ponytail, still wet from a morning shower,
but his eyes looked tired and full of worry.
‘Yeah, a little bit,’ Hunter replied.
‘You don’t look so tanned for someone who’s just been to Hawaii.’ Garcia paused and frowned at Hunter. ‘You did take your vacation, right?’ Hunter was the
biggest workaholic Garcia had ever met.
‘Sort of,’ Hunter said, with a half-nod.
‘And what does that mean?’
‘I took my break,’ Hunter explained. ‘I just didn’t go to Hawaii in the end.’
‘So where did you go?’
‘Nowhere special, just visiting a friend back east.’
‘OK.’
Garcia could tell that it hadn’t been something as simple as that but he also knew Hunter well enough to know that if he didn’t want to talk about a subject, he wouldn’t, no
matter how much anyone pushed him.
Garcia approached his desk but didn’t sit down. He didn’t turn on his computer either. Instead, he opened the desk’s top drawer and began emptying it of its contents, placing
everything on the desktop.
Hunter observed his partner without uttering a word.
Garcia finally looked at him. ‘I’m sorry, buddy,’ he said as he began emptying the second drawer, breaking the awkward silence that had taken over the room.
Hunter nodded once.
‘I thought long and hard about all this, Robert,’ Garcia opened up. ‘Actually, I spent every second of the past two weeks thinking about it, considering all the possibilities,
measuring everything up, and I know that on a personal level, I’ll probably never stop regretting this. But I also know that I can never put Anna through anything like that again, Robert. She
means everything to me. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her because of the job I do.’
‘I know that,’ Hunter replied. ‘And I don’t blame you, Carlos, not even a little bit. I would’ve done the same thing.’
Hunter’s heartfelt words brought a very feeble ‘thank you’ smile to Garcia’s lips. Hunter picked up on his partner’s embarrassment.
‘You don’t owe anybody any sort of explanation, Carlos, least of all me.’
‘I owe you everything, Robert,’ Garcia interrupted him. ‘I owe you my life. I owe you Anna’s life. It’s because of you that both of us are still alive,
remember?’
Hunter didn’t want to talk about the past, so he moved the subject along as swiftly as he could.
‘How’s Anna doing, by the way?’
‘She’s surprisingly OK for someone who went through what she did,’ Garcia said, as he finished emptying the desk drawers. ‘She’s staying at her parents for a couple
of days.’
‘She’s a very strong woman,’ Hunter admitted. ‘Physically and mentally.’
‘She is indeed.’
For a moment the awkward silence came back to the room.
‘So where are you going?’ Hunter asked.
Garcia paused and glanced at Hunter. This time he looked a little embarrassed.
‘San Francisco.’
Hunter was unable to hide his surprise.
‘You’re leaving LA?’
‘We decided it would be best if we did, yes.’
Hunter had not seen that coming. In silence, he nodded his understanding. ‘SFPD’s Robbery Homicide Division will be lucky to get you.’
Garcia looked even more embarrassed now. ‘I’m not staying with the Robbery Homicide Division.’
Hunter’s surprise turned into confusion. He knew how long and hard Garcia had fought to make Homicide Detective.
‘Special Fraud Division,’ Garcia said at last. ‘Equivalent to our WCCU.’
Hunter thought he’d heard wrong.
The WCCU was the LAPD’s White Collar Crime Unit, which conducted specialized major fraud investigations involving multiple victims and/or suspects. It dealt with offences such as
embezzlements, complex grand thefts, and bribe and theft cases involving city employees or public officials. Inside the LAPD, the WCCU was better known as the type of unit detectives got stuck
with, not asked to be transferred to.
Garcia lifted both hands in surrender. ‘I know, I