Free Stand Down by J. A. Jance

operated cold-­case organization. Hedda’s original vision was that Ralph, operating in the capacity of her attorney, would set things in motion and then step away. Instead, he had remained at the helm.
    After the shuttering of Special Homicide, Ralph had suggested that I should maybe think about joining up with TLC. Every time he mentioned it, I had turned him down. Unfortunately, my last cold-­case experience had been an ill-­fated effort that had resulted in the death of Seattle Homicide Detective Delilah Ainsworth. I knew too well how otherwise good intentions could have fatal consequences. Only three ­people knew how much Delilah’s death had rocked my world—­ Mel; my AA sponsor and former stepgrandfather, Lars Jensen; and Ralph Ames.
    As far as I was concerned, I was out of the homicide business, especially when it came to cold cases.
    â€œBeing a homicide cop is in your blood,” Mel insisted. “Just look at what you did today. You were back in your element out there and saved my life in the process. You’re a savvy guy, mister. You know what you’re about, you’ve still got the moves, and I know TLC would be lucky to have you.”
    â€œWhat are you saying then?” I asked. “No bowling and no golf?”
    We both laughed at the very idea. Laughter came easily that evening, and it’s no wonder.
    â€œYes,” she agreed, “no to both, so are you going to call Ralph about this, or should I?”
    It was the old Fuller Brush assumed-­close routine all over again—­How do you want to pay for this, cash or check?
    â€œLet me think about it,” I said. “Give it a little time. Let me get this housing stuff under control, then I’ll give Ralph a call.”
    â€œPromise?” Mel asked.
    â€œI promise,” I said.
    And just like that, I knew I was toast. I also knew that TLC was definitely in my future because Mel was right. Over-­the-­hill or not, being a cop isn’t only what I do. Like it or lump it, it’s who I am.

 
    Years ago, Amos Warren, a prospector, was gunned down out in the desert, and Sheriff Brandon Walker made the arrest in the case. Now, the retired Walker is called in when the alleged killer, John Lassiter, refuses to accept a plea deal that would release him from prison with time served. Lassiter wants Brandon and The Last Chance to find Amos’s “real” killer and clear his name.
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    Sixteen hundred miles to the north in Seattle, J. P. Beaumont is at loose ends after the Special Homicide Investigation Team, affectionately known as S.H.I.T., has been unexpectedly and completely disbanded. When Brandon discovers that there are links between Lassiter’s case and an unsolved case in Seattle, he comes to Beau for help.
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    Those two cases suddenly become hot when two young boys from the reservation, one of them with close ties to the Walker family, go missing. Can two seasoned cops, working together, decipher the missing pieces in time to keep them alive?
    Keep reading for an exciting sneak peek at J. A. Jance’s upcoming novel
    Dance of the Bones
    A Beaumont and Walker Novel
    Coming soon in hardcover from William Morrow

 
    A MOS W ARREN WALKED with his shoulders stooped and his eyes and mind focused on the uneven ground beneath his feet. The winter rains had been more than generous this year, and this part of the Sonoran desert, Soza Canyon on the far eastern edge of the Rincon Mountains, was alive with flowers. Scrawny, suntanned, and weathered, Amos was more than middle-­aged and still remarkably fit. Even so, the sixty or seventy pounds he carried in the sturdy pack on his shoulders weighed him down and had him feeling his sixty-­plus years.
    He had started the day by picking up several top-­notch arrowheads. He slipped several of them into the pockets of his jeans rather than risk damaging them as the load in the pack increased over the course of the