then gave me an irritated look when he had to wait for me to empty mine.
Paul frowned. “How serious?”
“Serious.”
Paul took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Is that why you’re so gung ho on getting Yashin? You feel guilty about those cameras, about watching her without her knowing.”
I didn’t have to answer. I just took another drink. The brandy burned all the way down to my stomach.
“Why did you go off on those lizards?”
I told him about the fight I had with Natasha and how I thought her father abused her. I told him about the suicide scars on her wrists that she wouldn’t admit to. Her father put them there-like my father put scars on my wrists. I was going to arrest that asshole. He had to pay for what he did to her. I hoped he’d resist arrest. Any excuse to get a few licks in would suit me fine.
We sat for a long time without talking. Finally, I said, “So are you coming with me when I arrest the bastard or not?”
“You’re really serious about her?”
I nodded.
“You love her?”
I nodded again.
Paul put his true-friend hand over mine. “Okay, Juno. I guess Bandur can wait. We’ll pinch Yashin tomorrow.”
EIGHTEEN
SEPTEMBER 31, 2762
I pounded on the door. “Get up, Josephs!”
After two minutes of continued pounding, Mark Josephs finally opened the door, heavy lidded with cowlicked hair. His voice was a half-awake croak. “What the fuck are you guys doin’ here?”
“You going to let us in or what?” Paul challenged.
Josephs let us through. We didn’t bother wiping our shoes. The stone floor was already covered in muddy footprints. We settled in his living room. Dried up tea bags were stuck to the walls-he’d do the same shit at the office, make his tea and whip the tea bag at a wall to see if it stuck. I had to move an empty liquor bottle to make room on the sofa. A gecko scuttled out from underneath. A poof of moldy air came up out of the cushions as I sat down, making me sneeze.
Josephs sat on a chair that looked ready to collapse. “It’s too early for this. What do you two want?”
Paul said, “We’re going to make a sweep this morning. We need your help.”
“Can’t it wait?”
“No, it can’t. You know that morning is the best time to catch drug dealers, when they’re still sleeping.”
“Shit. I wish I was still sleepin’. Who are you bringin’ down?”
“Pavel Yashin. He sells O to a high-class crowd. You know him?”
“I don’t know him, but I know who he is. What do you need me for?”
“You’re just our first stop. We’re going to wake up Reyna, Cheng, and Banks next. We have names and addresses of the top guys that work under Yashin. Juno and I are going to arrest Yashin in two hours, and we want all of you to pick up the scraps.”
“You have evidence?”
“We have a bundle. Convictions will be a cinch.”
“Damn. Who would have thought you two could put together a bust like this?”
A female voice came from the back. “Are you talking to somebody?”
Josephs yelled back, “Yeah, it’s just some guys from work. Go back to sleep.”
“Are my clothes out there?”
Josephs ignored her, spoke to us. “How do you want to do it?”
I could see a bra on the floor. I handed Josephs a name and address. “When you get set in position, you call me or Paul. When everbody’s set, we’ll call and tell you to move in. It’ll be synchronized.”
“Did you find my clothes?” The woman came out from the bedroom with a dingy-gray sheet as a wraparound. She snatched up her clothes from the floor. When Josephs turned her way, she said, “Thanks a lot, asshole. Some gentleman you are.”
Josephs turned back to us and spoke in a voice that didn’t care if she heard. “Don’t mind her, guys. She’s just a roundheels I picked up last night.”
She was gone to the back-I couldn’t tell if she heard him or not.
“I never should’ve brought her home,” Josephs said. “If I didn’t work vice, I would just pay for a pro. Sure it costs some money, but by the time I bought that skank enough drinks to get in her pants, I just about could have paid for a hooker, and then I wouldn’t have to deal with this broad’s attitude.”
A door slammed. Josephs grinned. “Good, she’s gone. Hey, speakin’ of hookers, are you gonna to nab Yashin’s daughter while you’re at it?”
Did I hear that right? “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Yashin’s daughter, I can’t remember her name.”
“Natasha.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Natasha. She’s a high-class hooker and a hot one at that. When I leave vice, I think I’ll look her up. I’ll probably have to save up two months’ pay, but it’d be worth-”
My world turned red. I was on top of him in a flash. I socked him in the face once, twice. Paul grabbed me from behind. “LET ME GO!” I shouted. I fought against the arms holding me back. “LET ME GO!”
I was wrestled to the floor from behind. Paul buried my face into the mildewed rug. My nose tickled uncontrollably. I went into a sneezing fit. Can’t BREATHE. I turned my face to the side and heaved as much air into my lungs as I could with Paul on top of me.
Josephs was yelling at Paul, “Let him go! I’m gonna fuck him up!” Josephs started trying to pull Paul off me. “Let him go!”
Paul managed to stay on top, his hands clasped under my stomach in a bear hug. As Josephs’s rants petered out, Paul’s pythonlike hold began to loosen. Once Paul was sure we’d both calmed, he whispered in my ear, “Are you all right? Can I let you up?”
I nodded, my cheek scraping carpet.
Paul let up superslow. I stayed still. When he let go, I rolled over, sat against the wall, and blew my nose into a dirty napkin.
Josephs was on the couch, nursing a bloody lip.
I said, “Natasha’s not a hooker.”
“She sure as hell is a hooker,” he said. “I arrested her myself. Check the fuckin’ books if you don’t believe me.”
My insides went to jelly. “Tell me about it.”
“Apologize first.”
I gritted my teeth. “You’re right, Josephs. I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”
Josephs thought it over, deciding whether or not I was sincere. I wasn’t. He said, “Okay, Juno. I’ll tell you, but only because we go back a few years.”
“Thanks.”
“Why are you so interested in her? You seein’ her?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit. I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have said those things about her if I knew you were pokin’ her. You know I’m not the kind of guy that talks about another guy’s woman.”
“I know. I just lost it, okay? I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“You can say that again. You were like some kind of fuckin’ animal, man. You were flashin’ your teeth. I was afraid you were gonna bite me.”
