I must be dreaming. That's the only thing can explain it. Maybe when I wake up this whole bad dream will go away."
"That'd be nice, wouldn't it? But I wouldn't count on it… partner.
" Timmy hung up.
He and Aaron ate lunch at Aaron's favorite pizza place on East Ninth.
Aaron, who was wearing a particularly gaudy yellow and red Hawaiian shirt, insisted that pizza was "a perfect food," high in carbohydrates, low in cholesterol and a treat for the palate, too.
While they waited for their pie, Janek talked about losing his car: @'I was having this awful conversation with Sarah when I heard it blow.
Soon as I saw the wreckage I started to shake. Who the hell did this to me? Why? Then, when Kit turned up, she was so cool, I managed to calm down. Now I'm mad again, but in a different way-like a deep, cold fury.
Some jerk took away my wheels. I want to put him away for good."
"It's like you're a sheriff and an outlaw rides by and shoots your horse on the street."
Janek smiled. "Exactly!"
"So"-Aaron stretched-"when're you going to replace it?"
"I'm thinking of giving up the concept of car ownership. No more parking problems. No more insurance. Whenever I need wheels, I rent a set. The rest of the time… hell with it!"
"And don't forget, Frank-you've got loyal subordinates like me and Sue who'll chauffeur you around." Janek twisted in his seat. "Tell me something."
"Anything."
He looked away. "What're the odds an adoption agency would let me adopt a child?"
"You're serious?" Janek nodded. "Okay, I'll give it to you straight.
One, you're single. Two, you're middle-aged. Three, you're a cop.
Three strikes like that and, basically, you're out."
"That's how I figure it, too. Anyway, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Not that I don't think I'd make a pretty good dad. It just wouldn't work out, for me or the kid." He turned back to Aaron. "Tell me about Mr. Stephen Kane."
Aaron quickly filled him in. A personnel officer in the L.A. sheriff's office remembered Kane well. Kane had worked for the department for six years, first as an investigator and then as an intelligence operative in the Industrial Espionage Division. Near the end of his tenure there'd been some trouble. Kane was suspected of acting as a double agent, feeding sensitive information back to targeted people.
There was no proof, but when two undercover informants were killed, Kane was transferred to a routine job.
"That double-agent stuff bothers me," Aaron said. "You'd think Cavanaugh over at Sonoron would have checked him out." "Maybe Cavanaugh did,"
Janek said. "Maybe Kane's just the type he wanted."
In the middle of the meal, Aaron laid a brown eight-by-ten envelope on the table, then pushed it slowly toward Janek. Janek looked at it, but didn't pick it up.
"What's that?"
"Some stuff I dug up. On my own time."
"What kind of stuff?"
"It has to do with another matter."
Janek stared at him. Aaron was embarrassed. "What's it about?" Janek asked, casually.
"Look, we're friends, right?"
"You're probably the closest friend I've got."
"So, when you're friends with someone-real friends you should feel free to be open about stuff even when you know it's going to hurt."
"Is the stuff in this envelope going to hurt?"
Aaron nodded. "Probably." He paused. "It's about Sarah and Roy Gilette, that accountant she's been living with."
Janek felt himself go tense. "They don't live together. They go out together. Occasionally he stays over. They're not kids. They're entitled to get it on like everybody else."
Aaron shook his head. "That's not how it is, Frank. He doesn't just stay over. He's moved in. His mail's delivered there. His driver's license lists him there. So do his tax returns. He doesn't live any other place."
Janek groaned. He'd suspected as much; now, he realized, he'd refused to face the fact because the thought of Gilette living with Sarah in his old house was too upsetting to deal with. Maybe that was why he'd decided not to help Sarah with the roof-if she and Gilette were cohabiting why should he pay the bill?
"I want you to know something, Frank." Aaron looked solemn. "It was not my pleasure to gather this information. But it wasn't hard to do and I felt you ought to have it. So now, if you'll allow me, I'll fill you in on what's been going down."
Janek nodded.
"This is going to be fairly painful, so I'm going to give it to you quick. First, Sarah no longer works at Saks. Gilette's got her on the payroll at his firm, where she pulls down forty K. Between the two of them, they're knocking down over a hundred seventy per and probably more with bonuses."
Janek winced.
"Two months ago they went to Hawaii for a two-week vacation. It wasn't one of those package deals. It was deluxe all the way. Credit-card records show they flew first class. Then they stayed at the Kahala Hilton. That's minimum three-seventy-five per night. Hear what I'm saying, Frank?"
"Yeah, I hear-goddammit!" He felt like vomiting his lunch.
"I could go on. They left one hell of a trail. It's all there in the envelope. You can follow it yourself."
"Not necessary. I get the picture." Aaron, he knew, was one of the best paper-trail detectives in the Department. Whatever he'd found would be accurate.
"As I said-this was not a pleasant task."
"I appreciate that." "Any thoughts about what you're going to do?"
"Yeah," said Janek, stretching, "I've got a few thoughts. They're flashing through my mind right now. There's this tough female attorney I met recently who seems like she likes to kick butt. Her name's Henrietta Rampersad. I'm thinking maybe I can induce her to take a swipe at Sarah's."
Aaron grinned. "I like the sound of that, Frank. Take no prisoners.