Afraid to Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

“They’re here because of the murdered women they found,” Dave said quietly.

“You mean for that ice-mummy case.” Shaking her head, her red hair brushing her chin with the movement, Aggie closed her eyes as if to gather herself. “He’s got nothing to do with that. You know that, Dylan. Nothing.” She blinked her eyes open and focused on her husband. “We have to get an attorney, Dave. Pronto! We have to!”

“You saw Gabe, right?” O’Keefe said.

“Yes. But that’s about it. ‘Saw’ him. He won’t talk to us. It’s as if ... as if ...” she squeaked out, “we’re the enemy. Us? When all we’ve ever tried to do is help him? Oh, my God, this is all so unbelievable and now, Gabe says he’s contacted his biological mother.”

“Looks that way.”

“And you?” she accused. “You’re involved with her?”

Bad news traveled fast. “I know her. We worked together in San Bernardino.”

“I remember that,” Dave said, his bushy eyebrows pulling together over the thin rims of his glasses. “Seems as if it didn’t turn out well.”

“You lost your job!” Aggie reminded him.

“I quit.”

She waved a hand frantically in the air. “Doesn’t matter. But I don’t want her having any contact with my son, okay? That’s the deal. It’s always been the deal. I ... We don’t want or need another parent trying to mess with our kid’s emotions.”

“He searched her out.”

“He’s a kid! He obviously doesn’t know what he

wants or what’s best for him. I do not want her involved in his life, you got that? As for you, if I were you, I’d watch my step; tread carefully.” Aggie was on a roll now. “But ... we have to think, put things in perspective. Gabe’s in serious trouble and we have to help him. We have to hire an attorney and get Gabe out of jail!”

“Maybe detention is the best place for him,” her husband offered up before taking a long swallow from his coffee. “At least he’s safe there and we know where he is.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Aggie demanded, her voice rising again. She stared at her husband as if he’d turned into an alien from outer space. “Come on, Dave! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard yet.”

“Shh!” he snapped and Aggie, rebuffed, glanced around as if realizing she might be overheard.

Fortunately, no one was paying the least bit of attention to them.

“Do you know the press have been calling us?” she asked O’Keefe. “They know Gabe’s identity even though they’re supposed to not report it and so I’ve been getting calls. They know he was arrested at Detective Alvarez’s home; well how could they not when a whole cavalry of cops showed up, huh? They’ll start digging, tying Gabe to this new series of crimes by the Ice Mummy Killer, just you wait, and then his life will be a living hell. Ours, too. And even that Selena Alvarez when they figure out she’s his birth mother!”

“That hasn’t been established.”

“Yet. But a reporter’s already on the story. Some guy called my cell phone. My cell, for God’s sake, and he started asking about the adoption. That was two days ago. By now it could be all over the Internet! God, this is a nightmare!” She finally picked up her drink and licked the whipped cream from the cup’s sides as she stared at her cousin. “You just wait! Things are only going to get worse. A whole lot worse.” She took a swallow of her drink, then said to her husband, “We’re getting a lawyer ASAP. I don’t care what it costs. And, Dylan, send us your bill. You found Gabe, we’ve got him ... sort of, but your job is over.”

Dave said, “Wait a second, Aggie—”

“Don’t even think about arguing with me about it!” she said to her husband, then her gaze turned to Dylan. “You’re involved with her. She’s Gabriel’s biological mother. So it’s over, you see? Just send us the bill.”

Pescoli tried not to let her home life ruin her day, but Jeremy’s surprise announcement that he wanted to move out coupled with a request for her to sign a lease for him burned through her brain as she drove into the parking lot of the sheriff ’s department. Their argument, as always, had been about chores, his responsibilities and her work. They’d both agreed that living together under the same roof wasn’t a perfect arrangement, but the fact he thought she should still support him while he lived on his own really burned her butt.

She cut the engine and reminded herself that he was still in school and still working part time to pay for his truck and the insurance on it. That was something, she supposed, but not enough. He’d moved out once before and it hadn’t worked out; he was still paying off bills from that fiasco, but he didn’t seem to realize that it wasn’t her goal in life to support him indefinitely.

She figured he could move out again if he wanted to, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to finance any part of it. “Give me strength,” she said, taking a swallow from her travel coffee cup and realizing it was from two days ago, the coffee cold and bitter.

Hopefully someone had already brewed a fresh pot in the station. She pushed Jeremy and his problems to that back I’ll-deal-with-this-later area of her mind and concentrated on her job. Somehow, whether she liked it or not, Alvarez was on the Ice Mummy Killer’s radar, though Pescoli didn’t know why, but there was a connection between the runaway kid, the killer and her partner.

Hauling her computer with her, she stepped out of her Jeep and headed toward the back door of the station. The press, as ever, was in position, two vans parked, reporters and cameramen already filming, the sheriff ’s office forming a backdrop, snow falling softly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Manny Douglas, that weasel of a reporter for the Mountain Reporter, fast approaching. In his usual flannel and khakis, he raised a hand, “Detective Pescoli! Just a few questions. I see the FBI has been called in.”

Not “called in.” They always showed up when kidnapping or serial killers were involved in a case.

“You know I’m not going to comment,” she said, reaching the back door.