not.”
That earned him a sidelong look from Max. “You don’t think Ike is manly, and we both know it.”
Wincing at the thought that his partner had picked up on the subtle sexual tension that seemed to be growing between him and Ike, William said, “You’re right, she’s not masculine. She’s a very attractive woman.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem.” When Max simply sat on the corner of his desk, waiting, William exhaled. “Okay, you’re right, there’s a problem. But it’s with me, not her. At least not directly.”
He pushed away from the desk, stood and moved to stare out the window, not because he particularly cared about the cityscape beyond or the gray sky and falling rain but because he needed to move, needed to do something to burn off a sudden spurt of restlessness. “I haven’t told you much about why I left the Bureau.”
“I figured you’d talk about it when you were ready,” Max said. “I know you were undercover in the Trehern organization and that Viggo Trehern was scum of the first order. BoGen rumor had it that you were the only one to stay undercover — and alive — long enough to bring him down. You received a presidential commendation and helped put the bastard in jail for life. Sounds like a job well done.”
“Except for the collateral damage.” William jammed his hands in his pockets and stared at the raindrops splatting onto the window. “It was about a year after I went in undercover. I’d roughed up a few bottom-feeders and put a crooked dealer in the hospital on Viggo’s behalf, and he’d started trusting me with bigger things, mostly personal protection. Bodyguard stuff. I’d hit the clubs with him and his boys, sometimes make sure his female flavor of the week didn’t stray. Mostly the women came and went, but there was this one girl who stuck for a few months. Sharilee.”
He could picture her even now, how her sharp, hard-edged features had fit in with the lifestyle and how her brittle laugh had cracked at the edges, sometimes turning sad.
“I didn’t like her at first,” he said, more to himself than to Max. “What was to like? She was one of Viggo’s women. But I’d been under too long and I was getting strung out, starting to question things. There had already been two opportunities for Grosskill to move in, but he’d messed them both up. Thankfully not so Viggo knew. But I knew.” He paused. “I was frustrated with the Bureau, mad at Grosskill for screwing things up and, yeah, starting to make friends in the organization. The lines were blurring even before Sharilee, but she brought things to a head.”
“You fell for her?”
William shook his head. “No, but we became friends of a sort. Then one day…” He pressed his hands flat against the glass and watched the raindrops trickle beyond his palms. “A bunch of us were there — me, Trehern, the doctor he’d cultivated as a source for pain meds, Sharilee, maybe six other guys…” He trailed off, remembering that it’d been raining that day, too. “Trehern was waiting on a big deal and he was getting antsy. He’d had a run of bad luck and needed a big score, kept thinking this was it, this was the one that would turn the organization around. Guess he’d gotten suspicious, too. There’d been one too many leaks. He knew the feds had someone on the inside.”
“He made you?” Max asked.
William shook his head. “Not me. He had it down to Sharilee or the doctor. Played one off against the other for a few minutes, getting madder and madder when they both kept denying it. I tried to calm things down, tried to keep Trehern on an even keel. I was arrogant enough to think I had everything under control, but…” He trailed off, remembering how it’d escalated too quickly. “The bastard shot her dead where she stood. She got this surprised look on her face and sort of said ‘oh’ before she went down. Just ‘oh.’”
Max let the silence rest for a
That earned him a sidelong look from Max. “You don’t think Ike is manly, and we both know it.”
Wincing at the thought that his partner had picked up on the subtle sexual tension that seemed to be growing between him and Ike, William said, “You’re right, she’s not masculine. She’s a very attractive woman.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem.” When Max simply sat on the corner of his desk, waiting, William exhaled. “Okay, you’re right, there’s a problem. But it’s with me, not her. At least not directly.”
He pushed away from the desk, stood and moved to stare out the window, not because he particularly cared about the cityscape beyond or the gray sky and falling rain but because he needed to move, needed to do something to burn off a sudden spurt of restlessness. “I haven’t told you much about why I left the Bureau.”
“I figured you’d talk about it when you were ready,” Max said. “I know you were undercover in the Trehern organization and that Viggo Trehern was scum of the first order. BoGen rumor had it that you were the only one to stay undercover — and alive — long enough to bring him down. You received a presidential commendation and helped put the bastard in jail for life. Sounds like a job well done.”
“Except for the collateral damage.” William jammed his hands in his pockets and stared at the raindrops splatting onto the window. “It was about a year after I went in undercover. I’d roughed up a few bottom-feeders and put a crooked dealer in the hospital on Viggo’s behalf, and he’d started trusting me with bigger things, mostly personal protection. Bodyguard stuff. I’d hit the clubs with him and his boys, sometimes make sure his female flavor of the week didn’t stray. Mostly the women came and went, but there was this one girl who stuck for a few months. Sharilee.”
He could picture her even now, how her sharp, hard-edged features had fit in with the lifestyle and how her brittle laugh had cracked at the edges, sometimes turning sad.
“I didn’t like her at first,” he said, more to himself than to Max. “What was to like? She was one of Viggo’s women. But I’d been under too long and I was getting strung out, starting to question things. There had already been two opportunities for Grosskill to move in, but he’d messed them both up. Thankfully not so Viggo knew. But I knew.” He paused. “I was frustrated with the Bureau, mad at Grosskill for screwing things up and, yeah, starting to make friends in the organization. The lines were blurring even before Sharilee, but she brought things to a head.”
“You fell for her?”
William shook his head. “No, but we became friends of a sort. Then one day…” He pressed his hands flat against the glass and watched the raindrops trickle beyond his palms. “A bunch of us were there — me, Trehern, the doctor he’d cultivated as a source for pain meds, Sharilee, maybe six other guys…” He trailed off, remembering that it’d been raining that day, too. “Trehern was waiting on a big deal and he was getting antsy. He’d had a run of bad luck and needed a big score, kept thinking this was it, this was the one that would turn the organization around. Guess he’d gotten suspicious, too. There’d been one too many leaks. He knew the feds had someone on the inside.”
“He made you?” Max asked.
William shook his head. “Not me. He had it down to Sharilee or the doctor. Played one off against the other for a few minutes, getting madder and madder when they both kept denying it. I tried to calm things down, tried to keep Trehern on an even keel. I was arrogant enough to think I had everything under control, but…” He trailed off, remembering how it’d escalated too quickly. “The bastard shot her dead where she stood. She got this surprised look on her face and sort of said ‘oh’ before she went down. Just ‘oh.’”
Max let the silence rest for a
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