Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [14]
Alex could tell that Delgado was trying not to grin.
“I don’t have to tell you nothing,” Navarre said.
“That’s true. Right now, you just have to listen.” Alex took a small, digital video recorder out of her pocket and handed it to Delgado. “Document this.”
“Right, Chief,” he said as he got to his feet.
Delgado had the recorder running as Alex faced Navarre and said, “Emilio Navarre, you’re under arrest for suspicion of murder and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent.” She went through the rest of the Miranda warning, and when she was finished, she said, “Do you understand these rights, Mr. Navarre?”
He stared back sullenly at her and didn’t say anything.
“Do you understand these warnings, Mr. Navarre?” Alex said again, her calm tone indicating that she was willing to stand there and repeat the question for as long as it took to get a response from him.
Navarre must have figured that out, because he said, “Sí, sí, I understand.”
“Good. Do you wish to answer any questions?”
“I don’t got to tell you nothing. I talk to my lawyer.”
“All right. “ Alex nodded to Delgado, letting him know that he could shut off the recorder.
“When do I get out of here? You got to give me bail.”
“You’re injured, Mr. Navarre,” Alex said, gesturing toward the bandages that swathed his shoulder and leg. “It’ll be up to the doctor to decide when you’re well enough to be released from the hospital. When he says that you are, you’ll be transported to a holding facility at the county seat where you’ll be arraigned.”
“You got to give me bail,” Navarre insisted stubbornly.
Alex knew that if Navarre made bail, he would be over the border in forty-five minutes and they would never see him again. Navarre was a flight risk if there ever was one. A judge would know that, too, so she hoped bail would be denied.
But crazy things happened sometimes in the legal system. Alex didn’t believe that it was actually broken; otherwise, she wouldn’t still be part of it, but it sure misfired now and then.
She didn’t respond to Navarre, but turned to Delgado instead. “Are you all right, J. P.? You’ve been on duty for a long time.”
“I’m fine,” he said. “Keeping an eye on this …” He stopped before saying whatever he’d been about to say, probably something along the lines of “scum,” Alex thought. He settled for saying,“… prisoner isn’t that hard. It isn’t like he can jump out of bed and run away.”
“Well, I’ll get Jerry to relieve you in a little while.”
Delgado nodded. “Fine. Don’t worry about me, Chief.”
“I never do,” Alex told him.
She left the hospital the same way she’d gone in, and when she made it back to her car she saw that the street was just as crowded as ever by the news media. Shaking her head, she drove away.
Ed Ruiz’s hardware store was only a few minutes from the hospital. When Alex went inside, the handful of customers forgot all about their shopping and clustered around her instead, asking questions. Most of them wanted to know if it was true that Inez McNamara was dead. It seemed too awful to believe, and Alex certainly understood that sentiment. Solemnly, she told them that it was indeed true.
The clerk behind the counter at the rear of the store said, “Ed’s not here, Chief. He said you were supposed to stop by, and if you did, to tell you that he’s gone over to City Hall.”
“What for?” Alex wanted to know.
“He said he had to meet with Dave Rutherford. “Dave Rutherford was the city attorney, as well as having a private practice here in Home, one of only half a dozen lawyers in town. If Ed had dropped everything to go talk with him, that didn’t bode well, Alex thought as she thanked the clerk and left.
The coffee she’d had earlier still seemed to be burning a hole in her gut when she reached the small, tan brick building that housed Home’s City Hall. The police department and the