The Trojan Colt by Mike Resnick

Author:Mike Resnick [Resnick, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781616147891
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2013-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

I drove around for an hour or so, just letting the scenery relax me as I tried to clear my mind, which was too damned cluttered with useless details. Then I started getting hungry, and I remembered that I’d promised to take Bernice out to dinner. Well, to meet her for dinner anyway.

I drove back toward the station, passing another one along the way. It was nice to know they had so many cops on duty, but the place was so peaceful I couldn’t help wondering why. Then the answer hit me—to keep the place so peaceful, of course—and I realized that I really was getting tired.

I stopped by the motel to take a quick shave and shower, put on a clean shirt—no noticeable dirt on the one I’d put on in the morning, but I had a feeling it and I both smelled of horses, or at least of stables.

Finally I drove to the station and walked up to Bernice’s desk.

“You ready?” I said.

“In about five minutes,” she said. “My replacement just got here, and she’s in the washroom changing.”

“Into what?” I asked in a feeble attempt at humor.

“We’re not plainclothes detectives like some people I could mention,” she replied. “When we’re on duty, we have to be in uniform.” She checked her watch. “She should be here in the next minute or so.”

“Then what do we need five minutes for?”

She gave me the kind of look I’m sure an owner gives a lame horse that he just bought an hour earlier. “I have to get back into my civilian clothes.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ve been concentrating too much on trillion-dollar horses and not on beautiful policewomen.”

She smiled. “For a compliment like that, all is forgiven.”

A graying blonde in freshly pressed police blues approached us. “I’ll take over now,” she said.

“Fine,” said Bernice, getting to her feet. “Eli, this is Brenda. I’ll just be a couple of minutes.”

“Hello,” I said.

“Hi, Eli,” replied Brenda. “I feel like I know you already. You’re almost a resident here at the station from what I hear.”

“Too bad I’m not,” I said. “It’s cleaner than most of the places I’ve been this week.”

She laughed. “That’s the first rule of the game in horse country: Watch your step.”

“I’d rather be James Bond, wearing a tuxedo and sitting across elegant gaming tables from master criminals,” I replied. “But I can’t tie a bow tie, and I’ve never found a pair of patent leather loafers.”

She smiled at me. “Bernice was right,” she said. “I like you already.”

“Bernice said you’d like me?”

“She said you were likeable.”

“I hope she still thinks so after dinner,” I said.

“I hope for your sake she still thinks so,” said Brenda. “We policewomen are tough.”

“I’ll treat her with all the respect due a member of the law.”

“You’d better,” answered Brenda. “She doesn’t brag about it, but she’s the best shot in this station.”

Bernice joined us then, looking not beautiful, she hadn’t been beautiful even twenty years ago, but very pretty and immaculately groomed and dressed.

“Did I give you enough time to tell Eli a bunch of lies about me?” she asked pleasantly.

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