Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander Page A

was only partially mollified when Peter pushed Alvarado away.
    To feel the first stirrings of jealousy was shocking. Especially since I didn’t have any relationship with Peter. Besides, I had plenty of other problems without adding possessive feelings for a whore to the list. I had never been a jealous guy, which might explain why it had always been easy for me to cheat. Every one of my relationships had ended because of my philandering.
    Angelica was the first and, so far, the only person who had ever been able to curb that particular vice.
    “I said no!” Peter shouted. He backed up to the retainer wall, tactically lighting a cigarette to maintain the distance between himself and Alvarado. It worked. Alvarado retreated to the opposite wall, still muttering something in a voice too low to carry our way. Good thing he did, too, because we would have had to intervene if things had gotten physical, which would have meant giving away our position and the fact that we were tailing Alvarado.
    And it would have meant me giving away a lot more personally.
    “Please tell me how the fuck that asshole got released this fast?” I was more terrified than angry, but my words were filled with so much heat that I hoped Luis couldn't hear the quiver in them.
    “Even murderers get bail, let alone glorified pimps.
    Alvarado’s star is rising. Lots of cash for fancy lawyers.” Luis blew a long stream of smoke into the car after he lit up. I couldn’t summon the will to wave it away, so I settled for a cough full of fucking-stop-smoking meaning.
     
    “Asshole lawyers,” I muttered, my imagination conjuring a very satisfying picture of shooting Alvarado in the face with my Taser. And then shooting his lawyer.
    The conversation between Alvarado and Peter continued out of earshot, with several rebuffed attempts at affection by Alvarado—a hand swatted away from Peter’s cheek, a hard shove when Alvarado moved in closer. Most of the ‘discussion’
    was one-sided, with Peter answering nonverbally so often that I figured he could find work as a bobble head.
    Luis pointed his cigarette at the pair. “Doesn’t seem to be about Gai—” He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing.
    “Martinez,” he answered. “When? … Where?” He started the car while I frowned at him. “Nah. Keep him there.” After clicking the phone off, he gave a relieved puff of air. “They got Gaines.”
    “When? Where?” Today was apparently Repeat What Luis Says day.
    “Walked into the station and demanded protection. Seems he suspects a hit is out on him.”
    “Gee, can’t think why.” I leaned over and picked up an empty coffee cup from the floor and busied my fingers picking it to pieces.
    “He’s in lockup,” Luis said and then added, “for protection,” with air quotes.
    I tapped my index finger against the dash, something I was prone to do when puzzled. It drove Luis nuts when I did it, but the gesture always helped me think. I considered it payback for the premature death I was sure he was going to give me by way of secondhand smoke. “You know, yesterday, sitting there
    across from Alvarado and his five-hundred-dollar-an-hour mouthpiece, with this mountain of questions we needed to ask, all I wanted to do was ask him one question,” I stuck the crook of my elbow out the window. “Why the fuck would he keep a dumbass like Gaines on his payroll?” Luis initiated a smile which never quite materialized as his features contorted. With a concentrated squint, he lifted the cigarette to his lips and twisted to settle his eyes on Alvarado and Peter. I followed his stare, matching my partner’s frown. “Why Gaines?” I asked again.
    Luis still appeared contemplative, but I wasn’t done. “You’re Alvarado. You have a lucrative business starting up. Bigger and more complicated with a lot more risk. Lots of cash rolling in.
    So naturally you pick a two-time loser like Gaines to help handle your entire network? A guy who’s waiting on