Case of the Claw by DeCandido Keith

Author:DeCandido, Keith [wds, Keith R. A. DeCandido About 3300]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2011-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

8.30am

The minute Kristin Milewski got a signal after stepping out of the Platinum Line train at the 72nd Street stop, she dialed Mara Fontaine's number.

Before Fontaine could even say, "Hello," Milewski asked, "Any word on Paulie?"

"Not yet. Singh's guys can't get a shot on the Bolt, and the sonofabitch still won't answer Ferguson's calls."

Milewski winced. "Ferguson? NotLake?"

"They switched shifts last week."

"Great." Milewski jumped up the staircase that led to street level two at a time. "Paulie's life's on the line and it's left to that jackass?"

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's totally incompetent! I worked with him in Narcotics, and he had no idea what the hell he was doing." She strode purposefully down Claremont Road toward 75th and the SchwartzBuilding, landsharking her way around the various people on the street, most of whom were commuters headed to their offices or one of the many delis and coffee shops in the ground floors of the office buildings on Claremont. Milewski was tempted to head for the latter, but she was barely on time as it was, and if she stopped for coffee, she'd never hear the end of it from MacAvoy.

Not that she was ever likely to hear the end of it from him.

"Kris, I thought you didn't even like Paulie."

"I don't." Milewski bit her lip. "Exactly."

"Uh huh."

"Look, I know we broke up years ago, and I know he's an asshole, but he still…" She trailed off.

Milewski could hear Fontaine's smile. "You don't want so fine a piece of ass to get killed by some lame super?"

"I wouldn't have put it quite that crudely." Milewski glared at her Zap even though it was lost over the phone. "But yeah, pretty much. I mean, yeah, he's a total jackass, and I wouldn't go out with him again if my life depended on it, but still…"

"I know. Personally, I wouldn't go near him without a can of Lysol and a full-body condom. But he's good police, y'know?"

"Yeah." Milewski's opinion was mostly the opposite. He was fantastic to look at, but not her first choice to have her back when she kicked a door in. "Look, I gotta go meet with the costumes again."

"By yourself?"

Frowning, Milewski realized that she'd used "I" instead of "we." "No, sadly, I'm still saddled with Mac. Unless he woke up this morning and finally choked on his own bile."

"Yeah, he's a piece of work, that one. I almost kicked him in the balls yesterday."

"You should've. I totally would've alibi'd you." Milewski found herself visualizing Fontaine doing so while in the video room yesterday. The image gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling. "I can't wait until he gets his thirty. Just another three months and I'm free of him."

At this point, Milewski was jogging across 74th Street, avoiding being hit by a Lexus zooming through the yellow light before it turned red.

"You're gonna nail them about the Bajramis, right?" Fontaine asked.

"Absolutely. Mac said he'd pick up the zap gun from evidence on his way."

"Which one of the Inferior Six are you talking to?"

"Not sure.

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