Mayhem & Mistletoe, page 22
“Be careful, Simon.”
He turned around and saw Sidney standing nearby. She was wearing a concerned expression and Simon’s gut tightened in anticipation of the coming lecture.
“Eavesdropping, Sidney? That’s beneath you.”
“No, I wasn’t eavesdropping. I promise I couldn’t hear a word you two were saying. But I do have eyes. I can see that Jamie has piqued your interest. But, Simon, you have to understand that Jamie is fragile right now. She’s in no position to start a romance.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing that I’m not either. You’ve read the situation wrong, Sidney. That’s not what’s going on here.”
“Okay. Well, I apologize then. I just don’t want to see either one of you get hurt.”
“I appreciate that. But there’s nothing for you to worry about. Jamie just needed a sympathetic ear is all. I listened, and I hope I made her feel better.”
They were words.
Words he knew his sister needed to hear in order to back off.
The truth was, he was interested in Jamie. There was something about her, about her story, that pulled at him. There was something about Jamie herself that made him want to hold her close, whisper sweet words and promises, and keep her safe. Things he hadn’t wanted to do with a woman since leaving Japan. Since leaving Cassandra.
What he couldn’t figure out was why?
Why this woman?
Sure, she was more than beautiful. Even with the fresh bruises on her face, Simon could see that. She had a mellow, tawny brown complexion and long, light brown hair with auburn highlights dancing through it. Big, gorgeous, brown eyes. Her smile, when it was genuine, could light up the night.
Beautiful was an understatement.
But Simon met a lot of beautiful women. He wasn’t usually so swayed by a pretty face. So what was it about this particular woman that sparked his imagination?
He had no clue, but he was really hoping she would take him up on his offer of friendship and call. Maybe then he could figure it out.
22
Isaac walked through Hope House and spotted Sidney standing off to the side, watching things. He gently pulled her into his arms from behind, drawing her attention away from whatever she was scrutinizing.
“All right, darlin’. Both cars are completely unloaded, so if you don’t have anything else you need me to do I’m going to head into work now.”
“Hey.” She glanced around the large room. “What do you see here, baby?”
Isaac followed her gaze around the place. Everyone was doing their part to fix things up, deck the halls, get prepared for the Christmas Eve and Day celebrations. But Isaac suspected what had gotten his wife’s attention was the behavior of her brother and sister.
In one corner, Heather sat talking and flirting with Dr. Lance Tobey. And in another, Simon appeared to be deep in conversation with Jamie Rooney.
“I see my wife getting way too concerned with matters that are out of her control.”
“Ike—”
“No, I’m serious, Sid. Look at me.”
She huffed and turned around to look him in the eyes.
“Darlin’, as much as you might want to tell Simon and Heather who they should stay away from in your world, for whatever the reasons, you have got to realize that you have no say in either matter.”
“But Isaac—”
“Trust me, Sidney, I don’t like the idea of Heather and that… doctor person any more than you do. But if you try to tell her that she can’t see him, what do you think that would do to your brand new relationship as sisters?”
Sidney sighed and her shoulders slumped.
“I know. You’re right.”
“Umm hmm.” Isaac nodded. “And as for Simon… well, I don’t think you have too much to worry about there, to be honest.”
“You don’t?”
“No. What’s to worry about? You know that Jamie’s not in any danger from him.”
“Not physically, but… Ike, Jamie is not emotionally ready for someone like Simon. Her abusive boyfriend was just found dead, for God’s sake. And the last memory she has of him is the beating he gave her that sent her out into the snow with no coat or shoes. I’m not worried about Simon hurting her. I’m worried about her hurting Simon.”
“Simon is a big boy, Sid. He can take care of himself.”
“Yes, but he’s still heartbroken about that woman in Japan.”
“Sidney…”
Isaac heard the warning in his own voice. He only hoped that Sidney could hear it too.
“Your brother is a grown man who can handle his own heartache. Let it go, darlin’. He’ll figure it out for himself.”
She shook her head, but she stopped arguing.
Isaac tightened his arms around her and held her close for a long moment, feeling the tension slowly drain from her body. He breathed in the spiced honeysuckle scent of her, getting his fill until he could hold her again.
“Are you going to be okay if I leave here?”
“Yes.”
He looked down at her as he held her.
“You’re not going to fly off the handle and rage against your siblings are you?”
“No.”
“You going to play nice with everybody?”
“Yes.”
He grinned at her one-word answers.
“Are you madly in love with your husband?”
“Not at the moment.”
Isaac laughed out loud and lightly swatted her bottom.
“Are you being mean to your husband because you know he’s right?”
“Maybe.”
He kissed her forehead.
And then her nose.
And then her lips.
“I love you, Sid.”
“I love you back, baby. Have a good day at work.”
“I’ll see you at home.”
He kissed her again, and then left Hope House.
He was still smiling when he slid behind the wheel of his Mustang.
On the drive to the station his thoughts drifted from his wife to his job. More specifically, to the two cases that had now merged into one big case. The grocery store robbery and murder that spawned two more murders in the form of flash mobs.
Where was the gun?
Where was the missing money?
How did the pieces fit together?
“There’s only one thing you can do, Ike,” he said to himself, taking a page from Sidney’s book and talking to himself out loud. “Like it or not, you need to touch a dead body.”
But which one?
He thought about that while he drove. Decision made, when he reached the station he went straight up to the second floor and through the breezeway that connected the PD to the morgue.
As always when he was approaching a dead victim to touch, he was a man on a mission. It was the only way he could come at it. If he thought too much about what he was about to do, and how disturbing it could potentially be for him, he would talk himself right back out of it.
“Morning, Ike.”
Hiroshi was just exiting his office and pulling on his white lab coat.
“G’morning Hiroshi.”
“I had a feeling I might see you in here before you closed this one. You’re here to visit the grocery store manager, right?”
Isaac stared at his friend. Was he that predictable?
“Are you psychic now?”
Hiroshi grinned. “Just an educated guess. Come with me.”
He led Isaac into the morgue and over to the wall of freezers. He opened a unit and pulled out John Maize.
“He’s scheduled to be released to the funeral home tomorrow. Closed casket, I’m afraid.”
“Hmm.”
It was Isaac’s only response. Although with the point blank bullet wound to the head, he understood the comment perfectly.
Isaac took a couple of deep breaths and then reached out and placed his left hand on the dead man’s shoulder.
Pain like mechanical claws seized his innards.
He braced himself against the agony.
Gun in Maize’s face.
“No, no! Archie, please!”
The shot rang out.
Isaac convulsed.
His body fell.
“Ike!”
When his head cleared, Hiroshi was helping him to stand.
“Ike, are you all right? Should I call someone?”
“No, I’m fine.”
He inhaled sharply and stood under his own power.
His gaze darted back and forth, and he was grateful that none of the other ME staff were around.
“I-I don’t know what—”
“It’s okay, man. It’s just you and me in here. No worries.”
“Thanks, Hiroshi.”
“You sure you’re okay? I can call Sidney.”
“No,” Isaac smiled at him. “I’m fine. That was just uh… a little intense.”
His hand went to his own forehead, and he rubbed the spot where Maize had been shot. Almost as though he needed to reassure himself that it hadn’t actually happened to him.
“Okay. I need to go now. Thanks again, man. For everything.”
“Sure.”
He left the morgue as quickly as he could and went straight to the nearest bathroom to splash some water on his face.
He’d told Hiroshi that the experience had been intense, and it was true. He’d actually felt that man’s fear when the gun was thrust in his face. He was terrified.
He had begged.
Begged for his life, for Archie Neff not to shoot him.
Archie.
Isaac looked at himself in the mirror.
In the vision of Maize’s last few moments, he’d heard Maize call Archie by name.
“No, no! Archie, please!”
Maize had known Archie Neff was under that ski mask. He knew before he died that Archie was the one about to kill him.
Isaac turned and headed into one of the bathroom stalls and locked the door behind him. He didn’t need to use the facilities right now. What he did need, however, was a private place to try and freeze that vision to glean more information about what happened in those last few moments of the store manager’s life.
He closed the lid on the commode and took a seat. Then he spent a few seconds just breathing in and out, attempting to relax. He glanced at his watch for reference. 9:50 in the morning.
He blew out another breath, closed his eyes, and brought up the memory of the vision.
He saw John Maize in the back office with the gun in his face.
Then the image jerked backward.
The scene blurred behind his eyes, rewinding and resetting itself, just like last time.
It stopped as suddenly as it started, and then began again.
Maize standing near the front of the store.
Neff, Carter, and Teiger storming inside the store, guns drawn.
Everyone screaming.
“Let’s go, Johnny-boy. Time to open up the safe!”
Money into bags.
“…got what you want, Archie, now go!”
Gun in Maize’s face.
“No, no! Archie, please!”
Isaac jerked, forcibly yanking himself out of the vision before that gun could fire.
He gasped, pulling huge gulps of air into his lungs.
Another glance at his watch had him reeling.
9:51.
What?
That couldn’t be right, could it? He saw all of that in just one minute? Either he was getting better at this or his abilities were getting even scarier.
Once he collected himself, he left the stall and washed his hands. Then he hurried up to the forth floor and into the detectives pit.
“Hey, partner. How was Hope House this morning? Did you help Sid get squared away?”
“What? Oh, yeah. That went smooth enough. Hey, is Hayes in his office?”
“I think so.” Pete shrugged a shoulder.
“Well, come on. We need to talk.”
Pete frowned at him, but got up and followed Isaac into Gavin Hayes’ office.
“Got a second, Lieu?”
Gavin looked up and waved them in.
“I hear you brought in an attempted murderer last night? I’m assuming that was another one of your psychic things?” Hayes stared him in the eyes.
Isaac was caught off guard for a second.
“Yes, sir. I saw him attack Janelle Mandrake in a vision.”
“The barracuda was here this morning to fill out her statement,” Gavin stated.
Isaac nodded. “I’d like to talk to you at some point, sir, about these little off duty cases, but I don’t think now is the time.”
“Yes, I agree. And I have exactly one minute before my scheduled interview with Special Agent Fox, so what’s on your mind?”
“Oh. Just an update on our case. But it can wait if you—”
“No. What have you got?”
“Well, I just came from the morgue where I uh… did my thing.” He raised an awkward hand. “Touched the victim.”
“Which victim?” Pete asked.
“Maize. The grocery store manager.”
“And? What did you see?” Gavin asked.
“I saw Neff and our two flash mob victims, Carter and Teiger, run into the store with guns drawn. Then Neff and Carter were the two in the office who forced Maize to open the safe.”
“You saw all of that go down?”
Gavin sounded like he still couldn’t believe Ike’s abilities.
“I did. And here’s the kicker. From things Neff said during the robbery, Maize figured out who was underneath that ski mask and he called Neff out by name. Told him he’d gotten what he wanted so just go. But that’s when Neff stuck the gun in Maize’s face at point blank range and pulled the trigger. Maize’s last words were ‘Archie, please.’”
“Damn.” Pete looked down at his shoes. “That’s cold blooded.”
“Yeah, it is. But it’s not enough to know how it all went down, or that Maize, Carter, and Teiger were all killed with the same gun. We have to be able to prove that Neff planned the whole thing, and then for whatever reason turned on his partners in crime and killed them during those flash mobs. And it would be real nice if we could find that money, or maybe the gun.”
“Well, ballistics from the three bullets and the text exchange from Carter’s cellphone gives us probable cause for a warrant to search Archie Neff’s apartment and all of his electronics,” Gavin stated. Then he pointed a finger at Isaac. “So get on that.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll add his car to that for good measure.”
“Good idea. Got anything back from IT on Teiger’s cellphone yet?” Gavin asked.
“I’m just getting in. I was helping at Hope House this morning, remember?”
“I checked with Barton this morning,” Pete chimed in. “He said he’d bring it right down as soon as he was done. That was about an hour ago.”
“I’ll check again,” Isaac said on his way to the door.
“Ike?”
Gavin called out, stopping Isaac before he could leave. Pete hung back as well.
“Yes, sir?”
Gavin hesitated for a split second.
“Have you been interviewed over this mess in narcotics yet?”
Gavin knew that it was necessary, but for some reason his gut had been in a knot ever since Agent Fox had called to make the appointment early this morning.
“I have not, sir. I’ve actually been hoping they won’t need to speak to me. I can’t really tell them anything useful about anyone on the review board that hired Natalie Bains.”
Gavin nodded, but before he could reply, a knock sounded on the open door. They all turned to see Special Agent Emmett Fox standing there. He looked at his watch.
“I’m sorry, I thought we said—”
“Yes, we did.” Gavin got to his feet and came around his desk. “Please come in, Agent Fox. These two were just updating me on a case, but we’re done.”
He looked back at Ike and Pete.
“Get on that warrant.”
“Yes, sir,” Ike said. Then he greeted Fox on his way out the door.
“Emmett.”
“Ike.”
When they were gone, Agent Fox closed the door.
“Please, have a seat.” Gavin gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
When they were both seated, Agent Fox pulled a small recording device from his pocket and showed it to him.
“I’ll be recording this interview and a transcript of it will be made later, for the record.”
“I understand.”
Gavin waited while Agent Fox turned on the voice-activated recorder and stated the date, time, and parties present. Then he set the recorder on Gavin’s desk between them.
“Now then, thank you for making the time to speak with me, Lieutenant.”
“Of course.” Gavin sat back in his chair and tried his best to get comfortable. “I’d like to help this investigation in any way I can. I’ve instructed my detectives to give you and your colleagues their full cooperation as well.”
“We appreciate that.”
“Before we begin, I feel you should know that I was privy to the entire fiasco that went down between Sergeants Taylor and Bains.”
Emmett Fox nodded. “And I appreciate that. However, the purpose of this meeting is not to rehash the whole Taylor vs. Bains showdown. Your own Internal Affairs has already done a great job of that, and we have copies of the records of those proceedings. Our purpose here today is to talk about this precinct’s narcotics division.”
“All right. How can I help you?”
“Let’s begin with this. What can you tell me about Lt. Mike Dunbar?”
The question stunned him.
He knew the sort of questions the FBI would be asking, but he hadn’t expected Fox to jump right in with both feet.
“Well, that’s a broad question.”
“Allow me to break it down for you. Have you ever had reason to suspect that Lt. Mike Dunbar might not be on the up and up?”
Gavin took in a deep breath.
“Honestly, Agent Fox, I’m not entirely sure how to answer that. Have I ever personally gotten angry and frustrated when dealing with the man? Yes. It is not a secret that Dunbar and I don’t mesh well. But have I ever seriously entertained the idea that he was dirty?” Gavin shook his head. “I can’t say that I have, no.”
