'You keep winking at me.'
'Just in a good mood, that's all. Are we off to shake down the dealer?'
He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
'Yeah. I'll stop by my office for a bag. You sure you're okay?'
'I'm absolutely perfect, Jack.' And he winked at me again.
I went to my desk, followed by some weird alternate-universe version of my partner, and retrieved a plastic bag filled with powdered sugar. Davi's supposed dealer probably wouldn't be forthcoming with the police. The bag would help him loosen his tongue.
I handed it to Herb. In this day and age, it was risky for a woman to frisk a man, and vice versa. Sexual harassment laws protected criminals too.
After a quick stroll through the desert that was our parking lot, we got into Herb's Camaro and he cranked up the air. It was only a matter of time before the constant flux between hot and cold would give me pneumonia.
Herb pulled onto Lake Shore Drive, heading south. Chicago didn't seem to be bothered by the heat. People littered the walkways along the beach, and a few suicidal individuals were even jogging. Out on Lake Michigan, hundreds of boats competed for space. It looked as if someone sprinkled some kosher salt on a gigantic polished mirror.
Herb began whistling again, keeping tempo by drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
'All right,' I said after five minutes of biting my tongue. 'Spill it.'
'Spill what?'
'Why you're so damn happy.'
'What do you mean?'
'It's like you've been possessed by one of the Care Bears.'
He looked at me, and winked.
'There are some things best kept private, Jack.'
'That's bull, Herb. We're partners. We have no secrets.'
'You sure?'
'I'm sure.'
Herb winked at me again. I made a fist, ready to slug him.
'Okay. Bernice and I were . . . intimate last night.'
I stared at him.
'That's all? You're this happy because you got laid?'
He smiled. 'Five times.'
I did a double take.
'Five times?'
He nodded. 'Three last night, and then two more this morning.'
I looked at Benedict with newfound respect.
'You haven't been possessed by a Care Bear. You've been possessed by a porn star.'
He winked at me again. 'Viagra.'
'Really?'
'Bernice and I have been doing the once-a-week thing for thirty years. So last night I decided to spice things up a bit.'
'Apparently it worked.'
'I was a dynamo, Jack. You should see the scratch marks on my back.'
I had no idea how to respond to that. Pat him on the shoulder? Tell him to nail her once for me? I settled on, 'That's great.'
'She was begging me for mercy, Jack. But I kept a-goin'. I haven't heard her scream like that since--'
'Herb,' I interrupted, 'you were right. Maybe we should keep some things private.'
Colin Andrews's neighborhood was primarily low-income. Gang-bangers flashing colors eyed us, trying to figure out what business a white couple in a new sports car had in their hood. At a stoplight, a kid with baggy pants pimp-walked up to the passenger side and tapped on my window.
'Y'all lost?'
I smiled at him. 'Five-O. Y'all holding?'
He put his hands in the air and backed off, smiling at me with gold caps. The way he wore his bandanna told me he was a Gangsta Disciple. Couldn't have been more than twelve years old.
'I blame rap music,' Herb said.
