Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [classic children's novels txt] 📗

was also going for the Armani bad-boy look. They both reached in their jackets. I said to Dehan, “They’re going to try it. Carlitos must not die.”

I was right. Suddenly they were taking aim at the headlamps, and there was the crack of gunfire. Carlitos and Chema were looking this way and that, unsure what to do. And I was running, screaming, “Nooo!” Dehan was right behind me, shouting, “You take Carlitos!”

As I ran, I saw everything in slow motion. I saw Carlitos point his Desert Eagle straight at my chest. I saw Chema mouth something and turn his weapon toward Dehan. In my peripheral vision, I saw the back of the moustache man’s head explode in a shower of gore. I saw his pal kind of whiplash as he was hit by a volley of bullets. I saw Carlitos’s face contract with hatred, and I saw his finger tense. At the same time, I saw Chema’s grip tighten on his Colt, and I could see it was leveled at Dehan’s heart. I guess my stupidity saved all four of our lives.

I leapt at Chema, cutting across Dehan’s path. I seized the barrel of the Colt and levered down savagely. The gun went off, but the bullet struck the blacktop. Next thing my instep connected with his crotch and his eyes bulged with pain. I’d done enough, but a moment of uncontrolled rage made me put a savage right cross through his jaw. He did a wobbly dance and sank to the ground.

Dehan seemed to have read my mind. As I crossed her path and took Chema down, she had dodged behind me and exploded into a scissor kick that sent Carlitos’s Desert Eagle spinning into the night air. She had landed in a perfect rider stance and delivered four devastating blows to his floating ribs. He was now vomiting while she cuffed him. The best Chema could do was to keep repeating a high-pitched, “Heeeee… heeee…” I had no idea what he was trying to say.

I cuffed him, dragged him to his feet, and pulled him staggering and limping to one of the cars. I handed him over to the officers.

“Take him back to the precinct. Book him. Lock him up. Get the doc to look at him. Keep him isolated. He is not to talk to anyone except you, the doc, and the jailer until I get there. Understood?”

“You got it, Detective.”

They put him in the car and drove him away. I saw Dehan stuff Carlitos in the back of the Focus and lock it. She came toward me. I found the sergeant.

“You called the ME and CSI?”

“They’re on their way.”

Dehan came up beside me. “Let’s look at the dope,” I said.

I pulled on some surgical gloves and picked up the packages. I guessed twenty kilos was about right. There was a small incision in one of them where I figured Carlitos had been testing it. Dehan took some on her finger, sniffed it, and then tasted it. She nodded. “Gasoline.”

I smiled. I had all I needed to start the interrogation. I turned to the sergeant.

“You need me for anything?”

He shook his head. “We got this.”

“I’ll see you back at the station. Thanks for everything. Good job.”

“Sure.”

I climbed in the back with Carlitos, and we pulled away. He was wheezing like an asthmatic smoker after a marathon. As we moved up Halleck Street, he said, “Who told you? Who ratted?”

I laughed. “Pal, you’ve got more leaks than the Titanic. But after today, that is going to be the least of your worries. Today, Carlitos, a whole new chapter of your life begins. Think of it as an opportunity.”

I smiled at him. He didn’t smile back.

Fifteen

We put Carlitos and Chema in separate cells and left them for an hour to wonder what was going on. They were both in a lot of pain, but the doctor had said they were basically okay. After an hour, I had them both brought up to interrogation rooms at the same time so they would see each other being taken in. I then had them both wait another forty-five minutes. Finally I went in to Carlitos and gave him a cup of coffee. The first thing he said made up in predictability for what it lacked in originality.

“I want my lawyer.”

“Don’t worry, Carlitos, you’ll get one. This is one case that is not going to get thrown out because of procedural impropriety. You’ll have your lawyer.”

“I ain’t sayin’ a word till he gets here.”

“That’s just fine. Your pal Chema is doing all your talking for you.”

“Bullshit!”

I smiled and shrugged. “Come on, Carlos. What is this, Alice in Wonderland? It ain’t a question of whether you go down. You both know you’re going down. The question here is how hard? If Chema wants to sign a waiver and get his plea in early, I ain’t gonna stop him. Let’s face it. You’re the one I want.” I glanced at my watch. “Let’s see, four a.m. You’ll be getting some kid fresh out of college doing legal aid ’cause he can’t get anything else, taking his first trembling steps in criminal law. This’ll be quite a coup for him.”

I chuckled. He looked worried. “I want my lawyer, Pendejo…”

“You want your lawyer? You want to get him out of bed at four in the morning? To tell him what? That you’re going away for the next ten years, can he please get out of bed and come and say goodbye?” I laughed. “Expect to see him around midday. By that time we should have Chema’s confession and his deal all signed and wrapped up.”

“Fock you! You ain’t gonna scare me. Fock you!”

“I am reliably informed it’s pronounced fuck, with a u. Fuck.”

The door opened and Dehan leaned in. She was smiling