Solitude Creek

The others were here too, the whole crew. The two Steves — Lu and Foster — along with Jimmy Gomez. Allerton, as well, was back from the Seaside bungalow mission.

‘What happened to you?’ Gomez asked her. She had a bandage on her arm.

‘That lead to Serrano? He had a big-ass Doberman in the back bedroom. Sleeping dog, and all that. He woke up. Didn’t like visitors.’

‘You get bit?’

‘Just scratched getting out of the way. Knocked over a table of crappy glass and china. Serves him right.’

‘Al, you didn’t shoot any dogs, did you?’ Gomez feigned horror.

‘Reasoned with it.’

Foster was on the phone, saying to a CHP trooper, ‘Those’re your procedures, not my procedures, and it’s my procedures you’re going to be following. Are we transparent on that? … I asked you a question … Are we transparent? … Good. No more of this shit.’

He hung up with nothing more.

What a dick, Stemple thought, and wondered if he’d have an excuse to dice the man verbally into little pieces. That’d be a challenge. Foster seemed like a good dicer too. It’d be fun.

Now that Foster had finished transparenting the Highway Patrol trooper, Allerton took the floor. ‘The lead didn’t quite pan out like we hoped. The Serrano Seaside connection.’

Gomez asked, ‘Who was it?’

‘A painter — a contractor, you know, a house painter. Not an artist. Tomas Allende. Serrano used to work with him. Uh-huh, he actually did day labor for a while before he got into turning people into skeletons.’

Foster grumbled, ‘Whatta you mean didn’t pan out?’

‘I said didn’t quite pan out. I’ll tell you what we found.’

We.

Nobody noticed. Probably thinking she meant her and Stemple.

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

The stocky woman rose and walked to the door, looked out, then closed it.

Gomez frowned. The two Steves simply watched her.

‘I have to tell you, I didn’t go alone. Kathryn came with me.’

‘Kathryn Dance?’ Gomez asked.

‘How’d she do that?’ Foster seemed both perplexed and put out by this information. Not an easy combo, Stemple thought. ‘She’s suspended. Or did something change that I haven’t heard about?’

‘Nothing’s changed,’ Allerton said.

‘Then what do you mean she was there? I don’t need her to fuck up another operation in this case.’

Stemple stuck his legs out and brought his boot heel down on the linoleum hard. Foster didn’t notice the sound. Or didn’t care if he did.

Gomez said, ‘Steve, come on. We don’t need that.’

‘Need what? I’m saying it’s because of her we’re in this situation.’

Allerton: ‘She asked and I said yes. She knows she made a mistake and she wants to make it right. Look, she was good, though, at the house in Seaside, Steve. She was. You should’ve seen her.’

‘I did. With Serrano. I wasn’t impressed. Who was?’

Stemple scratched a scar on his thigh, not new, but a .40 round leaves a thick streak and humidity could really kick off the itch.

‘You can’t bat a thousand every time,’ Gomez said. Normally soft-spoken, he sounded brittle.

Thanks, Jimmy, Stemple thought.

Steve Lu, the chief of detectives from Salinas, said, ‘Okay. She went. I don’t see the harm. What happened?’

Allerton continued, ‘The subject, our painter, used to work with Serrano? He was cooperating and telling us all kinds of things but swore he hadn’t heard from Serrano for six months. He’d lost all contact. He was going legitimate. I mean, I believed him. Everything he was saying, completely credible. And Kathryn was all, “Sure, sure, I understand, interesting, thanks for your help.” Then, bang, she pulled the rug out from underneath him. Just like that. Caught him in a dozen lies, went to work and in the end he talked.’

‘What about the non-panning lead?’ Foster grumbled.

‘He didn’t have Serrano’s present location. Not surprising, considering Serrano’s warranted and on the run. But the painter said the word is that he’s still in the area. He didn’t head out of state.’ Allerton continued, ‘But more important he gave up another name.’

‘Who?’

‘A woman was recently a girlfriend of Serrano’s. Tia Alonzo. No warrants on her but she’s keeping low. TJ Scanlon’s on it, getting her whereabouts.’

‘You really think Picasso’s telling the truth?’

‘Who?’ Lu asked.

‘The painter.’ Foster sighed.

‘Kathryn does. I do.’

‘When’ll we have a location to go with Señorita Alonzo?’

Allerton said, ‘Soon, TJ said. He’s convinced within a day or two.’

‘Convinced.’

Allerton said, ‘Now. With Kathryn. It was off the books.’

‘Which means?’ From Foster.

Sub-rosa …

‘She didn’t tell Overby.’

Foster: ‘She snuck in to interview this dingo in Seaside?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘Jesus.’

Allerton said, ‘I understand Charles is doing what he has to but she’s too valuable to sit this out. What I want—’

Foster said, impatient, ‘Yeah, yeah, she wants to go around Overby’s back and stay on the team. On the sly.’

Sub-rosa …