Chapter 3
"And when did you think you were going to tell me this?" Joanne asked with a trace of barely concealed rage.
"Listen Joanne, it´s not like Joe bunked out of an assignment. As long as he is on sick leave he can do pretty much what he likes."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Levon, but that´s not how I see it, not if Joe jeopardizes his health with what he does." Joanne looked less angry than worried. "Whom did he tell the last time he took off?"
Levon looked puzzled. "He didn´t tell anyone."
"He did too, not directly, but indirectly." Joanne reached for the phone.
Minutes later Annie wheeled into the office. When Levon explained about Joe´s disappearing act she frowned. "I knew there was something behind his call."
"Joe called you? When?" Levon jumped up from the edge of the desk he had been sitting on.
"Yeah, he called me the day before yesterday and asked if it was ok to postpone the repayment of the money he had borrowed off me."
"Did he say what he needed the money for?" Joanne urged on.
"No, just that he hadn´t gotten around to go to the bank," Annie said contritely. She thought for a moment. "I think he did not call from home, now that I come to think of it."
"Where was he then?" Levon asked impatiently.
"From the background noises I remember I´d say he was at the airport."
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Joe put the package with the pot into the breast pocket of his jacket. He briefly considered to smoke some of it right away. But he did not want to run the risk of being picked up stoned on a backstreet in Las Vegas. He remained seated on the doorstep for the rest of the night, his mind strangely numb and a cloud of despondency hovering over him. Far down the street he could see the twinkling of the colorful neon lights of Sin City. They seemed to belong to a different solar system, one far beyond his reach.
When the dawn dimmed the sparkle of the artificial lighting he got up and slowly continued his way to the airport.
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Levon´s check with the airport quickly confirmed that Joe had taken a flight to Las Vegas. The employee at the counter also willingly asserted that Joe was booked on a return flight due at noon the next day.
Thought all this accounted for Joe´s absence, Levon, Joanne and Annie were all extremely uneasy about the whole matter. None of them dared to speculate about the reasons behind Joe´s travel to Las Vegas. And neither did any of them consider it a smart move on his side.
Levon proposed to call Greg Willberry but Joanne did not want to involve another Police department in a process that wasn´t even an investigation yet. She agreed, however, to Levon´s request to take some time off duty the next day to pick Joe up at the airport.
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For some inexplicable reason Joe´s flight from Las Vegas was delayed. Levon sighed and settled into one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.
The enforced interval gave Levon the opportunity to think back to the time when Joe had been abducted. Levon had gone through hell when Joe had been kidnapped. Losing his partner had made Levon realize that Joe was more than just his partner on the job, even more than just his friend. Levon had asserted that Joe was like a brother to him. Joe was family. And Levon had resolved to tell Joe how important he was to him.
But then, when Levon had gone to South Lake Tahoe to pick Joe up and take him home everything seemed to have changed again. No honest mentioning of the underlying deep feelings. Levon shook his head as if arguing with himself. How could that stubborn Italian bring him to suppress everything he had been so determined to voice openly? Or was it that they just weren´t able to communicate properly?
Levon closed his eyes and evoked Joe´s picture before his mental eye. What he saw was not a stubborn guy who wouldn´t give. What Levon saw was rather an ailing man, someone deeply hurt and thrown off the rail by fate. Joe was sick at heart. Even if he was trying to hide it, it was quite obvious: Joe had been shaken to the core, he needed help though he wasn´t willing to accept it.
At last the loudspeaker announced the arrival of Joe´s flight and brought Levon out of his musings. He got up and approached the arrival gate. How long ago had it been that they had met for the first time right here? Back then it had been the beginning of a hard and rocky road, a road that had nonetheless taken them to a good partnership and finally even to a deep friendship.
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Levon almost gasped when the automatic doors opened and released his partner from the arrival area. What had happened to Joe? He looked pale, dark shadows underlined the dull eyes, the hollow cheeks were covered with a two-day old stubble. Joe´s expensive suit was creased and Levon would have bet his bottom dollar that Joe had been sleeping rough for at least two nights, if he had been sleeping at all, that was.
The man in front of Levon was a far cry from the smart fashion-conscious guy who had passed through the same doors back then.
Levon stepped into Joe´s path. The traveler looked up in surprise, he had been deep in thought. "Lundy, what are you doing here?"
"Just thought I could give you a lift home." Levon smiled noncommittally.
Joe looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, you´ve been spying on me…"
Levon stepped up close to his partner so that no one could hear what he was saying. "Listen Joe, you know I should drag you right to the Lieutenant´s office. She´s not at all thrilled that you took off without telling anyone and I can assure you that I´m not either." Levon´s eyes had narrowed while he was speaking.
The expression playing across Joe´s face was one of hurt and rising anger. Before he could say anything Levon pulled him along by the arm. "Joe, listen, I didn´t mean to spy on you. I was worried out of my mind when you were gone all of a sudden. How could you do this after everything that happened to you only recently?"
Joe didn´t answer. Instead he cast his gaze down and followed Levon to the parking lot without another word.
During the ride Levon watched his partner from the corner of his eye. Joe looked terribly exhausted. They had almost reached Joe´s street when the traffic got thicker and held Levon´s attention. All of a sudden Joe sat bold upright in the passenger seat and uttered through clenched teeth: "Pull over."
Due to the thick traffic Levon couldn´t avert his eyes from the street ahead but at once he heard the urgency in Joe´s voice. Looking into the back mirror he signaled to the vehicles behind him that he intended to pull up to the curb. He had hardly come to a screeching halt when Joe opened the door and staggered out, doubling over, retching.
Levon rounded the car and looked at the Italian in concern. "Boy, what´s with you? You look like death warmed over." He pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Joe.
"It´s just that damn coffee I had on the flight. Guess my stomach wasn´t up to that disgusting brew." Joe wiped his lips and forehead. He was white as a sheet. Truth was that he had drunken three cups of strong coffee because it had been the only beverage that had come for free on the flight. He hadn´t been able to pay for a decent breakfast. He drew a shaky breath and noticed that Levon was watching him attentively.
Feeling awkward Joe got back into the car. "Come on, could we go now?"
Levon shrugged and got back behind the wheel. They passed the few minutes to Joe´s apartment in silence. At the door Joe fumbled for his keys. Levon beat him to it, producing the spare he kept for Joe´s door. He inserted it and opened the door, gesturing for Joe to get inside.
As Joe passed his partner he drew Levon´s key out of the lock. Quickly he stepped inside and turned back around, taking Levon completely by surprise and shoving him back out of the door that closed on the Texan immediately.
Levon was dumbstruck. "Hey, let me in, what do yah think yah doin´?" Levon banged on the door.
"Sorry Lundy, can´t do. Thanks for the ride. I can take care of myself from here. See you next week." Joe leaned his back against the inside of the door. He was glad that Levon could not see how he slid down to the floor as his knees gave way under him.
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Joe knew he had to clean up his act. If he didn´t want to risk being out of a job by the end of the next week he had to pull himself together. He was pretty sure that, had the Lieutenant picked him up at the airport instead of Lundy, she would have thrown him out right there and then. And she would have had any right to do so.
After a while Joe drew a deep breath and got up. He felt dizzy and still a bit nauseous but he ignored it. He headed for the spiral staircase and passing the fridge he retrieved a bottle of spring water. For a moment he hesitated and pulled open a drawer. His fingers got hold of a lighter and from the adjacent cupboard he took a saucer. He slipped both items into his jacket pocket and slowly mounted the stairs.
In his bedroom he was greeted by his own mirror image and he had to admit that he almost did not recognize himself. No wonder Levon had reacted so shocked when he had picked him up at the airport.
Slowly he laid out the items on the nightstand: the saucer, the lighter and last but not least the package of pot. He noticed that there were a few leaves of cigarette paper in the package.
He kicked off his shoes, slipped out of his jacket, dropped his trousers, pulled his shirt over his head and threw it behind himself heedlessly. When he was down to his boxers he sat down on the bed and took a long draft from the water bottle.
Then he started to examine the content of the package. With relief he realized that the pot was already cut with tobacco. Looked like the stranger had given Joe his own ready for use supply. Carefully he rolled the first cigarette and lit it. While he inhaled the smoke deeply, his free hand reached out to lift the receiver off the phone and he dropped it, the busy signal now echoing from somewhere on the far side of the nightstand. The joint burned down quickly and when Joe dropped the rest of the smoldering ember onto the saucer he was already rapidly drifting off.
Then his head hit the pillow and for the first time since he had left the hospital in South Lake Tahoe Joe really slept.
