Chapter 16

Bryant and Allyson flew separately from Jonathan Mayfield and two South Carolina State troopers. The judge had placed the videotape into evidence and immediately signed off on the extradition warrant. The Ohio governor's office agreed and Jonathan Mayfield was on his way to South Carolina to face first-degree murder charges.

Allyson's alma mater, Northwestern, was in Bloomington, Indiana, for a Big Ten Conference game with the Hoosiers and she wanted to go west to see the game. They would fly home late Saturday night.

"It'll be fun!" Allyson insisted.

"Don't you get enough of seeing dumb ass college kids at your job?" Bryant rejoined. Still, he consented to riding three hours in a rental car on Friday night. They stayed in a Marriott near the football stadium. Bryant blanched when he saw the cost of a room.

"We can share," Allyson suggested with a wink. She turned to the clerk before Bryant could answer. "Cancel his room and change mine to a room with two beds."

The clerk glanced to Bryant for confirmation.

"Yeah, fine," he said. He reached into his wallet and extracted four $20s for his half of the room. Allyson waved it away.

"You get dinner," she said. "I saw an advertisement for a martini bar. Come on; relax a little. You've worked your tail off to get that guy behind bars and now he's there. He's never getting out, Bryant. You've won."

"We still have the trial to get through," Bryant said. "And I still have two open cases I want to resolve."

Allyson handed over her credit card and filled out the registration.

"And you will," she said after she signed her name. The clerked handed over a keycard and directed them to a room on the second floor.

Both had brought enough clothing for a second day in court so Bryant carried their bags into the room. It was a lot nicer than the places he'd stayed in Point Pleasant, W.Va., and Cincinnati, he chuckled to himself.

Allyson was dressed in a pair of black pants, a white blouse and a gray jacket. She was already dressed for a night on the town. Bryant had changed into a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt.

"Get changed and let's get moving," Allyson told him. Bryant hadn't planned on entertaining while up north. He was left to choose from the suit he wore to court that morning and the one he'd brought to wear on Monday. Figuring his jeans and sweatshirt would hold up for the football game, he pulled out a charcoal pinstriped suit and headed to the bathroom.

Allyson let out a whistle when he reemerged.

"Why didn't you dress that way when we were married?" she asked.

"Because law school was setting us back $30,000 a year," he answered. "That put a crimp in my clothing budget."

Allyson kicked herself for bringing up a painful subject.

"Yeah," she said. "I guess so. Although I'm sure I made sure I looked like a professional. I was a total bitch, Bryant. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I let my head get turned."

"It's done with," Bryant said simply. "We're making things work now and that's all we can ask for."

"Is it?" Allyson wondered. "Is a professional relationship where we manage to speak to each other civilly the best we can hope for?"

"What do you want from me?" Bryant asked in a voice louder than he intended. He apologized for his tone before continuing. "Ally, do you know what my life was like after you left? I'll tell you. I got stuck working sixty hours a week because I had to pay part of your student loans. That's sixty hours a week on a beat in some of the highest-crime areas of the city. It's dangerous enough when you're out there eight hours at a time. But to be there twelve, well, the last four can get dicey. The second shooting? I wasn't even supposed to be on duty. I was working overtime to pay off your fucking loans when that crazy bastard beat the fuck out his girlfriend then came out of the house guns blazing. He missed killing me by maybe a foot.

"When they did the shooting work up, the trajectory of what they figured was his last bullet hit a telephone pole at head high right beside where I was standing. For two solid years, I worked an extremely dangerous job on little or no sleep because I was paying the freight for you. And that's after I paid the freight for you by doing the same God damned thing for three years before that. You dismissed me as casually as replacing a pair of shoes and I've had to live with that fact for a decade. Now you just want to act like that never happened? You want me to accept that you were blinded by delusions of grandeur; say 'that's just swell' and let it go?"

Bryant plopped heavily onto the bed.

"It's not okay, Allyson," he continued wearily. "It's not okay and I'm not ever going to put myself into that position with you again. So, yeah, a casual, tentative friendship and a civil, professional relationship is just about all we can look forward to."

Allyson closed her eyes for a moment before she nodded.

"I think I understand," she said. "I'm sorry – for what I've done and for what it means for us now. So you think we can still build a friendship?"

Bryant offered a small smile.

"I think we already are," he said.

The first face Bryant saw when he walked into the Emerald Cove Police Department caused him to stop and take a second look to make sure he hadn't missed something.

"I thought you were just going to walk past me without even saying hello," Holly Garvin said with a smile. She stood and offered a hand.

"I'd heard you were coming in next week," he said, shaking her small hand.

"I wanted to take a look at the community so I came down early," she said. "I called Chief Elliot Friday. She filled me in on what was going on in Cincinnati and offered to host my visit. I rode in with her this morning but she had to take a call."

"Well, come on back if you want," Bryant said. "I'll introduce you around to some of the people you'll be working with."

Holly walked beside Bryant through the doorway into the detective bureau. The area was much nicer than her digs in Huntington. The fact that the temperature was forty-five degrees in West Virginia and seventy-five in Emerald Cove was another plus.

A tall black woman stood when Bryant entered.

"Regina, this is Holly Garvin, a detective from up in West Virginia," Bryant said. "Holly, this is Detective First Grade Regina Post."

Post took a sharp look at Bryant. She hadn't expected the woman for another week. She was surprised when the chief laughed.

"Don't worry," he said. "I was as surprised as you are. Holly is just vacationing and taking a look around. Where's Jim? I figured I would have him show her around since he's lived here all his life."

Post frowned slightly.

"He's in Columbia at the Criminal Justice Academy," she said. "Carmen Lewin is up there with him."

"Oh, right," Bryant said. "Well, we'll figure out something. Do you want to show her around here? I have a couple of things I need to do."

"Sure thing, Chief," Post said. "She can sit in on our morning briefing. We got a hit on one of the yearbook pictures. I'm taking Marks with me out to talk to the girl this morning."

"Can I tag along?" Holly asked.

"No," Bryant said, shaking his head firmly. "You're not covered by our insurance – unless you want to sign on today."

Garvin laughed.

"Not just yet," she said. "I'm impressed by the community and your set up here. But I'm not ready to drink the Kool-Aid just yet. Still, I'd like to see how things work. I've never really watched another jurisdiction operate."

"Tell you what," Bryant said. "I will take you to lunch when they're heading out. If we happen to be in that vicinity – and it's okay with Detective Post, the suspect and, probably her attorney – we'll sit in."

Holly thought back to her interview in Huntington. Although it hadn't been formal by any stretch, this one was much more relaxed. In fact, everything in Emerald Cove was relaxed. Her only introduction to the city had been through its intense Chief of Detectives. But the beach-side city seemed to have a calming effect on even him. He had given her a quizzical look that almost had resembled a cartoon character when he's spotted her in the lobby and made the connection.

He hadn't turned around and come back. Instead he had stopped suddenly in the doorway, stood motionless for a heartbeat or two and poked his head back into the lobby. He looked at her for a moment before moving his head back through the doorway and then repeated the motion.

Then he had laughed along with the woman in the squad room and had spoken lightly with the others in the room.

"Why don't you handle the morning briefing while I take care of a couple of things, Regina?" he said. "You can fill me in on anything I miss afterward."

"Sure thing, Chief," Post said. "We have nothing new to discuss. I mean, we had no incidents over the weekend."

"Excellent," Bryant said with a smile.

"Wait!" Holly said. "You say you had no crimes committed over the weekend?"

Her face wore an incredulous look.

"We had no major crimes reported," Post confirmed. "We had a few arrests, all misdemeanors, according to the logs. One was a regular. He gets arrested once or twice a month for drunk and disorderly. He's never violent or anything. Mostly, well, mostly he just sits down in the middle of his street and sings – loudly and horribly – until one of our patrolmen scoops him up."

"So what are you investigating today?" Holly asked.

"That is a case from a couple of weeks ago," Post said. "We had a strong-armed robbery downtown. It's odd. The suspect is a girl who graduated near the top of her class last year. The only thing taken was a watch. I mean, she took the woman's purse but everything was found intact a few blocks away."

"Was the watch expensive?" Holly wondered.

"According to the victim, it was a 'keepsake'," Post said with a frown. "We'd probably turn it back to the patrols to handle if the suspect hadn't threatened the victim."

Holly nodded slightly and glanced toward Bryant. She didn't know if her input would be welcome. Then she considered the time they had worked together.

"The watch meant something to the suspect," she said finally.

Bryant's head jerked in her direction.

"What do you mean?" he asked. He hadn't spent much time considering the case. He had been focused on the Mayfield kid but the few times he did think about the robbery, something nagged at his mind.

"She took a 'keepsake'," Holly continued. "She didn't take cash or credit cards. I mean, I can see leaving a credit card behind, particularly if the girl is as smart as you say. But to leave cash? How much was it?"

"That's the thing that's bothered me," Post admitted. "The victim claimed she had taken $1,500 out of her account. We found $500 in her purse."

"So she did take some money," Holly said, disappointed that her theory was off-track.

"No," Post cut in. "The victim lied to us. We checked with the bank. She took $500 out that morning. It was still in the bank envelope. The suspect tossed the entire purse into the trash."

"So the watch was what the suspect was after," Holly said, brightening. "We need to figure out why the watch so was important to whoever stole it. Uh, sorry. That's what you need to figure out."

Bryant laughed.

"Well, I'm going to leave solving all the crimes in Emerald Cove to you two," he said. "I've got to visit with the City Council President and then with Chief Elliot. I'll see you both later."

Bryant wound up meeting with Jan and Steve at the same time. Jan met him outside the city offices and went inside with him, avoiding all questions along the way.

"Chiefs," Linda Roberts said brightly when they entered. "Come on back. Steve is expecting you."

Linda led the duo past Steve's office and into the conference room where Bryant had first interviewed, four months earlier.

It wasn't the location that gave Bryant pause. It was the other occupants of the room.

The entire City Council was present, along with two members from the Chamber of Commerce, the district judge and a reporter from the local newspaper.

He gave Jan a meaningful glance but she had moved to the opposite side of the room to stand beside Linda. Bryant wondered if she had just led him to his execution without even a warning. Then he considered that she 'had' warned him.

Steve Curtis appeared happy, though, and the others in the room were smiling along with Steve. The city council president made his way to Bryant, extending his hand and putting a companionable hand on the bigger man's shoulder as he greeted him.

He maneuvered Bryant to the front of the room almost effortlessly, despite the fact that Bryant was half a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier than the city executive. He was standing beside Steve at the front of the room before he even recognized that Steve had led him up there.

"When I first interviewed Chief Hawkins, I doubted we would be able to get him down here," Steve announced. "He was over-qualified for what we wanted but after one conversation, I decided he would be perfect for the job. Of course, my assistant, Linda Roberts, began extolling his virtues before I even saw his resume – but that's a story for another time."

The others in the room chuckled slightly.

"I met Chief Hawkins for the first time in this very room," Steve continued. "I had pondered whether I should be truthful with him about the problems this department faced. I decided if I could get him down here – let him meet the fine people who live here and work here – he might just overlook the fact he was overqualified and the reality of the situation the job entailed."

He turned to Bryant.

"That's not the way I normally do business," Steve said. "But I got a good feeling from you when we talked on the phone. First of all, you didn't minimize the situations you've found yourself in during the past. I had spoken to twelve or fifteen others about this job. But when it came time to do some research, I found what they'd told me didn't always add up with the facts. I didn't have that problem with you. If anything, you overstated your responsibility for the shootings. That told me that you are a standup guy. You're the type of man we need here, because of all the words I could use to describe the former officers of Emerald Cove, 'standup' would not be one of them."

Steve turned back to face the rest of the room.

"I put a lot of faith in Chief Hawkins," he said. "And he has not let us down. He not only cleaned up the detective bureau but he helped us bring in the first truly professional chief of police that we've ever had. Before I continue with Chief Hawkins, I want to address Chief Elliot for a moment. This ceremony is just as much about her as it is about Bryant Hawkins."

Jan was startled. She had been asked to bring Bryant back for a brief pat on the back from the citizens of Emerald Cove. She wasn't prepared to be a part of the festivities. She heard Linda laugh beside her.