Power Blind Read Free Page B

was.”
    Viz turned toward Gage and spread his hands.
    â€œBut how could they? All they ever saw were movie stars and politicians calling him, begging for his help. And it wasn’t like he could ever go to career day at their school and describe what he really did for a living.”
    â€œWhat about Socorro? You think she understands?”
    â€œI’m not sure she’s ever seen past what she thought she saw on their first date.” Viz shook his head and blew out a breath. “And I hope she never does.”
    They sat in silence listening to an airplane banking over the city and heading east, the engine roar fading until it merged with the rumble of traffic and the growl of container ships powering across the bay toward the Port of Oakland.
    Gage glanced in the direction of the Palmer’s Victorian mansion on Russian Hill, beyond the concrete and steel of the financial district and the brick-lined alleys of Chinatown, his mind’s eye seeing it standing among oaks and weeping willows.
    â€œCharlie called me a couple of times after he got home from the hospital,” Gage said. “I was on the road until that final one.”
    â€œThat’s what I heard from Socorro. It shocked the hell out of me. I always figured you’d be the last on his list. It’s not like you two were ever friends. But then I started thinking maybe he got desperate, frustrated because SFPD hadn’t found out who shot him.”
    Gage shook his head. “I don’t think that was it. Spike Pacheco told me Charlie didn’t seem to care whether or not the guy got caught. He hardly even looked at the photo spreads Spike showed him. It’s not SFPD’s fault the case dead-ended.”
    Viz peered over at Gage. “Dead-ended how? On the back burner or off the stove altogether?”
    â€œIt’s a matter of diminishing returns. There was nothing more Spike could do without Charlie’s cooperation.”
    â€œWere you going to help him, whatever it was?”
    Gage pointed over his shoulder toward the lobby and the reception station. “If Tansy had her way.”
    Viz smiled. “I’ll bet she’s still trying to save him.”
    â€œSaving a dead man would be a helluva trick.”
    â€œI don’t know, boss,” Viz said. “They say Yaquis can do things other humans can’t.”
    Gage took in a long breath, then exhaled. “Not this time.”
    â€œHow about at least playing the childhood friend card to get Spike to jump-start the investigation? Big guy like you, little guy like him, must’ve been a dozen times you saved his ass when you were growing up together. You’ve got to have something in the bank.”
    â€œThere’s nothing more to go on. The leads have dried up.”
    â€œWhat about the new ones?”
    Gage turned toward Viz. “Did Charlie tell your sister something Spike doesn’t know about?”
    â€œNo.” Viz half smiled and then wrapped his hope inside a prediction. “The new ones you’re gonna come up with.”
    â€œYou playing the sister card?”
    â€œWhen it comes to Charlie, that’s the only one I’ve got.”
    One of Gage’s other investigators walked up the steps. She paused to squeeze Viz’s shoulder and express her condolences, then continued into the building.
    Gage angled his thumb toward the entrance. “You want some coffee?”
    â€œI better.” Viz picked up his hat. “It was a long night. Socorro couldn’t sleep, so I stayed up with her.”
    They rose and walked through the double glass doors. Muffled sounds of printers and copiers and a dozen telephone conversations flowed from the hallways beyond. With clients scattered across the world’s twenty-four time zones, Gage’s office operated on a 6 A.M. to midnight schedule, with investigators working overlapping shifts. Toxic spills in India or industrial sabotage in Dubai or