“Good. Hopefully he’ll say yes, then offer up some pertinent information to add to the file we’re building for Mayor Elliot.” The detective paused, staring at Samantha thoughtfully. “But I don’t know. After what happened tonight in that parking lot, I don’t want you meeting with Hudson in person. It could be dangerous if you two are seen together. Try and make it either a phone call or video chat.”
Samantha slid the patio door open, then turned to Gregory and nodded her head. “I think that’s a good idea. Better safe than sorry.”
She paused, contemplating her next thought before continuing. “Hey, there’s something else that’s been on my mind. I know you want me to be low-key moving forward and all, but I really want to share what happened to me tonight with Ava. She needs to be careful out here, too. Everybody in town knows she’s working to get justice for Jacob, which means she could possibly be in danger. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, I definitely agree. No one involved in this case can be too careful at this point.” Gregory grabbed the rest of the dishes and followed Samantha inside. He set everything in the sink then turned to her. “You know what? I’m going to fill out a police report and take a statement from you on what happened in that parking lot tonight.”
“Don’t you think that’ll draw unwanted attention to us?”
“I do. Which is why I’m not going to actually process the report. I’m just going to fill it out and add it to the file that we’re building for the district attorney, along with the vandalism reports on your house that I actually did process.”
“You mean the ones that Chief Wentworth promised to look into then completely forgot about?”
“Yes, those,” Gregory chortled, pulling the cheesecake from the refrigerator and placing it on the counter. “I just need the mayor to have a record of every incident and each piece of evidence we’ve gathered. That should make it easy for him to draw up charges against Collin, Chief Wentworth and everyone else involved in the drug ring.”
“Speaking of everyone else, did you find any reports on drug busts that may be linked to Westman’s?”
“Only one. It involved a temporary employee who worked there briefly during the summer. He nearly OD’d after a night out with several of the assembly workers.”
“Let me guess. No charges were ever filed against anyone.”
“Unfortunately, no,” Gregory sighed. “I did some digging into Chief Wentworth’s background, too. I expected to find evidence of him using that drug money to make major purchases, take lavish vacations, something. But surprisingly, he lives a pretty modest lifestyle.”
“Hmm, interesting. Maybe he pays for everything with cash and keeps his toys stashed away in another town.”
“Maybe...”
Samantha poured the last of the wine into their glasses and handed one to Gregory. After they each took a sip, he reached over and covered her hand with his. “So how are you feeling now? Are you all right?”
“I’m still a bit shaken up.” She shrugged. “But being here with you is certainly helping to keep me calm.”
He caressed her hand while gazing at her sympathetically. Samantha responded by intertwining her fingers within his.
When he began stroking her palm with his thumb, the arousing sensation caused a nagging voice to go off inside her head.
Don’t get distracted before you complete your mission...
She cleared her throat and slipped her hand from his grip. “So anyway,” she continued, “thank you for tonight. Especially that delicious meal.”
The detective paused, as if surprised by the abrupt way in which she disrupted their intimate moment and changed the subject.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he told her. “Are you ready for dessert?”
“I am. I’ll grab a couple of plates and forks.”
Gregory pulled a can of whipped cream and a container of mixed berries out of the refrigerator. “Look what I’ve got.”
“Ooh, nice. Those’ll go great with the cheesecake.”
“I thought so, too.”
He cut two slices of cake and slid them onto the plates, then topped them with the garnishes.
“I’ll tell you what,” Gregory continued. “Why don’t we take our dessert and wine into the television room and get lost in some trashy reality TV show? No more talk of Collin, Chief Wentworth or their drug operation. Let’s just decompress and enjoy the rest of the evening together. How does that sound?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Samantha trailed behind Gregory as he led her down a hallway into the den. The pair got comfy on his chocolate-brown leather couch while he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
“So look,” she told him, “I’m not trying to watch anything pertaining to sports or pimped-out hot rods.”
“Well, I’m not trying to watch any makeup or modeling competitions.”
“Awfully presumptuous, aren’t you?”
“Aren’t you?” Gregory rebutted before they both burst out laughing.
“Listen, why don’t we find some middle ground here? What about 90 Day Fiancé?”
“Ninety day what?”
“90 Day Fiancé!” Samantha repeated. “It’s this crazy reality show about people in the United States who connect with foreigners overseas.”
Gregory shook his head while punching buttons on the remote. “Okay, that sounds absolutely insane.”
“Yeah, but I see you’re doing a search for it, so obviously you’re interested.”
“Obviously,” he retorted before nudging Samantha’s arm. “Found it. Let me see what this madness is all about...”
As Gregory hit the play button, Samantha reclined farther back into the couch and slid a piece of cheesecake inside her mouth. While her day had been traumatic, she was overcome by a sense of peace and protection being in the detective’s presence.
But in the back of her mind, Samantha had an uneasy feeling that the worst was yet to come.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gregory glanced down at his watch. It was a little after three o’clock in the afternoon. He was still at the station, refreshing his personal email inbox like a madman.
His IT forensics guy, Wayne, had promised he’d get back to him with some answers on Kenzie’s email before the end of the workday. But the detective still hadn’t heard from him.
Gregory had been able to schedule a last-minute appointment with the district attorney at four o’clock that afternoon. He was eager to report on Wayne’s findings, along with the information that he and Samantha had gathered.
“Come on, dammit,” Gregory grumbled, once again pounding the touchpad on his laptop. Still no new messages.
Just as he pushed away from the desk, his cell phone rang.
“Detective Harris,” he barked without even checking the caller ID.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
The sound of Samantha’s voice on the other end of the phone quickly put Gregory at ease.
“Hey, yeah, everything’s okay. Well, actually, no. It’s isn’t. I thought I would’ve heard back from Wayne by now regarding Kenzie’s email. I’m getting worried, because it’s been radio silence on his end. I hope this isn’t gonna end up being one of the rare cases where he’s unable to track the message.”
“Well, the day isn’t over yet. So just relax and give him a little more time. Maybe Collin was smart enough to send the email through a virtual private network rather than his own internet service provider. If so, its origins would be harder to trace. Either way, I’m sure you’ll hear back from Wayne with some news soon.”
Gregory gnawed at his thumbnail. “I hope you’re right. I’m just feeling an immense amount of pressure because we’re running out of time here. We’ve got to get this report to the DA before Collin strikes again. I don’t want anybody else to turn up missing,
or dead, or worse. Especially you...”
He paused and took a deep breath, unable to go on.
“Just breathe, Gregory,” Samantha said calmly. “You’re good. We’re good. We are making some great strides here. Don’t start letting this case get the best of you. We’ve come too far to break down now. According to you, Wayne is a pro, right?”
“Yes, he is.”
“And he’s never failed you before, has he?”
“No,” Gregory sighed, falling back in his chair and taking a long sip of stale, lukewarm coffee. “He hasn’t.”
“Well, trust and believe that he isn’t going to let you down now. I know the clock is ticking. But let’s just be patient. Wayne will come through for you soon enough.”
The detective rubbed his burning eyes. Between worrying about their investigation and fighting off sensual thoughts of Samantha all night as she slept in the room right next to his, he hadn’t gotten much rest.
“Now,” she continued, “the reason why I’m calling is because I’ve got some pretty explosive news to share with you.”
“You do?” Gregory hopped up and closed the door when he noticed several police officers gathering near his office. “All right, let’s hear it.”
“I spoke with Hud—”
“Wait, hold up a sec,” the detective interrupted when he heard his computer ping.
He rushed back over to the desk and refreshed his email inbox. A new message from Wayne appeared on the screen.
“Bingo!” he yelled so loudly that the officers standing outside his office peered at him through the glass window with raised eyebrows.
Gregory threw them a thumbs-up, indicating that all was well before turning back to his computer.
“What is going on?” Samantha asked.
“I just got an email from Wayne.”
“See! I told you he wouldn’t let you down. What does it say?”
He rolled his chair up to the desk and clicked on the message.
“It says, ‘What’s up, man, sorry it took me a minute to get back to you. I got the results back on the email. It was sent through a VPN rather than an ISP, so tracking the sender’s IP address was a challenge. But what the sender didn’t realize is that some VPNs keep a record of users’ internet movement. So I was able to log the server activity, hence enabling me to trace him.’”
“Got it. Now come on. Get to the good part!” Samantha insisted.
“Okay, okay,” the detective said, “The last paragraph says, ‘So you were right, the IP address that I traced the email back to belongs to Collin Wentworth.’”
Gregory heard Samantha gasp as she realized what this meant. Collin must have used Kenzie’s email address to send the message, but he’d done it from his own IP address.
“Wow,” she breathed. “We called it. You and I both knew Collin was behind that message. But hearing the confirmation from an expert is wonderful. Everything is really falling into place with this case.”
“I know, right? I only wish we’d gotten the info we needed before Kenzie disappeared,” the detective said as he printed out Wayne’s message and added it to his file for the district attorney.
“I know. But we’re doing what we can as fast as we can. And I haven’t even told you what I found out from Hudson when we spoke today.”
“Wait, you talked to Hudson?”
“Yes! That’s what I was about to tell you when Wayne’s email came through. Listen, he spilled all types of tea on Collin, his drug ring and the deceased Westman’s workers.”
Gregory looked up and noticed that the cops milling around his office seemed to be doing more than just chatting among themselves. It appeared as though they were trying to eavesdrop on his conversation.
“Hey, hold that thought,” he told Samantha before lowering his voice. “There are some officers congregating outside my office, and I don’t know what they’re up to. So why don’t we continue this conversation after I leave the station?”
“Good idea. Because we don’t know who’s on whose team in there. Better safe than sorry.”
“Exactly.” Gregory kept his eyes on the window of his office while grabbing his laptop and car key. “Listen, I know you’ve been cooped up in my house all day. After my meeting with the DA, why don’t I come pick you up and we’ll go grab some sushi for dinner? There’s a new spot that just opened up over on Spranton. I hear it’s pretty private and low-key. I highly doubt that we’ll be spotted in that area.”
“Mmm, sushi would be delicious. I’m actually in the middle of clawing my way through an article for the women’s journal on how to manage your anxiety when life gets too overwhelming. Needless to say, I could use a break.”
“So basically working on a piece that sums up everything you’re going through right now.”
“Exactly.”
Gregory got up and opened his office door. The cops standing nearby quickly stepped to the side, their tense expressions appearing apprehensive. The detective acknowledged them with a slight nod, his blank stare more cold than friendly.
“These dudes are in here acting a little funny toward me,” he muttered into the phone as he swaggered through the police station.
“I wonder how many of them know what their beloved Chief Wentworth is actually up to.”
“Speaking of the devil...”
Gregory walked past the break room and noticed the chief holding court with Officers Baxter and Miller near the vending machine. They were cracking up laughing while toasting with soda cans and slapping one another on the backs.
“Which devil?” Samantha snarked. “Because there appear to be a whole lot of them in there.”
“You’re right. But this time I’m referring to Chief Wentworth and his cronies, Baxter and Miller,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“You mean those two clowns who showed up to my house and conducted that half-ass investigation after Collin busted out my windows?”
Gregory subdued a laugh as he pushed through the station’s revolving door and walked out into the parking lot.
“Yeah, those two.”
“Well, hopefully your meeting with the district attorney will put an end to all this madness and these criminals will finally be charged with their crimes.”
“That’s my hope, too,” the detective said as he climbed inside his car. “I’m feeling really confident now that we have proof of Kenzie’s email being sent from Collin’s IP address, along with all the other evidence we’ve gathered.”
“Same here. And I’m looking forward to us making a toast over dinner to what I already know will be a fantastic meeting with the DA.”
Gregory felt a surge of excitement at the thought of sharing an intimate dinner with Samantha unrelated to the case.
It had been a long time since he’d actually taken a woman out on a date. Memories of courting an ex-girlfriend back in Chicago came to mind. They’d spent countless nights together, sharing candlelit dinners in Little Italy and dancing to jazz music in tiny clubs in Wicker Park.
Stop it, Gregory told himself, quickly pushing those thoughts out of his head. The last thing he wanted to do was compare what they had to his old life back in Chicago.
“Hey, you still there?” she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, I am. Sorry about that. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that I’m going to hang up so I can finish up some work, then start getting ready.”
“Gotcha. I missed that. I was, uh...thinking about what types of sushi rolls I’m gonna order later,” Gregory lied.
“Mmm, I’ll have to go online and check out their menu. Good luck with the meeting, and I will be ready when you get here.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
He disconnected the call and took a deep breath.
Keep your cool. And get your emoti
ons in check... Detective Harris thought as he headed to the DA’s office.
* * *
“I CANNOT BELIEVE I let you talk me into this,” Gregory said, shaking his head as a feeling of regret took hold of him. He clutched the steering wheel while making a right turn onto Everhart Avenue, then slowly drove down the street.
“Trust me, we’re doing the right thing,” Samantha insisted. “This is the last piece of evidence that we need to hand over to the district attorney in order for him to file charges against Collin, Chief Wentworth and whoever else is involved in their drug ring.”
Detective Harris tapped on the brake and pulled over when Westman’s Automotive Factory came into view. He glanced down at the clock. It was a little after nine o’clock.
The pair had just left dinner. Gregory and Samantha had spent most of the evening discussing how his meeting with the district attorney went left after the DA insisted that the detective didn’t have enough evidence to execute any warrants, let alone arrests.
Gregory decided against showing him Collin’s drug ledger since it was obtained without a warrant, making it inadmissible to present as evidence in court.
After the detective and Samantha left the restaurant, she’d received a text message from Hudson. His friend was working security at Westman’s and agreed to let them inside the factory after hours.
“So look,” Samantha began, “according to Hudson, the maintenance crew is usually done cleaning at about nine o’clock. So we should be good.”
“We? What do you mean we? I haven’t agreed to step foot inside that factory with you. Now, for the thousandth time, this is a bad idea, Samantha. The DA isn’t going to use anything you find here, so you could be jeopardizing any case we do end up putting together. And you’re once again risking your life by breaking into this place in search of an alleged drug laboratory that you’re not even sure exists!”
“But what if it does?” she shot back, her eyes dancing wildly as she stared across the street at Westman’s. “That would be a slam dunk, guaranteeing a prison cell inside the Menard Correctional Center with Collin’s and his father’s names written on it.”
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