“Well, bully for L.A. And someone has to keep an eye out for Tyler, because—like you said—if you’re watching him, you can’t do your job.”
“There’s no job for him to do,” Radar said. “I’m giving the case to Boston. Let them coordinate with Summer Village—”
“No, no, no,” Decker said. “That’s not going to happen—”
“You said you’d tell me if it was too much for you to handle.”
“I didn’t say it was too much to handle. I’ve been a detective for almost thirty years. I’ve been in combat. I can handle this. Let me just see this out.”
“Not on my watch.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“Don’t swear at me.”
Rina cleared her throat. The men turned in her direction. “Uh, as much as I hate to agree with my husband, I think he’s right, Mike. Pulling him off isn’t going to take the heat away from him. If anything, it’ll make it look like Peter really knows something and that you’re trying to protect him.” Silence. “And from a personal point of view, I might also add that you will never find a detective as good as Peter is.”
“Thank you,” Decker said. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Decker looked at Radar. “Well?”
“What about Tyler?” Radar said.
“We can send him back to New York.”
Rina said, “These guys are pro. Tyler’s way more vulnerable in an anonymous city than he is in Greenbury. It’s easier to take care of him here because anything unusual will stick out.”
Mike said, “I’ll put an officer on him.”
“Agreed,” Decker said. “But I still want Rina out of here.” He looked at his wife. “You need to go to L.A.”
“Peter, I’m not involving my parents in this mess.”
“I’ll put an officer on her, too,” Radar said.
Rina said, “Have Tyler move in with us. That way you only need one officer and I can shoot a gun should the occasion call for it.”
“You can’t be serious,” Decker said.
“It’s actually not a bad idea, Pete. It’ll be a lot easier to guard one house than two. And it’ll be easier to rotate people because we’ll have more manpower.”
“So it’s settled,” Rina said. “Tyler will move in, Mike will put a guard on the house, and Peter is still on the case.”
Radar said, “I don’t want you going at this alone.”
Decker said, “If I could team up with an old colleague from L.A., I’d agree with you. But it takes a long time to get a trust and a rhythm between two people. I’m better going solo.”
“No, no, no, no,” Rina said. “You are not doing this alone.”
“Last night, if I hadn’t been so worried about Rina or Tyler, I could have chased down the perp. I’m not training someone new.”
“Speaking of which, Marge called.”
“When?”
“Last night. I forgot to tell you.”
“Great.”
“I can’t think of everything!”
Decker said, “Sorry.”
“Who’s Marge?” Radar asked.
“An old colleague from L.A.”
Radar made a face. “So now you’re outsourcing?”
Decker felt sheepish. “We worked together for years. We keep in touch.”
“Decker, if she called you back, you must have asked her to do something.”
“He’s got you there,” Rina said.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Flexible.”
Radar said, “What did you ask her to do?”
“Look up Chase Goddard and see if he’s done anything arrest worthy in his past. Her police department has bigger databases than ours.”
“Well, as long as the cat’s out of the bag, she told me to tell you that she didn’t find anything on him. She’s going to try to see if the LAPD database might have something.”
“Chase Goddard,” Radar said. “The gallery man you visited yesterday afternoon when you saw the silver van.”
“Yep.”
“I’ll see what I can find out about him from Boston,” Radar said.
“Thank you.” No one talked for a moment. Then Decker said, “So it’s settled?”
“You are not working solo, Peter,” Rina said. “I’m in your corner but you have to be reasonable.”
“I agree,” Radar said. “You’re a target. You can’t handle this alone.”
“I’m not going to involve anyone on the force, Mike. Not with this bull’s-eye on my head.”
“For God’s sake, Decker, we’re all cops! We know what we signed up for. I am the captain of Greenbury PD and I’m calling up Ben Roiters. You cannot work alone.”
“Then I’d rather you pull me off the case than involve Ben,” Decker said.
“Peter, why don’t you call Scott?” Rina said.
“Am I senile or wasn’t he just shot a year ago.”
“Who’s Scott?” Radar asked.
“Peter, every time you talk to him, he complains how bored he is with retirement.”
“That doesn’t mean he wants to start working again.”
“Who’s Scott?”
“Why don’t you ask him? What harm would it do?”
“Who the fuck is Scott?” Radar asked.
“Scott Oliver,” Rina said. “He and Marge Dunn were partners.”
“The woman you’re using to outsource,” Radar said.
“Old relationships die hard, Captain,” Rina said. “Marge is currently working as a detective but Scott had retired. He’s not married, he doesn’t have any hobbies, and he’s going out of his mind with boredom. When he isn’t yakking to Marge about how tedious life is, he’s calling Peter. The main thing is he’s a great detective.”
“He’s old,” Decker said.
“He’s the same age as you are.”
Radar said, “He’s good?”
“Great,” Decker admitted. “Very experienced.”
“And he’s cool under pressure. You’ve always told me that he’s the one guy you’d want in a hot situation.” Rina turned to Radar. “What do you think?”
“It’s a possibility. I’ll need to interview him.”
Rina said. “At least call him, Peter. If he doesn’t want to do it, he’ll say no.”
“He won’t say no. He’d do it for me. I know that because I’d do it for him.”
“He’d do it for the joy of feeling alive again . . . like someone else I know.”
At that moment, a doctor in green scrubs came out to the group. Decker, Rina, and Radar stopped talking and looked anxiously at the man who introduced himself as Doctor Alex Harrow.
“He’s out. And he’s a very, very lucky man. A few millimeters more and the bullet would have hit the femoral artery.”
“Thank God,” Rina said. “He’s going to be all right, then.”
“After a fashion. He’s still got some recovering to do. The bullet in his leg did knock some bone. It’s cracked—a little bigger than a hairline fracture, but the bone didn’t break apart. The orthopedic surgeon thinks there’s enough bone to regenerate what the bullet nicked away. If not, he may need a bone graft. It’s too early to tell.”
“I take it he won’t be able to walk,” Radar said.
“He’ll be in a leg cast for six weeks. He’ll need a wheelchair. When he gets his strength back in his arm, he can probably manage with crutches.”
“Can we talk to him?” Radar asked.
“In a couple of hours. He’s still in recovery.” The surgeon looked around. “Any wife or parents?”
“No wife,” Decker said. “He didn’t want me to call his parents.”
“Yeah, he probably didn’t want to worry them. But it might be
a good idea to call them now that he’s out.”
“Thank you and of course, you’re right.” Radar waited until the surgeon left and then he eyed Decker. “Call them.”
“Mike, he doesn’t want them here.”
“This isn’t a request, it’s an order.”
“He told me—and I quote—‘I fucking hate my parents. Don’t call them.’ ”
“He was delirious. They have to be notified, Decker.”
“He’s a grown man.”
“I’m not going to argue about this. I said it’s an order.”
“Fine. I’ll call them.”
“Good.” He exhaled forcefully. “I’m going back to the station house. I’m going to bring everyone up to speed with what I know—and they’re going to bring me up to speed with what I don’t know. We’ll get a murder board going because it’s clear this isn’t going to be a simple solve. Then, after that, I’m going to work out a watch rotation for your house. I don’t want your lovely wife to feel endangered.”
“I appreciate that, Captain,” Rina said.
“And I’ll be damned before I’ll be the first captain in this quaint city to lose a man in the line of duty. I have my pride. And I do care about all of you.”
“I feel the love, Mike.”
“Don’t get mouthy on me, Decker.”
“Just trying to add a little levity.”
“I suppose I should find out about this codebook. I’ll call Summer Village.”
“If I’m still on the case, let me do that.”
“Fine, make the call while you’re waiting for Tyler’s parents to arrive. You’re not going anywhere until you talk to them, understood?”
“Done.”
“And while you’re on the phone, I suppose you can call your buddy when it’s a decent hour in L.A. Let me know what he says. If he wants to come out, I’ll talk to him but no promises. I not only have to approve him, I’m going to have to figure out how to pull money out of my butt to get him hired on as a consultant.”
“I understand.”
“Let me know when Tyler wakes up. I want to be there when he tells his story.” Radar licked his lips. “He didn’t tell you anything about what went down?”
“He heard someone. He locked himself in the closet. That’s all I know.”
“I want the full story from him. You call me right away. And also call me when the parents arrive. I don’t care what time it is. I want to talk to them personally.”
“That’s good because I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you,” Decker said. “Judging from the way Tyler talks about them, I don’t think they usually deal with underlings.”
CHAPTER 25
AFTER DECKER SPENT a half hour, meticulously explaining everything, the kid’s sole comment was, “So I’m being replaced.”
“No . . . no, not at all.” Decker rubbed his eyes. “You’re still actively involved. But because of the obvious circumstances, you can’t do the legwork. If you want to heal properly, you can’t be running around.”
“I wouldn’t be running around. I’d be in a car. I can put on a seat belt.”
“As my kids would say, I’m not having this conversation.” Decker had to be blunt. “McAdams, if someone starts shooting at the car, you’re a sitting duck because you’re immobile. We have to keep you protected—”
“I don’t want protection.” A pause. “Well, I do. But I don’t want to be sitting on my ass while you get all the glory.”
“The glory is all yours, McAdams.”
“I figured out the codebook.”
“Absolutely—”
“I still have a working brain—”
“And I intend to use it. Summer Village is giving the codebook to Mordechai Gold. When he has something, I’ll go up there—”
“With your new partner.”
Decker treaded gingerly. “He’s not my new partner, Tyler. You are my partner. But Radar will pull me off the case unless I have someone to ride with me.”
“So use someone else from Greenbury.”
“The dees in the town are already stretched. They’re hunting down the van, they’re canvassing the area, they’re calling hospitals left and right because I nicked the guy at my house. They’re also knee deep in forensics combing through two houses. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to bring in a third party.”
“Your cop buddy.”
“Tyler, he’s a great cop and we work well together.” Decker knew his words were a mistake. He tried to backtrack. “He’s bored. I’m doing him a favor.”
“Fuck it, Old Man. I don’t give a shit.” The kid sunk back in his hospital bed. “I’m tired. Leave me alone.”
“I called your parents.”
“So you not only dumped me, you’re now a traitor. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Just shut up and listen. I had to call your parents. If I didn’t do it, Radar would have called them. So I did it. You should be giving me sympathy, not sass.”
“You and my father deserve each other.”
“You’re moving into my house by the way. That way the cops here only have to guard one location.”
“I don’t need a guard.”
“Don’t be stupid. Of course you need protection and so does Rina. She was there when Mr. Shadow tried to take us both out. Mike’s putting a twenty-four-hour guard on the house and on the two of you. So whether you like it or not, you’re involved up to your neck.”
McAdams clenched his jaw. “You’re actually moving me into your house?”
“Rina’s idea not mine.”
“Figures.” A pause. “Where’s the new guy staying?”
“Oliver? If Radar approves, he’ll stay with us as well. It’s a three-bedroom house. He’s no threat to you, Tyler. He’s an old guy just like me.”
The kid was still sulking. “When you talk to Gold, I want to be there. It was my idea to call him.”
“You cannot be there in person, McAdams, but we’ll Skype you in. You’ll have the codebook in front of you and you can ask as many questions as you want.”
“How long is this interloper going to be here?”
“Until we get a solve. It won’t be permanent.”
“I can’t believe you called my parents against my wishes.”
“We’re crossing the same road, Harvard.”
He blew out air. “Are they coming in?”
“Of course, they’re coming in. They were very concerned.”
“Right. Let me guess. My father started screaming—his default way of communicating. First, he started swearing at me, calling me an incompetent moron, and then he probably turned his wrath on you, saying that you were also an incompetent moron and everything that happened was your fault.” When Decker didn’t answer, the kid said, “How am I doing?”
“He called me an idiot not a moron.”
The kid managed a smile. “My mother probably listened for a moment, and then she put you through to her secretary for the details.”
“You know the first thing out of their mouths?” Decker said. “They asked me if you were okay.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“They care, Tyler.” Decker stood up. “I have to call Radar. He wants to come down here when you make your statement.”
“I already told you everything.”
“I was supposed to call him when you woke up and started talking. But I didn’t. If you could, pretend that you just woke up and you’re telling your story to both of us for the first time.”
“You wanted to hear everything from me first.”
“Yes.”
“So you’re asking me to lie to protect your ass.”
“It would be nice.”
“What’s Mike doing now?”
“He’s directing forensics. You were shot with a
.32-caliber bullet, probably a revolver because so far CID didn’t find any casings. Too bad the asshole didn’t drop the murder weapon when I shot him.”
“Maybe he picked the casings up.”
“I think I surprised him when Rina and I crashed through your door. He wouldn’t have had time to pick it up. But we did find two stray bullets in the closet.”
“Any prints?”
“I don’t know.” Decker waited a few seconds. “How do you feel, Harvard?”
“Like a truck ran over me.”
“Do you want me to call in a nurse for more pain medication?”
“No.” He shook his head. “No.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. I fucking hurt. But it’s good to feel something real for a change.”
THE SHOOTING HAD brought the mayor down to the hospital. Logan Brettly was in his fifties, average height with a barrel chest and curly white hair. He came into Tyler’s room just in time to intercept Jack McAdams’s wrath, which had been previously bestowed on Decker, Mike Radar, and of course, his son. Tyler had listened wordlessly as his father heaped insults without pause. The senior McAdams was a tall, good-looking man in his fifties: dark curly hair, big chin, flashing blue eyes, and a foul mouth. He ranted endlessly about being surrounded by idiots, morons, and cretins. Then came the inevitable mention of lawsuits.
“Dad, I’m not suing anyone.” Somehow, Tyler had managed to interrupt his diatribe. “And even if I wanted to—and I don’t—I have no case.”
“Oh, shut up. If you would have gone to law school, you wouldn’t be in this mess right now.” The senior McAdams turned his fury on the mayor. “Logan, you assured me that this job was a cakewalk, a mere formality so the kid can pass a couple of years doing something other than jerking off. What the hell was that all about?”
“Jack, nothing like this has happened in this town in years. I know you’re upset—”
“Of course, I’m fucking upset. I’m pissed off!” He pointed to the bed. “Look at him!”
The nurse walked in. “Sir, this is causing quite a ruckus.”
“Get out of here!” Jack snapped.
The nurse turned wide-eyed. The mayor nodded and she turned tail and ran. The room fell silent, but not for long. Big McAdams launched another tirade. Decker had enough. He didn’t mind having his ass reamed, but the man’s berating wasn’t doing Tyler any good. “Your kid is lying in a hospital bed, having been shot by God only knows who. Can you dial it back, please?”
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