Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set) Blake Banner (read out loud books txt) 📖

but I was already on the stairs. Voices, shouting, barking, hollering. Dehan’s voice, harsh, aggressive. I smiled and began to laugh as I ran up the stairs. Three guys in the bedroom doorway with their weapons drawn.

“Sir! You cannot come in here! Sir!”

Inside the room, Dehan’s voice bellowing, “On your face, motherfucker!”

I pushed past, muttering, “Out of my way, goddamit!”

And there was Dehan, a half-naked man on his face on the floor, with his arms behind his back, and her kneeling on him, holstering her piece with one hand, cuffing him with the other. One guy covering her and a second moving toward me with his hand stuck out, shouting, “Stay outside!”

I pushed his hand away and snarled at him, “Get out of my face!”

Dehan looked up and grinned. “Glad you could make it, Sensei. I got a late present for you. Merry Christmas.”

Behind me I heard feet lumbering up the stairs. Next thing, Newman was bursting in. He didn’t say anything, but I wasn’t looking at him. I was staring at Dehan’s grinning face as she dragged Guzman to his feet.

She stared back for what might have been a second or an hour. I heard myself saying, “Good work.” She nodded and I looked around at the SWAT guys who were watching me like I was crazy. I said, again, “Good work.”

Newman was scowling at me like he wanted to can me right there and then. He said, “Dehan, take the prisoner down to the station. Book him and take him to the interrogation room.”

I growled at him, “I interrogate this suspect with Detective Dehan, sir.”

Dehan and the SWAT team dragged Guzman from the room. One of them grabbed his clothes and a dressing gown. After a moment of commotion, Newman and I were alone in the room, with the receding sound of voices downstairs. We stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, he said, “Is there anything you need to tell me, Stone?”

I said, “No.”

“You are an experienced officer. You have the best track record in the 43rd. You have almost thirty years of experience. What the hell did you think you were doing?”

I chewed my lip, but I couldn’t answer him. Finally, I said, “I don’t know.”

“Talk to me, John! Twice, in almost as many days, you have acted irrationally!” He took a couple of steps toward me. “Quite aside from the fact that Detective Dehan was probably not the target in the shooting, she was in a position to take cover. You ran around the car and put yourself in the line of fire!”

I sighed and looked away from him. “I acted without thinking to protect my partner.”

“And now? What is your explanation for this?”

“I…” Again, I had no answer. Lamely, I said, “It should have been me.”

He came up close to me. “Stone, I am going to ask you one more time. There are rumors. My policy with rumors is to ignore them. Do I need to be listening to this one? Is there anything that you need to tell me?”

I stared at him a long time. “I don’t know.”

“Figure it out. But understand this, one more display like this and I will suspend you. Do you understand that?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I understand it, sir.”

He kept looking at me. “So? What now? Can you handle this?”

“Yes. I need to interrogate Guzman, sir. I will hold it together.”

“Fine. I’ll be watching. But, John?”

“What?”

“I am not just the Inspector. I’m your friend. If you need to talk, talk to me.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

He smiled. “Or talk to her.”

I didn’t answer. I walked past him and went down the stairs, thinking about Guzman.

When I got outside, Guzman was in the back of a patrol car. It pulled away and headed north, toward the station. The SWAT cars were pulling away after it. Dehan approached me. She was still grinning and came and stood close to me. “Hey pardner. You arrived a little early there, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. And I just got hauled over the coals for it.”

She looked past me and I was aware of Newman exiting the house. He spoke to a couple of guys from the SWAT team who were climbing into their vehicle. Then he headed toward his own car without saying anything to us. She examined my face a moment and said, “Ride with me.”

“Dehan…”

She narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

“We need to talk.”

She squinted. “Now?”

I drew breath, hesitated. “No. I guess not now. Let’s go interrogate this son of a bitch.”

* * *

When we got to the station, Maria told me he had been booked and was in interrogation room one, waiting for us. We went straight up. As soon as we stepped in, he started mouthing off.

“What the fuck? You come stormin’ into my house! Threatening my family with weapons! Abusin’ me and my family! My wife! My children!”

We sat opposite him and I said very quietly, “We have you on film.”

He paused. “What?”

“We have you on film. The car was caught at the gas station where you stopped after you tried to kill me. We traced the car to the owner. One of his neighbors caught you stealing the car on his cell.”

“That’s bullshit…”

“Don’t waste your time, Guzman. How the fuck do you think we found you? The sooner you start cooperating, the easier it’s going to be to cut a deal.”

He stared hard at us for a long moment, first at me, then at Dehan, then back at me again. His simple brain was struggling with the equation I had given him. I sighed. I felt real tired.

“Guzman, you’re going down for the attempted murder of two police officers. The story is over for you. At your age, you’ll be lucky