There was no answer at Brazil’s house when Hammer called from her car phone. She tried West next and was relieved that he and West were there.
‘I’ve got something important to say to both of you,’ Hammer said over the line.
Parking in the Fan wasn’t as much of a problem at this early hour, and she managed to squeeze into a space on the curb right across the street from West’s town house. Hammer was numb. She did not feel present, nor did she want to be when Brazil opened the front door.
Thank you for seeing me,’ Hammer said to Brazil as they walked into the living room.
‘Thank you,’ he replied. ‘It’s kind of messy.’
Hammer didn’t care. She didn’t even notice her surroundings, messy or not. She sat in a straight-back chair while West and Brazil sat across from her on the couch.
‘Virginia, Andy,’ she began, ‘I’m going to resign.’
‘Oh God,’ West said, shocked.
‘You can’t,’ Brazil said, sick.
‘Basically,’ Hammer went on, ‘I’ve pretty much screwed up everything here. I used to be a good police officer, a good chief. Everybody hates us.’
‘Not everybody,’ Brazil said.
‘Most of them,’ said West. ‘I mean, let’s be honest about it.’
‘Well, I guess the Charlotte connection doesn’t help,’ Brazil supposed.
‘Or our locking up the COMSTAT network pretty much around the globe,’ Hammer said.
‘Or our failure to crack the ATM cases before they progressed to a horrible murder. Or a communications officer getting in a fight with a traffic cop, both of whom had just received commendations several days before.’ West helped her out with the list.
Hammer folded her hands in her lap and kept them still. She did not interrupt. She did not get up and pace.
‘Judy,’ West said. ‘Where are you going to go? Back to Charlotte?’
Hammer shook her head.
‘Nowhere,’ she answered. ‘If I can’t handle Richmond, I’m not going to be able to handle someplace else. When the horse dies, get off. I’m retiring from police work. I don’t know where I’ll live. It doesn’t matter.’
‘That reminds me,’ West said. ‘We need to talk about the Azalea Parade.’
‘How did what she just said remind you of that?’ Brazil asked.
‘The horse comment. We’ve got mounted cops in the parade,’ West said. ‘And’ – she looked at Hammer -‘Andy and I are supposed to ride in your convertible.’
‘What kind of convertible is it?’ Hammer looked distracted.
‘Dark blue Sebring,’ Brazil said. ‘Modest, not showy, although one of the big guys at Philip Morris wanted to drive you in his red Mercedes VI2 convertible.’
‘Not a good idea,’ Hammer muttered.
‘I don’t think you should be in the parade at all,’ West said with conviction. ‘The parade could be a possible target for Smoke. And I hate for you to be riding slow in a convertible anyway. There’re a lot of kooks out there.’
Hammer got up. She really didn’t care what happened to her.
‘It’s important,’ she said dully. ‘Every little thing we do to reach the community is helpful. I won’t back out of a promise.”
‘Well, we’re going to have fifty off-duty cops there in addition to the regular shifts,’ West told her. ‘To the public, it will appear we’re there mainly for traffic control. And we’re mobilizing about twenty plainclothes guys to mingle, just in case Smoke shows up or someone else decides to cause a problem.’
Bubba was thinking the same thing. He believed Chief Hammer should not be riding in an open car in the Azalea Parade, and worse, it had been in the newspaper so everybody knew it. It was possible this was where all roads met. Bubba had been called to save her from a terrible danger. Bubba also figured the Pikes somehow factored in.
At eight o’clock this morning, he was already parking in front of Green Top Sporting Goods on U.S. Route 1, some twenty minutes outside of Richmond. There was no place Bubba would rather be. The minute he walked through the door and was greeted by thousands of fishing rods and all that went with them, his pulse quickened. When he turned to the right and saw hundreds of rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers, he got flushed. He felt lust in a way he had never experienced with Honey.