In the Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite, #3)

by Robert Dugoni

Friday, November 5, 1976 Klickitat County, Washington

Buzz Almond informed dispatch he was rolling, punched the accelerator, and smiled at the roar of the 245-horsepower V-8 engine, the g-forces nudging him back against his seat. Word in the office was that the politicians would be phasing out the gas-guzzling dinosaurs and downsizing to more fuel-efficient vehicles. Maybe so, but for now Buzz had one of the big boys, a Chevy Caprice hardtop, and he intended to keep it until they pried his fingers from the steering wheel.

Thursday, October 27, 2016 Seattle, Washington

Vic Fazzio and Delmo Castigliano were the other two members of the Violent Crimes Section’s “A Team.” In this

Emily Rodriguez, fifty-seven, lived one house to the north of Tim and Angela Collins’s home.

She treated strange dogs the way she treated the ocean. She gave each a healthy dose of respect and never turned her back on either.

That was the problem with crowing too loudly. You gave away your position and made yourself vulnerable. It made her think of Eric Reynolds and his proactive decision

The one consistent thing about psychopaths was their ego. They never imagined getting caught because they believed they were smarter than everyone.

“It’s a terrible thing when a child is stripped of his perception that his parents are perfect. Kids want to believe their parents will always be there to take care of them. One of the hardest things about getting older is losing that naïveté that allows us all to believe in myths and fantasies, having it replaced by harsh reality. We don’t want to believe our parents aren’t perfect, some far from it.”