Enemy in Blue by Derek Blass

to the office to deal with this fucking disaster. I'm sure those two were already taken to the hospital, so make that your second visit.”
    The Chief hung up the phone and set it on the window sill behind him. His slight storm was now a hurricane.
    * * * *
    It was about seven at night as Cruz and Sandra set out for Martinez's home. Earlier that day Diego used his resources to trace the address.
    “ You remember that time you and I got arrested while marching downtown?” Sandra asked with a knowing smile. Again, Cruz took in more than just Sandra's words as he listened. There was a new intensity to how he thought of her.
    “ Uh, yeah. That almost got me disbarred.” Cruz answered.
    “ Really?” Sandra asked.
    “ Yeah! I had to go before the Office of Attorney Regulation. Those bastards grilled me for three hours before they let me go.”
    “ I'm surprised you took it that long.”
    “ Well,” Cruz paused, “my Dad always told me people have to earn your respect. But, he also taught me that pride can be a great motivator or a great destroyer. Sometimes you've got to swallow it, just like you and I did by seeing Diego. My license is worth too much for me to piss it away on some notion of pride.”
    “ It's a strange balance,” Sandra mused. “Having to check your pride when you need something. And yes, I had to check my pride—hard—when we went back to Diego.”
    “ Your control surprised me. When he and your father got into it like that, I figured it was the last time we would ever see Diego.”
    “ It probably would have been except there was no one else to turn to,” Sandra said, her sentence trailing off at the end.
    The conversation stopped as they pulled up to Martinez's address. It was dark now and the home was eerily quiet. Cruz and Sandra got out of the car and walked up to the house. Nothing stirred in or around the area. The deadness made the hairs stand on the back of Cruz's neck.
    “ Feels weird,” he said.
    “ Feels like someone left in a hurry,” Sandra said as she stepped through the open front door. “Hello?” she called out.
    Cruz put his hand on Sandra's shoulder and stepped in front of her. He stepped forward and felt glass crack under his foot. “We need to find a light switch.” Both Cruz and Sandra slid their hands along the narrow hall walls as they moved forward. Cruz's hand touched something slick and cool.
    “ Huh, wonder what that was.”
    “ What?” Sandra asked.
    “ Just felt something strange on the wall.”
    “ Now we really need to find a switch.”
    They struggled through the home until Sandra cried out, “Ah-ha! Found one.” The light switch clicked and illuminated the kitchen. The condition of the house was startling. Cruz looked down at his hand in dismay as he saw that the slippery substance he felt was half dried blood. He quickly washed his hand in the kitchen sink while Sandra continued to poke around.
    “ Wow, there was quite a struggle here,” Sandra said as she moved a chair out of the way to get to a living room. Cruz dried his hands as he took in the blood-splattered broken glass, the plants lying on their sides, the hole in the wall. Cruz followed the path of destruction into a back bedroom that appeared to be the master bedroom. He flicked on the light, which dimly lit the room. One of the light bulbs was broken in the melee.
    Cruz stumbled upon a cubbyhole in the closet while moving around the room. A tile was removed, but there was nothing in the space below.
    “ Hey Sandra, come check this out.” Cruz heard Sandra crunching in his direction.
    “ Check out this little hiding space,” he said, pointing to the empty hole.
    “ Yeah?”
    “ Looks like whoever raided this house got what they wanted.”
    “ You think someone made this mess searching for something?” Sandra asked.
    “ Possibly. I mean, what if I was wrong, and it wasn't Shaver with the original?”
    “ But look at all of the dressers and storage in the house. Nothing else