Deceitful Moon (19 page)

Chapter
-32

“Mike, are you positive? Stella? You
r
mom?”

“I know it sounds crazy
,
and
hell no
,
I’m not sure
. . .
it
could
have been her. But like I said
,
I was drinking, it was dark
. . .
i
t might have been
. . .
hell, I don’t know.” Mike shook his head and went silent.

Manny looked
at
the ceiling as doubt
whispered in his ear
. He had known Stella for
seven
teen years. She simply wasn’t capable of this kind of thing. In fact, she had a serious disdain for guns
, a
lmost a phobia. Gavin
had
joked that if anyone ever broke into their home, she would talk them to death before she could ever shoot them
.

What reason would she have for shooting a man like
Harris
? How would she know him? That was like Mother Teresa having some dark communion with Charles Manson.

Mike was mistaken. Maybe he felt guilty for not being in his parents
’
lives the last few months
,
and seeing a woman that vaguely resembled his mother caused him to jump t
o some subconscious conclusion.

Nothing like a little pop psychology.

Whoever shot this guy had a beef. When it was all said and done, it would be the mother of one of the depraved jerk
’
s victims. Or maybe even a victim who decided to confront the source of her nightmares.
It wasn’t
Stella Crosby.

But the look on Mike’s face forced Manny to consider what he’d said
.
H
e raked the thought from his mind.

“Go see your dad.”

“So
,
I’m not a suspect?”

“Not to me.” Manny
opened the front door to the hall and
motioned for the two uniforms to leave. “After you go see your dad and talk to your mother, then head over to the office. It’s time to finish the department’s psych evaluation so you can get your ass back to work.”

“You think I’m crazy? That I’m seeing things?” Mike clutched his hands together. “I’m not having some psychotic episode or whatever the hell it is that people go through from some stressor. It’s just that I can’t get Lexy off my
—
”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, but it’s time
to
get back in the saddle.”

His eyes grew moist. “Manny
,
I don’t know if I’m ready. I still miss her so much.
Most days, nothing matters
,
and I see her face
everywhere
.
”

“You’ll always miss her
, b
ut there’s no way she’d want you to keep doing this.
The man she married was strong, confid
e
nt, able. Not someone who wallowed in whiskey and pity.
”

Mike’s eyes came alive with anger
,
and then it left as fast as it came. He
sighed. One of those
sighs
that said
I know you’re right, but it isn’t going to be easy.
“
I don’t know
. . .”

“One more thing.” Manny walked to the kitchen and grabbed the two unopened bottles of liqu
o
r standing arrogantly on the counter, opened them, then poured them down the drain. “This is over. No more drinking.”

Mike stood
,
and Manny saw something he’d not seen for months
:
Mike Crosby and a smile holding hands.

“Yes, dear
. But do me a favor
. D
on’t quit your day job to become a counselor
;
one of your patients might kick the shit out of you.”

“No problem there,” Manny laughed.

Mike
looked like his mother when he smiled like that. Always good to see.

Manny walked out of the room and headed to the car. Sophie had decided that she was tired of being his secretary and had gone to the cell phone company that supplied phones and service to the LPD to get him a new phone
, a
n electronic tether that would bring him to the cutting edge in PDA technology. Great.
Something else he had no time for
.

She would wait for him to pick her up
,
and then they would get to the office in time for a meeting with Alex’s department. Apparently there was some disturbing evidence concerning the two new bodies. Just what they needed. And how could it get more disturbing than the first victim? He’d be glad when Josh and his crew got
here
. This was getting crazy, fast.

He ran his hand through his hair, hoping to shake the
nagging
,
persistent words Mike had spoken
.

“I could have sworn it was my mom.”

Mike had been a g
reat
cop and was going to be a good detective some day
.
He wasn’t prone to exaggerations or illusions.
However,
he wasn’t exactly the same man he’d been a few months ago.
Manny had
seen his share of cops who had lost it
—
and not just because of booze and drugs. Seeing
what
cops saw, like the total disregard for life with these crimes, sometimes clouded perceptions of reality.

Still
. . .

He pushed at the troublesome pictures in his mind that were forming a portrait
of
Stella Crosby. This time, they pushed back.

Chapter
-33

“Here’s your new phone. Try not to turn this one into elec
tronic roadkill, at least for a
few days,” Sophie
said, putting both hands on the top of his desk
.

“You said it was
a
good throw,” answered Manny, turning his new smartphone over in his hand.

“I was just trying to be supportive. You’ve lost at least five MPH off your fastball, and I’ll bet the curveball hangs there like a big old balloon, just begging to be hit out of the park.”

“I could still strike your ass out on a bet.”

“You think you
can
blow three of those little girl pitches by me? Oh
,
just bring it.”

The talk of baseball reminded Manny that the Williams family had tickets to Comerica Park to watch his beloved Detroit Tigers play against the hated Minnesota Twins on Sunday, only four days away. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his daughter Jen
n
ifer’s face when
they settled into their seats.

Louise and he had gone about a zillion times. She had been a big baseball freak before they’d even met. As much as Manny loved the atmosphere of a Major League park, he thought Louise loved it even more. (Another reason she had been
the
perfect woman for him.)

She knew every Tiger player from the last twenty years and could recite most of t
heir stats
. . .
and how good each of them looked in their tight
-
fitting home uniforms.

The smell of roasting hotdogs and sausages, the vibrant color of the perfectly manicured grass, the indescribable excitement that seemed to spread from the very structure itself
was special. A
nd of course, the little boy or girl dressed in
his or her
Tiger hat, matching jersey, and new glove, standing a seat or two away hardly able to contain themselves
: all of this
made
a trip to the ballpark
what i
t
was always intended to be
,
pure joy. He wanted Jen to get into it
too. Time would tell.

“Earth to Williams. Hello?” Sophie
said.

“Sorry. Just thinking about the game we’re going to on Sunday
,
”
h
e sighed
, “if
we get this mess sorted out by then.”

“You should go anyway. You know
how
important family time is. And don’t give me crap about that whole workaholic thing you’ve got going on. Just go.”

He grinned. “Thanks for the encouragement
—
I think.”

“You’re welcome. What are partners for? Oh, and don’t think I forgot about that wet noodle of an arm you’ve got. We’re going to settle this on the field when the time’s right.”

“I don’t know what fantasy world you live in
—
well
,
a few of
them
—
but that
’
ll be like taking candy from a baby
. . .
a TINY baby.”

“It’s a date, rag arm.”

“
Whatever.
T
ell me about thi
s thing that I have in my hand
—
and keep it simple.”

“First, let me tell you that all of your contacts have been programmed in
,
so that’s just like before.”

“Yeah? Then I’m good to go.”

“That’s not all.”

“It’s a phone, right?”

“Yes, but it also
—
”

“And phones are used for? You guessed it, talking with other people who have phones.”

“Manny
—
”

“I don’t need anything more.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Listen, tech
no
-
phobe, this phone can do things to save lives, catch the bad guys we all think so fondly
of,
and even order dinner, so heads up and pay attention.”

“Your eyes really get big when you get pissy
.
E
ver notice that?”

“I’m ignoring you
. . .
do they really?”

“Yep.”

“You’re not getting around this.”

Manny shrugged in surrender. “Al
l
right. Fire away. But this better be good.”

“I’ll keep it simple. This is a
s
martphone
with a touchscreen. If you touch the screen here, you can get your e-mail. This one lets you download and play videos or music. This one will let you buy certain applications, like GPS or games
.
Touch it here, and you can surf the web. This has 4G, which means you can search the
I
nternet from almost anywhere. You can check Facebook, Twitter, and
whatever
,
all of the social websites you’re a
member of.”

“Yeah. My heart beats just to check those out.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. This is good stuff.”

“
And
that helps me how?”

“What if you found something at a scene that you didn’t recognize
,
and you thought it was
important?
Just snap a picture, upload it to your e-mail, like this, and send it to Alex or whomever. A few minutes later, you’ll have his input. You can even get ballistic and DNA reports from the lab.”

“Great. What about dinner?”

“What?”

“You said it would order food.”

“Men. It
’s
all about food, sports, and women, isn’t it?”

“What else is there?”

“You ain’t right.” Sophie pointed to the touchscreen. “Put in the web address of your favorite food joint here, hit the menu, and order away.”

“Okay. I might use that. Are we done here? We have that meeting with Alex and
—
” Mike’s statement about Stella came storming back.
They’d been so busy with the new phone, he hadn’t mentioned anything to her.

Sophie cocked her head. “And what?”

“We have to talk about my interview with Mike. He said something that seemed absolutely nuts, at first. But now I’m not so sure.”

“Did he shoot the guy?”

“I don’t think so. I believed him when he said he didn’t.”

“What else did he say?”