Read Online Compromised by Lawrence Kelter - Free Book Online

from memory. Perhaps it was just my mind projecting what it thought I wanted to believe.
    “As you said, you could hit a squirrel from this distance. I understand that the thirty-caliber is often used for small-game hunting.”
    “Yes. It can be, but snipers also commonly use it.”
    “Yet the bullet was just small enough to slip between my brother’s ribs and rupture his heart. Had the bullet been of a larger caliber, it might’ve hit one of his ribs, been deflected by it, and missed his heart completely.” He turned to me. “This is the essence of paradox, is it not?”
    “Sadly, yes.”
    “Have you ever shot and killed a man, Chalice?”
    “I’ve pulled my gun three times and killed two men.”
    “How does it feel to shoot someone?”
    “I take it you’ve never shot anyone?”
    “No.”
    “It was horrible the first time as well as the second, but they were both kill-or-be-killed scenarios. I didn’t have a choice.”
    “I don’t understand why my brother was shot. I’m standing here, and I can’t understand. What did he do to bring such violence upon himself?”
    “I don’t know, Harry. I just don’t know. We’d just interviewed the parents of a homicide victim in this building, a seventeen-year-old girl. I really doubt that they had any connection to the shooting.”
    “Is your memory coming back, or is this what you read in your notes and the police report?”
    “From the notes, unfortunately. My memory of that day is still a blank. It’s been so long now—I wonder if I’ll ever remember what really happened that day.” As I looked out at where Yana and I had been shot, the shadow of a nearby tree moved as the sun changed its position in the sky. I clutched my heart. The shadow now stretched across the pavement, and the image it cast looked like that of a body sprawled out across the ground.

Chapter Nineteen
    Lido clocked in and made straight for the watch commander’s desk. It was the morning after Stephanie’s disappearance. He had barely slept at all.
    Ridon had the phone in one hand and a breakfast burrito in the other. His eyes were glazed over but did an oh-brother roll when he saw Lido poke his head into his office. He covered the mouthpiece. “Estoban is on the rag again.” He shook his head, looking upward. “Why me, God? Why me? She’s been bouncing around from command to command like a friggin’ pinball. Jeez.” He uncovered the mouthpiece. “Estoban, hold on a minute . . . I said, hold on a minute.” He placed the call on hold. “Bet you dollars to doughnuts she doesn’t even break stride. Guaranteed she’ll still be blowing gale-force winds when I pick up the call. Anyway, you look like shit. What’s up?”
    “Who’s working the Ramirez case?”
    “Be specific, Lido. There are at least three Ramirez files out on the floor. It’s kind of a common name.”
    “The one Stephanie was working on, Serafina Ramirez. With all that’s happened over the last month, I’ve lost track of who was working it.”
    “McIntyre and Kelleher. Why?”
    “Are they making any progress on it?”
    “I did say McIntyre and Kelleher, didn’t I?”
    “So no, then?”
    “Read between the lines, Detective.”
    “Any chance I could pick it up?”
    “Why would you want it? It’s a high-jingo nightmare. A pretty little high school girl gets raped and murdered, and the department is still tripping on its dick a month and half later. Sure you want to wade through a murky stream like that?”
    “What can I say, man? I’m a glutton for punishment.”
    Ridon’s expression read schmuck. “Talk to Egan. There’s a task force assigned to the case, and the captain is up to his ass in hot water. Like I said, it’s all high-jingo now. The principal of the school the Ramirez girl attended is an at-large member of CPAC.”
    “Meaning?”
    “The Citizen’s Police Advisory Committee, Lido, and they have coffee and doughnuts with the executive brass once a month. Believe me when I tell