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A pause. “I had that … thing. A few years ago.”
“We know about it.”
He said nothing more about the subject.
Which Ron Pulaski thought about at least once a day.
Then Sellitto was on to pitching his case again.
“You think like Lincoln, you act like him.” A faint laugh. “And you’re not a prick.”
Which might have been comparing him to some individuals in the NYPD—but definitely was comparing him to Lincoln Rhyme, who, occasionally, was.
Pulaski: “Lincoln’s a civilian. I don’t want to quit.”
“Naw, you’ll be blue. Payroll, benees, everything. It’s just you’ll have, what’s the word? Autonomy. Completely independent. Like him. You keep your rank.” He scowled. “And can get your gold. If you ever schedule the damn test.”
“Been meaning to.” He had always wanted to be a detective, but studying for the test took time he rarely had.
“You’ll keep your years in, everything.”
Tally swooped in with the coffee. Sellitto shook his head. Pulaski did as well. And like a skipping stone, she was on to other patrons.
After a moment, Sellitto said, “You thinking this is going on behind his back, Linc’s? No. It was him brought it up.”
“He did?” Almost a whisper. “What about Amelia?”
A pause. “Her too. We all talked about it.”
“Why wouldn’t she take over?”
“Not her thing. She walks the grid great; you know that. You’d want her with you in a firefight or a high-speed chase. We want a thinking cop. Subway stations and blue fibers and DAS and red sedans. All right, I said my piece.” He frowned. “Is it p-i-e-c-e or p-e-a-c-e?”
“No clue.”
“Do you care?”
Pulaski shrugged. “Not unless some terrorist wrote it in a manifesto and it’ll help nail his ass.”
Sellitto gave a big smile, as rare for him as leaving a half-eaten muffin.
He waved for the check and he paid.
The men stepped outside and Pulaski looked up. No birds in phalanxes or other formations. Just a few solitary pigeons and a lone gull.
After a moment, Pulaski turned. “Don’t like to think about anything happening to Lincoln, Lieutenant. But if it does, or he retires, or whatever, yeah, I’m in.”
Then something happened that had not occurred in all the years the men had known each other. Sellitto stuck out his paw of a hand and gripped Pulaski’s, and they shook firmly.
“Why don’t we make it ‘Lon’ at this point.”
14.
THE THING SOAREDabove her and she thought: Reminds me of something. What?
From years ago. When I was a kid.
At a fast glance, the crane resembled a creature from one of those Transformers movies. But it wasn’t that. She wasn’t much of a moviegoer. Something else.
