the Two Minute Rule (2006) by Crais Robert

eyes clear with the flat of her free hand.
    "I'm sorry. This really sucks. This so really sucks. Listen--"
    She rubbed her eye again, then held out her hand.
    "It's good to finally meet you."
    "You really think I look like him?"
    She made a thin smile.
    "Clones. Donna always said the same thing."
    Holman changed the subject. If they got into talking about Donna he would start crying, too.
    He said, "Listen, I know you have to get to class and all, but can I ask you a couple of questions about what happened? It won't take long."
    "They found that man who killed them."
    "I know. I'm just trying to...I talked to Detective Random. Have you met him?"
    "Yes, I've spoken with him and Captain Levy. Levy was Richard's commander."
    "Right. I've spoken with him, too, but I still have some questions about how this could happen."
    "Juarez blamed Mike for what happened to his brother. Do you know that whole story?"
    "Yeah, it's in the paper. You knew Sergeant Fowler?"
    "Mike was Richard's training officer. They were still really good friends."
    "Random told me that Juarez had been making threats ever since his brother was killed. Was Mike worried about it?"
    She frowned as she thought about it, trying to remember, then shook her head.
    "Mike never seemed worried about anything. It wasn't like I saw him that often, just every couple of months or so, but he didn't seem worried about anything like this."
    "Did Richie maybe mention that Mike was worried?"
    "The first I heard about this gang business was when they issued the warrant. Richard never said anything, but he wouldn't have. He never brought that kind of thing home."
    Holman figured if some guy was shooting off his mouth and making threats, he would pay the guy a visit. He would let the guy have his shot straight up or put the guy in his place, but either way he would deal with it. He wondered if that's what the four officers were doing that night, making a plan to deal with Juarez, only Juarez got the jump on them. It seemed possible, but Holman didn't want to suggest it to Elizabeth.
    Instead, Holman said, "Fowler probably didn't want to worry anyone. Guys like Juarez are always threatening policemen. Cops get that all the time."
    Elizabeth nodded, but her eyes began to redden again and Holman knew he had made a mistake. She was thinking that this time it wasn't just threats--this time the guy like Juarez had gone through with it and now her husband was dead. Holman quickly changed the subject.
    "Another thing I'm wondering about--Random told me Richie wasn't on duty that night?"
    "No. He was here working. I was studying. He went out to meet the guys sometimes, but never that late. He told me he had to go meet them. That's all he said."
    "Did he say he was going to the river?"
    "No. I just assumed they would meet at a bar."
    Holman took that in, but it still didn't help him.
    "I guess what's bothering me is how Juarez found them. The police haven't been able to explain that yet. It'd be tough to follow someone into that riverbed and not be seen. So I'm thinking maybe if they went down there all the time--you know, a regular thing--maybe Juarez heard about it and knew where to find them."
    "I just don't know. I can't believe they went down there all the time and he didn't tell me about it--it's so far out of the way."
    Holman agreed. They could have sat around getting drunk anywhere, but they had gone down into a deserted, off-limits place like the riverbed. This implied they didn't want to be seen, but Holman also knew that cops were like anyone else--they might have gone down there just for the thrill of being someplace no one else could go, like kids breaking into an empty house or climbing up to the Hollywood Sign.
    Holman was still thinking it through when he recalled something she mentioned earlier and he asked her about it.
    "You said he almost never went out late like that, but on that night he did. What was different about that night?"
    She seemed surprised, but then her face