Avenged by Janice Cantore Page A

a little less angry.
    By the time she finished, Lopez was cuffing the adult male. After he put him in the backseat, he stepped back to confer with Flanagan and Carly. “The driver is unlicensed, and he has a couple of warrants. The rest are all curfew violations.”
    Duncan Potter appeared on the other side of the bridge, snapping photos. Carly did her best to keep her back to him. He lived on a boat in the marina, and anytime she was anywhere near the marina, he appeared quickly.
    Flanagan cocked his eyebrow and looked at her.
    “Just ignore him,” she said.
    He grinned. “We can’t mix adult bookings with juvies.”
    Carly chuckled. “I don’t feel like booking all three ofthem. I’ll just take them home unless you think they need to be booked.”
    Both officers shook their heads. “That’s fine with us,” Lopez said. “All they were doing was making themselves targets.”
    “Okay. I’ll need to borrow a set of cuffs.”
    Policy said handcuffs were needed for anyone transported in the black-and-white. Most officers, like Carly, carried two sets. Flanagan offered one of his sets. She probably could have justified not handcuffing the three juveniles, but since there was only one of her and they were all wannabe gangsters, handcuffs it would be. She would file RNB paperwork on them and release them to the custody of their parents.
    Flanagan gave Carly the field interview cards he’d written on the trio. The girls were sisters, so that was easy enough. But the name on the card for the boy gave her a start.
    Victor Macias. He was Crusher’s little brother.
    •••
    After releasing the girls to a mother who couldn’t care less, Carly headed for Victor’s house. “Sorry about your brother Hector.”
    Victor mumbled something she didn’t quite hear.
    “What?”
    “Where were the cops when he got capped? You don’t care.”
    She clicked her teeth. “I know your brother, Victor, and I care. He’s a good kid caught up with bad people. We’ll catch who did this.”
    The boy cursed. “Ain’t counting on you. Only his homeys care, and I’m gonna help with payback.”
    “Payback won’t help your brother.”
    He cursed again, this time more colorfully. “Sure it will. When he wakes up, the first thing I’ll tell him is the dudes who shot him are dead. Make him smile.”
    Carly bit her tongue, surprised at the venom in the ten-year-old’s voice but not really knowing why she was surprised. He was a kid of the streets, living in the middle of a gang neighborhood. For the remainder of the ride to his house, she prayed for Victor and his brother.

10
    CARLY HAD BARELY PULLED AWAY from the curb at Victor’s house when she got a call.
    “1-Adam-2, copy a 925 auto, observed out on Seaside Point. CP was a passerby.”
    Carly acknowledged the call and turned her vehicle toward the coast. A suspicious vehicle on Seaside Point was not all that unusual. Seaside Avenue ran along a jetty and ended at a turnaround on the point that jutted out between the mouth of the marina and the beach. There was a bathroom out there, spots for people to fish, and three boat slips for visiting boats. This time of night on the weekends it often became a parking spot for couples.
    Marina patrol officers used to patrol the point and themarina 24-7. But the most recent city budget had slashed the marina patrol in half. As a result, they policed the marina only until dusk and then the area became the responsibility of the police department. With the imminent opening of the new marina and increased commerce and crowds, the city council wanted a reinforced police presence in the marina.
    The drive down to the point was pleasant, especially since there was no fog tonight. And she chose to ignore the protestors. While she passed the camp at Sandy Park, it sounded as if they were having a concert of drums. The sound followed her the entire drive.
    Off to her left were the lights of the Hacienda, and to the right, the harbor lights. Far in