Kill the Messenger

bottomed out, and now a dark, oily kind of fear crept in to take its place. A kind of fear that made his stomach hurt and made him wish he weren’t too big to crawl into a warm lap and feel strong, protecting arms around him.

The safety he had felt with the Chens was gone. Just like that, his home, his only family, had been found out and threatened. The only other safety he had ever known in his life was with his brother. Suddenly he had neither.

He had never felt so alone in his life.

He stared out at the street, where everyone else was going on with their day, unaware that he was alone and afraid, and maybe nothing in his life would ever be the same.

Why am I me, instead of that guy delivering packages across the street? Why am I me, instead of that woman pushing the shopping cart? Why am I me, instead of that man getting out of his car?

He drove Jace crazy when he asked questions like that. Why am I me, instead of someone else? Why was this his life? No mother, no father. Why was the family he knew someone else’s family? Jace told him there was no sense wondering things like that, but Tyler wondered anyway. Some questions didn’t have answers, Jace said. Life was what it was, and all they could do was live it the best way they could.

Tyler wiped his nose on his sleeve and blinked back the threatening tears. He believed in his brother. He would try his best to do what Jace would do. No time for crying now. He had to clear his head to use his brain. There was no sense having an IQ of 168 if he wasn’t going to use it when he needed it most.

So he closed his eyes and imagined locking all his fears in a box, and burying the box deep inside him. He needed to think like a hero now instead of waiting for one that might never come along.

                              37

I got the info on Davis,” Ruiz said as Parker sat down at his desk. “Besides a few minor drug charges, he’s got a history of assaults, with two convictions.”

“Working off his drug debt by beating money out of the rest of the pipeheads who haven’t paid,” Parker speculated.

“He’s been out of prison for about two years,” Ruiz went on. “And his attorney of record for his last trial was Leonard Lowell.”

Parker nodded. “Last known address?”

“He recently purchased a house in the Hollywood hills. He had to report the move to his parole officer.”

“And if I go up there to check it out,” Parker said, “will Bradley Kyle be there to greet me?”

He stared at his partner, waiting for an answer. Ruiz sighed and looked away.

“What do you want me to say, Parker? Robbery-Homicide can take anything they want—”

“Including my partner?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I think your agenda and my agenda are not one and the same here.”

Parker got out of his chair to pace, to try to burn off some of the anger.

“I’m not going to lie for you to Robbery-Homicide,” Ruiz said. “What have you ever done for me? I’ve got to consider my own career.”

“And which career is that?”

She stared at him, appearing confused and frustrated, with maybe a little bit of fear in her eyes.

“You want to work Homicide?” Parker asked, pacing back and forth, hands jammed at his waist, shoulders tense. “Or is this just a field trip for you?”

A couple of detectives on the other side of the room had turned to watch the escalating argument. Ruiz’s eyes darted toward them.

“If you have something to say to me, Parker, I think we should take it into one of the interview rooms.”

“Why the sudden modesty? You’ll flash your cleavage in front of anyone, but you don’t want them to know to whom they owe the pleasure?”

“You’re fucking crazy!” she said, pushing to her feet. “Are you on crack?”

“Do you know Alex Navarro?”

Silence.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Parker said. “Alex Navarro is The Man working Latin gangs.”

“Oh, yeah,” she stammered. “I was too far down the food chain to have any contact with him.”

“Alex Navarro can name every set of every gang in LA. If you asked him who got killed on June first five years ago, not only would he be able to answer that question, he would tell you every single detail of the case right down to what brand of underwear the vic had on when he went down. Navarro has absolutely no recollection of Officer Renee Ruiz working with the Gang Unit.”

“So?” she challenged. He had to give her credit for cojones. “So I didn’t work with him. What’s the big deal?”

“You, Ms. Ravenous Ambition, who misses no opportunity to rub up against the nearest authority figure. You never made a move on the boss of bosses of your undercover task force?”

“Are you calling me a whore?” she said.

“That’d be a compliment,” Parker snapped. “I’m calling you a liar.”

“Fuck you, Parker!”

“I’m calling you a rat! Who put you here?” Parker shouted.

“What’s the matter with you? Why are you doing this?”

“Because I’m pissed off,” he said, getting in her face. To her credit, she didn’t back down. “I don’t like being played. What did you give Bradley Kyle when he came in here?”

“You fucking asshole. Why should I tell you anything?”

“What did you give him?”

“Everything you didn’t take with you,” she admitted.

“You told them about Davis, gave them his address?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice, Ruiz. You could have told them I had everything with me. You could have left out the information about Davis’s house.”

“They’re taking the case!” she said, frustrated. “Don’t you get that? It’s not yours anymore, Parker. What’s the difference if I gave them the information now instead of later? They still end up with the information.”

Fuentes stuck his head out of his office. “What the hell is going on here?”

“He’s crazy!” Ruiz said, then spouted off the Spanish version in case Fuentes hadn’t gotten it the first time.

“In my office,” Fuentes said. “Both of you. Now.”

“I’ve got to go,” Parker said, starting to walk away. “I’ve got a job to do.”

“In here, Kev. I mean it.”

Parker stopped and weighed his pros and cons. Fuentes wouldn’t do anything if he walked. But if he walked, Ruiz would have time to regroup. He wanted this over. Now.

They went into Fuentes’ office, Ruiz going to one side of the room, Parker staying near the door. He didn’t wait for Fuentes to set the tone. He faced the captain and said, “Where did she come from? Who assigned her here?”

“Don’t be so paranoid,” Fuentes said.

“He’s out of his freaking mind,” Ruiz said, crossing her arms tightly beneath her breasts.

Parker threw his hands up and turned around in a little circle. “Why will no one answer the damn question?”

“She came from the Gang—”

“Don’t bullshit me!” Parker shouted. “I know she didn’t come out of the Latin gangs task force.”

“If you don’t like the answers to your questions, stop asking them,” Fuentes said, a little too calm. “It is what it is, Kev.”

“Right. It is what it is,” he said, nodding. “I know she’s lying, therefore I can assume you’re lying too.”

Fuentes didn’t bother to object. “She’s your trainee. What difference does it make where she comes from?