looks like she should still be in high school. I couldn't fuckin' believe it when I saw her. They cut a deal, offer me twenty-five to life, and I took it. Shit, I had no idea what it was gonna be like in here. I only done CYA and county time before this. I didn't know my asshole was gonna get torn open and have to get stitched up twice in one month. I didn't know I'd get a yard beat-down almost everyday. I can't live like this, Mr. Scully. I'll kill myself if this goes on much longer.'
'Okay, Tru. I'll talk to somebody. I'll see if I can get you transferred to ASU. But you'll be lonely in there. No yard privileges.'
'Hey, man, for me, the yard ain't no privilege.'
'I'll try then.'
' 'Kay.'
I stood and he suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand again. 'Don't go yet, man, okay? Please? I don't want to leave the visitor's center. Can't you stay a little longer?'
'I gotta leave now. I'll be in touch.' I started to exit, then turned back and looked at him. He was standing there, head down, pulling at his frayed cuffs. There's a place where pathetic becomes heart-wrenching. I knew what Scout meant when she said Tru had been sacrificed. I also thought she was right when she said somebody must have it in for him. This wasn't right.
'Did you tell Lieutenant Devine that the second argument was over that six-pack of Bud Light?' I finally asked. 'Of course. I told him everything.'
'So what happened? The six-pack wasn't in the court evidence box. Didn't he find it in the refrigerator?' 'I don't think he ever looked.'
Chapter 6
'All this railroad needs is tracks and a whistle,' Secada said.
We were in a Mexican restaurant on Olvera Street named La Golondrina. The food was always excellent and after six p. M. mariachis strolled between the tables and performed for the dinner guests.
Olvera Street was the first street built in Los Angeles and is just a few blocks from both Parker Center and the Bradbury Building. We had agreed to meet here after work. Scout's black eyes danced in an almond face, framed by shiny, black hair that shimmered in low flickering candlelight. We had already ordered dinner and, while we waited, were on our first margaritas.
'We need to get Hickman moved to ASU,' I said. 'I filed a request before I left, but it's gonna creep through channels. He could be dead by the time it gets approved.'
'I agree. Our best bet is to keep working and see if we can get him a writ of habeas corpus for a new trial.'
'I found the two hundred dollars,' I told her.
'The murder money? How can that be? Devine said Tru spent it on crystal meth the night of the murder.'
'It was in the court evidence room. In the side pocket of Olivia Hickman's purse.'
She put down her margarita. 'No way.' She looked puzzled, her brow furrowed. 'So if Tru or Church didn't take the money, what's the motive for murder?'
'Near as I can tell, it was over a six-pack of Bud Light that Church and Hickman bought that afternoon.'
I told her about the trip to the mini-mart, the two arguments with Olivia, and about Tru being on Antabuse. I ended by explaining how Mrs. Hickman threw a rock and hit Church in the chest, and how they left because the cops were called.
'It sure ain't Leave it to Beaver,' she said as she finished the last of her margarita and looked up. 'A six-pack of beer, huh? Not much of a motive.'
'Rage was the motive,' I said. 'The six-pack of Bud Light was just a trigger. I've been worried about the twenty knife wounds. That kind of extreme overkill would seem to indicate a close relationship like with a son, but Tru said Church was on anabolic steroids. If he was popping Amies and having 'roid rage, then maybe the overkill actually fits him as well. I don't know.'
Our combo plate dinners arrived, along with a second round of margaritas. I love margaritas, but two is definitely my limit, especially when I'm with a beautiful woman who isn't my wife.
Secada smiled and took a sip. 'Mamacita, yo amo Cuervo Gold.'
'Aye, Chihuahua,' I smiled back.
We both dug into the huge enchilada-taco-burrito-and-bean dinners. She ate like it was serious business, holding her knife and fork like instruments of war-nothing dainty about Secada at meal time.
'So, what're we gonna do with this buncha pendejos?' she asked between bites.
'We got two doors here. Door One is we go check out Mike Church. See what kind of slime trail he's leaving behind him these days. Or we can go talk to the District Attorney who pled the case. Get the state's version of what happened.'
She thought about it for a minute. 'How much cover is your wife going to give us?' she asked.
'I haven't talked to her.'
'Don't you think you should? I mean, Captain Sasso took this off the board. If you and I ask the wrong questions of the wrong guy, this could snap up on us and we'll both be facing an internal review. If that happens we'll need Lieutenant Scully to shut it down.'
'I'll tell her when or if I feel we need to.'
'Look, Shane, I don't mean to tell you how to deal with your wife, but that's a mistake.'
'Drop it, okay?' Our eyes locked for a moment. I wasn't about to get into Alexa's problems with her.
'The only real reason I came to you was because of her.'
'I thought it was because of my huge cajones.'
'I've been ordered off this case. If we go to Tito Morales and he makes a call to check on why, we'll be in deep grease.'
'Tito who?'
'Morales. He's the D. A. who pled the case out for the State.'
'The Tito Morales?'
'Yeah. But don't let it panic you. He's my carnal.' She grinned and pointed to my plate with her knife. 'The guy eats burritos just like us.'
'We're talking about the lead prosecutor for the whole damn Valley? Tito Morales? The guy who runs the Van Nuys D. A.'s office?'
'It's why I think it's a good idea to have your wife riding shotgun.'
'Why didn't you tell me that up front? According to the L. A. Times, he's planning a run at the mayor's job in two months and has a great chance of winning.'
'Mexicans are eventually gonna run everything around here.' She grinned at me. 'Look out, Scully; you might have to get a Green Card yourself one day soon.'
I sat looking at her for a long time, trying to digest this.
'Don't worry. Yo hablo espanol. Better still, I understand the culture.' She was still smiling.
'I'm glad you find this funny,' I said. 'It kinda explains a lot of this other stuff though. It explains why Jane Sasso pulled Townsend and Summers into that meeting to convince you to drop the case. Since Tito Morales cut the plea deal, and since he's the front-runner for the mayor's office, he undoubtedly won't want it to come out two months before the election that he sent a guy up on an incomplete investigation. He probably called Sasso when he heard you were looking into it.'
'Shane, I don't think the pressure is coming from him. He's a Democrat. Cops are mostly all Republicans. It's Plain Jane's doing. She's from the Dark Side. That woman is Darth Vader in sensible shoes. For all we know, Townsend and Summers were in her office on something else and for sport, she just let 'em sit in on my beat- down.'
'Get some rearview mirrors, lady, or you're gonna get run over by an I. A. dump truck.'
'This Hickman one-eighty-seven is a nothing case. Even if Church was the doer, it's still just some gang-
