“Louis, can we go in side?” Jesse asked.
“Sure.”
They went back in the cabin. Jesse pulled off his parka and sat down on a chair, wringing his hands, trying to warm them. He seemed edgy, even more than he had after finding Lovejoy. There were only two cops left now from the raid — he and Gibralter.
“You want a drink?” Louis asked.
Jesse shook his head.
Louis picked up a half-finished can of Dr Pepper and took a drink, leaning against the counter to wait for Jesse to bring up whatever was obviously on his mind.
“So,” Jesse said, “how’d the thing with the shrink go?”
“It’s bullshit, a game,” Louis said with a shrug. “I’ll tell the guy what he wants to hear and get back to work.”
Jesse just looked at him.
“What?” Louis said.
“I don’t know, Louis,” Jesse said. “I think you should take this a little more seriously.”
“Jess, spare me your amateur analysis.”
“You shouldn’t just shrug this off. I mean, Ollie died right — ”
“Jess,” Louis said, cutting him off. “Enough. I’m all right.”
“You’re not all right. I heard the tape.”
Louis turned. “What tape?”
“The radio transmission. You sounded fucked up.”
Louis stared at him. “Gibralter played the tape for you?”
“He played it at briefing.” Jesse shifted on the chair. “He used it as a training thing, played it for all of us and said that with Lacey out there we had to keep cool heads and — ”
Louis threw the empty soda at the sink. “Son of a bitch!”
“Louis…”
“Son of a bitch!” He stalked across the room, turned and went back. He picked up the small lamp off the end table. “Motherfucker.”
Jesse jumped up. “Louis!”
Louis set the lamp down with a thud and went to the fireplace. He braced himself against the mantel, head down.
“Nobody thought anything about it,” Jesse said.
“Shut up, Jess,” Louis muttered. “Just shut up for a minute.” After a moment, he turned. “Why is he doing this to me?”
Jesse watched him intently. “Sit down,” he said.
Louis didn’t move. But something in Jesse’s eyes finally compelled him to sit down on the edge of the sofa.
“He knows,” Jesse said.
“Who?” Louis asked.
“The chief.”
“He knows what?” Louis said sharply.
“About you and Jeannie.”
“Jeannie? Who the fuck is Jennie?”
Jesse looked at him oddly. “His wife.”
Louis shook his head. “Wife?”
“He knows…” Jesse hesitated, his face pained. “He knows you two are having an affair.”
Louis stared at Jesse in shock. “He thinks I’m fucking his
Now Jesse looked stunned. “Aren’t you?”
“No!” Louis said quickly. “I’ve never even met his wife!”
“Wait, wait,” Jesse said, shaking his head. “Who
“That’s none of your business,” Louis snapped. He paused, trying to calm down. “Zoe, her name is Zoe Devereaux.”
Jesse was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know any Zoe and I know everyone here.”
“She’s not from here, she’s from Chicago. She rents a cabin up on the north shore. She’s an artist.”
Jesse’s expression clouded. “Artist? What does she look like?”
“She’s…she’s small, half-Asian and…”
Jesse waited for him to finish and when he did not, he continued for him. “Dark hair, light-colored skin, like you?” he said.
Louis stared at him.
“She likes French stuff,” Jesse added. “She paints, pictures of snow and trees.”
Louis stared at him, then walked off toward the kitchen. Jesse shook his head slowly, watching Louis’s back. He stood up. “I guess I’d better let you — ”
Louis turned quickly. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?” he demanded.
“I just found out,” Jesse said slowly.
“How?”
“He told me. The other night, before Ollie was killed. I went over to his house to talk to him about splitting us up and he told me.”
Louis started to say something then just shook his head. He turned away again, unable to face Jesse. The only sound in the cabin was the dripping of the kitchen faucet and Louis’s breathing.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Jesse said softly. “I mean, I always thought she was strange but when he told me about her cabin and all the weird shit — ”
“How long?” Louis demanded.
“What?”
“How long has he known?”
Jesse looked uncomfortable. “About a week. He told me he suspected something and went to her cabin one morning to talk to her. That morning he was late for briefing?”
Louis was staring at him vacantly, as though he wasn’t really hearing Jesse’s voice.
“He said he saw a drawing of you, something she did,” Jesse said quietly. “That’s when he knew.”
Louis hung his head.
Jesse glanced at the fireplace then back at Louis. “It’s not like it’s all your fault,” he said. “I mean, she lied to you, man.”
Louis couldn’t move. The anger was building fast and it was taking every ounce of strength he had to keep from hitting something.
“Louis, the woman is strange,” Jesse went on. “From what the chief told me it’s like she’s leading two lives, like she got some multiple personality dis — ”
“Shut up!”
“Sorry.”
Again, silence. Finally Louis turned to face him. “Why are you telling me this?”
Jesse didn’t answer.
“I thought he was your friend, your great fucking mentor or something. Why are you telling me?”
“I wasn’t going to,” Jesse said. “I mean, he is my friend and he is the chief. But he’s riding you because of this, not because of Lacey, and he wants you out.”
“So why doesn’t he fire me?”
“I asked him. He said he doesn’t want her to feel sorry for you. He said if he fires you, it’ll make you a martyr in her eyes.”
Louis shook his head.
It was quiet again. “Louis…”
“Go home, Jess,” Louis said, not looking at him.
“Look, I know — ”
