“I think I’ll pass. I won’t be staying long anyway.”
“Okay, so what’s up?”
“Is Maggie here?”
“No, she’s still at work.”
“Good. I wanted to talk alone.”
I could tell there was something tweaked about him. Cisco was a stoic man, but that meant he let stuff build up inside until he had no choice but to let it out. I sensed this was one of those times. I closed the front door but we remained standing in the entranceway.
“What’s going on, big man?” I said.
“Look, Mick, we go back a long time,” Cisco started. “I mean, you stood as best man at my wedding to your ex. We’ve been through it. So I just want to say, if you want me to quit, just say the word and we’ll shake hands and go our separate ways.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t want you to quit. We have a major trial coming up and another case lined up after that. Why would I want you to quit?”
“Because maybe you don’t need me. This whole move to civil means I’m doing less and less PI stuff for you. You now got McEvoy running lead on the discovery stuff. Lorna tells me you’re calling Bamba Bishop. I mean, I don’t know what that’s about, but I’m beginning to wonder where I stand.”
In that moment I knew I had messed up with him. This was Employee Relations 101 and I had blown it.
“Tell you what, let’s have that beer,” I said.
I led him to the kitchen, where I took two tall cans of Guinness Zero out of the fridge and two tulip pint glasses out of the freezer. Before I said a word, I took the time to slowly pour the first glass, carefully building the head, then handed it to him.
After the second pour we clinked glasses and drank. There was no place to sit in the kitchen. I leaned back against the counter while Cisco stood in the middle of the room.
“Holy shit,” Cisco said, foam in his mustache.
“Like the real thing, huh?” I said.
“Fucking A. How do they do it?”
He held up the can and looked at it as if the answer might be written on it.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But they know what they’re doing. Just like you, Cisco. I don’t want you to quit. Are you nuts? I need you, man. The workload may be lighter these days but it will pick up once we win this. McEvoy is here for the one case and I’m tapping his expertise. But it doesn’t take away from your value. And Bamba was nothing. I just wanted to see how he was doing. I apologize if I made you feel like you’re second string. You’re not — far from it.”
Cisco nodded. I think he’d heard what he needed to hear. There was a small hint of a smile on his face.
“Okay, Mick,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
He drank down half his glass in one long gulp, then set the glass down on the counter.
“Okay, I’m gonna go, then,” he said. “Thanks for the beer.”
I liked how he didn’t linger. He’d gotten the answer he was looking for and now he was moving on.
“Anytime,” I said.
I walked him out to the front deck, carrying my beer. He started down the steps to the street. I saw his Harley parked down there.
“Hey, Cisco, do me a favor,” I called after him. “Coast down the hill before you start that machine up.”
He waved a hand over his head, which I took as a signal that he had heard me and would do as requested. I moved to the corner of the deck and leaned my elbows on the railing. I sipped my beer and looked out at the city lights. The Sunset Strip glowed like a dream. There was still a slight scent of smoke in the air from the Runyon Canyon fire, but I wondered if I was just imagining that.
I looked down and watched Cisco glide silently down Fareholm on his old panhead. I could make out the orange flames painted on the gas tank and wondered if that was still a good look, considering recent history. He took the curve to the right and disappeared. That was when I heard the V-twin rumble to life. I smiled and was happy we’d had the conversation we’d just had.
I stayed out there in the chill evening air until Maggie came home. She had apparently changed at the office from her work clothes, and was wearing blue jeans, Doc Marten boots, and the sweatshirt I had gotten at one of the World Series games in October. It reminded me of what the city had been through in just a few months, from the high of a World Series championship to being laid low by the fires of January.
“Hey,” she said when she got to the top of the stairs.
Her boots and pants were dusted with ash and I knew where she had been.
“You went up there in the dark?” I said. “You should’ve called me. I’d have gone with you. Not sure that’s safe at night.”
“It was okay,” she said. “No one was there.”
She had returned several times to what was left of her neighborhood. Every home had been reduced to scorched brick, twisted metal, and ash. A forest of chimneys left standing. Going back was part of her mourning process. It reminded me of open-casket funerals. Some people had to see the body to accept the person was gone. Maggie had to go back again and again to accept what she had lost.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I sent a text.”
“Sure,” she said. “I could eat something. I missed the text, sorry.”
“It’s okay. In or out?”
“Uh, you know what, let’s go out. I just need to change real quick.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Someplace with good red wine.”
“Okay, you change. I’ll get a reservation.”
Before she went in, she came to me at the corner of the deck, put her arms around me, and pulled me into a hug. Over my shoulder she looked out at her city.
“The lights are pretty,” she said. “It’s like nothing could ever go wrong in this place.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was thinking the same thing.”
20
As I was driving to the courthouse Thursday morning I got a call from McEvoy.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said. “Challenger just called me. She’s in. She’ll come down and testify.”
“Shit,” I said.
“What? I thought you’d be ecstatic.”
“No, I am. I am. But the witness list went in yesterday. I’ll have to amend it, and the judge is not going to be happy about that. Neither will opposing counsel. But this is good, Jack. Really good. Did she say what changed her mind?”
“Yeah, she got mad. She said Tidalwaiv is trying to intimidate her. She saw some big scary guy hanging around watching her place. She thinks he’s from Tidalwaiv.”
“Really? Bad move.”
“Intimidation was definitely the wrong move with her.”
“This is important: Did she ask for anything in return?”
“You mean for testifying? Uh, no. She just said she wanted to shove it up Tidalwaiv’s ass. Her words, not mine.”
“Good. I like an angry witness — as long as they’re not angry at me. And she can come down next week? I’d probably put her on either late Monday or Tuesday. I want her near the start of the trial. Get her on the stand before she can change her mind.”
“She said next week would work. But she wants a subpoena to explain her absence to the university.”
“The Masons are going to throw a fit when they find out about her. It’ll be a fight. If I win and she’s in, I’ll get the subpoena out today.”
“You gotta get her in, Mickey. She’s gold.”
“I know, I know. You should go to the courthouse to watch the fireworks. Might make a whole chapter in your book.”
“I’m about to head that way. Was letting the traffic die down a bit first.”
“You know, now that I think about it, I want you to call and see if Challenger can come down right away to prep. Then I want you to go up and bring her down.”