*
Another day went by, and then another, with no new leads. As instructed, everybody stayed clear of Drummond, their primary suspect. The details of the lawsuit filed by The Screwdriver on behalf of Drummond made the rounds of the team-and it was a big one-the dollar value requested drawing whistles of derision from more than one team member. Caruso was curt when dealing with the group. With no new evidence and the leads turning to dust, he told the detectives to keep on top of their other case files. Harris and DiCicco had court for a couple of days, as did McTavish and Chin.
Pepper saw more of Shauna later that week. She could tell that Pepper needed to get away from the job, if only for a few hours, so she dragged him to a movie one night, and cooked for him another night. He ended up spending the night, falling asleep after they made love with his face buried in her long red hair as he snuggled up behind her, wishing he could just stay there forever.
The next day, the detectives received an e-mail reminder about the police charity event scheduled for that Saturday night at The Fairgrounds. It had been on the calendar for months now. The money raised was going to a foundation that helped families of officers across the country that had fallen in the line of duty. Everyone was expected to attend, and Caruso walked around the office reminding everyone of that. "Bring your spouses, your girlfriends or boyfriends-or whatever the politically correct term is nowadays," he said. "Bring your grandmother for all I care, but I expect you all to be there." He looked around at each of them, waiting to get a nod of agreement from each before moving on.
By the time Saturday rolled around, there'd been no progress on the case, and all of them were actually looking forward to the night out. It was being held in one the banquet rooms at The Fairgrounds, which provided adequate facilities for many community events, the area's Fall Fair, as well as a horse racing track. It also housed the government-authorized casino, which was the main reason it had been chosen as the location for the event. The theme was Vegas night, with some low-key gambling tables set up in the banquet room, the contributions going to the charity. But the real slot machines and gaming tables were right downstairs if anyone wanted to try their luck there.
Pepper talked to one of the administrative assistants and scored a second ticket for Shauna, informing her that the mode of dress for the event was totally casual, jeans and whatever. She chose a royal blue sweater and grey tweedy blazer that Pepper thought looked great with her black jeans and short black boots.
When they arrived, he was happy to see that the banquet room on the second floor could be accessed by a big open stair from the entrance lobby, allowing Pepper to avoid the elevator altogether. As they entered the busy room, he spotted Caruso and his wife, Elisa, sitting at one of the big round tables. The Inspector was talking animatedly with the young man sitting next to Chin, obviously her date. Elisa Caruso was talking with Chin. It had been a while since Pepper had seen the boss' wife, and he noticed she had a new haircut since he'd seen her last. Her long brunette hair was now fashionably cut with bangs, which ended just above her stylish glasses. Pepper and Shauna made their way through the crowd to the table. Caruso and the others looked up as they approached.
"Hello, everyone, this is?this is Shauna," Pepper said, making the introductions all around.
"Tom Thornton," Chin's boyfriend said as he stood up and shook Pepper's hand.
The guy had a friendly smile and sure grip that made Pepper like him right away. "So Tom," Pepper said, "you're an architect, right?"
"Yes."
"Are you from London?"
"Yes, born and raised. My father was an architect and did a lot of work in town for the hospitals and the Catholic Diocese."
"Nice. Is he still practicing?"
"No, he's been retired for a number of years now, but he still pokes his head in the office every now and then."
"Oh Michelle, look at you!" Pepper turned around as he heard Elisa Caruso's voice. Wallace and his wife had just walked up to the table. Michelle's baby bump almost cast a shadow over all of them.
"Hi Elisa," Michelle said, patting her stomach with one hand. "I know, look at the size of this thing. Did you notice how attractive that waddle of mine is?"
"How much longer?" Elisa asked.
"Less than a month now, but I can't wait. I wouldn't mind dropping this little prize right here on the table."
"Uh, honey, easy there," Wallace said. "People haven't had their dinner yet."
"Sorry, you know what I mean."
"Michelle, this is Shauna," Pepper said as he and Shauna stood up.
"So you're the infamous Shauna I've been hearing about," Michelle said, giving Shauna a big hug. Michelle looked at Pepper over Shauna's shoulder, her lips moving as she mouthed the words, "She's gorgeous," which made him smile.
Wallace helped Michelle manoeuver her way into one of the seats, making sure it was pulled back far enough from the table to give her adequate clearance. "Where's Ian?" Wallace asked, directing his question to Chin.
"He's playing bartender tonight," Chin replied, gesturing towards the long stand-up bar at the end of the room.
"C'mon, Shauna," Pepper said as the two of them and Wallace made their way across the room.
"Hey, check you out," Wallace said as they leaned on the bar. McTavish stood behind it, filling a beer glass for another cop.
"I'll be right with you," he said. He was dressed for the occasion, wearing a white shirt with a tiny black bow tie. He sported a garish red plaid vest, with two black elastic armbands circling his arms just above the elbows.
"I'm telling you, Ian," Wallace said once McTavish walked over to them, "quite the stylish garb, my friend-very stylish indeed."
"Hey, I wanted to look the part," McTavish said as he struck a pose. "What do you think?"
"You definitely nailed it," Pepper said. "Shauna, this is Ian McTavish."
"Ah, so this is Shauna," McTavish said as he jerked his head towards Pepper. He reached forward and extended his hand. "Very nice to meet you, Shauna."
"Nice to meet you too, Ian," Shauna replied, giving McTavish the full hundred watt smile as she shook his hand. "And your outfit looks great. I love it."
"Well, I aim to please. Speaking of which, what'll you have to drink, Shauna?"
The three of them returned to their table, Shauna and Pepper with glasses of wine, Wallace carrying a beer for himself and ginger ale for his wife.
"Oh my God, that wine looks so good," Michelle said, enviously eyeing up Shauna's glass.
A short time later the food was brought out. The typical rubber chicken dinner they'd been expecting ended up being tasty cabbage rolls and perogies. Even Shauna the chef gave the food the big thumbs up. The bar was closed down during the meal, and McTavish pulled up a chair as they shifted around, making a spot for him at the table. Conversation flowed back and forth during the meal, and Pepper noticed how often Chin touched Tom's arm or spoke to him closely. It made him feel good to see her happy.
"Ian, I love your vest," Elisa Caruso said as they ate their desserts and sipped their coffees.
"I saw it in a store and thought it would be appropriate for Scottish John to wear tonight."
Pepper and Wallace both stopped at the same time and looked at each other across the table, their coffee cups halfway to their mouths. After exchanging that initial glance, they both looked over at McTavish, who was sitting there smiling at them.
"Scottish John? What's that all about?" Chin said.
"That's what these two call me behind my back when they think I can't hear them," McTavish said, wagging his index finger at Pepper and Wallace. "You guys think after all these years I haven't heard you call me that at least once. I don't think you realize what good acoustics the squad room has."
Pepper and Wallace looked over at each other-nailed.
"But it's not just me, Elizabeth. These clowns have nicknames for everybody." McTavish could barely contain himself from laughing as Pepper and Wallace both shook their heads in de
nial.
"Everybody?" Inspector Caruso said, the look on his face making his wife laugh.
"Oh this I've got to hear. I bet it's a good one," she said, looking over at Pepper and Wallace.
By the look on his boss' face, Pepper didn't know what to think?or say. But they'd been put on the spot, and there was no way out of it now. "Well, I personally think it's kind of flattering," Pepper said, looking over to Wallace for help.
"And appropriate too," Wallace said, nodding emphatically.
"Yes, it's very appropriate. Rupe and I were just talking one day and we thought, hey, if the boss were a super hero, what would his name be? We thought 'The Watchman' would be perfect."
Elisa Caruso chuckled as her husband started nodding, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Peter, they know you far too well."
"The Watchman," Caruso said, continuing to nod his head up and down. "I like it."
"What's mine?" Chin said.
"Oh well, there were lots that seemed appropriate," Wallace said, "like Wonder Woman."
"Or Storm, or Supergirl," Pepper added. "But those were all too easy."
"So we decided on BHN," Wallace said as Pepper looked over and nodded in agreement.
"BHN?" Chin said, eyebrows knitted to the point where they actually looked like a question mark.
"Yeah," Wallace said as he sat back in his chair. "BHN, Black-haired Ninja."
Everyone at the table laughed, including Chin. "BHN-I love it. At least it's better than The Sandman." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the look on the other detectives' faces alerted her to what she'd done.
"Who's The Sandman? One of the other people in your office?" Shauna asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Uh?yeah," Pepper replied, trying to bail Chin out. They all knew they weren't supposed to mention anything specific about the case to anyone other than the members of the team-especially something like the nickname of the guy they were searching for. "That's what we call Harris sometimes, because he always seems to fall asleep on the job."
"If you'll excuse me, I just need to use the washroom for a minute," an obviously embarrassed Chin said as she rose from her chair and made her way across the room.
"So Tom," Pepper said, deciding to change the topic of conversation as he turned to Chin's date, "what projects are you guys working on right now?"
Chin returned a short time later after composing herself, leaning down and speaking into the Inspector's ear upon her return. He nodded as she talked and gently patted her arm, giving her a kind nod as she took her seat.
Chin's faux pas was soon forgotten as the evening continued, with McTavish resuming his place behind the bar as the post-dinner activities got underway. The team was able to relax and enjoy the evening, and it was fun to watch each other dance, Caruso with his bum hip lurching up and down, and Michelle Wallace with her beach-ball sized stomach busting a move.
"Oh man, this baby better come out soon," Michelle said after one too many eye-popping Dance Fever moves. "My back is killing me."
For some reason, Michelle's last comment stuck in Pepper's mind. As he and Shauna drove home at the end of the night, he couldn't get the image of Alicia Skinner lying on the slab out of his mind, her back crisscrossed and laid bare by the vicious whipping The Sandman had given her. Like Michelle, her back would have been killing her too-if she hadn't already been dead.
Every Breath You Take Page 54
