Final justice - W.E.B. Griffin [26]
"You'd like to see him in shackles?" Captain Sabara replied. "I'd like to see him fry. I'd strap him in the chair myself."
Despite his somewhat menacing appearance, Captain Michael Sabara was really a rather gentle man. Matt was surprised at his vehemence.
"Fry"? "I'd strap him in the chair myself"?
Who are they talking about?
"You were saying, Detective Payne?" Inspector Wohl went on.
"Sorry, sir. I had to change my clothes," Payne said.
"When was the last time you got a postcard, Dave?" Commissioner Coughlin asked.
"I get one every couple of months," Pekach replied. "The one before this was from Rome. This one's from someplace in France."
"Probably from where he lives," Coughlin said, shaking his head. "The sonofabitch knows the French won't let us extradite him."
"Unless it had something to do with Monsignor Schneider, I don't think I want to hear why you had to change your clothes," Inspector Wohl said.
"Nothing to do with the monsignor, sir."
"Good," Inspector Wohl said. "I presume everything went well at the meeting?"
"Everything went well at the meeting," Matt said. "I e-mailed you, sir."
"So you did," Wohl said. "And I was delighted to hear that you think you're in love, but wondered why you thought you should notify me officially."
"You're in love, are you, Payne?" Captain Pekach asked.
"No, sir, I'm not."
"Then why did you tell Inspector Wohl you were, and as part of your official duties?" Commissioner Coughlin asked.
"It was a little joke, sir," Matt said.
Jesus, why the hell did I do that?
And damn it, I sent it to his personal e-mail address, so it wasn't official.
"You have to watch that sort of thing, Matty," Commissioner Coughlin said, his tone suggesting great disappointment in Matt's lack of professionalism.
"Who are you in love with, Payne?" Captain Sabara asked.
"There was a girl at the meeting," Matt said. "I . . ."
"The sort of girl you could bring home to dinner with your mother?" Sabara pursued.
"Or to dinner with my Martha?" Captain Pekach asked.
Martha was Mrs. Pekach.
"Sir?"
"More important," Sabara asked, "what makes you think this female is in love with you?"
I am having my chain pulled. Just for the hell of it? Or is there more to this?
"Actually, sir, I knew she was in love with me from the moment she saw me. I seem to have that effect on women."
There were smiles, but not so much as a chuckle.
"Let me put it to you this way, Matty," Commissioner Coughlin said, very seriously. "The one thing a detective--or a newly promoted sergeant--doesn't need is a reputation as a ladies' man . . ."
What did he say--"or a new sergeant"?
". . . it tends to piss off the wives of the men they're working with," Coughlin finished.
Now there was laughter.
"Congratulations, Matty," Coughlin said. "You're number one on the list."
He stood up, went to Matt, shook his hand, and put his arm around his shoulders.
"I'll be damned," Matt said.
"Damned? Probably, almost certainly," Wohl said. "But for the moment, we're all proud of you."
"Yeah, we are, Matt," Pekach said. "I don't think even our beloved boss was ever number one on a list."
"Yeah, he was," Coughlin corrected him. "Peter was number one on the lieutenant's list."
Officer O'Mara appeared at the door with a digital camera, lined them all up, with Matt in the middle, and took four pictures of them.
"There's a dark side to this," Pekach said. "Matt, you know Martha's going to have a party for you."
"She doesn't have to do that," Matt said.
"She will want to," Pekach said.
"I've got to go back to work," Coughlin said. He looked at Hollaran. "Frank and I would have been out of here long ago if Detective Payne hadn't found it necessary to take a bath in the middle of the morning."
"It was a matter of absolute necessity," Matt said.
"So we'll leave just as soon as Matty calls his father and mother and lets them have the good news."
"Sir?" Wohl asked, confused.
"You don't mind if I borrow him for a couple of hours, do you, Peter?"
"No, sir."