The Last King of Texas - By Rick Riordan Page 0,16

off the shoulder nearby. Four people stood in the shade of the banana trees to the side of the driveway - two SAPD uniforms and my good buddies from homicide, DeLeon and Kelsey.

We pulled in behind the SAPD unit.

Through the break in the foliage I could see two houses on the lot. The nearest, about thirty yards up the gravel drive, was cinder block from the waist down and unpainted drywall from the waist up, still decorated with the green tattoos of different building-supply companies. The building made an L around a covered cement porch that overflowed with mangled bicycles and broken lawn chairs. Bedsheets covered the windows.

Twenty yards farther out was a small mobile home of corrugated white metal. The field around both buildings was overgrown with yellow sticker-burr grass and swarmed with gnats. One car was visible on the lot - an old silver Ford Galaxie parked under an apple tree. No signs of life except for three chickens in a coop. Near that, a well-tended garden patch of sunflowers, cabbages, tomatoes. Ozzie and I joined the SAPD party in the shade. In the afternoon heat the huge banana plants exuded sticky, bubbly goo at the joints and smelled disconcertingly of sex.

DeLeon had changed into new clothes - rust-colored blazer and skirt, a fresh white silk blouse. She leaned calmly against a fence post, gently slapping a folder full of paperwork against her skirt.

Her partner Kelsey had shed his coat. His baby-blue dress shirt had half-moons of sweat around the armpits and his tie and collar were loosened. In the sunlight I could see the fine red network of capillaries in his nose. He glared at me as I walked up.

"What the hell is this doing here?" He looked at Ozzie Gerson. "You brought a fucking civilian?"

Ozzie took a pack of Doublemint from his shirt pocket and shook a stick loose, unwrapped it and put it in his mouth. "He's with me, Detective. Don't worry about it."

"I'm worrying."

"Leave it," DeLeon ordered. "What's the twenty on the other units?"

One of the uniformed officers spoke into his field radio, got an answer. "Five minutes, maybe."

"Maybe?"

The uniform stifled a yawn. Probably, like Ozzie, he'd been pulling fiesta duty all last week. "Half the shift called in sick at the substation, ma'am. We're covering the whole South Side today."

DeLeon sighed, turned to Kelsey. "I wanted SWAT here. Where are they?" \

"No point," Kelsey said. "I told the lieutenant not to bother."

DeLeon stared at him. "You what?"

Kelsey put a piece of spear grass to his mouth. He bit the end and spit it out.

"This ain't that hard, partner. We going to bust Sanchez or wait here all day under the poontang trees?"

The second uniformed officer suppressed a smile. Kelsey grinned at DeLeon, waiting for her response.

"Probably be unwise to stay here," I broke in. "Been so long since Kelsey's smelled the real thing."

Kelsey's nose reddened.

Ozzie laughed louder than he needed to, slapped me on the back. "Smelled the real thing. That was good, Navarre. Joke, Detective. You know?"

Kelsey didn't smile. He pointed his middle finger at my chest. "You sign a release to ride in that car?"

"Sure he has," Gerson lied.

Kelsey nodded. "Which means something unfortunate happens in the course of our work, Mr. Navarre, I got no legal liability. With that said, you want to come along, fine by me."

He nodded to the uniforms and they fell in line as Kelsey trudged up the gravel drive. After a resentful glance at me, DeLeon followed. Ozzie and I brought up the rear.

"Kelsey's okay," Ozzie assured me. "First time I had to work with a piece of ass, it was tough on me too."

I told Ozzie that made me feel a lot better. Apparently Ozzie took me seriously, because he patted my shoulder paternally. "Nobody's going to hurt you, kid. Stick with me."

Friends are grand.

We walked toward the porch of the cinder-block building.

Kelsey stopped ten feet from the edge of the porch. He looked at the high grass and sticker burrs and swarms of gnats one would have to tromp through to get to the back of the house, assuming there was even a door on that side.

"This looks like the back entrance," Kelsey decided. He smiled at DeLeon. "I think you should have the honor of taking the front, since you're primary. Don't you?"

DeLeon didn't hesitate. She dropped her paperwork, took her Glock from the holster. "Absolutely."

She made a wide arc around the house, using her gun to part