It didn’t seem to be a lie.At least, not one that he recognized.Before Javi could decide if it was worth his time to challenge it, Galloway strode out of one of the alleys of storage boxes.Her usual work uniform of PPI was supplemented with heavy rubber knee and elbow pads.Behind her, the last of the bodies that needed to be loaded into the van was carried out, already zipped up in plastic since there were no civilians here to placate.
Kincaid chuckled softly.
“Luka Horvat,” he said.“I’m going to have to sit in on his mother identifying him.That dog made a holy mess of the boy…if she makes it, I owe her a bone.”
Javi pushed himself off the side of the container.
“Bourneville’s going to be fine,” he said.“And she doesn’t take food from strangers.Or assholes.”
“Maybe a commendation, then,” Kincaid called after him as he limped away.“Get her pretty furry face out there as the dog that took down the heir to the Horvat crime family.How’s that sound?”
Not great.
Javi ignored him as he hobbled over to Tancredi.She was trying to get the blond woman to get into the back of the social worker’s car.
“I’m just worried about the puppy,” the woman sniveled.She wiped her nose on her sleeve.“She looked like my nan’s dog.”
Tancredi handed her a tissue and nudged her toward the social worker.“I’ll let Rose here know what’s up with the dog the minute we hear,” she said.“She’ll tell you.”
Rose nodded agreement, her gray buzz-cut glistening in the overhead lights as she made come-on gestures with both hands.The blond took a shaky breath, gave Javi a leery look, and scuttled away.Her feet were bare, the pink nail polish on her toes chipped, and she had her strappy heels clutched in one hand.
“Gala Lyttle,” Tancredi told Javi absently as she capped her pen and tucked her notes back onto her belt.“No priors, no sheet, just some dumb-as-bricks cashier from that cafe on the way in from San Diego.They talked her into getting into their car and driving to Plenty to ‘prank’ a deputy they knew.Bad as this turned, it is almost amazing it didn’t turn out worse for her.Sorry, what can I—”
She stopped mid-question as she looked at Javi’s face, then glanced down at his hastily field-treated leg.Her expression shifted from professional exasperation to alarm.
“Shit.Sorry,” she blurted out.“I forgot.Are you OK?Want me to call for an ETA on when the ambulance will get here?”
Javi shook his head.He reached up to loosen his collar and winced at the sting of fabric-burned fingers.
“Can you drop me off at my office?”he asked.“I need to check something.”
Tancredi widened her eyes at him.“I think it can wait,” she said.
“No.It can’t.”
Inhindsight,technically,itcould have.
It had taken three weeks to get every favor called in, every bit of goodwill spent, and every file tagged and pulled.
The latter had been mostly Sue, to be fair.
Now all the pieces were in place.All Javi needed was Kincaid.
Right on cue, the man himself opened the door to the office.He paused as he saw Javi behind the desk and Cloister slouched back against the wall behind him.One eyebrow quirked up as Kincaid shrugged his jacket off to hang it up.
“Agent Merlo,” he said.“I appreciate the effort, but no need to keep my seat warm.ThisisCalifornia.”
Javi picked up a folder and tossed it to the other side of the desk.It landed with a soft, determined thump.Kincaid looked at it and then at Javi.
“Like my daughter says, I’m not going to read all that,” he said.“But I’m happy for you.Or sorry that happened.”
Cloister snorted.
Javi swiveled his chair around to give him a look.He got a shrug in response.
“Sometimes assholes are funny,” Cloister said.
Kincaid smirked.“Agent Witte,” he said.“Always good to get the thumbs-up from you.Not that you have much choice at the moment.Not having much luck with that hand, are you?”
