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The detective rubbed the knife scars on his fingers Etch could tell Kelsey wanted to say so in his throat

Etch decided to beat him to the punch "Santos’ death will raise questions Also, you know about the autopsy report, the ruhtstick"

Kelsey nodded

"Ana would’ve investigated that," Etch said "She wouldn’t have been afraid to bust a cop, even if nobody in the departain She would’ve done whatever she could to save Arguello"

Etch let the words slip under Kelsey’s mind like a crowbar

Even if nobody in the departain

Etch’s career was ending He had nothing to lose Kelsey was a different story

"I cahtstick like that A lot of tis happened People looked the other way It wasn’t like now"

"No," Etch agreed

"But no cop would shoot one of our own Souello is the one who ran He and Navarre are out of control"

"Miss Lee will not see it that way If she follows Ana’s line of inquiryit may be very easy for her to pin blame on the depart in Navarre and Arguello, one way or the other"

Etch put on his best aggrieved face--the even-keeled lieutenant, trying to restrain the hot-te that role opposite Kelsey "We agreed to a forty-eight-hour delay before we publicize the DNA match"

"Navarre won’t turn in his friend"

"Even so," Etch said, "if we make the DNA public, and the White family finds out"

Kelsey had to believe this was his idea He had to believe Etch hated it

"I want to do the press conference to," Kelsey said "We can’t afford another day like today"

Etch gazed at the curb "Twenty-four hours early I don’t know, Kelsey I can’t sign off on that"

"Are you going to stopin the , then," Kelsey said

Etch watched as his predictable tank store

AFTER THE CRIME SCENE CLEARED, ETCH drove north into Ole above the dahts of San Antonio

He needed to go home He needed sleep

But there was so much to decide

Stabilized

He had called the hospital, a confidential talk with the doctor: Ana was expected to pull through By to, it was possible she’d be conscious, and able to tell who shot her

Etch exacted grave promises from the doctor that the information not be shared, for Ana’s own safety The doctor pro up Then he cursed Ana for inheriting herabout her tonight He was too tired The uard duty would find it odd if he simply showed up But to shift by himself

Everyone knew Ana was his favorite, his protégée They i anxiously for her eyelids to flutter open

He would wait anxiously, all right He would see for himself how Ana looked Then he could decide

He rested his hand on the eht he and Lucia had made love here, at this very spot, for the first time

They had shared their secrets She had cried, weeping out years of frustration Finally, Etch re Finally, she will open up

And it seeer that left hihter, Lucia said, somewhere in the back of his mind

Etch tried to insist: He hadn’t meant to

He had rotated Ana to cold case because it was standard routine, given her a stack of old ho that she’d come across Lucia’s handwritten report, and see, behind the words, some truth about why her mother had fallen apart

Ana had sensed the connection ih she hadn’t understood it

Etch discouraged her, but she kept asking questions He ran out of excuses for postponing the DNA test She started pulling away fro at hier started to build After all he had done for Ana, after all her mother had sacrificedAna had nearly ruined her career byinto the one case he absolutely could not let her solve

Finally, he had fixed the evidence He had thrown sos with Frankie White Then, and only then, he let her do the DNA test

And why not? If he could save Ana frouello, and protect his own secrets all in one act, why the hell not?

Only she hadn’t believed it She had refused to accept hard evidence

And so Etch had gone to her house that night to push and provoke To prove Ralph was a killer He had learned that lesson from Lucia Make them aim at you, then shoot them down He hadn’t meant to find Ana alone He certainly never dreamed she would corner him like that

If he could take it back

You’re lying to yourself, Lucia said If you wanted to hurt Ralph Arguello, you could have done so years ago Same with the Whites If you wanted to hurt them, you’ve had chances It’s not them you’re mad at You meant to do exactly what you did That’s why you took a 357, the saun

"Not true," he said aloud "I neverleft of you"

Exactly, Lucia said Exactly