A Deadly Blessing

by Kathy Bennett

Unlike his wife, he liked the building and thought the new police headquarters was overdue. After clipping his ID card to his shirt pocket, Travis made his way to the sixth floor. He was pleasantly surprised to see Maddie sitting at her cubicle. Her back was turned to him, and she faced her partner. Cutter's face registered surprise at seeing Travis come through the door. In reaction to her partner's look of disquiet, Maddie swiveled in her chair to see who'd come in.

  A plethora of emotions flooded his wife's face, shock, pleasure, then worry. Rising from her chair, she went to meet him. "What's wrong?" she asked, frowning.

  "Nothing. I thought I'd come down and see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat." He looked over at Cutter. "You're welcome to come too."

  "Thanks, but we've got a suspect detained." Cutter looked at Maddie. "Don't forget, Pleasure needs to use the bathroom. I'll go get her, but you'll have to take her to the head," he said walking down the hallway.

  "Travis, things are really poppin' right now. I'm not sure when we're going to eat."

  He reached out and pulled her in his arms. Inhaling the fruity scent of her hair he whispered in her ear, "Maddie, I know you're busy. I missed you. After last night, I wanted to see you." He pulled back and held her at arm's length. "How about I go get you and Darius some sandwiches from Philippe's?" In her eyes he witnessed an inner struggle.

  "Sure, that would be great. It's very thoughtful of you." She gave him a quick kiss.

  "Good. I'll be back in about a half-hour."

  Darius returned leading a young woman with a huge rack that pushed the boundaries of the halter top she wore. Arms secured in handcuffs behind her back accentuated her jutting breasts. Travis found himself staring. It was hard not to.

  Maddie took the woman's bicep and began to lead her toward the restrooms.

  "So who's the hottie, with the bod of steel?" the woman asked Maddie, while eyeing him.

  His wife cocked her head and gave him an appraising look. "Let's get you to the bathroom, and I'll tell you all about him."

  He didn't know what his wife's words meant, but he liked the tone she'd used. Her voice carried a quality he hadn't heard in a very long time. It conveyed the mood of acceptance and partnership. After leaving her office, he waited for the elevator to the main floor. While he waited, he began to rethink his idea of confessing to Maddie he'd blabbed her secret to the department shrink. After all, things seemed to be looking up. Why ruin a good thing?

  PILAR – 79

  Standing on the steps of City Hall, Pilar silently cursed Preston. His affair with Heather McCall had taken over the media. While Preston got to retreat and hide, she was required to smile and shake the hands of all thirty-four presidents of the San Fernando Valley's Neighborhood Councils, congratulating them on their contributions to their neighborhoods over the past year. A substantial crowd of reporters yelled out embarrassing questions at her. Once she'd endured the pitying smiles and murmured encouragements from her guests, she intentionally delivered a brilliant smile and a jaunty wave to the agitated media hacks and entered back into the enclave of her office.

  She gave a curt nod to the security guard at the desk in front of her private elevator that stood with the doors open, waiting to return her to her office.

  Her assistant, Crystal, trailed behind, using her thumbs at a furious pace to send a text message to someone. "The other girls in the office say that reformed gang guy, Zepeda Sorriano, has been calling you all afternoon. He says he needs to speak with you and it's urgent."

  Pilar arranged her face into a look of surprise. "I can't imagine what he could want that would be so pressing." She stepped off the elevator. "Give me a couple of minutes and then get him on the phone."

  "You got it," Crystal replied. "Can I bring you some tea or something?"

  "No thanks, just give me time to freshen up a little."

  Pilar entered her office, walked over to the overstuffed sofa and sank into its depths while massaging her temples with her fingertips. The fact Sorriano contacted her after their last tense phone call was a horrible sign. Something must really be wrong.

  Rising from the sofa, she went over to the corner of her office that housed a small refrigerator and cabinets filled with utilitarian serving supplies. Yanking on the door of the cooler, she almost dislodged the already opened bottle of wine stashed in the door. A dry chardonnay wasn't really to her taste, but she didn't care. She needed to settle her nerves before she talked to Sorriano.

  She quickly poured about three inches of the pale liquid into a coffee mug from the cabinet. The wine was cold, which was good, but the bitter aftertaste made her shudder. She didn't want Crystal to barge in and catch her swigging wine, so in spite of the taste, she threw her head back and chugged the last of the alcohol. She rinsed the cup and set it in the sink, then moved to her desk and sat down. Reaching into the top drawer of her desk, Pilar grabbed a tin of mints, extracted one and popped it in her mouth.

  Drawing angular doodles on a notepad, she considered every possible piece of bad news she thought Sorriano might deliver. What could have gone wrong? She'd thought the whole process through from start to finish and it was flawless. Unless the fact that Tiffany was missing was somehow connected to her plan. If that was the case, her plan was screwed.

  She looked at her phone. Hurry up and ring, damn it! To her surprise, it did. She lifted the receiver.

  "Mayor, I have Mr. Sorriano on line one."

  "Thank you, Crystal."

  Pilar thought her heart might pound out of her chest as she jabbed the key to the designated phone line. "Mayor Luna," she announced. "Mr. Sorriano, are you on the line?"

  "Good afternoon, Madam Mayor."

  "I understand you have an issue of some urgency."

  "Yes. I'm having some issues with the funding for the Los Angeles EGA center. I'd like to meet with you. By chance, would you be free for dinner this evening?"

  Of all the things Pilar had expected Sorriano to relay, a need for money and a dinner invitation wasn't one of them. Quickly, she tried to think of all the pros and cons.

  "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Sorriano, but I'm scheduled to make an appearance with the chief of police at the LAPD's Pacific Islander Forum. I'm meeting Chief Fryer for dinner prior to the event."

  "Well, Madam Mayor, I think you'll need to send your apologies to the chief and meet with me. I will be in town only a short while, and my concerns really can't wait."

  You don't trust him, and you don't like him. But meeting in a public place is better than meeting him alone.

  "I'm not sure canceling at this late hour will be possible, Mr. Sorriano." A moment of silence filled the air.

  "You disappoint me, Pilar. You are the mayor of the second largest city in the nation. If you were a man, I'm sure you'd find a way. It's important."

  If I were a man, I'd put your dick in a vise and make you scream like a little girl. "Okay, I'll meet you, but it will have to be after the LAPD event. How about the bar in the Temple Street Towers? It's not far from my previous engagement."

  "Do not stand me up, Madam Mayor. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Perfectly, Mr. Sorriano. I'll be there. Oh, and Mr. Sorriano…you will be buying."

  MADDIE – 80

  I stood by the open bathroom stall door while Pleasure Treasure pee'd. I'm always amazed women arrestees are able to freely do their business with a female cop watching to assure they aren't disposing of secreted dope, guns, or other evidence. Even in my early days on patrol, it was a rarity to come across someone who couldn't pee with an audience. I've never understood it, as I'm sure as hell not made that way.

  "So," Pleasure said, while reaching for toilet paper, "who's the cutie with the fine bod?"

  "That's Travis Grant," I said, using my husband's middle name as his last. "He's my partner, too."

  Pleasure smiled. "Aren't you the lucky one? I sure like Travis a lot better than that black guy. Although, the black guy is pretty easy on the eyes too. He's just got a shitty attitude.
" She flushed the toilet and exited the stall. I motioned for her to wash her hands.

  "I think I can arrange it so Travis can get your story. Detective Cutter and I have a lot of paperwork to do."

  "Good, do whatever the hell you have to do to get me out of here. This place sucks," she said, drying her hands and throwing the coarse paper towel in the trash. Without even being told, Pleasure turned away from me, holding her wrists behind her back so I could secure the handcuffs.

  "I'll do what I can," I said, walking her back to the interview room. After removing the handcuffs and getting her settled in an uncomfortable chair, I shut the door and motioned for Darius to come over.

  I spoke in a whisper. "Listen, Pleasure's got the hots for Travis. Let's hurry and write up some questions for him to ask her, then see if he can get her to work with us to capture Drejohn."

  Darius looked at me like I'd been smoking crack in the ladies room. "Are you out of your mind? Travis doesn't even work in this unit. Any cooperation he gets from her will be highly challenged in court."

  I felt guilty because it was even worse than Darius realized. I knew Travis had been relieved from duty. But we desperately needed Pleasure to work with us. If Travis was the path to success, so be it. "Tiffany Truesdale's life hangs in the balance here. Travis is a cop. There's no reason he can't make friends with Pleasure so we can get her to cooperate with us."

  My partner shook his head. "It's a long shot, but I