Back in Black (McGinnis Investigations #1) - Rhys Ford Page 0,48
on the people passing by the arrangement of bolted-down steel benches and rickety tables some bureaucrat thought would make a good place to eat in the shadow of LAPD’s imposing glass headquarters. In a couple of months, the concrete courtyard would be broiled in an unrelenting Southern California sun, and anyone with half a brain would eat at their desks like normal people did. O’Byrne plucked one of the green-tomatillo-sauce pods I’d gotten from the truck off of the table, cracked it open, and shook it all over her nachos. “They apparently are reluctant to give out information on anyone who works up there. I can’t get anyone to confirm nor deny she’s with the DA office, but with the crazies these days, I can’t blame them. The captain’s going to go through official channels, but he thinks I’m barking up a very short tree and there’s a grizzly bear sitting on top of it, waiting to bite my head off. I hate politics.”
“And let me guess—you don’t have any idea who’s feeding her information,” Bobby interjected. “Did Book back you in using McGinnis here on the investigation?”
“He hates politics as much as I do, but he plays the game better. His brother’s a captain up with SFPD, so I’m going to guess his official channels are probably a lot more sneaky.” She flicked off a piece of onion, moving it to her napkin. It looked like every other piece of onion, so I didn’t know what it did to offend her, but obviously it had to go. “We all know what happens to people who sniff around other departments and offices. That kind of thing comes back and bites you in the ass, even if it’s just crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s on a case. People don’t like getting looked at, especially people with secrets. If Marlena Brinkerhoff has something to hide, I want to find out what it is and how it relates to her grandmother’s death.”
“Right now we’re just throwing wet spaghetti against the wall,” I said, inspecting the onions on my food in case they were infected with whatever fouled O’Byrne’s nachos. All of the white bits were white, and all of the green bits next to them were green. Most of the red bits were red, but with tomatoes, they usually ran the range of deep crimson to light pink, so I was going to have to push the I Believe button that my tomatoes were fine. “Can you send me a picture of the asshole from the alley? Bobby and I are going to try to shake Marlena off of her grandfather, and I’ll see if I can get him to give me some answers about his wife. I’d like to see if he can identify the guy who shot at us, or at least recognize him. If our John Doe isn’t going to cough up any answers, maybe we can get them another way.”
“Hopefully we’ll get a hit off of his prints, but having Brinkerhoff look at his mug shot isn’t a bad idea. Just don’t wear the old guy out,” O’Byrne warned. “I don’t want Marlena Brinkerhoff to have a leg to stand on if she comes after the LAPD because she thinks her grandfather’s too weak to answer questions. She isn’t letting us in there, but you’re a different story. You work for the guy. You have an in I don’t. Just be careful.”
“Telling Princess here to be careful is kind of like telling a giraffe to watch its head in the trees,” Bobby said with a chuckle. “Asshole knows the trees are there, but he’s going to hit his head anyway. Come on, kid, drink the rest of your hot cocoa so we can go to the hospital and shake down an old guy.”
A SLIGHT drizzle smeared headlights through the intermittent swish of the Rover’s wipers. The overcast of the morning finally gave in to its promise to fuck up Los Angeles’s traffic by dumping what was probably just a half a cup of water over twenty square miles and turning everybody’s day to shit. We’d gotten into the SUV without getting wet, but the sprinkles chased us up Wilshire and down to the hospital, bringing us to a standstill at nearly every light. I didn’t know what it was about Southern California drivers, but as soon as there was a hint of water in the air, the gears in their heads overloaded and they began to do