Charmed Forces, page 27
“No idea. Are you thinking they might be involved somehow?” I asked.
“Probably not, but this all went down pretty fast after the Denneys were transferred into MPD custody. I wonder if someone there could have tipped off the Victors.”
“Hold up, Lucas is calling. Yes?” Solomon paused to listen, then he said, “Lucas just got a facial recognition for Detective Wayne’s assassin. He got a name too. Jacinta Victor. She’s the daughter of the oldest brother. He says no hits on the dark web so maybe she operates under another name.”
“Where is she now?” I asked.
“Here in town.”
I stilled. “She came back? What for? Oh no, no!” There could be only one reason why she’d returned. To clean up the mess created by leaving Daniel alive. “We need to end this now!” I said. “Daniel’s the last witness. If she finds him, she’ll kill him and probably make it look like a suicide. All the blame will be pinned on him and it won’t matter how much dirt we manage to pull on anyone else.”
“We don’t have any dirt on anyone else,” pointed out Delgado. “Just a couple guys whom we suspect were following us. One of whom is connected to the coffee Daniel drank.”
“Lucas is working on tracking her down,” said Solomon. “As soon as we know where she is, we’ll deal with her.” He hung up and focused on me, his face unreadable.
“No, I mean we end this. The whole case. Not just find her. I can’t for a moment believe a cold-blooded killer like her would confess when she’s captured. She had an exit plan in place the first time. We can be certain she has another plan now too. What we need is a sting. We know Detective Crump is almost certainly involved. We just need to get him to admit it.” I sucked in a breath, realizing there was finally an answer to what was bothering me. “What if he’s not the killer though?”
Both men turned to stare at me.
“What if Crump just laced the coffees, but didn’t kill the Denneys, or Detective Desmond or Detective Wayne? What if all he had to do was let her in, and stand guard while she completed the mission?”
“I like that hypothesis more than I like the idea of Crump as a killer,” said Solomon. “It still makes him an accomplice though.”
“So how do you plan we end this?” asked Delgado. “Sounds to me like you’ve got an idea in mind.”
“We lure Crump and Hertford into a sting. There’s only one thing they want and we have it. We offer up Daniel.” Even as I voiced the idea, I felt sick but it was exactly the kind of lure to pull in the killer. “Of course we don’t actually put Daniel in harm’s way. Here’s my plan.” I leaned in, telling them what I thought we should do. Solomon and Delgado threw in their ideas and between the three of us, we had a solid plan.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was close to midnight when we were certain we’d set up everything we needed. We nixed a few locations — Daniel’s house would invite even more neighborhood gossip, anywhere too public might result in bystander intervention — and settled on a warehouse at the edge of town. The owners had vacated the place a month before and Solomon was in charge of on-site security for the real estate firm that brokered its sale.
The building was mid-sized and secure, having previously housed furniture for an online retailer. It had been entirely cleared out with the exception of a forklift truck and a pile of pallets and boxes. Besides the warehouse, there was a mezzanine and an upstairs office with glass windows overlooking the warehouse floor. The office was accessed by a metal staircase. Solomon gave us the tour and we all agreed it was an ideal space for a criminal on the run. It was dry, with electricity and running water, and there was a small washroom and kitchenette. Someone could camp out here for days, maybe even weeks if they had enough groceries to sustain them.
With only two entrances, the smaller front door beside a padlocked, six-foot, roll-up garage door, and a rear door, it was easy to corral anyone who snooped around investigating. And we planned to be infiltrated very soon. The only sticking point was how. I voted for calling MPD with an anonymous tip, Solomon thought we should call the murder squad directly and offer to give up Daniel.
We’d been debating the two approaches for half an hour, just us and Maddox, who arrived alone.
I thought the anonymous tip would bring out the detectives quickly, duping them into thinking they’d been handed a golden ticket to get rid of Daniel quickly and quietly before being hailed as heroes for removing a violent fugitive from the streets. Solomon thought they might ignore an anonymous tip and a targeted approach would ensure their swift arrival. Delgado said we should have thought more about this and previously made contact with someone in Victor’s organization. Maddox just wanted us to get on with it.
It wasn’t until Garrett arrived, dressed in jeans and a hoody, his badge on a chain around his neck, that we came to a decision.
“I’ve set up reinforcements all around the perimeter,” he said after we welcomed him into the warehouse.
“How many?” asked Solomon.
“A dozen. Everyone’s off duty. All family.”
“If this goes bad, they could lose their jobs,” I said, although I was sure they all knew that and agreed Daniel mattered more. My family were generational police: aunts, uncles, cousins, and countless in-laws. They crossed all levels of the force, from rookies to Garrett’s lieutenant rank. Most of all, they were upstanding people and fiercely loyal. Seeing that they were all invested in Daniel’s triumphant acquittal warmed my heart.
Garrett shrugged. “Everyone knows the risks. Plus, if it really goes south, I’ve told everyone to melt away without any fuss. They’ve taken their own precautions. No one will know they were ever here.”
“Saves getting arrested,” I said.
“Saves having Mom and Dad mad at them for eternity too,” said Garrett. “Where’s Daniel?”
“He’s with Farid and the agency guys,” said Maddox. “We didn’t think it sensible to actually have him here. I’m a similar height and build so I’ll be upstairs when our guests enter. With a hoody on, I hope to pass for him.”
“A decoy?” asked Garrett. “Are you wearing body armor?”
“A vest. I thought a tactical helmet was a step too far,” said Maddox with a shadow of a grin.
“I’ve been wondering,” I said, “I think we should go with Solomon’s plan. We need to make sure they turn up. We should call them directly and tell them Daniel is willing to turn himself in but he doesn’t have any transportation so someone needs to come get him.”
“What about when they ask why?” asked Garrett.
“We’ll say he’s tired of running and wants to clear his name. We’ll say he doesn’t want to put his family through any more stress. They must know Alice took the kids to her parents and that you got benched.”
“And if they ask to speak to him?”
“We’ll tell them he’ll talk when they have him in custody and not until then. It makes sense that he’ll want it to be completely official.” I glanced around, seeing the nods of agreement. “I’ll make the call. They’ll be suspicious if it’s any of you. Me? They’ll think they intimidated me enough earlier that I got scared and tracked Daniel down and talked him into it. Or they might think I got scared enough to go behind his back. At the very least, they’ll believe he’s had enough.”
“We should be on alert for any other actors,” said Solomon. He didn’t need to say whom he meant. Lucas instantly lost Jacinta Victor shortly after finding her. Knowing she was in town was bad enough news, not knowing where she was made it much worse. There was no need to say why: we knew Jacinta was here to clean up the mess that Daniel created when he escaped from Sun Street. The question was would she turn up tonight too, or did she have something else in store? I doubted she had any intention of letting Daniel speak. Yet when we showed Daniel her photo, he could only shake his head. He didn’t remember her at all. So whether she’d been at the safe house was still a mystery to us.
“There’s no way to alert everyone whom they should be looking out for,” said Garrett. “Not unless I start doing it on foot but I think I should be here.”
“Do they know who’s in here?” I asked.
“They do,” confirmed Garrett.
“Then that’s enough,” said Maddox. “Everyone else should be considered the enemy.”
“Make the call,” said Solomon.
I pulled out the card Detective Crump handed to me and switched on my phone. I input the number and hit call.
“Detective Crump,” said Crump, sounding tired. A TV was playing in the background and I wondered if I’d interrupted him on his down time at home.
“This is Lexi Graves-Solomon,” I told him.
“What can I do for you?” he said, sounding more alert now.
“I know where Daniel is. He wants to turn himself in.”
There was a moment of quiet in which I imagined him sitting up straighter, maybe messaging his partner. “Where is he?”
“In a warehouse.”
“Why doesn’t he just walk into the police station?”
“Because his face is all over the news and he doesn’t want this getting any worse for his family. He wants to be brought in by professionals. He wants to tell his side of the story. He wants everyone to know what happened in that house.” I stopped, wondering if I were laying it on too thick.
“Are you with him?”
“Yes.”
“Give me the address.”
I reeled off the warehouse address and he asked me to confirm it as he read it back to me, then he said they’d be there within half an hour. When I hung up, expectant faces stared at me. “They’re on the way,” I said.
“Now we wait,” said Solomon.
Waiting was tense and I wasn’t in the mood for talking. Maddox went up to the office, and looked down on us. “You should go up there too,” said Solomon. “They’ll expect you and Daniel to be together. And please put this on.” He handed me a bulletproof vest and I looked down at my dress. My adrenaline had stopped me from getting cold as the night air chilled but I was starting to regret not keeping a stash of clothes in the trunk for situations just like this. Everyone else was wearing sensible jeans and boots. I was fifty percent bare skin!
“I don’t think they go together,” I said. “Plus, it’s a little too obvious.”
Solomon shrugged off the light pullover he wore. “Try that. They won’t think it’s weird that you grabbed whatever sweater you could since the nights are getting cooler.”
I strapped on the vest and pulled on the sweater. “Thank you,” I said softly.
“No problem. I’m warm anyway.” He ran his fingers under the collar and lifted the necklace, settling it over the fabric. “Don’t forget we’re recording as soon as everyone is in place.”
“No, I mean...” I drew Solomon a few steps away so we could talk softly. “Well, yes, that, but also thanks for everything you’ve done for Daniel.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Dan’s not off the hook. We still have to get them to admit what they did.”
“I’m concerned they’ll actually ask for Daniel and flee when he’s not here. Then we’ll all get arrested and that’ll be it for the operation.”
“Maddox makes a good decoy. Insist on discussing the terms of his surrender first,” said Solomon.
“Boss, we have movement,” said Delgado, calling down from the gantry above the doors. “Single car on the service road, driving slowly.”
“Places, everyone,” called Solomon. He caught my hand. “We’ll be closeby. You won’t be in any danger.”
“Here goes the endgame,” I said, releasing him. I watched as he walked into the shadows and slipped behind boxes the owners left behind, unwittingly creating an easy place to hide. Delgado raised a hand in a wave before he jogged further along the gantry, concealing himself by the hauling mechanisms. Garrett nodded as he slipped through a door into a supply closet, leaving it propped open like it was left that way when the warehouse was abandoned. Turning, I looked up at the shadowy office; Maddox gave me the thumbs-up before stepping backwards out of view.
The hands of my watch moved slowly. They had to be here soon.
“Car’s in the yard,” called Delgado, his voice carrying softly in the still night air. “I’m ducking down and going quiet now.”
I checked my watch again. Then a car door opened and shut. I imagined the occupants looking up at the building, taking in the sign, the broken window panel in the corner above it, the dark sky punctuated only by streetlamps set far apart. Footsteps didn’t sound but as the door creaked, I realized something. I’d only heard one car door shut. Not the two I’d expected. I started to turn to call softly to Solomon and Garrett, both within whispering distance.
“Hello?” called a male voice, stopping me. “Lexi?”
“In here,” I replied.
“You alone?”
“Just me and Daniel,” I said and the door opened a little further. Then the man stepped through, his face illuminated by the shafts of moonlight leaking through the grimy windows. “Captain Brandt?” I asked, squinting even though I was sure it was him.
He moved forward a couple of paces, a shaft of light crossing his face. “Not expecting me?” he asked, a small smile playing on his lips.
“I called Detective Crump,” I said, disconcerted by his unexpected appearance.
“He told me. I said I’d check it out. Probably a hoax. Yet here you are. Lexi Graves-Solomon, in the flesh. Where’s Daniel?” he asked, looking around slowly, taking everything in. “Is he in here?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well, bring him out. I’m here to take him in, just like he wanted.”
I hesitated. This wasn’t what I expected, not what any of us expected. I couldn’t give him Daniel, but I couldn’t let him leave either. We had one shot at nabbing him and it already looked like we might have blown it. “Let’s talk first,” I said.
Brandt held up his hands and shook his head, blowing out a breath. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot to talk about,” he said. “Daniel Graves is a wanted man, responsible for murdering his fellow officers. I’m here to take him in. He’ll get a fair trial. If he’s innocent, this is the best path for him. You know that. I know that.”
“Why didn’t you bring Detective Crump with you? Or Detective Hertford?”
“Is it a party? ‘Cause if it is, I can bring a better date than one of my detectives.” He looked around again, focusing his attention now on the office above us. “Daniel? Why don’t you come out?” he called.
“Not until we talk,” I said.
“Go ahead and talk,” said Captain Brandt.
“I want to discuss the terms of Daniel’s surrender.”
“What is this? Some kind of last stand? You asked for him to be brought in. I came. What more do you want?”
“I want to know that my brother will be safe and treated fairly.”
“No problem.”
“And he’ll have a lawyer with him at all times,” I added.
“Of course.”
“Plus, he doesn’t share a cell with anyone,” I said. “Not at the station, not anywhere.”
“I can do that, but if you’re asking for the continental breakfast, then I’m afraid that’s a no.” He moved a few steps, looking around, then up. “He up there?” he asked, pointing to the office. “Have you had him holed up here the whole time? I’ve gotta hand it to you, I would not have looked here. Your husband set this up?”
“No,” I lied. “He doesn’t know anything about it.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“I didn’t want to involve him. Like you said, Daniel’s a wanted man.”
I hesitated, uncertain what to do. I didn’t expect Captain Brandt and he was clearly intent on bringing Daniel in. Of course he was; I’d offered him that opportunity, but I didn’t have Daniel to give him. Nor would I. I assumed Crump and Hertford would come here to kill him, probably both of us. Then I would have unequivocal proof that Daniel was innocent and framed.
Now it was all going wrong.
I had to think quickly.
I had to find out if Brandt were in on it with Crump and Hertford. Why did they tell him? Why didn’t they come?
“We both know Daniel didn’t do it,” I said decisively. “We both know he was framed.”
“Do you have evidence of that?”
“Sure, we have evidence. Lots of it.”
Captain Brandt paused, apparently considering that. “Are you wired?”
“Wired?” I looked down at my outfit, the loose sweater over my tight dress, and back up at Brandt. “Where would I hide one?”
Brandt stepped forward. “Lift up the sweater.”
I did as he asked, and he patted me down, apparently content I wasn’t concealing a recording device.
“You’re wearing a vest,” he said.
“Seemed prudent,” I said, “but no wire.” When I adjusted the sweater at my shoulders, I lifted the necklace with its pinhead camera and settled it squarely on my chest, then made a show of bunching up the sleeves so the cuffs didn’t dangle over my hands.
“See, I’m not sure you do have any evidence. You know why?”
“Why?”
“If you had any, you’d have broadcast it everywhere. You’d talk to every reporter willing to listen, and if that didn’t work, you’d publicly announce whatever you had and get the people on your side. A video. A taped conversation. Even a photo. But you have nothing. Isn’t that right, little Miss Private Investigator? You’ve got nothing.”
“Coffee,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“The coffee,” I repeated. “That was where it all went wrong. I got samples of the coffee cups before they were disposed of. They’re at a lab and the report will state there was a drug in the coffee. Not enough to kill, but enough to disable the officers. Their bloodwork will corroborate that. Even the footage from the coffee shop’s security camera will prove that,” I said with such authority I even believed myself.
Captain Brandt laughed and wagged his finger at me. “You nearly got me there, Miss PI. Daniel didn’t walk into a hospital and ask for a blood panel. He was too busy running away. No one’s running any tox screens, not when the victims were shot. Pretty obvious causes of death. Plus, there’s no evidence of me going in that coffee shop. Detective Crump went in and he paid cash. Didn’t think anything of it, of course. Why would he? He was just doing what he was told to do. There’s nothing to connect me to any of it. Now, you’re clutching at straws.”
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