"Marty told you she shirked?"

"When I called to ask him how it was going, he said it wasn't going anywhere because she began sessions late, ended them early, and took phone calls throughout the hour. It was clear to Marty that she had no interest in him."

"Did she act out sexually?"

"Marty denied that, but he did say some of those calls were from male students and she was flirtatious."

"Marty denied after you asked him?"

"I asked him after he told me about the flirtatious calls," said Kenten. "I was wondering if he was veiling the truth to cover his own embarrassment."

"I've got a friend with a problem."

"Exactly."

"Flirtatious, how?"

"We didn't get into details, Lieutenant. I phoned Mary Jane Rollins, she said she'd look into it but I never got a follow-up and soon after Marty quit the sessions. But never once did he express anger toward her, Lieutenant. On the contrary, he laughed it off. To be frank, I think he was relieved."

"To be free of academic pressure."

"He's a bright boy, needs to have confidence beyond his ability to throw a baseball. If you allow another person's narrow self-interests to influence you, you'll be hindered, not helped."

Kenten flung the door open on office soundtrack. "Good luck to you."

The parking halfback handed the keys over. No more smile.

As we drove away, Milo said, "Talk about heavy-handed."

"Paying your bills with tax money can do that to you," I said.

"That reference to Yale, the clear implication was Mess with me, I take it out on little Charlie. Guy's way past overinvolved, Alex. Think there could be more than mentoring going on?"

"Another nosedive into yuck territory?"

"He does wear pastels." Smiling faintly.

"If Kenten's involved in something that sleazy and high-risk, why would he initiate a meeting and attract attention?"

"Because he can't imagine not getting his way. For all we know, Marty Mendoza's living a pampered life at Kenten's estate as we speak. His Graciousness tagged it as Paradise Cove but I looked it up and it's actually north of there, above Broad Beach. We're talking five-plus acres of oceanfront, one entry on PCH. Real easy to stash someone for a long time."

He got hold of Binchy again, ordered round-the-clock surveillance of the property's front gate, Sean alternating with Detective I Moses Reed and any "halfway intelligent" undercover officer they could find.

I said, "What about the Mendoza house?"

"That's mine. Rank has its privilege."

"El Monte outclasses Malibu?"

"I'm hoping the kid'll sneak back for some mama love. I get him away from the good life, he'll cave."

Spoken like a true hunter.

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER
28

We met the next morning in an empty interview room. Milo and Moe Reed had been up all night. Despite clean living, the young detective looked beat. Milo's bear-on-the-prowl instincts kept him bright-eyed.