Free A Barricade in Hell by Jaime Lee Moyer Page B

need to find the person responsible. Even if that person is Archie.” Jack swung open the car door and waved Gabe inside. “Besides, you need me. How many cases have you solved on your own?”
    He let Jack’s attempt at false bravado pass without comment. Gabe knew better than to take his partner’s joke as a sign all was well and they’d go on as always. Things were far from well.
    â€œFine, you’re in. But we treat this like any other case. No special treatment or considerations because Archie Baldwin is your friend. And the offer stays open. You can take yourself off the case at any time.” Gabe paused before ducking into the car, studying Jack’s face. “Agreed?”
    â€œAgreed.” Jack moved around the back of the car, head bowed and hands in his coat pockets, and climbed inside. He slammed the door, Edward’s signal to drive away. “Once Henderson finishes digging up information on Effie Fontaine, what’s our next move?”
    â€œI want to talk to Baldwin again. Maybe his head will clear after a night in a cell and he’ll remember more of what happened.” Cold from the leather seat seeped through his coat. Gabe fidgeted, hoping it would warm up soon. “But I want to visit Chinatown early tomorrow morning before questioning Archie again. Lindsey’s not going to let his son-in-law’s murder alone for long. He wants results. And I don’t want to give him reasons to start making noises about passing Amanda Poe’s disappearance off to another detective. We’ll figure out a way to work both cases. We’ve done it before.”
    â€œMore times than I like to think about, Gabe.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “That doesn’t mean I have to like working major cases this way.”
    â€œNeither do I, Jack. Neither do I.” Gabe slid down in the seat, hands folded in his lap. The memory of Delia’s smiling face was there as soon as he shut his eyes, a reminder. “How are you going to break the news to Sadie?”
    â€œI don’t know.” The leather seat creaked and groaned as Jack shifted his weight. “How do I tell her Amanda might be dead and that Archie may have killed her?”
    â€œYou can’t pretend nothing happened. Neither of us can. Tell Sadie as gently as possible and trust her not to fall apart. Delia isn’t as close to Amanda, but she needs to know too.” Gabe sighed and slid farther down in the seat, imagining delivering the news to Delia. “Then we hope like hell nothing we told our wives really happened. With luck, we’ll find Amanda holed up safely with a new beau.”
    Jack cleared his throat, but his voice was still rough; choked. “Have we ever been that lucky, Gabe?”
    â€œThere’s a first time for everything.” Gabe burrowed deeper into his coat. He ignored the sensation of cold fingers brushing his cheek, and laid blame for the shivers rippling up his spine on the dampness in the air and the stubborn refusal of leather seats to warm beneath him. “But Amanda Poe’s the one in need of luck. I’m more than happy to give her our share.”

 
    CHAPTER 6
    Delia
    I shaded my eyes, squinting in order to peer down our deserted street and hoping to see Dora come round the corner. My mother had maintained squinting was a bad habit, one destined to etch lines around my eyes at a young age. Undoubtedly she was right, but I couldn’t help myself.
    Bright sun and glittering pavement conspired to blind me, consequences of the first sunny day we’d had in a week. A brisk wind blew in off the bay. Rose canes on the trellis near the porch rattled, and overgrown frost-browned grass on neighbors’ lawns rippled and swayed. Thin clouds skipped across the sky. Each cold, biting gust ripped them into finer shreds of sugar frosting spread over pale blue.
    This winter had been unusually cold, with frequent