Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens (11 page)

“Stop playing detective,” Inspector Crew at West Shore had told her when she called on a follow-up. “We put our resources where they do the most good. This was a sexual assault, not a rape. The clothes turned up nothing. If you’re trying to make a name for yourself, little lady, you’re going about it the wrong way. Know how many corporals there are? Over 3,600. Don’t overstep your authority or you’ll still be at that rank when you’re old and grey.” She snorted in disgust at the memory.

A car with no muffler blasted by, rattling the single-paned windows. No sense even bothering. They couldn’t continue to do the same work with one less man. Luckily they weren’t as busy now as in the middle of the summer.

Ann called, “No luck with Reg. His machine says he’s moose hunting on the mainland. That usually takes him at least a week.”

Then Ann’s phone rang. A minute later, she appeared in the doorway of her office as Holly turned from the files. “Good news, or maybe bad. We should have anticipated this. They’re sending someone out to fill in for Chipper.” She glanced up at the clock. “In fact, she should be here now … or he should.”

“She or he? They
didn’t give you a name? Just constable?”

Ann looked at the note she had made. “It’s another case of
The Young and the Restless
. Ashley Packke. That’s with an E at the end of the last name. Two K’s. I’m thinking female, but you never know.”

“That soap’s still on, but they turfed Ashley a few years ago. I remember a bunch of Crystals from
Dallas
just behind me in school. My dad would point to the many Shirleys in their seventies now. And the Marilyns in their fifties. But Ashley was a man in
Gone with the Wind
.”

Ann held up her hands. “Creative spelling makes me crazy. Sean, Shawn, Shawon. Nick knew a girl called Six once. Maybe her mother needed to number them.”

“My girlfriend Suzy Tune looked and acted just like her name. Perky and cute. Ashley was smart and gorgeous. It’s a hard name to live up to.”

The noise rose to a climax, then stopped. A lawnmower? A local senior had ridden his John Deere all the way to Steak Night at the Sooke Legion. Normally Chipper would be out like a shot. Holly gritted her teeth and stayed put.

“Whatever that noise is, they’re here. Maybe they need help. Go on out and …” She turned as the fax began printing.

“This may free me from some traffic duty, but I really don’t want to have to adjust to someone new for what could be a few weeks.” Holly folded her arms and leaned against the wall, predisposed to dislike the intruder on the spot.

“Did I hear you use the word
adjust
? Ten demerit points. You’re in the army, after all.” She gathered up the pages from the fax machine and began to read. “This might tell us more about Constable Packke.”

Footsteps sounded steps outside. A muscular woman six feet tall designed for the word
Amazon
pushed open the door with her hip, banging it against the closet. She wore a set of black leathers and carried a full-face flame-decaled motorcycle helmet under one arm. She dropped a duffle on the floor.

Her hair was curly and strawberry blond, sticking with sweat to her forehead. The prominent nose had a distinctive point. She booted the door shut the door behind her with a tiny
oomph
, then put the helmet on a table of brochures and stepped forward with her hands on her hips, looking the room up and down.

“How do you stand it out here? Any farther and Honolulu, hello. There isn’t even a Starbucks or a Serious Coffee in half an hour.”

Holly stepped forward from the lunchroom. “Excuse me. Can we help you with something?”

“I’m Ashley Packke. You should be expecting me.”

“Tact isn’t your middle name,” Ann observed, her mouth tight as her observant eyes. Like an observant hawk, she was sizing up the competition.

The woman shot her an irreverent glance. “Since you’re sitting out here playing secretary, you can’t be the boss. So where is he? Alls they told me was that this was a shack in the boonies where the living is easy.”

“You’re looking at her,” Holly said, keeping her voice even. So far the tension in the room had escalated to a level even Valium wouldn’t crack. She wanted to shake this woman’s hand about as much as she wanted to put her arm into a cobra cage. And they’d thought things couldn’t get worse? Still, she made the politic gesture. “I’m Holly Martin.”

Ashley gave her the roughest shake she’d ever felt. It went on for at least thirty seconds, though who was counting? Holly refused to back down by being the first to pull away. Did the woman squeeze exercise balls hours each morning? If she pulled that on Ann, with the woman’s occasional tendonitis, there was going to be bloodshed.

Ann folded her hands on the desk in an assessing gesture. She’d taken off her reading glasses and fixed the woman with a piercing stare. “I find it strange that you weren’t briefed on our detachment when you got the assignment. HQ isn’t usually that sloppy.”

“Whatever. I’m a fast learner. Where’s my office? Then I want to get changed. And never mind the orientation. I can tell that dick all happens here except for nap time,” Ashley said. “Well, ladies? Don’t tell me that
this
is it. You gotta be kidding.”

Things had happened so fast that Holly hadn’t thought about clearing Chipper’s things. “What you see is what you get.” She pulled a small box from the closet and started to collect his personal belongings. The silver Ganesh paperweight gave her heart a pull. Then came his Vancouver Olympics glass. Small tokens of a soul. The other drawers simply held stationery. The framed picture of his mom and dad standing proudly in front of their new store she plucked from the wall. For safekeeping she took the box to a shelf in her office closet, forcing herself to take her time. It felt like he had died.

“So this is your desk.” Holly said with a quick exhale when she returned. “Why are you still in civilian clothes? Or are you fresh from an undercover assignment?”

“Very funny. I brought my uniform. Where’s a place I can change?”

Ann pointed with a thumb. “We have a bathroom with a sink. No hot tub or sauna, despite what you imagined. You can change in our lunchroom.” Her frozen expression said
shove us and we shove back
.

With a “huh,” Ashley took the cue to disappear.

Holly gave Ann a quizzical look. “What do you think?”

“She’s a big girl. In good shape, too. Did you see those biceps? No one’s giving her a tough time on traffic patrol or breaking up a bar fight, not that we have any bars. But a charmer this one ain’t. Then again, neither are we.”

“Speak for yourself, Ann,” Holly said, patting her chest. “I am known for my cooperative personality and generous spirit.”

Ashley returned in a few minutes, rolling her substantial linebacker shoulders. In the uniform, she looked even more formidable. Neither Ann nor Holly was a fragile lily, but Ashley looked as if she could wrestle each one with one hand and win. Had she been a professional bodybuilder? With her abrupt personality, perhaps she was on steroids. Holly felt her neck hairs prickle. “Loose cannon” had been invented for this gal. On the other hand, perhaps, thrown into a strange and obviously different situation, she was overdoing the bravado. Some people chose law enforcement to exercise their aptitude for being a bully. Most of them didn’t last long.

Ashley chuckled, a nasty sound that conjured memories of revolving heads. “They said Corporals Martin and Troy.” She sat in Chipper’s chair and crossed one leg grasshopper style, taking a tissue from a box on the desk and giving her boots a buff. Holly noticed that her shirt could have stood a pressing. “So why are there two corporals in a three-man post? Somebody lose a coin toss? You look to be the older one by ten years. ’Sup?” She shot a glance at Ann.

“Now wait a minute,” Holly said. “Who do you …”

Ann held up a hand as her pupils turned to pinpoints. “Let that be a mystery for you. It will make life more interesting.” She inspected her short nails as if they told a story. “Corporal Martin is head of the detachment, as she already told you. Your short-term memory needs a booster shot.”

“No need to hit me over the head. I can see I’m pushing the wrong buttons. Don’t be so sensitive. Time of the month or what? So where’s the guy I’m replacing? I heard some funny rumours.”

Although she had a symmetrical face and expressive lips, her combative attitude was making her uglier by the minute. Holly’s clenched jaw was making her molars ache. Where would things go from here?

“On a need-to-know basis, here’s the answer. Constable Singh’s case is in the bullshit machine, and you know how long that process takes. Without revealing any details about this false accusation, we’re confident that he’ll be back here very soon.” Holly looked at Ann, who gave a confident nod. “So don’t get too comfortable,
officer
.”

Ashley’s nostrils flared as she tipped back in the chair and put her boots on the desk, pushing aside a pencil holder. “So what do you do for fun around here when dead whales aren’t floating in on the beach?”

Whale watching was big business. Every tourist wanted to ride in those Zodiacs. But recently due to a krill shortage a right whale had starved. When people were photographed hacking pieces from its rotting carcass, to respect its spirit the local Coastal Salish tribe had towed it away for a decent burial.

Ann bristled as a wave of red was beginning to build at her neck. “No shoes on the desk, honey lamb. We’re casual on the island, not sloppy. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

Ashley complied with a shrug, moving her lips silently in mimicry. “Jesus H. You got more mysteries around here. Leave me to think the worst if you want. Sounds like you’re protecting him, though. Are we talking denial? You’re both nervous. I can tell. Psychology was one of my best subjects.”

Holly and Ann made visceral eye contact, for once in total agreement. It felt good to be on the same side, but they were stuck with this idiot until Chipper returned. Instead of looking forward to coming to work, she’d want to head the other way. “If you came here to do a job you’re paid for, get to it. Our constable’s personal belongings are cleared out. There’s a closet for gear.”

“You must get lots of sleep around here. Don’t pretend anything much happens in Lalaland. Myself, I’d prefer the big city. I’m a woman of action.” She mimed a sparring bout, ending with an uppercut and a “Pow!”

The tendons in Ann’s neck tightened as Holly said, “Come into my office, constable, and I’ll give you a brief orientation. We’re not as busy here as in the summer, but we got a sexual assault last week.”

From a small leather backpack, Ashley pulled a giant-sized energy drink in a neon can and swilled it in seconds. “An assault, eh? That sounds interesting. Maybe things aren’t as dull as I thought.”

In Holly’s office, Ashley took a chair, pulling the back in front of her and straddling it cowboy style. She cocked one plucked eyebrow. “So what’s the story on the crip out there?” To her credit, she had lowered her voice.

Holly felt her blood heading for a quick boil. She got up to shut the door, before biting off the words. “Corporal Troy is a hero. She tackled a gunman on a crime spree a few years ago and sustained a serious back injury. She saved a clerk’s life. Instead of taking a disability, she decided to pitch in where she could.”

“Sure.” Ashley’s bone structure would serve her until seventy, but without a smile, what did it matter? “Tell me another one. She’s too out of shape for anything but answering the phone and filing. Standing in the way of the younger generation, ask me. The force isn’t a nursing home.”

“Nobody asked you. You have one giant Douglas fir tree on your shoulder or maybe in some darker place. Were you sent here to fill for some kind of punishment? We can ask questions, too, and you might not like to have to answer them.” Confrontation wasn’t Holly’s strong point, but Ashley was asking for it.

Ashley blew out a breath, taking her time. “I’m waiting for something to come up on the mainland. They’re cool with promoting women faster now, and I’m heading straight for the top. So get to it. Or are we going to stand here all day chatting like second graders?”

That’s the last time I rise to your bait, Holly thought. She and Ann were going to have to discuss tactics for this live one. “Fine. I assume you’ve had experience with traffic duty. We have a radar gun, and usually spend two hours a day on patrol in one of four hot spots.” The gun was ancient. Was she going to have to apologize for every sub-standard part of the detachment? Fossil Bay was like the Sargasso Sea. Old and used equipment floated in on the tide.

“Does that junker cruiser even run? Or do the wheels fall off at fifty kph?” Ashley inspected her fire-engine-red fingernails.

“You’re not getting into high speed chases here. Not unless you want to go home in a body bag. The roads aren’t made for it. They’re narrow and winding. Not to mention wet. Our monsoons are overdue. Tactics trump speed.” She added, “There’s an older Suburban for our work in the bush. We use it more in winter when there’s snow up …”

“You mean you operate in winter? I figured you closed up and went to Phoenix.”

Let her spout off for now
. It was obviously a defence mechanism. For what, though? Holly spent half an hour explaining the routines and making sure that Ashley knew where all the forms were kept. Then she went to the foyer closet for her coat as Ashley followed, scribbling notes on a pad. “If there’s nothing else, I’m nearly due for patrol. One more thing about our communications. Our radios are better than they used to be, but they’re not totally reliable. In other words, expect to be out of contact from time to time, especially west of here.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Ashley rolled her eyes, heavy with mascara and perhaps a little too bright. “God, am I thirsty. Road dust.” She opened another can from her duffle and finished half.

How many of those energy bombs did she inhale every day? Enough to give her a permanent caffeine jag. Now that Holly could focus on Ashley’s face, she noticed an application of foundation on the windburn, and her eyes were enlarged with mascara and eye shadow. An impervious light coral outlined her mouth. Neither Holly nor Ann had the time nor inclination for more than a touch of powder and the odd kiss of lipstick. Holly’s nostrils flared at a musky perfume that might have been deodorant or even a men’s cologne. Heavy scents were becoming an anomaly noticed only in close places like an elevator or small office.

“Ann can answer your questions. She’ll also show you where the stationery is and set you up with supplies if you need something that’s not on Chipper’s desk,” Holly said.

“I get you.” Ashley flopped back onto her chair and did an easy twirl. Then she reached into her duffle for a bag of chips.

“And by the way, this is a public place, and times have changed. Whatever that perfume is, save it for date nights.”

“Sheesh.” Ashley crunched, her mouth working. “When do you break for lunch?”

Back in her office, Holly tried to relax by taking a few deep breaths and thinking of the Queen, whose picture in her riding uniform, circa 1960, looked down from the wall. This was going to be brutal if it lasted long. Circles of hell opened before her. That big mouth. One of the most important characteristics of a good officer was tact, especially speaking with the public. This woman had all the sensitivity of a raging bull like the one on the cans. There was no question they needed a third person, but at what price? And what she’d said about Chipper. Was she really a bigot or just careless with her language? Her own Coastal Salish background made her even more sensitive about loaded words.