"You haven't been listening, have you?" Gonzales used the handle of his fork to stir sugar into his coffee, then sucked i
t off before applying the tines to his huevos rancheros. "Your mind's still on that broad."
"What broad?"
His partner guffawed. "Don't play dumb. The little one? Red hair?"
Angrily Dodge speared a chunk of potato and put it in his mouth. "She wasn't a broad."
Gonzales grinned. "Sure are touchy about her."
"Drop it."
Gonzales shrugged good-naturedly and picked up the subject where he'd left off. "I was saying we should volunteer for that task force they're pulling together to catch that bank robber." He plopped a strawberry into his mouth and chewed vigorously. "What do you think?"
"You read my mind."
"Yeah?"
Dodge had been thinking about it for days, ever since he'd heard about the task force. For more than a year, an armed robber had been plaguing area banks. During the last robbery, a bank guard had been shot. He was still recovering from a serious wound. It was feared that, if the culprit weren't caught, someone would eventually be killed. The perp had grown bolder with each robbery, and now his holdups had taken on a taunting attitude, as though he was enjoying his celebrity, having a whale of a good time, and thumbing his nose at the police in the process.
Working with several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Houston PD was determined to catch him. They had a list of possible suspects comprised of felons convicted of similar robberies who had served their sentences or were out on parole, but there was no evidence connecting any of them to the current crimes. The robber could be one of them or a new and clever crook on his debut crime spree.
Bottom line, the authorities really didn't have anything. Thus, the task force.
With the ink on his sheepskin from Texas Tech barely dry, Dodge had joined the HPD. His goal was to make detective and ultimately Homicide as soon as possible. He had the innate skills for crime solving. He just needed to pay his dues in the rank and file, get some seniority, and distinguish himself.
He'd been thinking that this task force might provide him an opportunity to prove himself a notch above the rest. If he got one of the coveted spots on it and impressed his superiors, it would speed his way toward achieving his goal.
"I put my name on the sign-up sheet yesterday afternoon."
Gonzales looked crestfallen. "You did? Oh."
Dodge smiled at him. "I put yours on there, too."
Gonzales beamed. "Good. Great. We'll both look more handsome out of these uniforms."
"Whoa. A lot of cops want on the task force. We haven't been selected yet."
"We will be. You for sure."
"Why me for sure?"
"It's bound to involve undercover work." Gonzales bobbed his eyebrows. "That's your speciality, partner."
Dodge cut into his rare steak. "Rumor."
Gonzales gave him an I-know-better look.
Dodge said, "All that gossip about me? It's bullshit."
Gonzales pushed aside his empty plate and leaned across the table. "That multiple murder at the strip club last month?"
"What about it?"
"There's nothing to the story that while the detectives were questioning the so-called eyewitnesses, you took the hostess of the club behind the building for a little one-on-one?"
"I was off duty. I just happened by. Got lucky."