be great. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Decker disconnected the line.

“What monkey are you talking about?” Gabe was exasperated.

“Dylan Lashay suffered a stroke. He’s in critical condition. The trial is indefinitely postponed and will probably be pled out. To quote the Loo, ‘Tell Gabe it’s over.’”

“Wow! That’s great!” Gabe sat back. “That’s really good news. I won’t have to go to court anymore. And Yasmine won’t have to testify, either. That’s great, great news!”

“A big relief to you and to her, no doubt.” Rina paused. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

Gabe looked up. It was always better to tell the truth.

But maybe not the whole truth.

“Rina, I haven’t called her in over a year. I haven’t e-mailed her or texted her or talked to her on Skype or anything. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for her.”

“Of course you can be happy for her. And I suppose your personal life isn’t any of my business.”

“It’s okay. I know you mean well.”

“I do. Should I change your flight to leave tomorrow?”

“Actually, I already changed it. I decided to stay through the weekend, if that’s okay with you guys.”

“Of course, it’s okay.” A pause. “Can I ask you why?”

Gabe was prepared for the question. “I’m all caught up at school. I felt that I could use the extra few days to unwind before I go into fully operational mode. I’m much more relaxed here than at school.”

“That’s really nice. I want you to feel like this is your home, too.” Rina finished her coffee. “The Loo wants to go out for breakfast. You’re invited.”

“I’d love to come. Can I change first?”

“Although you look adorable in a suit, I’m sure jeans and a T-shirt would be much more comfortable.”

The smile on his face was wide and bright. Gabe headed off to his room, not feeling the least bit guilty about stretching the truth. He loved Rina for what she had done for him, but certainly she didn’t have to know everything about his personal business.

It was his life to live.

It was his life to love.

It was his life to crash and burn.

Revived by calories, caffeine, and several hours of sleep, Decker read about the night’s activities on the front page of the Daily News , a picture of the cage being carted out of the apartment building. When he was done, he started sorting through the pile of pink phone slips that had amassed during his three-hour absence. He had finished the majority of the callbacks when Marge and Oliver knocked on his open office door. The clock read one in the afternoon.