Al Lamanda

For Better or Worse Al Lamanda

John Bekker is finally enjoying life in semi-retirement. His relationship with his daughter is better than ever after moving into their new home, his close friend Oz is on the mend from a recent minor heart attack, and Bekker's romance with Sheriff Jane Morgan is in full bloom.
Bekker is called back into action when his friend and former partner Police Captain Walt Grimes, on the eve of his retirement, is unexpectedly charged and arrested with extortion and racketeering.
Bekker and Sheriff Jane Morgan are allowed to visit Grimes where he is being held without bail. The evidence against Grimes is overwhelming, but Bekker and Morgan refuse to believe that someone they know as well as Grimes is guilty.
Bekker organizes a 'Dream Team' of old friends to help him in the investigation: Carly Simms, a retired prosecutor; her spouse Campbell Crist, very wealthy daughter of a deceased mobster; the attorney for that deceased mobster, Frank Kagan; Sheriff Jane Morgan, of course; and even Wally Sample, the dysfunctional computer genius from the Bekker novel With Six You Get Wally.
Bekker is sure that Grimes is being set up, and he is determined to find the responsible party and bring them to justice before his friend sees the inside of a prison cell.