“Let’s get one thing straight here, boss. I’s not comfortable right now. Spying on a fellow cop—not my shtick. You gotta tell me what’s going down, or I ain’t coming here with tattletales that mean shit. I’s not some tool for some McCarthy witch hunt, ’cause the way I sees it, anyone can make a meal out of nothing if theys really want to. Maybe you gots an axe to grind with Leo over what he did to Pallorino.”
Maddocks snorted and sat back. He took another sip of his scotch, watching Holgersen closely. “You have a way with words.”
“Yeah. Well.”
“All right,” Maddocks said. “Off the books. What I say stays here. You okay with that?”
Holgersen’s eyes ticked up. “Yeah. Okay.”
Maddocks inhaled, circling around something he was not really able to pin down himself. “During the Baptist investigation, I got a sense something was off with Leo. I think you did, too.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m not just talking about him drinking on the job and working under the influence. I’m talking something bigger, and it’s not just me. Word came from the top that I was to watch him. I was given a directive to pull him in from homicide and give him some rope in this new unit, where he’d be confronted with some of his own old and unsolved cases. And to see where he ran with that.”
Holgersen regarded him steadily, his dun-colored irises almost quivering. Nothing about this guy was ever truly still. “You saying he’s a dirty cop?”
Maddocks sipped his drink, said nothing.
“Fuck,” Holgersen whispered. “So you want some kinda proof.” He swore again. “I feel like a fucking shit-pawn. Why me?”
“Because you’re good. You’ve partnered with him before, so you know him—you have a baseline. Putting you together again won’t raise suspicions.” Maddocks paused. “I meant what I said, Holgersen, about the potential for growing the cold case division within iMIT. You close some cases, it’ll get you noticed by the right people. You could make sergeant. This could take you where you want to go.”
Holgersen lurched up from his bench. He took a step across the small cabin, as if considering bolting. But he spun around, returned to the table, and sat back down. He started rapping his fingers on the table. “As long as it doesn’t just fast-track me into internal.”
“You’re playing the Leo angle for me, technically off the books. That’s it. You bring me something solid, and I’ll pursue it through other channels. Official ones. This is just a start.”
“Maybe you really are just gunning for hairy-ass Leo because he dropped Pallorino in the shit.”
“It’s got nothing to do with her relationship to me. He dropped a fellow officer in the shit. Any cop should care about that.”
Holgersen eyed him, and Maddocks felt an air of challenge rise between them.
“I don’t like dirty cops,” Maddocks added quietly. “If he’s dirty, I want him.”
Holgersen nodded. Behind him, on the sofa, Jack-O suddenly lifted his head and cocked an ear.
Maddocks watched his dog’s nostrils twitch as the animal turned his head and stared at the stairs that led up to the deck. Maddocks eyed the stairs, then got up and went to the window in his galley.
He squinted out at the dimly lit dock. Nothing but lanterns swinging in the wind and halyards chinking against masts. His heart sank a little. Even though he’d drawn his line in the sand with Angie and told her not to call until she was ready, his heart quickened at every sound as every molecule in his body willed her to appear.
Perhaps she’d never call. Perhaps he’d been an ass. Maybe he should be worried about her well-being instead of drawing battle lines.
“Company?” Holgersen said.
“No. Just wind.” Maddocks went to scratch Jack-O’s ear. “It’s okay, boy.”
I know you miss her, too. Another day. She might come around again another day. We need to let her be for now.
“I should go,” Holgersen said, coming to his feet again and reaching for his wet jacket that hung by the stairs.
“You going to be okay with all this?” Maddocks said.
He shrugged into his jacket. “I don’t like dirty cops, neither.”
Maddocks nodded. Holgersen began to head up the stairs.
“You heard from Angie?” Maddocks said, unable to stop himself, worried about her, wondering what wild career moves she might make after his phone call.
