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was shaken.
    A moment later, O’Bannon spotted me out of the corner of his eye. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    I moved closer, hoping to avoid a scene. “Looking for you.”
    “You should’ve been stopped on the other side of the tape.”
    “C’mon. You know no one can stop me.”
    He grunted unhappily.
    “I wanted a few words with you, Chief. About my job.”
    “Here’s your few words: you don’t have a job anymore.”
    “Chief, I know I kind of screwed up.”
    “That’s like saying Rush Limbaugh is kind of conservative.”
    “Let me make it up to you. Reinstate me.”
    “No can do.”
    “Please.”
    He started to speak, then stopped, glancing at all the people surrounding us. He grabbed my elbow and dragged me off to where we would be less conspicuous, then looked me straight in the eyes, glowering. “Do you have any idea what I’ve had to deal with this past week, while you were off taking your rest cure?”
    “It was hardly-”
    “I’ve been dealing with a family-a very rich and influential family-that doesn’t understand why one of Las Vegas ’s finest beat their oldest son to a pulp. It’s amazing how unreasonable people can be about things like that.”
    “The kid was a jerk.”
    “Oh, well, in that case, you should’ve just killed him.”
    “Chief-”
    “They’ve been threatening to sue the department, something that would decimate our already strained budget, not to mention create some incredibly bad press.”
    “If there’s anything I can do-”
    “But there isn’t. You created a big shitpile and left me to clean it up.”
    I had to take a step back. O’Bannon was way angrier than I had anticipated. I’d never seen him like this, and I’d known him even longer than I’d been on the force. His left eye was twitching, for God’s sake, and the little purple veins on the bulb of his nose were throbbing.
    “Of course, I’ve had to deal with the IA boys, who were all over us, calling for an investigation, policy changes. The usual bull. I tried to point out that you were not exactly acting ex cathedra when the incident occurred-although apparently in your drunken stupor you thought you were-but that didn’t placate them. They’re demanding prompt action, which is just IA code for ‘throw us a scapegoat.’ ”
    “And I’m the scapegoat.”
    “What’d you want me to do, pin it on the kid you creamed?”
    “So you just fired me. While I was seeking medical attention.”
    “Technically, I didn’t fire you. Internal Affairs did.”
    “Bastards.”
    “IA wanted to go the whole dishonorable-discharge route-put a permanent stain on your record that would guarantee you couldn’t get hired as a security guard at Piggly Wiggly. But I told them you were dealing with personal problems and had a chemical dependency and a lot of other crap, so they just fired you and left it at that.”
    “Thanks so much.”
    “Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for your dad.
He
earned my loyalty.”
    I can’t pretend that one didn’t kick me in the teeth pretty hard. My father was a cop. He and O’Bannon had been peers. I think they were even partners for a while.
    “Chief-please. Listen to me.”
    He pushed my hands away. “Pulaski, we’ve got nothing to say.”
    “I need to work right now.”
    “They’re hiring at McDonald’s.”
    I gestured toward the coffin. “Looks like you’ve got a weirdie on your hands. Some kind of psycho?”
    “God, I hope so. Maybe if we have a real case to work, IA will ease up on my former behaviorist’s drunken brawls.”
    “You’re going to need someone with expertise.”
    “I’ve promoted Granger to homicide detective.”
    “Granger couldn’t detect his ass with both hands.”
    O’Bannon leaned right into my face. “But you know what? When I get back to the office tonight, he’ll be sober.”
     
    They found Helen. Just as he’d planned.
    He was experiencing so many emotions at once, it took a moment to sort