“In your jail system somewhere. He assaulted a citizen and then a cop. Him and Griggs worked for the construction company so they could get a truck big enough to move the armored car. They planned on taking the car here and hiding it so the police would think the guards ran off with the money themselves; at least that’s the way it looks to me. Even with the witness the plan would have probably worked if I wasn’t trying to find that girl for Craig.”

“That Donna somethin’,” Melvin said, nodding. “Where’s she now?”

“Donata Delphine, also known as Roxanna Coors.”

“Yeah,” Melvin said. “Her.”

“Only things I can tell you about Delphine is where she wasn’t. She ran away from Alonzo, her job, and LA as far as I know.” I hoped Mel couldn’t tell I was lying. Luckily I got a little help from his subordinate.

“You have that friend,” Anatole stated. “That Raymond Alexander.”

“Yeah?”

“He’s known nationwide as a heist man.”

“Alleged heist man.”

“This is a heist.”

“This is a travesty,” I said. “Any good thief worth his salt would never go after a payload under half a million. Too many men and moving parts.”

“Let’s get back to Delphine,” Melvin said.

“Commander Suggs,” a strong voice declared.

At first I was happy for the interruption. Melvin could smell that Roxanna/Donata was the linchpin of the crime. And even though I’d already given him what he wanted, he was still a cop and wouldn’t let any detail slide.

When I turned to see who it was who spoke I was mildly surprised. He was a tall, skinny man in an olive-colored suit, tan shirt, and no tie. Eggshell white, he had a military haircut and sallow cheeks. His eyes were ten percent larger than would be expected and his face was smaller than it should have been.

For all his deformities this man projected confidence and intensity.

“Yeah?” Melvin replied.

“Joe Cox,” the new player said. He walked forward, extending a hand for Mel to shake. “FBI. We’re taking your prisoner.” There was no ask in his deep voice.

The armored car was moving money between banks. And banks were the province of the federal government. With that thought in mind I was already beginning to miss Officer Borland and his brigade of San Bernardino bullies.

Mel told Cox that I was not a prisoner but rather a confidential informant they’d used to find the armored car and its hijackers. That just made it easier for the feds to detain me.

I was chained again and dragged off to a more or less nondescript black Ford sedan.

Special Agent Cox and his minion, Special Agent Donahue, had staked out an interrogation room at the downtown LAPD precinct, made available to them by the mayor.

“What was your job in the crew?” Cox asked.