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For years he had worked the graveyard shift, the top cop of the night, but since Chief Lewis Stevenson died one ht world where I had ht presence, a good cop and a good ht Bay, and although he noorks the day, he has given his heart to darkness and is not the person I once knew

"Anyone else here?" Manuel asked

"No"

I heard Feeney and the other deputy talking in the foyer--and then footsteps on the stairs

"Got your e," Manuel told me "The license nu’s house last night"

"Maybe it was a Tupperware party," I said

Breaking the azine out of the Glock, Manuel said, "You two showed up just before dawn You parked behind the garage and came in the back way"

"We needed soht?"

"Studying Tupperware catalogs," I said

"You disappoint me, Chris"

"You think I’m more the Rubbermaid type?"

Manuel said, "I never knew you to be a smartass"

"I’m a man of countless facets"

A subdued response to his questioning would be interpreted as fear, and any show of fear would invite harsher treatment We both knew that the perverse ally declared, and though it was unlikely that any authority would ever hold Manuel or his h crimes or misdemeanors, he couldn’t be certain there would be no consequences for his illegal acts Besides, he’d once been a by-the-book lawman, and beneath all his self-justification, he still had a conscience Wiseass re Manuel that we kneell as he did that his authority was now itimate and that pushed too hard, ould resist it

"Don’t I disappoint you, too?" Bobby asked

"I’ve always knohat you are," Manuel said, dropping the pistol azine into one of his pockets

"Likewise You should change brands of face e brands ofthat covers better," I said

"Yeah," Bobby said to Manuel, "I can still see the three sixes on your forehead"

Without responding, Manuel tucked my Glock under his belt

"Did you check out the license number?" I asked hi We found it abandoned this afternoon, near the marina"

"Any leads?"

"None of this is your business I’ve got two things to say to you, Chris Two reasons I’m here Stay out of this"

"Is that number one?"

"What?"

"Is that nus we can remember," Bobby said "But if there’s a lot of bonus advice, we’ll have to take notes"

"Stay out of this," Manuel repeated, speaking toBobby There was no unnatural lue in his voice was as chilling as aniet-out-of-jail-free cards you had any right to expect from me I mean it, Chris"

A crash came from upstairs A heavy piece of furniture had been tipped over

I started toward the hall door

Manuel stopped ainst the table The rap was as loud as a gunshot He said, "You heard me tell Frank not to trash the place too rily

"Poetry lover like you ht have a whole arsenal For public safety, we have to be sure"

Bobby was leaning against the counter near the cooktop, arned to our powerlessness, willing to ride out this episode, so totally chilled that he ht as well have had lumps of coal for eyes and a carrot for a nose This pose no doubt deceived Manuel, but I knew Bobby so well that I could see he was like a dry-ice bomb about to achieve blast pressure The drawer iht contained a set of knives, and I was sure that he had chosen his position with the cutlery in ht here, now, and the i was to re kids

When the sound of shattering glass caer, and said tightly to Manuel, "Lilly lost her husband Now, maybe, her only child Doesn’t that reach you? You of all people?"

"I’ her boy back, I would"

His choice of words chilled me "That sounds like he’s already dead--or soet him"

With none of the compassion that once had been the essence of Manuel, he said, "I told you--stay out of it"

Sixteen years ago, Manuel’s wife, Car birth to their second child She had been only twenty-four Manuel, who never rehter and son with much love and wisdom His boy, Toby, has Down’s syndrome As much as anyone and ; he understands what it means to live with hard responsibilities and lih I searched his eyes, I couldn’t see the compassion that had made him a first-rate father and policeman

"What about the Stuart twins?" I asked

His round face, designed er, usually a summer face, was now full of winter and as hard as ice

I said, "What about Wendy Dulcinea?"

The extent of ered him

His voice reainst his right palm: "You listen to me, Chris Those of us who knohat’s happened--we either s it or we choke on it So just relax and s it Because if you choke on it, then no one is going to be there to apply the Heiuy I understand That was a death threat"

"Nicely delivered," Bobby noted "Creative, oblique, no jarring histrionics--although the bit of business with the club is a cliché Psychotic-Gestapo-torturer shtick from a hundred old movies You’ll be a more credible fascist without it"