Chosen To Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

“That bad?”

“Overindulged only child raised by a single mother who—”

“Loves him too much.”

“I was going to say ‘makes excuses for him.’ And no, I didn’t find out anything useful. I did run into Santana, though, and he asked what Ivor Hicks was doing at the Lazy L, and since Ivor was already released, I couldn’t ask him.”

“I thought Crytor had sent him.”

“Yeah, so he says . . .”

“Manny Douglas is on his way down.”

“Really?”

“Says he has something I need to see, which is probably just bull, but I thought you might join me.”

“To referee?”

“To make sure I don’t kill him.”

“Yeah, don’t do that. It might ruin your chances for reelection. Has the undersheriff come in?”

“Brewster called. Got hung up in a meeting downtown. He’ll be in shortly. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

“Yeah, right, Alvarez. You never wonder about anything without a purpose.”

“Okay, you caught me. I have a crush on him,”

she said and he almost laughed. He noticed the spark in her dark eyes, something he hadn’t seen in a long while, not since the first victim had been discovered.

“Does Brewster know?”

CHOSEN TO DIE

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“Sure, but it’s a problem, him being married and all.” She gave him a steady glance. “You do know that was a joke, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Good.” She scooted her chair back and followed him to his office just as Joelle called Grayson to say Manny had arrived.

“Show him in,” Grayson said and hung up. With a glance at Alvarez, who was leaning against the window casing, he said under his breath, “Showtime.”

Seconds later Joelle clipped in, Manny at her side. Grayson forced a smile he didn’t feel. “Manny.” The sheriff stood and waved the smaller man into a side chair. “You know Detective Alvarez?”

“Detective.” Manny nodded toward Alvarez as he took his seat. Dressed in his usual outfit, khaki pants, a plaid shirt, and sweater vest, straight out of Eddie Bauer, he could have been a spokesperson for the store. Even his all-weather jacket seemed a part of a planned outfit.

Grayson figured he should clear the air and let the jerk of a reporter know where he stood. “I talked to your editor this morning. Lodged a complaint about that headline piece you wrote this morning. There are laws against libel, you know.”

Manny didn’t so much as flinch. “I stand by everything I wrote, Sheriff, and that’s why it galls me that I’m here. If it weren’t for my editor—”

“What is it you think is so all-fired important?”

Grayson cut in, still seething about the scathing article attacking him and his people.