Rookie Instincts, page 17
Including the guys on the docks. The stuff was all over the place, and it would be hard to trace any particular lot. Aria stroked the phone in her pocket. After the interview with Tony and the explosive information she and Axel had extracted from him, Alana had called an emergency meeting at the station and herded them all in here.
Alana and the team hadn’t wanted to use Grayson as an official informant for a variety of reasons, including his safety, but Aria knew Grayson had no immediate plans to step away from his undercover job at the docks. Why not make use of that? The man could more than take care of himself. The good news was that he’d finally realized last night that he didn’t have to take care of her, too. Aria hadn’t had one second to text the news to Grayson—but she had every intention of doing so.
And what had she realized? She cared for him. The thought of leaving him behind after this case was over hurt and distracted her.
“...and Aria.”
Feeling several pairs of eyes drilling into her, Aria jerked her head up. “I’m sorry. What?”
“I said—” Alana shot her a stern look from the head of the table “—you will stand by with Axel in case Max and Carly turn up any information on V. The two of you can move on it right away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” A few of the team members snickered. “Uh, Alana.”
Alana’s lips twitched. “After the shots fired at Aria and... Mr. Rhodes last night. Selena and Blanca are at the first murder sight today to see if there are any similarities in the layout of the land. Anything else?”
Rihanna raised a finger with a perfectly polished fingernail at the tip. “You may have seen the news. Tony Balducci’s name has been released as a suspect in the murder of the three women. So far, there is no connection to the drug trade, and we want to keep it that way. If Carly and Max are going out looking for this V, we don’t want her to take flight.”
“I also have something.” Opaline flicked her purple-edged locks out of her face. “I’ve been working with Customs on the Canadian side of the river, and they have records of the Fun Times cruises. They’re working now to get the passenger names. Those are most likely our dealers in Canada.”
Alana brought her hands together. “Good work, people. We just need to bring in V, so she doesn’t set up shop in some other unsuspecting border community.”
“I have a question.” Max scooted up to the table. “Do we know for a fact that a hit was put out on those women because they were skimming money or drugs? Or was that V taking care of business before she packed up and moved somewhere else?”
Axel answered. “We don’t know for sure. That’s what Balducci told us.”
Amanda popped her head up from behind her computer screen. “If she were doing cleanup, that’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the next set of employees.”
“If the next batch of blah boaties even hears about it or connects the dots...” Aria shrugged. “As long as there are addicts, V will have an endless supply of employees.”
Biting her bottom lip, Aria slid a gaze to Alana’s impassive face.
“Aria’s not wrong about that.” Alana clapped her hands. “Let’s get on this. I’m ready to wrap this up and leave Port Huron—no disrespect to PH.”
As Axel rose, Aria tugged on his sleeve. “I’ll be here at the station if you need me. I’m going to grab some lunch and have a look at any photos coming from Selena of the first murder sight.”
“Good to know. I’ll be in and out.” He held out his fist for a bump. “Great job in that interview room, Aria. Balducci had no intention of revealing V’s moniker...until he did.”
“Learning from the master.”
Axel lifted one shoulder, too humble to acknowledge the truth, and followed Max out the door.
As the only other person left in the room, Amanda glanced up from finishing her notes. “Never got your birthday, Aria.”
“June 3.”
Amanda tapped on her keyboard. “Makes you a Gemini—two personalities. I guess you’re in the right job for that.”
“You’re right. I think I do have two personalities.” One the professional and one falling hopelessly in love with Grayson Rhodes.
* * *
GRAYSON CUPPED HIS phone in his hand and read the text from Aria on his way to the lunch truck. The person at the head of this drug organization, the person who’d ordered his sister’s death, was a woman. Damn.
As he waited for his lunch, he texted Aria that he’d call her in a few minutes. After he picked up his greasy burger from the truck’s window and squirted ketchup on his equally greasy fries, Grayson carried his lunch to the end of the docks, where the FBI had been diving for those tunnels. As he usually ate lunch alone, nobody questioned him—too busy talking about Tony’s arrest.
He straddled one of the wooden stumps left there for some unknown reason and called Aria.
She answered breathlessly as if she’d just run a 10K. “Can you talk?”
“I’m eating lunch by myself. Are you all right after last night?” He snapped his mouth shut. He shouldn’t be asking her questions like that.
Her low voice caressed his ear. “I’m fine. Are you all right? I’m so glad you were there last night. Two is better than one.”
Grayson got so excited, he almost dropped his phone in the ketchup. “Yeah, we made a good team. The drug kingpin is a woman, huh?”
“Kind of sickening when you think about how she’s putting young women at risk.”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly hold her up as a role model for young women.” He popped two fries into his mouth. “What do you need from me?”
“You don’t have to do anything, Grayson. Two of my team members are out there right now, leaning on PHPD informants for information about this V and the fentanyl she sells. Something will turn up. I know from experience, drug dealers don’t work in a vacuum. Tony had heard the name V and others may know more than just the nickname.”
“I know I don’t have to do anything, Aria, but I’m still working at the docks. Nobody is the wiser where I’m concerned. Nobody knows I fingered Tony Balducci. I’m still just the new guy. Maybe they’re a little freer in their conversation around me because I don’t know the lay of the land. Whoever shot at me—at us—last night is not connected to the docks. Whoever broke into my place is not connected to the docks.”
“But if V targeted you, she might have contacts at the dock. She’d warn those contacts about you.”
Grayson squinted at his coworkers eating their lunch, the younger ones horsing around, the older ones bone-weary and busy shoveling food into their mouths. “Hasn’t happened yet. Hey, I have some good news.”
“Would love to hear it.”
“My assistant, Patrick, has started the hunt for a nanny. He’s going to use a service he and his partner used. They do all the vetting and they will send over the ones that meet my criteria. All I need to do is interview them.”
“That’s fantastic news. I’m sure you’ll find someone perfect for Danny.”
“I have a favor to ask.” Grayson held his breath.
“Anything. After all the help you’ve given us, putting yourself in danger, we can’t make you an honorary FBI agent, but we’ll do whatever we can to assist you.”
“I don’t want everyone’s help...just yours. Can you be there when I interview for nannies?”
“I...” She sniffed, cleared her throat and coughed. “Are you sure? None of my siblings has a nanny.”
“Yeah, because they use you. Because of all your nieces and nephews, you have a better idea of what babies need and want, and the important qualities for a good caregiver.” He curled his hand around the phone. “I’d really appreciate your help. You know, obviously when this case is all over and you have some time.”
“I’d be happy to help, if I can swing it timewise.”
“You’ve taken a big weight off my shoulders. Patrick will be glad to hear I have someone else involved in the decision-making process, too.” A distant whistle blew and Grayson shifted his gaze to the work area. “Lunchtime is over. I’ll see what I can find out about V.”
He cut off the call before Aria could protest. He dumped his unfinished lunch into a bag and tossed it in a garbage can.
When he returned to work, Grayson managed to grab a pallet alongside Chuck and linger as the older man stopped to rest.
Grayson nudged Chuck’s shoulder. “I forgot to ask you earlier, Chuck, how’s your sister taking the news about Tony?”
“As you’d expect. Hit her hard. I think she’s been at church ever since she found out.” Chuck rubbed the back of his neck. “I just don’t get it. Maybe there’s some mistake.”
“Did he know any of those women? Did he have a girlfriend?”
“Not that I know of. Those girls were strangers around here. He’d hook up with girls he met at The Tavern sometimes. That’s the thing. He liked that girl, Brandy. Why would he want to kill her?”
The story going around must be that Tony killed all the women, including Brandy. Chuck would be relieved to find out later that at least Tony wasn’t responsible for Brandy’s death, but Grayson wasn’t the one to tell him.
“Was Brandy his girlfriend?” Grayson rubbed his palms on the thighs of his jeans.
“Nah, just friends, I think. What do the kids call it these days? Friends with benefits? Something like that.” Chuck nodded toward Zane at the end of the dock, clipboard in hand. “If you ask me, there’s trouble right there.”
“Zane? What do you mean? Do you think he had anything to do with the murders?”
“If he did, the cops would’ve arrested him, too. But Zane was into drugs and hung out with a shady crowd. Tony started running with the same bunch once he met Zane here at work. Maybe it was my fault for getting Tony a job on the docks.”
Grayson smacked Chuck on the back. “Don’t blame yourself for anything. If it did go down like they’re saying, Tony’s the only one to blame.”
About an hour later, after Chuck left early to support his sister, Grayson wandered over to Zane, who was clutching his clipboard with one hand and his phone with the other.
Grayson tipped up his chin. “Did you record that last pallet? Chuck left early, but Bruce stepped in.”
“Got it.” Zane drummed his pencil on his clipboard in a staccato beat.
“Hey—” Grayson glanced over his shoulder “—did you know what Tony was doing in his spare time?”
Zane dropped his pencil and stooped to pick it up, his face reddening to the roots of his hair. “Hell, no. Why does everyone keep asking me that? We were buds and hung out. I never knew he was a serial killer.”
“Serial killer?” Grayson cocked his head. “I never heard that. I thought it was some drug thing. You know, the girls were working for him and stole some money. Something like that.”
“Tony?” Zane’s eyes rounded and bulged from their sockets. “You think Tony was running the show?”
Grayson spread his hands. “Someone’s gotta run the show, right? You know, in my day, before weed was legal in Michigan, we always kind of knew who was in charge.”
“It sure as hell wasn’t Tony.” Zane narrowed his eyes. “You have any weed on you now?”
“On the job? Are you kidding? Anyway, I thought maybe Tony was second-in-command.” Grayson got close enough to Zane to see the red veins in his eyes. “Even I know the top dog around these parts for dance fever is V...or should I say the top bitch?”
Zane dug his uneven teeth into his bottom lip. “Damn, you know about V?”
“I think it’s common knowledge if you hang with the right people. Do you hang with the right people, Zane?”
He puffed out his scrawny chest. “I know everyone.”
“I thought you did.” The adrenaline was racing through Grayson’s body and he clenched his hands in his pockets. “I heard V’s got it goin’ on, too. Heard she’s a dime piece.”
Zane wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, she might be okay for old dudes like you, but her sister? She’s a smoke show.”
“Her sister?” Grayson’s heart thudded in his chest. “She’s in town?”
“Just moved here. You probably seen her at The Tavern. Rita. Rita Beaulieu.”
* * *
MAX SLIPPED HEAVILY into a chair at the conference table and chugged down half a can of soda. He dragged a tissue across his nose and balled it in his fist. “Carly and I hit up every informant known to PHPD—at least, those we could reach. The good news is we have a first name for V. The bad news is it’s a pretty common first name—Victoria.”
Carly shrugged off her coat where it pooled around her in the chair. “We hit up PHPD vice, and they combed through their files. No Victoria, very few women drug dealers at all, and none currently operating in this area.”
Aria tapped a pen against her chin. “Victoria is even a name Tony came up with when he was brainstorming, but I don’t think it had any significance to him.”
“It’s something.” Alana folded her hands on the table. “More than one informant gave you the name?”
Max held up two fingers. “Two, and while a few more claimed not to know her name, they did verify that a dealer known as V was working the area. So, we did get some confirmation. Our boy Tony came through.”
Axel pointed at Aria. “Furry slippers on order.”
“Then we concentrate on finding Victoria. Before we get out of here and break for some dinner, Selena and Blanca found a similar pattern at the other murder sights. Selena?” Alana nodded at the K-9 handler.
Selena coughed. “Opaline, do you have those photos I sent you ready?”
“Of course, I do know my job.” The TV screen on the wall came to life, displaying the same type of gravel walkway next to the lake where Chloe’s body had been found.
“This is Jane Doe number one’s murder site.” Selena aimed a red laser pointer at the screen and circled an area in the reeds by the water. “Blanca alerted next to the lake, as she did at Chloe Larsen’s crime scene. And the same for Jane Doe number three’s... Opaline?”
“On it.” Opaline brushed cracker crumbs from the table into her palm and brought up the next slide.
Aria’s gaze darted between the two sisters. She’d hate to spend Christmas with the Lopez family.
Her phone buzzed on the table in front of her and she swept it off. Resting it in her lap, she glanced at Grayson’s text. Her gasp nearly choked her and drew all eyes in the room.
Alana raised her eyebrows. “Something you need to share with us, Aria?”
She lifted her head and met Alana’s eyes. “I know Victoria’s real name...and where we can find her.”
Chapter Eighteen
On Grayson’s information, Max and Carly headed down to PHPD vice to run the name “Victoria Beaulieu” past them, and Opaline got to work on several databases to check for both Victoria and Rita Beaulieu.
“Amanda, order some pizza for us. It’s going to be a long night.” Alana took a seat across from Aria and Axel. “If I’d known how valuable having someone at the docks would’ve been, we could’ve put one of our own in there. But picking up on his sister’s reference to the docks, Mr. Rhodes has worked out quite nicely.”
“He has.” Aria picked up a bottle and gulped back some water. Why did her cheeks have to heat up like a sixteen-year-old girl’s every time someone on the team mentioned Grayson?
“Uh—” Axel picked up the half-empty bottle of water and shook it “—this was my water.”
“Oops, sorry. I’m not sick or anything, I promise.” Aria made a cross over her heart.
“Axel, I’d like you and Aria to track down Rita Beaulieu while Carly and Max continue working with the informants to get to her sister, Victoria.” Alana called over her shoulder to Opaline, “You have an address on Rita yet?”
“Coming up. I’ll be sending it to Axel’s and Aria’s phones.” Opaline’s long nails clicked on the keyboard. “Nothing on Victoria, but that’s to be expected. Rita hasn’t been associated with this address for very long, so maybe it’s actually her sister’s. We can hope.”
Aria tapped her phone to receive the address Opaline had sent, an address not far from Grayson’s motel. “What I don’t get is that Rita is the one who carried a note to Grayson for Brandy. Why would she jeopardize her sister’s smuggling ring?”
“You’re assuming Rita knows what her sister does for a living. She may have been completely in the dark.” Axel held up his phone to Opaline. “Got it, thanks. Let’s enlighten Rita.”
Axel drove to Rita’s last-known address in a sketchy area of Port Huron. He tapped on his window, toward the building. “You’d think her sister would’ve warned Rita what areas to avoid in town.”
“Unless Victoria lives with her and can protect her. It makes a good cover for V.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. Even if she does live with her sister, V may know we’re onto her. I hardly think she’ll be reclining on the sofa, watching TV, waiting for our arrival.” He pulled up across the street from an apartment building with a set of stairs on the outside and an overflowing Dumpster, not quite hidden at the side of the building.
Aria released her seat belt. “Not quite what I expected from a drug lord.”
As they jogged across the street, Axel said, “Number four.”
They reached the base of the stairs and Aria ducked her head beneath it. “The odds are downstairs—one and three down here, so two and four must be upstairs.”
“I’ll go first. Stay behind me. Don’t draw your weapon, but be ready.”
Aria followed Axel up the stairs, her hand hovering over her gun tucked into the holster on her hip, beneath her jacket. A low light burned inside number four, and Axel stood to the side and rapped on the door with his knuckle.
