Blast from the Past (A Mac Faraday Mystery) Read Online Free Page A

chest.
    The silver-haired deputy chief, possessing the solid build of a wrestler, stood up with his arms straight out to his sides to hold the battling man and woman apart. Neither David nor Randi could get beyond the enormous officer between them.
    Bogie’s gray hair and weathered face fooled many rookies. The officer had been with the Spencer police department longer than some of the younger officers had been alive. More than once, Bogie had been forced to adjust a cocky young rookie’s attitude by using his years of experience and massive muscles to pin him to the mat.
    “I take it from her attitude that she’s a fed,” Mac asked Bogie.
    “Randi Finnegan. US Marshal,” Bogie replied. “Archie occasionally checks in with her in Cumberland. A few times, she’s come into the station to see David, usually to give him grief about security in Spencer.” His salt-and-pepper eyebrows went up toward his gray hair. “Those meetings are never pretty.”
    Her dark eyes boring on David’s blue eyes, Randi approached him like a gun slinger ready to do battle. “You just leave your police cars sitting around so assassins can use them to commit murder?” With both hands, she wrestled against Bogie’s hand, which was blocking her access to the chief.
    “Now you listen here, Finnegan,” David argued, “my department’s procedures are none of your business.”
    “They are when my charges are put in danger. Why didn’t you call me when you let your cruiser get stolen?”
    “I only discovered it was missing minutes before this went down.”
    “And you didn’t warn her?”
    “He did warn me,” Archie said. “David called me about the missing cruiser, but I didn’t think—”
    “You didn’t think?” With a sarcastic laugh, Randi redirected her attention. “Archie, that’s how killers get close to you—It’s the oldest ploy in the book! They pretend to be police officers.” She gestured at the cruiser. “They steal police cars.”
    “Archie did think,” Mac said. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s still standing, and they’re not.”
    Finnegan looked the bare-chested man in the damp sweatpants and bare-feet up and down. “No thanks to your police chief.”
    “Now you take that back!” Mac charged at her to find Archie holding him back.
    The group of law enforcement officers turned into an angry mob with the police chief and Mac trying to get at the US Marshal.  Squeezed in the middle, Archie and Bogie tried to keep the peace by holding them all back.
    “David O’Callaghan is the best police chief in these parts,” Mac told her. “He’s taken very good care of Archie—better than you—considering that I haven’t laid eyes on you until today and, frankly, with that attitude, I don’t care to see anymore of you.”
    Grasping his arm, Archie tried to lead him away. “Mac, calm down.”
    “I don’t want to calm down.” Mac shook her hand off and pointed at the marshal. “I have a question for you, Finnegan. How did Cruze’s men find Archie? How did they know she was here?”
    All eyes were on US Marshal Randi Finnegan. Her attitude drained from her body. Her face turned white.
    Bogie repeated the question. “How did they know?”
    “Tommy Cruze got out of jail eighteen days ago,” she said.  “A judge let him out when it turned out that one of the feds who investigated his case was found to be dirty.”
    Archie shrieked.
    Mac gasped, “Are you kidding me?”
    David stuck his finger into Randi’s face. “How is it that you, me, and more importantly she ,” he pointed at Archie, “weren’t informed about this? If I knew, I would have been prepared to protect her. Instead, she had to take care of it herself.”
    “I had no idea,” Randi said. “I only found out when I contacted the home office after Archie called me about this.” She whipped out her cell phone. “Get in the car, Archie.”
    “What?” Archie asked while Mac clasped her arm as if to hold her there.
    “I