Michael McGarrity - Hermit_s Peak

Word of the Espinoza shooting cut short Kerney's meeting with the U.S.

Attorney in Albuquerque. He made the 120-mile drive to Las Vegas in good time, using his radio to stay updated on the situation. Three hours after the shooting, no evidence had been developed linking Espinoza to the Boaz murder-no Chevy truck, no murder weapon, and no matching fingerprints.

A large number of police vehicles were parked in front of the district office, including a crime scene van and the unmarked unit assigned to the headquarters shooting team supervisor, who was responsible for investigating all deadly force incidents.

Kerney killed the engine and gave himself a minute to push down his worry about Sara. She had been snappish on the telephone, and while he'd toyed with the idea that she was merely disappointed about the postponed camping trip, he didn't really believe it. Sara wasn't one to pout or get testy about trivial matters, and she knew firsthand that the demands of police work often screwed up a personal life.

He shrugged off his anxiety and walked into the building where a dozen or so officers, agents, and technicians filled the reception area. Some were busy writing reports while others waited to give statements to the shooting team. In a corner of the room. Officer Thorpe sat with a petite, attractive Hispanic woman dressed in jeans, a sweater, and hiking boots. There was a backpack at her feet and she was writing notes in a journal balanced on her knees. Kerney had no idea who the woman was. Captain Garduno, Sergeant Gonzales, and Agent Morfin were nowhere in sight.

As he crossed to the reception desk, Thorpe approached him.

"Chief, Professor Pino would like to speak with you." Thorpe nodded his head in the direction of the woman.

"Who?"

"Professor Pino. She's a plant specialist-a botanist-who teaches at the university."

"What does she want?"

"She found a rare plant on your property. It's called Knowlton's cactus. It has her really pumped."

"Can she wait?"

Thorpe nodded.

"I told her you might be busy for a while."

"Good enough."

Kerney smiled at the woman as he passed by, wondering what was going on. He filed the thought as a question for Captain Garduno and found him in his office.

"Chief," Garduno said, gesturing at the empty chair in front of his desk.

"How far along is the shooting team?" Kerney asked as he sat. Both Gonzales and Morfin would be treated as murder suspects until cleared of the charges by the DA and a grand jury. Only a finding of justified homicide in the death of Rudy Espinoza would allow the officers to remain with the department. If the shooting wasn't legal, both faced the possibility of felony convictions and prison time.

"They're finished with Gonzales and are interviewing Morfin now,"

Garduno said.

"It looks good. Both Gabe and Ben used voice-activated recorders to tape the traffic stop. They fired in self-defense; there was no other way to stop the action."

"When will the report go to the grand jury?"

"Three days. I've put both men on paid administrative leave, effective immediately."

"Has Espinoza been positively made as Boaz's killer?"

Garduno wrinkled his nose.

"Not yet. But Wanda Knox identified Espinoza from the mug shot we faxed to the Arcadia PD. The call just came in."

"So, for now, we've got a dead suspect whose only known crimes were trespassing on private property, illegal woodcutting, and speeding."

"It was a righteous use of deadly force. Chief.

Espinoza pulled a gun on Gonzales."

"I'm not questioning that, Captain. But the press could decide to hound us until we have clear proof that Espinoza was a murderer and not some petty crook who got gunned down by an overly aggressive state police officer during a routine traffic stop."

"Agents Duran and Houge will start the legwork on Bspinoza tomorrow,"

Garduno said.

"We'll find the evidence."

"Houge and Duran will be in southern New Mexico, working a rape-murder case of an elderly woman."

"That scuttles the investigation for the next three days."

"I'll find a way to keep it going. Officer Thorpe has a botanist waiting to see me. What's that about?"

"Ben Morfin took the cactus plants found in Boaz's greenhouse to Professor Pino for an identification. She got real excited and asked to conduct a field survey to determine where the plants had been collected. I sent Officer Thorpe along with her. According to the professor, you've got only the second known distribution of Knowlton's cactus growing on your property."

"In the state?"

"In the world. Chief. Ruth Pino can tell you all about it."

"Where is Gabe Gonzales?" Kerney asked, getting to his feet.

"Sequestered in the conference room."

"I'd like to see him."

"Go on in."

Kerney found Gabe Gonzales tapping his fingers on the conference table.

"How are you holding up. Sergeant?"

"I've seen a lot of dead people over the years, but this is the first time I ever had to put somebody down."

"It's not the same, is it?"

"Not even close."

"Are you all right with it?"

"I will be. I know it was a clean shooting."

"How far did you get before the shooting team pulled you in for a statement?"

"Not very. Angle Romero, Espinoza's girlfriend, swears the only vehicle Rudy normally drove was the Toyota pickup parked in her driveway."

"Is she playing it straight?"

Gabe shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows? She drinks her breakfast straight out of a whiskey bottle.

She's half-blasted most of the time. Ben Morfin searched the crude and found nothing. I'm pretty sure Espinoza's brother-in-law, Joaquin Santistevan, tipped him that he was about to get busted. Otherwise, Espinoza had no reason to run. But the phone company has no record of a call made from me wood yard to Espinoza, or from Angle's house to Santistevan.

Frank Houge is chedcing with cellular providers now."

"We need to find that Chevy truck," Kerney said.

"And the murder weapon. Maybe Houge and Duran will score while I'm cooling my heels for the next three days."

"That's not going to happen. They're both reassigned to another case effective tomorrow."

"That sucks. Chief."

"I know it does. Can I make a suggestion?"

"Sure."

"You need a couple of days out in the fresh air. Meet some new people, take scenic drives, poke around and explore, visit new places. It's a pretty time of year."

"Am I hearing you right. Chief?"

"It depends on what you want to hear. Sergeant."

Gabe rubbed his chin and gave Kerney a long look.

"It's your call. Sergeant. I can't order you to violate department policy."

"Who would I report to?"

"Me alone. No one else."

Gabe grinned.

"I like the idea."

"I was hoping you would," Kerney said, handing Gonzales his business card.

"On the back you'll find my private office and home telephone numbers.

Use those numbers to reach me or leave messages."

Gabe took the card.

"You were pretty sure I'd go along with this, weren't you?"

"I pulled your personnel jacket. Sergeant. There was enough in it to convince me that you don't always go by the book."

"I've heard that said about you."

"I guess that make us members of the same dub.

Nail Espinoza to the Boaz murder."

Ruth Pino contemplated the man who limped into the interview cubicle and sat at the small table across from her. Since he looked intelligent, Ruth dedded he might be capable of understanding the important points that needed to be made.

Kerney listened as Ruth Pino explained the rarity of the Knowlton's cactus, its value to collectors, and the importance of the discovery of a new habitat on the alluvial apron at the bottom of the mesa. She spoke with intensity, in clipped sentences, and Kerney could imagine her in the classroom putting fear into the hearts of easily intimidated undergraduates.