"Дон Пендлтон. The Violent Streets ("Палач" #41) " - читать интересную книгу автора

thought and was too bone weary to go looking for it again.
After another long moment, Pol composed himself and finished the story
for her.
"Our client came down to get his car about that time, Mack, and he
scared the stinking son of a bitch away, although he never got a real look
at him. Christ almighty, if only he'd been a few minutes earlier!"
"If he had, Toni might not be here," Bolan said gently.
"I've been thinking about that," she murmured, "and you're right.
Another minute, either way..." She shuddered and said, "He was willing to
kill me. I could feel it."
"Were you able to describe him for the police?" Bolan asked.
The girl nodded jerkily.
"They put together a composite sketch. He didn't try to hide his face
from me. I'm convinced he didn't expect to leave a witness behind."
"So he made a mistake, and the police have something to work with,"
Bolan said. "What about mug shots?"
Toni tossed her head in a quick negative. "I must have looked at
thousands, maybe every bad guy in the Twin Cities. Some were close, but none
of them was him. Fran says he probably hasn't been arrested before, at least
not locally."
"Who's Fran?" Bolan asked.
Toni brightened visibly. "Fran Traynor," she said. "Officer Traynor,
actually. She heads up a special squad for the St. Paul P.D., specializing
in... rape."
"She's been great with Toni," Politician chimed in. "One of those new
breed of cops with a special empathy for the victim. I understand she's
built her own squad from the ground up, just to handle cases like this."
"God. Cases like this." Toni's voice was hollow as she echoed her
brother's words.
Pol moved to kneel beside her, trying to slide a comforting arm around
her shoulders, but she twisted away. Rising from her chair, she crossed the
room to a bar and poured herself a stiff drink from the lone bottle that was
standing there.
Pol looked after her with hurting eyes, then turned again to Bolan.
"The police are the problem, Mack," he said as he sat down again. "I
mean, for the first day or so, everyone was all gung-ho to find this animal
and take him off the streets. Officer Traynor and her team seemed to be
right on top of the case."
Bolan was curious. "So what happened?"
Blancanales shrugged helplessly.
"Damned if I know. As soon as Toni gave her description to the police
artist, you could feel the ice forming. All of a sudden the faces started
changing, and Traynor was out. There's this big bull..."
"Detective Foss, or something," Toni interjected from the bar. "I don't
remember."
"Right," Pol confirmed, nodding. "He comes on to Toni like she can't
trust her own eyes and her description's not worth a damn. I swear to God,
he made it sound like she... like she asked for it, Mack."
Pol was furious now, eyes glazing and fists clenched as he finished.
"I finally told him to stay the hell away from her," he grated. "And we