House of Blues

to
get up, but her knees hurt and she had to straighten them slowly,
which made her realize she had been sitting this way for a very long
time.
    What she had been doing, she didn't know, but she was
faintly alarmed by it. It wasn't quite sleep and she didn't think it
was really meditation; it seemed instead to be some kind of shadow
state, brought about by shock.
    Her phone rang. "Baby, you okay?" It was
Cindy Lou, who never called her "baby" and never, ever
sounded frightened, though she did now.
    "Lou-Lou. What's wrong?"
    "I heard what happened last night. Cappello
called me."
    "It was pretty grim."
    "Why in the hell didn't you call me? Just tell
me that?"
    "I should have. You're the person I should have
called."
    "Damn right you should have. I'm your best
girlfriend and I'm a shrink and I care about you. Call, hell! You
should have just come over."
    "Well, it was late and I didn't—"
    " Late! Late! Honey, you were in trouble, weren't
you? Couldn't have been feeling okay; no way. And don't try to tell
me different—you aren't the first one who's ever been there."
    Skip started to cry. "You really mean it, don't
you? You wouldn't have minded, no matter how late it was."
    "What kind of friend do you think I am? Besides,
I'm the cop-shop shrink. They'd have probably paid me for it—hey.
I'm kiddin' about that. I shouldn't have said it—I don't want to be
flip at a time like this. I want you to know I'm there for you—do
you get that?"
    For some reason, this seemed too much to take in.
Skip felt overwhelmed for what seemed to her all the wrong reasons—it
seemed inexpressibly sad that she hadn't felt connected enough to the
human race to call Cindy Lou last night, even to realize she was
there to call. Her body began exploding sobs in quick rhythmic
succession, a bazooka launching shells.
    "Okay, baby. It's okay." Lou-Lou didn't
sound like herself. She sounded like a mother soothing a child. "Now,
look—I'm coming right over, okay? You just stay there a few minutes
and I'll come make you some coffee. Maybe some toast too. Does that
sound good?"
    "I've got to go to work."
    "Are you kidding? Cappello told me to tell you
to bag it."
    " Uh-uh, I've got to talk to Reed."
    "Huh? Reed?"
    "Oh, she didn't tell you everything."
    " Just that you got Delavon and you felt pretty
down about it."
    " Well, a few other things happened too. The
upshot is, Sally's back and so's Reed."
    "Skip. That's wonderful."
    "It was a hell of a day." Skip sighed.
"Anyway, it's my case and I'm not leaving the interview to
someone else."
    "Okay, baby. Okay. You sound fine for now. You
just call me when you're done, you promise?"
    "I promise if I can stay awake. I may just pass
out."
    "Just give me a call and let me know. Promise,
okay?"
    "Okay." She felt slightly annoyed at having
to answer to someone, but at the same time, Cindy Lou's concern was
touching. She really meant it. I could have called her in the middle
of the night. Suddenly, Skip understood that she could have called
Jimmy Dee or Steve as well, never mind the time difference or the
kids; they'd have wanted her to call.
    She felt better, not quite so desolate as the night
had left her. She dressed carefully for work, not wanting to look the
worse for wear, sure that eyes would be on her. But she wasn't
prepared for what happened when she walked into the detective,bureau.
    "Hey, Langdon," said someone; she never
knew who. And then she was aware that everyone was on their feet,
applauding.
    She was confused. "What's going on?" she
murmured, head swiveling.
    Joe Tarantino came out of his office. "Nice
going, Skip. Good job." He shook her hand.
    When she had made her way to her desk, she saw that
O'Rourke was at his, deep in paperwork. She hadn't noticed him when
everyone stood, but she was sure she would have seen him if he'd been
sitting down. Had he really stood and applauded her? Impossible.
    But if not, where was he?
    She had too much pride to ask anyone, even Cappello.
She'd never know.
    Abasolo came by and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
    " You okay?"
    " Great."
    Liar, liar, pants on fire.
    She gave him a big insincere smile. He squeezed a
little harder, as if to show he appreciated the effort.
    Because Reed and Sally had been through a week-long
ordeal, and because all hell was breaking loose, Reed had been sent
home with her child rather than questioned. She'd been asked to
return at nine-thirty to give her statement.
    By then Skip had had coffee and talked to Jimmy Dee,
who said,