Fireworks

an excerpt

Spyke drove south to check the Loser Lap, feeling sure they’d bag a dealer on the night’s first sweep. A block away he reached the barrier and remembered the town closed it all off for the Tall Ships Festival.

They had the cruiser windows down, so all three of them heard the big bang from the riverfront.

“We check that, yes?” Oleg asked.

Spyke turned to Oleg in the back seat. “Absolutely, we’re checking it out.”

Dina called in a possible firearm, though to Spyke it sounded more like fireworks. She put the radio down. “Spikey just wants to see his Spanish girlfriend.”

Spyke ignored her. In the rear-view mirror their refugee ride-along scratched his thin beard with one hand, worked his cellphone with the other.

Oleg looked up from the phone. “Kateryna is there, at ships with Yulia.”

Dina’s left eyebrow went up. “His sister?”

“Sister and niece,” Spyke replied.

As Dispatch radioed back, Spyke told Oleg: “We’ll check in on them while we’re there. You don’t have to worry.”

He turned to Dina. “So?”

“Morons and fireworks.”

“On the Loser Lap?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Injuries?”

“They don’t think so.”

“Ah, Loser Lap,” Oleg said. “We arrest another drug dealer.”