Tumbledown (3 page)

When she arrived at the station parking lot, it was empty of civilian vehicles. She parked next to the solitary patrol unit, leaving plenty of room for Quinn to take the prime spot at the entrance. During his thirty-two years on the job, Bill Quinn had built up a capable, loyal workforce, but—as Esther on dispatch so succinctly put it—he had a “real bug up his ass” about his parking spot, and only an idiot would dare try to occupy it. No one had thought to warn Alex about this on her first day, but, not being entirely ignorant of workplace politics, she had parked right out on the edge of the lot. She and Quinn had gotten along just fine ever since.

Working alongside Chief Quinn in the Avery Police Department were two sergeants, four full-time patrol officers, three reserve officers, and two dispatchers. Their only detective was currently off on indefinite sick leave, but with so few cases falling within his remit, the department was coping perfectly well without him. As the local population was so sparse, the Avery PD dealt with all the law enforcement functions arising from the three towns within its jurisdiction. Of the three, Avery was the smallest and seemed a strange choice to house the department, but its location was central to neighboring Ruby and Tawny Ridge, and it was undoubtedly the prettiest, something that Alex suspected was more to the point. Castillo had given her a heads up about the full-time vacancy there, after hearing of Quinn through a mutual friend. Thanks to his behind-the-scenes machinations, what had happened to her and Sarah in the North Cascades had never made it into her official records.

“Good morning.” Esther looked up from her Sudoku as Alex walked into the station. “Sarah get home okay?”

Too little sleep and synapses firing solely on caffeine made Alex take far longer than she should have to work out how Esther knew about their predawn wake-up call.

“Oh,” she said slowly. “You passed her the emergency.” She shook her head at her own ineptitude. “Yes, thank you, she got home a few minutes before I left.”

“Lyssa said she did real good.”

“Yeah?” Pride made Alex’s voice soft. “I’ll be sure and tell her.”

There was a rustle as Esther sorted through the papers on her desk. “Not much else going down last night. Barrel Charlie is in cell one.”

“Great,” Alex said through gritted teeth. Barrel Charlie was Ruby’s most notorious drunk, so called because of his propensity to howl the lyrics to “Roll Out the Barrel” in the town square at three in the morning. Often belligerent, not to mention doubly incontinent, he was usually transported home by the officers to avoid the stench he left in the cell block. “What did he do this time?”

Esther made a show of reading from the paperwork, even though Alex knew she could have recited the details verbatim. “Sergeant Emerson apprehended him at 2:27 a.m., drunk, incapable, and naked from the waist down.”

“Is he still naked from the waist down?”

“No, Sergeant Emerson found him some sweats. Charlie claims that a group of local kids stole his belt, and that when his pants fell down it was easier just to step right on out of them. He had chosen to ‘go commando’ due to the hot weather.”

“And where might Sergeant Emerson be now?”

“Uh.” Esther winced. “He clocked off over in Ruby a half hour ago.”

“Of course he did,” Alex muttered, and Esther gave her a sympathetic look. No matter what Alex did, how hard she worked, or how pleasant she tried to be, Scott Emerson consistently treated her like crap. She had yet to figure out why. Fortunately, they usually worked opposing shifts, which meant she was able to tolerate the snide comments and disdainful looks in the little time they were forced to spend together.

“Tell the chief I’ll deal with Charlie as a priority before it gets too warm down there.”

“Coffee first?” Esther was already pouring out two mugs.

“Oh God, yes, please.” Alex breathed in the rich aroma, half-convinced that that alone would be enough to prepare her for extracting a statement from Charlie’s hung over, incoherent ramblings.

“You have a good day now,” Esther told her without a trace of irony.

Alex raised her mug in salute and walked slowly toward the cells.

*

The rough granite of the diving rock was almost within touching distance. Swimming steadily, no more than five yards away from her young pupil, Sarah saw him fix his sights on the rock and set his jaw. She didn’t need to say anything to encourage him; they had been working toward this for almost three weeks now, and for a twelve-year-old, he was incredibly motivated. She watched him stretch out, putting all his energy into a final kick and then grinning as he slapped a hand on the rock.

“Holy fucking shit sticks.” For a twelve-year-old, he also had an extremely varied and imaginative vocabulary when it came to cussing.

“Bradley!” Well accustomed to teaching adolescents, Sarah struggled to sound outraged. She hid her laughter by diving low, only breaking the surface when she saw the rock loom large in front of her.

“You did brilliantly,” she said, treading water as Brad climbed out. He was small for his age, and severe asthma meant that he had spent a significant portion of his childhood in the Cary Medical Center. She hoisted herself up to stand beside him and they both waved at his mother, who was waiting anxiously on the shore. Brad’s skinny chest heaved, the skin sucking in between his ribs as he tried to catch his breath.

“Let’s have a minute, huh?” Sarah tugged his hand to make him sit down. “Then we can get back.”

They sat together, toes dipped into the cool, clear water. Avery Lake was vast, stretching for almost thirty square miles. Here and there small boats bobbed on the water, but mostly it was an uninterrupted expanse of aquamarine that only began to taper in width as it reached the craggy hills at its southernmost edge. Sarah had spent almost a year traveling with Alex and seeing some of the most beautiful places imaginable, but she didn’t think she would ever tire of sitting on the diving rock and looking at this view.

“Miss Sarah?” Brad’s voice was still breathy, but he appeared to be recovering well.

“What’s up? You want to start back?”

“No,” he said. “No, not yet. I just…” He shook his head, pretending it was nothing important, but he couldn’t seem to look her in the eye. “How did you hurt your leg?” His question was quiet, imbued with the awe of a boy young enough to think all scars were cool.

Sarah leaned back on her hands. She no longer made any attempt to cover up the long scar where her femur had been fixed back together, or the scattered pattern of scarring across her abdomen where internal bleeding and more lately a gunshot wound had been treated. With her surname changed, anyone attempting to Google or research the finer details would be disappointed.

“I was in a car accident a few years ago,” she said, and Brad nodded solemnly. “I, uh, it was pretty bad.” She took a deep breath, staring out at the blue-green water and waiting for the rush of grief to fade. A drunk driver had plowed into her mum’s car, killing her mum and her little sister instantly, but Brad didn’t need to know that.

Chilly, damp fingers patted awkwardly against her own.

“That’s really shitty,” Brad said.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought too.”

He scrambled up and held his hand out to her, having apparently thought of something he was sure would make her feel better. “Wanna dive in with me?”

She laughed, forcing back the sadness as she took his hand. “Okay. On three. Ready?”

*

Alex’s patrol unit drew up just as Sarah’s toes touched the smooth rocks at the shore. Brad was already chasing Tilly through the shallows, and they both looked around when they heard the car engine. Tilly barked excitedly, racing toward Alex, who let out a yelp of her own as thirty-five pounds of wet dog closed in on her.

“Uh oh, are you gonna get arrested, miss?” Brad asked Sarah in a singsong voice.

“I doubt it, but you never know.” She winked and steered him over to his mom, who thanked her before wrapping Brad in a thick towel and leading him back to their station wagon.

With Tilly running rings around her, Alex stooped to collect Sarah’s towel. They met in the middle of the beach, and she draped the towel around Sarah, using it to pull her close, but the romantic gesture was ruined somewhat when Sarah hesitated, crinkling her nose.

“Alex, what have I told you about rolling around in the drunk tank?”

Alex grimaced. “It’s not me. I took a shower at the station. It’s the car.” It was only then that Sarah noticed all four of the car’s doors were wide open. “I’m trying to air it out.”

“Barrel Charlie?” With one hand on Alex’s elbow, Sarah steered her upwind toward a sheltered spot close to the water.

“Yup.”

“Oh dear. Well, never mind. Got time for lunch?”

Alex rustled a paper bag that had been concealed beneath the towel. “I’m all yours for the next hour.”

Eyeing the familiar blue and white bag hungrily, Sarah wriggled into her shorts before sitting on the sand and pulling Alex down beside her. “If that’s from Barnaby’s, I’m all yours forever.”

Alex laughed as she handed her a generous greaseproof package. “In which case, it’s a good thing you’re cute and I kinda like you,” she said, unwrapping her own roll.

Despite being some distance from the coast, Barnaby’s had fresh Maine seafood delivered to its kitchen every morning. The diner was an Avery institution, its lobster and shrimp rolls selling out as fast as they could be prepared.

Embedding her toes in the warm sand, Sarah took a huge bite of her roll, just as she remembered that she had something vital to tell Alex. Barely able to breathe, let alone speak, she nudged Alex’s shoulder to get her attention.

Alex turned slightly and her mouth dropped open when she saw how little was left of Sarah’s lunch. “You skip breakfast?” she asked, gesturing at the scant remnants.

Sarah held up a finger in apology as she finished chewing and swallowed. “No, I just worked up an appetite,” she said with a grin. She nudged Alex again. “Guess what came in the mail this morning.”

Alex gave an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t tell me Bandit’s been ordering Cat Snax catalogs again.”

“Nope, although I wouldn’t put it past the thieving little bugger.” The envelope was in the pocket of Sarah’s shorts, and it took a fair amount of contortion to reach it.

Alex’s eyes widened when she saw the postmark. “Oh hell, that was quick.” She toyed with the seal as she studied Sarah’s face. “I’m guessing from your smile that it’s good news.”

Sarah nodded, suddenly feeling a little shy. “Yeah, it’s good news,” she said quietly. She nibbled what remained of her roll as Alex read the letter.

“Holy shit!”

That was all the warning Sarah had before Alex grabbed her in a hug and covered her face in mayo-flavored kisses. The enthusiasm was so heartfelt that Sarah forgot all about her innate awkwardness when it came to accepting praise.

“Did all right, didn’t I?”

“You did more than all right.” Alex looked aghast. “Ninety-six percent is more than all right. God.” She used her thumb to wipe mayo from Sarah’s cheek. “Why do you always sell yourself short?”

Sarah chewed thoughtfully as she considered the question. “Maybe it’s because I don’t want to get my hopes up,” she ventured at length. She watched Alex’s posture sag as if someone had slapped all the joy out of her, and she immediately regretted having raised the issue.

“I’m sure we’ll hear something soon,” Alex said.

No matter how settled they were in Avery and how happy they were in their work, the EMT exam that Sarah had just passed would be worthless without a green card. Three days after Maine had legalized marriage for gay couples, she and Alex had gotten married in a small ceremony by the lakeshore. Walt, the man with whom Alex had worked in the Cascades, stood in for their parents and gave them both away, and Ash and Tess had flown over from England to be bridesmaids. The next natural step was applying for Sarah’s green card, but her application was still being processed, and she was increasingly nervous about its outcome.

Sarah took hold of Alex’s hand and laced their fingers together. “You really think we’ll be okay?”

Alex said nothing, but just squeezed Sarah’s hand and kissed her on her forehead. It was the only answer Sarah ever needed.

*

The gate moved stiffly, its weight making the hinges creak and complain until it finally swung wide enough to allow Alex’s Chevy Silverado through. It was early evening, but the sun was still warm on her shoulders as she walked across to close the gate and secure it. She breathed in the hot, dusty scent of the desiccated pine needles beneath her boots and the pleasanter, cooler air that filtered through the trees from the lake. There was no sign yet of the thunderstorm forecast on the weather report that morning, but the humidity had seemed to press down during the afternoon, and she knew that eventually something had to break.

She climbed back behind the wheel and restarted the engine, pulling away slowly, with her arm hanging out the cranked-down window and her fingers tapping a tune on the bodywork. She loved her job, loved being back in the uniform, but one of the best things about it was coming home: driving through the forest, listening to birdsong and squirrels quarrelling, and knowing that Sarah would be waiting for her. It was enough to make her smile no matter what her shift had thrown at her.

The cabin came into view as she rounded the final corner of the track. Tilly darted across the back yard, making the hens scatter as they tried to avoid being flattened by her enthusiasm. The chaos was a nightly routine, and as usual, it brought Sarah out onto the back porch. Flour puffed up from her hands when she clapped them, but Tilly ignored her, continuing to make a beeline for Alex. Sarah gave her a helpless wave.

“I’ve got a pie cooling and Bandit lurking,” she called.

Alex nodded her understanding. Bandit would eat anything that didn’t eat him first. “I’ll feed the girls and see you in there.”

“’Kay.”

The screen door slapped back into place behind Sarah, and Alex chuckled when she heard a short yelp and a stream of indistinct cursing immediately afterward. The door slammed again, and Bandit slunk onto the porch to begin washing a face stained suspiciously with purple. Alex fetched the tub of feed pellets, becoming a Pied Piper for their six chickens as they followed her across to their trough.