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. Maybe not.Or maybe I can.Either way, no one will know this case better.That makes me the best choice to continue.Penny, our usual waitress, plopped two iced teas at the table, disrupting theflow of the argument. Hey, guys.The usual?Luis was still glaring, so I answered her. Yeah, and a bowl of Menudo for me.New haircut?She twisted a brown strand of pixie short hair in her fingers and nodded. Yup.Kinda drastic but this summer s so hot, and the hair was getting heavy. Looks great, I winked and added,  Brave, too. I still sometimes feel it at my waist.Ghost hair, she sighed, and we bothlaughed. Back in a jiff with your food. Before tucking her pad into her brownapron and walking off, she gave Luis a questioning glance. What is it with this kid? Luis picked up, as if Penny had never been there. That s what I m trying to figure out. That suicide last month.It really got to you.Wasn t your first db (deadbody), wasn t even your first suicide I d bet.You ve been weird ever since then,though.Haven t been by the house.Haven t seen Angelica as much.Today s thefirst hump-day shit since.What gives? Seemed like such a waste, I hedged, gulping the tea like it d soothe the acheShattered Glass 81in my chest or cool the watering heat in my eyes. Junkie that hangs himself ain t surprising.It s a fucking public serviceusually. Luis was prodding gently, poking around like there was a button he justhadn t found yet.He d already found it, I just was having a slow reaction to itbeing pushed shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, glaze of sweat on my upperlip.Where was Penny with our food? I checked over my shoulder, hoping to seeher carrying a tray over. He someone you know? Luis tried guessing. No. The wide eyes I gave Luis should have been heard by him as  Drop it! ,but he was still searching for that button, like a blind guy reading the Braille ina hotel elevator. Can t just be that he was a junkie, we see those every goddamn day. Drop it.Jesus Christ, this is lunch, not therapy. Thank fuck the food arrived.I ignored Luis s contemplative gaze and dug into my tacos.The bowl of Menudosat off to my left, daring me. I don t know what it is with the kid.He s ?Christ, how was I going to put this without sounding like a fucking woman. &appealing.Attractive.I don t know.He s something.Shut up, I held up a hand. I don t give a shit if your daughter is gay or your whole fucking lineage is takingit up the ass.They re not me.Unless you have some unique perspective on whyI m suddenly checking out guys asses, then I m just going to go with the redheadthat takes it up the ass and hope he has a shitfucking answer. Or a goddamnroadmap of how to deal with a sudden attraction to penises might be helpful,too. I won t fuck up this case.That s all you need to know.A sigh, then Luis picked up his taco and bit in. Penny, he called over hisshoulder. Where s the hot sauce?I breathed out a sigh of relief as Luis switched to babbling about his youngestdaughter, Mariposa, who apparently found a box of Oreos the night before andate the whole thing, claiming her innocence through chocolate-cookie-coatedlips.My Father, The Anti-HeroQuestioning suspects while attorneys are present is like a game of chesswhere one side makes all the moves behind their back, and you have to trust82 Dani Alexanderthey ll tell you which move they made.Of course, they always lie.So when Luisand I entered the room, we were as prepared as possible for any lie Alvaradomight tell.But the asshole already had our king in danger. Did it even take convincing to represent him, Dad, or did he just have tomention I was on the case? I sat down across from Desmond Glass, propping upan elbow and dropping a cheek onto my fist. My client mentioned you were working the case.It had no bearing on theagreement to handle it.And you will address me as Mr.Glass in these proceedings. Did my father neglect to tell you that he hasn t seen me in four years andbarely spoke to me before that? I asked Alvarado. That $1500 an hour forDesmond Glass and there was no advantage for you, was there? He doesn t knowme at all, Prick.Oh, I meant Prisc. No, I didn t. You may direct your questions to me, Desmond Glass said, crossing his legsand resting his hands on his knee. Good.I wanted to tell you something really important, anyway.I was goingto call, but it s so much better in person.Your son, Mr.Glass, is a big homo. Myfather s back straightened.His eyes narrowed, and his mouth pinched closed sotightly I thought maybe he d eaten his lips.Now that was freeing, while also being useful.My father was speechless.Luis took a seat next to me, flopping down some evidence files, and beganrubbing the center of his forehead with his fingers. Dios, mio, he sighed.While my father tried to control his hyperventilating, I tried to get a read onAlvarado.He was sitting back in his chair, tapping the ends of the arms whilefocusing flat brown eyes on me.I didn t see it.He and Peter.Peter must be right about my being superficial,because no matter how many ways I twisted it or how many angles I approachedit from, Peter and Alvarado just wouldn t come together in my head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]