LITMIR.BIZ

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twenty-six agents he had trained, all of them with paper bags over their heads; the UCEs – Undercover Employees. He wanted a paper bag for his wife. Or a plastic one.

      ‘Gotta go,’ he said. ‘Something urgent is happening somewhere urgent. Urgently.’

      ‘You asshole.’

      ‘Stupid Stupid.’

      She hung up. He loved her deeply, the crazy bitch. And he always fought for the things he loved. Gary was a violent crime expert and five years earlier had set this up – the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force. He had fought the FBI, the chiefs of the local police departments – everyone who thought it was wrong to create a multi-agency task force and house it in a nine-dollars-a-square-foot non-federal building. The nine men and one woman who made up the unit were a mix of state troopers, local detectives, sheriff’s department investigators and FBI agents, all sharing the old-school bullpen next to Gary’s office. Egos were checked at the door and no one gave a shit who was from what agency. They worked robberies, kidnapping, sexual assault on children, serial killers, violent fugitives and crimes against persons in federal prisons, military bases, national parks and Indian reservations.

      ‘Hey, where’s our beloved Ren Bryce today?’ said Robbie Truax, the youngest – twenty-nine, toned, tanned and talky; Aurora PD’s contribution to Safe Streets. He was kneeling on a chair by the window looking out at the fire escape. A hawk was slicing back and forth through the entrails of a dead pigeon like he was stitching up a wound.

      ‘Nice work, buddy,’ he said. He turned around. ‘So where is she?’

      ‘Stout Street?’ said Cliff. Cliff James was fifty-two years old and had spent twenty-five years with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Stout Street was the FBI federal building in downtown Denver, a high-security, bulletproof-glass-fronted, charmless offensive.

      Robbie shrugged. ‘Maybe.’

      ‘Where was she last night?’ said Cliff.

      ‘What do you mean?’ said Robbie.

      ‘Drinks at Gaffney’s. She didn’t show,’ said Cliff.

      ‘I wasn’t there either,’ said Robbie.

      ‘Yeah? You weren’t invited,’ said Colin. Colin Grabien was a short, dark-haired angry bulldog who had transferred from the FBI’s White Collar Squad. He had a gift for numbers and for letting people know he had a gift for numbers.

      ‘Yeah, I was,’ said Robbie.

      ‘Yeah, I was,’ whined Colin.

      ‘Shut the hell up,’ said Robbie, always dodging the F-word. ‘Anyway, she didn’t say anything about not showing today.’

      ‘She’s probably too busy fucking Vincent,’ said Colin.

      ‘In fairness,’ said Robbie, ‘Vincent is never going to be the one doing the … you know.’

      Cliff gave a gentleman’s chuckle.

      Robbie looked up and saw what Colin Grabien was about to do.

      ‘Aw, screw you,’ said Robbie, scrambling back to his desk. ‘Screw you.’

      Ren walked into the bullpen. Robbie hadn’t made it as far as his desk. He was curled on the floor with his hands over his face. Red rubber bands bounced off him from Colin’s desk. And Cliff’s.

      ‘Agent down, agent down,’ said Cliff.

      ‘You got my eye, dude,’ said Robbie. ‘My eye.’

      ‘Here’s Ren, she’ll make it all better,’ said Colin.

      ‘Ren, you’re coming out with us tonight,’ said Robbie through his hands. ‘I can’t be alone with these freaks.’

      ‘Hmm. I think I need to … go talk with Vincent,’ said Ren.

      ‘Get him to come in,’ said Colin.

      ‘You would love that,’ said Ren. ‘So you don’t have to talk to me.’

      ‘I don’t have to talk to you anyway,’ said Colin.

      ‘Yeah, you’ll be too busy with the sparkly tramp from Coasters,’ said Ren.

      ‘One night is all,’ said Colin. ‘It wasn’t a prolonged attack on anyone’s sensibilities like you are. Although, I did find glitter on my –’

      ‘Don’t,’ said Ren, holding up her hand. ‘Jesus.’

      ‘And in my –’

      ‘Shut up,’ said Ren. She sat at her desk.

      Robbie climbed up off the floor. ‘I’m frickin’ sweating here,’ he said, shaking his shirt away from his body. ‘Hey,’ he said to Ren. ‘What do you mean, you need to “go talk” to him? To Vincent? You live with him.’

      ‘Hmm,’ said Ren. ‘Not since a week or so ago …’

      ‘What?’ said Robbie. ‘Why?’

      ‘Well, he walked out.’

      ‘On you?’ said Robbie.

      Cliff and Colin were doing silent laughs behind his back.

      ‘Yes, me,’ said Ren. ‘Can you imagine?’

      ‘I seriously cannot,’ said Robbie.

      Ren smiled at him. Her mother would be thrilled if she brought Robbie Truax home. He was fit, clean and shiny. He wore perfect blue shirts and beige pants and polished shoes. He was probably a deviant.

      Ren went to the bathroom with her makeup bag. One day she would put these trips on a résumé to signify her ambition; the mirror was distorted and the lights were fitted by a man who had never been in a bathroom with a woman. The guys got the famous Safe Streets walk-in urinal, a monster the size of a shower. Ren got horror-movie lighting and no shelf for her supplies. She leaned into her reflection and did a half-assed touch-up. She didn’t ask the question, but she knew she wasn’t the fairest of them all today.

      ‘Coasters it is,’ she said, walking back into the bullpen.

      ‘What time is it?’ said Cliff.

      She pointed at him with her cellphone. ‘Drinking time. Jalapeño poppers and beer all round.’

      ‘How about we wait a little while and try eight p.m.?’ said Cliff.

      ‘Borrrring,’ said Ren.

      ‘I don’t know if that’s a good time,’ said Colin, pointing a thumb toward Robbie. ‘Hollywood here did his third piece to camera as the face of the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force. It airs at eight.’

      ‘Hey, I’m just one of the faces,’ said Robbie.

      ‘Ah, but the cutest,’ said Ren. ‘Apart from Cliff, obviously.’ Women adored Cliff; big hands, big heart, bright-eyed and warm.

      Robbie turned to Ren. ‘You’re next for the small screen.’

      ‘Not unless I’m being wheeled from a shoot-out in a body bag.’

      ‘Have you seen her near a camera?’ said Cliff. ‘She can make herself even smaller.’

      ‘And you’d look good on television,’ said Robbie.

      Ren shook her head. ‘Never gonna happen.’

      ‘Well, anyway,’ said Robbie, ‘we can get Coasters to switch on the news …’

      ‘You love it,’ said Colin.

      Gary walked in. They all stopped when they saw his expression.

      ‘I’ve got some bad news. An agent from the Glenwood Springs RA – Jean Transom – has been found dead.’

      ‘Oh my God,’ said Ren.

      Gary

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