Heavy feet sounded on the stairs, and Alex bounded into the kitchen. Rivas looked at his sixteen-year-old son and the mass of shaggy black hair that fell to his shoulders. Teenage boys all went through a phase where they became a single part of their body—in this case, hair. Alex leaned against the table. “Mom told us what happened to Frames. She said someone may be coming after you guys.”

Rivas glanced past Alex to his wife.

“What?” Teresa shrugged. “I’m not supposed to tell my sons? This is about them, too.”

“Can I get the Glock from the upstairs safe?” Alex asked. “I know how to use it. You took me to the range, remember?”

Rivas shook his head. “No, absolutely not. You’ll shoot your brother and tell me it was the gun’s fault. You’re not registered to use it, you’re underage, and you’re not trained. You need more reasons?”

“So what do you want us to do?”

“I talked to one of the uniforms, Hector Mendes. You remember him? We went to his daughter’s quinceañera last year? He’s going to drive by in his unit a couple times a day. You and your brother keep your eyes open. You see anything, you call 911 or Hector. I gave your mother his number.”

“I’d feel better if I had the burner.”

“The burner? Really?” Rivas smiled. “Go do some homework. You might be too stupid to be my son.”

With Alex gone, Teresa sat at the table. “Do you know who these guys are, the ones who put the dogs in Steve’s car?”

“We have a name. Martin might have a photograph of one of them.”

“So you’re getting closer?”

“It’s hard to know. These things don’t always follow a straight line.”

“If they could break into Steve’s car, can they break into yours or mine?”

Rivas sighed. “These guys are smart. But I don’t think they’ll do the same thing twice.”

“What’s Eddie say?”

“Eddie? Eddie may be irrelevant. Truro’s trying to replace him.”

“Really? In the middle of an investigation? Isn’t that kind of unusual?”

“Who knows? The rest of us don’t know what goes on behind the scenes.”

“Would you stay if they brought in someone else to run VCI? Eddie’s the one who recruited you from Gangs.”

Rivas shrugged. “Someone new might clean house. Each year goes by, I don’t know why I’m still in Investigations.”

“You know everyone in the county who’s been in and out of the system.”

“These days it’s more about databases. The other guys are always on their phones. I don’t even know what they’re looking at.”

“Tom Woodhouse said you have an instinct for interrogations.”

“I’m definitely not the kid anymore. They’ve got Frames for that.”

“So is it time to take the package and leave?”