Cabal of Lies

by Michael Anderle

  While she enjoyed her typical diet of diner food on the way to and from work, there was no denying the tastiness of a meal prepared by skilled chefs at a high-end restaurant. Her mother, who sat across the table, was many things, but no one could ever doubt her taste.

  “So that was when I told her, ‘If you want my position, come and get it. But we both know you have the intelligence of a drunken baboon and you’re only in your current job because of who your father is, you insolent little girl.’” Lan punctuated her sentence with a mischievous smile and a sip of her wine.

  “Weren’t you worried she would go to her father?” Jia asked. “That could have caused you trouble at work.”

  “No. He values me too much.” Lan shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with a little nepotism, but it can make people lazy, which is why talent always separates people, even when their relatives have cleared the path for them.” She speared her barramundi with her fork and pulled off a small piece, swallowing it with a smile. “Her father is talented, and he recognizes talent.”

  Jia kept her smile. Things had been going well with her family as of late, but she couldn’t let her guard down. She’d inherited her stubbornness from her mother, but it could only protect her so far.

  “I suppose it’s not something I have to worry about,” Jia murmured. “Since I went into a totally different field.”

  “Yes, I suppose it isn’t.” Lan set her fork down, her careful gaze fixed on Jia. Her expression was unreadable, with none of the obvious disapproval Jia had seen over the years.

  “Is something the matter, Mother?” Jia asked.

  “I want you to understand that I support your career choice.” Lan smiled with genuine warmth.

  Jia nodded slowly, worried about being outmaneuvered. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “I’m not going to deny that I believe you could have been a great businesswoman, but you’ve proven to me that this police officer career isn’t some childhood game.” Lan gave a firm nod. “And you’ve done well for yourself. That’s what a proper Lin woman does: she excels.” She picked up her glass. “And you’re not just a detective anymore. You’re Lady Justice.”

  Jia grimaced. “I’m not all that fond of the nickname.”

  “Oh, don’t be like that.” Lan swirled the wine in her glass. “It’s a symbol of how you have elevated a mere police position into something of power and influence. That is what I’m talking about. How many thousands of police officers are there in Neo Southern California? There’s only one Lady Justice.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without Erik,” Jia insisted.

  “So?” Lan shrugged. She sipped her wine and set the glass down. “All true success comes from combined efforts. You have synergy with Detective Blackwell, and it’s brought out the best in you. That’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be celebrated.” She shrugged. “I’ll admit I was disappointed when you told us you two were seeing each other, given his crudeness and background, but upon reflection, both your father and I have realized what you just told us—that Detective Blackwell is enhancing your career success. We’re still undecided about whether you should marry him, but in the meanwhile, it’s to your advantage to be with a man you find personally stimulating who also contributes to your career success.”

  Jia managed a weak smile.

  Having Erik fake-date her had seemed like a great way to get her family off her back, but she’d underestimated how uncomfortable it would make her to lie to them. She didn’t always agree with them, and they fought all the time, but she rarely deceived them. It didn’t help that her continued attraction to Erik made their fake dating halfway real in her mind. She understood he didn’t see it that way, but she couldn’t help how she felt.

  She blinked. She’d almost missed what her mother had said.

  “Wait, what? Did you say, ‘marry?’”

  Lan nodded. “Of course. You’re not a schoolgirl. At this point, all dating should be conducted with consideration of future marriage. I thought that was understood.”

  “I…” Jia sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’m trying to take things one day at a time, Mother.”

  “Are you saying that you have no interest in marrying Detective Blackwell? Even an inkling? If that’s true, you should break up. It’s a waste of your time.” Lan pursed her lips.

  “It’s… I do like him, Mother, but I’m still figuring out a lot of things. It’s not like we haven’t been involved in a lot of dangerous incidents and cases.”

  “All the more reason to marry another police officer. He’ll already understand the difficulties of the lifestyle. You’ve said something similar in the past.”

  Ouch. Jia accepted that she’d lost control.

  She’d thought she had control with the fake relationship, but Lan Lin wasn’t just another person. She was a maternal force of nature obsessed with ensuring her daughter would continue the family legacy in an acceptable manner.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Jia muttered.

  Lan threaded her fingers together, a hungry look coming to her eyes. She’d already picked away half her fish, so it had nothing to do with her meal. “Now that you’ve committed to a path and begun to excel, it’s time to plan for the future, and not just the marriage. That’s an important part of your future, but not the only part.”

  Jia’s eyes narrowed. “What are you getting at?”

  “Promotion, whether in the private or public sectors, always has a political element. That’s inescapable.” Lan shook a finger. “Idealism doesn’t wash that away.”

  Jia nodded. “Okay. Sure. You’re worried about me getting promoted?”

  Lan leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I know that you and Erik have developed a somewhat anticorporate reputation, but that doesn’t mean every person in the business sector is dismissive of a police officer doing her job effectively. The right whispers in the right ears, combined with the momentum from your current successes, could act as an accelerant to promotion.” She lifted her chin, her face a mask of pure Lin pride. “You could become the youngest captain in the history of the Neo Southern California Police Department. Once that’s achieved, it’s a simple matter of becoming the youngest chief. Obviously, the latter will take more years, but like most things in life, it’s the initial steps that are the most important. Your reputation for integrity and incorruptibility can easily send you to the top positions in the department. You can’t buy that kind of reputation.”

  “No,” Jia replied flatly. “You can’t, but I’m not so sure if that’s the best way for me to proceed.”

  Her mother frowned. “Why ever not?”

  “I joined the department to help people and fight crime. I can’t do that from behind a desk.”

  Lan sighed and shook her head. “You’ve come so far, but you let your tunnel vision ruin things. If you want to help people, the best way to do that is to control policy. You’re just one woman. Even as a fantastically talented officer, there is only so much you can accomplish, but if you’re a captain, you control an entire group of officers, and if you’re chief, you’ll ultimately control tens of thousands of officers.”

  “I understand that, but it also means I’ll spend a lot more time on politics and bureaucratic infighting.”

  Jia thought back to how Erik had fought promotions during his career to stay in the field. Despite their backgrounds, they were more alike than different in the most important ways. That was probably why she was so drawn to him. The thought brought a smile to her face.

  “I think my career will survive if I don’t plan to get promoted this week,” she offered.

  “This week, yes, but soon.” Lan nodded to the fish on Jia’s plate. “You really should eat.”

  Jia dug into her fish. If they were both eating, they wouldn’t have to talk about promotions anymore, especially since she wasn’t sure where she’d even be in the near future. Erik was dealing with his own issues, and she wanted to support him, but she might ha
ve to make a choice soon: justice or Erik.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Erik stepped through the door to Malcolm’s office.

  The Digital Forensics tech, who was sitting at his desk, was surrounded by so many data windows that only a few strips of garish yellow from his shirt and happy whistling confirmed he was there. One of the windows vanished, and Malcolm blinked a few times at Erik. He swallowed, and his eyes widened.

  “Uh, Detective Blackwell.” Malcolm sighed.

  “Something wrong?”

  Malcolm shook his head. “Not necessarily. I guess that’s up to you.”

  Erik looked over his shoulder, confused about the tech’s behavior. “I’m just here to chat.”

  “Did Detective Lin send you to threaten me?” Malcolm spat.

  “Threaten you?” Erik laughed and shook his head. “Why would Jia need me to threaten you?”

  “Oh, the last time we talked about the Kandarian case, she said something like, ‘You better find something if you know what’s good for you.’” Malcolm grimaced. “I tried to explain to her that there’s nothing we’re going to be able to do to trace those accounts other than get lucky, but I wasn’t sure if she believed me.”

  “It’s fine,” Erik explained. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Captain wants us moving on, and she’s mostly moving on. Don’t worry, she’ll be over it in a few days. Besides, if Jia wants to put the hurt on someone, she doesn’t need me.”

  Malcolm let out a long sigh of relief. “No offense, Detective Blackwell, and I hate to rag on your girlfriend, but sometimes Detective Lin scares me. She can get really intense, and since you two became partners, it’s like she’s dialed up even more.”

  Erik snickered. “That’s one way of putting it. I think she’d prefer to say she’s really passionate about her job.”

  “We all are.” Malcolm took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he rubbed his eyes. “But she gets results, so who am I to complain? Beautiful, intelligent, and deadly—I don’t know if that’s the full package or a recipe for pain, but you are the one who is going to take one for the team to figure that out.”

  Erik pursed his lips.

  He had expected more blowback from the fake dating, but most of the officers at the department seemed to take it for granted that Jia and Erik would hook up. Even the detectives who didn’t like Jia acknowledged she was beautiful, and many had privately expressed jealousy.

  Erik wasn’t sure how long he could maintain the façade, but it was smoothing over more problems than it was creating for the moment. That was the mark of a successful operation.

  He gave the tech a quick smile. The problem was, he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be a façade, even though his mind screamed for him to push Jia away for her own safety.

  Emma was right. He was walking a dark and bloody path, and he needed to be careful that people didn’t get sucked in through no fault of their own. The conspiracy had proven far deeper than a few greedy officials, and when his personal mission finally ended…

  Well, it would involve a lot of shooting. He might cut off the head of the snake and have it drown in the blood from his wounds as they died together.

  Malcolm licked his lips, his eyes nervously darting around as if he expected Jia to appear and stun him for his impudence. “So, if you’re not here to beat me down or threaten me for Detective Lin, why are you here? I already sent you the report for the other case I was working on for you. Nothing new has come up, and you know me. I would have told you if it did.”

  When a man wanted to dodge his problems, the best way was to help somebody else with theirs. Selfishness turned into altruism. Erik wasn’t about to explain it that way.

  He leaned over the desk and offered the tech a sly grin. “You’re too slow. If you keep being too slow, you’re going to lose your chance. You’re a nice guy, so I’d hate to see that.”

  “Huh?” Malcolm stared at Erik. “Lose my chance at what? Did somebody bring in real-ingredient cake again?”

  “I’m not talking about cake. I’m talking about women.”

  “Women?” Malcolm tilted his head like a confused dog.

  “I’m not saying this because I have women on the brain,” Erik replied, “but it’s pretty damned obvious you’ve got it bad for the new coroner.”

  Malcolm stood up ramrod-straight, his eyes widening. “Camila? Who told you that?” His eyes flicked through the windows still floating around him before coming back to Erik. “Did she? Did she say anything else?”

  “I only talk to her about cases, but it’s not hard to see. The thing I don’t get is why you haven’t done anything yet. She’s smart and good-looking. If you wait too long, you’re going to lose her to someone else.”

  Malcolm groaned and dropped his head onto his desk. Erik flinched at the thunk. “I know. I know,” he mumbled. “But not all of us are badass veterans with ridiculous muscles and even more ridiculous vehicles.”

  Erik scoffed. “Do you really think you need all that to get her? Come on. Think about the kind of woman she is. If I went down there and hit on her right now, what do you think she would do?”

  Malcolm lifted his head. “Make some sarcastic comment like, ‘Nice try, Detective Big Guy, but I’m not interested. Better luck next life.’”

  “Exactly.” Erik pointed at him. “What do you have to lose? If you ask her out and she says no, fine. She’s not going to shoot you or kick you in the balls.” He frowned. “At least, I don’t think she’s going to. Might want to wear protection just in case.” He nodded at his crotch and grimaced.

  “This might be a huge surprise to you, but I’ve never been good with women. A lot of them find me annoying and my fashion sense questionable.”

  “Camila’s not the kind of woman to hold back if she finds you annoying,” Erik observed. “And she spends more time chatting with you than is required strictly for the job. That’s got to mean something. I asked Jia, and she thinks Camila’s into you as well.”

  Malcolm raised his head, surreptitiously rubbing his forehead. “Huh. She does spend a lot of time chatting with me.” He nodded. “And you both think so too? I thought so, but then I thought I was just imagining it, and then I thought maybe I should create a routine to evaluate her average time in the station talking to different people, but I didn’t do that because it’s totally psychotic, and she’d probably do an autopsy on me to find out why my brain is so messed up.”

  “Yeah, don’t do that.” Erik tapped the desk, hoping to get Malcolm to slow down before he ran off the rails. “Maybe just stick to the classics. There’s a reason they’ve lasted throughout the centuries.”

  “The classics?” Malcolm looked at Erik like an eager puppy. “I’m ready for your wisdom, Detective.”

  “Ask her out to eat. You can even sidestep into the conversation by asking her what kind of food she likes, and then say you remember a friend mentioning a good restaurant that serves that kind of food. You look something up and suggest it later. Easy.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Malcolm nodded several more times, the eagerness growing in his eyes with each movement of his head. “No, that’s a great idea. I’m going to do that. Not right now, but when I work up the courage, which might take a few days. I’ve got to be wearing the right shirt for it, too.”

  A reminder popped up on Erik’s lens display.

  “I’ve got to go to lunch, so I’ll see you around.” Erik laughed. “Just remember, don’t wait too long.” He pointed at Malcolm once more, this time with one eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer.

  The tech’s expression turned serious. “Yes, sir!”

  Erik drank his water. A turkey sandwich for lunch wasn’t the most filling meal, but Jia had told him she wanted to eat away from the station, but also not spend too much time doing so because she was going over old case reports. They hit a diner in a nearby tower that they’d been to before that tended not to be too busy.

  Jia stared at him unblinking, which Erik would agree w
ith anyone was intimidating. “I can’t believe Malcolm thought I was going to send you to threaten him. Like I need you to threaten people for me. I already threatened him myself! The last thing any Lin woman needs is someone else to deliver her threats.”

  It was an odd thing to be proud of, but Erik decided it’d be best not to mention that.

  “Yeah, I kind of pointed that out.” Erik set his glass down. “You can be pretty intimidating.”

  Jia frowned.

  He lifted a hand. “Not that it’s a bad thing in our line of work. We both do a good job in making suspects talk, but all this stuff with Malcolm has got me thinking, dangerous as that is.”

  “It got you thinking about what?” Jia had long since polished off her own sandwich and drink.

  Erik looked around the diner to confirm there were no cops nearby and lowered his voice. “About our fake relationship and how things are going with it. I keep waiting for your family to plant a bomb in the MX 60, or spend some of that money to hire a hitman and take me out.”

  Jia eyed him, obviously switching mental gears before a smile played on her lips. “If my mother wanted to kill you, she would do it herself.”

  “You’ve thought this through?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not like I said she would, just that if she wanted to, that’s how it would go down. Besides, I think she’s warming up to you. They all are.”

  Erik gave her a surprised look. “Really? I wouldn’t know from the way they talked to me the last time we had dinner together. It felt like your mother was trying to send me a message, which I took to mean, ‘How dare you touch my daughter, you filthy commoner!’”

  She blinked. “That’s just Lins being Lins.”

  “Bitchy?” he asked.

  “Only on days that end with Y.” She shrugged. “I had a conversation with my mother just the other day, and she talked about how she thinks you’re good for me. She’s already asking about marriage.”

  “That was quick.” Erik snickered. “Doesn’t she want some long process?”