“Almost.”
“I’ve got traffic completely shut down behind you. Move what you can and we’ll send highway patrol for the rest.”
Andre tilted his face to the sky, letting the rain wash over his cheeks. He checked in with the patrolmen and got them started on traffic control. Then he found Oliver, opened his wallet, and removed the keycard to the Raven. “Thanks for everything. You can drive my car off the highway with everybody else. Nobody will notice you’re not me.”
Oliver reached a wet hand to take the key card. “I’ll leave it at Bella Trattoria.”
“Yeah, fine.” Andre took a step toward the next vehicle.
Oliver caught his shoulder. “You owe me.”
Andre flung out his arm to the tangled mess of cars. “Jesus, Oliver, there are kids dying in there.”
“I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about you. Owing me.”
“Could you be any more selfish?”
“Me? Selfish? I just moved all these cars, in the pouring rain, talking to who knows how many pains-in-the-ass, for no reason other than I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“What would be the right place, Oliver? Huh? Would it be the right place if you had a minicam and campaign literature with you?”
“Greenfield Village. Friday night.” Oliver sauntered off with a self-satisfied air that was as galling as it was unsurprising. He turned back and held up the key. “No later than six.”
A ndre walked into his cubicle and snapped off the companel. It was a favorite prank among the custodians. Leave the companels in each office tuned to the same spinner. Today, it was Naked Jay. The last thing he needed was to see a grossly obese man in a skin suit pontificating about how foreign cars were to blame for yesterday’s pile-up. It was bad enough this morning, when Andre had taken one look at the huge knot of fourths at his stop, then turned around and fetched his car. Almost everyone was staying off 96 and the side roads were jammed. Just as he’d feared, in the wake of an Overdrive malfunction, everyone assumed the surface streets were safer. The mayor’s office was working double time on the positive PR, trotting out experts to explain every detail of the new, failsafe system, but it would be days, maybe weeks, before people fully trusted the highways.
Seeing Naked Jay reminded Andre that it had been awhile since he’d last scanned for smart tags. Not that he expected to find one. The spinners had all but given up trying to sneak recording equipment onto police officers. Any information they found wasn’t worth the inevitable lawsuits. But getting caught with a tag on you was worse for the police officer than for the spinner it led back to, so scanning was a must. Andre pulled a full-sized scanner out of his desk drawer. He’d never sprung for a newer, mini model, content with one the size and shape of a soup ladle. He held the handle and did a cursory wave over his body, letting it scan the most obvious parts.
He’d started scanning his shoes when he heard voices outside his cubicle. Voices he recognized. He looked left, right, but there was nowhere to hide and it was too late to run. He sighed and dropped the scanner into his drawer, then swung into his chair as Danny Cariatti escorted in a smartly-dressed, beautifully made-up, and very smug Sofia Gao.
“Here you go, Sergeant,” Danny said, sweeping one arm into the small cube. “Andre, you know you’re supposed to meet your appointments downstairs. Someone could wander around up here for hours.”
“We didn’t have an appointment.”
“I saw her looking for you. Nice lady like this, I had to help.”
“Thanks, Danny.” Andre smiled with his mouth while he killed Danny with his eyes. I will get you for this.
“Don’t mention it,” Danny said. “City and suburb, we have to cooperate with each other.”
“So true.” I will hunt you down and murder you in your sleep.
Danny leaned a shoulder on the door jam. “City cops have a
“I’ve got traffic completely shut down behind you. Move what you can and we’ll send highway patrol for the rest.”
Andre tilted his face to the sky, letting the rain wash over his cheeks. He checked in with the patrolmen and got them started on traffic control. Then he found Oliver, opened his wallet, and removed the keycard to the Raven. “Thanks for everything. You can drive my car off the highway with everybody else. Nobody will notice you’re not me.”
Oliver reached a wet hand to take the key card. “I’ll leave it at Bella Trattoria.”
“Yeah, fine.” Andre took a step toward the next vehicle.
Oliver caught his shoulder. “You owe me.”
Andre flung out his arm to the tangled mess of cars. “Jesus, Oliver, there are kids dying in there.”
“I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about you. Owing me.”
“Could you be any more selfish?”
“Me? Selfish? I just moved all these cars, in the pouring rain, talking to who knows how many pains-in-the-ass, for no reason other than I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“What would be the right place, Oliver? Huh? Would it be the right place if you had a minicam and campaign literature with you?”
“Greenfield Village. Friday night.” Oliver sauntered off with a self-satisfied air that was as galling as it was unsurprising. He turned back and held up the key. “No later than six.”
A ndre walked into his cubicle and snapped off the companel. It was a favorite prank among the custodians. Leave the companels in each office tuned to the same spinner. Today, it was Naked Jay. The last thing he needed was to see a grossly obese man in a skin suit pontificating about how foreign cars were to blame for yesterday’s pile-up. It was bad enough this morning, when Andre had taken one look at the huge knot of fourths at his stop, then turned around and fetched his car. Almost everyone was staying off 96 and the side roads were jammed. Just as he’d feared, in the wake of an Overdrive malfunction, everyone assumed the surface streets were safer. The mayor’s office was working double time on the positive PR, trotting out experts to explain every detail of the new, failsafe system, but it would be days, maybe weeks, before people fully trusted the highways.
Seeing Naked Jay reminded Andre that it had been awhile since he’d last scanned for smart tags. Not that he expected to find one. The spinners had all but given up trying to sneak recording equipment onto police officers. Any information they found wasn’t worth the inevitable lawsuits. But getting caught with a tag on you was worse for the police officer than for the spinner it led back to, so scanning was a must. Andre pulled a full-sized scanner out of his desk drawer. He’d never sprung for a newer, mini model, content with one the size and shape of a soup ladle. He held the handle and did a cursory wave over his body, letting it scan the most obvious parts.
He’d started scanning his shoes when he heard voices outside his cubicle. Voices he recognized. He looked left, right, but there was nowhere to hide and it was too late to run. He sighed and dropped the scanner into his drawer, then swung into his chair as Danny Cariatti escorted in a smartly-dressed, beautifully made-up, and very smug Sofia Gao.
“Here you go, Sergeant,” Danny said, sweeping one arm into the small cube. “Andre, you know you’re supposed to meet your appointments downstairs. Someone could wander around up here for hours.”
“We didn’t have an appointment.”
“I saw her looking for you. Nice lady like this, I had to help.”
“Thanks, Danny.” Andre smiled with his mouth while he killed Danny with his eyes. I will get you for this.
“Don’t mention it,” Danny said. “City and suburb, we have to cooperate with each other.”
“So true.” I will hunt you down and murder you in your sleep.
Danny leaned a shoulder on the door jam. “City cops have a
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