Force of Nature Read Online Free PDF Page A

from now until Halloween?”
    “Christmas,” Steve said morosely. “You know, Ric, you don’t look so good.”
    “I’m fine,” Ric said, heading down the hall. “I just need some coffee.”
    The phone rang, and Steve had to pick it up, ending their conversation. “First precinct. Hey. Yeah, he’s here…”
    Ric ducked into the coffee room—where Bobby Donofrio and Johnny Olson were having an early lunch.
    “Hey, hey, hey,” Bobby D said through his cheeseburger. “Look who’s up and around. I thought you weren’t going to be discharged from the hospital until tomorrow.”
    Johnny came over to help him with the coffeepot. “Sure you don’t want to take another day?”
    “I wanted to get that report done,” Ric said as Johnny poured the steaming coffee into a mug. “Thanks. I’m sure the family would appreciate the closure.”
    “A tough guy, huh? Well, rest easy, the case is closed. The perp was the victim’s cousin,” Donofrio reported, leaning back in his chair. “The other cousin—a younger kid—came forward. Apparently there was an argument over some guy—or guys—that the sister was screwing—you saw her, there was probably a list as long as my arm. The victim wouldn’t give up the info, there was a tussle, and the gun went off accidentally. Yeah, like anyone whose head isn’t up their ass would believe
that.
”
    “Ballistic report matched,” Johnny told Ric. “The perp’s nine-millimeter was also the murder weapon. No question.”
    “Everything’s neat and tidy. So we—lucky bastards—don’t have to dick around with a trial.” Donofrio tossed his McDonald’s bag into the garbage, leaving a streak of ketchup on the table. “The surviving cousin’s a juvie. He’s confessed to being an accessory—they’ve already put him into the system. The perp’s dead—you took care of that. Very nicely, I might add.”
    “
I
did?” Ric said. Coming in today was definitely a mistake, because now his head was starting to hurt almost as badly as his arm and his side.
    “Dude.” Donofrio gave him a big smile that was almost as disconcerting as his use of the word
dude.
“I may have shut out the lights a little more quickly, but your shot to the perp’s groin…It was perfect. Crushed the artery. He was already dead when I hit him—he just didn’t know it yet.”
    Ric had shot to wound. Only to wound. He’d aimed for the kid’s leg, not…
    “Hey, Martell,” Johnny said, turning to the door. “Long time, no see. How’s the legal world treating you?”
    “Well enough.” Martell Griffin’s basso profundo was unmistakable. Ric looked over and saw his friend leaning in the doorway, dressed like the lawyer he now was, in a dark suit and power tie. The look he shot Ric was full of reproach. “You should be home, in bed,” he scolded.
    But Donofrio wasn’t finished. “So congratulations, Alvarado,” the heavy-set detective continued. “I’ve got to let you claim the kill.”
    Claim
the
kill…?
Was he serious?
    Across the room, Martell straightened up. “This probably isn’t a conversation Ric should be having while he’s on pain meds,” he pointed out.
    “It’s a big one, too.” Bobby D just kept on going, grinning that shit-eating grin.
Neat and tidy
…Mother of God. “The year’s tenth.”
    He said it like it was some kind of honor, some kind of badge for them all to wear with pride—their having reached double digits in the number of perpetrators who hadn’t survived an altercation with Sarasota’s finest.
    “Ricky, man, come on. Let me drive you home,” Martell said.
    “I don’t want it,” Ric told Donofrio.
    “No, no, you don’t comprend-ay,” Donofrio said. “The kid was nineteen and there’s no question that he was armed and dangerous. It’s already been cleared by internal affairs. It’s yours, Detective, and it’s squeaky-clean. That’s not something to throw away.”
    Ric didn’t even realize he was moving. One second he was standing