Final Words Read Online Free

that
she hasn’t called.”
    “You choose to be ticked off. And what good has it done? You
should channel that energy onto our other cases.”
    Jason closed his eyes against a sharp pain. “I know.”
    A cloud of perfume surrounded them as an envelope slapped
down on the desk. Both men looked up.
    “Mail call.” Officer Miranda Dennison winked. “Special
delivery for you, Jason.”
    As the curvaceous blonde sauntered away, Charlie inclined
his head toward her. “Now there goes a nice young woman.”
    Jason scowled. “I’m not interested in nice young women.”
    “Obviously.” Charlie plucked the envelope off Jason’s desk
and looked at the return address. “So who is Clarissa?”
    Jason grabbed the hand-addressed envelope. “Insurance agent.
I asked her to work up a new quote on the beach house.”
    “Ah. Is she beautiful?”
    “Lay off, Garcia. I don’t need a matchmaker.”
    Charlie grinned. “You need something, my friend.”
    “Listen up.” Chief of Detectives Buck Hosken strode into the
big room, manila file folders tucked under his left arm. Right hand shoved in a
trouser pocket, fingers fiddling with a bunch of coins, he stopped in the
center of the room. Alligator-hide boots creaked around his ankles as he rocked
forward and back on his heels and the sweat on top of his bald head caught the
light from the fluorescent fixtures overhead.
    “Crime is up.” His voice rolled up from his barrel chest. “Don’t
know why. Maybe an alignment of planets or some crap like that. But we can beat
the bad guys if we work like a team.”
    Great, Jason thought, immediately tuning out the man’s voice.
Another rah-rah session from the new chief.
    Buck Hosken had recently moved to Clear Harbor from nearby
Houston where he’d been a police captain for years. Not that his experience
meant much to the local guys. Most of the detectives were willing to let the
man prove his leadership skills but none of them needed a big city cop telling
them how to run their cases even if he did wear boots and talk with a drawl.
    “I know you guys can handle the load.” Hosken jingled his
coins again. “That’s it.”
    As the other detectives returned to work, Jason stood and
beckoned to Charlie. “I found three more unlicensed body shops near the docks.
Let’s go check ’em out.”
    “MacKenzie! Garcia!” Chief Hosken approached them, a file
folder clasped in one meaty hand. “You’ve pulled a new case.”
    Charlie groaned. “We’re working six homicides already.”
    Jason shoved a hand through his hair. “And we’re waist-deep
in checking body shops for that hit-and-run.”
    “That case is low priority,” Hosken interrupted. “I know
somebody got killed but I doubt it was intentional.”
    Fury burned Jason’s gut. “That somebody was my friend and
the driver who killed him might be a chronic drunk. He needs to be found and
taken off the road.”
    “And we need to find the son of a bitch who’s goin’ around
poppin’ old ladies too.” Hosken shoved the file at Jason. “The victim’s name
was Amalia Campanero.”
    Stepping close, Charlie gently took possession of the
folder. “We’ll look into it.”
    “I want a report in my hand before five today.” Hosken’s
pocket change jingled furiously as he turned and walked away.
    Jason scowled at his partner. “How can we wrap up any case
when he keeps shuffling our priorities? He took Ty’s case away too. I know he
wants to be a hands-on chief, Charlie but look how far he hasn’t gotten
in solving it.”
    “About as far as you have working it on your own time.” At
Jason’s sharp glance, Charlie lifted one eyebrow. “I know you’ve been back to
that club to question the staff.”
    “Somebody had to do it. Hosken missed two waitresses who
were working the club the night Ty was shot.”
    “Did they tell you anything?”
    “Not a damn thing.”
    Charlie clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Let Hosken work
it a while. He might eventually see