CHAPTER 37

Cooper fell silent. His leg began twitching nervously beneath the table again.

“You… you were trying to catch me out?” he rasped with a crooked smile. “Old trick.”

“You caught yourself out,” Lake replied calmly.

Mark grimaced and leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. For a couple of seconds, he tried to maintain his previous composure, but his leg still wouldn’t stop moving.

“All right,” he finally exhaled. “Say I was there. So what? You can’t prove it.”

“Can’t I?”

Aaron slipped a hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out a clear evidence bag. Inside was a cigarette butt with a red band. The thin plastic rustled softly beneath his fingers.

He placed the bag on the metal table between them.

Cooper fell silent.

“You know what’s interesting?” Lake said. “Almost nobody buys these cigarettes around here. Just you… and a couple of other people with the same taste. Strawberry stripe. Limited edition.”

“Coincidence,” Mark waved it off.

“Speaking of coincidences.”

Lake took out a second evidence bag and placed it beside the first.

“The saliva on this cigarette butt matched a sample found at your house.”

Cooper pressed his lips together.

Aaron leaned slightly forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“Care to explain?”

Cooper’s gaze darted to the bags and immediately returned to him. He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek and tugged at his collar as though it had suddenly become too tight.

“Nice to see you getting nervous.”

“I’m not nervous!” Cooper snapped.

“Uh-huh,” Aaron replied calmly. “It’s just doing that on its own.”

“Listen, I didn’t do anything!” Cooper’s voice trembled. “You’re the one who acted like an asshole. You and Parker broke into my house and stole evidence!”

“You let us in,” Lake pointed out.

Mark fell silent for a second, then gave a crooked smile.

“Yeah. Of course. I was supposed to figure out why you were there.”

He glanced at the evidence bag between them, then looked back at Lake.

“By the way, where’s your Parker?”

Aaron said nothing.

“Not with you?” Cooper smirked. “Strange. I’ve gotten used to seeing him glued to your side.”

He paused briefly.

“Or did you finally realize that a good cop doesn’t drag dead weight around with him?”

Aaron didn’t answer. He simply continued looking at him calmly, and Mark frowned involuntarily.

Then he laughed quietly.

Cooper froze.

For a moment, Lake lowered his gaze, still holding back a smile.

“Well, well,” he drawled. “So that’s what this is.”

He looked at Mark and leaned slightly forward, placing his palms on the table.

“I didn’t realize you were so interested in my personal life.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes.

It landed quietly on the table between them.

“Rachel gave them to me,” Aaron explained, taking out a lighter after them.

“Why the fuck did you bring them in here? Smoking’s prohibited.”

“I can take them back.”

“No.”

The answer came out too quickly. Cooper seemed to realize it himself and fell silent.

His gaze fixed on the pack. He ran his tongue over his dry lips as though he was about to say something, then changed his mind. He looked at Lake and then back at the cigarettes.

His hand reached for them after all.

His fingers were visibly trembling as he pulled out a cigarette and grabbed the lighter.

The flame didn’t catch the first time. He swore quietly, flicked it again, and shielded the flame with his palm. The tip of the cigarette finally glowed. Mark took a deep drag, closed his eyes, and remained still for a moment, slowly exhaling the smoke through his nose.

His shoulders dropped slightly.

“And now I want to know,” Lake said evenly, “why you went there. And let’s skip the part where you tell me you were ‘just passing by.’”

Cooper lazily leaned back in his chair and took another deep drag. The cigarette crackled softly.

“Got nostalgic.”

Lake nodded.

“Feeling nostalgic, huh.”

“Yeah.”

“At the place where your girlfriend disappeared ten years ago. The girl whose body was never found.”

Cooper froze.

“Don’t you dare say it like that.”

He lowered the cigarette, ash falling silently onto the table. His fingers were still visibly trembling.

Aaron met his gaze.

“Like what?”

Cooper frowned.

“What exactly didn’t you like?” Lake asked calmly. “That she was your girlfriend? Or that her body was never found?”

He saw Mark’s jaw tense even more. The ventilation hummed quietly behind the wall. The cigarette touched his lips again, but he didn’t take a drag.

Lake didn’t rush him.

“She really did love you,” he said quietly.

Cooper said nothing.

“Did you know that?”

Mark’s gaze slowly rose to meet his.

“She talked about you with such excitement,” Aaron continued. “About what you were really like. That you were just lost. That everything could still be fixed.”

Mark gave a crooked smile.

“She was naive,” he muttered.

“Probably.”

Aaron lowered his gaze for a moment.

“Except when she started crying.”

The smile disappeared from Cooper’s face.

He turned away, took another drag, and held the smoke in for a long time.

“And still,” Lake continued, “despite the way you treated her, she believed she could change you.”

Cooper slowly shook his head.

“She couldn’t.”

“No,” Aaron replied quietly. “She couldn’t.”

He fell silent, watching the thin thread of smoke rising from the cigarette in Mark’s hand.

“So many years have passed,” he said at last. “And I still remember her laugh.”

Cooper froze.

Aaron raised his eyes.

“And you?”

He didn’t answer for a long time.

“I…” His voice broke. He swallowed. “I started forgetting her face.”

The ash at the end of the cigarette stretched dangerously long, but he seemed not to notice.

“Everything is getting blurry. Her smile, her eyes, even her scent… I’m forgetting her scent.”

His lips trembled.

“I only remember her laugh. So bright, like…”

“Full of life?” Lake finished for him.

Cooper nodded.

“Yeah… full of life,” he said quietly.

He took one last slow drag, then remained sitting there with the cigarette between his fingers, oblivious to the burning tip nearly reaching the filter.

“Can I ask you something?”

Aaron nodded.

“Was there ever anything between you and her?”

“No.”

“Nothing?” Cooper asked, frowning.

“Nothing.”

“It just seemed…” He looked away, searching for the right words. “You two were too close.”

“We were,” Lake said calmly. “She was my best friend.”

Cooper gave a quiet laugh, but there was none of his earlier mockery in it.

“I see…”

“Yeah.”

Aaron was silent for a moment.

“My conscience, if you want to call it that.”

Cooper lowered his gaze to the table.

“Got it…”

Aaron said nothing. He only noticed how Mark’s shoulders had slumped and how the cigarette between his fingers had gone cold. Just moments ago, he had clung to every word; now he seemed to have forgotten he was even holding it.

He shifted his gaze to the folder lying between them and opened it.

“What’s that?” Mark asked hoarsely, not looking up right away.

“What I came to you for,” Lake replied, taking out the first few sheets. The dry paper tickled slightly inside his nose. “We can put you into the witness protection program.”

Cooper slowly raised his head.

“What do you mean?”

“You give us a full statement. Every name, every place, every transfer, every record. Everything you know,” Aaron replied calmly. “In return, you get protection. New documents, a new name, a new city.”

Cooper frowned.

“There won’t be a Mark Cooper anymore,” Lake added. “Not for anyone.”

Mark’s gaze moved over the papers lying in front of him.

He cautiously touched one of them, absently running his thumb along its rough edge.

“What the fuck do I need that for?” he finally asked.

His leg shifted quietly beneath the table again.

“I don’t need your handouts.” He glanced at the papers and immediately looked away. “I’ll deal with it myself.”

Aaron heard the familiar sharpness return to his voice. But he still hadn’t taken his fingers off the documents.

“All right,” he said calmly. “You’ll deal with it.”

Mark frowned even more deeply, as though he had expected a completely different answer.

Aaron flipped through several pages and stopped at the one he needed.

“But first, you should understand exactly what you’ll have to deal with.”

He placed the sheet in front of Cooper.

“You were caught during a major shipment. Not with a couple of packets in your pocket—you were receiving it and overseeing the operation.”

“So what?” Cooper snorted.

“It means the sentence is completely different.”

Lake looked at him carefully.

“Taken together, the charges could get you up to fifteen years.”

Cooper gave a crooked smile.

“I’ll survive.”

“Maybe.”

Aaron held his gaze for a moment.

“But you’re twenty-nine, Mark. If you get the maximum, you’ll be almost forty-five when you get out.”

“Thanks. I know how to count.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not going to make the decision for you.”

Mark glanced at the papers again. This time, his attention lingered a little longer.

Lake pushed the folder closer to him.

“Read it.”

He rose from the table and calmly gathered several sheets from his side, leaving the documents in front of Cooper. He said nothing else.

He was already heading for the exit when Mark’s voice unexpectedly made him stop.

“Why are you doing this?”

Aaron turned around.

For the first time throughout the entire conversation, genuine confusion flickered across his face.

“Why not?”

“Seriously? After everything that happened?”

“Yeah.”

Mark snorted and lowered his gaze to the folder. He ran a hand over its cover and fell silent for a moment.

“You know,” he suddenly said, “on Friday…”

Lake’s brows slowly drew together.

“Around eleven at night,” Mark continued. “Take a walk past the sawmill.”

There was a familiar rasp in his voice again on the last words.

“Who knows,” he shrugged. “Maybe you’ll see something interesting.”

Cooper said nothing more, only lowered his gaze to the folder again.

Aaron gave a short nod, turned, and walked out.

The cell door closed behind him with a heavy metallic click.

***

Distant voices drifted in from the far corridor, while an old heater in the corner hummed quietly, circulating warm air through the room. It was already dark outside the precinct windows, and the light from the streetlamps fell across the floor in pale rectangles.

Under the yellowish lamp beside his desk stood Detective Kowalski. He casually adjusted his glasses, which had slipped down the bridge of his nose, and wiped the desk with a damp cloth far more slowly than necessary.

Billy stepped forward, trying to maintain his usual friendly smile.

“Sergeant Driscoll and the guys left about an hour ago. Didn’t expect you not to be with them tonight.”

“Oh, Hong, it’s you,” Kowalski turned around, slightly hunched over. “What makes you think I should be with them?”

“Well, the finals are in full swing, aren’t they?” Billy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “The guys have been talking my ear off with all their bets.”

“Ah, that’s what you mean… Well, you know how it is. End of the quarter—there’s work piled up everywhere,” he grumbled, putting the cloth away and stuffing folders into an old, worn backpack.

Billy nodded understandingly.

“At least things will probably calm down after the holidays.”

“Don’t count on it. After the holidays, everyone will remember that they desperately need reports they were supposed to turn in before Christmas.”

“Well, then at least I’m not the only lucky one,” Billy smirked.

Kowalski grunted as he put a food container into his backpack.

“What are you doing here, anyway? You planning to hang around all night again?”

“No, we’re here about a case. Wanted to clarify a few things.”

Kowalski finally looked at Rick.

“And you, Parker? Here for work too?”

“No. Just decided to get some exercise while I’m here,” Rick shrugged.

“Oh, good for you,” Kowalski smirked. “That’s the right idea. You always have to pay attention to physical activity, otherwise you’ll end up like me by the time you’re fifty.”

He slapped his large belly, and Rick couldn’t help smiling.

“And yet somehow you still manage to get everything done,” he replied.

“Habit,” Kowalski grunted. “When you’ve been working this long, you don’t really think about whether you’re keeping up anymore. You just do it.”

He fell silent for a moment, staring somewhere ahead.

“And having no personal life helps too.”

Billy snorted.

“At least Driscoll and his guys are going to have some fun tonight. All they talked about was hockey.”

“So that’s why they managed to start fighting over the bets.”

Kowalski waved a hand.

“Nothing new. Give them something to argue about and they’ll manage to fight over the weather.”

“They’re especially good at that,” Billy smirked.

Kowalski nodded slowly. His gaze moved over them and lingered for a moment somewhere behind Rick, toward the corridor leading to the cells. Then it returned.

“Yeah, they are…” he drawled, slowly smoothing his mustache. “So where’s Lake? Still with that suspect? What’s his name… Mark Carter?”

The question sounded completely ordinary, but for some reason Rick tensed.

“Cooper,” Billy corrected him.

“Ah,” Kowalski waved it off, reaching for his backpack zipper. “What the hell’s the difference? All those junkies look the same.”

“Uh-huh…” Billy nodded automatically. “Speaking of junkies.”

He frowned slightly.

“I wanted to ask you more about your case. The one you handled a month and a half ago.”

“The fight?” Kowalski froze for a second.

The zipper caught beneath his fingers. He tugged it once, then again, and finally closed the backpack.

“Yeah,” Hong answered shortly.

“Why?”

Rick thought Kowalski’s voice had grown slightly quieter.

“Take the report, it’s all there,” he replied with a smile, slinging the backpack over his shoulder.

“I just…” Billy began quietly, smiling awkwardly. “I wanted to hear about it from you. You know how it is…” He shrugged slightly. “Paper doesn’t capture all the details. And you were there. I’d like to hear everything from you.”

Billy spoke softly, almost naively, and looked at Kowalski with such genuine interest that Rick could only mentally pat him on the shoulder.

Good job. Nice recovery.

With a look like that, Billy could probably talk anyone into anything.

Kowalski remained silent for a little longer, fingers tightening around the strap. Then he sighed heavily.

“Hmm… Well, yeah. The report’s pretty dry. Doesn’t have the details…” He put the backpack back down and sat on a chair. “All right, but make it quick. I’m a person too, you know. I want to go home.”

Clasping his hands together, he looked at them over his glasses.

“So what exactly happened?” Billy asked.

“Well… what is there to tell? Routine check. A little scuffle between junkies from the trailer park and guys from downtown. Old conflict, nothing special.”

He spoke without much interest, only his clasped fingers tightening slightly from time to time.

“Yeah, but people at the precinct were saying,” Hong pointed out gently, “that some of the people involved had been seen before in drug shipments. Dealers, supposedly.”

Kowalski nodded slowly.

“Maybe,” he answered shortly. “But they didn’t find any evidence at the time.”

Billy smiled and stepped forward.

“But you were there. Maybe you noticed something strange?”

“Strange?” Kowalski raised an eyebrow slightly. “Nope, Billy. Nothing strange. Just a regular night: people yelling, beating each other up, blood, noise… that sort of thing.”

He smirked, but Rick noticed his fingers loosen for a moment before immediately clasping together
again.

“And who started the fight?” Rick asked calmly.

Kowalski thought for a moment, rubbing the edge of his glasses with his thumb.

“Someone from downtown, I think.”

“Remember who?” Billy asked curiously.

“No.”

“Maybe a name or a nickname?”

Kowalski narrowed his eyes.

“Hong, that was a month and a half ago.”

Billy smiled apologetically.

“Of course, sorry,” he agreed easily. “I just heard that nobody knows anything about who started it.”

Rick didn’t know why, but he found himself lingering on Kowalski’s attentive gaze from behind his glasses.

“And you’re saying,” Billy continued casually, “that it was someone from downtown. That’s what made me curious.”

Kowalski was silent, adjusted his glasses, and only then shrugged.

“Well, if I said it, then I remembered.”

Billy smiled.

“Happens. Sometimes I replay something that happened in my head and suddenly notice some detail I missed before. That’s all.”

“You’ll go far,” Kowalski nodded, rising from the chair and slinging the backpack over his shoulder. “In any case, read the report. It’s all written there in detail.”

“Yeah, of course,” Hong smiled brightly, stepping aside to let him pass. “We won’t keep you any longer.”

Kowalski grabbed his jacket and calmly headed for the exit. Rick watched him go and folded his arms across his chest.

“What do you think?” he asked quietly, glancing at Billy.

“I don’t know.”

“Believe him?”

“Well… Detective Kowalski is forgetful by nature. He really could’ve just misspoken,” Hong replied, copying his posture.

“He is? Forgetful?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. It’s just that in the time I’ve been working here, I’ve formed the opposite opinion.”

“No, you probably just got the wrong impression. I remember once he spent half a day looking for a folder with reports, and it was sitting under his elbow the whole time.”

“Maybe,” Rick said shortly.

He wanted to add something else, but Billy suddenly fell silent and looked behind him.

Rick turned around.

Aaron stood a few steps away, his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.

Rick didn’t even notice himself straightening.

Maybe it was the old heater, but the air suddenly seemed too warm. He swallowed and only then realized he had barely been breathing this whole time.

A faint blush touched his cheeks and the tips of his ears. All traces of his earlier seriousness disappeared — somehow, being near Aaron made it difficult to maintain his usual composure.

“Did it work?” Billy asked curiously.

“Uh-huh,” Lake nodded shortly, giving them an attentive look. His gaze lingered on Rick a little longer than necessary. “What are you two doing here?”

Rick swallowed again.

“We need to talk,” he finally managed, his voice slightly hoarse.

Rick looked away and headed toward the office first.