Touching Silver Read Online Free Page B

shoulders up her neck began to abate. “I feel it, you know? But DAs tend to frown on gut feelings.”
    “That’s why they have desk jobs and we’re out here busting our asses catching the bad guys.” He brushed stray hair from his pants leg. “Tiberius, you said? A name like that’s either for a very big dog or for a very small one trying to compensate.”
    Reaching over, she flipped the visor down to expose the picture taped on the mirror. Tiberius was looking at the camera with a huge doggy-smile, his giant head taking up most of the frame. “German Shepherd and Rottweiler mix. That was taken before his final growth spurt, so he’s a bit bigger now.”
    “No, no compensating necessary there. Remind me not to surprise him in a dark alley.”
    “Don’t tell anybody I told you, but he’s as gentle as a kitten. If you surprised him in a dark alley, he’d probably lick you to death.” The image of Tiberius on his hind legs, front paws propped on Isaac’s shoulders as the two fought over whether or not Isaac would be getting a kiss made her stifle a grin. She worried her bottom lip for a moment, then shifted to the more serious topic. “There are some other leads on Gabriel I’d like to follow up on tomorrow. I could give you a report on what I find, or you could—”
    “I’ll come with. I’m usually at my desk by seven, but if you want to meet up earlier and hash out the details over food, I get breakfast at five-thirty at this great little hole in the wall near my place. Best sausages in town. I guarantee it.”
    The suggestion threw her. Streetlights cast shadows over his face, making it impossible to get a read on him. Was he asking her on some sort of date? Or was this just how he worked? She wasn’t necessarily a breakfast person, but she did want to be on Isaac’s good side.
    “Five-thirty is good for me. I have a meeting with one of Gabriel’s former gang members at eight.”
    “At the station or somewhere else?”
    “Somewhere else. Do you think anybody would agree to talk to me if I dragged them down to the station?”
    “What I’m thinking is Gabriel’s men know me. We show up together and one of two things is going to happen. If we’re lucky, they see me and get scared shitless because they know this is serious business. If we’re not, they clam up, because they figure out with me on the case, too, it’s more serious than they thought.”
    Isaac McGuire might have history with Gabriel. He might also have a stellar reputation. But apparently, he also had an ego worthy of floating in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.
    As tempting as it was, she squelched the desire to bring it crashing back to earth. “Well, I don’t want Rico to clam up, or be scared shitless. So I guess you can stay at the station.”
    “If you’re meeting someplace I can watch from a distance, you’ll have back-up in case something goes wrong. It’s not like I need to hear what he has to say. But better to be safe than sorry.”
    She thought of the short man with the crosses, the Jesus tattoos, the Bible, and the desire to be a youth pastor. Rico had seen the light, found Jesus, changed his ways, and now he had no greater goal than to bring his former friends to God’s Kingdom. She also thought of the dozens—maybe even hundreds—of men who assumed she needed them to do her job. She wasn’t opposed to back-up, but she hated people thinking she always needed it.
    “It’s not necessary.”
    “I want to help.”
    “It’s not like I’ve never talked to him before.”
    “The stakes are higher now.”
    He wasn’t going to let this go. “Fine. From a distance. Rico is my best informant right now. The last thing I want is to give him a reason to get jumpy.” A Mustang changed lanes two cars ahead of them, flashing a brief glimpse of a couple that could have been Isaac’s erstwhile partner and his girlfriend. “You said Remy out-bluffed Gabriel? When did she do that?”
    “Last summer.” It might have