Chapter 17:
"So where do we stand," asked the Commissioner? He was upset about losing the mole, but he was glad to have her gone. "We went through Ms. Tremont's computer," explained Mike. "She had thousands of confidential files. As near as we can tell, she was steering the frogs to places the NYPD felt had been cleared of trafficking, and alerting them to warrants that were about to be served. She was also phoning in tips on the gang-bangers early on, telling our guys about trap houses and smuggling to damage the opposition..." "...letting our Incursean friends move in unopposed," rumbled the commissioner. She'd done a lot of damage.
"Right now, we've got surveillance on potential new targets," said Mike, but with her cover blown she won't be able to do this again. Not for a long time..." Which got them in the clear for a while. Frank Williams decided they would have to step up their force-integrity effort. Moving on, he asked, "anything we can use in the pile?" Nodding, Mike replied, "we've got a line on a dozen former factories that have recently seen a lot of activity. We're also leaning on the Gen-Term management and the clown at St. Austel." They had intercepted a metric ton of rare earths destined for the frogs' secret factories. All told, they had put quite a dent in Rillec's operations.
"This is good news, detective," Frank declared! "Now I feel like we're making progress. Keep the pressure on. Let me know if there's anything you need." Mike thought about that. Turning to Nick, he took the rather formidable sidearm he was carrying off his shoulder and laid it on the table in front of the Commissioner. "This has been proven to penetrate their light armor," said Mike. "I'd like a SWAT team armed with these to help prosecute warrants for these locations." "Done," said the Commissioner. "I'll get them by end of week if I have to go out of pocket!"
That was that. Nick was still disappointed, but Mike had made his peace with the escape of the mole. Turning to Nick, he said, "that was great police-work..." Nick grinned and said, "fellas want to buy our honorary Inspector a 40." Mike knew better than to accept, but he also knew the team needed the morale boost. "You can buy me a Dr. Pepper," said Mike as he motioned for Nick to head out.
Molly's team was having a feast, courtesy of the Magister. Mike gathered his detectives together, grabbed one of the vans, and headed out to Sonny Green's Irish Pub. The ten cops settled in at a couple of corner tables and placed orders, at which point, the four females promptly decamped to the toilet.
"It's crazy how that crosses species boundaries," announced Tim. Mike laughed. Joe said, "ain't that the truth." He hadn't realized they even made makeup for blue skin. Nick grinned at that. Helen was kind of cute with her hair down. Tom opined, "only started doin' it the last few days. Been wondering what changed." Tim said, "boyfriend dumped her. Figure she's gettin' back on the horse..."
"Huh," said Tom. "She's on the make. But who's she chasing?" Every face there swivelled to Nick, who looked completely oblivious. When he finally looked up, he answered those looks with, "beats the heck out of me. Maybe some guy she seen at the hotel..." Tim rolled his eyes. The man was clueless. "I dunno," said Tom. "I'd have guessed the guy who took her t'see his parents..." Nick looked up from his beer in startled fear.
"No way," he howled! Glancing at Mike, Tom said, "happened to him." Nick stammered excuses. They were coworkers. They spent a lot of time together figuring out how to trap the mole. Of course those pronouncements just dug the hole deeper. Men and women who spent a lot of time together often got cozy, and Helen was part human Before his officers could get to shouting, Mike headed the conversation off at the pass, announcing, "Helen's personal life is her business, fellas. She's had a hard time lately. I'd kind of like to let her alone..." The others promised not to stick their noses in it.
Tim opined, "not her I'd hit anyway." Everybody there insisted that, in lieu of the already-engaged Lucy, it was Molly they wanted to bang. The pretty blonde, with her germanic looks and cool disposition was like a juicy plum hanging on a tree–sweet and unattainable. She made perfect fantasy material. Mike knew she was already dating somebody, but he let the fellows speculate to their heart's content, though he made sure they had wrapped things up when he saw the girls coming back.
Lucy and the girls had had their own conversation in the restroom. Everybody was congratulating Lucy on hooking Mike Stack and getting him to propose. For Lucy it had been more or less a foregone conclusion when they got on the plane to head east. She'd suspected Mike was planning something when one of her rings had turned up missing and then suddenly reappeared. She'd guessed it was a sneaky way for him to get her ring size without alerting her that he was planning to propose.
Reese of course wanted to know just how Lucy had managed it. She wouldn't have guessed Mike for the type. Molly had all but laughed in her face. Lucy and Mike had enviable chemistry. It had been there from the start. The moment Mike had laid eyes on Lucy, he was locked on her like a missile on the target. Molly was far more interested in Helen, who hadn't been seen in casual clothing in more than a year, much less wearing makeup.
Embarrassed, Helen Wheels retorted, "can't I dress up a little? I'm... I guess I'm celebrating Manny being out of my life." Lucy opined, "I'd gladly celebrate that too." She didn't like Manny. He was kind of a dick, and both Molly and Lucy thought Helen could do much better.
Upon their return to the tables, Helen immediately occupied the seat to Nick's right, and Lucy couldn't help a grin. She had her suspicions on just why it was that Helen was suddenly feminine again. Sharing a grin with Molly, Lucy announced, "miss us?" Mike smoothly replied, "like the desert misses water, babe." Lucy sat on his left, grabbed his arm, and put it around her waist.
The fellows thought he was some kind of pussy-whipped, turning down good beer because his girlfriend said so, but Reese thought he was wise beyond his years. Why start down that road and find himself losing the person he cared most about? And if he was pussy-whipped, the feeling was definitely mutual. Lucy was stuck to him like glue. "So what're you two gonna' do when this is over," asked Joe?
"Get home," replied Mike. "Check in. We missed vacation, so we might wrangle another trip. My folks want to meet Lucy's parents..." That brought everyone's mind around to the television interview, and Reese asked Lucy, "how's that going? Is everything ok back home?" Lucy admitted, "there's been a bunch of reporters come through wanting to interview people. The state's sent people by, but the county sheriff's been really supportive. The first few days, he put up a roadblock and only townsfolk were allowed in and out. He's talked to the town council a few times about stationing a deputy there just in case." The only real trouble they'd had was their most recent arrivals, a human couple who decided that they really couldn't stand the idea of living amongst aliens. They'd run out of there in the middle of the night, leaving just about everything behind. Now they wanted to sue. As if it was anyone's fault but their own.
Food arrived, and the bunch of them dug in. A curious Tim asked, "so what happens when the frogs come back?" Puzzled, Tom gave him a frown. They were planning to arrest the frogs. Rolling his eyes, Joe tousled Tom's hair, "rookie! Fuentes missed a couple lessons..." Tom blushed to his hair as Nick explained, "gangland's all busted up here, kid. With so much changed, there's a power vacuum just waiting f'er somebody to move in. Frogs could go subtle next time. If they hadn't acted like dicks, snatching old ladies off the street to sort parts and boys to hump drugs, we would never have noticed."
Crime abhorred a vacuum. Somebody would step in, and with the precedent established, it could easily be another pack of aliens. There was nothing really stopping them. "The old man's gonna' have to open more stations," said Mike. "It's that simple. He can't do it all from Bellwood." Tim opined, "you could come back. I bet Williams would make you an Inspector." Mike blushed, and his eyes flicked to Lucy. It was clear to Reese that, for Mike, everything came down to Lucy. He wasn't your typical man, expecting his wife to sacrifice everything for him. Mike brushed all the talk aside, announcing that it was premature. The frogs were down but not out.