I'LL BE RIGHT HERE

Chapter Forty Two

Valkyrie: "Hey big guy."
Hulk: "Angry girl…"
Valkyrie: "What have you been up to?"
Hulk: "Winning."
(From 'Thor: Ragnarok'.)

-x0x-

Now…

Moving to cover Cal, Juliet raised her weapon and aimed it squarely at the stranger who had suddenly appeared in front of them. Without even looking, she could sense Carlton doing the same beside her. Usually, she tried not to be the kind of person who made snap judgements based on appearance but the guy's scowling face and his significant lack of personal grooming were a stereotypical warning sign that she could not ignore. Occam's Razor, she thought, recalling a seminar from the Academy. Sometimes, the simplest answer was the right one – and sometimes, the obvious guy was the perp. Fact of life.

He took a step towards her, dragging a pistol of his own from a dirty pocket. Both detectives stiffened.

"Drop your weapon!" Carlton's tone was stern but it also held a subtle invitation. Disobey me. I dare you… After his tussle with Meek, Juliet could tell that her partner was desperate to shoot something – or someone – and praying for the slightest provocation. A twitch. A snarl. A cross-eyed look. All actions that were undoubtedly part of this man's repertoire.

"Do it now," she advised hastily, willing the stranger to obey. "SBPD."

"Says you." The stranger shrugged. "This ain't SB and you don't look like no PD to me. More like two sprats in a shark tank. How d'you get on board?"

"With the coastguard, of course, you Neanderthal." If this was going to be a war of insults, Carlton was well equipped. He pulled out his badge and waved it in the air. "I know who I am. I don't know you. So you'd better lay down that pea-shooter before we both do something you'll regret."

"Oooh, I'm shakin' in my boots," the hairy guy mumbled.

"Melvin! Put down the gun. They're here to help us," said a new voice, and a young girl stepped out from behind him.

Juliet gasped and lowered her own weapon. Carlton, of course, was resolute and did not waver. In his book (provisionally titled 'Lassiter's Guide to Life, the Law and Liberty'), even children could pose a potential threat until proven otherwise.

The girl, who was armed with a big heavy wrench, strode forward and held out her hand to Juliet, brazenly ignoring the fact that she had just walked through the middle of a bristling standoff as though it were a summer meadow.

Juliet took the proffered hand and shook it, trying not to be distracted by the faces her partner was pulling.

"Juliet O'Hara. Detective," she said. "This is Carlton Lassiter, my partner. And you must be Captain Bale's daughter." She tried to recall the details of the radio transmission. "Mary, right?"

"Maya," the girl corrected her.

Yet again, Juliet caught herself making a snap judgement, but Maya's clear brown eyes and stubborn jaw were clues to a character that the detective had a feeling she was really going to like. There was something familiar about the young girl's bearing, which read as a kind of challenge to the world around her – based on deeper insecurities, Juliet guessed shrewdly.

"Maya. Sorry – my mistake. What are you doing out here, armed with… well, that?"

"Mom wouldn't let me have a gun." Maya shrugged. "And Melvin is afraid of her."

The hairy guy muttered something into his beard. Juliet overheard the words 'wicked' and 'rumour' in quick succession. He shoved his pistol back into his pocket, obviously unwilling to wave it around when Maya was in the firing line. Carlton shifted his stance but did not withdraw.

"I see you found Cal," the girl continued, sweeping past Juliet. Her attention span appeared to be fluid – erratic, even – but Juliet could tell that there was a lot more going on inside her head.

"He's not… himself right now."

"I know that," Maya said, crouching down beside the man and gazing at him fondly. She rested a hand on his knee and he stopped what he was doing, staring up at her with muddled interest.

"Where have you been?" Cal murmured. "I missed you."

She grinned. "That's nice. It's good to be missed. I've been rounding up bad guys with Melvin. Don't tell Mom."

Carlton's jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right? This isn't some kind of cheesy action movie. This is the real world. Little kids can't actually save the day."

"I can see how you'd think so." Maya rose to her feet again and squared up to the Head Detective, neatly disproving the word 'little' with a single action. He holstered his gun in a grudging display of respect as she continued. "But have you met my friend?"

She waved in Melvin's direction. The hairy guy actually managed to look sheepish – a black sheep, Juliet smirked to herself.

"Plus, you know, it was a team effort. First, we set the rest of the crew free. And the scientists. They were pretty mad." Maya wrinkled her nose in amusement. "Ever met an angry scientist? They've got skills… and they're not afraid to use them."

"How many?" Carlton asked, with a slightly glazed expression.

"Bad guys? At the last count?" Maya and Melvin exchanged glances, checking on their fingers and comparing notes. At last, Maya nodded and this time it was Melvin who replied.

"Lucky seven," he growled. "Leavin' four, by my reckoning."

"And Meek?" said Carlton in a strangled voice.

"No," said Melvin regretfully, "we didn't get him."

"Good!" When they all turned and stared, Carlton had the grace to look embarrassed. "He's… ah, got my brand new cuffs. I want them back."

"Oh, really? How did that happen?"

Maya sounded keenly interested. Ever the guardian of her partner's dignity, Juliet jumped in quickly to distract the girl. Besides, she had just remembered something. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it was something Maya had to know. And I guess that makes me the one to tell her, sighed the detective. Carlton had a distinct aversion to 'all that touchy feely crap', as he called it. Like telling a young girl her mother had just been shot… Juliet took a deep breath and reached out a friendly hand, laying it on Maya's arm.

Maya looked down at the arm and then raised her eyes, studying Juliet's face. Amusement turned to fear and, once again, Juliet was impressed by how astute she was. "What is it? Tell me quickly. Is it Mom? Is she…?"

"Not dead," Juliet reassured the girl, kicking herself mentally for being so transparent. Maybe Carlton would have been the better option after all. No, she thought angrily. You can do this. "That is… I won't lie to you, Maya; she's in a bad way. Meek shot her point blank. But help is coming – and I can take you to her, right now."

"You left her?" Maya's voice scaled the heights in horror.

"Of course not. No! Commander Dunlap is with her. She's trained for emergencies just like this. She'll do everything she can to keep your mother stable until the chopper gets here. Which should be any minute now." Juliet glanced at her watch but it was an empty gesture, since she had no idea how fast a medevac chopper could fly, or even how far from shore the Copernicus really was.

Maya's chest was heaving. "Where is she? I have to see her." The words burst out of her in a jerky fashion. There were tears in her eyes but she steadfastly refused to let them fall, clinging to the illusion of control in order to keep herself from flying apart altogether. Juliet knew that feeling, and sympathised.

"I'll take you, Maya. I know where she is."

It was Cal, of all people, who made the unexpected offer, and everyone stared in astonishment. Clambering to his feet, he left his tattered pile of notebooks where they lay on the deck. There were only fragments left by now, but the gesture was still painful to watch. Juliet could see the tightness in his expression that spoke of unfinished business, and sacrifice.

"I'll take her," he repeated shyly, choosing Juliet as the focus of his plea this time. "If that's okay."

Maya flung her arms around him.

"Yes, please," she mumbled, burying her face in his lank hair. He patted her head uncertainly.

"Good solution," Carlton said gruffly. "Thank you, Cal."

Juliet gave a tiny smile and then smoothed it away before her partner noticed it.

"What'll you do?" said Melvin, equally flustered by such an open display of emotion, but doing his best to appear unaffected. "Still hell-bent on gettin' those cuffs back? Need any assistance?"

Carlton's eyes grew wide but, to his credit, he considered Melvin's offer with a solemn air, as though the hairy man had volunteered to complete his taxes, say, or paint his kitchen. "I think we're good," he resolved after due deliberation, and Melvin was satisfied. "Go see your captain. And keep these two safe. That's your highest priority."

It was Melvin's ridiculous salute that made Juliet laugh out loud. She clapped a hand over her mouth and shot Maya a guilty look but the girl was already heading back towards the cabin where Dunlap waited with her mother. Trailed by her two unlikely but faithful companions, she reminded Juliet of Dorothy Gale, hurrying to find the Emerald City so that the wizard could send her home and life could return to normal.

Meanwhile, Carlton leant on the rail and gazed out to sea. There was a thoughtful look on his face.

Juliet tried to wait but patience wasn't one of her virtues right now. "Well?" she demanded, after only a few minutes. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm trying to put myself in Meek's shoes," he admitted.

"Unpleasant. And possibly stinky," she quipped, because Shawn would have made the joke and, somehow, it felt right to do so in his absence.

"But useful. We're going about this all wrong, O'Hara."

"How so?" She moved to stand beside him but kept a weather eye on their surroundings, watching for any kind of suspicious movement. Her fingers fluttered on the handle of her gun as a constant precaution. Carlton, for once, was distracted. A thought had claimed him and he followed it eagerly, like the tail of a dancing kite. She suspected that he could not see the water at all, or feel the wind that harried them.

"We've been operating under the assumption that our enemy has gone to ground, like a sneaky fox. Or vermin." Carlton faced her and his eyes were gleaming. "But think about Driggs, and how he described Meek. A vicious schemer. A master manipulator." He narrowed his gaze. "A monster. Does that sound like a man who would shame himself by cowering in a hole?"

She had to admit that it didn't. "So what does that mean? He's trapped on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Not a lot of options there, Carlton, even for a master manipulator."

The detective snapped his fingers in triumph. "Exactly! Which means I have a very good idea where he is."

"You do?"

"I do." His jubilation faded slightly. "You won't like it, though…"

"Tell me," she said, and this time it was she who could not breathe because she knew, all at once, what her partner was going to say.