Read Online Shadow Boys by Harry Hunsicker - Free Book Online

unblinking, a deadpan expression perfected after twenty years on the bench.
    “I was in the neighborhood.”
    Before becoming a judge, Clark had defended my father, a sheriff in a nearby county, against charges of drug trafficking. He’d been a family friend and mentor ever since.
    “You want a drink?” I stood, walked to the bar on the far wall.
    Clark didn’t reply.
    I took that as a yes and poured two fingers of Glenlivet into a crystal highball. No ice, no water. I returned to the window and handed him the glass.
    “How is everything at the office?” he said.
    I shrugged but didn’t speak.
    Clark took a sip of scotch. After a few moments, I told him about Tommy Joe Culpepper. I didn’t say anything about the lawyers clustered around the hallway, watching me. That didn’t matter, however. The judge could read between my lines.
    “The other people at the firm,” Clark said. “You think they don’t like you, don’t you?”
    I didn’t say anything. I’d given up a long time ago caring what other people thought about me.
    “That’s because they need you but don’t want to admit it.” He paused. “And because of that, they fear you.”
    We were silent for a while.
    “Do you know who Raul Delgado is?” I told him briefly about my meeting with the deputy chief and his request that I locate the missing teenager, Tremont Washington.
    “Thirty years later, I still remember the TV reports.” Clark grimaced. “Little Raul Delgado, his face covered in his brother’s blood.”
    “What do you think he wants with a kid from West Dallas?” I said.
    “Everything he does is for one reason.” Clark swirled the scotch around his glass.
    “And that would be?”
    “He wants to wipe away the blood and bring his brother back.”
    “How about in the short term?” I said. “Like, say, in this lifetime.”
    Clark drained his glass. “He has a future in politics. People talk about him running for mayor. Or even governor.”
    I stared out the window. That was more than enough reason for Theo Goldberg, my boss and the managing partner of the firm, to want eyes and ears on the man.
    “He’s a charismatic person,” Clark said. “Plus he’s Hispanic, which fits the current demographic shift in Texas nicely.”
    “And he’s an underdog.” I nodded thoughtfully.
    “Risen from circumstances that would have broken lesser men,” Clark said. “Embraced the very organization that destroyed his family.”
    “Like a made-for-TV movie.”
    Clark chuckled.
    Before I could say anything else, the nurse entered the room, carrying two plates of tacos. She’d changed into Lycra running shorts and a skintight tank top that stopped just above her belly button. Her stomach was ripped, a sinewy six-pack.
    “Anybody hungry?” She handed us each a plate.
    Judge Clark and I sat in silence, staring at her.
    “I’m gonna take a run.” She tapped a rectangular bulge between her hip bone and shorts. “I’ve got my phone with me if you need anything.”
    She left. We watched her stretch on the front patio, then jog down the driveway.
    “Where do you get nurses like that?” I said.
    “My friend owns the agency.” Clark craned his neck to follow her progress. “He supplies employees who fit certain criteria that I specify.”
    “Doesn’t that drive you nuts? Since—” I didn’t finish the sentence.
    Since you can only look.
    “And how is Piper?” Clark picked up a taco. “Speaking of things that drive me nuts.”
    The judge hated Piper. Thought her crass and uncouth. Which she was, bless her heart.
    I took a bite of my food.
    “Why don’t you stay the night?” he said. “The upstairs guest room is made up.”
    I was renting a townhome in North Dallas. A one-bedroom unit decorated with a big-screen TV and a plastic ficus tree. All the modern conveniences, but an empty abode.
    “We could take a drive,” he said.
    I could smell the loneliness in his voice.
    “Sure, I’ll shack here tonight.” I smiled.
    The