Street Dreams

35

Standing in the corner,arms across his chest, all ears and no mouth, Decker stayed in the background while his elder daughter, the first issue of his loins, fielded questions flung from every angle. It was a test of endurance, not only for Cindy, but also for himself. Could he really listen to all this crap for hours and keep his yap shut? Finally, at four-thirty in the morning, both he and Cindy appeared victorious. As Stone and Brill wound down the interview, Decker thanked his Hollywood hosts and excused himself, telling Cindy he’d wait for her outside.

He called Rina. She answered on the third ring.

“I’m still here, but everything’s fine,” Decker said.

“How’s Cindy?”

“She was a pro. Have you been up all this time?”

“No, I’ve been sleeping… restlessly. The kind of sleep where you know you have to wake up and catch an early-morning plane.”

“You’re going to be wiped out.”

“Not too bad. I can always catnap in the afternoon.”

“Then maybe I won’t feel too guilty asking you this. Can you take Hannah to school for me?”

“You’re not coming home?”

“No.”

Silence over the line.

“Taking Hannah is no problem,” Rina said. “What are you up to?”

“I need to spend time with Cindy. As a matter of fact, I’m going to call in and take the day off.”

“Oh my… she must be really shaken.”

Decker didn’t dispel the notion. “I don’t want her left alone.”

“What about Koby? Isn’t he around? Or is he outside the emotional loop?”

“The man is crazy about her. Getting him to leave Cindy was like peeling Super Glue off the fingertips, but she finally managed to convince him to go home. I’m sure he’s not sleeping too well, either, but he’ll survive.”

“Maybe you should let the two of them comfort each other, Peter. At some point, you need to pull back.”

Decker smiled inwardly. “There’s no ring on her finger. Right now, I still have seniority. Try to get another hour or two of sleep. I’ll see you tonight, all right?”

No one spoke for a moment. Then Rina said, “Why do I think you’re up to something?”

“Cindy just came out. Gotta go.” Immediately, Decker disconnected the line. Then he turned the phone off.

?

She gave her father a tired smile. “I’m so sorry to drag you out.”

Decker hugged her. “You didn’t drag me out. I came of my own accord.”

“I can take a cab.”

Decker burst into laughter. “Yes, exactly. I’m going to let you take a cab.” He tousled her hair. “Stop being ridiculous.” He waved to the desk sergeant and opened the door for her. “Let’s get out of here.”

Together they stepped into the misty predawn morning. Cindy said, “Really… thanks for coming. But equally important, thanks for not interfering.”

“See, I can behave myself.”

They walked to his Porsche. Again he opened the door for her. Cindy smiled at his courtly behavior and Decker smiled back, always the gentleman. After her father slid behind the wheel, she asked if she could borrow his cell phone, wanting to call Koby.

Decker didn’t start the motor right away.

“First things first. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine, Loo.”

“Good.”

She waited for her father to fork over the phone. When he didn’t, she said, “Uh, can I have your cell now, please?”

“No.”

She had asked the question as a formality. “No?”

“No. Let him sleep.”

“Dad, he’s waiting for my phone call.”

“I’m sure he is. But if you call him, he’ll insist on seeing you. Right now, that’s not a good idea.”

Cindy waited for an explanation, but none came. Instead, Decker said, “What’s your status right now?”

“I have the day off.”

“It wasn’t out of charity,” Decker said. “They’re pulling you off active duty pending an investigation.”

“They want me to call in at noon.”

“Standard procedure.”

“What are they investigating? They don’t have the car; the license plates are stolen; no one checked into the hospital with gunshot wounds.”

“Not yet.”

Cindy was silent.

Decker said, “You were shot at, Cynthia, and you discharged your weapon. Or at least Koby did. Someone’s going to be checking out your story. So if you have something to add or subtract, now is the time to tell me.”

Leaning over, she kissed her father’s stubble-coated cheek. “I told them everything. I was completely straight with them other than the minor modification. So let them check me out.”

“You didn’t tail the car or try to stop it or-”

“No, no, no.” She was adamant. “I pulled over just to get the Nova’s license plate because the car was tailing me. I had planned to go back to the station house and run it through DMV. I didn’t try to apprehend anyone. I certainly didn’t instigate anything.”

“And they fired first?”

“That’s insulting, Dad.”

“I had to ask, Cynthia.”

“Yes, they fired first.”

“Then you should be fine.” Decker rubbed his neck and rolled his shoulders.

“Are we going?” Cindy asked.

Decker sidestepped the question. “You know, if Koby hadn’t fired back, it would have made your life simpler-”

“Dad, youweren’tthere.”

“Just hear me out, okay?”

Livid, she sat back in the seat, arms crossed over her chest, immediately defensive and angry. But she kept her mouth shut. Decker knew she was listening with half an ear.

He said, “If he hadn’t fired back, it would have made your life simpler. Don’t interrupt, even though you’re dying to, all right?”

“I’m not interrupting! Go on!”

Decker said, “If he hadn’t firedyourweapon, they wouldn’t have pulledyouoff duty. They would have just given you the day off, done a one-two inquiry, and that would have been that. Because no one in the opposing car could have possibly gotten hurt and there wouldn’t have been even the remotest possibility of a lawsuit… which now there is, of course. If someone got hurt, lots of questions are going to be asked, and guess whose derriere is in the hot seat?”

Cindy spoke through a clenched jaw. “He did the right thing!”

“Stop fuming! Why did he have to shoot?”

“Because we were under attack.”

“You couldn’t get away?”

“No, Dad, I couldn’t get away. That was thepoint!”

“Would you have done the same thing if the positions had been reversed? Would you have shot at the Nova?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Yeah, I think I would have-”

“Youthink?”

“Idefinitelywould have, all right?”

“I hope you mean that. I hope you sincerely feel that that was the right way to fly. Because he bought you lots of hassle-”

“He did the right thing!” She turned to him, her face red and furious. “You know, maybe I will take a cab-”

“Stop-”

“I just dealt with those morons for four hours and I’m not in the mood for this garbage, okay?”

Decker held her arm. “You want to know what I think?”

“No, actually, I don’t want to know. But I’m sure I’m going to find out.”

“Iknowthat Koby absolutely did the right thing. And I know why.” His eyes zoomed in on his daughter’s. “The question is… do you know why?”

Cindy glared at him. It was then that Decker noticed her eyes were wet. She wiped them and said, “I’m a little tired for a test right now. Get to the point.”

Decker shrugged. “If he hadn’t shot back, if he hadn’t reacted… nobody, and I meannobody,would have wanted to work with you. They would have taken one look at his shot-out car and they’d all be thinking, what thehellwasshedoing while this was going down? Was she ducking while he was dodging bullets? What if that had beenmy assbehind the wheel? No one wants a partner who freezes.”

Cindy’s mouth opened. A moment later, she shut it.

Decker said, “He knew the cardinal rule, Cynthia. It’s better to be overreactive and alive than rational and dead. Do you know why he knew it?”

She looked away, waiting for him to continue.

“Because for that one brief moment, he was back in combat being hammered by the PLO or Hamas or Hezbollah or whatever terrorist organization they have over there. Your boyfriend understands survival-the mentality that says,It’s either you or me, buddy.Doyouunderstand that mentality, Cindy?”

She took in her father’s eyes, but couldn’t quite hold them. “Probably not in the same way that you two do. But I think after my experiences last year, I’ve shown myself to be a good fighter.”

“Cynthia, you are as tough as they come. Like I told you, life has thrown you some bad curveballs, and you cope far better than I do. But you’re also a good girl. Compassion isn’t always the answer.”

“You think I’m sheltered.”

“Of course, you’re sheltered.”

“How can you say that after what happened to me?”

“Nobody could have survived what you did. I’m so damn…” Decker’s eyes turned moist. “Honey, all I’m saying is you need torecognizethreat. You have to ask yourself, if you had been in Koby’s position, would you have ducked in the passenger’s seat or would you have taken out your gun and opened fire?”

“I gave him the gun, you know.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

She was quiet, giving the question some honest thought. “The best I can come up with is I’m almost positive I would have done the same thing. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough.”

“Now can I have the phone, please?”

“No, you can’t.” Again he drilled into her eyes. “Koby’s bought you a whole lot of goodwill.”

“So let me call and thank him.”

“No, because right now, I’m going to buy you a set of balls.”

Silence. Cindy blinked, staring at her father. “I’ve done okay for twenty-eight years without them. What on earth do you have in mind?”

Decker answered her question by starting the Porsche. It roared, then purred. He peeled rubber, going south onto Wilton until he hit Olympic. Then he went east toward downtown L.A. “Somebody tried to kill you, Cynthia. Aren’t you curious?”

She didn’t answer. The question was rhetorical.

Decker said, “Am I correct in assuming that you still have no idea who perpetrated the hit-and-run against Belinda Syracuse?”

“Yes. I don’t have a clue.”

“It’s an open case?”

“So far as I know.”

“So let’s junk that because we haven’t any leads. Now Sarah Sanders’s rape is a different story. Tell me about the guy you hauled in.”

“Germando El Paso.”

“Yeah, him. Do you know where he is at the moment?”

“In County lockup.”

“You checked.”

“Not me, personally. I think Brill made the call.”

“But as you stated so succinctly, El Paso’s buddies aren’t locked up. Refresh my memory. Tell me about them again.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Germando gave us two names-Joseph Fedek and Pepe Renaldes. Fedek’s whereabouts are unknown; Renaldes has an address.”

“What’s the address?”

“I don’t remember off the top of my head. I wrote it down in my notes.”

“Where are your notes? At home?”

“They’re in my locker. Go back to the station house and I’ll-”

“No, I don’t want you going back there. Do you remember the area he lives in?”

“Oh gosh… let me think. I remember he works for Do-Rite Construction.”

“No good. We don’t want any third party involved.”

This time, she gave him the full force of her eyes. “The DA told me that Renaldes is strictly off-limits because El Paso talked without an attorney present. If I talk to Renaldes, I could mess up a future indictment for Sarah Sanders’s rape case.”

Decker glared at her. “And you give a solitaryshitwhat this littleprickhas to say when there’s someone out there who’s trying to blow your head off?”

Cindy looked at her lap. “Phrased in that manner, I suppose not.”

“What area?” Decker repeated.

“Okay… okay… uh… I have this recollection of Exposition Park. If I could just dash in and check my locker, I could-”

“Cindy, you’ve been temporarily relieved. You don’t go near the station until they tell you to come in.” Decker spoke through gritted teeth. He hit Western and headed for the freeway on-ramp. “Okay. Exposition Park. Near USC or…?”

She closed her eyes. “Maybe Forty-second Street. Why does that sound familiar?”

“It’s a musical, Cynthia.”

“Yes!” Cindy lifted a finger in the air. “Yes! Brilliant!” She grinned. “Exactly! It wasn’t Forty-second, it was Thirty-second and Broadway, because I remember thinking that his address sounded like a musical!”

“Specific numbers?”

“Can you congratulate me first?”

“Congratulations.” He turned left onto 10 East and ripped pavement. The Porsche’s engine sang. “Numbers?”

She twirled a strand of hair with an index finger. When she spoke, she had to shout over the roar of the engine. “You know, Renaldes could be listed.”

Decker took out his cell phone.

“I’ll do it,” Cindy told him.

“No, I will.”

“Dad, you’re going ninety on the freeway!”

Decker ignored her and called up information.

“You’re crazy!” Cindy shouted. “I have a maniac for a father.”

“I can’t hear! Quiet!”

“Oh God!” She slumped in her seat. “I wish I were a Catholic. Then I could cross myself.”

Decker hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. “He wasn’t listed. Let’s try again. Specific numbers?”

Cindy sighed. “I seem to remember a six or a seven in the beginning.”

“So that means three numbers if we’re talking around Broadway and Thirty-second.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It was a three-number address. I think it was an even number.”

“That narrows it down. I’m five minutes away. Let’s just poke around. See if something jogs your memory or maybe we’ll happen to come across a shot-out bronze Nova.”

“I will be happy to go along with whatever plans you’ve devised, including leaning on scumbags like Pepe Renaldes, should we find him. But not until you give me the phone and let me call Koby.”

“No.”

“Dad-”

“Not a chance!”

“Daddy, he’s worried about me. And frankly, I want to talk to him.”

“No.”

“If you don’t give me the phone, I’m going to leave at the next stoplight.”

“We’re on the freeway.”

“Daddy, give me the friggin’ phonenow!”

“Now that’s conviction!” Decker smiled at his daughter and handed her the phone. “Finally.”