Free Dead Heat by Allison Brennan Page B

it up to me later.”
    She laughed. Her phone vibrated on the counter and she picked it up.
    “It’s Donnelly,” she said and answered. “This is Lucy.”
    “It’s Brad Donnelly. George Sanchez was murdered. I need you and Quiroz at SAPD immediately.”

 
    CHAPTER 6
    Lucy walked into the main San Antonio Police Station flanked by Ryan and Sean. They each signed in and were assigned visitor badges, then ushered into the briefing room. Donnelly was there with several other cops, both uniformed and plainclothes. From the heated conversation, Donnelly was demanding to know how George Sanchez had died. He wanted logs, cameras, interviews. His partner, Nicole Rollins, stood to the side, taking notes.
    Lucy stood on the periphery, and after a couple of cops left to get information Donnelly wanted, she said, “You don’t know what happened?”
    “Poison,” Donnelly said.
    Rollins said, “We don’t know.”
    “What else could it be?” Donnelly snapped. “He was served a late dinner at eight fifteen because the AUSA and I were with him before that, and twenty minutes later he’s dead? No blood, no visible trauma, he’s found on the floor of his cell? I’ll bet my pension he was poisoned.”
    “Do you have his medicals?” Lucy asked. “Was he allergic to anything?”
    “An allergy that kills someone in twenty minutes?”
    “Severe enough allergies—some people with peanut or seafood allergies in particular, if they don’t get immediate treatment, can die because their airways constrict. They suffocate.”
    “His skin was reddish,” Donnelly said, considering. He nodded to Rollins, who went over to a computer and started typing.
    “Possibly hives,” Lucy said. “A skin reaction is common.”
    “It can’t have been a fucking accident,” Donnelly said. “Not when we just cut a deal. I don’t believe this!” He stared at Sean. “Who are you?”
    “Sean Rogan,” Sean said.
    “He’s with me,” Lucy said.
    “Rogan?” Donnelly tilted his head and stared. “Any relation to Kane Rogan?”
    “My brother.”
    Recognition and surprise crossed Donnelly’s eyes. Sean had seen it before. His brother was rather infamous, especially with federal law enforcement who worked the border or drugs. Some loved him, some hated him, most respected him. Sean couldn’t tell which side of the line Donnelly was on, but he hoped it wouldn’t be a problem for Lucy.
    Donnelly said to Lucy, “Why didn’t you tell me your brother-in-law was Kane Rogan?”
    “He’s not my brother-in-law,” Lucy said.
    Yet , Sean thought.
    “And I haven’t even met him,” Lucy added. “Why?”
    “Nothing.”
    It wasn’t nothing. “How do you know Kane?” Sean asked.
    “An op I was on a few years ago.” Donnelly didn’t elaborate, nor did he ban Sean from the briefing room. He said, “We’re waiting on the ME. No way it can be done tonight, but he’s expediting first thing in the morning.”
    “No cameras?” Lucy asked.
    Ryan shook his head. “Not in the holding cells for arraignment. There’re cameras on the corridors and common areas, but not individual cells.”
    “What about his lawyer?”
    “He didn’t ask for one until tonight, to go over the papers the AUSA drew up. A public defender. So far clean, only met briefly.”
    Nicole approached. “Sanchez’s meds indicate he has a severe shellfish allergy. He was served hamburger, an apple, and milk.”
    “Do you have the food?” Lucy asked.
    “What was left has been bagged,” Donnelly said. “This isn’t my first rodeo.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
    “We’re all frustrated,” Nicole said.
    Donnelly continued. “We kept him isolated because we knew he’d be in danger as soon as word leaked he was turning state’s evidence—but there should have been no way that anyone could have known he was helping us yet. The public defender is clean, though we’re going to look deeper.”
    Ryan said, “The raid tipped them.”
    “No one knew Sanchez