The Negotiator

by Chris Taylor

  “Okay, she’s all yours. Do what has to be done. I’ll be down here if you need me. Give me a sign and I’ll come up.”

  Tom sighed with relief. “Will do, Andy, and thanks. I appreciate you seeing sense about this. I can only imagine what you’re feeling. Ex-girlfriend or not, no one wants to see someone they know in this kind of situation.”

  “You’re right. It sucks.” He looked Tom squarely in the face. “Do what you do best. Bring her back down for me. No one deserves to die like that.”

  * * *

  Nikki watched the officer negotiate his way up the cement and steel pylons until he reached the spot where she stood. She was balanced on a beam of steel which was a little more than three feet wide. Plenty of room, really, which was a good thing. After all, she only intended to scare him. She didn’t intend to die.

  As the man got closer, she realized it wasn’t Andy but she recognized him just the same. It was the cute one who’d escorted her from Andy’s building when she’d dropped by there last week to pay him a visit. Tom, he’d said his name was. When she asked him, he told her he was married. Too bad. There was something about his smile and the way he made her feel that made her wish he were single…

  “Hey, Nikki,” he called to her and she was pleased that he remembered her name. The rum she’d consumed was blurring her vision and for a while, there seemed to be two of him. Two Tom Munroes; that would be nice. Perhaps only one of them was married? She giggled at the thought and blinked her eyes in an effort to bring him into better focus.

  “What are you doing up here, Nikki? You’re scaring us all to death. This is no place for you to be. Come on, reach for my hand and I’ll help you down.”

  “Where’s Andy?” she asked truculently, knowing he must be nearby. She’d called his station earlier. Someone had confirmed he was there.

  “He’s waiting for you down on the ground. If you hurry, you’ll catch him. He wants to talk to you, Nikki. He misses you.”

  “Bullshit, he doesn’t miss me and if he does, that’s just too bad. Now that I know what I do about him, I wouldn’t take him back if you paid me. He deserves to die lonely and sad, just like his mother.”

  * * *

  Tom heard what she said and swallowed a gasp. He knew about Andy’s family and the tragedy of their past. He couldn’t believe anyone could be so callous as to talk about it the way Nikki was. With an effort, he set his anger aside and concentrated on getting the inebriated woman down. She swayed alarmingly on the girder and his throat constricted in panic.

  “Whoa, Nikki. Hold on a minute. That girder you’re standing on is not wide. If you’re not careful, you’ll over balance and fall and I know that’s not what you want.”

  Nikki smiled. “You’re right. I’m not going to kill myself. I’m just having some fun. It’s just a little fun between me and Andy. It’s nothing less than he deserves.”

  “That might be so,” Tom quickly agreed, “but come back down and tell him. There’s no point doing it from here. He won’t even hear you.”

  Nikki seemed to consider his words and Tom held his breath and waited. Finally, she nodded once and relented.

  “You’re right. I should be telling the fucker to his face, just like I did last time. Here…” She took a step toward Tom. “Help me out.”

  A gust of wind caught her jacket and she wobbled precariously on the girder. She struggled to get her balance and Tom’s heart stopped.

  “Nikki, take my hand,” he shouted and tried to stem his panic. He edged closer to her, until he could almost touch her fingers. She took another step and her hand brushed his, but once again, the wind gusted and she over balanced.

  With a cry of terror, she rocked back and forth on her feet, teetering on the ledge. A second later, she hurtled over the side. Tom bit back a scream and stared in horror as she hit the dark water with a splash and disappeared from his sight.

  “Somebody get the lights over here! She’s fallen in the water,” Tom shouted, his voice hoarse.

  The crowd erupted with screams and gasps, adding to the melee. There was a scramble of movement far below him and floodlights were suddenly switched on. They scanned the water, but in his heart, he knew it was too late. She’d fallen nearly three hundred feet. Nobody could survive that kind of fall. With his heart and limbs weighed down with dread, he made his way slowly to the ground…

  * * *

  Andy’s heart and mind were still heavy with shock when he drove Tom back to their station. He wanted to remind his partner about all of the things Tom had said to him after the death of Wayne Tucker, but somehow, the words wouldn’t come and he knew Tom wasn’t ready to hear them. Tom was a veteran negotiator. He knew better than any of them how it worked.

  Andy turned into the street that housed the station and spied Cally’s Toyota in the car park. She was still here. He quietly eased out a sigh of relief. His head was in a turmoil. He had no idea what to say to Tom, but to have Cally here, to hold her close… He couldn’t wait to get inside.

  Of course, the moment he took her in his arms, his cover would be blown. Everyone in the squad room would know he had a thing for the cleaner. But he didn’t care. He needed to hold her, to reassure himself she was safe. He brought the squad car to a stop. His body began to tremble with delayed shock. He glanced across at Tom. In the wan street lights, Tom looked as sick as Andy felt.

  “Hang in there, Tom. You did the best you could.”

  Tom stared at him, his expression grim. His face was still deathly pale. Andy sighed inwardly. He’d been there before. Only time would help make it better and right now, the whole tragic incident was fresh in their minds, playing out in all of its vivid Technicolor detail and high-definition sound. Nikki’s screams as she’d fallen to her death would stay with him forever.

  “We’re here, mate. Are you ready to come inside?” He kept his voice pitched low and waited for Tom to respond, not wanting to hurry him.

  “She never planned on jumping.”

  Andy frowned and tried to process what Tom had said. “You mean, Nikki? She didn’t mean to jump?”

  “She told me she was only trying to scare you; to fuck around with your head. She was ready to come back down. She’d started walking toward me. The wind gusted and knocked her off balance. She fell, Andy. She fell.”

  Renewed shock ricocheted through him. Disbelief held him immobile. It had all been a stupid stunt. She hadn’t been crazed with grief; she hadn’t been suicidal. She’d done it on purpose—she’d set it all up. Only, she hadn’t counted on the wind. She hadn’t counted on it going so fucking wrong.

  And now she was dead…

  He doubled over on a gasp of pain and hit his head on the steering wheel. The sting of the impact across his forehead hardly registered. Nikki had died trying to gain his attention. If he hadn’t broken up with her, if he’d taken a little more time to ease her into the idea, she might have taken it better.

  He’d broken up with her after a ball, for Christ’s sake! He’d wined her and dined her—he’d even danced with her—then he’d taken her home and told her it was over.

  At the time, he’d thought he was being as kind as he could, but looking back, it was clear he could have handled it better. He could have begun by not returning her phone calls and texts—at least, not right away. He could have slowly, over time, let her come to her own realization that they were over.

  But, he hadn’t and now she was dead. She was dead because of him.

  “It’s all my fault,” he croaked, raising his head to stare at Tom.

  His partner shook his head a little frantically. “Don’t be so fucking stupid. It was an accident. You didn’t put her up there.”

  “But I did,” he insisted. “She was trying to teach me a lesson. You just told me she wanted to frighten me, to shove our break-up in my face. If we were still together, she’d still be alive.”

  “If you were still together, you’d have been miserable. Any fool could tell you weren’t in love with h
er. You hadn’t even told me about her and you’d been together more than a year. That tells me all I need to know.” He shook his head. “I’ve watched you with the cleaner. Your face lights up whenever she comes into the room.”

  Tom sighed and rubbed a weary hand across his face. “It wasn’t your fault, Andy. People break up all the time. Most of the participants get on with their life. They don’t end up in the harbor.”

  Tom drew in a ragged breath and continued. “Nikki was obviously unstable. No one goes to a police station drunk or comes up with such a hare-brained scheme in an effort to stick it to their ex. She was a copper. She knew better than most about the dangers of what she was doing. Okay, so she didn’t want to jump, but she must have known the risks of falling. She wore no safety harness or other protection. She did nothing to minimize the risk.”

  “Was she drunk, like last time?” Andy asked quietly.

  Tom squeezed his eyes shut and winced. A moment later, he nodded. Andy dropped his head. His breath sawed out between his clenched teeth. “Shit.”

  “Not drunk enough that she couldn’t climb up that steel girder, but she’d had more than her fair share. Her eyes were glazed and she reeked of alcohol. Still, she had enough wits about her to know where she was and what she was doing. She made a mistake, Andy. Let’s face it, some people can’t be saved.”

  Andy nodded and did his best to accept Tom’s words, trying hard to forget Nikki hadn’t wanted to die. He thought of Cally again and suddenly ached to see her, to hold her close, to take succor from her presence.

  “Let’s go inside,” he murmured. “The others will be wondering where we are,” he added, referring to the other men from their squad who had also attended the scene. “No sense in alarming them without cause.”

  Tom heaved a sigh. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The door to the squad room swung open and Cally looked up from her dusting. She was in the process of wiping the final few desks clean and then she’d be ready to pack up for the night. Jack was in one of the interview rooms, reading a book, as usual. Andy filled the door opening, looking sad and defeated. Tom followed closely behind, his face reflecting a similar outlook.

  Despite their grim countenances, her shoulders sagged in relief. They were alive and okay. That’s all that mattered. No doubt she’d hear about what had happened on the six o’clock news. For now, it was enough to know that Andy and his partner were safe.

  She watched while Andy’s gaze roamed the room and then lit upon her. Relief surged through his eyes and the tension in his jaw lessened. She wanted to go to him, to touch him, to reassure herself he was all right, but she was uncertain whether he wanted that, whether he was willing to advertise to his colleagues that they had something going on.

  Before she could think about it any harder or formulate a plan, he was standing beside her with his arms outstretched, silently begging her to hold him. Without hesitation, she stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him. He groaned and buried his head in the crook of her neck, breathing hard. His big body trembled like he was in the grip of malaria and there was nothing she could do but hold him.

  She didn’t know how long they stood there, but it was awhile before Andy raised his head and looked down at her. His eyes were dark with emotion and anguish was still etched on his face. She reached up with her hand and smoothed it across his cheek, wishing she could smooth away the pain. His large hand covered her smaller one and pressed it against his face and all the while, he held her gaze, as if he never wanted to look away.

  The moment was broken when Tom moved close and offered Andy a coffee. With a last look in Cally’s direction, Andy stepped backward and accepted the cup with a grateful smile.

  “Thanks, Tom.”

  “I’m sure you’d rather a shot of whisky, but seeing as we’re at work, this will have to do.”

  “You have that right, but the coffee’s hot and strong, just how I like it. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Tom nodded and glanced at Cally. She blushed, suddenly feeling awkward and tried to move out of the way. Instead, she tripped over a wastepaper basket and sent trash flying across the carpet.

  She caught a glint of amusement in both of the men’s eyes and wished she could sink into the floor. On the other hand, amusement was a whole lot better than the sadness and defeat she’d spied in them earlier.

  “Cally, come here. I want you to meet Tom.”

  Andy issued the soft command and Cally had no choice but to obey. After hastily picking the rubbish off the floor, she moved back to Andy’s side. Tom had his hand outstretched in greeting and after quickly and a little self-consciously wiping her hands on her clothes, she returned his firm handshake.

  “Cally Savage,” she murmured, offering him a polite smile.

  “Tom Munro. It’s nice to meet you. Our only communication seems to be over the trash.”

  She recalled the last time they’d spoken, when she’d asked him to hand her his wastepaper basket and her smile widened into a grin.

  “Where’s Jack?” Andy asked, casting his gaze around the squad room. It was still crowded with officers and other personnel who had attended the tragic scene, all of them speaking in subdued tones as the events of the evening were relayed.

  “He’s down the hall. I was just finishing up in here. It’s time for us to go home.”

  Andy nodded and heaved a sigh. “I wish I could come with you.”

  She smiled softly and touched his arm. “I wish you could, too.”

  “Pity it’s not going to happen. I have a mountain of paperwork to complete and that’s before the media get wind of it. This kind of thing will take forever. People are always looking for someone to blame. We’ll have to recall every infinitesimal detail, every glance, every word, every movement. It’ll take us the rest of the night.” He grimaced and threw a look at Tom.

  “You’re right,” Tom agreed, his voice grim, “and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  Cally made as if to leave and Andy reached for her. Without warning, he planted a hard kiss on her mouth. The force and swiftness of it left her gasping.

  “See you in the morning. Take care driving home,” Andy told her, his eyes fierce on hers.

  All she could do was nod her agreement before turning and making her way on unsteady feet across the carpet, heading in the direction of the interview rooms.

  * * *

  Tom plunked a mug of fresh coffee down on Andy’s desk a couple of hours later and pulled up a chair. “How’s it going, mate?”

  Andy sighed and pushed aside the paperwork on his desk to make room for Tom’s boots. “Yeah, you know.”

  “Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m asking. You need to concentrate on the good things in life, the things that make you happy. It’s the only way to get through the dark times.”

  Andy blew out his breath on a sigh. “I’m doing my best, Tom, believe me, but right at the moment it’s hard to stay focused on the good things. First Tucker, now Nikki.” He shook his head and then glanced up at his partner. “Did you call Lily?”

  Tom breathed in deeply and eased it out. “Yeah, but she’s in class. She won’t be home until nine. She was sorry to hear what had happened, but we didn’t get a chance to really talk.”

  “At least she’ll be there when you get home in the morning. That must be comforting to know.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Tom agreed. He lapsed into silence, almost as if he was lost in his thoughts. A long moment later, he raised his head and offered Andy a slight smile. “You seem to be rather taken with the cute cleaner. I’m pleased to see she feels the same way. Don’t waste time second guessing, Andy. If it’s the real deal, just go for it. Life’s too short to muck around.”

  Andy ducked his head in embarrassment. Now that he’d had time to compose himself, he was a little abashed when he realized what he’d done in full view of the team. But even now, knowing he was going to cop flak from the boys, given another chance
, he wouldn’t do anything differently.

  He’d fallen in love with Cally and he wanted the whole world to know. She was everything he’d ever wanted. She made his heart smile. She was the one. And as the cabbie suggested, he’d known it the minute he set eyes on her. His attention snagged on a part of Tom’s speech and he replayed the words back in his mind: ‘I’m pleased to see she feels the same way.’

  Could Tom have spoken the truth? Had he seen something in Cally’s eyes, something in her behavior that indicated she cared?

  Andy’s heart surged with hope and anticipation. He sure hoped so because from now on in, he was going to devote all his energy to convincing her she was his.

  * * *

  It was getting close to eleven and Andy was tired. The emotional stresses of the earlier part of his shift were finally catching up with him. With the death of Tucker and now Nikki, it had been an awful time and it had all taken place in just over a week.

  But what was time, anyway? He’d known Cally for only eleven days and yet he felt like he’d known her forever. He’d shared with her his shameful past and she’d still looked at him with love. Well, maybe not love, but she definitely exhibited concern and the tears in her eyes when he’d told her the tragic truth about his family had revealed she cared. Even Tom thought she was taken with him…

  The thought brought a smile to his lips and he glanced at the clock on the wall of the squad room and sighed. He still had another seven hours to go before he could turn his car for home. Home to Cally. Home to Jack.

  Frowning slightly, he remembered he hadn’t asked her if she’d seen any more of the blue Toyota and whether it was still concerning her. He reached for his phone and then paused. It was late…but she’d told him she was a night owl. Besides, he wanted to hear her voice.

  Coming to a decision, he picked up his phone and keyed in the number of her cell. The call went straight to message bank. He grimaced. It was either switched off or the battery was dead. Neither scenario was comforting. Scrolling back through his contacts, he found her home number and pressed the button to call. His heart beat in anticipation. This time, she answered.