Erin unlocked the cell. “Time to go.”
“Thanks for the help, Cars,” Siobhan said, giving Carlyle a wide, inviting smile and ignoring Erin completely. “I knew you’d come for me.”
She put her arms around his neck and drew in close, giving him a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Carlyle returned the hug, then stepped back from her.
“I’ve a car waiting outside,” he said. “Go with Mr. Walsh, please. I’ve a few details to clear up here.”
“Don’t be too long,” she said, giving him a slight pout. Then she walked briskly out of the holding area. As she went, she gave Erin a quick, blazing glance which was full of triumphant hatred.
Erin followed Siobhan and Walsh out to the lobby. She and Rolf watched them go. The K-9, picking up her emotion, bristled slightly.
When she turned away from the door, Carlyle was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. Erin glared at him.
“We need to talk,” she said.
“I’m thinking we do,” he replied levelly.
“C’mon,” she said, motioning him to the elevator. She pushed the button for the garage. As soon as the doors opened, she grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him off to the side, into the shadows.
“What is this?” he asked.
She glanced around. They were alone. Rolf stood warily, head slightly cocked, trying to figure out what was going on.
“There’s no cameras on this part of the garage,” she explained. Then she tightened her grip on him. “You come into my police station? To get her out?”
Carlyle grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand free of his coat. The shock of that sudden action startled Erin. He’d never laid a rough hand on her before. In that moment, seeing the look in his eyes, the tightness in his jaw, she realized he was as angry as she’d ever seen him. Rolf growled and tensed. If he had the slightest excuse, he’d jump the Irishman right there.
“That’s my little girl you hauled in here,” Carlyle said, biting off the words, holding on to an icy edge of control.
“She’s not such a little girl,” Erin retorted. “Or didn’t you notice?”
“I held her hand at her da’s funeral.”
“She’s a murderer!” Erin shot back. “You’re protecting her?”
“She’s my responsibility!”
“For how long? Until she does what? Where’s the line?”
“When it comes to the people I love, there’s no bloody line!”
She stared at him. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” he said, more quietly. “I’d kill or die for them. And that goes for you too, Erin.”
“You think I want that? You think that impresses me?”
“I’m not trying to impress you, Erin.”
“Then what the hell are you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to do what’s right!”
They stared at each other, both breathing hard. Erin wanted to punch him in the face, to shake some sense into him, to scream at him.
“So am I,” she said, suddenly feeling very tired. “You picked a hell of a time to play white knight.”
“I’d no choice, Erin. Why did you arrest her?”
“You know why.”
“Anything she might have done, she was doing to protect this city.”
“We arrest vigilantes. If goddamn Batman showed up in New York, we’d put him behind bars.”
“That’s beside the point. Were you looking for her today?”
“No. I came to the Corner to talk to you.”
“Here I am. What is it you’re wanting?”
Erin shook her head. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
His face softened a little. “I know, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Liam knew something,” she said. “And they killed him for it.”
“I agree he’s likely involved,” Carlyle said quietly. “The lad was already nervous. It’s curious, though. He agreed to meet with you. Then, when you showed up, he left almost at once.”
“I guess I asked him the wrong question,” she said, thinking back. “I asked him who had a reason to go after the Lucarellis. Then he freaked.”
Carlyle nodded and said nothing.
“He knew the answer to that,” she said softly. “That was why he got mad at you. But the only reason he would’ve been mad was if…”
She looked into Carlyle’s face. He was putting up a careful, expressionless façade. That, by itself, answered the question she knew she couldn't ask him.
“Siobhan will be waiting for you,” she said.
He straightened his jacket and adjusted his necktie. He no longer looked angry, but he was distant, cautious.
“I apologize for troubling you, Erin. I’ll be leaving now.”
She felt like a wall had sprung up between them, like those sheets of bulletproof glass between the telephones in prison visiting rooms. She wanted to touch him, but couldn’t think how to reach him.
“I’ll see you later,” she said, unconvincingly.
“You know where I’ll be,” he replied.
Chapter 8
Erin and Rolf stepped out of the elevator into Major Crimes. Webb and Vic were at the whiteboard, conferring. They looked up in surprise.
“Get rid of the lowlifes?” Vic asked.
She ignored the question. “Liam McIntyre was behind the restaurant hit,” she said.
“You sure about that?” Webb asked.
“Either he did it, or someone thinks he did,” she replied.
“Carlyle tell you that?” Vic asked with an edge of contempt.
“No,” she said. “He very specifically didn’t tell me that.”
“Which means he thinks McIntyre was involved, but doesn’t want to rat out his buddies,” Webb said, understanding. “So what was the hit on McIntyre? Retaliation by the Lucarellis?”
“Could be,” Erin said. “They wouldn’t have to know for sure. If they even thought McIntyre was involved, they might’ve moved on him.”
“Were they tailing him, you think?” Vic asked. “They didn’t just get lucky and run into him.”
“Drugs,” Erin said thoughtfully.
“What about them?” Webb asked.
“This whole thing was about drugs.”
“Yeah, we know,” Vic said. “In other news, Manhattan’s an island. You wanna buy a bridge?”
“I mean, it was business, not personal,” she said.
“No Godfather impressions,” Webb warned Vic, who gave him a look of artificial innocence.
“Rojas was meeting with Conti to do a
