unit, if a member is missing under somewhat suspicious circumstances, they mobilize heaven and earth. It’s the way it’s always been. And now you’re telling me you know something about this case, and the Chief…”
“The Chief wants you to do exactly what you’re doing. Work the case as thoroughly as you can. McGregor must have given you a full background Wednesday night…”
“How did you know that?” Livvy asked sharply.
Meg looked at her calmly. “Because it’s what I’d do.”
“I’m sorry,” Livvy said. “Sorry. I’m just on edge.”
“It all fits with what I’ve been trying to tell you, Livvy. We keep these cases under wraps because it’s ruinous to allow the anti-Longevity zealots to use them as propaganda. Secrecy and deniability are crucial. You’ll never work anywhere with more autonomy, but it comes with a price. The brutal truth is, often LLE would prefer not to take cases to court. That means that to a certain extent we trim our consciences in terms of proper, legal, stand-up-in court police procedures. If that seems wrong to you… I can’t help you make that choice, but perhaps you should rethink this career shift you maneuvered. As I said, the Chief can’t tell you to do it, and McGregor won’t. It’s a choice we all have had to make for ourselves,” Meg said. “And that is probably more than I should have said on the subject.”
“In other words,” Livvy said, “among other things, deniability is another LLE priority. Another reason for the secrecy. The Chief wants to hold you in reserve in case we fail, and he wants to be able to deny knowledge in case we succeed in averting an LLE disaster but our efforts bring down the wrath of the judicial system if someone in power with some good attorneys takes exception to our methods. We can be the rogue LLE detectives who created a mess independently of the rest of the unit. Tell me, Meg, is there some thought, too, that LLE can better afford to lose me than you?”
Meg turned to look at her and smiled. “Not from my perspective, no, and I doubt from the Chief’s. And McGregor would be a huge loss.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked suddenly. “Still want to give it a full week?”
“In terms of my career in Enforcement, I’m starting to feel the truth of what Chris said. But I’m not Alice and I haven’t traveled through a wormhole lately,” Livvy mused. “I don’t care about any of that. He also said that we were initiating a ‘private little war.’ I need to engage.”
Meg smiled but remained silent.
“And the first thing I need is some intel. I asked you to come out here so I could ask a specific question,” Livvy said. “I had hints from both McGregor and the Chief that there is someone in LLE that I can’t trust. I’m not talking about Archives or Forensics, but someone in the detective squad.”
Meg continued facing away from the Atrium and looking back down the hall. Then after a moment she looked down at the floor, put a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. When she took her hand away, she said, “Let me offer you some practical advice. In LLE, unlike any other unit, the two most important pieces of information you can have about a suspect are their chrono and their allotment. That’s true as well for understanding where the derelicts who work in the LLE brain trust are coming from.”
Meg shrugged. “It’s something you may want to consider doing before working here too much longer. You can do it from here,” she added, “and I need to get back. I’ve got my own minor catastrophe pending.”
“Wait,” Livvy said. “One more thing. This ‘private little war’ McGregor described. I need to take that literally, don’t I? That’s LLE code for a double-or-nothing, take-no-prisoners, tactical action, isn’t it? Just deny it if I have it wrong, please.”
Meg looked at the polished stone-inlaid floor for moment and then met her eyes. “I have nothing to say about that except that you catch on quickly. And now you can forget I ever confirmed it.”
“Confirmed what?” Livvy asked with a blank expression.
Meg was smiling when she turned away to head back to the office.
As an LLE detective, Livvy had access to ages and family histories for everyone in the city. She sat down on the bench with the topiary fox stalking her and tapped into the files.
Chris, of course, she already knew: 101 chrono, widowed, no children.
Agnew was only 27 chrono, unmarried and a rookie in LLE. It must have been a choice right after making grade, and it was a strange one. LLE was not considered a stepping-stone to anything. One joined it from conviction or sometimes, if one was talented but a little wild one was shuffled into it to save their career. Like Williams, she suspected. She looked a little deeper and saw that Agnew came from a working class family, naturals, and that he had excelled at the Academy. Like every other city employee, he could receive a reset annually as a benefit, if he chose to use them. He had gone in for a reset three months ago. Perhaps he was from one of those ambivalent families that wanted their children to have choices.
Best, 82 chrono, married to his fourth wife, two children from the first marriage and none since, twenty-five years in LLE. A possibility, she supposed, but after twenty-five years in the squad?
Dalton was 83 chrono, married and divorced once years ago, with LLE fifty-five years, like Chris a highly decorated detective. She was the only other woman on the squad.
Toscano, 45 chrono, married, one child, with LLE ten years. Dalton’s partner. That alone put him way down on the list.
Best’s partner, Wachowski was 34 chrono, unmarried, and the other LLE rookie. Transferred from Tactical at his own request after a back injury that had taken some time to heal, despite accelerated healing. She might find more about that if she called Bruno, discretely.
They were all possible suspects, because any one of them could have some special, hidden need for money. But Meg had more than just hinted to her that chrono and allotment were important clues. She had directed her to these records as though the information would give her a motive and a suspect.
It was Williams, Agnew’s partner, whose personal history caused Livvy to straighten up on the bench. Williams was 71 chrono and had been transferred to LLE from Homicide 10 years ago. His wife – his second, much younger wife – had recently given him a third child. His first wife had divorced him five years ago and had custody of their two teenaged children. In such situations, the Law was lenient, although Williams had had his last reset and was required to pay a substantial fine. Williams was the only one on the squad whose chrono and allotment history suggested a motive, but it was a doozy.
Putting her comu away, Livvy walked slowly back to the office. Williams’ antics had appeared almost frenetic today. She’d thought Agnew’s reaction, which mainly consisted of ignoring his partner, was that of someone who had had their quota for the week and wasn’t in the mood for more. He’d seemed in fact slightly embarrassed, as she would be in his situation. Now, she drew on years of experience assessing suspects and playing poker and thought about what she’d really seen on Agnew’s face. That was consciousness of guilt she’d been seeing; she’d bet on it.
When she got back to her desk, she spent another minute in careful observation and decided she could raise her bet. She stifled her wave of fury. There had to be a way to use it.
“Hutchins, in here,” the Chief called, and Livvy jumped.
He nodded at the door after she stepped into his office and she pulled it closed behind her.
“An IA came in to Homicide. Mickey Bedford was killed on her way to Dulles along with her bodyguard. Looks like a kidnapping gone wrong. They took the boy,” he said.
“Jesse,” Livvy said, and swallowed.
The Chief rested his chin on his knuckles and sighed heavily, then opened his palms and rubbed them over his face as though clearing cobwebs.
“You want me over there?” Livvy asked. She hadn’t sat down.
“No,” the Chief said slowly. “There was no one left behind connected to your case and if there is anything useful, Homicide will find it. I’ll follow the case reports for you. I want you working on Josephson from what we have here. That probably means, at this point, McGregor’s disappearance.
“Dalton says she’s given you enough to make you dangerous,” the Chief added, watching her steadily.
“I’d say so.”
“Do you have anywhere to go?”
“Yes, Chief, but I’d rather not say for now.”
