Region IV office right now. Alvarez is back in uniform down along the central coast, but I know he’s got a vacation coming up that he’s planned for a while.”
“You want to talk him out of his vacation.”
“I’d like to talk him into postponing it. You’d have to give him the time off later.”
“All right, if they’re both willing, you can have them both.”
Baird slowed as they neared headquarters. He stopped and faced Marquez before going back inside the Water Resource Building and up the elevator, and for a moment Marquez thought he’d changed his mind.
“John, you are the finest field officer I’ve ever known. I want you to know that, and I don’t want you to quit when we close down the SOU.”
“I don’t know if there’s a place for me here, sir.”
“We’ll make a captain out of you.”
Marquez nodded toward the building. “You wouldn’t want me in there.”
He thanked the chief and watched him go inside. From his truck he called Alvarez, then Roberts.
“Sounds like fun,” Roberts said. “I heard these sturgeon poachers are kicking your ass.”
“Who’d you hear it from?”
“Alvarez.”
“He’s going to spend his vacation with us.”
“I guess the fun never stops.”
“We need you.”
“And I miss the SOU. Tell me where to be and when.”
“Pick up the gear you turned in and start with the computer. We’re trying to find out everything we can on a Nikolai Ludovna. We’re calling him N-I-C-K, but I think the Russians leave out the C, so you’re looking for a N-I-K L-U-D-O-V-N-A, or N-I-K-O-L-A-I. He may have been a former KGB officer. We haven’t had time to check that out.” He briefed her on what they had learned. “See what you can find out about former residences, what he did before movinghere, who sponsored him, anything at all. Start there and we’ll meet at the Sacramento safehouse tonight.”
Marquez met Shauf now outside the dirty stucco apartment where Anna rented a two-bedroom unit. It was where she’d told him she was moving back to. They went in to meet the manager, a sarcastic kid who seemed annoyed at their presence, chattering about how many police officers had already been in her apartment as he walked them up a flight of concrete stairs. When he started to go inside with them, Marquez stopped him, told him they’d bring him back the key.
The apartment looked like it had been tossed. They found a window wide open in one of the two bedrooms.
“What did the county take from here?” Shauf asked.
“Selke told me he pulled a computer, photographs, and a record of bills she’d paid. He said he took everything he thought might help locate her, but I don’t see him leaving it like this.”
“I don’t either.”
Marquez started in her bedroom, a mattress on the floor, no sheets, no covers, but a sleeping bag and pillow. In the bathroom only a Crest toothpaste tube and a frayed toothbrush in a drawer. He heard Shauf in the kitchen opening cabinets, and he moved into the second bedroom, the one Selke had described as resembling a Big 5 Sporting Goods store. Where a bed might have gone were two kayaks, one bright yellow, the other green, each with significant scrapes along the sides and bows. Several sets of oars, an O’Brien water ski board, a wake board, snow skis, a snowboard, a backpack, cycling equipment, assorted helmets, and a whole lot of other equipment and clothing.
“This is some nice stuff in here,” Shauf said and lifted a ski. “These are new. I looked at them myself this fall.”
“Are you starting to ski again?”
“I would if I could afford to. Over six hundred bucks for these, and that’s a new board she’s got there too, not the surfboard, the snowboard. What sport doesn’t she do?”
They moved into the kitchen/dining/living area. Shauf had already been through the kitchen, but Marquez felt the need to work his way along checking the cabinets, listening to the hollow slap of their doors shutting again. He
“You want to talk him out of his vacation.”
“I’d like to talk him into postponing it. You’d have to give him the time off later.”
“All right, if they’re both willing, you can have them both.”
Baird slowed as they neared headquarters. He stopped and faced Marquez before going back inside the Water Resource Building and up the elevator, and for a moment Marquez thought he’d changed his mind.
“John, you are the finest field officer I’ve ever known. I want you to know that, and I don’t want you to quit when we close down the SOU.”
“I don’t know if there’s a place for me here, sir.”
“We’ll make a captain out of you.”
Marquez nodded toward the building. “You wouldn’t want me in there.”
He thanked the chief and watched him go inside. From his truck he called Alvarez, then Roberts.
“Sounds like fun,” Roberts said. “I heard these sturgeon poachers are kicking your ass.”
“Who’d you hear it from?”
“Alvarez.”
“He’s going to spend his vacation with us.”
“I guess the fun never stops.”
“We need you.”
“And I miss the SOU. Tell me where to be and when.”
“Pick up the gear you turned in and start with the computer. We’re trying to find out everything we can on a Nikolai Ludovna. We’re calling him N-I-C-K, but I think the Russians leave out the C, so you’re looking for a N-I-K L-U-D-O-V-N-A, or N-I-K-O-L-A-I. He may have been a former KGB officer. We haven’t had time to check that out.” He briefed her on what they had learned. “See what you can find out about former residences, what he did before movinghere, who sponsored him, anything at all. Start there and we’ll meet at the Sacramento safehouse tonight.”
Marquez met Shauf now outside the dirty stucco apartment where Anna rented a two-bedroom unit. It was where she’d told him she was moving back to. They went in to meet the manager, a sarcastic kid who seemed annoyed at their presence, chattering about how many police officers had already been in her apartment as he walked them up a flight of concrete stairs. When he started to go inside with them, Marquez stopped him, told him they’d bring him back the key.
The apartment looked like it had been tossed. They found a window wide open in one of the two bedrooms.
“What did the county take from here?” Shauf asked.
“Selke told me he pulled a computer, photographs, and a record of bills she’d paid. He said he took everything he thought might help locate her, but I don’t see him leaving it like this.”
“I don’t either.”
Marquez started in her bedroom, a mattress on the floor, no sheets, no covers, but a sleeping bag and pillow. In the bathroom only a Crest toothpaste tube and a frayed toothbrush in a drawer. He heard Shauf in the kitchen opening cabinets, and he moved into the second bedroom, the one Selke had described as resembling a Big 5 Sporting Goods store. Where a bed might have gone were two kayaks, one bright yellow, the other green, each with significant scrapes along the sides and bows. Several sets of oars, an O’Brien water ski board, a wake board, snow skis, a snowboard, a backpack, cycling equipment, assorted helmets, and a whole lot of other equipment and clothing.
“This is some nice stuff in here,” Shauf said and lifted a ski. “These are new. I looked at them myself this fall.”
“Are you starting to ski again?”
“I would if I could afford to. Over six hundred bucks for these, and that’s a new board she’s got there too, not the surfboard, the snowboard. What sport doesn’t she do?”
They moved into the kitchen/dining/living area. Shauf had already been through the kitchen, but Marquez felt the need to work his way along checking the cabinets, listening to the hollow slap of their doors shutting again. He
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