Sealed With Courage, page 9
Russo nodded. “I will, but you need to stand down on this investigation of yours, Gray. That was a close call back there. You were outnumbered and outgunned. Things could have turned out very differently.”
Aubrey found herself nodding in agreement. “Bravo started barking, even before the gunfire. I had the window open, so I don’t know if he caught your scent, Mason, or what, but he went crazy. Then the gunfire started, and that only made him bark more. I was scared to death something bad had happened to you.”
“Have you found Lucas?” Mason asked, staring intently at both detectives. He covered her hand with his as if to reassure her.
The two men glanced at each other. “No,” Russo admitted. “But we are tracking down any and all connections to the Blue Devils.”
“Do you know where their leader is? His legal name? Anything?” Mason pressed.
“Not yet.” Russo spread his hands. “As you discovered firsthand, it’s not easy turning these gang members against each other. So far, we haven’t been able to get anyone to talk. But that doesn’t mean we’re giving up.”
“We care about this kid as much as you do,” Lee added.
Aubrey doubted that but didn’t bother to argue. “What about his mother, Nanette? Have you talked to her again? Maybe she knows why the Blue Devils took her son.”
“We went by her apartment twice, but she hasn’t answered the door.” Russo turned to look at her. “Maybe you should try. She may open up to you.”
“Not sure about that.” Mason glanced at her.
“Yes, I’m willing to try.” She pulled out her phone and called Nanette. As before, the call went straight to voice mail. “Nanette, this is Aubrey Clark from the Stanley School for the Deaf. Will you please call me? I’m very worried about Lucas, and I want to help you. Thanks.” She lowered the device. “I have a feeling she’s hiding out somewhere. We went by the restaurant where Nanette works earlier today, the hostess said Nanette wasn’t working and that she had off the next few days.”
The detectives exchanged a look. Lee asked, “Why didn’t you tell us where she worked?”
“I didn’t know the name of the restaurant,” she said defensively. “Bravo followed Lucas’s scent there, and I recognized the uniform.”
Both men looked at the dog. Bravo sat straight and tall, ears perked forward. He looked alert as if just waiting for one of them to make a wrong move.
“As I mentioned before, Bravo’s expertise is scent tracking. The sooner you locate the main hideout for this gang or the name of the leader of the Blue Devils, the sooner I can use Bravo to find Lucas.”
“Before something terrible happens to him,” she added. “There has to be a reason the boss asked for him. We’re afraid . . .” She couldn’t finish the sentence. A ball of emotion hit hard. Tears pricked her eyes. She jumped up from the table and ran into the bathroom as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Mason stood, watching as Aubrey disappeared into the bathroom. He understood her fears, even shared them, but his training was such that he couldn’t allow emotion to interfere with his mission.
He turned his gaze to the detectives. “Please tell me you found something of interest in the past few hours.”
Lee looked affronted, but Russo nodded. “The partial print in the abandoned vehicle belongs to Raymond Nassar. We have a BOLO out for him. Every officer has his mug shot. If he’s out and about, we’ll find him.”
“I’d like a copy of that mug shot,” he said.
“I’m not sure about that . . . ,” Lee protested, but Russo picked up his phone. A few seconds later, Nassar’s face popped up on the screen.
“Do you recognize him?” Russo asked, his gaze intense. “Was he one of the patrons inside Twisted?”
Mason sighed and shook his head. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. “I don’t recognize him, sorry. But you can be sure I’ll keep looking for him.”
“We’ve got that covered,” Lee said. When Russo shot him an annoyed glance, he quickly added, “Thanks. We’ll take all the help we can get.”
Yeah, Mason was sure they would. He was glad to have one name and a face, but it wasn’t much. He considered heading back to Twisted to ask about Nassar but then decided the risk outweighed the benefit.
Aubrey emerged from the bathroom, her eyes red and puffy from crying. He hated seeing her so upset and went over to meet her. “Aren’t you the one who believes that God is watching over us? You have to trust in Him, Aubrey.”
“I know.” Her attempt to smile was rather pathetic. “I’m trying, but I just keeping thinking that the only reason the Blue Devils would want a deaf kid is to make him do something bad.”
“Going down that path will only make it harder to stay focused.” He lightly grasped her shoulders and looked into her wide hazel eyes. “We will find him. We have a name and a mug shot of one of the Blue Devils who were in the car that shot at us.”
“Not Jose?” Aubrey asked.
“A guy named Raymond Nassar.” He showed her the mug shot. “Does he look familiar?”
She examined the photo for a long moment, then shook her head. “No, sorry.”
He hadn’t expected her to recognize him and slid the phone back into his pocket. The urge to kiss her again was strong. How and why this woman had gotten under his skin, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t much like it.
“Mason?” She tapped his arm. “The detectives are talking to you.”
He turned back to face the kitchen, drawing Aubrey with him. He’d been so engrossed in her that he’d almost forgotten about them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“We need to get back to work,” Russo said. “But I want you to stay in touch. Especially if you obtain key information.”
“Why haven’t you gotten key information on where Lucas is being held?” Aubrey’s tone was exasperated. “Mason has learned more today than you have, when it should be the other way around.”
Lee flushed, but Russo simply nodded. “I agree with you. We’ve had officers canvassing Lucas and Nanette’s neighborhood, but so far without success. We’re also questioning all Blue Devils in custody, but none of them are talking either.”
“All the officers have Raymond Nassar’s mug shot,” Mason added. He shared her frustration, but hammering these two wouldn’t help. “Hopefully, they’ll pick him up very soon.”
“That won’t help if he doesn’t tell us what we need to know,” she protested. “You would think those who are already in jail would be more likely to say something.”
The gang mentality wasn’t all that different from the terrorists he and his team had shut down. Most of them would die to protect their leader. Mason knew what they needed here was someone who had nothing to lose. Who had already been targeted by the Blue Devils.
Someone like Jose.
“We need to find Jose. Word on the street is that el jefe has targeted him because he was seen talking to me.” He looked at the detectives. “You must have some way of finding his last name and last known address.”
“There are hundreds of men named Jose in the system,” Lee said dryly.
“I asked our tech guys to run a list of those named Jose with a tattoo. From there, we may be able to narrow it down to those with a known Blue Devils tat,” Russo added. “But that’s iffy as most tattoos aren’t described in detail.”
“Of course not,” Aubrey muttered. “That would be too easy.”
“Please keep us updated on your progress,” Mason said as he led them to the door. “And I’ll do the same.”
Bravo stood beside him as he closed and locked the front door. As much as he wanted to continue searching for Lucas, he didn’t think Aubrey was up to the task. He wished Kaleb or any of the other guys were there, but he wasn’t going to call them away from searching for Jaydon’s sister, Ava, either.
“Now what?” Aubrey asked, her expression strained. “Do we head out to look for this Raymond Nassar guy?”
“Not now.” He gently led her back to the kitchen. “We’ll stay here for a while. Maybe the cops will pick him up.”
“Don’t hold your breath.” Instead of taking a seat, she crossed her arms over her chest, staring him down. “Besides, we can’t stop now, Mason. I have no faith in Russo and Lee. I’d have thought they’d have more information by now. One name of one guy who probably knows nothing about Lucas isn’t much.”
“Don’t forget, Nassar was likely the one who took a shot at us at your place and again in East Village. He’s involved in this.”
“Probably on el jefe’s orders,” she said grimly. Then her expression turned troubled. “You really think Jose is in danger?”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t lie to her. “If there was a way to track him down, we might be able to get more information out of him. Especially if there was a way to offer him protection from retribution.”
“Protection.” She snorted. “That’s great, considering he’s the one who turned Lucas over to the Blue Devils in the first place.” She shook her head and sank into a chair. “I’m worried sick about Lucas.”
“I know.” It was too early to eat dinner, and like her, he couldn’t stand the idea of not keeping up the search. “I’d like you to stay here with Bravo while I head back to East Village.”
“What are you planning?”
“I’d like to go back to Nanette’s apartment building.” He knew how to pick locks and figured it was well past time to get inside the place. Since he wasn’t a cop, he wasn’t bound by the rules of evidence. Not that he wanted to create problems if the police did eventually get Nanette in custody, but he was fresh out of alternatives.
And he wasn’t above breaking and entering to find Lucas.
“I’ll go with you,” Aubrey said, although she looked exhausted by the mere thought.
“You should stay here with Bravo, he’ll protect you. If you use this hand signal”—he showed it to her—“he’ll attack the threat. You’ll be safe here.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He wished he could be 100 percent sure, but he wasn’t. There was a slim possibility one of the gang members had gotten his SUV plate number. But he didn’t honestly believe they had the connections to trace his license plate to his name and address. As a former SEAL, he wasn’t listed anywhere.
“I know you think I’m needy, but I don’t want to be left behind, Mason.” Her troubled gaze ripped at his heart. “Please. I’d rather wait in the car than sit here.”
He wrestled with himself for several tense moments, then reluctantly nodded. It seemed he couldn’t deny Aubrey anything.
A dangerous habit, he silently admitted. Deep down, he knew he cared more about Aubrey’s safety than anything.
Even Lucas.
He grabbed his lock-picking tools and headed outside. It didn’t take long to drive back to East Village, and he purposefully parked a few blocks over from the Espinoza apartment building.
“Stay here, Bravo will protect you.” He slid out from behind the wheel. It was four o’clock in the afternoon now, and the sun was mostly hidden by clouds, making the sky darker than usual.
After pulling on his gloves, he carefully approached the building, taking note that there were no lights shining through the windows. It was possible she was hiding in the darkness, but he didn’t think so. He feared the Blue Devils had come for her, too, although he hadn’t mentioned that to Aubrey.
She was stressed enough about Lucas, no need to add that to her plate.
The lock on Nanette’s door was easy to bypass. He eased inside, then softly closed the door behind him. He waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust, then moved through the small kitchen to the main living room.
A quick yet thorough search proved the place was empty. Using a small pen flashlight, he searched for something that might give them a hint as to where Lucas, and Nanette for that matter, might be.
No surprise to find a beer coaster from Twisted. Jose likely had hung out there until he’d become persona non grata with the Blue Devils. He found another coaster from a place called The Overlook. He snapped a picture of it, then moved on. He didn’t find anything of note in Lucas’s bedroom, so he moved on to Nanette’s room.
There he found a photo of Lucas, the same one Aubrey had. It was probably a school photo. He picked it up, then frowned. Was there another picture behind it? He undid the back of the frame, and a smaller photo fell out. This one was of Nanette holding a baby in her arms, standing beside a tall Hispanic man. Lucas’s father? It seemed likely.
He snapped a picture of the photograph before putting the frame back together.
He wanted to kick himself in the rear end for not thinking of Lucas’s father sooner. It was a good clue, and one he thought may help them find the boy.
After slipping from the apartment and relocking the door behind him, he headed back the way he’d come. But when he heard Bravo’s frenzied barking, he broke into a run.
Chapter Eight
Aubrey had chosen to climb over the console to drop into the driver’s seat again, with Bravo sitting beside her. When the dog started to bark furiously, she peered beyond him to see what had caught his attention.
Three men were walking down the street toward them. From this distance, though, she couldn’t tell if one of them was Jose.
Her heart pounding, she scrunched down in her seat. Should she call 911? And report what? Three men were bothering the dog? Still, it didn’t seem prudent to stay there either. She pushed the button to start the engine and eased the gearshift to drive.
As the men drew closer, she realized they all had guns. What was it about this area of the city? She’d lived most of her adult life in San Diego, and she’d never seen anyone carrying a weapon. Then again, maybe people had been carrying without her knowing.
One of the men reached for the gun at his waist. That was all she needed. She hit the gas and cranked the wheel to pull into the road. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, which was good.
But she was leaving Mason behind, which wasn’t good. She turned right at the next intersection, heading toward Nanette’s apartment building, hoping and praying she’d see Mason.
Bravo hadn’t stopped his crazy barking, clawing at the window as if desperate to get out of the SUV. Aubrey wasn’t sure if she should let him go. Bravo would likely find Mason easily enough, but what if one of the three men shot the dog?
No, she couldn’t risk it. Mason wouldn’t want her to put Bravo in danger.
A dark figure running caught her attention. Mason! She hit the brake, pulled over to the curb, and unlocked the doors. As before, he yanked open the rear passenger door and jumped in. “Go!”
She hit the gas, careening away from the curb, nearly sideswiping another vehicle. Still, she kept going, anxious to put distance between them and the three men who’d caused Bravo distress. Bravo jumped over the center console to ride with Mason. Aubrey decided not to take the dog’s preference for his owner personally.
The way Bravo had warned her of danger was impressive.
“What happened?” Mason asked when they were far enough away from Nanette’s apartment. “Did someone try to get in the car?”
She shook her head, flexing her fingers from their white-knuckled grip. “I had the window open partway, and when he caught a whiff of the three men coming toward us, he went nuts. I’m pretty sure they were all armed, and when one of them reached for their gun, I decided to get out of there.” She met his gaze in the rearview. “I was worried about leaving you behind, though, so I drove toward Nanette’s apartment. I’m really glad we found you.”
“You did the right thing,” Mason said. He smiled at his K9 and rubbed his fur. “Good boy. You protected her exactly the way I asked you too.”
“But I almost left you behind!” Now that the danger was over, her eyes filled with tears. She swiped them away, irrationally angry with him. “We need a better plan, Mason. A meeting point of some sort.”
“I would have called you,” he said reasonably. “And I can take care of myself.”
“Against three men with guns?”
“Yes. But I’m sorry you were worried.”
The apology wasn’t necessary, but somehow it managed to soothe her anger. Retired SEALs were not bulletproof. Or knife proof.
“What do you know of Lucas’s father?” Mason’s question caught her off guard.
“I—think Nanette told me he died shortly after Lucas was born.” She met his gaze. “Why do you ask?”
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Mason’s tone held a note of disappointment. “I found a photograph in her bedroom of the three of them. She was holding Lucas as a baby in her arms, standing beside a tall Hispanic man. I thought maybe Lucas’s disappearing could be some sort of custody battle.”
“Doubtful. For one thing, Nanette and Lucas didn’t have any money to spare. If Lucas’s father was alive, she’d be getting some sort of child support. I got the impression she was on her own, working as many hours as possible.”
“Not all fathers support their kids,” Mason pointed out.
“I know.” She thought back to the brief conversation she’d had with Nanette. “I asked about Lucas’s father, and I’m sure she said he was dead.”
Mason grimaced. “Okay, so finding the photograph wasn’t a good lead after all.”
She tried not to be depressed. Facing danger at every turn to come up with nothing was frustrating. Frankly, she wasn’t impressed with the police work that had been done on this case so far, yet if this was what detective work was like, she was surprised they managed to arrest anyone at all.
“I found two coasters, one from Twisted and another from The Overlook. We should head there next.”
Every cell in her body revolted at the thought of facing more danger. “Tonight?”
“Yeah.” He looked at her oddly. “Most bars and taverns aren’t open in the morning. Besides, how else are we going to find out the real name of el jefe.”
