Nocturnal Revelations

by Amanda S Green

“Would you care to be tellin’ me what you think you’re doin’, Makenzie?”

  Mac considered retreating inside the bathroom and locking the door behind her. She didn’t need to look to know Moira O’Hara was pissed. When the woman’s accent was more Irish than Texan, it was a sure indication of her mood. At the moment, Moira sounded like she’d just stepped off the plane from County Cork for the first time.

  Feeling like a teen caught sneaking into the house after curfew, Mac hung her head and took a step toward her bed. Almost instantly, Moira was at her side. The redhead slid an arm around Mac’s waist, taking on much of her weight, which was a good thing. By the time Mac lay back, her legs shook and sweat ran down her spine. Maybe getting up wasn’t’ such a good idea after all.

  “Thanks.” She smiled up at her friend and carefully shifted to find a more comfortable position.

  “You’re as bad as my girls.” Moira shook her head and frowned. “Where are the twins?”

  Well, that answered one question. Pat, or possibly Jackson, had called and told her the others were going home for a few hours.

  “Not here yet.”

  Mac reached for her glass of water where it rested on the bedside tray. Then, seeing how her hand shook, she let her arm fall. It was embarrassing enough that Moira knew she was too weak to get up yet. But to have her see her hand shake as she did something as simple as reach for a glass of water. No, she couldn’t handle that, not right now.

  Moira didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she sighed and smiled down at Mac in understanding and affection.

  “Can I get you anything that doesn’t require me leaving this room?”

  Mac chuckled softly. She deserved that. “No.”

  She’d like a tablet or laptop but that wasn’t going to happen. If the cops had her phone, they had her other electronics as well. But she did have her mother’s cellphone. That would have to do—assuming Moira let her use it.

  “Then stay where you are.” Moira pinned her with a firm look before producing her own cellphone and sending a quick text to someone. “John’s going to bring you some lunch. But only if you stay in that bed until he gets here.”

  Mac didn’t hesitate. “I promise to be good.”

  Moira’s expression spoke volumes. She didn’t believe Mac, not that Mac blamed her. After all, she didn’t have the reputation of being a compliant patient.

  “I mean it, Mac. You stay in bed.”

  With that, Moira turned and disappeared inside the bathroom. Taking advantage of the time alone, Mac reached for her mother’s cellphone. Then she cursed softly. Her mother might have left her the phone, but she did so knowing what Mac would try the first chance she got—she’d want to check the security video of the shooting. Except the phone’s web browser was locked. Not only did that prevent Mac from logging in to see the video, she couldn’t check e-mail, the newspaper, anything. The growl that sounded deep in her throat could have come from her jaguar. How was she supposed to relax if they wouldn’t let her see what was going on in the world?

  Before she could decide between calling her mother for the password or asking Marie to come hack the phone for her, the bathroom door opened. Mac shook her head and dropped the phone onto the mattress at her side. A large Irish wolfhound padded across the tile in the direction of the bed. Moira clearly was taking no chances. Her shifted form gently climbed onto the mattress and settled down, her head resting on Mac’s stomach. Mac’s fingers caressed the dog’s ears.

  “You’re not going to let me do anything until the others get back, are you?” she asked.

  The wolfhound lifted its head and gave a very human nod.

  “Even when the twins get here?”

  This time the wolfhound shook its head. The message was clear. Mac was in bed and going to stay there until either Dr. Patek or Jackson said differently—whether she liked it or not.

  * *. *

  “Listen up, everyone.”

  Pat crossed to the front of the conference room and gave a slight nod. Every member of the growing taskforce investigating Mac’s shooting was present. Good. That meant she wouldn’t have to repeat herself half a dozen times.

  “As you can see, we’ve pulled in Detective Robards from Robbery and Detective Spinosa from Cyber. Gentlemen, make sure you get up-to-date with where we stand.”

  The two detectives nodded.

  “Spinosa, I want you working with Norwood and Buttkowski. They are doing a deep crawl through the captain’s case files, especially the case she was scheduled to testify in yesterday. See what you can find. They’ll brief you.”

  “You got it, LT.”

  “Robards, I want you checking into the Happy Home Health Associates. We ran the ID used to rent the van our shooter used. The real Marcus Lawson is an eighty-five year old male who hasn’t driven in more than a year. Detective Tanaka and I interviewed him.” Or tried to “He most definitely isn’t the shooter. Unfortunately, due to his medical condition, he couldn’t identify the man who rented the van using his ID.

  “His granddaughter, who is now his caretaker, said he suffered a major stroke approximately eight months ago. She’s been caring for him the last few months, moved her from Wisconsin where she’d been completing her nursing degree. Before then, the family used Happy Home. To say they hadn’t been satisfied with the level of care Mr. Lawson received is putting it mildly. They filed a complaint with the State when they noticed money missing from his bank accounts and items going missing from the house. Robards, see what you can find out about them. Be sure to check with the State as well and see if we have a pattern here.

  “Norwood, get a list of employees, past and present. Run them and their families against the images of the shooter and the man from the rental agency. Who knows, we might get lucky.”

  Not that she believed it. Nothing about this investigation had been easy.

  “Did either Mr. Lawson or his granddaughter give you anything that might help?” Jenny Sears asked.

  “Not yet,” Tanaka replied before Pat could. “But she’s going to check with the various credit bureaus, as well as her grandfather’s bank and credit card companies. And, before you guys ask, she volunteered. To say she’s pissed about someone stealing her grandfather’s identity is putting it mildly. She offered to help us nail him to the wall, literally.”

  Pat chuckled softly. After her initial outrage, Keeley Lawson exploded with a string of curses that would put a blush on a sailor’s cheeks. Then, not wanting to upset her grandfather, she’d all but dragged Pat and Tanaka into the backyard. Then she wanted to know what she could do. No one, absolutely no one, took advantage of her grandfather. If they wanted her to run a sting, she would. If they told her who it was and gave her a gun, she’d deal with him. She also promised to open all her finances and her grandfather’s for them to examine if that would help. Then she pulled out her phone and started making calls, doing what she could to track down whoever it was that violated the family’s trust.

  “Trust me, the perp might think we’re his worst nightmare, but Keeley Lawson is even worse. We will, of course, verify what she said, but my gut tells me they aren’t involved.” She glanced around, considering her next move. “Timmons, give her a call when we finish here. She’ll give you access to her grandfather’s accounts. Maybe you can shake something out quicker than she can.”

  Timmons nodded and scribbled a quick note on his legal pad.

  “What about the emails, LT?” Nguyen asked.

  “Sent from different public Wi-Fi locations. ADA Logan has gotten us warrants for the locations. Tanaka will assign who serves which one after the briefing.” She nodded for Tanaka to take over.

  “Anything from the labs?”

  Papers shuffled and keyboards came to life as several of those gathered called up information. Pat ducked her head to hide her smile when Officer Murray was the first to respond.

  “Ballistics has run the bullets. Two were too badly damaged to get anything more than general information.
The third, however, had enough rifling on it to run.” She looked up from her iPad, her expression dark. “The bullets were .45 ACP. They ran the rifling pattern through all available databases and got a hit.”

  The room fell silent as they waited. Could this be the break they’d been waiting for.

  “The gun, a Glock 21, was used in a series of robberies last year. Robbery broke the case and arrested three people after the last robbery ended with the store clerk being shot in the leg. Patrol officer Derek Neal vouchered the weapon and it was logged into evidence. The three perps all accepted pleas and the gun was supposed to have been destroyed three months ago.”

  The air of expectation that filled the room a moment earlier turned to disbelief and anger. Pat clinched her teeth to keep from cursing. She gave herself a moment to get her emotions under control. Then she motioned Murray to the front of the room.

  “Lay it out for us.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Checking her notes from time to time, Murray walked them through the time from when the gun was recovered to when it was logged out of the property room along with a number of other weapons to be destroyed. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Nothing except the fact the Glock had been used to shoot their captain. The obvious implication was that a cop was involved. But Pat knew better than to jump to conclusions. The gun could have gone “missing” after leaving police custody.

  But they had to be sure.

  “Good job, Murray.” Even if the information was the last thing she expected.

  “The LT’s right.” Tanaka motioned for Murray to return to her seat. “LT, you’re going to need to let the Chief know.”

  Pat nodded. Wasn’t that going to be fun?

  “That last, as with everything connected to this case, doesn’t leave this room. I’ll make sure the lab knows. If I catch the faintest hint of it, there’s going to be hell to pay. Understood?” Pat made eye contact with everyone, waiting until they nodded. “The fact the gun used was one confiscated during an investigation doesn’t mean another cop was involved. We all know that. So don’t let it blind you to other possible suspects. However, it means we need to take a look at those we know have a beef with the captain and see if there are any others. Here’s where we’re going to start.”

  She turned to the smartboard and called up the ID photo and current assignment of Angela Walsh, the motor pool officer responsible for assigning Michael King the SUV he drove the day he and the other two officers were ambushed and killed. Next came Alicia Avery. The detective had been a year ahead of Mac at the Academy. Her resentment that Mac made lieutenant while she had yet to make her bars came to Pat’s attention during another case. The question was if that resentment ran deeply enough to cause her to take direct action against Mac. Pat added two more photos, also cops who’d been foolish enough to ignore their duties on cases Mac investigated. The last photo she put up didn’t need explanation. Everyone there knew about the bad blood between their captain and the head of IAB.

  “Shelly, I know this is your case, but I’m going to make these assignments since I’ve had the misfortune of dealing with almost everyone up here.”

  “Of course, LT. Better you than me.”

  Pat snorted out a laugh. She didn’t blame Tanaka one bit for gladly handing off this part of the case. She’d do the same thing if she could.

  “Buttkowski, you take Walsh. You’ll find more information on her in the file into the investigation into Captain King’s murder. Walsh was assigned to the motor pool at the time and didn’t do a follow-through with regard to the captain’s report of his tires being slashed. She also didn’t tell anyone what happened until Mac tracked it down after being assigned the case. Pull Mac’s interview notes. Walsh made it clear she definitely resented the fact the brass, much less Mac, pulled her in to interview her. I don’t think she’s involved with what happened, but we need to make sure.”

  “Understood, LT.”

  “Take Detective Amory as well. She definitely has a hard-on for our captain and did everything she could to insult and treat Mac as a suspect in her mother’s stabbing. Since then, she’s been counseled at least twice for insubordination and she received an official reprimand over her conduct toward Mac. Again, I don’t think she’s involved but we need to make sure.

  “Sears, Nguyen, you take the next two. They are run-of-the-mill complaints we get periodically from detectives who feel we’ve stepped on their toes in an investigation. These two, however, tried taking the matter all the way to the top. They were slapped down and reprimanded. That’s prevented them from promoting any further as well as insuring they have some pretty shitty assignments.”

  “And her?” Sears nodded to the last picture on the smartboard.

  Pat blew out a breath. That was the million-dollar question. Hell, it was the trillion-dollar question.

  “Before I answer, there’s one thing we need to keep in mind. We’re going to be looking into cops. Under any other circumstances, I’d be informing IAB. After all, that’s their territory. However, not this time. I will inform Chief Culver. If he overrules my decision, we’ll obey orders. Until then, this is for us to do. I don’t like it one bit and if you have a problem looking into fellow cops, let me know now. Otherwise, we’ll consider the subject closed.”

  Once again, she looked around the room, making eye contact with each member of the team. Most looked as uncomfortable about the situation as she felt. Not that she blamed them. No one wanted to think a cop could be behind what happened to Mac. But these were leads they had to run down and exclude. Otherwise, they weren’t doing their duty to Mac, to DPD and to Dallas.

  “And to answer your question, Jenny, I’ll take Wysocki. But, as with the others, I need to discuss the matter with Chief Culver before we go much further.” She turned and studied the various boards and all the information on them. “Shelly, I’ll leave you to finish the briefing. I’d better let Culver know right away.”

  “Good luck, LT.’

  “Thanks.”

  She was going to need it. Culver wasn’t going to like the direction the investigation was taking one little bit.

  “LT, before you go.” Murray waited until Pat indicated she should continue. “You mentioned the captain’s mother being stabbed. I wasn’t with the squad back then, so I’m not up on all that happened. But could what happened to the captain be linked to the attack on her mother?”

  God, she hoped not. That would be even worse than finding out a cop was involved.

  “It’s possible but I doubt it. The perp is in federal custody on other charges and the person who hired him to attack Mrs. Wheeler is dead.” Still, it was something they had to look at, even if it meant risking exposure. “Pull the case file and see if you can find anything that ties it to the captain’s shooting.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Praying she hadn’t opened a whole new can of worms, Pat left the conference room, closing the door behind her. Now to find Culver and let him know the latest on the investigation. They had a few answers and a hell of a lot more questions. What she wouldn’t give for Mac to remember why the shooter seemed familiar.

  19

  Jael stood in the doorway and shook her head. The sight of Moira’s wolfhound form stretched out next to Mac, her head on Mac’s stomach, might not seem strange—unless you considered they were in a hospital and the hound was normally a slender redhead—but it put Jael on alert. She could think of only a few reasons why their friend had shifted and none of them reassured her.

  Before asking, she glanced around the room. Her brows knitted in a frown to find Moira and Mac the only ones there. Then she glanced at her watch. Her lips thinned and she bit back a curse. The twins, Danny and Abigail, should have been there half an hour ago. So where were they?

  Unless they had a damned good excuse, she’d be having a very serious discussion with them the moment they returned.

  “Let me guess.” She stepped inside and the door swung shut behind her. “You
tried to get out of bed without help.”

  Before Mac could answer, the wolfhound lifted its head and gave a very human nod. Jael moved to the side of the bed and reached over to caress the “dog’s” ears.

  “Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Moira.” She gave the wolfhound’s ears another scratch. “But we need to talk now.”

  The wolfhound carefully climbed off the mattress. Jael watched as she padded around the bed. A moment later, she disappeared inside the bathroom. Jael closed the door, giving her privacy as she shifted back. Then she turned her attention to Mac, her expression serious.

  “Are you trying to kill yourself?” She glared at Mac for a moment and then blew out a breath. “You’re so damned stubborn.”

  “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” Mac grinned, unabashed.

  “Let me try this. What were you trying to do when Moira arrived?”

  For a moment, Mac remained silent. Then she sighed and reached for the bed’s controller. Jael waited as she adjusted the angle of the head of the bed until she sat close to upright.

  “I’d come out of the bathroom.”

  “Without help, apparently.”

  Mac gave a nod.

  “Look, I get it, Mac. I’d be going stir crazy myself. But you have to do what the doctors tell you.”

  “You sound like Jackson.”

  “Be glad it was Moira who found you and not him—or me.” Jael relented a bit and smiled slightly. Then she carefully leaned one hip against the mattress. “But I will also take your act of rebellion as a sign you’re feeling better.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good, just don’t set your recover back by being foolish.” She waited until Mac nodded in reluctant agreement. “Now, where are your brother and sister?”

  If anything happened to them, there would be no keeping Mac in the hospital, much less in bed.

  “They stopped by the pub to pick up lunch for her. John was going to bring it by. Then they called and said they’d run through a drive-through and bring her a burger,” Moira said as she emerged from the bathroom. “I suggested they detour and pick up whatever John was preparing for her instead.”