Before I could get on the radio again, the other two men lunged at me.

  I punched the first guy in the mouth and elbowed the second in his solar plexus, which bent him over enough to allow me to step around and drive my fist into his kidney.

  The others all jumped on me, pulling me to the ground just as Casey slid around the corner of the alley in her Chevy Impala.

  I heard her gun the engine and held onto my Glock so none of my attackers could pull it out of its holster.

  At the sound of her arrival, all of them left me in the dirt and sprinted down the alley away from Casey and her car.

  I saw Ruthanne’s car fishtail around the corner at the other end of the alley and watched as everyone, including the father who’d picked himself up off the ground, jump over fences and disappear into the neighborhood.

  Casey jumped out of her car and ran up to where I was pushing myself to my feet.

  I’d seen the guy I’d punched jump the fence into a back yard and I took off at a sprint, grabbed the top of a chain link fence and pulled myself up. “Let’s go!” Using a move I’d learned in elementary school, I leaned over the top of the fence, grabbed the wire on the other side and kicked my feet over my head so that I ended up standing on the other side of the fence facing forward.

  Movement at the far end of the yard caught my attention. The man leapt up onto a doghouse at the other end and climbed over the fence.

  Casey and I hit the doghouse at a full run, propelling ourselves over the chain link where we landed easily in the front yard lawn.

  The guy must have stumbled on his way down because he was just picking himself up off his knees and getting ready to run.

  Casey shoved him in the middle of his back, then landed on top of him as they hit the ground.

  I grabbed his right wrist and twisted it behind him, and she slid off to do the same to his left. I reached behind me to grab the pair of handcuffs I keep tucked in the back of my pants but came up empty handed. “Shit. I lost my cuffs somewhere.”

  Casey pulled out her cuffs and slammed the ratchet down on the man’s wrist causing the metal arm to swing around and engage on the opposite side. She did the same with the other arm and then pulled him to his feet. We began walking him back to the alley where she and Ruthanne had left their cars. As we walked, Casey started shaking her head. “The handcuffs are probably in the alley. So, what? Are you trying to set a record for how many foot chases we get into in one day?”

  “Yeah? Well why the hell were they trying to grab me? Who did I piss off in Lithuania?” As we passed the dumpster, we saw Ruthanne and Nate rounding the other corner with one of the “sons” in tow.

  A Patrol car had pulled in behind Casey’s Impala and she loaded our prisoner into the back seat and told the officer to take him to the main station.

  My handcuffs had landed in the dirt near where I went down. I picked them up and shook tiny stones and debris from inside the ratcheting mechanism. I spun each cuff several times to make sure they were clear before replacing them in their customary position at the small of my back.

  The patrolman with the suspect backed out and Kate pulled in to take his place. Eying my dusty clothes as she walked over, Kate grimaced as she gingerly held her hand to the small of her back. When she saw that I’d noticed the gesture, she shook her head. “I tweaked my back a little bit when we were chasing Mr. Myung. How about you? Are you okay?”

  Trying to brush all of the dust and dirt from my pants and shirt was turning out to be a losing proposition. Thankfully, I hadn’t put any more holes in my clothes because my supply of work pants and shirts had dwindled to a paltry two department issued polo shirts and two pair of Dockers. “Yeah, I’m fine and before you ask, I have no clue what just happened or why.”

  Casey left off brushing the dirt from my back and stepped forward. “Mr. Myung? Did you end up arresting him?”

  “No, and before either one of you ask, what we talked about is confidential.”

  Both Ruthanne and Nate walked up after depositing their prisoner into the back of a second patrol car that had responded to the scene. Ruthanne grinned. “He’s on his way to Juvy. So, how many times do you plan to do a face plant in the dirt today? I think this makes three if I’m counting correctly.”

  Smiling back at her was about the only answer I had right at the moment.

  Kate bent over to stretch her back, and when she stood up, she looked straight at me. “Care to enlighten me?”

  There wasn’t much I could say. “Well, we were just about to order lunch at the café when this family came in. At least they looked like a family; mother, father and two sons. They said the youngest son had seen a lady stab a man back here in the alley, but when the family came to look, nobody was around.” I walked over to the trash barrel to look at where the boy had pointed just before everything went to hell in a hand basket. “The kid walked over here and was pointing down at something. That’s when the gnome showed up and the family blocked me in on this side and two guys jumped over the fence and blocked me in from that side.”

  Kate crinkled her forehead. “The gnome?”

  “Yup.”

  Casey chuckled. “She says a gnome shows up and sits on her shoulder whenever something hinky is about to happen.” She scratched her head. “And to be honest, I haven’t ever known him to be wrong.”

  After she’d thought about that a minute, Kate shrugged and motioned for me to continue.

  I walked to where I’d been jumped and picked up the discarded hood. “The dad came at me and tried to throw a hood over my head.” I unhooked my radio from my belt and held it up. “I clocked him with my radio.”

  Kate shook her head and said with a sigh. “Does it still work?”

  I clicked the button a few times and heard the reassuring static and the voice of the dispatcher saying. “Unit calling?”

  “9David73, sorry about that, just checking my radio.” I looked at Kate. “Yeah, it still works. Then they all jumped me and when Casey and Ruthanne came around their respective corners, everybody took off running. We chased ‘em and caught two; one of the men who jumped over the fence to block me in and the oldest boy.”

  Ruthanne held up four fingers. “There’s only four reasons to put a hood on somebody.” She put down three and held up her index finger. “One, the person being hooded is ugly as shit.”

  “Hey!”

  She laughed, “Okay, that doesn’t apply here. Two,” She held up two fingers in a peace sign. “They’re about to hit a piñata.” Her eyebrows rose up in a question mark. “Probably doesn’t apply either?”

  I shook my head.

  “Three, they’re gonna kidnap somebody, and four,” All four fingers were raised again, “Their hands and feet are handcuffed to the bed posts, they’re smiling at you and you’re gonna…”

  “Stop.” Kate raised her hand and interrupted Ruthanne midsentence. “Thanks for the analysis, Ruthanne, but don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

  I shrugged. “I kinda wanted to hear Ruthanne’s version of what happens next.”

  Nate nodded enthusiastically. “Me too.”

  “Can we get back on topic? And Nate, I think you have other things you could be doing as well.” Kate watched as the two of them walked to their car with Ruthanne happily explaining to Nate her viewpoint of reason number four. When they’d finally driven off, Kate ran her hand through her blonde bangs, thinking through everything that had happened during the day. She nodded when she finally made up her mind about where she wanted things to go from here. “The assault detectives will be taking this case until we can figure out exactly why those people wanted you. The homicide dicks are handling the burned body and the arson squad will follow up on the arson when they get back. In the meantime, I’m heading to the station to interview some guy named Otto who we caught poking around in one of the barns right after we arrived.”

  I nodded. “Leslie.” When she looked puzzled, I shrugged. “The guy’s name is Leslie Schuman. You know how some guys are has-beens? Well he’s a never-was. He’s just some loser who likes people to think he’s tough.”

  She nodded before turning and heading for her car. “Leslie it is then. It’s getting late. You two head to the station and give the assault guys your version of what happened and stay alert. We don’t know if they wanted you in particular, Alex, or just a cop in general.”

  Casey and I watched as she backed out of the alley and drove away. I followed Casey to her car. “I checked with Megan this morning. She and her cowboy friend are definitely coming for dinner tonight. Are you and Terri gonna make it?”

  Megan is my crazy, lifelong best friend who really doesn’t understand the meaning of the words, “You probably don’t want to do that.” She’s my former childhood playmate and college roommate who will do anything on a dare and usually pulls me right along with her no matter how outrageous the act.

  Casey’s friend, Terri, is a patrol officer who works in Team Two. Our police department divides the city up into six teams. Team Two encompasses the Northwest part of town. She’s also Casey’s live-in girlfriend who just happens to cook the most wonderful desserts in town.

  “We’ll be there. Last night she was making some chocolate cheesecake cups to bring with us. I had one for breakfast and it was absolutely…” She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, making my mouth water just thinking about it.

  Until I’d tasted Terri’s fresh lemon creme pie in a gingersnap crust I’d never have believed a dessert can be almost as wonderful as a good orgasm. Now, I’m a believer. “I think I’m gonna just eat cheesecake all night, and you guys can eat my lasagna. It’s the one thing I know how to make, now that I know I’m not supposed to use the smoke alarm for a kitchen timer…” I heard Casey groan as I headed back to my car. It had been a super busy day and I was anxious to get our interviews over with so I could head home, grab a hard lemonade and start cooking.

  Chapter 5

  Casey and Terri were the first to arrive. I tried to grab one of the cheesecake cups when Terri walked through the door, but she swatted my hand away. “You can’t eat these yet. You have to let the calories fade away for a while. I told Casey that this morning, but she snagged one when I was in the shower.”

  Casey walked into the kitchen and put her six pack of beer into the fridge. “I told her I was doing her a favor. If I get fat, that’ll make her look skinnier. And, I ate it standing up. It’s a known fact if you eat food standing up all the calories go to your feet and then you walk ‘em off.”

  Terri put the cheesecake in the fridge next to the beer. “Well keep your mitts off until after dinner. You can grab seconds after everyone else has eaten their fill.”

  Just then, Megan and her new cowboy boyfriend, Tony, came walking through the front door. Megan took off her jacket and threw it over the back of my couch. “Keep her mitts off what?”

  Terri closed the fridge door. “Dessert, and that goes for you too. Mitts off.”

  Tony headed for the couch and both Megan and I admired how his tight little butt fit into his well-worn Levi 501’s. Megan grinned at me, raising her eyebrows with all kinds of directed meaning, then followed Tony and put her arm through his to direct him toward the kitchen before he could plant himself on the sofa. She held up an aluminum foil covered bowl. “Well, my cowboy made a very manly dish called Sausage Stuffed Peppers. He says it’s a manly thing to cook because he uses Longhorn Spicy Sausage.”

  I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and brought it to the table. Everybody ooohed and aaahhed until Megan lifted the lid to the garbage and started rooting around. “Okay, where is it?”

  I shrugged. “Where’s what?”

  “The frozen lasagna box. I know it’s here somewhere.”

  “I have no clue what you’re talking about. This is a family recipe that’s been passed down through generations.”

  Megan let the lid drop. “Yeah, but I happen to know you can’t cook anything but Captain Crunch and I also know it’s Mrs. Stouffer’s family recipe instead of yours.”

  I sighed innocently and held my hands out wide. “Think what you want, but I have been toiling in the kitchen ever since I got home.” Tessa, my rescued hunting dog, chose that minute to come traipsing into the room carrying what was left of the Stouffer’s lasagna box, with Jynx, my little Papillion Chihuahua mix, jumping up trying to grab it out of her mouth.

  Everyone started laughing when Tessa walked over and dutifully sat at my feet, happily wagging her tail and waiting to be praised for returning the box to me. I guess she figured I must have misplaced it under the covers of my bed where I’d tried to hide it from Megan’s prying eyes. I smiled as I took the proffered box, then motioned everyone to the table. “Well, let’s all sit down and bless Mrs. Stouffer’s grandmother for her wonderful recipe. Everybody dig in!”

  Tony was new to our group and since the rest of us had known each other for years we all wanted to make him feel comfortable. Casey took a bite of the stuffed peppers then pointed at Tony with her fork. “Where’d you learn to cook these? They’re wonderful.”

  I could tell he was pleased but when he just shrugged and continued eating, I thought I’d give it a try. “So, you’re a rodeo cowboy, right? What’s your specialty? What do you ride?”

  Megan piped up. “Me!”

  I glared at her and tried again. “Do you ride bulls? What’s that like?”

  “Yup.” He forked another pile of lasagna into his mouth.

  Obviously, a man of few words. Casey looked over at me, then gave it one last effort. “Alex and I worked a case at the Pima County Rodeo this year. Maybe you heard about it.

  “Yeah.”

  Not wanting to overtax his brain with too much stimulation, I thought I’d give him an out. “I can tell you’re a man of a few words.”

  He raised his gaze to mine and grinned a little boy grin that was sexier than hell. “My granddaddy had a saying. ‘Never miss a good chance to shut up’, and I don’t.”

  The conversation finally got going when Megan asked Casey to tell us about the little goat she’d just adopted. Apparently, he was a mini pixie La Mancha and wasn’t any bigger than a medium to small dog. Casey regaled us with his antics while we ate and when everyone had cleaned their plates, Terri jumped up from the table. “Okay, I think we’ll move on to dessert.” She went into the kitchen and brought out the wonderful, delicious, mouth-watering cheesecake cups. Everyone ate at least one, with most of us opting for two while Casey and Megan both scarfed down three.

  I have no clue how Terri could make something so absolutely perfect without Mrs. Stouffer’s help. She had somehow managed to make chocolate cups shaped like paper baking cups. She filled them with some kind of cheesecake mousse that was to die for, and as if that wasn’t enough, she topped the whole thing with an incredible berry concoction. My guess is they were about fifty thousand calories each, so I had just eaten one hundred thousand calories in one sitting. When we’d finished our dessert, we waddled into the living room and pulled out the board games.

  We were well into our third game of Pictionary when my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so I stepped into my bedroom in order to be able to hear over the shouted guesses and cheering. I recognized Maddie’s voice right away. “Hey Alex. Sorry to bother you so late but it’s about Marcos.”

  I suddenly remembered what Jack had said and immediately felt guilty for not stopping by to check on Marcos. “Yeah, Jack mentioned he’d noticed a change in him lately, but I haven’t had time to stop by to see him. What’s up?”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered even if you had come in. He didn’t show up for work tonight. We’re scheduled for a midnight shift, nine to nine. He’s two hours late and I can’t find him. He’s not answering his phone and none of his friends know where he is.”

  “Has something been bothering him? Is he sick? Did he get one of those dreaded diseases we’re always teasing him about?”

  She laughed quietly. “No, I wouldn’t wish an STD on anyone, but I almost wish helping him was as easy as throwing some antibiotics his way. You know that guy he met about two or three months ago? Jason something?”

  “Yeah, he moved into Marcos’ condo, right?”

  “Right. Well, about a week and a half ago, Marcos and Jason were coming home from a night out. When they got home, two officers were waiting for them. Marcos said they read Jason his rights and when he refused to answer their questions, they arrested him.”

  The yelling from the other room had risen several decibels so I walked over to close the door. I peeked around the corner in time to see Megan circle her left breast with the magic marker. Casey jumped up and accused her of cheating right about the time the door closed. “Sorry Maddie, the gang’s all here and they’re a little loud. Now why was Jason arrested?”

  “They’re accusing him of raping some woman. Marcos hasn’t been able to visit him yet, and the judge set the bail pretty high. Marcos is shitting himself worrying about what’s happening to Jason in there.”

  I pulled in a deep breath. “Do you think he did it?”

  “Marcos doesn’t think so. I’ve only met Jason a few times. His work schedule is the exact opposite of ours so the only time we can get together is the rare occasions when our days off coincide.”

  I’d never met Jason, so I didn’t really know what to think. “Off the top of your head, Maddie, without thinking, would your first impression be that he might be capable of something like that or not?”

  “Well…the cops have brought in a lot of rapists to the E.R. over the years. Some guys, I say, yeah, absolutely I believe he’s enough of an asshole to rape someone, but other guys, you’d never guess they could do something like that. Jason definitely fits into the second category. Anyway, Alex, the problem is I can’t get off work to go look for Marcos. Do you think you can go find him? I’m really worried about what he might do.”

  Sighing inwardly, I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me through the phone. “Of course, I’ll go. Have you called the gay bars where he usually hangs out?”