division waiting for you when you get there.’
He stepped forward and to the side. She didn’t respond or move. He moved around her slowly, keeping eye contact the whole time, moving onto the sidewalk. He was close to her radius where she could hit him, but deliberately kept just out of it. He saw her arms and fists tense, desperate to strike him.
He kept eye contact on her, his hand close to the Sig.
Suddenly a police car passed on the street alongside, then slowed.
‘Hey,’ a voice called.
Archer flicked his eyes, risking a quick glance.
There was one cop inside the squad car, a man. He was one of the cops that had just checked out his father’s apartment, the first guy inside, the one with the female partner.
‘Hey man, I’m headed for a house call in Long Island City,’ he told Archer from behind the wheel. ‘My partner just had to bounce. Can you give me a hand?’
Archer stared straight at Ortiz.
‘Sure,’ he called.
He walked across the sidewalk, around the side of the car, and climbed into the front seat, beside the cop. He closed the door and the car moved off, Ortiz still staring at him. He looked through the open window at her as she stood there, her eyes following him as the car moved off down the street. The guy behind the wheel saw her too.
‘Damn,’ he said. ‘That’s one chick I wouldn’t want to mess with.’
‘Haven’t seen you before,’ the cop behind the wheel said, as he drove through the streets towards the East River and Long Island City. Archer allowed himself a small sigh of relief and then turned his attention to the cop beside him.
‘Yeah, I’m out of the 19,’ Archer said, in his best American accent. A benefit of coming here a lot as a kid meant he had developed an ear for it, and he could pull one off pretty convincingly.
‘Oh yeah? What you doing in Queens?’
‘I live here. I was just headed to the city.’
The cop frowned.
‘Why are you in uniform already? Didn’t you leave it at the station?’
‘Just got it dry cleaned,’ Archer replied, thinking fast.
The driver nodded.
‘Oh. Gotcha.’
At that moment, a call came over the radio. It was a woman, from dispatch, wherever their base was in the area. She told the officer that the Long Island call was a false alarm. He picked up the receiver as he kept one hand on the wheel.
‘Roger that,’ he said, pushing the buttons on the receiver with his thumb and forefinger. ’10-4.’ He returned the receiver to its cradle and turned to Archer. ‘Ah shit. Never mind. Tell you what man, I’ll take you into the city to say thanks for coming along.’
Archer nodded, keeping his head slightly turned away. ‘Thanks.’
They drove on in silence, approaching the Queensborough Bridge. Archer didn’t say a word, but he sensed the guy next to him wanted to talk. He was friendly, and seemed professional. That however would change if he realised who the guy beside him in the car was and his current status with the NYPD.
‘So you’re the morning shift then?’ the cop asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘You dodged a bullet not being on duty last night, man. It’s been a long one, let me tell you,’ he said. ‘There was some heist at the Garden last night during the fight. Madison Square Garden, can you believe it? Guy and girl made off with almost a million bucks. Apparently the chick was an FBI agent. We’ve been scouring the city all night looking for them.’
‘Really?’ Archer asked, looking out the window.
‘Yeah. The FBI is on the hunt as well. Two of their agents have gone missing and one of them was found dead in his apartment. They reckon the guy and girl did it. Real Bonnie and Clyde stuff, you know?’
‘Yeah. Sounds like it,’ Archer said as they moved over the Bridge.
There was a pause.
‘So what’s your name?’ the guy asked.
Shit.
Archer didn’t answer, his mind racing.
He tried to remember the name on the tag.
‘Griffin,’ he said, eventually, trying to sound casual.
‘I’m Willard. Good to meet you, man. You want me to drop you on your beat?’
‘That would be great. I’m up around 90.’
Willard nodded and pulled a right after they crossed the bridge, headed uptown. They moved up 1 Avenue, through the Upper East Side.
‘I get off in thirty minutes. Can’t wait. Cold beer and put my feet up. Let you boys take over and look for the gruesome twosome.’
Archer nodded. ‘Hope we can find them. Right here’s