Cooked Goose

my nephew set in an elderly gentleman’s hat. Apparently the old fellow had suggested that the boy not hang upside down from the luggage racks... and we Reids have been known to hold a grudge...”
    “...and to take revenge,” Dirk added.
    Savannah nodded. “When appropriate.” She popped the top on a beer can and generously sprinkled the ale over the chicken until it sizzled and steamed. “So, their ETA has been slightly delayed. They’ll probably arrive tomorrow night, barring any other ‘mishaps.’ ”
    “You mean... arson, murder or mayhem?” Dirk added. “Among other juvenile indiscretions.”
    From inside the house, they heard the phone ring; Margie jumped up from the picnic table and flew inside.
    “Teenagers and phones,” Savannah said, “there’s some sort of biological connection.”
    “Her friends don’t know she’s here, do they?” Tammy whispered. “I mean... for security reasons.”
    “No, Bloss didn’t want anyone to know.” Savannah reached for a plate and began dishing up the beautifully browned, delicately smoked chicken. She could feel her tummy growl in anticipation. “He was quite definite about it,” she added. “Personally, I’m as security conscious as anybody, but I think he’s wigging out about this a bit.”
    “Me, too,” Dirk said. “I doubt the guy’s gonna try to get her again when there’s so many women in town who would give in to him without a tussle.”
    Margie bopped out of the house, the cordless phone in ^er hand. “It’s for you,” she said, thrusting it at Dirk.
    “Great. And me with most of a six-pack under my belt,” he told Savannah in a whispered aside before he answered, “Coulter here.” He listened for a moment, then fumbled in his shirt pocket for a pen. Scribbling on one of Savannah’s decorator paper napkins, he said, “Okay, thanks. I’ll get right out there.”
    He pushed the Off button and hoisted his body off the chaise. “Say, Van... I know you’re in the middle of cookin’ here, but how do you feel about a drive in the country?”
    She studied the sick look on his face. “ Turner Canyon Road ? An orange grove, maybe?”
    “How did you know?”
    “Call it a hunch. Another orange grove rape?”
    Dirk sighed. “A simple rape would be better news... if you can believe that.”
    “A body?”
    “Supposedly McGivney’s. An anonymous tip came in a few minutes ago.”
    “The same caller who told us about Titus being on the jetty... even though he wasn’t?”
    “They think so.”
    “Gee. Helpful, though not very accurate.”
    Savannah turned to Tammy and Margie, who looked a bit disappointed, but Dirk needed to get to the scene, and once again, he’d had a few too many to drive. Besides, she had to admit, she wanted to be in the thick of things... even if the soup was pretty thin.
    “Do you mind?” she asked Tammy, not wanting to say in plain English, “Will you baby-sit the kid for me?”
    “Not at all. Margie and I are going to eat everything you cooked and then, if you’re not back yet, we’ll play a wild game of hearts.” She turned to the teenager. “You do know how to play hearts, don’t you?”
    “Nope.” She didn’t sound too excited.
    “Well, high time you learned.” Tammy waved Savannah and Dirk away with an airy hand, just before nabbing a piece of Savannah’s chicken. “You two get going. And good luck.“
    “Yeah,” Dirk grumbled as they walked back into the house. “We can go not find Joe, just like we didn’t find Titus.“
    “That’s it,” Savannah told him as they strapped on their weapons and she grabbed her purse. “Hold onto those positive thoughts until they squeak.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” he said as they walked out the front door and down the sidewalk to her car. “Don’t piss into a stiff wind, and never say die.”
    “Words to live by.”

    * * *

    6:05 P.M.

    This time, when Dirk and Savannah arrived, they were the first on the scene.
    A homicide scene.
    No doubt about it.
    No futile combing the beach and coming up empty. Not tonight. Tonight the caller had been right on. He had said they could find a dead cop in the ditch on the northwest corner of Turner Canyon Road and Santa Rosita Way . Officer Joe McGivney was there, all right, and he was very dead, lying on his back, one arm twisted behind his back, the other flung out to one side.
    His weapon was still in his holster.
    When Savannah shone her flashlight in his face, his sightless eyes stared back, flat and