Page 146 of Allegiance

There was no time for chitchat.

“Tate West. He’s on our list. What do you know about him off the top of your head?” she asked.

Gene thought about it.

“You know, the name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure. Let me ask Tommy.”

He turned the phone, and the man was making some cookies with Violet.

They were both in aprons, and she was eating cookie dough from the bowl.

“Ask,” Gene said.

Oh, she did.

“Tommy, who is Tate West?” Maura asked. “Do you know that name?”

The man didn’t hesitate.

“Sure I do. He’s the night shift evidence locker supervisor. He’s the guy that keeps track of anything that’s brought in. He was a beat cop but got promoted right around when I got my job.”

Gene got it now.

That’s why he didn’t know the name. If the man had been a beat cop, there were so many of them on duty in New Orleans.

“Is he now?” Maura asked.

Tommy nodded.

It appeared that El Gato had really gotten his hands on the cops in that city. They had a lot of criminals playing cop, but that was going to end, and soon.

That was for damn sure.

She was curious.

“Can you ID him?” she asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, easily. Why?”

Oh, because if he had a list, they needed to get their hands on it. This part of the job was about to get tricky, but what choice did they have?

“We’ll talk when I’m back. I’m taking care of two dirty cops,” she said. “Well, one, now. We’ll be back in soon and update you and Gene.”

“Sure thing, Major,” Tommy said, as he went back to baking with the teenager.

Gene turned the phone.

“What’s he done?” he asked.

She told him everything, and the minute she said kids, he got red.

The rims of his ears were crimson, and the rage was on his face.

“That’s foul. How old were these kids?” he asked. “So I can really get pissed off, come down there, and jack some asshole up.”

Well, they had that part handled.