Touching Silver

by Jamie Craig

  “Son of a bitch.” His hand shot out to find the wall, and he used it as a guide to navigate more slowly to the stairs, his eyes adjusting to the diminished light along the way.

  “Olivia?” he heard Candace call. “Olivia? Where are you?”

  “I’m here, Mom.” She was still standing on the stairs, though she seemed closer to the bottom floor than the second. She whistled softly, and Tiberius’s toenails clicked against the floor as he found his mistress in the dark. “Everybody, calm down. We probably just blew a breaker or something.” Nobody seemed to hear her, and the children still screamed with fear. “Listen. Calm down. Dad put up too many Christmas lights. That’s all.”

  Nobody paid any attention to her. Isaac descended a few more stairs, touching her shoulder lightly to let her know he was right behind her.

  “Let me try.” Putting two fingers in his mouth, he let out a loud, shrill whistle that pierced the ruckus. The room immediately fell silent.

  “Thanks,” Olivia murmured. “Everybody take a deep breath and relax. We’re going to check the breakers and get the lights back on. Who is next to the piano?”

  It sounded like a hand mashed on several keys, and then a young voice called out. “I am.”

  “Nick, is that you? Can you pick out a few carols without being able to see?”

  “Sure, that’s easy.” As if to prove it, he plucked out a simplified version of It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

  “Ha, ha, very funny.” She took Isaac’s hand and bent to take Tiberius’s collar with the other. “We’ll be right back.”

  Olivia led the way down the rest of the stairs, guiding him through the crowd. People parted to give them a clear path to the front door, but once they stood on the walk, she let him go, heading straight for the triple-car garage.

  “Could be worse,” Isaac said. “At least we don’t have to worry about the house being seen from space now.”

  She snorted. “It gets worse every year.” She stepped inside the garage, and he heard her muttering, “I know it’s around here somewhere…aha.” A moment later, she shone a bright flashlight at his face. “Found it.”

  Holding his hand up to block the worst of the light, he turned his head and blinked to get rid of the spots suddenly dancing in front of his eyes. “I can tell you right now, my breaker is back to normal. Let’s try shining that at the one for the house, okay?”

  She laughed and focused the light on the breaker box next to the door. As he moved closer, her smile turned into a frown. “It’s not a breaker.” She flipped a few off and then on to prove her theory. Everything remained dark.

  “It’s gotta be something in the line itself, then. Except…” He took the flashlight from her and went back to the door, glancing up and down at the brightly lit street. If it was in the line, the entire block would have been affected. No other houses were dark.

  Olivia followed him around the edge of the garage to find the wiring coming through the wall to the pole. In the swathe of light cutting in front of him, Isaac saw the problem several yards away, and his stomach immediately plummeted. He stopped dead in his tracks, his arm shooting out to prevent her from going on.

  “Call the precinct,” he started to say. Tiberius’s sharp bark cut him off, then the dog knocked him to the side as he tore free from Olivia’s hold to race ahead into the darkness.

  Olivia kicked off her shoes and raced after Tiberius without hesitation. Isaac called after her—she wasn’t even armed—but she ignored him, and the shadows swallowed her.

  “Damn it,” he said as he took off after her. The scene was compromised, and his leg ached from where he’d banged it on the table, but none of that mattered. Someone had cut the power to the house, and Olivia’s gentle giant of a dog had taken off like a bat out of hell, much like he had when Isaac’s car had been vandalized. That added up to bad news all around.

  Whoever they were chasing veered out of the yard and toward the sidewalk. Isaac couldn’t see any identifying details, except it was clearly a male. Tiberius stayed right on his heels, and he lunged forward with each step, his teeth white and sharp in the winter night. Isaac expected Olivia to call the dog off. Tiberius always instantly responded to her command to heel. But she didn’t. In fact, she only said one thing as the suspect reached his idling car, yanking open the passenger door.

  “Attack.”

  The sharp command rang out, and Tiberius jumped like he had springs on the bottom of his paws. He closed the final feet between himself and his prey, his mouth snapping around the man’s calf. The man kicked out with his other foot, hitting Tiberius directly between the eyes. The dog yelped and fell back, and the car sped off into the night before he even had the passenger door closed.

  Isaac had his phone in hand before he stopped. Barking out the address of the house to Dispatch, he came to a stop at Olivia’s side, crouching with her as she bent over Tiberius. As soon as he could, he disconnected.

  “Is he all right?”

  Olivia’s mouth was set in a grim line, and she ran her fingers through the fur on the top of his head. Tiberius looked up at her with eyes Isaac could only describe as apologetic. He had never actually seen a dog look contrite, but Tiberius did now. “I think so. Do you have a handkerchief or something?”

  “Yeah.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled it out, passing it over. “The line was cut, Olivia. I’m sorry.”

  She carefully wiped the dog’s muzzle, collecting the drops of blood that clung to his lips and teeth, and then folded the material to protect the evidence. “I’m going to kill the bastard.” She didn’t look up. “Because I don’t believe for one second he was going to stop at cutting the power.”

  “We’ll get him. We’ve got DNA now.” His hand dropped to the dog’s head. “Thanks to Tiberius.”

  Olivia straightened and began to march back to the house. “I got his plates. I don’t need to wait for the results on his DNA. We can find him tonight.”

  He didn’t let her get two steps before grabbing her arm. “And we’ll call that in. Be smart about this. You’re upset right now. We’ll work better when we’re both calm.”

  “Oh, I’m not upset, Isaac. I’m fucking furious.” She yanked her arm away from him and started walking again. “He targeted my family. There are children in there. We can find him and end this whole stupid mess tonight.”

  “You’re right.” His long strides matched hers, and the jangle of Tiberius’ collar came from behind as the dog followed after them. “But a plate doesn’t guarantee finding the guy. Hell, he didn’t leave any prints at all on my Toyota. He probably stole this car just for the purpose of this job.”

  Olivia ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “They couldn’t get a match on his partial print. If his DNA isn’t in the database, this isn’t going to do us any good.”

  “Exactly.” His ready argument vanished, her words sinking in. “Wait. What partial—?” The question was cut off by his phone ringing, and he yanked it out of his pocket to see Nathan’s number on the display. Sighing, he answered it. “This really isn’t a good time to tell me how jetlagged you are.”

  “Where are you?” There wasn’t a trace of humor in Nathan’s voice.

  “Olivia’s parents’ Christmas party. My secret admirer decided to cut the power at their house.”

  “I hope you’re sitting down. Parker has been out of prison since October.”

  Isaac ground to a halt. “What? Why the hell are you looking into Parker’s jail time?”

  The name caught Olivia’s attention, too, and she turned to face Isaac, a question in her eyes.

  “I’m not. Your new girlfriend left a package for me today, with a short-list of suspects and the pictures your friend took of you. He didn’t capture your best side, by the way. But right at the top of the list was Cameron Holden Parker.”

  A name he deliberately didn’t think about. It had been six years since the shootout that had sent Parker to jail. Six years since Susanna had been k
illed by another officer’s bullet after slitting Nathan’s throat. Six years since their lives had changed forever. Irrevocably. There was a reason Isaac didn’t think about the past. Six years was not nearly enough time to forget.

  His eyes locked with Olivia’s, though he kept his tone even. “Have you done anything with this information?”

  “I just sat down to look at it five minutes ago. I called you as soon as I saw his name.” Nathan’s voice had been hard before, but now the words had the slightest tremor. Isaac didn’t think anyone but he would notice it. “He was supposed to be in prison until we were both old men.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s going back. Trust me on that.”

  “Do you think he’s the one stalking you?”

  “We’ll know for sure by the end of the night.” Briefly, he described what had happened, watching Olivia’s eyes dart from him to the house and then to Tiberius. “I’m going to put a rush on the testing,” he finished. “And then we’re going to get this son of a bitch, once and for all.”

  “Call me when you get the match. You’re not going after him on your own.”

  “Neither are you. Tell me you’re in until you hear from me again.”

  There was an uncomfortably long pause before Nathan said, “I’ll sit tight.”

  Isaac disconnected from the call, but when Olivia started to head for the house again, he stepped up and blocked her path.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were digging around in my past?” he demanded.

  Olivia folded her arms. “Because I didn’t want you to try to stop me. And I didn’t want it to shift your attention from Gabriel.”

  “Newsflash, sweetheart. The only thing that’s shifted my attention from Gabriel recently is you.”

  As soon as he opened his mouth, he knew he was saying the wrong thing. Her mouth thinned. “Well, I wouldn’t want to do that again.” A cruiser turned the corner, catching them with its headlights. “Maybe they can give you a lift,” Olivia added, before turning on her heel.

  “I didn’t mean it was a bad thing!” When she didn’t stop, Isaac growled and snatched her arm, this time not letting her go. Her eyes flashed as she glared up at him. “All I meant was, what’s going on isn’t nearly important enough to divert me from this business with Gabriel. It’s annoying, yeah, but I wasn’t wasting any sleep over it.”

  “They are threats, you idiot. Everything he has done is a threat. Does he have to buy a fucking billboard with I’m going to kill you, Isaac McGuire before you’ll notice the pattern? If somebody decapitated my pet, took pictures of me asleep and totaled my car, would you be so blasé about it?”

  “That’s different.”

  “Enlighten me, Isaac. Why is it different? Because I’m a woman and you’re a big, strong man?”

  There was no way to answer this without making things worse. He went with the truth even though he knew it pretty much put a headstone on his chances of anything long-term with Olivia.

  “Damn it, yes,” he said through gritted teeth. “But more than that, you don’t have anybody watching your back. You work in Siberia. You’re not out on the streets like I am. Like I’ve been for the past twelve years. And I’m still alive, aren’t I? The fact of the matter is, I wouldn’t be blasé about some stalker coming after you, because once in a while, Olivia, you can’t do everything on your own. You do need help. And fuck if I’m going to risk losing you over something as ridiculous as you being too stubborn to accept it.”

  “Your back-up hasn’t been on the force in nearly six years,” Olivia said in a low voice. “And he’s been in Argentina for the last week. You don’t even realize how vulnerable you are. How vulnerable you’ve been since Nathan retired. And I was stupid enough to think that maybe I could help you out. Maybe you would let me. You know what the difference is between you and me, Isaac? I’m smart enough to ask for help when I need it.”

  “The thing is, you didn’t give me a chance to let you. You just went ahead and did it anyway.” The sound of the arriving officers drove him to release his hold on her, and he stepped back, thrusting his hands into his pockets. The sticky reminder of their earlier fucking made him pause, but it wasn’t enough to stop him altogether. “I’m sorry if I can’t stand the thought of someone I care about getting hurt. Next time I’ll remember you don’t want to be on the list of people who fucking matter to me.”

  He expected Olivia to shout at him. He didn’t expect her to roll her eyes up to heaven as if to ask for patience. “You’re the only one allowed to care, Isaac? You’re the only one allowed to give a fuck?”

  “You’re not allowed to go behind my back!”

  “That’s great. I could just imagine the conversation with Nathan. It’d start with ‘I’m so sorry Isaac was murdered but it was important I respect what an obstinate jackass he is.’”

  “It wouldn’t come to that.”

  “It would. Why can’t you trust me? Why can’t you trust that I’m good at my job? You think it’s a fucking joke that I work in Siberia. But I solve cases that people like you couldn’t. And most of the murder cases involve this level of harassment.”

  “I don’t think it’s a fucking joke,” he protested.

  “No, but I am because I don’t work on the streets, right? I just sit at my desk all day and do my nails.”

  “Olivia…”

  “You don’t respect me, Isaac.” Now she didn’t sound angry, just tired. “You’re not the hottest shit in the precinct. And I’m not Susanna.”

  Before she said anything that might make the argument even worse, he whirled on his heel and marched toward the waiting officers. He just wanted this whole thing done. If nothing else, Parker was going to pay for destroying the best part of his life. Again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nathan hadn’t suffered from insomnia since Remy came into his life. They kept odd hours, but he always fell asleep wrapped around her body, absorbing her heat. But now every time he closed his eyes, he saw Parker’s face. He could finally talk about Susanna without tasting bile, but the memory still festered in him like an open wound that might not ever heal.

  He’d never thought he would have the chance to confront Parker. The man had been sent to prison for aggravated assault and attempted murder—for shooting at Isaac—both of which carried a sentence longer than five years. Nathan tried to find out how the sentence got suspended, but he was exhausted. Nothing made sense.

  The unfinished business didn’t bother him as much as the fact he left the country while Parker conducted a campaign of terror against Isaac. He’d always moved like a shark through Los Angeles, leaving a swath of destruction behind him. Sending Susanna after Nathan had actually been the least twisted and diabolical of Parker’s plans.

  But Parker wouldn’t have the chance to escalate things now. Parker had the deadly combination of imagination and patience, but Olivia had managed to dig up his name before he had the chance to abandon his games and move on to the main event.

  Nathan hoped Isaac realized just how lucky he was.

  He wasn’t surprised when Isaac knocked on his door at six in the morning, before the sun even began to climb the horizon. He was, however, surprised by how his friend looked. Tired. Haggard. Like he just left a long night behind him and had nothing to look forward to but another one just like it. And he was alone.

  “Remy’s still asleep.” Nathan held open the door. “Where’s Olivia? Is she coming by later?”

  “I don’t know. Probably not.” He rustled the bag he carried, drawing Nathan’s attention to it as he walked into the living room. “I brought donuts and the results of everything I was working on all night. I need some fresh eyes.”

  That non-answer about Olivia worried him, but he decided not to press. “Did you find out why Parker is no longer safely behind bars?”

  Isaac sat down in the corner of the couch and began emptying out the contents of the bag he carried. “He made a deal with some fucking ADA and traded information for an early release. Th
e DNA Detective Wright got last night matched what we had on file for Parker, so I sent forensics over to go through my apartment with a fine tooth comb to see what else they could find. We can nail him on a B&E to start and then worry about tagging the rest of it onto him once we’ve got him secure.”

  Detective Wright? Were they no longer on a first name basis? Remy had actually given Isaac a full month before he fucked up the relationship—perhaps she had been too generous?

  “Well, we’ll have to find him first,” Nathan said. “Or flush him out. Which shouldn’t be too hard to do, if he’s willing to risk making a move at a Christmas party with dozens of witnesses.”

  “I brought maps of Parker’s old haunts and then went through to see what kind of activity has happened in those areas since October.” Isaac pulled out a file an inch thick and dropped it on the table. “That’s what I need your eyes for. I figure we can cross-reference everything and see where it’s most likely he’s working these days.”

  “I’ll have to put on a pot of coffee.” He headed for the kitchen. “No way can I look at all of that without a serious caffeine boost. Why didn’t you ask Olivia to look it over? Isn’t she following up on the leads for this?”

  “No,” came the terse response. “I asked to coordinate the three precincts’ investigations. She’s got her cold cases to keep her busy enough.”

  “And Gabriel de los Rios and his amazing silver coin, right? Or have you parted ways on his case too?”

  The silence that answered him made Nathan pause in the doorway. Isaac was looking fixedly at the maps he’d spread out over the coffee table, and he only spoke when he glanced up and noticed Nathan’s stare.

  “I don’t know.” His voice was low and tired, his shoulders slumped. “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want my help anymore, but…I don’t know.”

  Nathan abandoned his quest for coffee and returned to the couch. He hadn’t seen Isaac look like this in a long time. Not even after the debacle with Susanna—though Nathan had been far too absorbed in his own angst and self-pity to be completely aware of how Isaac reacted.