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interrupting him a moment later, “say that again.”

 
    6
    S AN A NTONIO, T EXAS
    â€œYou made one hell of a mess for yourself this time, Ranger,” Captain D. W. Tepper told Caitlin, after the San Antonio police were finally done with her that morning.
    â€œSeems to me the mess was already made, and the way the powers that be intended to clean it up would’ve only made things worse.”
    â€œSeemed to you.”
    â€œThat’s what I said.”
    â€œThe problem is nobody appointed you judge in the matter, and now they’re calling for your head.”
    â€œYou going to give it to them?” Caitlin asked, standing before Tepper’s desk, in a shady corner on the second floor of Texas Ranger Company F headquarters in San Antonio.
    â€œIt’s out of my hands, Caitlin. This is too big a pile of shit to sweep under the rug. You might have thought you saved the day, when what you really did was embarrass a whole lot of folks seated behind big fancy desks, who couldn’t save their own ass from a hemorrhoid.”
    â€œI tried to explain it to Consuelo Alonzo, Captain. But she was too busy getting even with me to listen. What was I supposed to do?”
    â€œHow about nothing, like Alonzo ordered?”
    â€œAnd what shape might the city be in right now if I’d done that?”
    â€œI don’t believe those folks behind those big desks care about the might, only the is . And right now they’re trying to cover their collective asses, along with the truth.”
    Tepper was old enough to have partnered with both Caitlin’s legendary grandfather and her father, stitching multiple generations of Texas Rangers together. Unlike many, he had proven adept at both relinquishing the old ways and methods and adapting to the new. He wore his experience on his gaunt face. Caitlin imagined there was a story behind each of the deep furrows lining his cheeks and brow. His thin gray hair looked glued to his scalp, dry patches evident amid all the sheen. He had youthful eyes that belied the smoking habit that had left him with sallow coloring and stained fingernails. Caitlin’s efforts to force him to cut back on his smoking had also cut back on the wet, hacking cough that one doctor said made Tepper a poster child for emphysema.
    â€œWhat truth would that be, exactly?” she asked him.
    â€œLet’s see, where would you like me to start?” Tepper said, tapping a Marlboro Red from its box but stopping short of lifting it out. “How about sticking your nose in somebody else’s jurisdiction? How about taking on the entire gang population of San Antonio, with a riot brewing a few blocks away? How about shooting at a police helicopter?”
    â€œI was shooting at the spotlight.”
    â€œLast time I checked, the two were connected. There’s also trespassing, damage to civilian property, and arresting a suspect without a warrant.”
    â€œI had probable cause on Diablo Alcantara.”
    â€œThat probable cause entitle you to shoot four other men while dragging him off?”
    â€œAll in the leg. I thought you’d be happy.”
    â€œSure, jumping for joy,” Tepper said, forgetting he already had a cigarette out, launching it airborne when he tapped the pack again.
    Caitlin crushed the cigarette with her boot before he could retrieve it from the floor, and he set about tapping out a fresh one in its place.
    â€œAs I was saying…” Tepper continued.
    â€œAs you were saying…”
    â€œHell, I don’t even remember what I was saying, you get me so ramshackled.”
    â€œYou were jumping for joy.”
    â€œOh, yeah. Turns out you nicked an artery in the leg of one of those gang members. They got him to the hospital just before he would’ve bled out. Somebody had tried to stitch the wound with a sewing needle.”
    â€œAnd that’s my fault?”
    â€œWas it your bullet? Anyway, forget that. We