who'll say, 'You guys never had any prize packages in the marketplace to begin with. The whole contest was just a lot of promotional B. S.'
'
'I see. So the Promo Safe guys protect you against that kind of claim.'
'Exactly. They hand-carry the prize packages to the stores, then stand in the aisle and watch for as long as it takes until the rare is purchased. They follow the buyer home and log the address. Then they fill out an affidavit. That way, if the purchaser of the prize package doesn't know to scrape off the number and there's a complaint that no prize was won, there is somebody from Promo Safe, a totally independent company, to certify that he witnessed the purchase of the prize-winning package, who purchased it, and where he or she lives. That way everybody knows the contest was on the up-and-up. Promo Safe employs security agents who are ex-FBI or Treasury guys. They're all bonded.'
'There's no way somebody else could turn in that prize package?'
'No, sir,' Kit said. 'In most of these contests, the rules mandate that the actual buyer has to claim the prize. The rare can't be passed to someone else. If we don't get the signed affidavit back here from Promo Safe attesting to those facts, then the rare is judged invalid, or if a prize claim comes in that doesn't match with the name and address of the person who the affidavit says actually bought the package, it's also invalid.'
'I see.' I didn't like where this was going at all. It bitched up my beautiful theory. If Tru Hickman bought the six-pack, and he already told me he did, and if Wade knew an agent from Promo Safe would be in the store to watch him do it, then what good was Hickman to Wade Wyatt and Mike Church? Tru would have to be the one to collect the money. Tru never said anything about a rare, so my guess was they hadn't told him, which meant he wasn't in on the scam. But how did that work? According to Kit, if he didn't turn in the rare himself, the prize would be disqualified. Something was definitely out of whack. I stood next to the security golf cart and thought for a minute. 'Listen, Kit. I assume you have computer clearance. Do you think you could take a peek at that recent Bud Light contest from last August and tell me who won?'
'Man, you should really talk to Mr. Dahl about that in the morning.'
'Except in the morning, after my supervisor is through with me, my badge is gonna be pinned to the inside of my colon.'
'Yeah, I remember how that went.' He looked at me for another half a minute, still trying to decide if he was going to take a chance. Then he glanced at his watch. I could read his frown. Too late to call Mr. Dahl and ask.
'Come on. Favor for a Brother Officer,' I pleaded.
Still nothing.
'Can't you just go into the office, pull up the computer file, and sneak a peak?'
'Jeez. Go through files in the office?'
'This isn't exactly confidential material, is it? The winner was undoubtedly announced in the paper. Just look it up for me. I'd get Mr. Dahl to do it in the morning, except my review is at eight o'clock.'
He heaved a deep sigh and shook his head. I thought I'd lost him, but then unexpectedly, he said, 'Okay. Get in the cart. But you better not you give me up on this.'
'I'm cool,' I assured him as I got in. We zoomed off in the direction of something called the Administration Annex. He pulled up, then used his keys and let us both inside.
The annex was next to the business center and was a less impressive, neon-lit, two-story shoe-box-shaped building, laid out in long corridors with doors on both sides. He walked down a carpeted first-floor hallway to an office door marked promotions, took out his key, and opened it.
'Come on in. Close the door.'
'Thanks. This is really a huge help,' I told him.
I took a seat across the room while he sat behind the desk and booted up the computer, then typed in his password.
'What was the contest again? What beer company?'
'Bud Light.'
He searched for a minute, and then said, 'Okay, here it is. We did that one nine months ago. Ten rares were in the market, all worth different amounts. Five came up as winners.' He started scrolling down the page on the screen. 'One in Newark. Third-tier winner. Guy won a Hummer. One in Tulsa, second tier, half a mil in prize money. One in Odessa, Texas, a grand-slam million-dollar winner; Ashland, Oregon, a Hummer; and the one here in Los Angeles.'
'In the Valley? Little mini-mart in a strip mall on Sepulveda Boulevard, right?'
'Yep. That's the one. Guy won a million in cash.' 'And the six-pack was bought by Truit Hickman, right?' I was getting a little ahead of myself.
Kit Carson shook his head. 'Nope,' he said, then leaned in and squinted at the screen. 'The winner lives in Valley Village. Somebody named Tito Alonzo Morales.'
Chapter 23
When I got home, it was after one A. M. Alexa was in bed, but her eyes were wide open. She sat up as I came through the bedroom door.
'How come you're still awake?' I asked.
'Can't sleep. Gonna get sunk at this review tomorrow. I've got everything set up, ready to go, but I can't remember anything. I can't just be reading facts off a page, I'll look like I don't know anything.' She hugged her knees. 'Maybe I should just cut to the chase and resign.'
'Don't say that. That's not what you should do.' Then I added, 'You want a beer?'
'Everything in life can't be fixed by a beer, Shane.'
'Come on, get up.' I handed her the heavy robe and walked out of the bedroom to get the two beers. I met her in the backyard and handed her the can.
The canal was dead still. Like glass. As we watched, a lone mallard duck paddled by, breaking the flat mirrored surface and sending a tangle of messy water to both sides of the canal behind him.
'You're gonna do fine tomorrow,' I told her, but deep down I knew she was headed for a disaster. She had lost her command presence and Tony would pick up on it.
'I can't hold it together, Shane. This isn't me, but it is me. It's who I've become. I fired Ellen today.'
'Oops.'
'Over nothing. Over not bringing me my lunch on time, which of course she did. It was sitting inside my briefcase with the top closed. Worse still, I kind of remember putting it in there. Jesus. Who puts their just- delivered lunch inside a briefcase? Talk about gimpy behavior.'
'Did you apologize?'
'Yeah. After taking her head off and accepting her resignation, I begged her to stay. She's thinking about it.'
'After tomorrow, the stress will be off. You'll be better.'
'By the way, you're not suspended. That's out of policy. I forgot I can't do that until after the Skelly hearing.'
'I know.'
'I'll call Cal and unravel that tomorrow.' She looked over at me and smiled sadly. 'Thank God I still have you.'
We sat for a minute in awkward silence. Then I asked, 'What do you know about Tito Morales?'
'Please, not this Hickman thing again.'
'Did you know he won a million dollars nine months ago in a beer contest?' I held up my can and saluted her. 'One of the many benefits of drinking the bubbly. I think he's using the money, or part of it, to fund his current campaign for Mayor. He's renting offices, hiring staff, placing TV ads.'
'So what?' she said, her voice cold.
'Nothing. Just information.' I decided to let it drop. 'Listen, Alexa. I know Jane is gonna take me all the way
