The jungle-like garden in Diane Fairmont’s Tampa estate was a mass of shadows. It was nine o’clock at night, but the summer days were long. Cab stood on the lawn, with the bone-white estate behind him. The air was ripe with dampness. A rabbit fed on the grass nearby, and gnats hovered in a cloud over the lily pond. He was procrastinating by not going inside. He felt nervous, like a twenty-something kid again. He’d avoided Diane for ten years, but he couldn’t avoid her anymore.

What would they say to each other?

When the front door opened behind him, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his suit pants with unease. He expected to hear her voice, but instead, the voice was male and loud, breaking the silence like an earth-mover on a weekend morning.

‘Hey, Detective!’

It was Garth Oakes. Fitness guru, masseur, would-be confidant and advisor for Diane. The man hopped down the steps and headed for Cab with an open-toed walk, his black ponytail swinging. He was dressed in pastels, as if Miami Vice had never gone off the air. White sport coat, collarless lavender shirt. The dusk made his skin as dark as a leather boot.

Garth thrust out his hand, and Cab shook it again.

‘We met at the party on Friday,’ Oakes said. ‘Remember me?’

‘Beat the Girth … With Garth,’ Cab commented.

‘You remember! Yeah, I don’t care how many times I see myself on TV at three in the morning, it’s still a kick. You here to see Diane?’

Cab nodded.

‘She’s running late,’ Garth told him. ‘We just wrapped up a massage, and she wanted to take a shower.’

‘Okay.’

‘Hey, I hear you’re looking into some of these threats against her, huh? Way to go. Can’t be too careful. Me, I’m always prepared.’ Garth pulled aside the flap of his sport coat to reveal a ridiculously large automatic weapon holstered near his shoulder. ‘People figure I’m like the Hulk, you know? Beat ’em off with my bare hands. Except a fist isn’t much good if the other guy is packing. Nobody messes with Garth, baby. You try, you eat some lead sushi.’

Cab wasn’t really listening, but he was pretty sure that Garth did say ‘lead sushi.’

‘I better get inside,’ Cab said.

‘Oh, sure. Hey, the campaign’s going well, huh? You see the latest poll numbers? Some folks are saying the Governor may pack it in and get out of the race, but I don’t think so. He probably figures the storm will give him a bump. Voters rally ’round the incumbent over that kind of thing.’

‘They do.’