yourself and blow up a bunch of Israeli teenagers in a disco? Why hijack a plane and fly it into the World Trade Centers? Who knows why people do the stupid shit they do.”
We drove back to the Scar and parked our fleet car, undamaged this time, and went into our respective locker rooms to change. I was ready before Chunk, and I waited for him at the exit to the parking lot.
“What's up?” he asked. He didn't say it casually, like a greeting. There was genuine concern in his tone.
“You see right through me, don't you?”
“Nah girl. You just wear your troubles where they're easy to see.”
I nodded.
“So, what is it?”
“What we talked about earlier. I don't really know how this is supposed to work. I've never, you know…”
“Just call a spade a spade, girl. You're having second thoughts about buying off the black market, aren't you?”
“I made a promise, Chunk. I feel bad about doing that.”
“Well, first off, you ain't got to whisper about it. Ain't nobody around here gonna hear us. Or care. Ain't like it's illegal or nothing.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Look, here's the deal. The way they got the system set up, you can't win. Look what happened today, if you don't believe it. You play their way, you'll never be able to provide for your family. And I ain't talking about chocolate cake neither. I'm talking about the basics. Springvale ain't been shorted too bad yet, but it'll happen. I promise you that. If you don't start buying off the black market, there may come a day when you can't feed your family.”
He was right, of course. There wasn't a law against the black market. The Metropolitan Health District had come out and openly condemned the practice, citing unsanitary conditions and the need for fair distribution of resources, but nothing had been formally done to close it down.
The black market was everywhere anyway, which was probably why nobody bothered to try to shut it down. There was no one location where things were bought and sold, no one person who controlled it. It was like a giant underground river of goods and services that you accessed through friends and family. One person might know where to get gasoline. Another might know a guy whose cousin was married to a woman who could get you booze, or soap, or aspirin, toys for your kid, whatever.
“So what do I do?”
“You mean, how do I get the stuff to you?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me take care of it,” he said. “I'll come by your place tomorrow.”
Connie was in her bed, sleeping soundly. I listened to the slow, gentle sounds of her breathing in the dark and tried to remember what things were like before this damn quarantine.
I went back to the living room, turned out the lights, poured myself a glass of water from the sink in the kitchen, then headed back to the bedroom, where Billy was waiting, head propped up on a stack of pillows, no shirt, an old pair of boxers, and a goofy, but very cute, smile on his face.
“I finished the white-breasted nuthatch today,” he said.
I smiled. “You're a good man, Billy. The best.”
His smile wavered a little. “That doesn't make you happy?”
“It does,” I said. “It's just… today was really hard.”
I had already told him all about it when I came home, and he had told me how he and Connie had spent the entire day waiting in a line that never seemed to move.
“You guys were lucky you didn't run into a riot.”
“Sounds like it.”
He sat there, smiling at me, and it made me do a double take.
“What?”
His smile grew wider.
“What?” I said. A bit of a chuckle had crept into my voice. I couldn't help it, looking at the goofy grin on his face.
“Got a couple of surprises for you.”
“Mmm hmmm,” I said. “What kind of surprise?”
“Three of them actually.”
“Three surprises? Wow, I'm a lucky girl.”
“You are,” he said. “And you don't even know it.”
He got out of bed and walked past me to the bathroom, pulled the shower curtain back, and waved his hand toward it like a magician revealing a trick.
All I saw was the empty bathtub.
“What is it?”
“This,” he said, and pointed at the tub. “Not only did I save a little extra fuel to run the hot water heater, but Connie and I didn't get a chance to use any water today. So…”
“You mean?” I looked from the tub to Billy, but didn't dare say the words.
“That's right,” he said. “There's enough for you to take a long, hot bath.”
I ran to him and hugged him. He hugged me back, which made me wince and break contact.
“Ow,” I said. “Ribs.”
“Sorry.”
“Oh, Billy. How did I get you? What could I have possibly done to deserve you?”
“You deserve the moon,” he said, and bent down over me to kiss me once more. “You're a fantastic woman, Lily Harris.”
I undressed quickly, down to my bra and panties. I grabbed a towel from the closet then made a beeline for the tub, stopping at the entrance to the bathroom to glance at myself in the mirror.
My whole left flank was discolored from the bruise, but I looked past that. All the yoga I had been doing seemed to be paying off. I'd had a little poochy roll right beneath my belly button ever since Connie was born, and I didn't think it would ever go away, but by God if my belly wasn't finally starting to look flat again. I turned a little to the left, then to the right, and smiled.
Damn, I haven't had a tummy like this since Billy and I were dating. Nice.
“Lily.”
I turned back to the bedroom and saw Billy bringing me my city-issued cell phone.
“It's some guy named Myers.”
I frowned at the phone, took it.
“Hello?”
“Detective Harris,” said Myers, his icy British reserve stretched thin to cover something that was evidently pretty serious, “I apologize for calling at such a late hour. I didn't realize you were already at home.”
“It's okay, Doc. Whatcha got?”
“I've just spent the last few hours going over the mobile laboratory you recovered in the GZ this morning.”
“Yes? Something wrong?”
“Yes, Detective, something is most certainly wrong. Several important items are missing.”
“Missing?” I didn't like his tone, like there was an accusation behind it. “Like what?”
“The hard drives to all three of the on-board lap top computers are gone. All of Dr. Bradley's research was on those drives, Detective Harris. Without them, we have no way of knowing the results of her research.”
Billy was watching me. He gave me a ‘what's wrong’ look and I nodded back at him. “I see,” I said. “Did you call the SAPD Evidence Unit? Maybe they confiscated the drives for further testing.”
“They did not. I was told by a rather curt sergeant that the vehicle was returned to us in exactly the same condition as it was when it was delivered to them yesterday morning.”
Billy put his hand out and I took it. He folded his massive palm over the back of my hand and I closed my
