“Like a goat?” he repeated slowly.
“Yes. As in, not human.”
Hadeom nodded and then clucked his tongue, and Sawyer dared to hope it was a signal this conversation would soon be over.
“I know what I saw,” he added flatly. “I know how it sounds. I know what this whole station thinks of me. But I’m not going to lie, and I’m certainly not about to make shit up at the end of a twelve-hour shift so I can still be sat here three hours after I should have been home. Iknowwhat I saw.”
“Are you not concerned about what you saw?”
“I’m more concerned about this conversation and you being here. What exactly is Division Thirteen?”
Sawyer could still see the shimmer on that man’s skin before he went into the water.
Hadeom flinched, and he seemed to consider his words carefully before speaking again. “You’re thirty-two, single, never married, no immediate family.”
Sawyer stared at him, his stomach tightening, hackles rising, defensive and wary. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Hadeom only smiled, and Sawyer didn’t like this dick one bit.
“I have a proposition for you, Detective.”
“A proposition? Sorry, I don’t date other cops.”
“I think you could be an ideal candidate for a position in our unit.”
Sawyer blinked, processing the words slowly. “Your unit? What does your unit do, exactly, Inspector?”
“That man you saw? The man whoshimmered, as you called it? That’s what my unit does, Detective. Those kinds of special cases.”
What the fuck...
“So you believe me? What I saw. You don’t think I’m batshit crazy?”
That smarmy smile was back. “Not at all. In fact, I like that you stand by your report and what you saw even though you knew all too well how it would be received by your colleagues.”
“Yeah, well,” Sawyer mumbled. “They’ve never?—”
“They’ve never respected you, as you’ve never respected them. You don’t fit in here. That’s why I think you’d be a good fit for a position I have in mind.”
Sawyer wasn’t sure if it sounded above board. “Doing what, exactly?”
“Police work, of course. Promotion to Detective Sergeant, pay rise including location penalties and bonuses. House and vehicle included in the deal. You’ll be working alone, no shitty colleagues, no roster. You work as it suits and you report only to me.”
Sawyer turned all of that over in his head. It sounded like a dream come true, except for one part. “Location penalties?”
Hadeom gave a nod. “You’ve been to Strahan?”
“Yes.” Strahan was a small fishing town on the West Coast that fronted the massive Southwest National Park with its unexplored wild rainforests that skirted the untameable Southern Ocean. The road down the West Coast literally endedin Strahan. “It’s a nice part of the state. End-of-the-road kind of town, but not terrible.”
Hadeom smiled, showing his perfect teeth. “Well, yes, end of the road, indeed. Because the town you’d be going to is further south.”
Sawyer cocked his head. “Further south? There is no town further south. It’s impassable wilderness.”
“Impassable, yes. The only access in or out is by boat or helicopter. It is, by definition, remote.”
“The only access....” What the hell? “What the hell kind of town is it?”
“A small fishing port, mostly used for refuelling and safe harbour in bad storms. Which they get a lot of. It has higher than average rainfall and winds that blow straight off Antarctica. Was an old mining town a hundred years ago or more.”
