Dawn Stewardson - Falling For The Enemy

“Okay.”

“Are the... men being nice to you?”

“The policemen?”

So they were going to continue that ruse. “Yes, the policemen.”

“Their names are Tom and Dick.”

“Oh.” And if there was a third one, she knew his name would be Harry.

But their not telling him their real names was a good sign. If they had, it might mean they figured it didn’t matter—because they knew he was going to end up dead.

That thought sent a shiver through her. Doing her best to ignore it, she said, “And do you like them all right? Now that you’ve gotten to know them better?”

Please say yes, she added silently. Please don’t tell me they’re mean, or that you’re scared of them.

“Uh-huh. You know what?”

“What, darling?”

“They got me that good cereal Jimmy’s mom buys. The one that tastes like candy. ’Member I told you?”

“Yes, I remember.” And she didn’t care if they fed him pure sugar for breakfast, just as long as they didn’t harm him.

“So are you comin’ to get me this morning?”

The question made her feel as if someone had reached inside her chest and was pulling out her heart.

“No, I can’t come this morning, darling. This is a workday.”

“Then after work?”

“Well, I’ll try. I’ll try my very best, but I can’t promise yet.”

Lord, somehow she had to make him understand what was going on. But she didn’t want to even attempt explaining until after Sloan had talked to Fitzgerald this morning. Until after she knew if there was even a chance he’d go along with her demand.

“Tom said you might not be able to come for a while,” Max told her. “‘Cuz if your leg was still sore you’d have to go to the doctor. But if you’re goin’ to work it’s not sore, right?”

“Well...actually, Tom’s right. I might have to get it looked at. And that just might keep me from coming as soon as I’d like to. But...Max, I’ll be there as soon as I can. And in the meantime, you be a good boy today, huh? And do what the policemen tell you.”

“And you’ll come after work? If you can?”

“Yes, darling. But don’t be too disappointed if I can’t.”

“But I want you to,” he insisted, his voice quavering.

“I know, Max. And...honey, I’ve got to say bye now. I love you, darling.”

“If you love me then you should come.”

“As soon as I can,” she told him once more, blinking back tears this time. “Bye, darling.” Difficult as it was, she made herself click off then, before her emotions completely wasted her.

After taking a few deep breaths, in a futile effort to make herself feel better, she grabbed her car keys and headed out. The burger place she and Max usually went to had a pay phone; she’d stop there and call Peggy.

Getting into her car, she tried to figure out exactly how she should explain why she was asking her question. It would be tricky, because Detective Peggy Fournier was no dummy. And since she knew about Sloan’s initial visit, she’d be suspicious as hell.

There had to be a way of sounding casual, though, and she spent the drive trying to come up with one.

At the restaurant, she parked and hurried inside, ignoring the people catching breakfast on their way to work and making her way straight to the phone. She wasn’t sure what shift Peggy was on, but with any luck she’d be able to reach her either at home or at the Ninth Division.

She tried the home number first, her pulse leaping when her friend answered. “Hi, it’s Hayley,” she said, making an effort to sound normal.

“Hi, how’s it going?”

“Good. Terrific. Except that Max’s father decided he wanted him for part of the summer, so I had to send him to Pennsylvania and I’m feeling a little lonely.”

“Oh? I thought you said his father wasn’t interested in maintaining contact. They’ve never had a summer visit before, have they?”

“No, but...” Taking a calming breath, she launched into the explanation Anne Kelly had bought—about Max’s grandparents wanting to see him.

Then, without giving Peggy a chance to ask any more questions, she said, “But Max has nothing to do with why I’m calling.” Not exactly a lie. He had everything to do with it. “Remember I mentioned I’d be doing an assessment on Billy Fitzgerald?”

“Of course. We said we’d talk about it the next time we got together.”

“Right. In the meantime, I had another look at his intake evaluation. And could you check on something for me?”

“What?”

She swallowed anxiously. “Well, he made a big point of talking about being a man of his word. He claimed even his enemies give him credit for that. Apparently it was very important to him that the assessing psychologist believe him, which got me wondering. You know what I mean?”

“He doth protest too much, and all that jazz?”

“Exactly. I couldn’t help thinking it might not be true at all.”

“And you want to know whether it is because...?”

For a moment, she almost gave in to the urge to tell Peggy everything and ask her advice. If Billy’s people had grabbed her son rather than Max, what would Peggy do? Would she trust the scandalplagued New Orleans police force enough to report the kidnapping? Trust it with her son’s life? Or trust the FBI?

Hayley couldn’t ask, though. She was too terrified that, as Sloan had intimated, Peggy might take the matter into her own hands.

There couldn’t really be much chance of it. Still, any chance was too much, so she simply said, “Knowing would make my assessment easier.”

When only silence followed that, her skin began to feel clammy.

“Why?” Peggy finally asked. “You think Billy Fitz might give you his word about something while you’re assessing him?”

“Well...sort of. I mean, if he swears he has no ulterior motive, that he really does only want a transfer so he can get into a rehab program...”

“I thought we agreed that was a crock?”

“Yes, but I’ve been thinking more about it and... Oh, Lord, am I out of line here? Maybe I shouldn’t ask you to do this. I didn’t figure it would be a big deal, but if it is I can—”

“No,” Peggy said slowly. “No, it’s not a big deal. I’ll talk to a couple of informers, see what they say. You just surprised me. The question seemed strange.”

“It did?”

“Yeah. But I guess that was just the cop in me. Once a perp’s in for life, nobody on the job cares whether his word’s worth two cents. Actually, at that point nobody cares anything about him. But I guess my mind-set’s not quite the same as yours.”

Hayley forced a laugh. “Right. Your job’s putting them behind bars. Mine’s keeping an eye on their mental health once they’re there. And I don’t want to make any mistakes when it comes to Fitzgerald. Don’t want to see my name in the Times-Picayune , in some article on how the head of the Irish Mafia is getting special privileges. Or in one saying we’re treating him unfairly, either.”

“Yeah...I see your point. Well it shouldn’t take me long to ask around. I’ll give you a call when I’ve got something.”

“Do you think it might be today?”

Peggy didn’t answer for a couple of beats. That started Hayley sweating even harder.

“I thought the assessment on Fitz wasn’t going to happen for ages,” her friend said at last.

“Oh, it probably won’t. I’d just like to finish my notes for the file. So I can get it off my desk.”

“Ah. Okay. I’ll see what I can do today. But it might be tomorrow or Thursday before I get back to you.”

“Whenever you can. And thanks, I owe you one. Bye.”

“Bye, Hayley.”

She hung up, her hands trembling. She wasn’t used to lying and she didn’t like the way it made her feel. But at least she’d learn what she needed to know.