All a Man Is. Janice Johnson Kay

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      CHAPTER FOUR

      “YOU DIDN’T FOLLOW instructions,” said the hollow voice. It wasn’t any more distinct than it had been during the previous phone call, but Alec was damn sure the speaker was the same man.

      His phone had rung while he was waiting for a table at a deli near the police station and having the passing thought that he could have called Julia to see if she wanted to meet him. Of course, she’d probably have had to bring Liana, at least, which would have killed his fantasy of being alone with her, something he’d begun to crave.

      Seeing the unfamiliar number, he had stepped back outside. Traffic noise wasn’t a lot better than the buzz of a roomful of people talking, but at least he wouldn’t be overheard. With his back to the brick wall, he gazed unseeing at passing vehicles. He’d trace the phone number, but he was betting on a throwaway.

      The fact that he’d been thinking about Julia when this son of a bitch called to issue another threat roused all his protective instincts.

      “Something you should know about me,” he said. “I don’t respond to threats or blackmail.”

      “One last chance,” the muffled voice told him, and the call was over.

      He brooded as he stowed his phone. The first call had come less than two days after Julia’s arrival in Angel Butte. He couldn’t see how her showing up could have triggered anything. Probably one had nothing to do with the other...but he’d been police chief here in Angel Butte since the first of April. Only now that he had family was anyone threatening him. Yeah, that made him nervous.

      Today was July 12, which meant two weeks had elapsed since the first threat. That was remarkably patient of the caller, he reflected.

      After a moment’s thought, Alec dialed the mayor’s mobile number. It only rang once.

      “Raynor?”

      “I just got a second anonymous call,” he said.

      “Threatening?”

      He thought about it. “By implication. I’m told I have ‘one last chance.’”

      “Why aren’t they calling me, too?” Chandler asked.

      “Good question. I’m the new boy in town. Your support for McAllister has to have more impact than mine.”

      There was a pause. “Maybe, but could be they figure they undercut my support enough by getting the word out that I refused to hire him as chief of the department here in Angel Butte.”

      “That’s possible,” Alec conceded. A smile twitched at his mouth. “It’s also possible your reputation precedes you.”

      “As a hard-ass?” Noah Chandler sounded amused.

      “Something like that.”

      He chuckled. “You plan any action?”

      “I don’t think I’ll bother with the campaign manager this time. I’m going straight to Sheriff Brock himself.”

      “Good,” the mayor said. “You’ll let Colin know?”

      Alec agreed he would.

      “Anything on Bystrom?”

      The subject of the previous Angel Butte police chief was a sore one for Mayor Chandler. Alec was more accustomed to the slow pace of justice. One of the reasons arresting officers were so careful to document their every action and thought was that, by the time that arrest actually came to trial, assuming it ever did, they’d long since forgotten the details. He understood the mayor’s frustration, though.

      During what turned out to be an unrelated investigation last year, Colin McAllister had stumbled on evidence suggesting the former police chief was corrupt. With Chandler’s backing, McAllister had gotten a warrant for Gary Bystrom’s financial records, which showed a sizable second income from mysterious sources. Tracing the source of those deposits was something the federal Drug Enforcement Agency could do better than a local police department. Angel Butte P.D. was part of a regional coalition of law-enforcement agencies, including the DEA, focusing on drug trafficking. They were all working right now on tying failed raids or other favors to the dates of some of those payments to the former police chief.

      In the wake of Bystrom’s resignation and the ensuing investigation, McAllister and now Alec had been forced to look hard at their own officers. Gary Bystrom hadn’t been known as a hands-on police chief. Somebody would have had to tip him off to upcoming raids or other actions for him to have useful information to pass on. To date, five officers had been identified as having accepted bribes, some directly from Bystrom, some from the same sources who had paid off the police chief. All five had been fired. Alec was far from satisfied that the house was totally clean, but was starting to feel as if this had become more of a witch hunt than a dispassionate investigation. It had been weeks since he’d found anything that would justify further warrants. If the department harbored any more crooked cops, he could only hope they’d see the writing on the wall and look for jobs elsewhere.

      “I left another message with the agent in charge” was all he could offer now.

      Chandler grunted, wordlessly expressing dissatisfaction.

      “You know it’s going to be out of our hands anyway,” Alec reminded him. “They’ll want to file charges in federal court.”

      “As long as his ass goes to jail,” Chandler said flatly.

      Alec agreed. He hadn’t met the man who’d preceded him in office, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t despise him. Alec had spent the past three and a half months untangling and fixing everything the son of a bitch had let go out of sheer laziness, never mind the elastic morals and the greed.

      He and Chandler left it at that.

      * * *

      WHEN THE PHONE RANG, Julia pounced on it. “Alec?”

      “Yeah.” He sounded tired. “Sorry to have run so late. Have I missed dinner?”

      Most nights he ate with them. She’d told him all he had to do was let her know, that he was always welcome but shouldn’t feel pressured to give up every evening for them, either. As far as she knew, the couple of dinners he’d missed were because of work obligations.

      “No, you’re not the only one running late.” She hesitated, not wanting to dump anything else on him right now, but he’d notice when he got here if Matt was still missing. “My darling son has also failed to appear, even though I told him what time I’d planned dinner for.”

      Alec’s voice sharpened. “Do you know where he is? I can pick him up.”

      “Not a clue. After lunch when I asked where he was going, he said ‘around.’”

      She’d seen Matt’s attitude deteriorating these past few days but hadn’t yet said anything to Alec. She wanted desperately to believe she was imagining things, but now...she couldn’t delude herself anymore.

      “Do СКАЧАТЬ