Code of Valor

by Lynette Eason

  “Yes. I’m guessing when Parker failed to get rid of you, Burnett took over. Speaking of the Lady Marie. They haven’t found the boat matching the description you gave and Parker’s not saying what he did with it.”

  “It could be anywhere,” Linc said. “Hidden away in a boathouse or someone’s garage at this point.”

  Brady nodded. “I think that’s going to be a dead end, but let’s search for it anyway. All boats are registered somewhere.”

  “Do you know how many Lady Maries there probably are?” Linc asked. He shrugged. “But, I’ll put a call in and get Annie to find out everything she can about Burnett and his known associates. And the boat. As soon as she lets me know, I’ll pass the information on to you.”

  Brady smirked. “This isn’t your case, remember? You’re on vacation.”

  “Someone shot at my brother and his friend.” He scowled. “I’m going to do what I can to help.”

  “Right.”

  Izzy stepped inside and shut the door behind her. “We’ve got a partial plate on the vehicle that killed our guy in the other car. We’ll know who he is soon.”

  “Well, the dead guy is Martin Burnett,” Brady said. “Emily recognized him from something she was investigating with her job at the bank. Linc’s offered to use his resources to get more info on him.”

  Izzy frowned. “No need to bring the Bureau into this. We’ve got it covered.”

  “I know, Sis,” Linc said. “I’m not stepping on toes, I promise. Just offering to help out during my days off.”

  She frowned, then shrugged. “Fine. If that’s how you want to spend your vacation. As for Martin Burnett, as soon as we find out where he lives, we’ll head over there and see what we can dig up on him—and see if he was working with anyone else.”

  “We know he was working with Parker now. At least the two of them are out of the picture.”

  Brady turned to Linc. “But Snake Man’s not.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “What do you think about Emily hiding out for a few days?” Brady said. “She’s been so busy being on the defensive and reacting to the things that have happened that she hasn’t had a chance to sit down and process. I need to gather information from her and we need to do that in a secure setting. Our house isn’t a great place for that.”

  “What about your office at the police station?” Izzy asked.

  “My cubicle, you mean?” he asked. She shrugged. “That would work,” he said, “but I’d rather something like a safe house.”

  “I agree,” Linc said.

  “Look, I’ll be all right,” Emily said. “I’ll go to a motel or something.” She rubbed her eyes and realized it was starting to become a habit. She dropped her hands. “But you’re right. I don’t want to put anyone in danger. I just need to get my things. My laptop and clothes. But . . .”

  “But?” Brady asked.

  “I want to go back to Heather’s apartment. I keep feeling like I’m missing something. Her apartment was torn to pieces, just like mine. They were looking for something at both places. I want to see if her laptop’s there.”

  “Her place was processed as a crime scene after the 911 call,” Brady said softly. “Officers covered it from top to bottom.”

  “Did they find her laptop?”

  “I don’t know. Let me call and find out.” It didn’t take him long to learn no laptop had been found.

  “She may have had it with her and they took it when they attacked her in the parking garage,” Linc said.

  “Maybe.”

  Brady narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his chin. “Wouldn’t it be more likely that she had it at work? After all, that’s where she was coming from when she was attacked.”

  “Sometimes she left it in her desk at work,” Emily said. “If it wasn’t in her apartment and she didn’t have it when she was attacked, then it would be locked in her newsroom desk.”

  “Well, there’s no way to know if she had it with her when she left the office,” Linc said.

  Emily straightened. “Wait a minute. Yes, there is. We can just ask her boss to check and see if it’s there.” She grabbed her phone and, with a pang, punched the number in without hesitation. It rang, then went to voicemail. She left a message and hung up. “Maybe we’ll hear back from him soon, but in the meantime, while I know the camera in the garage wasn’t working—”

  “More like tampered with, but go on,” Brady said.

  “I’m willing to bet the cameras in the newspaper building were working just fine. If we could look at those, see when she left and if she was carrying the laptop, then we’d know. She has a shoulder bag that she uses. If she had it over her shoulder when she left, then we’ll know she had the laptop with her.”

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Linc said. “The officers who responded to the 911 call would have requested the footage as they tried to retrace her steps. If so, it’ll be easy enough for Brady to access.”

  Brady was nodding. “We’ll find a safe place for you and I’ll go look.”

  “Um. No. I’m going too. I know—knew—Heather way better than anyone else on the planet.” She pursed her lips. “And I know everyone she worked with. If we need to question them, they’ll talk to me.”

  “The officers investigating have already talked to them, but I’m guessing they didn’t ask specifically about her laptop.”

  Izzy headed for the door. “You guys can figure that out. I’m going back to finding the person who killed Mr. Burnett—and who hired Mr. Burnett to shoot you. Talk to you when we finish processing his place.” She eyed Brady. “Keep me updated, will you?”

  “Of course, Detective,” Brady smirked.

  She stuck her tongue out at him, then swept out the door. Brady snorted and Linc hid a chuckle behind his hand. “She’s going to get you one day, bro, and you’re not going to see it coming.”

  “Oh, I know. But she’s so fun to tease.”

  Emily’s gaze bounced between the brothers, fascinated by the exchange.

  Brady caught her eye and cleared his throat. “Sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For joking around when this is serious. We don’t mean anything by it.”

  She tried to offer him a smile but figured it looked more like a grimace. “A little humor is never a bad thing. And you guys took my mind off Heather for a brief moment. It’s all good.” But just saying her friend’s name brought the grief crashing back in on a wave that nearly crushed her.

  Brady’s hand covered hers and she gripped his fingers, trying to absorb the strength that he offered. Linc patted her shoulder and slipped out of the room. Emily and Brady sat in silence for a moment until he cleared his throat. “Let me see what I can arrange with the security footage. If we didn’t get that video yet, we’ll get permission from the powers that be at the newspaper office, and David Unger, our department’s IT guy, will have it pulled up and ready to play in no time.”

  He stood and she rose to her feet, her body weighted with the heaviness of her sorrow. But she’d do this. For Heather. If she kept reminding herself that she was doing this for Heather, she could keep going instead of giving up and hiding away from it all. Heather had given her life for this story. The least Emily could do was make sure it wasn’t in vain.

  16

  Brady led Emily inside the police station and stopped her just beyond the door. “You can take the vest off now if you want.”

  “Thanks.”

  He helped her shrug out of the body armor he’d insisted she wear before leaving the 911 call center. “You’ve been kidnapped, almost blown up, and shot at twice,” he’d pointed out. “I think it’s time for some precautions.”

  She hadn’t argued with him. A fact he appreciated since he wasn’t sure he’d win if it came down to a battle of the wills. But she didn’t have a death wish and apparently picked her arguments wisely.

  Linc and Derek would stay close by but would take the time to catch up on whatever it was they needed to do while
Brady and Emily were in one of the safest places in the city. The basement of the main law enforcement building.

  He led her downstairs to the office where David Unger worked day in and day out using his tech skills to help fellow officers catch the bad guys. Brady rapped on the door, and without turning from the monitor, David waved a hand, motioning for them to enter. “Find a seat.”

  Brady took the chair closest to David, and Emily lowered herself into the one next to him. He set the vest on the floor. “Thanks for doing this, David,” he said.

  “No problem.” David finally spun to face them. “Sounds like some serious stuff going on.”

  “It’s always serious. David, meet Emily. Emily, David.”

  “Thank you for making this a priority,” Emily said.

  “Of course. I’m sorry about your friend.”

  “Thanks.” She blinked rapidly, but no tears fell. Her shoulders straightened and her jaw tightened.

  David turned back to the computer. “Thanks to the cooperation of the the newspaper people, I’ve got the footage right here. I’m going to start inside the newsroom and then we’ll trail her out into the outer area, to the elevator, and across the street to the parking garage. From what I can tell, she’s not carrying a laptop or any other bag except her purse. Unless the laptop’s so small it fits in that.”

  Emily leaned forward. “No, she has one of those cross-body messenger bags that she uses for the laptop.”

  David clicked the play button and the footage started with a woman sitting at her desk.

  “Is that Heather?” Brady asked.

  “Yes,” Emily said, her voice taut with emotion.

  David zoomed in on Heather and kept the footage focused on her as she moved. “So,” David said, “it’s late. 11:21. She’s working. I guess she decides to call it a day, gets up, and grabs her purse.”

  “But not her messenger bag,” Emily said. “She’s using her desktop while she’s working. I don’t see her laptop anywhere.”

  “And then she exits, goes to the elevator. Waits. Goes down and out of the building. I was able to pull some footage from where she entered the parking garage and got on the elevator.” David paused it. “And see this here? I think this guy is following her. He’s got a ski mask in his hand, but we get a brief glimpse of him before he steps into the stairwell. Cameras in the stairwell were out too.”

  He zoomed closer and Emily gasped. “I think that’s Martin Burnett!”

  Brady leaned back. “And he’s dead, so there’s no asking him what happened that night.”

  “That’s the last of the footage from this level,” David said.

  “It’s okay. We know Heather didn’t have the laptop with her when she left the building,” Brady said.

  “She could have had it in her car, I suppose.”

  Brady sighed. “Won’t know that until we find it.”

  Emily swiped a stray tear. “Well, the car wasn’t there when the cops got there, right? That means it left the garage. Surely there’s footage of it leaving?”

  David nodded. “I thought about that too.” He clicked a few keys on the keyboard. The outside of the parking garage popped up on the screen. “There,” he said. “The car leaves at 11:40.”

  Brady straightened. “Can we follow it? See where he goes?”

  “Only so far. I tracked it to when they got on I-26 East. After that, I lost it. I tried different cameras along the exits but never did pick the car up again. I’m sorry.”

  “There’s a BOLO out on it,” Brady said. “Maybe someone will see it and call it in sometime soon.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “For now, I’m going to take Emily and we’re going to grab her stuff from the house and head somewhere safe.”

  “Where?” she asked.

  “One of our safe houses.” He looked at her.

  “Does it have a secure Wi-Fi connection?” she asked.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I want to use my laptop but have been hesitant because as soon as I log in to the bank’s software, someone would be able to track me.”

  He lifted a brow. “I’m glad you thought of that.”

  “I do think things through occasionally.” She smirked, then sighed. “Although, it doesn’t seem like it matters. They’ve been able to catch up with me—us—regardless.”

  “But we haven’t been trying to hide you. Up to this point, it wouldn’t take much effort to follow you—or us.” But that was about to change. He pulled his phone from the clip on his belt and called his boss, updating him on everything and requesting a specific location for the safe house. He wanted to be on the water.

  “She needs to pass on what she knows and our investigators can take over,” the sergeant said. “We’ve got resources that could be a big help in getting those involved.”

  “I know. And we’ll need access to those resources, but we need a little time. Emily’s the one who discovered this. She’s the one who’s been on top of this from the beginning. Give us a safe place to catch our breath and gather the information and we’ll share when we’ve got it so it makes sense to someone just coming into it.”

  “Our people can read too, you know.”

  “I know, Sarge. Come on.”

  A sigh. “Fine, you can use the house on Lake Wateree, but I want regular updates. You know where to find the key.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Stay in touch.” He hung up.

  Next, Brady sent a text to a friend who was a detective and also on the dive team when she was needed. Mary Beth Habishaw. He requested she join them at the safe house and bring a dry suit and equipment. While he and Emily were on the lake, he planned to see if she’d be interested in joining the protection detail he wanted to have in place. And besides, he could see Mary Beth and Emily connecting and becoming friends in the long run.

  Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to head to a safe house, but she had to admit she needed a breather. So much had happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to even process most of it. When Brady hung up with his sergeant, he turned to David. “I have one more request.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ve got pictures that I need to look at while we’re here. If I forward an email to you, will you pull them up?”

  “Sure.”

  Within seconds, they were scrolling through the pictures. While some were more clear than others, Emily still recognized them from the Emergency Department. Unfortunately, none of the faces were familiar, but the guy with the baseball cap caught her attention. “Can you zoom in on him?”

  “A little. These aren’t the best pictures.”

  “I know.” The frame adjusted, blurred, then cleared. “There, on his neck.” She pointed. “See that? Is that a tattoo?”

  David zoomed closer and even though the pixels separated more, Emily could clearly make out the head of a snake. “That’s one of the snake men,” she said. “From the office building. I can’t see his face, but I’m sure he was one of them.”

  “I think you’re probably right,” Brady said. “Well, at least we know how they knew I left the room and when to time their communications with you.”

  “I agree. But how did they know I was at the hospital?”

  Brady rubbed his eyes, then met her gaze.

  She held up a finger, signaling him to stay silent. “Never mind. They’ve been following me. Us. Obviously.”

  “Yes.”

  She crossed her arms. “Maybe they were biding their time so they could grab me but realized they couldn’t because I was never alone or without protection.”

  “So, they had to lure you out.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay, your mother and sister are safe,” Brady said. “Is there anyone else they can use that we need to get under protection?”

  “No one that I can think of right off. Heather and I were best friends. I mean, I have friends at the bank and friends at church, but no one that I can see them going after. Maybe Heather’s parents, but that’s a stretch. Alt
hough, they haven’t called me back and I’m getting worried. I know they’ve got all kinds of family there, so I’m not really worried they’re hurt or in trouble. I just want to know why they won’t take my calls or call me back.”

  “We won’t take any chances. I’ll request patrols be increased in that area. Where do they live?”

  “In Forest Acres.” She gave him the address.

  “Forest Acres? You said you and Heather had been friends since fourth grade. Is that where you grew up?”

  “Yes. Different sides of the track, so to speak, but yes.”

  He nodded. “All right. We’re going to go by the house and get your things. We’ll work on finding Heather’s laptop or any kind of storage device that she could have backed information up to.” His phone buzzed. “Hold on a second. Hello?”

  While Brady took the call, Emily watched David work to make the pictures even more clear. “You’re very good at that.”

  “Thanks.” He shot her a grim smile. “I’m not a huge people person and I’m too much of a wimp to chase the bad guys in person, but I’ve always wanted to be in law enforcement in some way. This job suits me.”

  “Yeah. It does. Perfectly.”

  Brady hung up and Emily turned her attention to him. “That was Izzy,” he said. “She and Jordan are still at Burnett’s house but promised to meet us at the safe house to fill us in when they’re finished.”

  “Okay. I’d appreciate that. I need to know what they found.”

  “She did say she got word that the cab driver appears to be clean. He said he was just sitting outside waiting on a fare when you came out.”

  Emily narrowed her eyes. “There was another car there. An Uber. He honked at us when we left.”

  “Yes, Izzy also looked into him and thinks he’s clean as well. He said he got a notification for a pickup at the hospital. The person who ordered the ride described you right down to the clothes you were wearing. They checked out his records and it all looks legit.”

  “That’s why they rerouted me. When they got word that I hadn’t taken the Uber, they texted me the fake address.”

  “You did great, Emily,” Brady said. He checked his phone. “Someone was beeping in while I was talking to Izzy. Let me check the voice mail.” He listened and his eyes cut to her. “It’s Nicholas Raimes. He said he can meet if I can be at his office in the next fifteen minutes. Otherwise, he won’t be able to meet until next week sometime.”