Read Online Straw Men by Martin J Smith - Free Book Online Page B

message, then waited while he scribbled some notes.
    â€œAnd you think it’s somehow connected to a court case you’re working on?” he asked.
    â€œLong story, but yes.” She told him the shortest possible version; he nodded as though he’d never heard of Teresa Harnett or Carmen DellaVecchio. As they talked, she memorized the name above his badge and the badge number itself.
    â€œMay I hear the message?” Officer Plantes asked when she was done.
    Brenna led him into the kitchen, to the corner where the answering machine continued its red-eyed wink. He listened to the recording, scribbled a few more notes, then tried to find the machine’s cassette-tape bay. “Go figure,” he said. “I’m way out of date. Mine still uses tapes. Guess I’ll take the whole thing.”
    â€œI’d like a receipt for it, though,” Brenna said as she unplugged it. “And if you wouldn’t mind, officer, I’d like you to note the time and date on the receipt. Oh, and just note on there the reason why you’re taking it.”
    Brenna smiled. He actually blushed. If her paranoia bothered him, it didn’t show. The young patrol officer complied with all her wishes and apologized for the trouble.
    â€œSo you’ll file a report when?” Brenna asked.
    â€œBefore I’m off tonight,” he said. “Not supposed to send out copies, since they’re available in the records room. But I could send you a copy if you’d like. This address OK?”
    Brenna touched his hand lightly and nodded her appreciation. “ZIP code’s 15232,” she said. “Thank you so much. Is that all you need from me?”
    She opened the front door just as Jim was herding Annie and Taylor away from the police cruiser and the huffing beast inside. “Bren?” he said from the sidewalk, shifting two plastic bags of groceries from one hand to the other. He picked up the briefcase he’d set down during the switch. “What’s up?”
    â€œYour dog smells,” Annie interrupted as the smiling cop approached his car. “You shouldn’t feed him beans or else you should keep the car windows closed or something.”
    â€œDoes he bite?” asked Taylor, her eight-year-old bundle of anxiety.
    The cop ignored Annie’s commentary. “He only bites bad guys,” he said to Taylor. “You’re not a bad guy, are you?”
    Her boy’s eyes strayed to the cop’s holster and the weapon inside. Taylor shook his head, speechless.
    â€œThen you wanna pet him?”
    Taylor shook his head again. The cop turned to Annie. “How about you?”
    â€œWhat’s his name?” Annie demanded.
    â€œCarmack.”
    Brenna blanched, then shot a look at Jim. He seemed just as astounded as she was. Did Kiger know his cops had named a K-9 dog after the victim in one of Pittsburgh’s most notorious police brutality cases? Brenna filed that delicious little tidbit away for the next time one of the city’s finest got too rough with one of her clients.
    â€œBut we call him Ace. You know, like Ace Ventura?” He paused. “Get it?”
    Annie rolled her eyes. “Pet detective. Duh.”
    The officer bent low so he could look Jim’s younger daughter in the eye. He tried again to win Annie over. “Ace loves kids. Wanna pet him?”
    â€œNo way.”
    â€œYou sure?”
    â€œHe smells and probably has fleas and I saw a show once where this guy was wearing one of those big padded suits and a police dog chewed on his arm.”
    â€œAce only does that with bad guys.”
    â€œYeah, well,” Annie said. “Why are you here, anyway? Somebody gettin’ busted?”
    Officer Plantes stood up and turned toward the porch, apparently convinced that nothing he could do would impress her. “I’m gonna let your mom explain that, OK? Time for me and Ace to hit the