Crash Landing

"OK Max, sorry."

* * *

I checked the shotgun and secured it in the holder between our seats. As usual, Lesley was driving. We headed off to Happy Donut and of course the first thing she said when she shut her door was "Let's have it."

"I stepped out on her."

Lesley hadn't started the car. She stared at me. "Oh Max . . . how could you?"

"I . . . I don't know what got over me," I confessed, although I did know what got over me. Lust. I didn't think I loved Lily, but I certainly lusted after her. She was exotic, mysterious and oh so sexy. I had a weakness for beautiful women, just like I had a weakness for vodka.

Then the other shoe dropped. The big shoe.

"Who was it Max?"

I took a deep breath. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone."

"That bad?"

"Just swear God damn it."

"OK, OK Max, I swear."

"It was Lily."

The expression on Lesley's face was priceless. A combination of shock, amazement and horror.

"Oh my fucking God. Even for you Max, that is some seriously fucked up shit."

It was.

"I know," I confessed to her.

"Max, that can get you fired, or worse."

"No one can know."

"Sky knows, doesn't she?"

"I told her."

"Then she . . . "

"Walked out," I said.

"Oh, Jesus Max, you've really stepped into it this time. I'll admit Lily is quite a looker but for fucks sake she's a drug dealer and probably, almost certainly, a murderer. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking."

"Of course you weren't. Are you still seeing her?"

"Not really."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Max . . . no more . . . understand? No more."

"OK Lesley, I get it."

"Swear."

She waited for me.

"OK, I swear."

She started the car. "I don't know what to say Max. Lily's the drug dealer we're trying to catch, not to fuck."

"Very funny Lesley."

"You'd laugh if you were in my shoes. Max Pemberton, hard ass detective. Eating Lily's pussy. You weren't some sort of sex slave like Jasmine, were you?"

Jasmine was Lily's submissive. I kicked myself for telling Lesley about Jasmine . . . and Lily. "No Lesley, I wasn't her fucking sex slave."

Lesley chuckled. "So how was it Max? Lily's hot. Was she as good as I imagined?"

I truly regretted telling her. "Lesley, no more, OK? I get it. I fucked up royally. Now I'm going to call on you as my partner to help me get myself out of this stinking mess."

"All right partner. But this is too good to keep my mouth shut, at least with you."

* * *

We arrived at Happy Donut after Lesley had extracted her pound of flesh from me. I knew my tryst with Lily would have repercussions. I just didn't imagine the severity of Sky and Lesley's reaction. Leave it to me to underestimate the extent of my fuckupedness. Bea was holding court at the counter, expounding on the value of an education. Next to her was a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to Bea, though much taller.

"Ah, Max, you need to meet my daughter Thanh Ha," said Bea, pulling her daughter forward. Thanh Ha was a beautiful young woman, appearing confident and self-assured.

"You're the famous Max," Thanh Ha said. "My mother can't stop talking about you."

"You don't believe daughter," interjected Bea. "I no talk about you at home."

"My friends call me Tan. Pleased to meet you Max."

"Your mother's a gem," I told her. "And this is my partner Lesley."

"Ah Lesley . . . you're as lovely as my mother said you'd be."

"So Max," Bea said, butting in again. "You no look so good. Maybe worse than last time."

Tan chuckled. "Mom's never one to mince words."

"I'm well aware of that."

"So what are you doing Tan?" Lesley asked.

"I'm a 2L at Harvard Law."

"So you're the failure in the family," I said, repeating Bea's claim when she was denigrating her daughter's choice of a profession.

My remark elicited a cute laugh from Bea's daughter. "That's what mom tells all her mah jongg buddies."

"She doesn't like lawyers," I said.

"Mom hates lawyers," said Tan, agreeing with me.

"I don't know why you no go to medical school like good girl," Bea said.

"I enjoy the law, especially criminal justice," Tan said, ignoring her mother's remark.

"They'll be plenty of business for you in Cincinnati, that's for sure," said Lesley.

My shoulder mounted speaker squawked.

"Return to station. See Lieutenant Odette," the dispatcher said.

"Sorry Bea, got to go," I said. "Good meeting you Tan."

Lesley and I left without our donuts and coffee. I wondered what the big fucking deal was.

* * *

"What do you think's going on?" Lesley asked when we got back in the cruiser.

"No idea. I just hope I'm not in trouble," I said. "I've already got a bushel basket full of problems. Don't need Odette crawling up my ass as well."

"Heard rumors something was up with Jumbo . . . nothing concrete," Lesley said.

Jeremiah "Jumbo" Williams ran the West End drug trade until I busted him. Then Lily conveniently took over.

"Fuck that," I said. "Jumbo's got at least another year to run on his gun possession sentence. Gotta be something else."

* * *

Lieutenant Billy Odette was the highest ranking African-American woman on the force. She was a no bullshit kind of gal, and had a stern expression on her face when Lesley and I went into her office.

"Take a seat ladies," she said. That meant bad news.

"Jumbo Williams is being released next week."

"See?" Lesley mouthed to me.

That couldn't be. Only a miracle worker could get him a shortened sentence. I spent a year trying to get that bastard in jail. I voiced my frustration.

"How can that be Lieutenant? Jumbo's got at least another year before he's eligible for parole."

"He got an expedited hearing. Apparently for good behavior." Her voice reflected resignation to the fact that sometimes money wins over justice.

"That's bullshit," I said. "He's no more capable of good behavior than I am."

Odette laughed. "So true. But he's got a better lawyer than you can afford."

"Yeah, who's that?" I asked.

"Sondra Karlsson. Do you know her?"

Of course I knew her. She represented Maureen McCormick, the former Hamilton County Prosecutor. She gave me some useful information that I used to bust DaVanna Caruso. She was a top flight criminal defense attorney and was one of the few lawyers that could work that kind of miracle. And it was impossible to forget that she was also a knockout statuesque Scandinavian blonde.

"I do. So Sondra got him off?"

"She's apparently got a friend on the parole board."

"Shit," I said. "Figures. His money and his fancy lawyer bought him a lot of friends."

"Yeah," said Billie. "Now we've got a potential turf war between Jumbo and Lily. You know Lily, don't you?"

Yes, I thought to myself, in the Biblical sense.

I could see that Lesley was suppressing a laugh. I kicked her, hoping Billie wouldn't notice.

"Hey!" she mouthed.

"Shut up," I mouthed back.

"What are you girls doing over there?" Billie demanded.

"Nothing," I said.

"You're acting like fucking teenagers. Now Max, I hope there isn't anything you're not telling me."

"No boss," I said reflexively. My mouth moved before my brain engaged.

"God damn it Max, I told you not to call me boss," she said, scolding me for the umpteenth time.

"Sorry . . . um . . .Lieutenant," I muttered.

"So anyway, I'm assigning you and Lesley to go visit Lily and tell her that we're expecting that they're won't be any violence. Last thing I God damn need is a fucking turf war. The bodies. And then the Chief chewing on my ass."

"Got it," I said, like I was the miracle worker now.

"You better Max. And you and your partner there better not fuck this assignment up."

It wasn't an assignment, it was a suicide mission.

* * *

"Great," Lesley said to me as we left Odette's office. "Billy's putting it on us to keep Lily and Jumbo from killing each other."

"As if I didn't have enough problems," I lamented to her. This assignment had zero chance of success. And given what Lesley knew about Lily and me, she was the last person I wanted to go with me. I decided to see if I could convince her to stay back.

"This effort doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of succeeding. Why don't you stay here and catch up on your paperwork. You're always complaining you don't have the time. I'll go visit Lily so we can tick the box. Odette's never going to know you didn't go."

She rolled her eyeballs at me. "Max, you never gave a shit about me having time for my paperwork. You don't want me to go and see you and your new girlfriend up close and personal. I wouldn't miss this for the world, and you know orders are orders."

Fuck. She had me there.

* * *

Lily's place of business was located in an Asian grocery store in the West End. The store appeared to be nondescript, but was a fortress inside, with armored doors equipped with retinal scanners. No one who wasn't an invited guest could penetrate those defenses. The back door was guarded by Mr. Tattoo and a couple minions. Lesley and I went to the rear entrance.

"You have business here?" Minh asked. He flexed his arms and the dragon tattoo on his forearm appeared to move in a menacing fashion.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked him, pointing to the big red strawberry burn on his cheek that my sidewalk face wash gave to him.

"Fuck you," he said, fingering the gun he had holstered on his chest.

"Remember Maddy?" I asked.

"I don't know no Maddy," he claimed. His claim was false and he knew it. I had the video evidence to prove he visited Maddy's bar on several occasions, including the night she was killed.

"She was my best friend. That little beat down the other day was just a sample of the ass whooping I'm going to give you."

"I be ready for you and your little cunt friend," he said, glaring at Lesley.

"I'm tired of talking to you. Why don't you run along like a good little errand boy and see if your boss woman will see us. Remember, she's your boss but I'm your daddy."

I could see that he wanted to pull his gun on me but he thought better of it.

"Run along," I said.

He grumbled and went inside.

"Wow, you're really poking the bear," Lesley said to me.

"I need a new fur coat. I think he's just my size," I said.

"Max. Max, I warned you. Did you want to go to jail?"

"Jail sounds good after I rip his heart out and eat it."

The door opened.

"She'll see you."

He held the door open for Lesley and me.

I made a kissing noise as we passed by. "See you soon junior."

* * *

Lily was fixing her red nail polish when Lesley and I entered her office. She screwed the top back on and put the bottle in one of her desk drawers. She waved her hand to dry it.

"My, my Max. You've brought your lovely partner with you. Your father's Saul. He was the police chief a while back? Recommended you for the academy?" she asked Lesley.

As usual, Lily had the background on us memorized. But with Bobby gone, I wondered who her source of information was. She'd probably already cultivated a new source.

"That's right Ms. Chao," Lesley said.

"Please, please, call me Lily. Max does." Lily gave me a wink.

Lesley picked up on the sexual innuendo and stole a glance at me, narrowing her eyes. I could see her warning me without speaking. Her facial expression was saying "Don't do it Max."

I gave her a sideways glance to acknowledge that her message was received.

"So how can I be of assistance to you today?" Lily asked, bright and chipper.

"I assume you know about Jumbo."

"I just wish I'd gotten to Sondra Karlsson before he did," she said wistfully. "She knows the right buttons to push. She did a masterful job of getting Jumbo out a year early."

Even criminals were singing Sondra Karlsson's praises.

"So you know my message," I said, getting to the heart of the matter.

"I presume Lieutenant Odette told you that she doesn't want a turf war."

"You are correct."

She always knew what I was going to say before I said it.

"But you don't know how we can avoid it."

"That's right again," I said.

"Well Max, I told you before I have a permanent solution."

I saw Lesley mouth "What??" when Lily said that.

"That doesn't involve killing him?" I asked, voicing Lesley's question as well.

"Max, you know I can't share my methods with you. You'll have to earn your paycheck on this one."

I didn't need to do any work on the "what." She was going to kill him. It was just a matter of how. The "how" was what I needed to figure out.

"And you? What are you doing to protect yourself?" I asked, perhaps unnecessarily.

"Again, Max, I'm touched by your concern. But I do know how to take care of myself."

"And speaking of taking care of things, I still have a score to settle with Minh Tran," I told her.

"Yes. Well ever since DaVanna's untimely death I've had to take him under my wing . . . and protection."

The last phrase was for me.

"He's fair game in my book," I warned her.

"Max, I know you don't have any hard evidence to bring him in on Maddy Bailey's death. Otherwise you would have done it already. Unfortunately, as a police woman, you have to play by the rules. Of course I don't."

"I think the rulebook's a bit fuzzy on this. You know, there's nothing in the rulebook that covers the topic of 'killing my best friend.' You know what my rulebook says."

"I think you're going to have to chalk this up as a loss for you Max. Minh's part of my protection team now, and as you said, with Jumbo out I need all hands on deck."

"No Lily. You know I don't give up."

"Does that mean on us as well?" she asked.

I couldn't help but be sexually attracted to her. This banter was only supercharging my desire for her. Now she posed the question, and Lesley was there to hear the answer. I glanced over at Lesley. She wasn't missing a word of this.

I had no choice but to repeat the company line. "I promised Sky and Lesley that we're done."

Lesley was there to see that I was spouting off what I'd promised. Maybe there wasn't any conviction in my voice but I didn't promise sincerity. Lily wasn't going to miss the lack of enthusiasm in my claim, and challenged me.

"Are we Max? I don't think we're done until I say we're done. And besides, you've only told me what Sky and Lesley want for you. What do you want?"

Her voice had much more conviction in it than mine. The question she finally posed was one I hadn't answered. Lesley was giving me a "What the fuck?" stare.

"I hate to disappoint you Lily . . ." I started to say before she cut me off.

"Don't worry Max. When the time comes, you won't disappoint me. Now is there anything else? I have a pressing appointment with my hair stylist."

"No Lily, I think I've finished saying my piece."

Lily hadn't finished hers yet. But it wasn't to me. It was to Lesley.

"Now Lesley," she said, acting as if I wasn't in the room. "Make sure you take care of my Max. She tends to run rogue every now and again. I'm glad she has you for her conscience. Heaven forbid she would have killed Minh and been arrested. That would have deprived us all of the fun we're having now."

"I will Lily. You know her too well," Lesley said, also answering as if I wasn't in the room.

But Lily couldn't let go until Lesley knew she was also on Lily's radar screen.

"And say hello to Alessandra for me. I'm sure she's missing DaVanna."

That last sentence was said sarcastically. I was more certain than ever that Lily killed her.

"More than I am," Lesley said, speaking the truth for all of us.

* * *

"My God Max. She's a ballbuster all right," Lesley said on the way back to the car.

"You can see what I've had to deal with."

"I'm starting to sympathize. What do you think we should tell Odette? Lily's as much as told us that she's going to kill him."

"We tell her nothing. What's she going to do about it? For that matter what are we going to do about it? Warn Jumbo? He'll just laugh in our face."

"So we just let it play out?"

"What else can we do? Odette thinks it's in our power to stop a gang war? We'd have a better chance of changing the weather."

"God Max, this is going to get ugly."

"More than you know," I said, as I got into the car with her.

In the privacy of the car she asked me what she really wanted to discuss.

"You and Lily. What does she mean when she says you're not done until she says you are?"

I knew Lesley wouldn't miss that one.

"She's a determined woman. Look where she is."

"Right. She's sitting on top of a crime syndicate. Are you seriously going to give in if she goes after you again?"

"No Lesley. I won't."

"I know you Max."

"I'm being honest Les. Really," I insisted.

Another eyeball roll from her right before she started the car.

I felt like the little boy who cried "wolf."

* * *

There was one last avenue to explore - - Sondra Karlsson. Sondra must have known that Lily had taken over Jumbo's territory and that his imminent release would trigger hostilities. She helped me rein in DaVanna, so maybe there was something she could do to head off the inevitable. She was a partner at Saylor, Browning and Bair, a white shoe law firm with a small, but prestigious white collar criminal defense practice. It wasn't her stock in trade to represent drug dealers but she'd obviously made an exception. It was a long shot, but I'd run out of ideas on how to appease Odette.

I went to their offices the day before Jumbo was scheduled to be released. I made an appointment and sat in the waiting room at least a half hour beyond our appointed time. I guessed it was her way of telling me to buzz off. I decided to make my way to the elevator, and had pushed the down button when her administrative assistant intercepted me.

"Apologies Officer Pemberton. Ms. Karlsson was unavoidably detained in a Zoom hearing. She's just finishing up a call so I can take you to see her."

Her assistant Janet was a cute Eurasian brunette who reminded me of Sky. I felt a pang of regret as I followed her to Sondra's office. It had been a week since Sky broke it off with me, and I hadn't seen or heard from her in that time. I did send a couple text messages and tried to call, but with no luck. I was too chicken to go down to Homicide and see her in person.

Sondra had been promoted to a corner office, and the brochure I read about her firm (that's how desperate I was, having exhausted the newspapers and magazines in the waiting room) showed her as part of the firm's management committee. Janet escorted me into Sondra's office. Sondra was seated behind her desk with her back to me, talking on her iPhone. I was treated to seeing her long, straight mane of honey blonde hair glimmering in the sunlight. Her office boasted a panoramic view of the Ohio river and the Roebling suspension bridge, a Cincinnati landmark, running across it.

While she was finishing up her call I took the opportunity to peruse her office with more than a passing interest. Leatherbound law books on the upper shelves of her bookcase. What looked like an ancient battle axe was mounted on a stand and prominently displayed on the middle shelf, at eye level. Her walls had pictures of old stone house with a sod roof amidst snow covered mountains, an older picture of her as a young child with an older man and woman I surmised was her father and mother, and then a more recent photograph of her with her arm around a girl who was in a cap and gown and had a striking resemblance to Sondra.

Sondra put her cell phone on her desk and rose up from her black leather desk chair to greet me, and in her heels towered over me. She was as stunning as she was imposing.

"Max! I thought I'd see you sooner or later," she said to me, confidently shaking my hand and happy to see me.

"I like your office," I said by way of a massive understatement. My office had a view of the door to the Men's restroom and the supply closet.