Alexandria grinned. “Me, too. I was wearing a new suit.”
Delta picked up Alexandria’s hand and kissed the back of it. “You be more careful out there, you hear me?”
“You, too. The last time I asked for your help—”
“Ancient history. This is what good friends are for. I’ll get back to you as soon as we have something.”
Delta parted the black curtain and walked back through the restaurant. Pauline, mixing drinks for a gentleman, paused her task and waved as Delta walked out the door.
“Come back soon, Delta.”
Delta saluted her acknowledgment before stepping out into the crisp night air. Once at the front of the buildings, she pretended to check all the front doors. When she came to the patrol car, she found Tony clipping his fingernails.
“Sorry, it took longer than I thought.”
“How is she?”
Delta cocked her head in question. “Who?”
“Come on, Del. I’m not stupid. I’ve been with you long enough to know that God, himself, couldn’t keep you from Pendleton’s investigation.”
“It’s herself, and so what?”
Tony turned. “So what? So what about lesson two hundred and twelve? The one about trusting your partner? Or was that just a bullshit line from the FTO training guide?”
Taken aback by his anger, Delta held up her hands. “You don’t understand—”
“Because you won’t even let me try. Damn it, Delta, I’ve killed a man protecting you. You trusted me with your life out there, and I came through for you.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Then why can’t you trust me to help you help her?”
Delta turned the interior light on as she turned to face him. Yes, she had trusted him with her life, and he had, indeed, pulled through for her. He had executed his role to perfection; no questions, no hesitations, no missed marks. He had risen to the challenge and succeeded.
“It’s not that.”
“No? Then what?”
Delta studied his face for a moment. He had grown so much in the two months they’d been together. He had toned down his macho man demeanor, and had done everything she asked of him. Why then, shouldn’t she trust him?
“I’m sorry, Tony. I haven’t been very fair, have I? I demand complete loyalty and trust and have only given you a fraction of mine. Trust isn’t something that comes naturally to me. I’ve been burned too many times by people I thought I could trust.”
“I won’t burn you, Delta.” The words were said so softly, so quietly, Delta wasn’t sure they’d come from Tony’s mouth. “Del, you taught me right off the bat that whatever is said in this car stays in this car. Give me a chance to prove to you that I’m not the same jerk I was when we first started working together.”
Tentatively, she laid her hand on Tony’s forearm. “You’re right, Tony. You’re not the same guy I saw at Harry’s that night.”
“Then give me an opportunity, Delta. That’s all I ask. I’d at least like the chance at bat. Don’t I deserve that much?”
At that very moment, Tony Carducci changed forever in Delta’s eyes. Tony Carducci cared, and that made all the difference in the world. Inhaling deeply, she told Tony everything that was going on with Alexandria.
“We’re on a very short leash, you know,” she said when she had finished outlining what Alex needed from them.
Tony nodded. “I know.”
“If we get busted nosing around this investigation, you can kiss your SWAT team dreams goodbye. Hell, for that matter, you can kiss the dog pound goodbye.”
“Then let’s not get caught.”
Delta grinned. “Ah, Grasshopper, you catch on quickly.”
The vibrations from the powerful bike felt good beneath Taylor, but she had to cut the Harley engine to coast up to the shadowy house. Long ago, she stopped being surprised by how few people actually turned on their porch lights when they left their houses at night. What else were they for if not to scare burglars away? And how many times had Taylor faced motion detector beams and high-powered floodlights which were not turned on? What was the use?
Rolling silently up to the targeted house, Taylor grinned beneath her black helmet. Of the neighboring houses, neither had their porch light on, creating a sort of black hole appearance on this side of the street.
Checking her watch, Taylor realized she had to work quickly; not that time mattered here as much as it did in Chicago or New York. It was so much easier working in California. It was a burglar ’s dreamland; warm nights, long driveways, plenty of night life for the natives, and neighbors who were not about to get involved. Yes, she could plant roots here, if she wanted. However, even warmer climates beckoned her once she had completed this final challenge of her illustrious career.
Turning the Harley so it faced the street, Taylor readjusted her gloves before dismounting and moving to try the front door. It was locked. In the side yard, she easily scaled the fence, threw her rope up and over the fireplace, pulled it taut, and swung to the side of the house to start her ascent. When she came to the window, she checked it and found it locked as well.
Holding onto the rope with one hand, Taylor unzipped her pouch and retrieved a small box. From the box she pulled out a tiny suction cup, which she licked before placing it on the window. Then, she extracted a silver device resembling a math compass. With a flick of her wrist, the compass whirled, cutting a flawless circle in the glass. When the compass came back to where it had started, Taylor tugged gently on the suction cup and out popped the perfectly round piece of cut glass. Next, she reached her arm through the newly made hole, unlocked the window, and let herself in. She did this all in less than a minute.
“Ah, Taylor,” she said to herself, “you haven’t lost your touch.” Putting her tools away and withdrawing her penlight, Taylor quickly made her way to the bedroom, where she searched until she came to a long, slender gray box, nestled at the bottom of a jewelry box.
“Ding, ding, ding,” Taylor said, plucking the box out. “And the winner is...me!” Opening the container, Taylor put the penlight in her mouth and shined the light on the gold necklace, counting the ten deep blue gemstones set magnificently. Of the hundreds of pieces of jewelry Taylor had stolen, this was one of the most incredible pieces she’d ever seen.
Looking at her watch, Taylor placed the necklace in her pouch. Creeping downstairs, she set the empty gray box on the kitchen table and exited through the front door. The crisp, clean night might be considered a summer night in London or New England. Oh, how she had grown fond of California’s weather.
Stepping out the front door, she double-checked all her zippered pouches before snapping the rope out from the window. She put it back on Emma mad then straddled the Harley. Then, with great flair, she slammed her visor shut, gunned the powerful bike, and squealed down the street, smiling grandly as she pulled behind a patrol car at a stop light.
“Ah. Sweet, sweet irony.”
Tony was humming an indistinguishable tune when dispatch came over the air. “S-10-12, we have a 4-5-9 at 19 Virgil Way. See the man.”
Tony picked up. “This is S-10-12, we copy.” Hanging up the mike, Tony turned to Delta. “Think it’s her?”
Delta smiled. “It’s possible. Virgil isn’t exactly her type of neighborhood, though.”
“Virgil Way?” Tony asked, interrupting her train of thought. “I don’t remember ever seeing that street sign before.”
Delta shook her head. “You wouldn’t because there isn’t one. Virgil is one of those streets that looks like an alley but is really a narrow road. There are a few houses down Virgil, but you can’t see them from the cross street.” Pulling down a dark side street, Delta slowed when she came to the corner. “See? That little road is Virgil. Blink, and you’ll miss it.”
“Is it a cul-de-sac?” Tony asked, squinting through the blackness of a poorly lit street.
Delta nodded.
“She’s taking a chance hitting a court, do
n’t you think?”
“Not really. Take a good look at this street. No lampposts, no porchlights, no stores, nothing. It’s dark, dark, dark. Getting in and out undetected, especially by foot, would be a piece of cake.” Delta pulled into the driveway and then backed up so the car was parallel to the house. Two men stood in the doorway with their arms around each other’s waists.
“Officer! Over here!” the thinner one yelled, waving to them as if they wouldn’t know which house to go to. The thin man suddenly released himself from the other man’s grasp and ran up to Delta. “My necklace! They stole my lapis necklace!”
Delta exited the car and stared at Tony, who shrugged. “Lapis, sir?”
“I’m so glad you’re here. Please, come in. Come in and see what those...those hoodlums did to my home!”
Walking up to the other man, who resembled a young Harrison Ford, Delta made the appropriate introductions and handed him her card. “Your house was burglarized tonight?”
Stephen nodded. “I think we made it home just in time because it looks like they only took the necklace, and I have some extremely expensive computer equipment.”
Delta glanced over at Tony, who had positioned himself so that she was in between him and the two men. Pulling her notebook from her pocket, Delta glared at him. If he understood the meaning behind the look, he chose to ignore it, because he maintained a good two arms length away from the men.
“Did you just return home?” Delta asked him.
Both men nodded. The thin man kept staring at Tony, as if he sensed Tony’s discomfort.
Turning to Tony, Delta motioned for him to go upstairs. “Tony, why don’t you take your homophobia upstairs and determine where the point of entry is.”
“My wh—oh...yeah, sure.” Scooting around the back of the Harrison lookalike, Tony disappeared into the house.
After watching him go, Delta turned her attention back to the two men. “I make it a habit not to apologize for my partners, but just know that he is in the process of his humanity training and sometimes has setbacks.”
Stephen laughed and put his arm around the thin man. “Randy and I have skin of leather by now, Officer. But thank you for sending him off. There’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable in your own home.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. Now, if you don’t mind telling me what you discovered when you returned home.”
Stepping into the house, Stephen started to speak first. “We just came home from the theater and—”
“Was the alarm ringing?”
“Not when we arrived. When we got to the door, it was open.”
“Do you remember closing it?” Delta asked, quickly jotting down his words.
“Oh, yes,” Randy offered, “Stephen always drives, so it’s my job to lock the door. It was definitely closed and locked when we left.”
“Okay. When you came home, did you see or hear anything?”
“No, I went directly upstairs to make sure that my grandmother ’s brooch was still there.” Randy flustered, “Oh, I would have died if anything had happened to that.”
Delta tried not to smile at the sound of a more feminine voice than hers coming from a man’s mouth. “And, I take it, it was left untouched.” Randy drew his hand dramatically up to his chest.
“Thank goodness, yes. I simply don’t know what I would have done.”
Stephen tightened his grip on his partner. “We’ve checked the entire house, and the only thing missing is Randy’s necklace.”
“And it’s such a beautiful necklace. I kept it in the box Stephen gave to me for our anniversary. That’s the box there on the table. We didn’t touch it because we’re hoping they left their fingerprints on it.”
Delta grinned as she squatted down to examine the box. “Well, we’ll have to wait for the Burglary Unit to dust for prints, but not touching it was wise.” Standing up, Delta jotted more information down before looking around the room. This hit already had the feel of her female cat burglar.
Suddenly, Tony appeared at the top of the stairs nodding and beckoning Delta with his hand. Delta excused herself and joined him at the top of the staircase. “What is it?”
“She came in through the window all right. In this bedroom.”
Delta followed Tony into the bedroom and saw the perfectly round six-inch hole in the window. “She sure is a pro, isn’t she?”
Tony nodded. “I’m getting tired of her already.”
“You have to hand it to her, she’s well equipped.” Delta examined the window frame and floor beneath the window.
“What are you looking for?” Tony asked.
Delta shrugged, but didn’t take her eyes from the carpet. “She may even be better than good, but there’s something we’re missing.”
“What do you mean?”
Slowly rising, Delta turned to him. “Don’t you find it odd that she puts so much energy into getting inside, only to steal just one piece of jewelry? What’s up with that?”
Tony scratched his head. “That is pretty weird.”
“Right. What’s her point? Why those specific pieces. I mean, lapis? What in the hell is lapis?” Starting back down the stairs, Delta rejoined the two men who were now sitting on the couch. “We’ll file a report on this, but I suspect the Burglary Unit will want to take a closer look.”
Delta shrugged. “Was the necklace insured?”
Randy nodded. “Stephen makes sure that everything valuable is insured.”
“Well, you may not get the necklace back, but at least they didn’t steal your brooch.”
Rising in unison, the men shook hands with Delta, but ignored Tony. “Thank you so much, Officer. You’ve been extremely kind.”
Delta nodded once. “That’s what you pay me for. You can do me a favor, though, and make my job a little easier by installing a floodlight on the porch. This is one of the darkest streets on my beat.”
“Will do,” Stephen said, escorting Delta and Tony to the door. “I’ll be sure one goes up tomorrow.”
Heading toward the car, Tony sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Del, but those two gave me the creeps.”
Delta stopped in her tracks. “You were about as subtle as a bull in a china closet. Damn it, Carducci. Just when I think your puny mind has opened some, you pull this shit.”
“I can’t help it.”
“That’s the sad part.”
“Oh, come off it, Delta. How many straight men do you know who openly accept fags?”
Delta bristled. “Gay men, Carducci. The respectable term is gay men. And there are plenty who are open-minded enough not to care about anyone’s sexual orientation.”
“I’m open-minded enough.”
“Oh, really?” Reaching the car, Delta noticed a lavender note stuck under the windshield. “What the—?” Carefully taking it by the right corner, Delta pulled it out and flicked it open.
“Lapis lazuli—an opaque, azure blue to deep blue gemstone of lazurite. From the Latin: stone.”
“That little bitch is—” before Delta could finish, a loud, thundering roar ripped through the air. Looking up from the note, Delta saw a single headlight at the top of the street glaring down at them. The sound, loud and reverberating, could only be one machine: a Harley-Davidson.
For a moment, Delta waited to see if the bike was moving; it wasn’t; just idling loudly. In the dim light of the street, Delta could see little, save the single headlight beam and the silhouetted outline of a small figure straddled atop the large bike. Delta estimated the biker to be about fifty yards away.
“Hit your spot, Carducci,” Delta ordered, knowing full well who was perched on the motorcycle. In the flash of a second, the bike and its rider were brilliantly illuminated; the harsh glare of the spotlight danced off the black leather jumpsuit, shiny black helmet, and polished chrome pipes. Before Delta could utter a single word, the rider waved, grabbed the handlebars, and roared away.
“Let’s get her!” Tony yelled, jumping into the car.
Delta looked at the note in her hand before climbing into the driver’s seat.
“What are you waiting for, Del? Come on!”
Delta reached over and clipped the lavender note to her clipboard before starting the car. “Relax. We’re not going to be goaded into a chase.”
“Why the hell not? What’s wrong with you? She’s probably laughing her head off under that helmet.”
Putting the car in drive, Delta sighed. “Yes, she probably is.”
“Then why aren’t we going after her?” Tony’s voice was caught between whining and pleading.
Delta ran her hand through her hair. “She’s long gone, Carducci. That bike would kick our butts without even trying hard. Forget about it.”
“Forget about it? You’re kidding, right?”
Delta gripped the steering wheel tightly. No, she had already been burned once tonight. She wasn’t about to make a fool of herself chasing after a vehicle that could go places the patrol car couldn’t. Glancing over at the note, Delta grimaced.
That thief. That woman. She’d had her hands on Delta’s patrol car. She’d been here, watching Delta’s investigation, gauging her reactions, trying to goad her into a needless chase. What was going on with this woman? Who was she, and why in the hell was she messing with Delta?
“Delta? Hello? Is anybody home?”
Delta tapped her finger on the clipboard. “She’s a bold woman, Carducci. She’s challenging us. She sat out there, watched us work, and for some reason, tried to get us to chase her.”
“Then, why didn’t we?”
“Ever ride a motorcycle, Carducci?”
“Sure.”
“Ever been on a 1340cc Harley?”
“Well...no.”
“I have, and believe me, we would have eaten her dust and really given her something to laugh at. No, we’re not going to get into a high speed chase over a bunch of colored rocks. It’s not worth it.”
Tony cracked the knuckles on his right hand. “Well, she sure is making us look stupid.”
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