Jina, page 8
part #1 of Oath of Honor Series
“You can’t work this case,” Irving sputtered. “We have jurisdiction here.”
Cole ignored her. He opened the door for Jina and followed her out of the interview without another word. Neither of them said anything until they were back outside in the SUV.
“That was fun,” Jina drawled sarcastically. “Irving seems to think I’m being targeted on purpose just to ruin her day.”
“She’s something,” he agreed. He wasn’t impressed with Irving at all, but Klem seemed reasonable. “Hopefully, Klem will keep her on track. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from them again very soon.”
“Oh goody.” She gestured to the big box store up ahead. “That reminds me, I need a replacement phone. Let’s stop now since we’re here. I want to be sure Shelly can reach me in an emergency.”
“Fine with me.” He was glad for the reprieve since he did not want to head over to Mike’s as planned. Sure, they could approach the place with caution, but there were several locations where their perp could be hiding.
While Jina spoke to the store rep about her phone, he used his to call Mike.
“What’s up, Cole?” Mike asked.
“I know we’ve already discussed the guys at the gym not being the shooter, but things have changed. We need to know if any of those guys are involved in law enforcement or the military.”
There was a long silence as Mike considered that. “I can put together a list of names of those I know, but that won’t cover them all.”
“I understand. Are you at the gym now?” He was surprised to see that Jina had already picked out a phone and was heading over to the checkout line. Apparently, she was a no-nonsense shopper. “Jina wants to head over, but I’m worried our guy is hanging out nearby.”
“Why would he?” Mike asked.
Cole filled him in on the gas station shooting.
Mike whistled. “Not good. I can see why you’re thinking cop or military. I’ll go through my files and my memory. I’ll come up with a few names for you.”
“Thanks, that would be great.” He headed over to join Jina. “We don’t want to think the worst of your gym members either, but someone is gunning for her, and I want to cover all bases.”
“Understood. I’ll let you know if I hear anything suspicious.”
“Thanks. Later.” He ended the call as Jina eyed him warily. “That was Mike. He’s going to make a list of the guys with law enforcement or military background.” He gestured to her phone. “We should head to my place so you can power it up and get your contacts uploaded.”
She looked as if she might argue but then nodded. “Fine. Once that’s done, we’ll talk about next steps.”
He followed her to the SUV, feeling certain he wouldn’t like her idea of what they should work on next. Once they were back at his place, Jina went to work on her phone, while he opened his laptop to find the video he’d sent to his email address.
Reviewing the grainy video again, he slowed it to look frame by frame, attempting to get a better look at their perp. He froze the screen at one point, trying to decide if the guy had dark hair or had a dark ball cap on his head.
“Do you mind if I use your phone to call Gabe?” Jina came over to sit beside him. “I sent him the video but haven’t had time to follow up.”
“Sure.” He unlocked his screen and handed her the phone. “Put the call on speaker.”
“Okay.” She made the call, setting the phone on the table. “Hi, Gabe, it’s Jina and Detective Cole Roberts from the Peabody PD.”
“Hey, Jina, I got this video you sent,” Gabe said. “I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do with it, though. I cleaned it up, but the guy is standing behind the pump, almost as if he knew where the cameras were located.”
“Yeah, that’s our theory too,” Jina admitted.
“Gabe, this is Cole. Do you think his hair is dark brown or black, or is he wearing a hat?”
“Good question. Hang on.” He heard typing in the background. “Okay, I’ll send this cleaned-up version back to you so you can judge for yourself. I think he’s wearing a hat; there’s a bit of a line along the side of his head. He might have dark hair beneath the hat, but again, it’s hard to tell.”
“Thanks, I’ll take a look.” He hadn’t noticed the line Gabe mentioned. “I’m not sure the hair color matters; he could have dyed it to make himself look different.”
“Hair dye works best to make light hair darker, not the other way around,” Jina said. “Hey, Gabe, did you get anything on doing the look back on the perps I’ve arrested in the past few years?”
“I have two names for you,” Gabe said. “Carson Rinko and Jorge Navarro. Both guys have been released in the past year. Rinko was released in November of last year and Navarro in February of this year.”
He made a note of both names as Jina frowned. “I’d have expected the perp to have been released much sooner than that,” she said with a sigh.
“There’s one guy coming up for parole next month,” Gabe said. “His name is Terry Straub.”
“If he’s still in prison, he’s not our guy,” Jina said.
“Is his real name Terrance?” Cole asked, eyeing Jina. “Could be Terrance has a brother or close friend doing his dirty work.”
“If we’re going to add friends and relatives of these perps, we’ll never narrow the list down,” she protested.
He understood her frustration. “We’ll only look at Terrance Straub’s friends and family. Maybe they’re worried you’ll show up at the parole hearing to make sure he’s not released.”
“I don’t usually go to parole—” She stopped short, her eyes widening. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before. There was a perp I put away for viciously beating his girlfriend and her daughter.” She dropped her gaze to the phone. “Gabe, check out Martino Hovel. See what he’s been up to.”
“Hold on.” More clicking of the keyboard in the background. “Martino Hovel died in prison last year. Apparently, a blood vessel burst in his brain.”
“That counts him out.” She grimaced. “I guess we’ll just work with the few names we have.”
“Let me know if you need anything else,” Gabe said. “Rhy told me I should help you when I can.”
“We will,” Jina assured him.
“Thanks again,” Cole added, before reaching over to push the end button. “It’s good that we have a place to start.”
“Yes, I’m glad to have some names. But it doesn’t seem logical that either Rinko or Navarro would come after me so many months after they got out. I mean, why would they bother now?”
“I don’t know.” He tapped the computer where he’d taken note of the names. “Let’s focus on Terry Straub who is up for parole.”
“Okay.” She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table. “We can do computer work on these guys for now, but we need to talk about how to draw this guy out.”
And here it is, he thought with a sigh. “Draw him out?”
“Yes.” Her blue eyes gleamed. “I think we should ask some of the members of my tactical team to stake out the strip mall. We’ll head over there at dusk. You can stay in the car, while I get out and start looking around. When this guy tries to take another shot at me, we’ll grab him.”
“Have you lost your mind?” He didn’t bother to hide his exasperation. “What if he hits and kills you before anyone sees him?”
She waved that off. “My teammates are great. I trust them with my life. They’ll have the place staked out for at least an hour before we head out.”
He didn’t doubt the skills of her team, but the plan was reckless just the same. “Let’s try to make some headway on these suspects, first. Maybe we can go after this guy rather than waiting for him to show up at the strip mall.”
After a pause, she shrugged. “Okay, fine. But if we don’t find anything in an hour, I’m going to make some calls. I’m sure I can get a handful of my teammates to head over.”
“The Brookland PD will not be happy to find out we’re setting up a sting operation on their turf,” he warned.
“Maybe not, but Rhy lives in Brookland. I’m sure he’ll help smooth things over.” She flashed a grin. “I almost dropped his name today with Irving but figured I should wait until we really need the higher-level support.”
He managed to smile back, despite his annoyance. “Good call.”
They spent over an hour digging into Terrance Straub. The guy only had one brother who was also in jail. His parents were divorced and had moved to different cities. After an exhaustive search of tracking Straub’s former friends on social media, they’d come up empty-handed. Based on the posts he’d seen, it didn’t seem as if any of them cared if the guy was released from jail or not.
“One down and two more to go,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I’d rather stake out a crime scene than spend my days staring at a computer.”
He could understand that Jina was a woman of action, not one for sitting and painstakingly reviewing evidence. “It’s not glamorous. Let’s try Rinko first.”
“Okay. But we might need food. I can’t believe I’m saying this after Rosie’s huge breakfast, but I’m hungry.”
“I can throw in a pizza,” he offered, surprised by the late afternoon hour. It hadn’t seemed like they’d been working for so long, but they’d gotten a late start thanks to the fire followed by breakfast, then the gas station shooting. Especially the ridiculously long interview with the Brookland detectives. “Do you like your pizza loaded with the works?”
“Yes.” She grabbed her phone from the charger. “I’m texting my teammates. I’m sure they’ll be able to meet us at the strip mall later.”
“I don’t like that plan.” He reached for the freezer, then stopped when he glanced through the small kitchen window in time to see a black vehicle driving past his house. “Jina? Is that the Honda?”
“Where?” She jumped from her seat to join him. “I can’t tell if there’s a license plate or not. Let’s head outside, we’ll know for sure it’s the shooter if he drives past your house again.”
“Okay.” He prayed he was overreacting. He gestured to the back door. “We’ll split up, taking each side of the house.”
“I’ll go right, you go left,” she said with a nod.
He went out first, taking the left-hand side of his house, leaving her to go along the other side. His neighbors were relatively close, and he suspected Ida Potter would be watching out her window. The only good part about Ida’s nosiness was that she wouldn’t hesitate to call the police if things went sideways.
Once he was in a position where he could see the road, he hunkered down to wait. His patience was soon rewarded. The black Honda appeared from the same direction it had taken before, as if the driver had simply gone around the block.
“Stop! Police!” Hearing Jina’s shout, he quickly ran out from his hiding spot. The driver of the SUV hit the gas, speeding away like the coward he was.
This time, he had noticed the driver was white and wore a black ball cap. But the worst part was that the shooter knew where he lived.
He needed to get Jina out of there ASAP.
Chapter Seven
Jina sprinted toward the disappearing car, despite knowing it was a useless endeavor. The black Honda careened around the corner at a dangerously fast rate of speed, and while she cut through lawns, it was no use.
The Honda disappeared from her line of sight.
Swallowing a curse—giving up swearing had never been so difficult—she bent at the waist to catch her breath. What was up with this guy? Why risk driving by Cole’s house in broad daylight?
Then she straightened, realizing the shooter shouldn’t have known where Cole lived in the first place. Not good. She turned to jog back as Cole headed toward her.
“Did you get a look at him?”
“No. Although Gabe was right about the ball cap.” She hurried forward. “I’d like to know how he found your address.”
“Me too.” He scowled. “Let’s go. We can’t stay here.”
She hated to admit he was right. Using Cole’s home to set herself up as bait wouldn’t work. Mr. Glen’s duplex had already been damaged, she didn’t want to add Cole’s house to the mix. Especially since he had neighbors on each side.
Besides, the shooter should know they wouldn’t stay now that they’d seen him.
“Fine, let me get my phone.” She wasn’t leaving it behind this time.
Cole disappeared into his bedroom, likely to pack a bag. She was glad she still had hers in his vehicle. Tucking the phone into her pocket, she watched the street out front to make sure the black Honda didn’t double back.
This perp was not acting like the typical shooter. Not just because he’d set fire to Mr. Glen’s duplex, but all this driving around, firing at them in the middle of the day? It was almost as if this guy had a sense of urgency driving him to violence.
Why, she couldn’t imagine. Criminal profiling was not her strong suit. She preferred to aim and shoot.
She’d been tempted to fire at the SUV but had held back. Mostly because shooting a moving vehicle wasn’t as easy as it looked on TV. And neither was shooting and hitting what you were aiming at while running.
The most important reason, though, was not having probable cause. The driver had only gone past the house twice. That wasn’t a crime. She couldn’t take out a perp’s vehicle because he might commit a crime. No matter how much she wanted to.
Cole joined her in the kitchen. He grabbed the laptop from the table and stuck that into his duffel bag. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She grimaced. “I hate to say it, but your vehicle has been compromised. We need a rental.”
“I agree.” He tossed his bag into the back seat beside hers. “I’d like to know how he found us here.”
She shared his concern. “There’s a car rental place in Brookland that Rhy has used on several occasions.”
He shot her a curious look. “Why would a police captain need to rent cars?”
“Oh, for some reason our team seems to attract trouble, and our vehicles often sustain damage.” She slid into the passenger seat. “It’s almost funny if you think about it.”
Cole shot her a look that clearly said he wasn’t laughing. Understandable since she was the target of this mess. One he’d inadvertently gotten himself mixed up in.
“You know, you can drop me off at the car rental. No need for you to be involved moving forward.” She should have cut him loose before now. “I’ll get my teammates to help me out. You should return to your cold case investigation.”
“No.” His blunt response surprised her. “I’ve been fired upon too. He knows where I live. I’m part of this whether you like it or not.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is my fault.” She felt bad for dragging him into her—whatever this was. “All the more reason we need to set up a sting operation using me as bait to draw this guy out.”
“Give it up, Jina.” He sounded weary. “Let’s focus on getting a rental. After that, we need to find a place to stay and get something to eat. Not necessarily in that order.”
Her stomach was rumbling, so she wasn’t going to argue about grabbing something for dinner. And she knew of a few places where they could stay.
“Can you call your fellow Peabody police officers to have them swing by to keep an eye on your place?”
He shrugged. “I could, but that’s not a good use of resources. We don’t know the shooter will return.”
“I know, but I’ll feel bad if he sets your house on fire.”
“He won’t.” He shot her a quick glance. “The only reason he did that at the duplex was because he thought you were home.”
That was probably true. Yet it didn’t make her feel any better. “The longer you stick with me, the more likely you’ll get hurt.” Oddly, she didn’t like the idea of Cole being in danger because of her. Normally, she considered cops as equals, perfectly capable of holding their own in tight spots and keeping themselves safe.
So why this strange desire to protect Cole? He didn’t need her protection, and vice versa.
Too much togetherness. They’d spent most of the day together, and that was highly unusual for her. She gave herself a mental shake as he pulled into the parking lot of the car rental facility.
They were working a case, not dating.
Fifteen minutes later, they were in a black Ford Bronco. She’d been able to use Rhy’s name to get a discount, but the fee was still staggering.
“There’s a motel in Brookland called the American Lodge,” she said as Cole pulled out of the parking lot. “Gary, the owner, is a former firefighter who gives discounts to police and firefighters. They don’t have room service, though, so we’ll need to stop to pick up a pizza on the way.”
“Sounds good.” He glanced at her, then said, “You’ve stayed at the American Lodge before?”
“Not me, but just about everyone else on the team has.” That wasn’t entirely true, but the place had seen more than its fair share of action from the group over the past year. “Gary put in security cameras a while back, so that gives us an added advantage. Not that we should need to watch for the Honda now that we have new wheels.”
“One motel is as good as another,” he said with a shrug.
“The American Lodge is nice.” She gestured to the right. “Head that way.”
He followed her instructions. “There’s a pizza place along the way, if that works.”
“Perfect.” She thumbed through her contacts to find Gary Campbell’s number. Thankfully, he answered right away. “Hi, Gary, it’s Jina from Rhy’s tactical team.”
“Hey, Jina, what’s up? You need a room?”
“Yes, connecting rooms if you have them.” She felt Cole’s curious gaze but ignored it. She wasn’t afraid he’d try anything hinky, Cole had been nothing but professional and was likely still in love with his dead wife, but she valued her privacy.
