B-Side

by Janis Jones

  Interrogation Room.

  Mara, Derek, Manny and his partner, Jeff Nagl, a heavy-set, grizzled veteran of the force who is pushing retirement. Jeff’s baby walrus mustache is the only symmetrical thing about him. They stand around a table covered with stacks of paper. Dominating the array is a fat file folder.

  Mara quickly leafs through the file. Manny paws through a stack of crime scene photos. He pauses, ogling one where the victim’s skirt is hiked up. He makes a kissing sound.

  “Mira, Mami! Shit, this chick looks hot even fucked-up. Maybe I’d just leave the jacket over her head and do her… Look at those legs!”

  “Hey, come on!” Derek is quietly seething, hoping it doesn’t show.

  “What, you havin’ a sensitive fag moment? Look at her.” Derek pretends to be studying some other evidence.

  Now Manny studies a shot of Casey smiling happily.

  “You know something else I don’t get with this case?”

  “What?” Mara was pretty sure she didn’t want to know, but this required professional and personal restraint.

  “How come he didn’t fuck her? I mean look at her! A cute piece of ass like that and you don’t tap it? I would.” He turns the photo toward Derek.

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t.”

  “Man, you have to be queer not to…” Manny would keep at it until something jumped off, and then feign innocence.

  Jeff chimes in, wanting to be in sync with his younger partner.

  “I would.”

  “See? Hey, maybe our guy’s a fag.” Manny leers at Jeff and checks to see how Derek and Mara are reacting. Jeff picks up on the cue and pitches in.

  “Yeah, so he can’t get it up…”

  Mara has had enough but needs to be careful not to overreact in a room full of male co-workers. Can’t blow my cover. But, my God, would I love to punch Manny in his goddamn…

  Manny puts his hand to his face and whispers under his breath.

  “Maricón.”

  “Where’s the follow-up forensic report? And weren’t you going back to question the neighbors again? I thought we agreed… “

  Mara tried to steer it back to center.

  “You agreed, Bays, we didn’t.” Jeff thought adding her name made it sound tough. He knew Manny would appreciate the extra touch.

  “Oh, come on, Jeff. This girl nearly died.” To Mara’s ears, she thought that sounded okay. She hoped. Because her self-control was being severely eroded. She tried to pretend that it was about some woman she didn’t know. Don’t look at the pictures. Maybe Derek would run interference for her.

  “Yeah, but nearly doesn’t cut it. Now, if she’d croaked and this was a homicide… sure. Then we could throw more resources at it, but as it stands…”

  “I knew Phil never should have given you this case. I tried to…”

  “You knew? What’s that supposed to mean? Who are you to…?”

  Jeff was a professional and he was righteously offended.

  Manny steps between his partner and Mara.

  “Hey, just chill everybody.”

  “Oh, hell no. I wanna know what she means by that.” Jeff was really getting worked up, and his big, shiny face was turning deeper pink.

  “Mara, Mara, listen to me. We walked that beach up, down and sideways. We talked to everyone, and I mean everyone. Nobody saw nothin’.”

  Manny, making a small effort to diffuse things.

  Mara crosses her arms, a determined look on her face. Why the hell is Derek hanging back here? Things were threatening to get out of control. Oh, great - more from Manny, The King of CYA. Bastard.

  “You saw the report. No stray hair or fiber, no prints - even on that ball of duct tape from the deck. They spent hours unfurling that shit and nothing, not even with Super Glue fumes. An impression of a long-sleeve Target cotton T-Shirt cuff?” What the hell you gonna do with that? Face it, the guy’s a ghost.”

  “A ghost doesn’t beat someone half to death. And a ghost… doesn’t piss on someone’s face, for Christ’s sake!” She hoped to hell that Casey had no memory of half of the stuff she now wished she could flush out of her memory. Take a breath. Derek had promised her, and she would help him find this ghost mother-fu… this guy. Oh Jesus, now Jeff is back, double-teaming with Manny.

  “There’s no DNA in piss. Now maybe if he’d shit on…”

  Derek explodes, launching himself across the room. He slams into Jeff, pinning him against the wall. He pushes his forearm up into Jeff’s throat, his face inches from the older man’s. Shouting and chaos as Mara and Manny try to intervene.

  “Take that back! Take it back, you fat…”

  “I…can’t… breathe…”

  Manny throws his arms around Derek’s neck and tries to pull him off, but Derek won’t yield an inch.

  “Derek! What are you doing? Let him up! This is not… I said, let him go!”

  Derek persists in his single-minded attack. In a frenzy, his eyes are glassy, veins standing out on his throat. It’s impossible to tell if Derek has even heard Mara.

  “Damn it, Derek! Move, Manny!”

  Mara pushes Manny aside and delivers three short, sharp punches to Derek’s lower back. He cries out in pain, gasping as the effect of Mara’s hooks to his kidneys stand him up straight. He releases his choke-hold on Jeff, who stumbles away, coughing hoarsely and clutching his throat.

  Manny rushes to his partner, but turns to Derek.

  “Jesus Cristo! What the fuck is wrong wit’chu man? ‘You one of us or not? After this bullshit, I’m not so sure…”

  Derek is dazed and shakes his head to clear it. He clutches his lower back with one hand, still gasping with the pain. He already feels disgusted with himself for losing control.

  “Oh, Christ. Jeff, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  He truly didn’t. He had always had a fear of losing his grip on his temper. It wasn’t just about this, though. He knew that.

  Jeff glares at Derek, rubbing his throat, breath ragged.

  “Stay… away… from… me, you fuck. You… better… start… cleaning… out… your desk. You… just… gave up… your badge.”

  Mara steers Derek toward the door.

  “Outside. Now.”

  “You better watch your back, man.” Manny went back to being overly solicitous to his partner.

  Chapter 22

  Running

  Mara leads Derek out and away from the building before she lets loose.

  “I am so mad right now, I… I don’t know what to say to you. What was that?!”

  Derek winces, bends his knees and flexes his back.

  “Well, I guess it’s about me pissing blood for a few days. Not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”

  Mara looks up at Derek, concerned about his mood, which is hard to read.

  “What’s going on with you right now?”

  “I’m just tired, that’s all. So damn tired.”

  She thought he looked sad, but maybe it was their horrible cases beating on him. The child killer… four little girls gone forever, and they couldn’t seem to catch a lead that didn’t dead end.

  “Have you eaten? I need to go pretty soon but...”

  Derek wipes his face with his hands. He sounds resigned.

  “Yeah… okay.”

  “Tell you what, let’s go and eat something first.” She needed to see that he was calmed down and okay.

  “I can’t eat. Not right now. I need a run.” She could not believe what she was hearing, and yet she knew he was serious and she didn’t think she should leave him alone with his thoughts. He was so unbelievably hard on himself. And she had hit him really hard.

  “You feel good enough to run?”

  “No, but I will after.” He gave her
a small, strained smile before he went on.

  “Hey, you wanna go run at Hjelte, then we can grab a bite?”

  Mara considers the idea and concedes.

  “Alright, sure. Let me go get my stuff. I’ll catch up with you there. Golf course lot?”

  “How ‘bout this? I’ll wait for you, I’ll drive us there, we’ll eat, and I’ll bring you back here.”

  Wow, he really did not want to be alone right now. She needed to give him this time.

  “Deal. Be right back.”

  She lopes off in the direction of the station locker room, hoping to get in and out without talking to anyone.

  Derek sits in his car. He looks down at something and shakes his head. Every few moments he looks up to survey the area. Derek’s hands, holding his Blackberry. The screen shows a photo of Mara smiling, with her hand shading her eyes from the sun, her hair down and blowing in the wind. The two-day trip to Catalina.

  He looks in his side-view mirror and sees Mara approaching. The etched print reads: ‘Objects may be closer than they appear.’ Derek jokes to himself, whispering.

  “No shit, Sherlock. Not actual size. You are here.”

  He shuts down the screen as Mara jumps in, breathy from her short sprint to the car.

  “You need to return a call?”

  “What?”

  “I thought you were checking your messages or something.” Not strictly true. She was fishing in the shallows.

  “Nah. You ready?” He suddenly thought of Elvis Costello’s, ‘Watching the Detectives’. Mara’s tuning was too damn good, but maybe he got away with it. He was too tired to care. And she made him feel good, even when he felt lousy.

  “Yep. Okay, let’s do this thing. I brought you a water.”

  A series of vignettes:

  Mara and Derek run at the park. Mara and Derek sit at an outdoor food stand, eating, talking and gesturing, as they have an animated conversation. They drive back to the station. Derek pulls into his parking space.

  Mara climbs out and leans her arms on the open passenger window ledge.

  “I feel better… Do you?”

  Derek did his crappy De Niro impression.

  ‘Li’l bit, li’l bit.”

  Mara laughs in spite of herself, then does her own gesture and line.”

  “I… will… be… watching… you.” They had probably seen every imaginable Robert De Niro film, even the Rocky & Bullwinkle one where he was ‘Our Fearless Leader’, with the heavy face prosthetics.

  Derek snorts derisively and hits the window control, making her move her arms.

  “Get outta here, you goofball! Go get your stuff, and bring me that folder?”

  They speak, almost in unison.

  “Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  They smile at each other and do their traditional double index finger point.

  Chapter 23

  Like Water

  Derek and Mara are still in the parking lot. She comes back out of the station, bringing him the Terranova file. He starts to flip through it when Susanna Jenssen approaches.

  Derek sees her barreling toward them.

  “Fuck.” Should have left. Damn it.

  “Did I forget something?”

  “No, but this is something I’d like to forget. Hang on… it’s Susanna and she looks pissed, as usual.”

  Derek gets out and slaps the folder on the car roof. Mara follows his eyes and sees a blonde woman heading their way. Mara brushes her hair back from her face and waits; none too thrilled at the prospect of meeting Derek’s ex-wife in this forced, perfunctory way. Or at all,really.

  Derek comes around to the passenger side, girding himself for the introduction. What could go wrong?

  “Susanna, I’d like you to meet my partner, Mara Bays. Mar’, this is Susanna.”

  Susanna looks supremely pained. She forces a smile.

  “Nice to finally meet you.”

  “Hello, Susanna… sorry I’m not more presentable.” She would hear about the ‘sorry’ later from Derek.

  “Oh, no problem.”

  Mara addresses Derek and Susanna.

  “Please excuse me… I have somewhere I need to be.”

  She turns to Susanna.

  “Good to meet you, take care.”

  Derek and Mara exchange looks. Mara walks toward her truck, parked in the next row of parking spaces. She backs out and drives away, waving to Derek as she passes, her radio already blaring an R&B oldie.

  Derek is on-guard, seeing his ex-wife’s agitated look.

  “What? What’s your problem?” He was doubly resentful. All that sweet feeling draining away. Now he noticed how much his back was cramping up and hurting… and still, he would rather be eating crap food and talking to Mara.

  “Sorry, but she looks like a… well…” Coquettish simulated tact with razor edges.

  “What are you whispering for? She’s gone. So she looks like a what? A cop? An athlete? A brunette? ...” He knew very well where she was going with this, and he was going to make her work for it.

  “A dyke.”

  “Oh, come on, Susanna… really? I’m going out with a woman, and I can’t even tell the most basic Detective 101 things about her?” A lie, but she didn’t need to know. And he needed to stick up for Mara.

  Susanna affects concern.

  “I just want you to be careful, Honey. Don’t they say that you shouldn’t have a relationship with a subordinate?” Which did he hate more? The way she said ‘relationship’ or that she chose ‘subordinate’?

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake! Yes, I outrank her but she’s my partner.”

  Susanna needles him.

  “So you’re sleeping with her?”

  “Really none of your business anymore.” He always wondered if she cared or even appreciated that he’d been faithful throughout their marriage. Fourteen years.

  He grabs the folder; yanks open the car door, tosses it in and slams the door to distract himself.

  “Well, you know best, but don’t come crying to me when you find out I’m right.”

  “So, what, you’re pissed off because she didn’t hit on you?”

  “Derek!”

  Derek baits her now.

  “Oh, I know… your parents would just hate her skin color or some damn thing.”

  He runs his eyes up and down her.

  “You know, you’re almost the same color but hers is real. Maybe you should throttle back on the tanning bed…”

  Susanna purses her lips and narrows her eyes as Derek rolls on.

  “I heard it causes wrinkles, and then there’s the cancer thing, which if you recall… I really worried about.”

  “She smokes.”

  “She quit.”

  “Well, if she did it for you… she’s cheating, because I could smell it!”

  Susanna pauses, calculates and fires another volley.

  “Who drives a pickup truck?”

  “You might drive one if…”

  “Oh, there is no way in hell I wou…”

  Derek is calm and icy. He lets it rip.

  “Her brother was a Marine… like me. He died in Iraq… unlike me. She loved… loves her little brother, so she honors him by driving his fucking beloved truck! Can you wrap your mind around that?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.”

  “Good for you. Next time you see a truck with a Marine decal and a personalized plate saying, ‘SEMPR 5’, you’ll use deductive reasoning like we do.”

  Susanna stands quietly by, afraid to add to her troubles by speaking.

  Derek is exasperated.

  “Anything else?”

  She pouts and adjusts her bracelet.

  “You’re misunderstanding me… as usual.”

 
; Susanna turns on her heel and bustles off to her car.

  Derek climbs into his sedan and sits, flexing his back and trying to regain his composure. He hears his ex-wife’s Jaguar pull out of the lot but makes a point of angling his head down until she is well on her way. Sandbagged by memories, good and bad.

  He looks out the windshield and then turns his attention to the passenger seat. Mara’s water bottle lies on its side with an inch or so left. He picks it up, holds it for a moment, then gets out of his car, and walks to a nearby trashcan. He unscrews the cap, closes his eyes and drinks the last of the water. He replaces the cap carefully and makes himself toss it.

  Chapter 24

  Deep Coral

  Mara soaks in the hot tub on the deck near a large planter of horsetail and papyrus. She leans her head back, eyes closed as the sun drops after a very tough workday.

  The sliding door opens, and Mara looks up. Casey balances a plate of sliced fresh fruit in one hand and carries a bottle of wine in the other.

  Mara smiles lazily.

  “Oh, sorry… No can do.”

  Casey is crestfallen. She looks at the beautiful platter.

  “Aww… why not? I’ve got cantaloupe, honeydew and pineapple.”

  She holds the plate under Mara’s nose.

  “Doesn’t that smell nice?”

  “Something smells nice, but she can’t wear a terry cloth robe in the water. It makes her too heavy to carry.”

  “Oh, I get it… The Waitress and the Lifeguard.”

  Casey sets the plate on the edge of the hot tub, takes off her robe and climbs into the water wearing a tank top and bikini underwear. The light catches the silver anniversary necklace she’s wearing. She knocks the plate into the water with her bare foot. Pieces of fruit bobbing in the tub.

  “What a klutz. How embarrassing.”

  “No tip for you! So romantic.”

  Casey kicks her underwater.

  “Ow! Damn. Can’t take a joke, ‘nova?”

  Mara gazes steadily at Casey.

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea… Get out for a minute.”

  “I just got in.”