The Dance Read online

  “Are you ready?” Nina wiggled the picture back and forth.

  “Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  He closed his eyes, focusing on the painting. He braced himself for the jump as the sound of rushing water filled his ears.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tom grunted at the shaggy figure standing inside the glass doors of the police station. He didn’t realize it was his own reflection until he reached for the door.

  He concentrated on walking a straight line as he passed Captain Duke’s office, knowing if he looked anything like he felt, the Captain would rip him a new one. But he had the sudden urge to get back on the case and hoped to slip by unnoticed.

  “What the hell? Are the homeless invading the office?” The Captain rushed to the door as if to get a better look at him.

  “No fucking way!” Tom looked up and down the hall. “Where?”

  “Right here.” He pointed a finger inches from Tom’s face.

  “I have a home,” he answered after much thought.

  “You look like you haven’t shaved in a week. Your T-shirt is so damned dirty, it can stand up by itself.” Captain Duke suddenly covered his nose. “And let me guess, you haven’t showered since we pulled you out of that pit.”

  With a shrug, Tom proceeded toward his office.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Wiley?”

  He spun around on his heels and gave his captain a lopsided smile. “I just wanted to pick up a few files.”

  “Jesus H. Christ, Tom. Are you drunk or just stupid?”

  “I may have had a couple of drinks, but I can assure you—”

  “In my office, NOW!” Captain shouted when the two of them began to draw a crowd. “The rest of you get back to work.”

  Tom rolled his eyes, but obeyed the command. He stormed into the Captain’s and flopped into a chair, spreading across the hard seat like a sack full of potatoes. His Captain slammed the door and eyed him with unmasked disgust as he strolled by and sat on the edge of his desk.

  “What seems to be the problem, Captain?” Tom swallowed hard; he suddenly felt a little nauseous.

  “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? I’m guessing ‘no’, or you wouldn’t be asking such a stupid question.”

  “Well, I think—I—no, not really. I can’t remember the last time I looked in the mirror.” Tom struggled to keep his train of thought.

  “Tom, if you need to take some extra time off, I don’t think there is a person on the force who wouldn’t understand. Jack wasn’t just your partner; he was your friend.”

  “Everyone will understand?” He glared at his captain. “Tell that to the families of the vict—”

  “Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” the Captain warned. “Do you really think you will do this case any good in your current condition?”

  “I am better on my worst day than half the detectives on the payroll and you know it, Captain,” Tom slurred his defense.

  “Don’t give me that shit. You’ve been flying by the seat of your pants for over a year.”

  “By the seat of my pants, huh? That’s bullshit.”

  “Would you rather I say from the bottom of a bottle?”

  “Look, I’ll get it together, but we can’t afford to have this case sit idle while I get my head straight.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. I have someone getting familiar the case even as we speak.”

  “What?” Tom jumped to his feet. “You’re giving my case away?”

  “Sit down, Tom,” he said gently, motioning toward the chair.

  “Why? So you can tell me what else you are going to take away from me?” His body wobbled from the sudden rise.

  “Sit your ass in that chair,” Captain Duke barked, pointing as he spoke. “I’m not taking anything away from you.”

  Tom let himself ooze back into his seat.

  “But you just said that someone else is working it.”

  “No, I said I have someone getting familiar with the case. I have assigned you a new partner.”

  “Are you shitting me? We just buried Jack last week.”

  “And you said it yourself, this case can’t sit idle.”

  “Who is he?”

  “No, not he… she. And she—”

  “She?” Tom interrupted, his eyes growing wide with surprise. “Did you say she?”

  “Yes, her name is—”

  “I don’t care,” Tom cut him off again.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “I don’t care what her name is. I am not working with her.”

  “The hell you’re not.”

  “I don’t want a woman partner.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you want. She’s your partner and that’s final.”

  “But Captain, this is homicide. You know the kind of danger we face everyday.”

  “And so does she. Since moving out here to Tulsa a few months ago, she’s been working down in evidence, processing crime scenes. But back in Tucson, she was a homicide detective, and a damn good one from what I hear. You should see her resume.”

  “Then let her be your partner.”

  It was Captain Duke’s turn to jump to his feet. “What did you just say to me?”

  “Look, Cap, she may be the greatest sleuth since Sherlock Holmes, but when it comes down to it, that’s only half the job.”

  The Captain’s eyes narrowed as he waited for Tom to continue. He clearly didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking.

  “If we happen to corner this Puppeteer character, is she going to be able to take him down? If by some freak accident this asshole knocks me to the ground, is she going to be strong enough to pull him off me?”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” He shrugged. “But either way, she is strong enough to pull a trigger.”

  “With all due respect, sir, being able to do something and doing it are two totally different things.”

  “She shot a suspect about six months ago. It’s one of the reasons she wanted to move to Oklahoma.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “The perp’s family is fairly influential in Arizona and they took it personally. There had been several threats made, but no one was foolish enough to own up to them. She felt like a fresh start was in order. There wasn’t a position available in this department when she applied here, so she filled the open slot we had in evidence.”

  It didn’t take Tom long to grasp that he was running out of excuses. The truth was he had known many outstanding female detectives in his day. Pulling the gender card was simply an attempt to buy time. He just didn’t want a new partner no matter what sex they were. No one could live up to the standards Jack had set. He was irreplaceable.

  “Hey, if you really want to get back to work, go home and get yourself cleaned up. Come back tomorrow and I will introduce you to your new partner.”

  “Great,” he said as he shook his head. Tom didn’t know what else to say. “I can’t wait.”

  “Good, then it’s settled.” Captain Duke stood and opened the door. “Now, go home and get some rest.”

  Yeah, I need something to help me digest all this shit. Maybe some rest will help. Hell it can’t hurt, and it looks like I am going to need all the help I can get.

  *****

  I have to break in a new partner, Tom thought with disgust. He shook his head at the reflection in the mirror, before wiping the last remnants of shaving cream from his face.

  “What did you do to deserve this?”

  He quickly finished getting dressed and drove to the station, stewing over his misfortune the entire time. He barely made it into his office before he froze. There, tacked to the corkboard, was a picture of him and Jack down at O’Malley’s celebrating his birthday.

  “What a stellar way to start the day,” he mumbled as he tried to ignore the picture.

  He sat at his desk, shuffling papers and doing everything in his power not to look up. Finally, he
snatched the picture off the board and tossed it in a drawer.

  “Tom, I’m glad you could make it in.” Colin Duke’s voice startled him. “Are you feeling more like yourself?”

  “Sure. I just needed time to cope with… everything.”

  Captain Duke gave him a doubtful look.

  “Seriously Captain, I’m on top of it now.”

  “Good, then it should be no problem making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Are you ready to meet your new partner?”

  “Captain, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what kind of girl really wants to work in Homici…” Tom fell silent as Anna Perez entered his office.

  Holy Shit!

  “Pick up your tongue, Detective Wiley,” she said. “It might make it easier for you to finish a sentence.

  “Er—I—I…,” he stammered.

  “Tom, allow me to introduce you to Anna Perez.”

  “We’ve met,” Anna said as she took a seat across from his desk. “I must say, I thought you would be a little more welcoming.”

  “I—” He cleared his throat. “I—” and he cleared it again.

  “Do you need a glass of water, Detective?” she asked with an arched brow, barely stifling a smile.

  “Knock it off, Tom,” Captain Duke warned. “If this is some attempt to get me to change my mind, it’s not going to work.”

  “Change your mind?” Anna turned to stare up at her captain.

  “Well, he had certain reservations about working with—”

  “Have a problem working with women, do you?” she interrupted, casting Tom a sideways glance. “Especially, if they are the strong, independent type, right?”

  “It’s not that I won’t, so much as I never have,” he answered sheepishly.

  “Tell you what, give me two weeks; if you still don’t think I am up to the challenge, I will put in for the transfer myself.”

  “Er—um—that sounds reasonable to me.” This encounter wasn’t going anything like he’d expected.

  “Good, now that everything is settled, I will leave you two to get acquainted.” Captain Duke turned to leave. “Oh, and Tom you had better be nothing short of a perfect gentleman. If I hear otherwise…” He pulled his finger across his throat in a quick, sweeping motion.

  “Got it, Cap.” Tom saluted.

  Anna waited until he walked down the hall before she turned to her new partner. “I have been going through the case files and I have a few points I wanted to discuss with—”

  “Uh-huh, that’s fascinating.” Tom rose from his chair to circle the desk and stand next to Detective Perez. He mustered up the courage to ask one thing he’d wanted to ask since he met her. “You know, I bet this conversation would sound a lot better over a bite to eat.” He gave her his best come hither smile.

  “I see,” she sighed, placing the stack of papers she was holding in the chair next to her. “Let’s get something straight, right here, right now. I am here because I want to put bad guys behind bars. I am not here for your amusement. I am not here to stroke your ego. I am not here to be your plaything. I don’t date my partners and even if I did, I wouldn’t date a half burned out drunk that is practically drooling on me rather than focusing on one of the biggest cases of his career.”

  Her words were like ice water splashing on his face. He could feel the heat on his cheeks. He shuffled back to his seat. Somehow, I had hoped that would go in an entirely different direction.

  “If you think I am a burned out drunk, why did you ask to work with me?”

  “I didn’t ask for you. The Captain asked me to work The Puppeteer case. You had nothing to do with my decision to take the assignment. I am here to catch a killer, plain and simple.”

  “Jesus, give me a break. I thought you were just part of the forensics crew. I didn’t know you had a background in homicide.”

  She took a deep breath before continuing. “As I was saying, I’ve been going over the case files and I found a few things you may find interesting.”

  Why is she copping such an attitude with me? Have I really been that rough on her? Hell, I can play hardball too.

  “Well, lah-dee-fucking-dah. I guess I may as well go home. It sounds like you have everything under control here.”

  “Don’t think it’s not an option. If you can’t find a way to keep that attitude of yours in check, it may still come to that. I would prefer, however, if we could find a way to work together. You have been on this case a long time and whether I like it or not, you are my best source of information.”

  “Source of information? As long as we are clearing the air here, I think there is something else we need to get straight.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “This is my case. I am the lead detective and until Captain Duke says differently, I am running the show. You’re here to help me, not the other way around. Got it?”

  She grunted, but failed to give him any more of an answer than that.

  “Have I made myself clear?”

  “Crystal,” she snarled her response.

  “Good, you would do well to remember who you’re talking to in the future.”

  “Now, if you are through marking your territory, can we get back to the business at hand?”

  Anna drew a deep breath as she stared at Detective Tom Wiley. She refused to let him intimidate her in the slightest. She had dealt with the likes of him ever since she joined the force. She was a woman in a man’s field; if she were to back down now, she would lose all the ground she gained over the last six years.

  “By all means.” Tom motioned for her to begin. “Unless, of course, you have something else you would like to get off your chest.”

  “Actually, there is.”

  “Here we go.” Tom sighed, as if bracing himself for another round of berating.

  “Your eyes.”

  “Beg pardon?” Tom asked.

  “I would like you to get your eyes off my chest.”

  “I…I…” Tom stammered.

  “Save it, Detective, I’ve heard it all before.”

  It may be a different town, but I will always get the same ol’ shit. She took a deep breath and began to explain her findings.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “What the hell?” Kyle looked around, utterly lost and alone. “Where am I?”

  He could feel a cool mist on his face, carried there by a stiff breeze. It was dark, but the moon struggled to break through a group of clouds overhead. He could still hear the roar of water in his ears. Yet, the sound had changed. It sounded as if the water was crashing against the shore in waves. He was kneeling in a patch of tall-grass that moved with the gentle wind.

  Kyle rose to his feet slowly, not sure if exposing himself was the smartest thing to do, but not wanting to stay lost either.

  He turned to look behind him, grunted. “Yeah, that’s about right.” White caps rolled towards him from the distance. He was at the beach.

  Nina! How the hell am I supposed to get back without her?

  “NINA!” he screamed as loud as he could.

  Only the wind answered him.

  Kyle moved closer to the water, awed by its beauty even at night. He had never been to the ocean before. He watched intently as the water washed up on the shore, only to scurry back into the darkness.

  He sat in the sand, close enough for the waves to wash up over his feet.

  Such a peaceful place; I wish Nina was here to share it with me. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift in and out with the tide. He smiled to himself and forced his breathing to match the rhythm of the ocean. Breathe in as the waves crash. Breathe out as they recede. It didn’t take long to lose himself in a trance.

  “Excuse me, sir. What are you doing here?” A deep voice shook him from his thoughts.

  “I, um… I am just waiting on a friend.” Kyle tried to see who spoke, but the beam of a flashlight made it impossible to make out more than a shadow.

 
; “This is private property. You are not supposed to be here.”

  “You can say that again,” Kyle mumbled.

  “Say what again?”

  The man moved closer and Kyle’s breath caught in his throat when he caught a glimpse of the badge on the front of his shirt.

  “I already told you, I’m waiting for a friend. She should be here any time now.”

  “Well, you are going to have to wait for her somewhere else. This is private property.”

  “How can a beach be private property?”

  “Sir, I am afraid you are going to have to come with me.” The shadow’s hand went to his hip.

  “I thought you wanted me to leave,” Kyle pressed, rolling onto his knees.

  “I got the impression that it wasn’t an option. Now, you are going to have to come with me.”

  “Where are we going?” Kyle stood and stretched, causing the shadow to take a step back.

  He obviously wasn’t prepared for just how big Kyle was.

  “We are going up to my squad car.”

  “That really doesn’t sound like fun. I think we should stay here and talk.”

  Kyle took a step closer.

  “Stop!” The officer warned, pulling his gun from its holster.

  “Leave, stay, go, stop. You really don’t know what you want, do you?” Kyle laughed, unnerving the man even more.

  “I want you to keep your hands were I can see them.”

  “Like this?” Kyle started pounding his chest, hopping from foot to foot in an ape-like dance.

  “What the hell is wrong with you, buddy?” The spectacle clearly shook the officer to the core.

  “What? You can see my hands, can’t you?”

  Wow, this guy must be on some heavy duty drugs, the officer thought.

  “Nope, I am just high on life.” Kyle stopped pounding his chest long enough to give his new friend a nod.

  The officer stood slack-jawed. Did I say that out loud?

  “Of course you did.” Kyle gave him a confused look. “Now who’s the one on drugs?”

  He leveled the gun. “Get on your knees, now!”

  “Sorry, little fella, but I don’t swing that way.” All the humor was gone from Kyle’s voice.