Animal Instinct by Rosenfelt, David (novels for students TXT) 📕

the air and comes down with his teeth on the hand holding the gun. The guy screams in pain as the gun hits the floor.

“Off, Simon,” I say, and he lets go of the arm. He takes a position three feet from the guy, still in pouncing position. He’s having a great time; we both are.

“You just made a big mistake,” the intruder says.

I’ve got to admire his guts; he seems completely unafraid. I’m holding a gun on him, and Simon is eyeing him like he’s a Milk-Bone. “I made a mistake? You just pumped three bullets into a pillow. Now who sent you here?”

“Kiss my ass.”

Suddenly, with a swift, almost imperceptible movement, a gun appears in his hand. It’s small, almost pocket-size; it could have come out of a box of Cracker Jack, but it was probably hidden in his sleeve.

Simon sees it as I do, and he growls and starts to go for it. The intruder instinctively turns the gun toward Simon, so I shoot the man in the head. Despite that his actions had shown a lack of brains, I know he had one because it is now splattered back against the wall.

No one threatens Simon with a gun and gets away with it.

No one.

I go to the closet door and open it. “They’re on the way,” Dani says. “Is it over?”

“Yes, you can come out. But it’s not a pretty scene. You might want to go downstairs.”

She comes out and, instead of taking my advice, looks straight at the gunman. “Oh, my God.”

“Please call Andy and tell him to come over right away. Laurie won’t be able to come as well because of Ricky, so tell them it’s important that Andy is the one to come.”

“Okay.”

“When the police arrive, send them up.”

“You okay, Corey?” She’s obviously concerned. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“I’m fine … never better. Just make sure Andy comes over right away.”

THE police arrive three minutes after Dani goes downstairs.

I can hear her talking to them, though I can’t make out what they are saying. They will not fully believe her, taking no chance that she is not the intruder herself. It’s standard procedure; trust no one until all the players are fully identified.

I can hear them coming up the stairs. I quickly reach into the shooter’s pocket and take his phone out, then put it into my own pocket. When the cops reach the room, I hold my hands up in the air. “I’m Corey Douglas and this is my house. I killed an intruder in self-defense. My gun is on the bed; his is still on the floor.”

“I know who you are, Corey; you are having one shitty month.”

I am much relieved to see that the cop just entering and doing the talking is Juan Ramirez, known to his fellow cops and friends as Johnny. Johnny and I go back a ways; he was one of my closer friends on the force.

“Johnny, you have no idea.”

He looks at the guy on the floor. “One shot?”

“That’s all it takes. But he fired three shots into the bed. I happened not to be in it at the time.”

Johnny turns to Simon and smiles. “Simon, you witnessed the whole thing?” Johnny used to bring biscuits to work and slip them to Simon when he thought I wasn’t looking.

“Simon was an active participant. Just like the old days.”

“Robbery-Homicide will be here in a few,” Johnny says. “You know the drill better than me.”

“Can I go downstairs with Dani?”

“Sure.”

So I go downstairs. Dani is sitting on the couch, her hands folded in her lap. She’s got to be shaken up, but she’s trying not to show it. This is not the kind of stuff she’s used to.

“You okay?”

She nods. “A little shaky, but basically okay. Why was he here, other than to kill you?”

“I don’t know yet; I don’t even know who he is.”

The door opens and Pete Stanton comes in with one of his lieutenants. It’s another break for me; as the captain in charge of Homicide, he wouldn’t as a rule take a late-night call. My guess is that he was told it was my house, so he made an exception. If that’s the case, I appreciate it.

“Everybody having fun?” he asks.

“Barrel of laughs,” I say.

Just then Andy walks in; it’s getting crowded in here.

Pete sees him. “Well, look who’s here.”

“Did you botch the investigation yet?” Andy asks.

Pete goes upstairs to survey the scene. The coroner and forensic people arrive, so when Pete finally comes downstairs, he, Andy, and I go into the kitchen. Pete interviews me and I tell him exactly what happened. I say that Dani will confirm it all. She’ll be questioned after me, either by Pete or one of his people.

Pete tells me that I’ll have to sign a statement attesting to everything I told him. Andy is silent throughout, meaning he finds nothing objectionable in Pete’s questioning.

When that questioning is over, Andy asks Pete, “Did you identify the shooter?”

“According to his ID, his name is Carlos Evaldi. One of my people upstairs is familiar with him. He’s a pro; a private contractor who works on his own for big money. Good that you were able to handle him, Corey.”

“Simon made it happen. He’s still the best cop I’ve ever been around.”

It’s another hour and a half before the house empties out. Andy is the last to leave, telling me that we’ll talk in the morning. He looks at his watch. “Actually, it is morning.”

“How is this going to play legally?”

He smiles. “It could definitely work in our favor.”

“Maybe this will help as well.” I take a phone out of my pocket and hand it to Andy. “It’s the shooter’s. Sam might be able to do something with it.”

“You took it off him?” Andy asks, obviously surprised that I would do something like that, since it could be filed under E, for “evidence tampering.”

“I did.”

He smiles. “You might be my favorite client.”

Andy leaves and it’s just Dani, Simon, and