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“I’m your new best friend,” Lassiter said. “You’re holding that knife all wrong, if you want to impress the lawmen over there.”
The man blinked at him, so surprised that he didn’t notice just how close Lassiter had come to him. “Huh?” he muttered, distracted. “Why would I want to impress them?”
“They’re trying to impress you. Look at that!” He turned his head and pointed to the distance.
The man, predictably, turned his head. Lassiter whirled around, caught his arm in a graceful arc, twisted the knife out, tossed the perp to the ground, and sat on him.
“Okay, guys, he’s all yours!” he called to Cody and the other officers. And he was even smiling.
CHAPTER TEN
“INTERESTINGTEESHIRT,” Cody said when the prisoner was in the detention center and they were waiting for the FBI to get there to take the man into federal custody.
Lassiter just grinned. “It gets noticed.”
“I did a physics course in college,” Cody said. “But I had to drop it. I couldn’t pass the tests.”
“It’s a tricky subject. I love it. It was a toss-up, following my dad into detective work or teaching. I decided that trying to keep order in a classroom without ending up in handcuffs wasn’t for me. I’m not politically correct.”
“Neither am I,” Cody had to agree. “You’re not handcuffed.”
“Of course not,” he replied. “Your deputy took me to jail already and I made bail.”
“It’s good of you to help,” Cody said. “I feel sorry for Miss Whatley. Even sorrier for her brother. The whole town has kind of adopted him. He fits in here very well.”
“I’ll have to be arrested again, of course,” Lassiter told him. “I heard one of the deputies talking about the standoff and I phoned Dad to bail me out. I’ve done hostage negotiation for years.”
“You seem to be very good at it,” the lawman said, with a definite interest.
“I was CIA,” came the surprising reply. “Dad was furious when I left town and pursued a new career. I went overseas and worked for one of the world’s deadliest madmen getting the goods on him. I did a stint as an enforcer for another sheriff’s father-in-law in Texas.” He chuckled. “He’s a drug lord. Nice guy. Didn’t put a foot wrong on this side of the border. He has a new granddaughter and he’s not risking his visiting privileges.”
“You get around,” Cody mused.
Lassiter chuckled. “Yes, I do. I finally went back with the agency so Dad’s hair wouldn’t have yet more silver in it. He and my mom worry.”
“It must be nice to have parents. Mine are both gone.”
“I’m truly sorry,” Lassiter told him. “I don’t know what I’d do without mine.”
“Well, we’d better get you back into a cell with Mr. Whatley,” Cody said after a minute. “If anybody asks, you took a swing at me.”
Lassiter chuckled. “That’s even believable. Thanks. I was looking for a way back in.”
Cody’s eyes twinkled. “I do like the way you negotiate.”
“It works better with a hide gun,” he said, grinning. “But in a desperate case, tae kwon do and judo will stand you in good stead. I was a master trainer in the service.”
“Which branch?”
“Marine Corps,” he replied. “I thought about staying in, but I was in the last Middle East campaign. I saw enough dead bodies to last me a lifetime.”
“Join the club. Army,” Cody told him. “I was stationed there for just a little while, but it was more than enough.”
Mr. Whatley was sitting on the lower bunk in his cell, looking lost. He looked up at Cody hopefully, but when he saw Lassiter, he just sighed and rested his head in his hands, propped on his knees.
“Back again,” Lassiter said merrily as Cody locked him in. “How’s it going, Horace?”
“I thought you made bail!”
