telephone numbers showed up repeatedly, with no description other than initials that
made no sense. There were references to something called US Choice
“What do you think?” West whispered to Hammer.
“Fraud, for starters. We’ll get all this to the FBI, to Squad Four, see what they make of
it.”
The news helicopter circled low. The cocooned body was loaded into the ambulance.
“What about Cahoon?” West asked.
Hammer took a deep breath, feeling sorry for him. How much bad news did anybody
need in one night?
“I’ll call him, tell him what we suspect,” she grimly said.
“Do we release Mauney’s ID tonight?”
“I’d rather hold out until morning.” Hammer was staring beyond bright lights and crime-scene tape.
“I believe you have a visitor,” she said to West.
Brazil was at the perimeter taking notes. He was not in uniform this night, and his face
was hard as his eyes met West’s and held. She walked toward him, and they moved some
distance away from others, and stood on different sides of crime-scene tape.
“We’re not releasing any information tonight,” she said to him.
“I’ll just do my usual,” he said, lifting the tape to duck under.
“No.” She blocked him.
“We can’t let anybody in. Not on this one.”
“Why not?” he said, stung.
“There are a lot of complications.”
“There always are.” His eyes flashed.
“I’m sorry,” she told him.
“I’ve been inside before,” he protested.
“How come now I can’t?”
“You’ve been inside when you’ve been with me.” West began to back away.
“When I’ve … ?” Brazil’s pain was almost uncontain- able.
“I am with you!”
West looked around and wished he would lower his voice. She could not tell him what
she had found inside the victim’s car, and what it quite likely implied about the not-so-
innocent victim Blair Mauney III. She glanced back at Hammer. The chief was still
leaning inside the Lincoln, looking through more paperwork, perhaps grateful for the
distraction from her own private tragedies. West thought of Brazil’s behavior at her
house while Raines was watching the videotape. This was a mess, and it could not go on.
She made the right decision and could feel the change inside her, the curtain dropping.
The end.
“You can’t do this to me!” Brazil furiously went on.
“I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Please don’t make a scene or I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” West, the deputy chief, stated.
Enraged and hurt, Brazil realized the truth.
“You’re not going to let me ride with you anymore.”
West hesitated, trying to ease him into this.
“Andy,” she said, ‘it couldn’t go on forever. You’ve always known that. Jesus Christ. ”
She blew out in frustration.
“I’m old enough to … I’m .. ”
Brazil backed up, staring at her, the traitor, the fiend, the hard-hearted tyrant, the worst
villain ever to touch his life. She didn’t care about him. She never had.
“I don’t need you,” he cruelly said.
Brazil wheeled around and ran. He ran as fast as he could, back to his
BMW.
“Oh for God’s sake,” West exclaimed as Hammer suddenly was at her side.
“Problem?” Hammer stared after Brazil, her hands in her pockets.
“More of the same.” West wanted to kill him.
“He’s going to do something.”
“Good deduction.” Hammer’s eyes were sad and tired, but she was full of courage and
support for the living.
“I’d better go after him.” West started walking.
Hammer stood where she was, strobing lights washing over her face as she watched West
duck reporters and trot off to her car. Hammer thought about new love, about people
crazy about each other and not knowing it as they fought and ran off and chased. The
ambulance beeped as it backed up, carrying away what was left of a person who
Hammer, in truth, did not feel especially sorry for at this point. She would never have
wished such horrendous violence upon him, but what a piece of shit he was, stealing,
hurting, and more than likely perpetuating the drug trade. Hammer was going to take this
investigation into her own hands, and, if need be, make an example of Blair Mauney III,