Dark of Night

by T. F. Walsh

  “Bye.” Susan let out a small sniffle as she disconnected.

  Lu hung up and stretched her arms above her head. Good god, almost two hours on the phone, no wonder both her ears were sore. Poor Susan. Lu felt guilty she wasn’t there to help her get through all this. Much as Lu liked to tease her, Susan had been a true friend when Lu’s own life had fallen apart.

  Enough dwelling on maudlin thoughts. Lu glanced around her living room, trying to decide what color she would paint it, or even if she should paint it. It was white, but at least it was clean.

  Her mind wound back to Susan’s question about which man was hotter. Thoughts of that smoldering kiss with Reynolds had somehow been replaced by curiosity about Byron. She wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped in his arms. He wasn’t obviously muscular like Reynolds, but from what she could tell he had a good body. That was another thing; Reynolds seemed to be always wearing tight clothes that emphasized his great physique. Byron was less obvious. And it might be nice to be kissed by someone taller than her — she could actually wear heels if they went out and not tower over him.

  God, what was she thinking? It wasn’t like she could date Byron. She worked for him, even if it was only temporary. The trouble with being a fire fighter was that you couldn’t date your co-workers, but dating civilians didn’t work either because they never understood the shifts or the pressures of the job. That was another bonus of working with Byron and the police department; she got to keep her four days on/four days off routine, but she only worked day shifts.

  Lu smiled as she got ready for bed. When had she ever been this desperate for male attention? Or was it that working with Reynolds and Byron had pointed out what she’d subconsciously been missing? Well, not so subconsciously considering how she’d reacted to Reynolds’s kiss. And she’d love to find out how Byron fared in the kissing department …

  CHAPTER 7

  Lu wondered if Byron would mind that she’d let herself into his office before he got in, but the woman at the front desk had insisted. They’d worked there together for a couple of days, but this was her first opportunity to look around without him. It was a small office rendered even smaller by the clutter. A large bookcase behind the desk was filled with an odd assortment of books dealing with police procedures, criminal psychology, pathology, horse racing and an impressive array of classic literature.

  Lu stepped closer to examine the framed photographs on the wall. There was a recent one of Byron standing beside the mayor receiving some sort of award and an old group photo taken at her fire hall. It was odd seeing Byron in a fire fighter uniform, although he did look the part. Lu managed to pick out Ace despite him being decidedly thinner and hairier. Byron, Reynolds, and Red looked pretty much the same. A few other pictures showed Byron with fellow cops and then one of him at the racetrack standing in a crowd behind a horse in the winner’s circle. Was he an owner?

  “Oh good, you’re here.” Byron walked in and handed her a cup of coffee. He was dressed casually in well-worn jeans and a gray T-shirt. Damn Susan and her question about whether Byron was hot. Now Lu was admiring his long legs and tight butt as he sat on the edge of his desk looking at the “Pyro Board” as he called it. She tore her eyes away from further wandering. Focus.

  “I was a little early. I was thinking — ”

  “Shit, does that mean I have to pay you more money?” His smile made her heartbeat kick up a notch.

  “In fifties and hundreds, please. No.” She took a sip of the coffee to distract her libido. “The only similarities seem to be that these fires always occur after the crop has been harvested, that the operations are the same size — under a hundred plants, and that the homes are leased from offshore owners. But that’s not unusual. It would be much easier to fool a rental agency than risk some local homeowner stopping by to check on the roof or whatever.” When Lu looked at him again, it was hard to remember the point she was making. God, she hated that.

  “Yup. And after the fires, it’s practically impossible to trace the burned equipment back to the growers … So what you’re thinking is that these guys are destroying the equipment to cover their tracks?”

  That sounds good. “I guess so. But that’d cost a hell of a lot to keep buying new stuff. Why wouldn’t they move the equipment?” Lu drilled her fingertips on top of the desk and stared at the board. There must be some big clue they were missing. “Perhaps someone bought the equipment legitimately, and when the warranty expires or the machines start aging, they write them off and sell them to grow-ops with the understanding that the new owners will destroy them after use.”

  “Or the original owners could have two businesses, one legit that writes off the equipment and the other that uses the supposedly destroyed equipment in their grow-ops. I like that.” Byron looked at her with a gleam in his eye. “How could we test this theory?”

  “Recycling plants? I don’t know. How do hydroponic farmers dispose of old equipment?”

  “Let me see.” Byron sat down at his computer and began typing. “Meanwhile, you think of other places that could legitimately use the equipment.”

  “Universities?”

  He handed her a pen and paper. “Write ’em down.” He focused on his screen again.

  “Ohh.” Lu scribbled down medical marijuana. She drilled her fingertips again and then stopped to write.

  “What’ve you got? You’re driving me nuts.”

  “Sorry. Nurseries and medical marijuana,” Lu told him.

  “Nurseries?” Byron looked puzzled. “Oh, of course, plants and trees. My mind flipped to babies, God knows why.” He glanced back at his screen. “Nope, let me check something else.”

  “What, all my suggestions suck?”

  “No. I’m on something different.” He continued typing with his right hand while his other waved at her distractedly. “You keep brainstorming.”

  “But shouldn’t we be … never mind.”

  “What?”

  “Why did we do all that searching through the ashes and looking at the fire scene, if that isn’t what we’re looking for?”

  “You’re right. Josh’ll have my head for this.”

  Oh shit, did she just talk him out of using her? “I don’t mean that, but — ”

  “Okay, so let’s backtrack here.” Byron rubbed his chin with his thumb. “If our supposition is that the growers are setting their own fires to cover the equipment sales tracks, how can we verify that with information gleaned from the fire scene?”

  “Is there any chance that a piece of equipment might’ve survived enough to give us a serial number?”

  “Write that down.” Byron went back to his computer. “Oh, and write ‘check with neighbors for any moving or delivery trucks to that address.’”

  Lu did and then sat and stared at the board again. The timing was right on all three fires. They were all about three months apart and, according to Byron, that would be the amount of time to grow and harvest a crop. The Baker Street one was the first with a casualty, but forensics weren’t likely to ID the body for a least a few weeks unless they got lucky. And that was assuming that they could ID it. Lu was shocked when Byron told her how many vics remain anonymous.

  “Hey.” Lu stood up quickly as the thought struck her. “If we’re right, it’d only really work for the first crop.”

  “Huh?”

  “You have your aging equipment. You write it off and burn it. But then the next crop is only three months later. Your new equipment isn’t ready to be written off yet.”

  “Right. So we’re looking for someone buying near end-of-life equipment from farmers. Damn. That means we’ve just opened our search way past hot-house farmers.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, that’s good.” Byron rubbed his face. “We want to keep our net as wide as possible so we don’t rule anyone out prematurely.
” He grinned at her. “You’re good at this detective work.”

  “Thanks.” Lu tried to hide her embarrassment at the unexpected compliment.

  “Here we go,” Byron said as he punched a final key and stood up from his computer. Three strides and he was at the doorway. He turned to her. “You coming? Bring your coffee.”

  Lu ran to catch up, then almost bumped into him as he stopped just outside the door to pick up some papers spewing out of the printer. He folded the papers and stuffed them in the inside pocket of his jacket.

  “Where we going?” Lu asked.

  “To find out where to sell used hydroponics equipment. We may have to hit a few stores before we get any leads.”

  “Couldn’t we just phone and ask?” Lu nodded at the young cop they passed on their way out the door. He looked like one of the guys that had popped into the office the other day, but with the short hair and uniforms, most of the men looked similar.

  “That’s no fun.” Byron grinned mischievously. “Besides, you can get a lot more information in person by reading body language. My car’s around the side.”

  Byron was quieter than usual as he drove them to the outskirts of town. Lu felt the urge to fill in the silence, but managed to resist. Instead she discreetly enjoyed his unique scent that tinged the air between them. It was either a cologne or soap and fresh, but very sexy. She imagined his reaction if she leaned over and kissed his neck. She stifled a smile then focused on the scenery outside the car. This was work, damn it.

  They reached a seedy stretch of appliance, hardware, and tiling stores. Several buildings were boarded up with for lease signs competing for attention with black spray-painted tags. Not the attractive graffiti that decorated walls in the trendier areas of Seattle. Byron parallel parked on the street outside a dingy coffee shop. Lu gave him a questioning glance.

  “We need to buy some hydroponic equipment,” he explained.

  “Really?”

  “Yup. You’re growing your own spices for your special sauces, but you need to upgrade to a better system.” Byron got out of the car and came around to meet her at the curb.

  “Right, and you are … ?”

  “Your husband.” Byron smiled. “I want to help you get a good price and also sell the old stuff.”

  “Thanks. That’s so nice of you.” Lu chuckled. “Gosh, it seems like only seconds ago I was single.”

  “I know. Our married life’s been so wonderful, the time just slips away.” He started walking.

  “Wait. Um, how big is my hydroponic garden? And what do I need to know about it to not sound stupid?”

  Byron pulled the papers out of his jacket and flipped through until he found the one he was looking for. “I should’ve given you this info in the car to look over, but I hadn’t thought out our cover. This hydroponics unit will start about twelve plants to maturity, but you want to expand to grow at least twice that amount ’cause you’re doing so well at craft sales and food fairs.”

  “And it’s my business instead of yours because … ?”

  “Men don’t bring their wives along when they shop. And if a guy walks into one of these places alone they assume he’s either a pot grower or a pig, and I, unfortunately, get pegged as a cop. You look so much more respectable.”

  “Okay,” Lu handed him back the photo and specs on the equipment. “You want another gander?”

  “Thanks. I’ve got it. Our first target is Grow Inc. four doors down.” He folded and replaced the paper in his pocket. “Ready?”

  “Guess so.”

  Byron reached the store first and opened the door for her. His hand rested possessively on the small of her back as he ushered her inside. Lu tried not to react to his touch — after all it was just role-playing. She looked around and was a little disappointed in how legitimate the store appeared. The display materials and advertising gave no hints or subversive winks to the pot growing industry, instead focusing on organic vegetables and indoor gardens. In fact the only sleazy thing in the store seemed to be a seedy, Billy Bob Thornton-type salesman behind the counter.

  After giving Lu an appreciative once-over that made her skin crawl, the guy turned to Byron. “Can I help you?”

  “Actually it’s my wife that needs help.” Byron put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer. “She’s got a Bloombox, but she’s gonna need an upgrade.”

  Billy Bob’s eyes flicked to Lu, then he asked Byron. “You want something bigger or just more energy efficient?”

  “She needs about twice the growing capacity for her herbs, but we don’t have much more space.” Byron looked up as if the thought just occurred to him. “Oh, and do you take trade-ins? It’s only a couple a years old and still works fine.”

  “No, man. We’re strictly new sales. The moisture rusts the electrical components, so there’s no money in used hydroponics equipment.”

  “Is there a recycling place we could take it to?” Lu asked. She immediately regretted opening her mouth as the lazy salesman’s reptilian eyes lit upon her.

  “Dunno.” He turned to Byron. “The Producer is the next grade up with more capacity and a greater range of settings for the different stages. Or that baby, The Spinner,” he pointed at the large display model behind them, “is one of our best sellers. It’ll give you a bigger yield with the spin technology. All of the plant is evenly exposed. And when you want to expand again, these units are stackable. You can stack three of these in a standard eight foot ceiling space. We also got some new feed that will knock your grow times in half.”

  “What do you think, Cindy?” Byron asked. He poked at the demo model. “This one’s a beauty.” He looked like a kid with a new toy. What was it with guys and electronics?

  Lu read the sales tag and then glanced at Byron. Somehow she didn’t think the police department would be willing to buy its own grow-op just to get answers. He still seemed enthralled by the capacity so she decided she’d be the sensible one in the “marriage.” “This one costs two-fifty more. Think how many more spice sets and salsa I’d have to sell to make up that difference.”

  “You plan on making more anyway. Isn’t that why we’re here?” Byron shot Lu an exasperated look.

  “Yes.” Lu fixed him with a glare. “But I still want to make a profit.”

  “Look, it’s on wheels. That’s handy. This is way better than your old one.”

  “What part of ‘too expensive’ don’t you get, Ron?”

  “I’m just trying to help here.”

  “Forget it.” She gave a frustrated huff. “I’ll look by myself on the net.” Turning quickly, Lu left the store. She hoped that was what she was supposed to do. They’d asked the guy about resale, what else was there? This would sure be easier if they had a script. Lu kept walking while listening for Byron’s footsteps behind her. She got to the car and leaned against it, wondering what to do next. The neighborhood wasn’t the best so she figured she was better off staying put.

  A few minutes passed before she looked at her watch. Not that it mattered, but she was curious how long Byron would keep talking to the slime-bucket. She should’ve brought a book or maybe a magazine. At least it wasn’t raining. It seemed unlikely they would get lucky with info at the first store they hit, but then again, what did she know about cop work? Maybe Byron had already narrowed down the list of places to hit based on prior knowledge.

  Finally she saw him coming out of the store with the salesman, laughing. She crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to be angry. Even though the men were a block away, she didn’t want to blow the cover by not staying in character. Byron clapped the man on the back and then loped back to her. He opened the car with his remote and walked straight to the driver’s side. Lu opened her door and slid in before turning to him.

  “So this is married life, you stop opening doors for me?” Lu asked him wit
h a smile.

  “After that scene in the store, whaddya expect, woman?”

  “Did he say anything after I left?”

  “He commiserated with me about married life. Turns out his old lady ditched him and took the kids. He gave me a couple of names of people who might take the Bloombox off our hands. He said they weren’t the most honest people.”

  “Unlike him, I guess.” Lu shook her head. “I don’t know what it was about that guy …”

  “Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve seen you bitchy.”

  “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” Lu reached out to pat his arm and then stopped. They weren’t role playing now so she had to resume the professional relationship. She tucked her hair behind her ear, hoping he hadn’t noticed. “Where to now?”

  “More shops.” He zipped around in the small street without even doing a three-point turn.

  “Is that legal?” she asked.

  “Only if you’re quick.”

  • • •

  “I like this undercover stuff,” Lu admitted as they walked into Bryon’s office. They’d visited two other hydroponics stores and tried to trade-in her Bloombox. “But do you have to worry about becoming a compulsive liar?”

  “Some people do. It gets easier stringing people along the more you do it.” Byron handed her back her pen. “You have a natural aptitude. Ever consider a career in acting?”

  “Yeah, right. So what now? Do we check up on that list of names Billy Bob gave you?

  “Who?”

  “Billy Bob,” Lu chuckled then explained. “He looked like Billy Bob Thornton in that movie, Bad Santa a couple of years ago?”

  “You’re right. I thought he looked familiar. We might as well find out if we already have those names on our radar.” He rummaged around for a moment, then handed her a file folder that looked like it had been around the block a few times. “Here are the hydroponic sellers we’ve nailed on minor charges. See if you can find Billy Bob’s friends in that file. Here’s his list.”

  “Oh God, there’s a lot.”