Gamma Blade by Tim Stevens

made a conscious effort to relax them.
    “So here are the terms,” said Estrada. “This is my turf. Which means Brull and his associates are my assholes. Not yours. You get to help out, but you don’t get to call the shots. You get any smart ideas about how to proceed, you run them by me first. If you don’t, and if I find you going all vigilante on me, even a little bit, I’ll kick your butt back north so hard you’ll end up in Canada.”
    Venn was amused. “Okay.”
    “You think I’m screwing with you.” It was an observation, not a question. Estrada’s glittering eyes were cold. “Here’s why I’m not. You’ll have noted that I’m alone. That I’m not partnered up. There’s a good reason for that. I am alone. The powers that be don’t want me wasting my time on Brull. I’ve gotten myself a reputation as a pain in the ass. The bosses think I’m obsessed with this guy, and I’ve been formally warned by my captain that if I continue to pursue the Brull thing I’ll be suspended.”
    She raised her eyebrows, which had the effect of lightening her expression a degree.
    “So I’m doing this on my own, with a few helpers at a lower pay grade. If we screw this up, I’ll go down, hard. And my top brass will talk to your top brass back in New York. Tell them how you, Lieutenant Joseph Venn, stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong, for personal reasons, and interfered with the workings of the Miami PD. You’ll have a shitstorm of your own to deal with, Venn.” Estrada drew breath. “That’s it. Speech over.”
    Venn held up a hand. “Message understood. Look, Lieutenant. I know exactly where you’re coming from. I’m as territorial as the next cop. And I get antsy when I’m bucking the rules, and somebody comes along who threatens to derail things. So I’ll keep my nose clean.”
    Estrada regarded him for a long moment. Then: “Okay. But Venn?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Watch the mixed metaphors,” she said. “They kind of make you sound a little dumber than you are.”
    Venn sighed. Inwardly, though, he winced. Beth had once told him something similar, though in a more diplomatic way.
    He said: “So what’ve you got in mind for now?”
    “I’m going to check on this Harris guy,” said Estrada. “Find out what sort of shape he’s in, and where he’s being admitted. Then post my plainclothes guys. Then put feelers out on my network. See what’s been going down in Brull’s world tonight.”
    “What do you need me to do?” said Venn.
    Estrada stood up. “Go back to your girl,” she said. “Get a night’s sleep. What you doing tomorrow?”
    Venn thought about the day he’d had semi-planned. Beth was starting the conference early, so Venn had intended to lay in bed a little longer than usual, then take a stroll down by the water, catch a late breakfast.
    “Nothing,” he said.
    “You staying at the Eden Palms?”
    “Uh-huh,” he said. She would have checked out which hotel he was booked into.
    “I’ll meet you there at nine a.m.,” said Estrada. “Out in front.”
    She slung her bag over her shoulder and preceded him out the door of the office.
    As Venn followed, he watched her wiry, fast stride, and thought to himself that there was something he wasn’t quite getting about Detective Lieutenant Lauren Estrada.
    She was edgy, intense. Driven. Nothing odd about that. A lot of the best cops were.
    But she’d said she’d been threatened with suspension if she pursued this Brull guy any longer. Cops, especially senior detectives, didn’t get canned for riding their own particular hobby horses. Every detective had one. A cold case that niggled away at them, a petty criminal they’d encountered who’d given them a bad vibe and might be part of something bigger.
    No. Either she was lying about risking suspension.
    Or, she’d done something else to warrant it. Something more serious.
    Venn shook his head, in part to try to clear the grogginess which lingered from the blow he’d