“It’s our job to worry about that,” O’Hara said.
Gil nodded. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“And I’ll send the Day Shift to pull in Mr. Clemons,” O’Hara added. “Until we can find out exactly what he has and hasn’t done, and where.”
Marlow was a bit surprised to realize that he didn’t care. Maybe it would come later. He limped down to the armory to collect his belongings. Erin was on duty again, and she didn't meet his eyes as she passed over the bag with a bandaged hand. It looked bad.
“They’re doing an audit,” Marlow said as he emptied his phone, wallet, and keys onto the counter. “You think you covered your tracks, but are you positive?”
Erin stared at him. “I did it for Jay,” she said. “Out there, every night. She deserved more than they gave her. More than you getting the promotion that should have been hers.”
So he’d been right. Marlow tucked his wallet in his pocket and still didn’t care. The department would deal with her. He didn’t have to.
“What Franklin got her was a broken leg and compartment syndrome,” Marlow said. “He tried to kill her.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to believe me. You could ask her yourself,” he said. “Once you do, though, it will go easier on you if you cooperate. Bennett might even forgive you.”
Erin stared at him. “No,” she said slowly. “She won’t. But I can tell you one thing that Franklin did.”
There was venom in her voice, clotted anger, and fear. Marlow finally felt something other than exhaustion as he looked at her. The corner of her mouth twisted into a grimace of a smile.
“We took your boyfriend,” she said. “And you won’t see him again to ask him anything.”
Marlow took a step toward her but changed his mind. She didn’t matter. It wasn’t a “we,” it was a “he,” and Franklin wouldn’t have trusted Bennett’s girlfriend with anything.
“You know why he recruited you?” Marlow asked. “To hurt Bennett. That’s all.”
He turned on his heel and stalked out. There were eight missed calls from Bennett on his phone, and halfway to the lift, he got the ninth.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“They kept you talking untilnow?” Franklin said. “After the night you had? I’d get the union on it.”
For a moment, the unexpected voice stalled Marlow. He started to wonder how the fuck Franklin had Bennett’s phone, but he supposed the red-haired answer to that was weighing up her choices behind him. It took him a second to swallow the knot in his throat enough to speak.
“What. Do. You. Want?” Marlow repeated, each word enunciated clearly.
“I didn’t want to hurt Bennett,” Franklin said. “Despite everything, I’m glad she’s okay.”
This time Marlow didn’t bother to ask. He just waited as he got on the lift.
“Your boyfriend won’t be so lucky,” Franklin said. “I checked your computer while you were… gone… so I know that you know how I deal with people I need to… go away.”
“Yeah.”
“You are a frustrating asshole,” Franklin said. “The fine art of conversation is lost on you, huh. All right, I want money. Deacon has money. You get someone to give me Deacon’s money.”
“How much?”
“All of it. Liquidate it. I want everything,” Franklin said. “Oh, and could you drop by my apartment and feed Curly?”
“What?”
“The guinea pig,” Franklin said. “I figure Bennett will take him in, he can hang with the rats, but she’s not exactly in a fit state to go up and down stairs right now.”
“There’s something wrong with you,” Marlow said.
