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“You ought to let one of these paramedics check you out,” he says to me.
“I’m okay,” I say. “Some bruises. No broken bones.”
Lieutenant Abrams eyes me with a mix of sympathy, confusion, and disapproval.
“The perp over there says you asked him about Parker Long-baugh?” he says, his eyebrows raised. “You want to tell me what the hell’s going on, Ranger?”
I take a deep breath.
Here it is—the moment of truth.
I confess, telling him everything about my real motivations for going to Snakebite, as well as my growing suspicions that Parker is involved. I downplay Carlos’s role, saying that he confided in me but that it was my idea to go to Snakebite and lie about why I was there.
If we end up busting Parker and his buddies—I meanwhenwe bust Parker and his buddies—I’ll be happy to shift all the credit back to Carlos. But if things don’t go well, I’ll shoulder the blame.
“So you think Parker hired these guys to come take you out?” he asks.
“It doesn’t seem like a coincidence,” I say. “I’m sure he made me this morning. And then these guys show up with orders to break the fingers on my shooting hand but not kill me? There’s got to be a correlation.”
Lieutenant Abrams thinks long and hard about what I’m saying. The blue and red lights reflect off his bald scalp. His expression is unreadable.
“You and Carlos think someone in the Rangers might be involved?” he asks again, making sure he understands.
“Carlos’s captain shut him down pretty fast when he mentioned Parker,” I say. “But it’s more likely he just figured he was barking up the wrong tree. We’ve got three suspects. I don’t think it’s as if a current Ranger is out there robbing banks with these guys. It’s just that Rangers might protect their own.”
He takes a deep breath, then—to my surprise—says, “Okay, let’s keep this a secret for now.”
He lets me off the hook for the interview he wanted to conduct tomorrow and says that he thinks Carlos should join me in Snakebite. The two of us need to put all our time and resources into the case.
“You guys report to me, you got it?” he says. “I’ll find a way to get the big bosses involved when the time comes.”
Technically, Carlos and Ty are the same rank, but Ty’s been in this position for years. He was probably a lieutenant back when Parker was a rookie. He’ll know better than anyone how to talk to the higher-ups.
“Let’s not involve anyone until we have enough for a search warrant,” he says.
In this moment, angry as hell about two armed men coming into my parents’ home, putting them and Willow in danger, I want some answers. I’m hungry to catch the men responsible—probably like Parker was to catch the Cereal Killer.
“Down in Parker’s basement,” I say, “I spotted a box labeledEXPLOSIVES.”
His eyes widen.
I know it was only comic books inside the box, but I figure all we need is an excuse to get in the house. We need some goddamn answers, and this is the best way I can think to get them.
“That should be enough for a warrant,” Ty says. “I’ll get moving on it right away.” Then he looks at me sharply. “You didn’t see what was inside the box, did you?”
“No,” I lie.
PART 2
CHAPTER 30
SUNRISE IN SAN Antonio.
Officer Luisa Ramirez is just finishing her shift for the city’s River Walk Patrol Division. All the stores and restaurants have been closed for hours, and the night was quiet.
Just the way Luisa likes it.
The River Walk area is Texas’s version of a mini-Venice. A series of canals shaded by seventy-foot-tall cypress trees and crisscrossed by walkways and bridges accessing a commercial district of two- and three-story buildings housing stores and restaurants. During the day and into the night, the paths are crowded with tourists eating on outdoor patios or meandering in and out of shops. Tour boats drift up and down the waterways. Music and conversation fill the air.
