Once he made the right onto Sunset, he thought about the gun. The Glock 20. It had been mentioned in the flyer and on TV, along with advice to the public on how to act if they were ever confronted by the man.

If you must reach for something or move in any way, tell the robber what to expect so that he won’t be startled. A suspicious move may trigger a violent reaction, endangering your life and others. Follow the robber’s commands, but do not volunteer to help. The longer the robbery takes, the more nervous the robber may become, escalating the chances of a violent outcome.

Matt wondered how Hughes had handled himself. His gut told him that Hughes knew the drill and would have complied. That there was no reason to fire the gun. No reason for the man in the suit to become a killer. Any response from Hughes would have occurred after the holdup, when the robber backed off and tried to get away.

Matt drove down Wilcox and pulled into the lot behind the station. As he ran through the cold rain, all he could think about was Cabrera. He hoped his new partner had lucked out. He hoped Cabrera had snagged them a witness, or even better, a lead.

CHAPTER 6

He found them in Grace’s office and, from the sullen looks on their faces, knew that something had happened and that it probably wasn’t good.

Grace closed the door and moved over to his desk. Cabrera stood against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Matt picked up on those dark eyes again. They were burning with worry the same way they had burned earlier in the night when Matt came to and saw him standing with the EMT by the ambulance.

He crossed the room, rolling a chair out of the way, and leaned against a filing cabinet. The two men seemed anxious yet subdued. As he thought it through, he guessed that the Robbery-Homicide Division had stepped in and taken the case away from them. Though they wouldn’t have needed to explain, RHD’s reasoning would have been plain enough. Hughes had been a cop, and the story was about to move from the Metro Section of the Times to the front page.

“Take a seat,” Grace said in an easy voice.

Matt refused with a shake of his head, staring back at the man and bracing himself for the disappointment. The overhead lights were out, the office lit by only a desk lamp and what filtered in from the squad room through the glass wall. He could hear the rain beating against the windows, the wind gusting outside. Hughes had been his friend and he owed him. He didn’t just want this case. It was more than that. Hughes’s murder cut to the bone.

“What is it?” Matt said. “What’s happened?”

Grace glanced at Cabrera, then back at Matt. He was a tall, lanky man in his midfifties with gray hair and a gaunt face, but still in good shape. His eyes matched the color of his hair, his gaze clear and sharp. Matt had liked him the moment they met and shook hands.

“Tell me,” Matt said.

Grace pushed a laptop aside and sat down on the edge of his desk.