calm lived the degenerates, the sociopaths, the kind of man who could slice up a woman and send parts of her to him and to Meredyth, and the kind of man who could take the life of a small child in 1956 and get away with it all these years, the kind of man who had no compunction about his crimes then or now.
'Lucas, that you?' asked a beefy uniformed cop passing him in the lot. 'It's me, Pete.'
'Pete Blackhorn! Been a while. I thought you were in the Two-five now.' Blackhorn was one of the few other Native Americans on the force. He was an Alabama mixed Sioux, who went by Pete Black in the white world.
'Just transferred over. Heard about that nasty package you and Dr. Sanger got. Weird shit, man. What's up with that?'
Lucas and Blackhorn had been in the academy together, and while they occasionally bumped into one another on the job, they had not seen each other socially since those days at the academy.
'How'd you hear about it, Pete?'
Blackhorn blew out air. 'You kidding? It's all over the precinct and the res. I've had calls from the family. Word out at the Coushatta is you and Billy Hawk have bad blood going again. That true?'
'Fuckin' gossips're going to make it true if they repeat it enough. Shit, aside from everything else, I'm going to have to look over my shoulder for that damned fool cousin of mine?'
'What is it the cowboys say, amigo? You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your kin?'
'You get a chance, set the record straight. There's no feud going on between Billy and me, understood?'
'Then you don't think he sent you and your white friend those Care packages?'
'No, I don't. Eunice Tebo and her cronies are at it again, stirring up ancient history they can't let go of. They got no fucking life of their own, do they?'
'Not to speak of… not so's you'd notice, no. But it's you too, Lucas.'
'Whataya mean, me?'
'It's 'cause you're you, Stonecoat, Houston's most decorated Native American cop. You kidding? On the res, you're like Jimmy Smits or Lou Diamond Phillips, man. Get used to it.'
'Indian tabloid press headlines, I know, and I'm sick of it.'
'Can't bury a story like this. It's got everything. Red hero, white blond heroine, old love in the background, and Billy Hawk playing the heavy.'
'Blackhorn, it's most likely some nutcase who's seen me on TV or read about Meredyth in the papers and is going for his fifteen minutes of fame by targeting us.'
'Yeah, that sounds more logical, agreed.'
'Some lunatic demanding his place in the media spotlight beside the 'luminaries' of murder history.'
'So you want me to put it on the grapevine like that for you?' Blackhorn had extensive family ties on the reservation, whereas Lucas's had dwindled to a handful of distant relatives.
'I'd appreciate it, yeah,' he said to Blackhorn.
'You know, it's also all over the station house too, Lucas, and speculation's pointing a finger at that guy they call Itchy and some of his crowd.'
'I'm aware,' Lucas replied, his shoulders heaving in a gesture of defeat. 'I had hoped for some time to work the case before it became gossip fodder. Next it'll be headline news.'
'Wouldn't be the Three-one or Houston if it were otherwise, amigo.'
Lucas failed to say that he had himself started the ball rolling downhill on Arnie Feldman and his pals, but as for the Houston Chronicle and papers like the Star Gazette getting hold of it this soon in the investigation, he hoped not. Still, given the sheer number of people involved in the crime-scene work, Pete was right. The newshounds would soon be all over the story. He wondered how best to protect his and Meredyth's identities when the story of this bizarre attack on a detective and a forensic psychiatrist broke. He'd have to rely on the discretion of an army of so-called professionals, some of whom did not particularly care about his comfort or discomfort.
'Let's get a beer sometime, Lucas,' Pete suggested. 'I'd like to see that gun collection of yours.'
'Right, we really ought to do that. Give me a call.'
'Night.'
They parted just as Meredyth Sanger drove into the lot. She Would normally be parking in her reserved spot in the small underground lot, but she had spotted Lucas in his Aussie-looking Wellington leather coat out here with Blackhorn, so she drove in waving to him. 'There you are,' she said to him as she climbed from her car. 'Where've you been?'
'I've spent the last several hours gathering dental records on those three missing persons we ID'd this morning.'
'Great, anything shake out?'
'Too early to tell for sure. Tried reaching you around two, but you'd bugged out.'
'I see, and next you'll be saying that you missed me.'
'I did actually.'
'I'm sure that Detective North took your mind off such bothersome thoughts as me.'
'Hey, whoa up there, cowgirl. Where's this coming from?' He wondered how she'd learned of his having spent the better part of the day with Jana North. 'Jana smoothed the way for the family introductions and the permissions. She was a great asset. No way I could've gotten through it in such a short time without her help, believe me.'
'I'll bet she was just that, a big asset.'
'Are you deliberately picking a fight, or are you merely jealous?' he asked.
'Not in the least.' She didn't sound convincing.
'Not in the least to which? Fight for fighting's sake, honey-be-mine, or jealousy for jealousy's sake? 'Cause while the jealousy thing is flattering, the fighting just looks like the old arm's length excuses of the past, Mere. So, which is it?'
'Damn it…I just thought you'd call.'
'Mere, I did call, but I missed you. You were busy, remember, in meetings? Then I got super-busy. You know how that goes. What're you doing back here anyway?' he asked.
'I want to get a file I left in my office.'
'Sure you didn't race over here to catch me with Jana, only to find me with Pete?'
'I came back for the file, Lucas.'
'Come here.' He hugged her close.
'So what did you two find on the missing persons front?' she asked, changing the subject. 'You must've learned something?'
'Very little, but let me take you to dinner, and I'll fill you in.'
'I want to change, freshen up. My place at around eight?' Meredyth suggested.
Lucas reached out an open palm to brush aside her falling hair from her eyes, but Meredyth shied off, saying, 'I'd really like to keep our personal life to ourselves, Lucas, so if you don't mind, the precinct house parking lot isn't the place to display our affections.'
Did she get a call from some exaggeration-monger telling her that he and Detective North had had a rendezvous here only moments before? Had she rushed over to catch a glimpse of Lucas in Jana's company to determine if she had something to worry about or not? He wanted to reassure her that nothing untoward was going on between him and Jana, but he realized that if he began down such a road, it would simply sound like a cover-up or even a lie, despite the truth.
'Trust me,' Meredyth continued, reading his silence as a disagreement. 'Romance in the workplace always wreaks havoc of one sort or another, so let's try to keep what we have a private matter.'
'Sure it isn't your professional reputation that you're worried about?'
'I don't mind saying that that's part of it, yes.'
'You ashamed of what we have. Mere?'
'I didn't say that! Never. It's just that the leeches and termites in the house will find ways to make it uncomfortable for both of us.'
He nodded. 'Of course, you're right, but you aren't having second thoughts about us… about this morning, are you?'
'Aren't you?'
'Then you are…having misgivings.'
