Middle Of Nowhere

C H A P T E R

10

"She's Hispanic, Sarge," a macho LaMoia said coolly as if this explained something.

Boldt had bullied them into a nurse's lounge for the sake of privacy. The room smelled of Danish and was lit like a supermarket. Two Dave Barry columns were taped to the wall by the microwave. Someone had scratched out a NO SMOKING sign and changed it to NO CHOKING.

"It was a little overheated, in and out of bed."

"How long has it been going on?" Boldt asked.

LaMoia shrugged.

Boldt fumed. LaMoia manipulated the world around him in a way Boldt couldn't, even if he wanted to. LaMoia got away with this kind of thing all the time.

What you saw of LaMoia was what you got: pressed blue jeans, carefully coifed, brown curly hair that nearly reached to his shoulders, deerskin jacket, silver rodeo belt buckle, porcelain white smile, oversized mustache. And Attitude. He carried it in his walk, his posture, his dark eyes. His confidence surfaced behind a softspokenness. He was a hell of a cop. Somewhere between a fraternity brother and a war buddy for Boldt. A former prote´ge´ who took what he wanted from life, he'd made himself the stuff of legend around Public Safety, both for his sexual prowess and his abilities as a detective. He'd disappointed Boldt greatly when he'd called in sick at the start of the Flu.

Women found the package appealing, something Boldt would never fully understand. The Attitude accounted for some of it, but not as much as people believed. Boldt thought it was more the man's soft brown eyes and the vulnerability they often expressed—puppy eyes, pure and simple. Maria Sanchez had fallen. She wouldn't be the last.

"I heard Bobbie Socks was asking around about her squeeze," LaMoia offered. He meant Gaynes. "I think you can take the squeeze off your list of suspects, Sarge. You're looking at him."

He continued to refer to Boldt by the man's former rank, the same rank LaMoia now wore. Like a coach and a player, these two had a history that promotions couldn't ruffle and others couldn't explain.

"If you felt anything for her at all, you'd have come back on the job," Boldt complained. "What's that about?"

"I came up through the front seat of a radio car, Sarge. I still drink beer with the guys wearing unis. Hit balls at batting practice with them. My name's on the guild roster. The chief is wrong about this. I gotta stand up for that. You can see that, can't you?"

"You and Sanchez. How long?" Boldt repeated, knowing they could argue the Blue Flu all night long.

"We've been seeing each other about a month now."

Although the department didn't expressly forbid relationships between officers, it discouraged them. No "involved" officers could work the same division and were more often exiled to separate precincts, sometimes having their careers destroyed in the process. The credo "Personal lives do not mix with police lives" hung on the lips of every superior.

"And how long were you going to sit on this relationship?"

"I'm here, and I'm talking. Right?"

Daphne snorted. "We caught you!" She said, "A lot of good you're doing Maria on the sidelines."

"Maybe I'm doing more than you think," LaMoia said.

"Working the cop bars for information, I suppose," she offered derisively.

"Anybody angry at her about her dating a gringo?" Boldt asked.

"I knew you were going to ask that! God damn it, Sarge!"

"Family? Fellow officers?" In a city with a large population of Asians, Hispanics seemingly suffered under extreme prejudice. Tensions flared on the force between uniforms from time to time. Boldt didn't want to face the possibility that Sanchez's assault might have been racially or relationship motivated—a hate crime— and therefore disconnected from his current line of investigation.

"Nothing like that," LaMoia promised. "Besides, we kept it quiet. Neither of us wanted a transfer across town."

"You're sure?"

"This is me, Sarge."

"That's why I'm asking," Boldt said. LaMoia made trouble for himself. From captains to meter maids, he'd made the rounds, suffering suspensions and reprimands. Miraculously, he had not only kept his badge, but had managed to advance to squad sergeant in the face of rumor, innuendo, and outright scandal. Boldt had managed to keep LaMoia's affair with Captain Sheila Hill quiet, or LaMoia would have been forced off Boldt's CAPers squad. Both Hill and LaMoia owed him for that. Boldt rarely collected on such debts, though right now he felt tempted to pressure LaMoia back onto the force.

Boldt said, "So let me ask you this: You know anything about this burglary investigation she was working?" LaMoia twitched, belying his outward calm. Boldt knew he had scored. "John?" Boldt inquired.

LaMoia maintained eye contact with Boldt. Something begged to be spoken but did not reach the sergeant's lips. Standing from his chair, LaMoia said, "You two take care of yourselves," and hurried from the room. Boldt called after him, but his voice fell upon deaf ears.

"What was that?" Daphne asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

"He knows something about Sanchez but is afraid to tell us," Boldt whispered, wondering once again if Liz and the kids were safe, even tucked away miles from home. John LaMoia wasn't afraid of anything or anyone, so why the sudden change in attitude?