Jina, page 7
part #1 of Oath of Honor Series
“We should have considered cameras last night,” she said with disgust.
“Yeah, well technically, it’s not our case.” He flashed a smile. “But that won’t stop us from looking into it.”
“I like how you think.” Her tone was light, but her expression turned somber. He wanted to reassure her that he wasn’t viewing her as a key suspect.
But he couldn’t. Because the time would come when he might have no choice.
“I don’t see any cameras, do you?” He had zoomed in on the map app to get a three-dimensional image of the strip mall.
“No, but this software may not be up to date.” She leaned back. “We’ll have to swing by to double-check anyway.”
She seemed anxious to go. He closed the laptop, then headed back outside.
He was surprised she’d grabbed her overnight bag. Seeing it made him wonder about the damage to her upper-level apartment. Smoke and water damage for sure, but had the fire gotten that far? Would there be anything left to salvage?
“Do you want to stop along the way to pick up a phone?” he asked, opening the car door for her.
“Yeah, that would be great.” She tossed her bag into the back seat. “But let’s check the cameras first. I’m worried they may not keep the video for very long.”
“Okay.” He quickly slid in behind the wheel and headed out. The MMA gym was in Brookland but close to Peabody. As he drove, he looked for other possible locations where they might find security cameras. There were dozens of them along the main roads, but Mike’s MMA gym was a good mile or two from the well-traveled area.
He headed straight for the gas station, which also housed a small convenience store. He parked along the side of the building, then accompanied Jina inside. He took the lead, showing his badge and identifying himself as a detective, without specifying his jurisdiction was limited to the Peabody Police Department.
“I’d like to see your video camera footage for the past twenty-four hours,” he said.
“Is this about that shooting at the gym?” The clerk’s eyes bulged with interest. “I heard the guy got away.”
“Yes, has someone else already come to look at the video?”
“Not yet. But I saved it just in case.” The clerk held up his hand while he handled a pump request, then added, “The boss said we’re supposed to cooperate with the investigation.”
“Great. Let’s see it.”
The clerk led them back to a door marked employees only. There was a small office where Cole assumed the store manager worked. The kid went around to bring up the video on the computer, then stepped back. “Sorry, I have to go back out front. I’m here alone.”
“Thanks, we can manage from here.” He took a seat behind the desk, while Jina hovered nearby.
He started the video, increasing the speed so they could see what was happening without spending the entire day there. Unfortunately, the gas station was busy, so it took more time than he would have liked to slow the video for each dark SUV that came into view.
Police work was slow and tedious in general, but watching endless video with Jina hovering over his shoulder was agonizing. He tried not to be distracted by her nearness, focusing instead on trying to spot the SUV without plates with a driver that looked like Rory Glick.
There were several times of the day that no cars came into the station, but after two hours, he stopped the video and rubbed his eyes. “Maybe we should send a copy to my computer. At this rate, we’ll be here all day.”
“Let’s keep going a little while longer,” she said. “I’m sure he came by during the day before heading back at night.”
“Okay.” He resumed the video, slowing the speed when another dark SUV came into view. The Wisconsin rule about front license plates had changed; they were no longer required. Yet most of the cars he saw had them. Like this one.
Forty-five minutes later, Jina said, “There. Do you see it? That car doesn’t have a rear plate.”
He had missed it, so he backed up the video. She was right. A black Honda SUV without a rear plate sat next to the gas pump on the farthest side of the station. It was possible that there were two black Honda SUVs without license plates, but not likely. He zoomed in, but the image was blurry. And the pump itself blocked the view of the driver.
“Let’s send this to Gabe,” Jina said with excitement in her voice. When she noticed his confused look, she added, “He’s our tactical team tech expert. He’ll be able to clean this up to get a better view of the driver.”
“Okay. Let me see if I can copy a good section of video.” He might not be Gabe the tech expert, but he knew his way around computers. He was able to copy the video, sending it to his email address. When he finished, he stood. “You were right, he did come by in the daytime to scope things out.”
“Yeah, I just wish we could see his face.” Jina stretched her back. “I hope Gabe can work his magic. I’m convinced this guy has a prison record. We just need a good enough photo to use in the police database.”
“I agree.” He headed back out to the gas station. “Do you want anything before we go?”
“Nope. I’m good. Let’s head back to the strip mall.” She looked eager to get to work.
He couldn’t help but think Jina would make a good detective. His partner, Kevin Hunt, was out on paternity leave, his wife having recently delivered a baby boy. Kevin was a good cop, but Cole had secretly enjoyed working alone the past few days.
Back outside, they rounded the corner of the gas station. Thinking about the strip mall, and the possible clues they might find, it took a minute for him to notice the guy slinking behind the building.
“Look out!” His shout was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Pulling his weapon, he dropped to a knee and glanced toward Jina.
His heart about stopped in his chest when he didn’t see her.
“Jina! Are you hit?” Praying she wasn’t, he moved along the length of the SUV hoping to get a line on the gunman.
Then he heard a car engine roar to life. He bolted from his vehicle and ran toward the back of the gas station in time to see a black Honda with no license plate peeling away.
Chapter Six
That had been too close. Jina had been in more dangerous situations than she could count since joining Rhy’s tactical team, but this was the first time she’d heard the whistle of a bullet and felt the rush of air as it went past her ear. She lifted her hand to her temple to check for blood.
Thankfully, she hadn’t been hit.
A flash of anger hit hard. Who was this guy? She was tired of being used as target practice. While his first attempts to hit her had gone high and wide, this one had not. Either the first attempt had been a scare tactic, or he’d honed his shooting skills since last night. Before she could move along the side of Cole’s SUV, he rounded the front end. Seeing her, he visibly relaxed. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Was that his car I heard?” She had been slow to react, which wasn’t like her. She rose from her crouch and walked toward him. “We should have anticipated he’d come back.”
“I know.” Cole’s expression turned grim. “I didn’t think he’d take the risk in the bright light of day. The way he showed up here as if realizing we’d be trying to find him makes me wonder if he has law enforcement background.”
That possibility hadn’t occurred to her. “A cop would likely hit his target. And I also think a cop would have been smart enough not to stop for gas so close to the gym.”
“Maybe he’s an academy dropout or was injured on the job in some way.” He shrugged. “Could be his skills are rusty.”
“I don’t know why a former cop would try to kill me.” Maybe she didn’t make friends as easily as her female counterparts, but she wasn’t a bad person. There had been some fellow cops who’d spread rumors about her being cold and frigid because she hadn’t wanted to date them, but that shouldn’t cause something like this.
Even the guys she’d challenged to spar at Mike’s hadn’t been physically hurt. Their pride may have taken a beating, but so what? In her humble opinion, they’d deserved it. One of the guys, Jimmy, had point-blank asked if she’d joined the gym to find a man. As if she couldn’t possibly be there for a strenuous workout or to hone her fighting skills.
“We should probably talk to Mike again.” She spoke loud enough to be heard over the screech of sirens. The local cops would not be thrilled to know she and Cole had been involved in yet another shooting incident. “I don’t want to believe any of the members are involved, but it might be nice to know if any of those guys I put down are former cops or military.”
“Sounds good.” He turned to head to the back of the gas station. “Let’s search for shell casings. It would be good to match them with the ones found at the gym last night.”
She joined him along the back of the building. Bits of garbage littered the ground not far from the dumpster located back there. The stench was bad, but she’d experienced worse. There was no need to use flashlights, and it only took a moment to find the glint of sun bouncing off the brass.
“It looks like the same caliper.” She didn’t touch the casing, knowing the police would want to see where it was. “Can you get a picture with your phone?”
“Sure.” Cole did as she asked. “There has to be one more. I believe he shot twice.”
They split up to cover more ground. She didn’t see anything in her search area, but Cole waved her over. “Found it. He stood close to the dumpster to fire this round.”
She went over to see for herself, then turned to review the line of sight. It was sobering to realize how close he’d been. In fact, she wasn’t sure how he’d missed from this distance.
“God was watching over you,” Cole said as if reading her thoughts. It was exactly what Rhy, Joe, or the other guys would have said. She wasn’t sure how to respond, mostly because she was starting to wonder if he was right about that.
Then she silently chided herself for being foolish.
Two squads pulled up near Cole’s SUV. Suppressing a sigh, she headed back over to give her statement. She had not been on the victim end of things since college and found it really annoying to be in that position now.
Was that this guy’s intent? Shooting and starting fires just to force her into feeling like a victim?
“I’m Peabody Detective Cole Roberts, and this MPD Officer Jina Wheeler.” Cole flashed his gold shield, so she pulled her badge out too. Better to show their creds since they were both carrying. “An unknown perp fired at us from behind the gas station. Two shots and we can show you where both shell casings are located.”
“Roberts and Wheeler?” The officer with the last name Howard scowled. “Were you involved in a shooting last night too?”
“That’s correct. Likely the same perp.” Jina gestured for Officers Howard and Tyson to follow her to the back of the gas station. “We’re hoping you can match these shell casings to the ones found last night outside Mike’s MMA gym.”
“We’ll do that. Did you get a look at him?” Tyson asked.
“No, I didn’t.” She glanced at Cole who also shook his head. “He came closer to hitting me this time. Missed by a fraction of an inch.”
Cole scowled as the two officers exchanged looks. “Sorry to hear that,” Officer Howard said. “Our Detective Irving tried to reach out to you.”
She flushed. “Yeah, sorry. I left my phone in the apartment and couldn’t get back in to grab it because of the fire.”
“Fire?” Tyson echoed. “What happened?”
“We have reason to believe the fire was set by the same person who was just here firing at Jina,” Cole said. “Arson Investigator Mitch Callahan is working the case.”
“Two shootings and a fire?” Howard frowned. “Perps don’t often change their MO midstream.”
“Yeah, well, this guy seems determined to get my attention.” And he had, she silently added. The escalating attacks were forcing her to play defense.
“What about the vehicle?” Tyson asked.
“We have reason to believe he’s driving a black Honda SUV without license plates,” Cole said. When he didn’t elaborate on the video footage of that same vehicle they’d gotten from the gas station, she kept her mouth shut too.
It was likely Cole was waiting to share that information with Detective Irving. At this point, she figured it was better to let Cole take the lead.
Besides, Irving wasn’t going to be the one to solve this thing. No, it was clear that she and Cole working together had the advantage when it came to finding this guy. For one thing, she was the target.
A plan of setting herself as bait was already forming in the back of her mind. Drastic and risky? Yes. She had every intention of being the fun auntie to her sister’s baby. She’d prefer to get some answers on the few leads they had in the works prior to going that route, but if they didn’t pan out?
They’d have no choice but to implement plan B.
She and Cole answered more questions before they were free to leave. But just then another car pulled up, and she heard Cole groan under his breath.
“Detective Irving?” she asked in a low voice.
“I assume so.” Cole put his arm around her waist in a gesture that normally would have gotten him flipped onto his back. Yet somehow, she didn’t mind as they approached the two detectives emerging from a dark-blue sedan.
“Are you Detective Cole Roberts?” The female detective looked pointedly at Cole.
“Yes. And this is Officer Wheeler.” Cole stepped forward to shake hands with both cops. She followed suit.
“I’m Detective Irving, and this is my partner, Detective Klem.” Irving was the female detective and appeared to be taking the lead. “We heard about the shooting last night and tried to reach out to Officer Wheeler this morning.” Detective Irving’s tone sounded accusatory. “I left two messages.”
“Don’t have my phone,” she said. “Sorry.”
“We’d like you to come with us to the Brookland PD,” Detective Klem said, his approach far more laid back. “We have several questions that we’d like to go over with you.”
Jina swallowed a groan, but of course, Cole nodded. “Fine, we can meet you there.”
“We’d rather you drove with us,” Irving said, her eyes narrowing.
“No.” Cole’s blunt refusal made her smile, but she coughed to hide it. “I’m not leaving my SUV here. And Jina is a victim, not a perp. We’ll drive on our own.”
The two Brookland detectives exchanged a long look, then Klem nodded. “Sure, we understand.”
Detective Irving scowled but turned to jump back into the car. Jina couldn’t help but wonder why the female detective had an attitude. It wasn’t as if she’d asked for some idiot to shoot at her. She glanced at Cole who was frowning at the two detectives who were waiting for them to get into the SUV.
“I hope this doesn’t take long,” she muttered, wrenching the passenger-side door open.
“I agree.” Cole started the engine and pulled out behind the sedan. “Do you get that a lot?”
“Get what?” She didn’t understand until he gestured to the sedan in front of them. “Oh, you mean Irving’s attitude? Not really. Usually, cops are decent to each other. I’m not sure who put a bug up her butt.”
“Jealousy,” Cole said. “She knows you’re a beautiful, smart, capable police officer.” He grinned. “And she hasn’t even seen you in action at the gym.”
His compliment shouldn’t have made her blush. She willed herself not to react. “I’m just trying to do a job, the same as she is.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“How come you don’t have a partner?” She had wondered about that last night when he’d mentioned coming to the gym to interview her. “Like those two, I thought all detectives worked in pairs.”
“My partner is out on paternity leave, so I’m working solo for a few weeks.”
“Oh, I see.” That may be why Cole was given the cold case that he’d had very little time to work on. She squelched a flash of guilt, reminding herself she hadn’t asked for this.
He glanced at his watch. “I’ll call Mike when we’re finished. I’m sure he’ll meet us at my place without a problem.”
“Your place?” She frowned. “Why would you ask him to come there? We can talk to him on the phone. Besides, we still have to check out the strip mall, remember?”
“Not happening, this perp could be waiting for us there.”
“Yes, all the more reason to head over as soon as possible.” She tried not to sound annoyed. “Besides, we won’t be caught off guard by his being there this time. Frankly, I’m anxious to meet with this guy, up close and personal.”
His jaw tightened, and he didn’t answer. She could tell he wasn’t happy but that didn’t matter.
She sat back in her seat, determined to keep moving forward with the case. They needed to find this jerk before he could hurt anyone else.
The meeting at the Brookland PD took far longer than it should have. Cole was losing his patience fast, especially with Detective Irving’s snotty attitude toward Jina.
“We’re done here.” He abruptly stood when Irving asked the same question she’d started with over an hour ago. “You have my contact information if something changes.”
“You’re not done until I say so,” Irving protested.
“How about you go out and do some real detective work?” Cole stared the woman down. “You might want to start by going back to that gas station to review the video.”
That caught Irving and Klem off guard, giving him a spurt of satisfaction.
“Yes, you’ll find the black Honda SUV without plates was there about seven o’clock last evening,” Jina said, rising to her feet. “The pump blocked the perp, though, so there’s no clear image of his face. But you should probably take a look at it for yourself.”
“You already got the video?” Irving demanded, as if someone had stolen all her candy.
Cole glanced at Klem who appeared embarrassed. “You need to be out there doing your own legwork. Sitting around and waiting for a victim to return a call isn’t how cases get solved.” He stepped toward the door with Jina at his side. “We’ll keep you in the loop if we find anything pertinent to the case.”
