LITMIR.BIZ

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as unusual as it was unwelcome. Meghan flicked a glance at the two detectives. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to check on my nephew.”

      Gabe watched her hurry down a hallway with a gait guaranteed to snag a man’s attention and hold it. It sure held his.

      “You’re a card-carrying pervert, you know that?”

      The words were pitched low. Gabe turned to his partner and lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”

      Cal made a sound of disgust. “You stared hard enough. Trying to get a complete description of her lingerie?”

      “She’s not wearing any, at least not on top. And noticing that doesn’t make me a pervert.” He crossed a few steps to the coffee table, which had some books stacked neatly on it. He picked them up one at a time, reading the titles.

      “What’s it make you then?”

      “A typical red-blooded male.” He gestured toward the books. “Look at these.” Together the two men silently read the titles.

      Your Extra Senses. Growing up Telepathic. Extra-Sensory Perception: Myth and Magic.

      Cal lifted his gaze to Gabe’s and shrugged. “So she’s got an interest. You know, you should try reading more yourself. I’ve got a great book I’d like you to look at on homeopathic remedies for common ailments.”

      Giving a snort, he set the books down again. “Fat chance.”

      But Cal was nothing if not dogged. That quality of his was an advantage while working an investigation, but often a pain in the ass otherwise. “There’s a great chapter on ways to quit smoking that you might find helpful.”

      Gabe threw him a dark look. “Thanks, buddy, but you’ve helped me in that area too much already.” It had been Cal who’d suggested that he wear a rubber band around his wrist, and snap himself anytime he thought about taking a smoke. Called it aversion therapy or some damn thing. Gabe had given it an enthusiastic try once and discovered that the resulting sting hadn’t appreciably lessened his desire for a cigarette. It had, however, given him a bone to pick with his partner. He was just waiting for the right time to pay the man back for his lousy advice.

      Cal stiffened slightly, alerting Gabe that Meghan Patterson had reentered the room behind him. Not that he needed the warning. His instincts were excellent, and in her case they seemed to be unusually heightened. Turning, he found her standing with her nephew before her. Her hands were resting lightly on his shoulders, her stance protective. He wondered what it was she thought she was protecting the boy from.

      Cal smiled at the boy, going down on one knee before him. Gabe made no move to follow suit. His partner was the natural one to put the kid at ease. Children and dogs liked him. And although Gabe didn’t have anything against dogs, he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t know squat about kids.

      “Hi, I’m Detective Madison.” He jerked a thumb in Gabe’s direction. “That’s Detective Connally. We want to ask you a couple of questions. Is that okay?”

      The boy looked up at his aunt before giving an almost imperceptible nod.

      Cal’s voice was reassuring. “This won’t take long. We just want you to tell us about your trip to the toy store last night.”

      Danny’s words were hesitant. “I saw some dinosaurs. Electronic ones.”

      Cal gave a long whistle. “Dinosaurs, huh? That sounds exciting. The clerk said you took them to the patio in the alley to try them out. How’d they work?”

      In his enthusiasm the boy was more forthcoming. “They were cool. They can roar and fight and everything. Aunt Meggie said maybe I can get two for my birthday.”

      Gabe entered the conversation. “While you were outside, did you hear anything, Danny? See anything?” The boy exchanged another look with his aunt. His answer was slow in coming.

      “I…heard something. And then a man jumped out of the sky and ran to get in a car.”

      A car. Gabe thought quickly. Having a car waiting suggested that Lenny had been planning a quick exit from his apartment. What could have had him running so scared? Scared enough to shoot at them first?

      He waited with barely restrained impatience while Cal smoothly extracted bits of information from the boy. D’Brusco must have jumped over the railing of the fire escape at the landing. The car he’d run to was black, according to the kid. Yes, the boy agreed, with Cal’s coaching, the same color as the detective’s belt.

      “And he was real scared, too.” Gabe noted the way Meghan’s fingers tightened on the boy’s shoulders, and Danny turned to look up at her. “He was, Aunt Meggie. Maybe ’cuz that other man was chasing him. Then they both got in the car and drove away.”

      Gabe squatted before the boy. “There was another man? Did they say anything? Could you hear them talking to each other?”

      Danny seemed to get tongue-tied then. Or perhaps he was reacting to the death grip his aunt had on his shoulders. It took minutes of prying to elicit that the boy hadn’t heard either man speak. Gabe visualized the dimensions of the alley and calculated that the boy wouldn’t have heard anything below a shout, at any rate. The way the kid described the scene, he doubted whether there had been a chase in progress. More likely both of them had been in D’Brusco’s apartment when he and Cal had knocked. He doubted the men had noticed the boy. If he’d been seated on the concrete patio, the wrought iron fence around it would have likely hidden him from view. With a bit more coaxing Cal was able to elicit a description that matched D’Brusco. He’d give a month’s pay to know who the other one was.

      “That’s all the information my nephew can give you, Detectives.” Meghan’s voice was firm. “Now, if you don’t mind, it’s dinnertime, and we’re on a schedule tonight.”

      Cal looked at Gabe, who nodded slightly. As they rose, he said, “We’d sure like to get an idea about the identity of the second man, ma’am. Could you bring your nephew in to look at some pictures?”

      There was no mistaking the woman’s reaction. Her spine went rigid. Voice tight, she said to the boy, “Danny, go in and get washed up for supper.”

      “But I just washed my hands a minute ago.”

      “Now, Danny.”

      Apparently the boy recognized the steel in his aunt’s words, because he turned without another word and trudged down the hallway. Meghan faced the detectives again and her tone went low and fierce. “Any further involvement of my nephew in your investigation is out of the question.”

      Gabe tried to make his voice sound soothing, a difficult feat for his rumbling tones. “I don’t think you understand, ma’am. All we’re asking is…”

      The look she shot him was as scathing as her words. “No, you don’t understand. Whatever it is that you do, you’ll do without Danny. The CPD has already cost my family more than enough already. Thanks to your department, my sister is dead.”

      Chapter 2

      “Uh-uh, buddy. It’s my day, remember?”

      Gabe scowled, his fingers poised on the handle of the driver’s door. Heaving a matyred sigh he went around to the other side of the unmarked car and got in. Cal took cautious driving to new heights. Gabe had often thought if his partner entered a Daytona 500 held for females over ninety, every one of the little old ladies would be lapping him in seconds.

      Once he’d eased the car into traffic, Cal spoke again. “What do you suppose Patterson’s story is? She’s sure carrying a whale of a grudge against the department.”

      Gabe loosened his tie and unfastened his top shirt button. The confining clothes he was forced to wear was one of the biggest disadvantages of having switched assignments three years ago from undercover work to his current position of detective in the Organized Crime division. In his opinion, neckwear should be outlawed

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