“I’m worried about our little one.” He looked out into the precinct. “Where is she?”
“Seeing Dr. Ferguson.”
“I haven’t seen her since the...event. She said she’s staying with her mother. Is that healthy?”
Marco didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t want to lie to Abe.
Abe looked back at him. “Look, anyone would be traumatized by what happened in that van, but that’s not the only thing that’s happened lately. There was the shooting on Alcatraz and if you go back farther, there was the shooting of Rafael Peña, remember? The guy who put the gun to your head?”
“I remember.” He’d never forget it. He’d never forget how terrified he was when Peyton surrendered her gun.
“She might have PTSD, Angel.”
Marco looked away. Last night, she’d awaken, crying out in her sleep and sitting straight up in bed. He’d pulled her back down into his arms and whispered in her ear until she settled again, but she had shivered for at least five minutes before he could get her to calm.
“She’s getting help.”
“Here’s the thing. If she doesn’t want to stay at her house, she can stay with me. I’ve got an extra room and I’ll take good care of her. What do you think?”
What did he think? He thought he was all kinds of ass for not telling Abe the truth, but he had to clear it with Peyton first. She was the one who wanted to keep up this charade and he didn’t have the heart to go against her wishes right now.
“I think that’s Peyton’s decision, Abe.”
“Right.” He glanced out at the precinct again. “Is that her new partner?”
Marco leaned forward. He could just see Tag, talking on the phone at his old desk. “Yeah?”
“Lesbian, huh?”
Marco frowned. “What?”
“She’s a lesbian.”
“How do you know? She didn’t say anything about that.”
Abe gave him an annoyed look. “Really? What was she supposed to do? Walk up, say her name, state her years on the force, followed immediately by her sexual orientation. Gays don’t walk around wearing their sexuality around their necks, Angel’D.”
Oh, he figured some did. “You’re the one who labeled her, not me.” He didn’t really want to go around and around with Abe. He was starting to feel anxious about Peyton again.
“I was just stating a fact. Don’t worry.” He patted Marco’s knee. “You should get along with her fine.”
“Thanks. I know I’m going to regret asking this, but why wouldn’t I get along with her?”
“No, I mean it. You’ll be fine.”
“Are you suggesting someone won’t be?”
“Everyone gets along with pretty men – gays, lesbians, heteros, but lesbians don’t have much use for straight women.”
“Why are you being so bigoted today?”
“Me?” Abe splayed a hand across his chest. “I’m not bigoted, Angel. I’m stating a known fact.”
“You’re perpetuating a stereotype.”
Abe gave him a fond smile. “Look at you. Aren’t you the cutest thing? Poster boy for tolerance and equality. It’s rather hot, you know?”
Marco sighed. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to tell Abe about Peyton and him. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Of course you do. You are too cute.” He patted Marco again. “I’ll just let you get to it, Lieutenant. Remember, tell Peyton about my offer, please. Remind her how much fun we’d have living together.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
Abe paused at the partition wall. “Better yet. Tell her to come to my house for dinner tomorrow night. You bring her. I’ll make my famous vegetarian quiche. Eggs are okay, right?”
“Free range.”
“I wouldn’t have any other range.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of Marco’s head, then flounced out, making a point to steer over to Tag holding out his hand. Tag accepted it, looking over at Marco. Marco ducked back behind the partition. He sure as shit didn’t want to know what Abe was telling her.
* * *
They met in the conference room at 1:00PM just like the previous day. Peyton slipped in after her meeting with Dr. Ferguson. She felt edgy and upset. Dr. Ferguson had tried a memory visualization thing with her, asking her to remember exactly what had happened in the van. His idea was that if she could face the memory of it, she would be able to conquer it.
She still felt shaky almost 30 minutes later.
Marco gave her a worried look as she entered, but she forced a smile for him. She knew she should go sit by Tag, but she didn’t want to deal with her right now. As always, Jake sensed her mood and pushed out a chair beside him. She sank into it, clasping her hands in her lap.
“You okay?” he said, leaning close to her.
She looked over at Marco again. He was watching her. She nodded at Jake.
“What about some water or tea?”
“Tea.”
Jake rose and headed for the door, stepping aside as Defino entered.
“Okay. How’d it go with Abrams yesterday?” said the captain.
Tag glanced at Peyton, running her tongue across her teeth. “He checks out. I confirmed it with his manager this morning. He’s been at the strip joint on at least two occasions when the Janitor has struck.”
“Good. Check him off our list.”
Maria took the file from Tag and placed a sticky note on it.
“What about Bowen?” Defino said, turning to Cho and Simons.
“He’s got cancer. Been in chemo for the last year,” said Simons. “He’s living in Hospice. Doctors figure he doesn’t even have 6 months.”
“Okay.”
Cho slid the file over to Maria and she marked it.
“Who’s next?”
“Brian Douglas. He lives in South City. He told Jake he’d be home this afternoon. He also worked with Simon Olsen at Ingleside.” Maria picked up the file.
“I’ll take it,” said Tag, motioning with her hand.
Maria slid it over to her.
Peyton shifted and gave her a frown, but she wouldn’t meet Peyton’s eye.
“And Ron Garcia. He’s in Hayward, working in a hardware store.”
“We’ll take it,” said Cho.
Maria passed the file to him.
“All right. We’ll meet back here tomorrow, same time, unless you get something. Then you let me know immediately,” said Defino.
Tag jumped to her feet and headed for the door. Peyton swiveled to watch her, but Defino blocked her view as she moved toward her own office. Peyton shoved her chair back and pushed past Maria, following Tag into the precinct. She caught up with her just before their desks.
“You gonna wait a minute?” she asked.
Tag turned on her booted heel. “Look, Fluffy, let me handle this one. We don’t need a repeat performance like yesterday. Just concentrate on your head shrinker and leave this to me.”
“No.”
Tag slowly shook her head. “I don’t want to argue with you in public.”
“Then stop trying to sideline me.”
Tag glanced over Peyton’s shoulder. She figured everyone from the conference room was watching now. Behind Tag, Jake had appeared in the break room door, holding Peyton’s tea.
“I’m trying to be nice.”
“The hell you are. You just want me out of the way. You told me as much yesterday.”
Tag held out her hands, setting the file on her desk. “You almost screwed up an investigation yesterday.”
“That won’t happen again.”
“Really? ‘Cause looking at you now, I’m pretty sure you’re one car backfire away from hitting the deck. Let it go, Fluffy. You don’t need to prove anything. I know what you are.”
“What am I?”
“I didn’t want to say it, but you’re gonna force me, aren’t you?”
Peyton crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, say it. Let’s get it out in the open.”
/> “Fine. You’re the precinct’s princess who always has someone take care of you. You give a puppy dog look and the CSI scrambles to get you tea. I was brought on not to be your partner, but to protect you because that’s what everyone in this damn precinct does. Well, I don’t roll like that.”
Marco moved up behind Peyton. “That’s enough!” he said in warning.
Peyton ignored him. “No, you just act like a bitch so that people leave you alone.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“It fits. Clearly you aren’t a team player. Well, we’re a team here. No one protects me. We protect each other. Maybe if you’d learned that at the last precinct, you wouldn’t have been shuffled all over creation when people got sick of you and your shitty attitude.”
“Really? My shitty attitude?”
“That’s enough!” growled Marco again.
But Tag didn’t seem to care. She took a step closer to Peyton. “I know about princesses like you, Fluffy. Your daddy coddled you all your life and then you went and found yourself a man to pick up where he left off!” She gave Marco a sneer.
Peyton launched herself at Tag. She didn’t think, she just reacted. Marco caught her around the waist and hauled her back against him. “Tag, conference room now!” he shouted.
Tag gave him a withering look as she walked past the two of them. When she came to Cho and Simons, they didn’t part to let her pass, so she muttered something under her breath as she walked around them.
Marco gradually eased his hold. Peyton refused to look at him, sure he was going to tell her to go home or something. Instead, he released her and walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room.
Jake edged out of the break room and brought her the tea.
She accepted it, her hands shaking. “Thank you,” she said, moving toward her desk and sinking into her chair.
* * *
Marco pulled open the conference room door.
Tag was pacing behind the table, but she whirled as Marco stepped inside and closed the door at his back.
“You don’t have any right to reprimand me!” she hissed at him. “I know what’s going on between you two.”
He studied her a moment without speaking. She glared at him, but when he didn’t budge, she looked down.
“Take a seat.” His tone didn’t leave room for question.
She yanked out a chair and threw herself into it.
He moved to the table and took a seat across from her. “Let me be very clear with you, Tag. My private life is off limits. Do I make myself clear?”
She refused to look at him, tapping her fingers on the table. “Fine. I guess I’ll just have to accept that I’m not going to get a fair shake in this precinct where she’s concerned.”
“Fairness cuts two ways. Before you judge her, maybe you should know her.”
Tag looked up, giving him a furious glare. “I know her. I know her kind. There’s one in every precinct. You all protect her. I’m never gonna make inroads here as long as she’s here. Just like I said, she’s your precinct princess.”
Marco braced his arms on the table. “You’re right.”
Tag narrowed her eyes on him. “What?”
“You’d have to look far and wide to find anyone here who isn’t completely loyal to her.”
Tag held up a hand and let it fall.
“Maybe you should know why.”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“The CSI who went to get her tea – she gave him a place to stay in her house after his wife died. She got him this job. Maria? She stopped Maria’s boyfriend from beating her to death, even taking a beating herself, then she gave her a room in her house.”
Tag looked away.
“She’s the best damn cop in this precinct. She has the best arrest record in San Francisco, and one of the best conviction rates in the state. No one is better at interrogation. She gets perps to confess to things they didn’t even know they wanted to confess. And when you go on a call with her, she will never fail you, never let you down. There isn’t another cop I’d rather have at my back than her.”
Tag bit her upper lip.
“You should also know that her father was a cop. Officer Benjamin Brooks.”
Tag met his gaze.
“He was killed in the line of duty seven years ago. He died before he reached the hospital. He died before she got a chance to say goodbye.”
Tag exhaled and slumped in her chair.
“Less than a week ago, she was kidnapped off the street during her morning run by the very perp we’re trying to catch. She almost died. She came back on the job within days, determined to do her duty.” Marco rose to his feet and leaned on the table. “So if she hits the deck at a car backfire or if she elbows a pervert in the gut, you damn well better be there to back her up because there are few people in this world more courageous than that woman, and you had better have some respect or...Tag, you and I will have problems.”
She stared at the table, chewing her lower lip.
“Do we understand one another, Inspector?”
She glanced up at him. “Perfectly, Lieutenant.”
“Good.”
* * *
Peyton lifted the tea and sipped at it, staring at her blank computer monitor. Defino appeared at her elbow, grabbing a chair and taking a seat.
“So? Where are we?”
Peyton glanced at her. “I wish I knew, Captain.”
“You charm everyone in this precinct, Brooks. How come you can’t charm Tag?”
“I’m not feeling very charming right now.”
“I can put you on leave.”
Peyton shook her head. “That’d be worse. I need to be here. I need to be active and I need to reclaim my life.”
“If I didn’t agree with you, I’d send you home, but even so, I can’t have you brawling in the precinct.”
Peyton nodded. “I know. I was out of line.”
“Well, according to everyone else, she was out of line.”
Peyton smiled. “I probably shouldn’t have called her a bitch though.”
Defino held up a hand. “I don’t want to know what was said, I just want it to stop.” She gave a grim laugh. “Poor Marco’s being thrown in the deep end of management, though.”
“He can handle it.”
Defino nodded. “I wouldn’t have recommended him for a promotion if I didn’t already know that.” She leaned forward, dropping her voice. “It’s okay to ask for help, Brooks. It doesn’t show weakness. You don’t have to go home, but I can put you on desk duty. You can coordinate the investigation from here if field work is too hard right now.”
Peyton swallowed. “Captain, I have to be out there. If I give in, he wins. I’ll stay trapped in that van forever. I have to face this. I don’t have a choice.”
Defino considered for a moment, then she nodded. “Okay.”
Peyton smiled. “Do you know how much your trust means to me?”
“As much as your loyalty means to me.”
Peyton again felt guilty for keeping her relationship with Marco from her. She started to tell her, but Tag suddenly appeared, going to her desk and grabbing the file. She paused, drawing Peyton’s attention.
“You ready?” she said.
“Uh, yeah.” Peyton put her coffee cup down and rose to her feet. “We’ll let you know if we find out anything, Captain.”
“You do that,” said Defino with a smile.
* * *
Peyton pulled the Mustang into traffic. She needed to do something about getting the car signed over to her. She was getting used to driving a vehicle with a little more pick-up than her Corolla. Plus she liked all the bells and whistles it had.
Tag slumped in the seat next to her, her arm braced on the door, her head resting on her hand. They rode in silence for a while as Peyton maneuvered toward the edge of the City and Highway 101.
Silence worked for Peyton. She was a little surprised how easily Tag had provoked her, made her w
ant to attack her and rip out her hair, and it was only their second day as partners. Not good odds, if you asked her. It had taken almost a week before Marco had asked Defino for a new partner.
After they got onto 101, Tag shifted in her seat. “Look, I’m sorry for what I said about your father. I didn’t know.”
Peyton glanced over at her. “Thanks. Sorry for calling you a bitch.”
“That word just fires me up, that’s all.”
“I get it.”
“I don’t mean to be a bitch. I guess I’m just pissed over getting shuffled again. I was just getting used to the last precinct.” She stared out the front windshield. “Sucks to keep getting tossed around like day old bread.”
“I can imagine.”
Tag fell silent. The rest of the drive passed that way. Peyton was just as glad. She needed time to sort through the events of the day. She couldn’t deny she felt guilty about Defino. She couldn’t stand the thought of Marco being moved from the precinct, but maybe that wouldn’t happen now that they were no longer partners. Maybe his promotion was enough.
Except she figured it probably wasn’t. He had direct responsibility over Tag and Tag was already challenging that. Somehow Tag guessed what she and Marco had been trying to hide, and now that everyone had seen Marco intervene in her fight with her new partner, others might be speculating.
They were just going to have to be more careful about their interaction with each other. Losing Marco as her partner was bad enough. Having him moved out of the precinct would devastate her.
She pulled up in front of a single story suburban house. A white picket fence separated the yard from the sidewalk and a trail of stone pavers led to the green painted front door. Peyton turned off the ignition and unhooked her seatbelt, climbing out. Tag followed her.
“What do we know about Douglas?” she asked.
Tag flipped open the file and glanced over it. “He retired nine years ago. He lives here with his wife. He lost a son in Iraq.”
“Hm,” said Peyton. She walked to the gate and unhooked it, then held it open for Tag. The two women approached the front door, stepping up on the porch, and Peyton rang the bell. While they waited, she turned and looked over the neighborhood. A commercial airliner rumbled over the top of the house. SFO was only a few miles up the highway. It must be swell living with planes flying overhead every few minutes.
Murder on Treasure Island (Peyton Brooks' Series Book 7) Page 6