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.Munch wanted to shake the woman.Did Sylvia think Munch's grief wasn't measuring up? "Fernando told me Rico was killed in a shoot-out.How much more in the line of duty could he have been?""According to his commander, he was not where he was supposed to be.Puto." Sylvia attacked a pile of cilantro with vengeance."They said he was dirty.A dirty cop.""Bullshit.Who says?""The narcos who shot him."Munch felt a shift in her equilibrium.The humming in her ears was so intense, she wasn't sure she would be able to hear anything else."Wait a minute.You're saying he was shot by other cops? It must have been a case of mistaken identity, an accident.One of those friendly-fire scenarios.He's been working undercover.""Was he?" Sylvia turned on Munch, punctuating her words with unmasked contempt."You can't possibly believe he was crooked.Did you know him at all?" Munch took a step back and pulled her hands out of her pockets.It was with some effort that she didn't ball her fists."I want to talk to these cops.""Go ahead," Sylvia said."Maybe they'll shoot you, too."Munch might beat herself up all day long, but there was a limit to how much shit she'd take from anyone else.Hell, it wasn't as if she broke up the family or anything.Rico and Sylvia had been split up for years when Munch and he got together.Before she said or did anything she might regret, Munch left Madame Head-Up-Her-Ass Ex and went out into the backyard.Angelica looked skinnier than ever.Her Levi's-clad legs were little more than bones and her shoulders slumped as if she were exhausted.One cooked while the other starved.Welcome to America.Munch would have liked to hug the girl, but she knew from past experience that Angelica didn't like being touched.Angelica didn't I seem to like much of anything."Your mom is making enough to feed an army in there."Angelica's eyes were brown like Rico's, but held no shine."Yeah?""Smells good."Angelica twisted her back as if trying to loosen a kink, as if her muscles were fifty years old instead of fifteen.Munch wanted to hold the kid down and pump nourishment into her."If you need anything, call me.Okay?""I'm fine," Angelica said."I didn't ask how you were.You don't have to lie to me.""I don't have to talk to you either.""Only if you want to.I can be a good friend.Remember that."Munch drove home.First she stopped at the market and called St.John from the pay phone there.She filled him in on the latest twists."I know you didn't love Rico, but there is no way he was bad.This is some horrible mistake.""I've seen the report," St.John said."Rico was trading fire with the task force.If he wasn't playing for the other team, I don't know what the explanation is.""So when you said IA investigates all officer-involved shootings—""I'm sorry.I didn't mean to withhold from you, but I thought it would be better if your surprise at the circumstances of his death was genuine.""It was that." Munch rubbed her throat, trying to loosen the ache there."Can you set up a meeting with them for me?""With who?""The task force cops.""I don't want you involved with these guys.Narcs are ego-driven cowboys.All they care about is putting powder on the table and bodies in jail.""But Rico was a brother cop.""Don't count on that to help you.The word is that he was assisting in a prison break of some Mexican nationals, some narco-traffickers.""That doesn't make any sense.You can't believe that.""We'll both have to wait until all the evidence comes in," he said."And how long will that take?" she asked."I need you to be patient.Don't even think about doing anything half-cocked.""I won't."He snorted into the phone as if he didn't believe her."The best you can do is stay off their radar.They're gonna look at you and just try to figure how to use you.You make too much noise, and they'll find a hammer to hold over your head.""Like what?""Either they'll think you're involved or they'll approach you to assist with their investigation and make sure you do whether you want to or not.It's not nice, but it's the way it is.They love it when a person of interest has a kid, gives them great leverage.They like threatening to put the kid in child services if the parents don't cooperated,"You wouldn't let that happen.""I'd fight like hell, but I might only be able to do so much.""I hear what you're saying about these guys." This way there he dragons."Can you give me their names at least?""Absolutely not.""You want a couple more seconds to think about that? You sound a little on the fence.""The best thing for you to do is get on with your life, let some time pass."Munch looked up at her ceiling and rubbed her eyes.Her sinuses were filled with tear-diluted mucus and they burned.It was the same feeling she used to get as a kid when the waves would somersault her on to the ocean floor.Let time pass? Every hour was a weeklong.He didn't know what he was asking."Fine." She hung up without saying good-bye and picked up her TO DO list.She added; "narc's names."CHAPTER NINEMUNCH PULLES BAYLESS'S CARD FROM HER WALLETT AND stared at it."Fuck 'em," she muttered to herself as she dialed."Bayless, Internal Investigations."She had to clear her throat before she began."This is Munch Mancini.""What can I do for you?""Do you investigate all cop shootings?""Not every case crosses my desk.""In Rico's case, which end are you looking at?""What do you mean?""According to his ex-wife, Rico Chacón was shot by other cops.Narcs.So are you looking at Rico as a shooter or as the guy who got shot?""This is not something we should discuss on the phone."Munch's heartbeat quickened.He hadn't shut the door on her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]