Angel Among Us Read Online Free Page A

Certainly, he lived in the wealthiest neighborhood in town and knew how to move among the most powerful circles. He also knew when to deliver a favor.
    He had scared the crap out of me. Anger fueled him and he needed someone to blame whenever things did not go as he planned. He liked to choose a whipping boy and go after him unmercifully until the poor bastard crumpled.
    Right now, it was Adrian Calvano who was feeling his wrath. I hated feeling sorry for Calvano. He annoyed me to no end. But there you have it – I could not help but empathize with him. Gonzales was staring at him with utter contempt, his eyes flickering over every inch of Calvano’s frame as if he were seeking a soft spot so he could go in for the kill. I had been shredded by Gonzales on many occasions and I knew how it felt. I did not wish that on anyone, not even Adrian Calvano.
    â€˜
Where
did you take him?’ Gonzales was asking in disbelief.
    â€˜The hospital,’ Calvano said defensively. ‘What else were we supposed to do? The guy totally collapsed. He was in a catatonic state. The principal called the ambulance before we could stop him and then, well . . .’
    â€˜Things got out of control?’ Gonzales suggested sarcastically.
    Maggie took over. ‘Sir,’ she said. ‘I don’t know if the husband is faking it. But I do know that we were not going to get anything out of him at the scene.’
    Gonzales stared at them both. I was impressed at how unflappable Maggie seemed. She was his favorite on the force, in no small part because Gonzales had known her since she was a little girl and her father had once been his mentor. As such, Maggie was not used to his disapproval. She was feeling it now, but she was taking it well.
    â€˜If the press gets wind of this situation,’ Gonzales warned them, ‘this town is going to turn into a circus. Again. I won’t have it. The two of you are on this case until it is over and I don’t want you to so much as eat lunch until you find out where Arcelia Gallagher is and if someone took her.’
    â€˜And if it turns out it’s her husband?’ Maggie asked. ‘Which we all know is the most likely answer?’
    Gonzales knew she was really asking what the hell they were supposed to do if it turned out that the son of the mayor, Gonzales’s biggest political backer, had killed his wife.
    â€˜If you start uncovering evidence that leads to him,’ Gonzales said, ‘I want to know it by the end of the day and I will expect hourly updates after that. Is that clear?’
    â€˜Oh, he did it,’ Calvano predicted. ‘I knew Danny Gallagher when he was a kid and he was a bad one.’
    Maggie flashed him a look that meant, ‘Shut your mouth or I will strangle you.’ It usually rolled off him like oil and this time was no different.
    Gonzales looked mildly interested. ‘How long did you know him?’ he asked.
    Calvano looked nervous. He was not used to Gonzales actually paying him attention. ‘We grew up on the same block for the first nine years of our lives,’ Calvano explained. ‘But his parents got divorced and he moved away, I think to live at his grandfather’s house.’
    â€˜When he was ten, he went to live with his mother and grandfather on the family farm,’ Maggie explained calmly. ‘It’s the same farm he owns and works now. Apparently, he is a highly respected organic farmer who is some sort of leader in something called the farm-to-table movement. It’s embraced by restaurants that believe in only using local produce.’ Maggie was smart enough to have already done some background checking.
    Gonzales looked mollified that Maggie was on the case. ‘Where is the mother now?’ he asked, knowing that the mayor’s ex-wife was a clear candidate for the ‘most likely to throw a wrench into our cog’ award.
    â€˜She’s dead,’ Maggie said.