I Shall Not Want

In the mirror, Kevin could see himself blush. Everyone teased him about his freckles, but they didn't bug him. The bright, spotty ones of his youth had almost faded away, leaving him with just a scattering across his nose and cheekbones. But God Almighty, he hated his fair skin! It was like a fricking mood ring.

'We'll be right there,' McCrea said. Noble grunted and lumbered into the hallway. When the door had shut behind him, McCrea said, 'I have a tip for you, too, Kev.' His voice was light but serious. 'It's an oldie but a goodie. Don't shit where you eat.'

Kevin looked down at the sink. 'Whaddaya mean?'

McCrea sighed. 'Kev, you didn't give a rip what you looked like until last week, when Hadley Knox started showing up for the briefings. I admit, she's a total babe. But you do not want to be fishing in these waters. I'd think everything that's happened between the chief and MacAuley would have taught you that much.'

'That's different,' Kevin said. 'MacAuley'-he dropped his voice involuntarily-'nailed the chief's wife. I'd never put the moves on a married woman.'

'It's not about married or not married. It's about sticking it to someone you're going to have to see at work every day.'

'I'm not-'

McCrea held up his hands. 'I don't want to get into it with you. Just think about what I'm saying, okay?'

The door thumped open. 'Are you two waiting for an engraved invitation?' MacAuley said.

They followed the deputy chief out, Kevin, as always, bringing up the rear. He kept his eyes fixed on MacAuley's grizzled head until he had taken his usual seat in the squad room, an irregularly shaped space that had been knocked together out of several small offices about twenty years before Kevin was born.

'Nice of you gentlemen to join us.' The chief sat on the scarred wooden worktable, his booted feet braced on two chairs.

'Sorry,' McCrea said. If it had been, say, last November, he would have cracked a joke about them running a salon, or a book club, or something. But that was before the chief's wife kicked him out. Before she died. Before the department imploded in a smoking mess of old wrongs and betrayal.

None of them joked around within the chief's earshot now.

Kevin flopped his notebook open, and as the chief launched into the bulletins and BOLOs, he snuck a look at Hadley Knox. Eric McCrea had called her a babe, but that didn't do her justice. Kevin had never seen anyone like her, with her perfect skin and her huge brown eyes and her round, pouty lips. Even in a tan poly uniform with no makeup on and her dark hair cut like a boy's, she was better-looking than 99.9 percent of the other women in Millers Kill. McCrea had another thing wrong, too. Kevin knew he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell with a woman like that. If he had swapped more than six words with her since she started patrolling last week, he'da been surprised. He just wanted… to admire her. And to think that when she happened to look at him, she wouldn't think he was a complete geek.

'… with Kevin,' the chief was saying.

He jerked to attention.

'You think that's a good idea?' MacAuley said. 'I mean, isn't that like the blind leading the blind?'

'It's a routine traffic patrol,' the chief said. 'And I want Knox to get as much time behind the wheel as she can. Eric can't take her, he's working the Christie break-in.'

'Paul?' MacAuley asked.

The chief gave him a look.

'Ah,' the deputy said. Kevin figured Paul Urquhart had made yet another dirty joke about the new recruit. Or did something inappropriate. Whatever it was, the dep had gotten it.

Everything that's happened between the chief and MacAuley. It was a waste and a shame, as his dad would have said: two old guys who worked so well together they could have a whole conversation with a word and a look. Now, those were the only conversations they had.

'If Kevin runs into anything heavy while he's out with Officer Knox, he'll call it in. Right?'

In like Flynn. 'Yessir.' Kevin glanced toward her again, this time smiling reassuringly. Her face, looking back at him, was blank. What did that mean? Was she nervous about riding with him? Pissed off because she wasn't going with one of the more experienced guys?

'Eric, catch us up on the Christie B and E.' They were up to the current investigations. Kevin returned his attention to his notebook.

McCrea flopped open the case folder and began to recite. 'Saturday, April six, at five thirty P.M., Bruce Christie reported returning home to find his trailer in the Meadowbrook Estates trailer park had been broken into. The interior had been trashed, as near as Noble and I could tell'-there was some snickering on this-'but he said nothing was missing. The manager reports seeing a vehicle speeding out of the park entrance at approximately five thirty P.M. No description, other than it was 'big and expensive.' ' He glanced up from his notes. 'That might mean any pickup or SUV with more steel than rust. Christie suggested it might be someone his two brothers owe money to and gave us a list of names.' He pulled a short stack of papers from the file and tossed them to Kevin, who took one and passed it on. 'The manager suggested it might have been the two brothers.' McCrea looked up. 'I tend to discount that. Whatever else you can say about the Christies, they hang tight together.'

'If that's what you wanna call it,' MacAuley said, under his breath.

'What do you think they were looking for?' the chief asked McCrea.

He shrugged. 'Money? Pot? Neil Christie was up for distributing a few years back. Got it knocked down to possession.'

'Sheep?' someone said. There was a snort of laughter, stifled.

'Why did he report it?' The question was out of Kevin's mouth before he remembered he was trying to appear cool and knowledgeable in front of their new officer. 'If the intruders were looking for something illegal, I mean.' God, he sounded lame.

The chief swiveled toward him. 'You tell me.'

'Um… he's genuinely clean?'

MacAuley snorted, but the chief gestured for him to go on. Kevin thought furiously. 'He was lying about nothing being missing. He's counting on us to lead him to the guys who took whatever it was.'

The chief tapped his nose. 'Something to consider, isn't it?' He looked at McCrea. 'And, of course, it could be someone with a grudge, looking to beat the crap out of Bruce Christie and settling for wrecking his place. Between the three of 'em, the Christie brothers have a record as thick as the Cossayuharie Directory. Assault, possession-' He glanced at MacAuley. 'Didn't one of them do time for resisting?'

'Donald. Got five in Plattsburgh, out in three. Tried to run over the state trooper who was taking him in for D and D.'

'So, be careful.' The chief pointed at McCrea. 'Anything strikes you funny, ease off and call for backup.'

'Will do, Chief.'

The chief pushed the chairs away and slid off the table. 'That's all.' He gathered up his folders and stalked out of the squad room. Through the doorway, Kevin could hear Harlene telling him about his calls.

'Christies. They put the dirt in dirt poor.' MacAuley shook his head. He squinted up at McCrea from beneath his bushy eyebrows. 'I've been to Bruce Christie's place. How did you tell where the deliberate trashing ended and the usual trashing began?'

McCrea snorted. 'I wouldn't have wanted to stay there any longer than absolutely necessary, I'll tell you.' He jerked a thumb toward Entwhistle. 'Noble here was freaked out by the great big googly-eyed Jesus tapestry he had tacked to the wall.'

'It was creepy,' Noble agreed. 'Its eyes followed you around. Like in that Stephen King book.'