Taking the Highway

TALIC WATCHED WITH CAREFULLY hidden amusement as Madison Zuchek held up one finger and beckoned him into the mayor’s office. He followed along behind her, stepping silently on short pile carpet the color and texture of astroturf. The dark paneled walls were broken by windows in an alternating pattern, casting striped shadows on the heavy wood desk. The effect seemed overly masculine, but Mayor Smith had never redecorated. There was something to be said for tradition.

He wondered what the mayor would think of Madison’s appropriation of her space. But Smith was on one of her endless diplomatic tours, showing Detroit’s face to the world, leaving the city manager to do the true work of running the city.

“I thought the plan was to let LaCroix head the investigation,” Talic said.

“You should be pleased. I know you don’t like him.” Madison crossed to the ever-present coffee cart, a twin to the one in the outer office. She poured two coffees and mixed cream and sugar into each.

Talic took the offered cup, cradling the delicate china in his hand. “LaCroix’s a peacock. He couldn’t care less about working homicide, but somehow he stays dry when the world is trying its hardest to piss all over him.” He took a sip of the creamy, sweet coffee. “It’s Gao I’m worried about.”

“Exactly why I put her in charge.” Madison moved to the windows and stared down at the city. “A little extra work to keep LaCroix off balance, a little power to keep Gao smug and steerable.”

“With me following them wherever they go.”

“No need to sound bitter. When LaCroix put the pieces together there was nothing else to do.”

Talic felt a tightness in his shoulders. He tilted his neck to one side, then the other, to ease it. It wouldn’t have occurred to him—or Madison—that anyone else could link the dead men. That was what worried him. What else was he missing? “Now that I’m officially on board, I can use this union connection to find the others.”

“You should have found them by now. We shouldn’t need this task force.” Madison moved to the coffee cart and put a hand on the edge, leaning into it. There was only one chair in the room, behind the massive desk, and neither of them sat in it. Madison loved using the mayor’s office for its privacy, but carefully avoided any hint that she wanted its power. Nor did Talic. They were the kingmakers, not the kings, and both knew they could serve the city best without the constant need for public approval.

“You’re thinking like a police officer, Jae Geoffrey. This is no longer waiting for a mess and then cleaning it up. This is preventing the mess in the first place.” Madison set her coffee cup at the very edge of the table. “All it takes is one. LaCroix arrests a single terrorist and suddenly that terrorist is all over the media. Then he has a platform. If he’s a fourth as well? Even worse.”

“You really believe that fourths are that important to the economy? Bernstein said—”

“Bernstein’s an idiot. Bernstein’s from California.”

Talic nodded, wondering if those two things were a single descriptor.

“Bernstein thinks economics is numbers and formulas. He doesn’t know the first thing about human beings.” Madison picked up her cup and stared at him over the rim. “Let me tell you what drives the economic engine. Movement. Trade. And above all, confidence.”

“Agreed.”

“I will not risk panic.”

“You can stop it?”

“Easiest thing in the world. I stop it by doing nothing at all.” Madison circled the desk and planted herself in front of him. “Do you have any idea how many times this economic justice group has contacted my office? As long as we don’t acknowledge them, as long as we don’t give them legitimacy—”

“They sabotaged Overdrive! You can’t wish that away.”

Madison reached forward and touched his forearm. “If you do your job, I won’t have to.”