they had found Erin's body. I hoped to God that wasn't the next thing coming.
'You weren't there,' Landry said.
'I told you I was going to bed with a book.'
'You told me you were getting in the tub with a book,' he corrected me. 'That's not an answer.'
'You didn't ask a question. You made a statement.'
'Were you at that town house last night?'
'Do you have reason to believe I was? Do you have my fingerprints? Something that fell out of my pocket? Video surveillance tapes? A witness?' I held my breath, not sure which answer I feared most.
'Breaking and entering is against the law.'
'You know, I kind of remember that from when I was on the job. And there was evidence of forcible entry at this town house?'
He didn't look amused by the clever repartee. 'Van Zandt made it back to his place before I could get the warrant. If that shirt was there, he got rid of it.'
'What shirt is that?'
'Goddammit, Estes.'
He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around, startling D'Artagnon. The big gelding scrambled and pulled back against the cross-ties, jumped ahead, then sat back and reared.
I hit Landry hard in the chest with the heel of my hand. It was like punching a cinder block. 'Watch what you're doing, for Christ's sake!' I hissed at him.
He let me go and backed away, more leery of the horse than of me. I went to the horse to calm him. D'Artagnon looked at Landry, uncertain that calming down was the wisest choice. He would have sooner run away.
'I've had zero sleep,' Landry said in lieu of an apology. 'I'm not in the mood for word games. You haven't been properly Mirandized. Nothing you say can be used against you. Neither Van Zandt or that goofy woman wants to pursue the matter anyway, because, as I'm sure you know, nothing was stolen. I want to know what you saw.'
'If he got rid of it, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I have to think you had an accurate description of whatever it was or you wouldn't have gotten the warrant. Or did he give you grounds during your interview? In which case you should have been smart enough to hold him while you got the warrant and executed the search.'
'There was no interview. He called a lawyer.'
'Who?'
'Bert Shapiro.'
Amazing. Bert Shapiro was on a par with my father in terms of high-profile clients. I wondered which of Van Zandt's grateful pigeons was footing that bill.
'That's unfortunate,' I said. And doubly so for me. Shapiro had known me all my life. If Van Zandt showed him that prescription slip, I was cooked. 'Too bad you didn't wait until the autopsy was done to pull him in. You might have had something to rattle his cage with before he used the L word.'
I struck a nerve with that. I could see it in the way his jaw muscles flexed.
'Was there anything in the autopsy?' I asked.
'If there was, I wouldn't be standing here. I'd be in the box busting that asshole's chops, lawyer or no lawyer.'
'It's hard to imagine he's clever enough to get away with murder.'
'Unless he's had practice.'
'He hasn't been caught at it,' I said.
I chose a white saddle pad with the Avadonis logo embroidered on the corner and tossed it on D'Artagnon's back, lifted his saddle off the rack, and settled it in place. I thought I could feel Landry's inner tension as he watched me. Or maybe the tension was my own.
I moved around the horse, adjusting the girth-a job that had to be done gradually and in ridiculously small increments with D'Ar because he was, as Irina called him, a delicate flower. I tightened the girth one hole, then knelt to strap on his protective leg boots. I watched Landry shuffle his feet as he shifted positions restlessly.
'The Seabrights had another call,' he said at last. 'The kidnapper said the girl would be punished because Seabright broke the rules.'
'Oh, God.' I sat back on my heels, feeling weak at the news. 'When did the call come?'
'Middle of the night.'
After my screw-up at Van Zandt's. After Landry had executed the search warrant.
'Do you have someone sitting surveillance on Van Zandt?'
Landry shook his head. 'The LT wouldn't approve it. Shapiro was already screaming harassment because of the search. We don't have a goddam thing on him. How do we justify surveillance?'
I rubbed at the tension in my forehead. 'Great. That's great.'
Van Zandt was free to do as he pleased. But even if he wasn't, we knew he wasn't in the kidnapping alone. One person had run the camera, one had grabbed the girl. There was nothing stopping the partner from hurting Erin even if Van Zandt was under twenty-four-hour guard.
'They're going to hurt her because I brought you into it,' I said.
'First of all, you know as well as I do, the girl could already be dead. Second, you know you did the right thing. Bruce Seabright wouldn't have done anything at all.'
'That's not a lot of comfort at the moment.'
I pushed myself to my feet and leaned back against the cabinet, crossing my arms tightly against my body. Another tremor rattled through me, from my core outward, as I thought of the consequences Erin Seabright was going to suffer for my actions. If she wasn't dead already.
'They set up another drop,' Landry said. 'With luck, we'll have the accomplice by the end of the day.'
With luck.
'Where and when?' I asked.
He just looked at me, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, his face like stone.
'Where and when?' I asked again, moving toward him.
'You can't be there, Elena.'
I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing where this conversation was going to end. 'You can't shut me out of this.'
'It's not up to me. The lieutenant will run the show. You think he's going to let you ride along? Even if it was my call, you think I'd let you in after that stunt you pulled last night?'
'That stunt netted a torn, bloody shirt from a murder suspect.'
'Which we don't have.'
'That's not my fault.'
'You got caught.'
'None of that would have happened if you hadn't had to flex your muscles last night and take Van Zandt in when you did,' I argued. 'I might have gotten something out of him over dinner. You could have had him afterward, after the autopsy. You could have held him, gotten the warrant, found the shirt yourself. But no. You couldn't play it that way, and now this guy is running around loose-'
'Oh, it's my fault you broke into that house,' Landry said, incredulous. 'And I suppose it was Ramirez's fault he walked in front of that bullet.'
I heard myself gasp as if he had slapped me. My instinct was to step back. Somehow, I managed not to.
We stood there staring at each other for a long, horrible moment, the weight of his words hanging in the air. Then I turned, very deliberately, and went back to D'Artagnon to put on his other boot.
'Jesus,' Landry murmured. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.'
I didn't say anything. My focus was on tightening the boot straps just so, aligning them perfectly.
'I'm sorry,' he said again as I stood. 'You just make me so goddam mad-'
'Don't put this on me,' I said, turning to face him. 'I'm carrying enough guilt without taking on yours too.'
He looked away, ashamed of himself. I could have done without the small victory. The price for it had been too high.
'You're a son of a bitch, Landry,' I said, but not with any strong emotion. I could have as easily said, you have
