wearing makeup and getting plastic surgery for generations. I might as well be carrying around a Monet on a sandwich board as far as they’re concerned. At least most of them, the ones who aren’t looking for a reason to hate someone anyway,” she added scrupulously, then hesitated. “At a certain level of confidence looks largely stop being meaningful for women. Anyway, it’s never been a problem.”
“Hmm,” Chris said. He didn’t sound convinced. “Sandwich board?”
Livvy smiled. “Sorry. Bad habit of mine. I collect archaic references and sometimes I end up using them.”
“Don’t mind me,” Chris said. “I might even remember that one. ‘Sandwich board.’”
“Autodrive zone ending. Right turn in 500 meters,” the car said, and as Chris took hold of the wheel they slowed down to make the first turn.
“Listen. Here’s the situation. This woman, Marcy Caster, has a gun. A real, lethal, 21st century handgun that she’s already used once to shoot someone. They think her husband is dead, and she’s apparently holding the other woman hostage. This isn’t even an LLE case.
“If I need to go in to get her to talk to me, I want you to stay out of this one, to wait for me outside. She asked for me because I helped her out once over fifty years ago. There’s no reason for you to come in.”
Livvy considered him for a few seconds and finally decided that she was going to have to be stubborn on this issue from day one. “No. The way I see it, there’s no reason for me not to come in. I’ve faced guns before. Hell, I’ve been shot before. Besides, this woman, Marcy, used it to kill her husband, not the other woman. She may have asked for you, but who do you think she’s going to see as more sympathetic to her situation?”
“Destination on left,” said the car. Chris pulled over to the curb.
It was a mid-century house, small and well fortified, with a few mature trees and a well-tended lawn. The area all around the house was swarming with a variety of Enforcement cars and personnel; Livvy could see logos for Special Tactical, Psych Intervention, and most prominently, Homicide. The media, with their own logos, equipment and personnel, occupied an outer perimeter. In every city, murders outside the major ghettos always got a lot of attention, but Livvy suspected it was the hostage situation that was fueling most of the interest.
“They’re all here, and most of them aren’t going to like it that we are,” Chris said. He paused and continued to survey the scene until he spotted a Commander in a Special Tactical uniform.
“All right, Hutchins. I get your point. You come in with me if I need to go in,” he finally said, turning to look at her again. He paused, and then steadily met her eyes. “I come from a generation that remembers when someone who looked 21 was 21. Maybe you never fully get over that.”
Livvy was used to men who chose not to try to frame thoughts while looking at her, so she gave him points for that, and she figured his admission was as close to an apology as she’d ever get for his earlier condescension.
“Just remember that you had your chance,” he said, climbing out of the car and heading for the trunk. “But we’re going in with armored tunics. We can keep the faceplates up.” They stayed at the back of the car while they got into their gear, and Chris continued to survey the impressively armored gathering.
“You’d think she has an arsenal in there,” Livvy said.
“Yeah, well,” Chris said, “fortunately, Bruno’s here with Tactical.”
“Louie, stay,” he said through the open window as they passed by the car on their way to the front of the house.
Chris headed straight for the Special Tactical Commander, a very large man with dark eyes and a shock of black hair. Livvy recognized him from her early morning study of the pictures on the Fifty Year wall at City Central. It had been on the wall for over ten years, several down from Chris’, along with long lists of their major medals and commendations.
“Bruno,” Chris said, nodding briskly. “My new partner, Detective Hutchins. Bruno Morelli.”
On Livvy the tunic, which should have hung shapelessly, looked tailored and did nothing to dim the overall effect of her curves. She gave Bruno a lambent smile, demonstrating just how effective her natural armor could be, and offered her hand, which he took and shook for longer than necessary. Her new partner was watching the interaction.
“C’mon, Bruno, your mouth is hanging open. During the last riots you faced down a trio of CCS fanatics determined to beat down a cop. You were weaponless, to their clubs. Don’t go all speechless on me now,” Chris said after a moment. He was smiling slightly.
“I don’t remember much being said at the time,” Bruno said, giving Livvy a slightly sheepish grin.
“Where are we?” Chris asked.
“Can you believe this one?” Bruno jerked his head towards the house. “Married over 50 years, then last night, this guy, Caster, takes his girlfriend in with him to ask for the divorce. Mrs. Neighbor says she doesn’t think the wife had any idea about the girlfriend before the husband walked in with her. The guy doesn’t have the guts or the courtesy to at least talk to his wife alone first. Wonder what the guy said. ‘Honey, can you set another place for dinner?’”
“Maybe it takes at least an iota of both,” Livvy said.
Bruno stared at her again, as if he forgot what he was saying.
“Guts
They all went back to studying the front of the small house.
“Yeah, you’re probably right there,” Bruno said, rubbing a hand through his shock of hair. It fell back across his forehead in a tousled mane. “Anyway, yesterday at some point the husband tells Mr. Neighbor – who’s
“Of course, Mr. Numbskull Neighbor doesn’t think about the situation again until this morning, when he tells Mrs. Neighbor by the way before he goes off to work and she goes over to check on her friend. Mrs. Neighbor never got through the door, but she heard the crying and saw the gun and the three of them sitting there and had the sense to call us.”
“What’s happening now?” Chris asked.
“There’s nothing new. The wife asked for you by name, including the fact that you work for LLE, and she hasn’t responded to anything since. Our bi-ways aren’t picking up anything but somebody crying. Crying a lot.”
“My favorite,” Livvy said.
“You ready to try?” Bruno asked.
“Let’s do it,” Chris said, taking the bi-way Bruno offered him and aiming it at the largest window. He stood silently for a few moments, then he opened the transmitter function.
“Marcy, it’s Chris McGregor,” he said, keeping his voice calm and quiet. “Will you come out and talk to me, please?”
There was an outburst of unrestrained weeping. “I can’t,” someone said between the sobs.
“Marcy, are you okay? Is there anyone in there who needs medical attention?”
More weeping, which seemed to be getting even more hysterical.
Chris turned off the amp. “I’m going in. She’s escalating into desperation. I remember this woman. This is no longer primarily a hostage crisis, it’s a suicide prevention.”
“I’m going in too,” Livvy said, meeting his eyes briefly.
The officer from Psych Intervention stepped forward. “Detective, you’re from LLE, aren’t you? Have you had any training for this? Hostage retrieval or suicide prevention? Anything? I really can’t allow…”
“As long as it’s a crisis,” Bruno cut in, “it’s my decision. I can let Psych or LLE or the French Foreign Legion in if I chose. McGregor goes in. His partner, too, if he wants her in there.”
Chris went back to the bi-way. “Marcy, my partner and I would like to come in to talk to you. We need to hear about what’s happened. Just to talk. Can we do that, please?”
No response other than some continued weeping, now a little muted, as though her face was buried in a pillow. Chris turned off the amp and handed it back to Bruno.
“Be careful in there. Cara loves having you come for dinner. You validate her cooking,” Bruno said.
“Cara is an excellent cook,” Chris said.
“Uh, huh. That’s what I mean. Watch yourself.”
They began walking. Halfway to the door, Chris turned to Livvy.
“Our first goal is to get Marcy to walk out. Even if can’t get that, we ignore the other woman until Marcy at least calms down, then we can see about getting her released if she seems to be in danger,” he said.
