Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
“Lucas Hernandez? Are you mad? Have you lost your mind?” Malone was staring at Amanda and Trent from the other side of his desk. They had just run through everything that had transpired at Sharp & Associates, ending with the verbal threat against Dominique Sharp.
She understood his concern, though it changed nothing. “What choice do we have, Sarge? He threatened her life just days before Christine Lane was killed in Sharp’s bedroom.”
“Do you think someone like Hernandez would get this wrong?”
“We know he’s not the one pulling the trigger,” Amanda said.
“And one goon the receptionist saw was a woman,” Trent put in.
Malone waved a hand. “Even if Hernandez sent one of his people, you can’t go in there accusing the man. He’ll lawyer up or worse…” He drilled Amanda with his gaze.
“I know the guy’s dangerous. That’s why we were just going to have a little chat.”
Malone shook his head. “That might be your intention, but I doubt that’s how Hernandez is going to see it.”
Amanda flumped back in her chair. “Then what are we supposed to do? Ignore the fact he uttered a death threat? His people could have killed an innocent woman. A woman who helped people in the community in her downtime, found people homes, and was a mother. I couldn’t live with myself if I just turned my back on this lead.
” She refused to let fear dictate her next moves, finding new appreciation for Dominique’s viewpoint.
Malone’s cheeks became bright red, and he clenched his left hand into a fist. “Fine. I get it. But you will approach this as a chat as you put it, and you will have backup. Am I understood?”
She could live with those stipulations. “You are.”
“I can’t stress this enough. This Hernandez is a serious fella, and not to be messed with.”
There was a stretch of silence, during which Amanda’s mind dipped to the past and the lost brothers in blue. She certainly had no interest in becoming another casualty.
“All right, get this over with. But use caution.” Malone emphasized his last sentence, and it shot a cold shiver down Amanda’s spine.
Amanda and Trent left Malone’s office. Her steps were weighed down by this horrible feeling that something bad was going to result from speaking with Hernandez. She touched Trent’s forearm to stop him, and he turned to face her.
“I can do this without you,” she told him.
“No way am I leaving you to go talk to this psycho alone.”
“Hernandez will make an enemy of us, just for questioning him. You don’t need to get caught up in this.”
“I seem to recall someone saying just a couple months ago that we don’t intimidate easily.”
Having one’s words come back around was never fun. “There is a distinction between those who hold powerful positions within the community and Hernandez.”
“Sure, he’s more likely to kill you if you piss him off than the mayor is.”
“Hmm. I can think of at least a few powerful people we’ve taken down who were sick and murderous.”
“All right, fair enough, but the point is there’s no way I’m sitting this out, so get that through your skull.
” He pierced her eyes with adamant intensity.
Even his posture became rigid. Feet planted, shoulders back and square.
She might be witnessing the mindset that got him shot when he assisted the FBI with their case years ago.
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She resumed walking, and Trent matched her strides. She just wished she could shake the feeling that following this lead signaled the start of a storm.