Freezing

‘I was thinking about her myself. Or I should say, talking about this case with you and Steelie always makes me think about the victims, not the perps.’

He put his elbows on the table as he looked toward the traffic stopped at the light on Sunset. ‘Y’know, when I was sent to Kosovo, I was just thinking about killers – people who burned their victims alive after locking them in a house – what their psychology was. But once I’d been in one of those houses, trying to work out if my eyes were tricking me or if the ash on the floor was actually a person reduced to a . . . to a fucking shadow . . .’

Jayne felt her arms come out in goose bumps as she watched him.

He looked back to her. ‘Well, I came out just thinking about bodies. And I’d guess that’s how it is for you all the time.’

Jayne was stunned into silence. Any time they’d talked about Kosovo before, he’d never described this; just as she’d never described seeing Benni blown to pieces by a mine when on their way to a gravesite . . . that day in northern Kosovo, that day of blood, and sweat, but no tears. Those came later, when she was home, jumpy and demoralized, not sleeping well, the type of person for whom an empty filing cabinet could now produce an outpouring of pent-up grief; mingled grief about victims and killers, graves and booby traps, life and loss. These were her reasons for omission with Scott, and other people. And now she knew he’d omitted things too.

She examined his face, his features softened in the glow of lights threaded along the cafe’s umbrellas, looking for physical traces that he was like her. But he didn’t look like damaged goods. He looked rested, excited, and engaged, his fingers twirling the salt shaker on the table between them. She sensed his anticipation to get to Arizona and now understood this fundamental difference between them, why he seemed so balanced. The same phenomena might demoralize them both but where she got stuck or felt overwhelmed, he pushed through, powered on, and closed the case. Maybe he could be future-oriented because it was his job to catch perpetrators who were still out there, not stop at digging up evidence of their past deeds, as she had done, as she had had to do with the UN.

She noticed he had stilled the salt shaker. She wanted to pull his hands to her lips and thank him for caring about people reduced to shadows. Especially when he needn’t because that wasn’t his job; when he needn’t look back, only forward.

Steelie’s voice came from behind her. ‘Here you go. Long line but worth the wait.’

Eric put a mug down in front of Jayne. ‘Steelie tells me you’ve got some kind of situation at your place.’

Scott looked from Jayne to his partner. ‘What’s this?’

‘Looks like maybe someone planted a bugging device outside Jayne’s apartment.’

Scott’s eyebrows lifted. ‘This is what you wanted to talk to us about? When Eric said bugging, I figured you meant legals or clearances. If you’d have said something, we could have brought sweeping equipment.’

Eric said, ‘We did bring sweeping equipment.’ He responded to Scott’s look of surprise. ‘That’s why they pay me the big bucks. Now, tell us what you know, Jayne.’

‘Look, I don’t really know anything,’ Jayne said, feeling frustrated with Steelie for no good reason. ‘There’s a wire coming out of a box inside the soil of a plant pot—’

Steelie interrupted. ‘That was left on Jayne’s porch anonymously.’

Jayne countered, ‘But my situation, as you’re calling it, is probably nothing compared to Steelie’s.’ She enjoyed watching Eric turn on Steelie.

‘You didn’t mention anything.’ Eric sounded almost accusatory.

Jayne continued. ‘She didn’t say she was pulled over on a fake tail light stop by a cop who maybe wasn’t a cop and tried to drag her out of the car?’

He looked concerned. ‘Give me that again.’

Jayne gestured at Steelie, who described the events from the Atwater Village Shopping Center the night before.

Scott had the first question. ‘You drove off while his arm was in the car and he didn’t follow you?’

‘Yeah. Stupid, right?’

He smirked. ‘More like gutsy. You report it?’

Steelie shook her head. ‘I just called an old friend at Parker Center. He said I had grounds for a complaint, which I can file even if I don’t know whether he was an officer or just pretending to be one. I guess the Ombudsman – or whoever – will work that part out. But let me ask you, do you think a cop would act that way?’

‘Well,’ Scott replied, ‘some aspects don’t sound right. The fact that he was riding solo, him not letting you get a good look at his badge, grabbing the lock on your door. And, of course, not following you. Most cops would track you down, if only to save themselves from being a laughing stock back at the House.’

Eric said, ‘If he was a cop, you’ll be getting a summons in the mail any day. If he wasn’t . . . you maybe got a lucky break in getting away from a real piece of work. And you should watch your back.’

Steelie frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You live in your own house, right?’

She nodded.

‘Alone?’

Steelie jutted her chin upwards slightly. ‘At the moment.’

‘Got a dog?’ Eric asked.

‘No.’

‘Got a gun?’

‘Hell, no!’

‘Well, ma’am,’ Eric had assumed a southern drawl. ‘What do you have?’

‘Don’t listen to him,’ said Scott. ‘You don’t have to get a gun. Just stay alert. And maybe curb your late-night ice cream runs.’

Eric added: ‘And you should call us – either of us – if something like that happens again. I’m in Hollywood and Scott’s in Downtown. Only a few minutes from either of you.’ He saw Steelie’s expression. ‘Guess you didn’t know we lived so close, huh?’

She recovered, ‘No, I just didn’t realize government agents had homes. What do you guys do there, anyway? I’d find that interesting from an anthropological perspective.’

Looking at Jayne, Scott said, ‘It wouldn’t be more interesting than finding suspicious boxes hidden on your porch. Where’re you parked? We’ll follow you over.’

Jayne tried not to leave the Suburban behind at any traffic lights on the way to her apartment, so she was driving slower than usual. It made the drive hypnotic as the narrow road wound gently uphill from Sunset.

Steelie said, ‘The reservoir looks calm tonight.’

Jayne looked across the water, catching glimpses between trees. ‘In a dark way.’

‘Maybe I should get a dog.’

‘Maybe I should, too.’

They lapsed into silence. Jayne pulled in front of her duplex and waved her arm out the window for Scott to park in the driveway. Then she drove further along Silver Lake Boulevard until she found a parking space. They walked back.

Eric was holding a case. ‘Lead the way.’

Jayne went up the stairs first. What she saw as she rounded the corner of the landing surprised her so much that she came to a dead halt. Scott collided into her back and put a hand on her waist. Behind him, Eric exclaimed but was able to stop in time and put out a warning hand to Steelie, who called up to Jayne.

‘What is it?’

Jayne looked past the others to Steelie, her eyes wide, the porch light casting a hazy glow across her face. She spoke through clenched teeth.

‘They’re not here.’

The landing was clean. No pots, no soil, no wire.

THIRTEEN