P. Alderman - A Killing Tide

She threw back the covers and sat up—slowly. The throbbing in her head was down to a dull ache, probably because she'd been able to sleep for the first time in days. But the rest of her body was, if anything, stiffer and sorer. She tentatively stood up, wincing, and used one hand to hold onto the headboard. Funny how she hadn't felt any of this while Michael had been making love to her a second time last night. Or again this morning, their whispered words and low moans gently disturbing the pre-dawn quiet. She smiled at the memory.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

She turned to find him standing in the doorway, a coffee mug in one hand. His hair was damp, his face freshly shaven. Even with a scowl on his face, he was adorable. And all hers. At least, for now. "What time is it?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Early afternoon."

"What?" She gaped at him. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you needed the sleep," he replied evenly. "Don't expect me to do things that aren't good for you."

She grumbled at that as she walked unsteadily across the room. "What are you supposed to let me know?"

"It's not good news."

She stopped, searching his face. "Gary?"

He nodded. "They've taken him into custody."

She put out a hand, leaning heavily against the dresser. "Is he okay?"

Michael hesitated. "According to Lucy, he resisted arrest. She says he's roughed up but refusing treatment. They're holding him at the station until he's arraigned later this afternoon."

"I want to see him." Kaz pulled open a drawer and starting yanking clothes out at random.

"That may not be possible—"

Her head whipped around. "I will see him." She bumped the drawer shut with her hip and grabbed the pile of clothes on top of the dresser. "If I can get him to tell me who the Astoria connection is, then we can take over his investigation."

"We?" Michael folded his arms, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Kaz said, and waited.

"All right." He nodded. "As long as we work together on this."

She sighed with relief, falling a little more in love with him. "I'll take the world's fastest shower, if you'll hunt up the world's largest bottle of aspirin."

#

An hour later, Michael dropped Kaz off at the station, extracting a promise from her to call him at the fire station when she was ready to leave. The light was already starting to fade. She couldn't believe she'd slept away most of the day. There was almost no time left.

She opened the door and, catching Joanne's eye, pointed at the interior security door. Joanne released the lock and waved her on through.

Lucy and Ivar were both at their desks, going through the stacks of papers that Sykes had taken from her house yesterday. Ivar had her laptop open in front of him, and he was tapping on the keys, a frown of concentration on his face. As she approached, he looked up, his expression relieved.

"What's your password?"

Kaz shook her head. "If anyone else was asking, I'd tell them to go to hell." She walked around to his side of the desk and typed it in for him.

"Someone's been accessing the fishermen's bank accounts, posing as Brenner, giving out his badge number." Lucy scrubbed a hand over her face. She looked like she'd been up all night, and she clearly wasn't happy about it. "When I called the bank first thing this morning, the manager's comment was, 'But I gave all this information to your officer yesterday afternoon.' " She sighed. "Never mind that the guy didn't think to ask for a subpoena. I don't suppose that was you?"

"I didn't think of it, but I wish I had," Kaz replied, earning a glare. She perched on the edge of the chair beside Lucy's desk, reaching out to pick up the muddy snow globe that was sitting there. Shaking it, she watched the snow drift down around the fishing trawler while she considered. "Could've been Gary, though."

"Yeah, that was my second thought."

Kaz set the snow globe back down and leaned forward. "Where is he? I want to see him."

Lucy hesitated, the expression on her face scaring Kaz. "What's wrong? Is he all right?" she asked.

Lucy nodded. "For now. The Chief has him on suicide watch, though."

"For God's sake, why ?"

"He's despondent, refusing to talk, and refusing to eat." Lucy leaned back in her chair, looking truly defeated for the first time since the investigation had begun. And a little desperate. "I can't get through to him, Kaz. He just keeps repeating that I need to convince you to leave town."

Kaz leaned forward. "Take me to him."

"He's only allowed to see his lawyer." Lucy bit her lip. "But he's refusing legal representation."

"Then let me talk to him. Tell Sykes that I'm standing in for Phil until I can get him to fly up here."

Lucy shook her head. "A family member can't stand in for a lawyer. Anything he told you would be admissible in court."

"Then put me in a room with him and turn off the intercom," Kaz insisted. "Five minutes, that's all I'm asking."

Lucy glanced at Ivar, who made a production out of ignoring them both. Then she checked the rest of the squad room before nodding. "All right—five minutes. But if Sykes shows up, you're out of there. This is irregular as hell—I could lose my job over a stunt like this." She rose. "I'll have him brought out to one of the interrogation rooms."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. And Kaz, be prepared. He put up a hell of a fight. It took four of our guys to subdue him, and they weren't too happy with him by the time it was all over. Two of them are in the emergency room right now, getting stitched up."

Kaz waited impatiently at Lucy's desk until she returned, then followed her into a room that was halfway down the hallway at the back of the building that led out to the parking lot. When she entered, Gary was sitting in one of the chairs, his hands and legs in shackles. Clint Jackson was standing guard in the corner. Lucy motioned for him to follow her, and after a moment's reluctance, he did.

Once they were alone, Kaz took Gary's face in her hands and gently turned it up to the light. His nose was bloody and slightly crooked, his lips split and ballooned to twice their normal size. Small cuts and areas darkening to bruises covered his face.

She unbuttoned the three shirt buttons that hadn't been ripped off and inspected his ribs. Black and purple splotches covered them. A small sound of distress escaped her lips. Who could've done this to him? What right did they have to cause this much damage?

He'd barely moved when she touched him, but his eyes slowly focused on her. He licked his lips and tried to speak, but she shushed him. To see him this way, in shackles, made her want to throw up. She swallowed hard. "So," she said, keeping her voice as light as she could. "I guess I should see the other guys, huh?"

One side of his mouth lifted slightly. "Kaz…" The word came out slurred, almost garbled. He closed his eyes and grimaced.

"Talk slowly and quietly." She glanced around at the closed door and the window, then moved so that anyone looking in wouldn't be able to read his lips. "They can see us but Lucy said she'd leave the intercom off for a few minutes to give us some privacy. Tell me everything you know, and Michael and I will take it from here."

He shook his head. "Get…out of…town."

She stooped to look directly at him. "Listen to me, Gary. We can find the evidence to clear you."

"I…don't matter…"

"Yes," she said fiercely, "you do. Don't you dare let them win, damn you. You tell me, and then you stay alive until I can get you out of here."

He stared at her for a long minute. "Trap door," he managed. "Svensen."

Kaz thought rapidly. "The trap door in Steve's office?" All the old waterfront bars had shanghai trap doors—doors in the floor that led to the water below the pier. In the old days, sailors had regularly been shanghaied, or kidnapped, and taken out to sea to serve as indentured crew on ships. "So Svensen goes to the tavern, picks up the money, then drops into a boat below the pier?"