72

No sooner had Duke spoken one last time with Andy Taylor and left the hotel than his cell phone rang. He paused at the crosswalk on the west side of the highway and took the call as light morning traffic grumbled past.

Chief Phil Esterhaus said, "I'm not even to the beach yet to start my run, I get a call about Falkirk. He was shot five times."

"Dead?"

"No. He was wearing Kevlar. Four rounds were stopped, but one took him in the left thigh. He's in the hospital, no doubt making the entire staff wish they'd never pursued a career in medicine. You know who shot him?"

"Not me."

"I didn't think you. If I thought you, the first thing I'd have said is, I'll pay for dinner, after all."

"So who shot him?"

"Two hulks in his goon squad were stationed across the street from where it happened. They're raising hell with my people, as if they never told us to back off. They want arrests made yesterday. Anyway, it was dark, but they had night-vision gear, so they saw a little. They say it was this traitor Harkenbach and some woman. The perps got away, which makes no sense to me, with Falkirk's crew of numbnuts right there and armed to the teeth."

"Who do they want you to arrest?"

"Well, Harkenbach and the woman—"

"What woman?"

"They don't know. The kind of law these guys enforce, any woman might work for them, plus they want the guy who owns the house."

"Who owns the house?"

"Well, that's the thing I find most interesting. It's a guy named Jeffrey Coltrane, lives there with his daughter, Amity. Would those be the friends of yours you mentioned, the ones who live on Shadow Canyon Lane and got ‘caught up in this through no fault of their own'?"

"I've heard of them," Duke conceded.

"Is Coltrane a killer?"

"Is Mary Poppins?"

"I wouldn't vouch for anyone these days," Phil said. "Listen, these guys with Falkirk are like The Sopranos, but they have for-real legal authority and a desire to abuse the hell out of it. If the shit hits the fan, I can't pull the plug for you."

"Thanks for the heads-up. See you for dinner tomorrow night."

"I love the lobster bisque."

Duke terminated the call and crossed the street against the light, holding up one hand to stop the traffic, with which he had more success than King Canute did when he commanded the sea to be still.