him. “God, what a pair we make.” She huffed in frustration. “Neither one of us wants
CHAPTER SIX
Leo Alvarez was sitting at Jackson’s desk, his feet propped up on the file cabinet right next to it, his eyes half closed as he relaxed and waited for Jackson to show up for his shift. His friend was a little late, which was highly unusual. Also unusual was the distinct lack of activity in the precinct in spite of the fact that it was shift change. He checked his watch to be sure, but of course he was right. He had an impeccable internal clock.
Yep. Something wasn’t right in cop land. Avery Landon, known for coming in early just so he could catch anyone so much as a millisecond late, because the man lived to bitch about something, wasn’t in his office. He waited until he spied the nearest mid-level officer … not a rookie who didn’t know what was going on and not an old salt who knew better than to discuss police business out of school … and he stood up with a stretch.
“Hey,” he said to the cop, “what’s going on here? It’s like a ghost town.”
“Missing kid,” the cop said. “They’ve got all available manpower on it. Don’t you watch the news?”
Not from the bottom of a bottle of tequila he didn’t.
“Oh yeah. Must have slipped my mind. So I take it Jackson took his dog out?”
“They were out all night last night. I heard that Sargent came up lame round about dawn so he had to take him out of the field.”
“Well, that blows,” Leo said with a scowling frown. “Guess I’ll catch up with him later. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
Leo strolled out to the parking lot, scratching his head. He’d already been to Jackson’s house and there was no sign of him or Sargent. Jackson wouldn’t be running around doing errands if Sargent was injured and he sure as hell wouldn’t put him back in the field with only a few hours’ rest, either. So where the hell was he?
He was a big boy and could take care of himself, it was just that …
Leo couldn’t explain it but, ever since they’d found Docia after she had gone missing, something had been a little bit off about Jackson. Actually, not even a little bit. A lot of bit, as Docia would say. The most notable part being that Jackson had been avoiding him as if he were a plague carrier. Granted, he’d been in Honduras and a couple of other places these past few weeks, but usually Jackson would be the one picking him up at the airport or be game for a few beers the minute he rolled into town.
“See Bud? Leave me alone long enough and I’m nearly two bottles of Cuervo into bleached-blonde trouble. I blame you, my friend,” he said as he dialed Jackson’s number. “Hey jackass, this is the fourth message since I got back. You’re starting to hurt my feelings. If you don’t—”
He broke off when a man loped across his path. Or rather, skipped across it. Like a child. And while he was big enough to be a short adult, he—
“Hi! I’m Andy. I know you.”
The minute Andy turned to face him Leo put the pieces together. The distinctive shape of his face and eyes and that always definable innocence proved him to have Down syndrome. And Andy was right. He did know him. He’d been involved in some parallel crime, as an innocent witness, the day Docia had “disappeared.” He had seen him briefly before someone had come to pick him up.
“That’s right, Andy. How are you, kiddo?” Leo looked around, trying to see if there was someone with Andy this time. “What are you doing here, Andy?”
“Looking for Officer Jackson. I’m his deputy.”
That made Leo grin. Andy mispronounced deputy, but far be it for him to correct him. Jackson had clearly taken a special interest in Andy if he was coming here to see him with any regularity.
“I’m sorry to tell you, Andy, but Jackson isn’t working today. He had to work late last night so he took the day off.”
“Oh.” He looked absolutely crestfallen. “He said I could turn on his siren. It’s very loud, but I’m not afraid.”
“That’s a very good thing. Nothing you need to be afraid of as long as you’re a deputy and on the right side of the law.”
Of course Leo wasn’t exactly choirboy material, but Jackson liked to carry on their friendship in an