Last to Die by James Grippando Page A

I'd make her quit if I thought some guy was hassling her at work. And she also knew I'd break his neck if we found out who he was.
    Did you ever find out who he was?
    No. Chickenshit son of a bitch. Sally said he just kept taunting her with anonymous calls from pay phones, hang-ups, that sort of thing. Never got a look at him. Maybe the cops could have helped, if she'd reported it, but she said she didn't want to antagonize him. She thought if she ignored him, he'd go away.
    Did he go away?
    No way. Miguel lowered his eyes and said sadly, And it was our daughter who paid.
    Jack paused in mid-sip, putting down his tea. Are you saying this stalker killed your daughter?
    Can't prove it. Especially since Sally never told anyone about him stalking her until after our daughter was killed. If she had reported him, we would have had something to go on. As it was, the guy just vanished after the murder. Cops had no trail to follow.
    So he was never charged?
    No one was ever charged.
    Did they ever name any suspects?
    No. But they did give me a polygraph. Schmucks. Can't find the guy who did it, so they go hassle the daddy.
    Jack paused, trying to be delicate. How did that turn out?
    Exactly the way Sally and me knew it would. They asked me three different ways: Did you kill your daughter, did you stab your daughter, did you harm your daughter in any way? I passed with flying colors.
    You still think it was the stalker who did it?
    No doubt in my mind. I mean, who else? How many enemies does an innocent little girl have?
    Do you blame Sally for the fact that he got away with it?
    No way. I'm a cop. I'm not the kind of guy who blames the victim.
    I'm glad to hear that.
    But somehow Sally got it fixed in her head that I thought it was all her fault. Once that happened, our marriage was over. I'm sure that's why I'm in her little game now. I was probably the first one on her list.
    But you're not the only one on her list.
    No. Obviously not.
    Why are the others on there? Any idea?
    The waitress brought their food. Here we go, she said, setting their plates before them. Anything else I can get you?
    No, thanks, they said in unison.
    The waitress left. Miguel was pouring cocktail sauce on his conch fritters. Jack was still waiting for an answer, but with the waitress's interruption, Miguel had apparently lost track of the question. Jack asked again, Do you know why the others are on Sally's list?
    Miguel had a mouthful of fritters. He shrugged and said, You'll have to ask them.
    Jack nodded, then looked at his plate of food. But he'd suddenly lost interest in eating. I intend to, he said.

    Chapter Thirteen Jack was back in his office by three o'clock. He had a deposition after lunch, and he'd expected it to last the rest of the day, but the opposition had stormed out early when Jack refused to stop asking the witness to explain how he'd completely singed off his eyebrows if, as alleged, it was Jack's client who'd torched his own business.
    Mr. Valentes, I'm going to keep asking this question until you tell me exactly what happened to those eyebrows.
    What eyebrows?
    That's my point.
    That's it, Swyteck. We're outta here!
    Miami was a living and breathing anthology of the History of Stupid Criminals.
    The strong smell of Cuban coffee hit him as soon as he entered the office. Maria had his afternoon jolt of caffeine ready. She'd been his secretary for almost seven years, starting with his second day on the job as a federal prosecutor and following him into private practice. With the dust barely clear from his divorce, it was comforting to know that he was actually capable of a stable, long-term relationship of any sort with the opposite sex. He didn't consider himself picky in the romance department, but after his marriage to Cindy Paige, he did have certain minimum requirements - sanity being chief among them. Of course, his maternal grandmother, Abuela, as he called her, would even waive the sanity test if Jack would just bring home a nice