Read Online Cold Hit by Stephen J. Cannell - Free Book Online Page B

pie, I have to put the order in now." "The Mexican pie is good," I said. "But what w e c ould really use at this table is some humble pie." The waitress smiled and left.
    "Come on, Dad, I'm just saying . . ."
    "You sound like a blowhard, Chooch. We taught you better than this. Del's right. You need to concentrate on your own game, and stop running everybody else down. Want my opinion? We were lucky to beat Montebello. That wasn't your best performance either."
    "Sometimes I think you guys don't have a clue what it takes to win in football. You have to be confrontational and believe in yourself to win."
    "Might be right," I said. "But you don't sound much like a winner tonight."
    Right in the middle of this awkward moment, my cel l p hone rang. I pulled it out and pried it open. "Detective Scully?" a woman's voice asked. "Yeah."
    "Homicide Special Dispatch. You've got a one-eighty-seven in the L . A . River at De Soto Avenue in Canoga Park, near John Quimby."
    My heart sank. This was it. Five bodies and no clearances. I was about to get the hook. "Okay. Notify patrol that I'm on my way. Should be about twenty to thirty minutes, depending on traffic." I hung up without even asking if they'd been able to reach Zack. Deep in my heart I was hoping they couldn't find him.
    "Another one?" Alexa said, concerned.
    I nodded and stood. "Gotta roll. It's in Canoga Park."
    I kissed Alexa, squeezed Delfina's hand, and wa s a bout to hug Chooch, when my son stood up with me. "Can I walk you out?" he asked.
    "Sure."
    We walked through the crowded two-room restaurant without speaking. Outside, I gave the valet the ticket for my car. Since joining Homicide Special, I'd begun following Alexa on family outings so I'd have a car if I got called out. The wind off the water was still cold, and was energetically flapping the red awning over us.
    "Listen, Dad, I know you think I was spouting off in there, but I wasn't," Chooch said.
    "It's okay to be frightened," I said, finally picking the way I wanted to deal with this.
    "I'm not frightened. Whatta you talking about, frightened? Who says I'm frightened?"
    "In police work, courage is a career commodity. You learn pretty quick that the loudest talkers on the job are usually the last ones through the door. You see a cop with a big bore magnum in some fancy quick-draw holster, you're probably looking at a wuss. I hear a guy going on like you were in there, it just tells me one thing. He doesn't believe a word he's saying and he's scared to death somebody's gonna find out he's a fraud. I was only with Coach Carroll for an hour, but that was long enough for me to know he's a guy who understands what motivates people. You go running off at the mouth like that around him, and he's gonna know you don't think you're very good. I wouldn't let him see that if I were you."
    I could see from the look on his face that I had read him right. He was scared to death, looking down at his feet.
    "It's a big step, a Division One school like USC," he finally said.
    "I know it is. But whether you go there, UCLA, or Penn State; or whether you go and sell clothes at The Gap, you gotta be yourself. The way to impress people is through actions, not words. You want Coach to play you, work on your game and be a good teammate. Help the other guy, even if it means he plays and you don't. Somewhere down the road it's going to bring success."
    I could see that Chooch wanted to keep talking, but my car was delivered to the curb and I tipped the valet. It always amazes me how life chooses times when you can't linger to deliver up defining moments.
    "We gotta pick this up later, son. I've got somebody important waiting for me."
    I gave Chooch a hug, climbed into the Acura, and pulled out seeing my son in the rearview mirror, looking after me.
    As I got on the freeway I tried to get my mind off Chooch and what I needed to tell him. I ran the case again in my head. It had been six days since we found Forrest. However, if you removed him