When I woke up at dawn, the TV was still on and I had a kink in my neck from being awkwardly slumped over in the bed. The first thing I did was snatch up my phone. No new message or missed calls from Garrett. My heart squeezed painfully with worry.
I sent him a quick text.
Wookie and I are staying at a motel while they clean up the flood at the house. Fluffy is bunking with Tracey. Love you.
Wookie was on his hind legs, standing and nosing through the motel drapes to get a look out the window. I snapped a picture of the dog and sent it to Garrett.
The parking area of the motel was surrounded by a cedar hedge except for a small grassy lawn area off to one side. I took Wookie to the green area to pee and while he found the perfect spot I went through my phone and found the number Garrett used to call the landline. Chewing my lower lip, I toyed with the idea of sending a text to the person and asking about Garrett. All I wanted to know was that he was okay and working. That’s it.
Once we were back inside the room and I’d given Wookie kibble and fresh water in his bowl I still couldn’t shake the idea of contacting this person.
“Screw it.” I hit Call on the number. I panicked as soon as the number rang in my ear but it was really early so it would probably go to voicemail. I was surprised when a female voice sounded in my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Julie Hall. Garrett Pierce’s, um, girlfriend. He called me from this number the other day so that’s why I have it...” I took in a quick breath and then blurted, “Sorry to bother you. I know Garrett’s working a case, but I’m just calling to check on him because it’s unusual for him not to call.”
“Garrett’s not working a case,” the woman said with derision. “He was put on leave.”
I mumbled something about being sorry for bothering her and then disconnected. My mind raced to list the lies he’d told me.
If he wasn’t working, where the hell was he?
Chapter Eight
After I hung up my phone rang immediately in my hand. It was the woman I’d just been talking to.
“Look, obviously I made an incorrect assumption,” I said hastily. No matter what Garrett was doing, I didn’t want to get him in trouble.
“We should meet and talk in person,” she said.
“That’s not necessary.”
“I think it is. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come to you.”
“I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m Agent Karla Powel. Garrett and I were working this case together until I went on maternity leave. I’m worried about him too.”
It was the concern in her voice that did it. I gave her the name and address of the motel and she said she’d be here within the hour.
While I waited I showered and brushed my teeth. The reflection that stared back at me had dark circles and a look of fear. I made myself some crappy coffee from the tiny pot in the room and forced myself to eat some trail mix I kept in my dowsing go bag.
Even though I was expecting her, I still jumped out of my skin when a knock sounded on my door almost exactly an hour later. Wookie growled but I hushed him as I opened the door.
Karla Powel was beautiful; tall, dark skinned with a prominent baby bump and a look that said she could kill me where I stood if I messed with her.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.” Wookie growled from the bed. “Well, except for my dog. Do you want coffee?” I asked her as she stepped inside.
“No.” She grabbed a chair at the tiny table in the corner and lowered herself into it.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m staying here rather than at home. It’s because—”
“You had a water issue at your house. I know.” When I looked at her in question she added, “I drove by the house last night hoping to see Garrett’s car there and I saw a plumber and restoration company’s vehicles parked in the driveway and your Jeep was gone.”
My mouth opened and closed a couple of times before I could get the words out. “But why would you—”
“I was hoping that once he was told he was on leave, he’d just go off for a few days to clear his head. But I have a feeling he’s meddling in this case. I had no way to reach him. I guess he changed his number when he got his new phone.”
“You were checking up on him because...?”
“He’d taken this case personally. I was worried he wasn’t going to back off even though he was ordered to.” She rubbed her hand on her pregnant belly and narrowed her eyes at me. “And I’m guessing you never even knew he was put on leave.”
“He came home a couple nights ago. He’d been roughed up and said his phone was damaged.” I chewed my lip at the memory of his swollen face. “He told me he was put on leave because his brother-in-law, Sid, was involved with a company that was part of your investigation.”
“That’s more than he should’ve told anyone.” Her eyebrows went up but then she regarded me seriously. “Obviously he trusts you.”
“Well, of course he—”
“Before you get your bra all twisted, not every agent has a significant other who can keep their tongue under control.” She shook her head. “My guy, for example, couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.” Her phone rang then, and she smiled at it. “Just a second,” she told me and took the call, which was brief. Afterward she smiled. “That was my OBGYN, Dr. B, calling to confirm the date of my cesarean.”
“That’s exciting.”
“Yes, it is.” She smiled as she said it but then her face got hard again. “What I’m going to tell you stays between us. I was never here. We never talked, okay?”
I nodded.
She took a deep breath and I could see she was weighing information in her mind. Finally, she began to speak. “Garrett and I were working together with other agents investigating a sudden increase in heroin coming into the Port of Seattle. Of course, the Bureau isn’t working alone on this. The FBI was working with local authorities, the DEA and CBP regarding TOC.”
“CBP? TOC?” It was hard for me to keep all the acronyms straight.
“Customs and Border Protection and Transnational Organized Crime.” She paused. “TOC is when it became our baby.”
“Right, because FBI deals with organized crime.”
She nodded. “We knew that certain container ships were bringing in heroin from Mexico. Couple months ago, we uncovered three hundred packages of heroin, Mexican Mud, with a street value of nearly four million dollars inside a container filled with knickknacks and crap most likely designated for dollar stores. The import company bringing this shit in was Flash Imports Inc.”
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled at the name. The meaningless crumpled paper I found in Garrett’s garbage had that name on it.
Agent Powel kept talking. “The shipment was traced to a new kid on the block that we’d been watching for some time because of their link to money laundering and human trafficking: the Flores Cartel. Our informants in Seattle told us they were going to become big players in Mexican Mud. We knew they were involved in drugs but had no idea they’d reached such a big scale. Anyway...” She patted her belly. “I was off on maternity leave and was mostly doing desk work researching the ins and outs of this Flores gang, so I gave Garrett a list of all the employees at Flash Imports, so he can check them out.”
“And Garrett saw his brother-in-law’s name on the list.”
“No.” She shook her head. “His name wasn’t on the list. I don’t know why but Garrett found out he worked there when he dug deeper into some of the other coworkers.”
“Garrett must’ve freaked when he realized his brother-in-law was working there.”
“Yeah, I kept telling him that just because he worked there didn’t mean he was hanging with the drug cartel but Garrett was like a dog with a bone. He just kept digging.”
> “He never really talked about—” I searched for a word besides family “—his past life so I’m not familiar with them. Did he find out his brother-in-law had gone bad?”
“Look, nothing I dug up implicated Sid in any way. He looked like an honest, hardworking guy. You know he even lived with Garrett and Faith when they first got married. Sid’s her baby brother, right? Garrett told me all about it. Said he gave him a letter of recommendation to get him set up in a good job and everything. Of course, we’re talking a decade ago.”
“Oh.” I swallowed a lump in my throat. “He never told me anything about him.”
“Garrett being Garrett wanted to be the hero. He should’ve left well enough alone, but I’m sure he thought he could just show up and warn Sid about these bad dudes in the Flores Cartel and maybe try and rescue him.” She shook her head. “Right before I left for maternity leave he went to the higher-ups and admitted his connection so of course they pulled him. He must’ve known that would happen, but he was still pissed.” She sighed.
“So, is he okay? I’m worried because he...” I stopped myself short. I didn’t want him to lose his job if everyone believed he was on leave. “I’m just worried because he, um, is obviously upset.”
“You think he’s investigating this on his own. That’s why you reached out to me.” She pointed a finger in my face. “Don’t lie.”
“Garrett has more integrity in his little finger than most people I’ve ever met. He’d never do anything wrong. If he was told to stay out of the investigation, I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. It’s like you said. He’s probably just trying to keep Sid safe and away from the cartel.”
“Yeah, but he’s also loyal as a good old dog, right?”
“I just want him to be safe. I mean, he sent me a text saying he was okay, just out of cell range but... I don’t know. The message felt off.”
“Show me.”
When I hesitated, she tilted her head. “Look, I may be on mat leave but Garrett’s still my partner and I’ve got his best interest at heart. If he’s doing something he shouldn’t be, I might be able to give him a nudge before he’s in too deep.”
“I don’t want him getting in trouble. For all I know, he is taking some time just to clear his head and, sure, he might be looking out for Sid but that doesn’t mean he’d do anything to jeopardize the investigation.”
I opened the text messages from Garrett and handed my phone over to her.
Since he’d texted me from a brand-new number, the only message from him was his text to me followed by my reply and the pictures of our flooded house.
Agent Powel read his text out loud. “‘Bad cell service where I am. I’ll call soon, Sweet pea. Love you.’” A fleeting angry look crossed her face as she glanced at the message. “This the only number you have for him?”
I nodded.
“So, no other messages from, say, Sid’s number or anyone else’s?”
I shook my head.
“Did he ever talk to you about the new shipment of Mexican Mud expected to come in to Tacoma? Did he ever mention an important date?”
“No. Of course not.”
She took out her own phone and made a note of Garrett’s new phone number. Then she shrugged as she handed the phone back. “That’s not bad. Sounds like he’s just keeping his head down.”
“He’s never called me Sweet pea. Not ever.” Those words sounded lame even to me.
“Sweet pea, huh?” Something flashed across her face and was gone. “I’m a strong believer in gut. I’m not saying Sweet pea is code or anything but, if you tell me honest to God you feel in the pit of your stomach something is wrong, then I’m going to do a little digging and see what I can find out on the QT.”
I closed my eyes and licked my lips. I thought hard but I didn’t have to think long. “If you could do some digging, I’d really appreciate it.”
She gave a sharp nod, then got to her feet surprisingly quick for a woman so pregnant.
“I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime, you hear from him or he comes home, you need to tell me, okay?” She twisted her neck from one side to the other, cracking it. “I’m going stir-crazy waiting for this kid to pop but that doesn’t mean I want to spin my wheels for nothing. Keep me in the loop or I can’t help you. If you hear anything from him, or anyone else, about where he might be, you’ve gotta let me know. It’s the only way I can protect him, got it?”
“Okay. Sure.”
She opened the door and as she was leaving she turned around.
“Just one more thing. Garrett Pierce is the most honest guy I know, and he loves you. We didn’t talk lots about our personal lives but, when he mentioned your name, I could hear the love.” Wookie had joined us at the door and she reached and patted his head with a smile. “I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to think anything bad because he may have gone off to check stuff out on his own. I’m sure it’ll all work out fine. You don’t have to go storming all over trying to find him. He’ll return home good as gold once he’s ready.”
But her eyes looked over my shoulder when she spoke like someone who didn’t believe her own words and, instead of feeling reassured, I was more nervous than ever.
I watched from the door as Agent Karla Powel climbed into a snazzy pearl-gray Lexus sedan and took off. Then I brought out my laptop and connected to the motel Wi-Fi. I wanted to know everything I could find out about this person Garrett was so determined to help.
Sid Klein was active on social media. He was good-looking in that way that said he was a player and didn’t care who knew it. An attractive thirty-something guy with short dark hair whose profile pictures showed him all businessy in a suit and tie. Meanwhile most of his online posts were all about partying with friends and cuddled up to sexy young women. I saved a few pictures of him to my phone. An hour later, I knew he lived in the Bellevue area of Seattle, and I had the name of his drycleaner, the address of a pub he liked to frequent for happy hour, and the location of his favorite fishing hole. It took a bit more digging to come up with his home address.
I pulled on sweats and a T-shirt and took Wookie for a quick run. The day was shaping up to be a warm one for April and we were both panting by the time we reached a park at the end of the street where the motel sat just off I-5. Several other dog owners were also walking their dogs in the park and Wookie tried to make time with a German shepherd and shied away from a four-pound Yorkie with an attitude. A new park meant Wookie was hell-bent to leave his mark on every single tree and blade of grass but finally his bladder was empty, and I ran him back to the motel.
I kept my phone only inches away in case Garrett called or texted while I filled up Wookie’s bowls and planned out my day. When my phone rang my heart sank to see it was Tracey.
“Hey,” I answered sounding less enthusiastic than I should.
“Still no word, huh?”
“No.” I wanted to change the subject. “How’s the cat?”
“Aw-w-w he is just so good.” She said to Fluffy in a singsong voice, “You’re a precious widdle kittie, aren’t you?” Then to me, “Can you hear him purring on my lap? His purrs are so loud!”
“Can’t believe he’s sitting on your lap. The one and only time he sat on mine was to rake my face with his claws.”
“He’s just a precious angel. Aren’t you, cutie-pie?”
“Huh.” I was glad things were working out with Fluffy, but it made me wonder why the stupid cat didn’t like me, considering I was the one who took him in when my mom died. “And how is Craig doing?”
“We’re taking some time apart.” Her tone was casual, like it was no big deal. “I told him he needed to be with his mom and process the finding of his brother.”
“Wow. That’s really mature of you.”
I snagged some jeans and a T-shirt from my bag on the floor and started to dress.
“Yeah, well, his mom was grateful, of course. She was just gushing about how if it wasn’t for me getting you to help find him she never would’ve been able to put her boy properly to rest and then she kept going on and on about having you over for dinner, but I knew that was not your thing.”
“Yeah, definitely not my thing.”
“So, I told him to go spend time with his mom and I’ll talk to him in a few weeks or something. I’m headed to work now and thought I’d see if you wanted to grab a bite later.”
“I dunno. Maybe.” I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hand through my damp hair. “I have to go into Seattle for a bit, but give me a shout when you’re off work.”
“What are you doing in the city?”
“Just checking on a few things...” I kept it vague. I didn’t want her to know I was going to be snooping around after Garrett’s brother-in-law. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Wookie had slurped up some water, eaten some kibble and was now curled up at the foot of the bed. I went over and rubbed his head.
“Be good while I’m gone.”
I refilled my water bottle from the sink and snatched up my backpack and purse. Once on I-5 I tried to relax but it was the morning rush so traffic was snarled. The drive to Seattle shouldn’t ever take as long as it did but I’d learned long ago not to stress out about the inevitable bumper-to-bumper experience. My mind wanted to drift to worst-case scenarios regarding Garrett, but I did some deep breathing exercises and put on a self-help audio book. While the narrator’s voice droned on about the importance of mindfulness and meditation to process trauma, I drummed my fingers nervously on the steering wheel.
Traffic came to a standstill near Exit 177. I knew from another time there was a little store just off the exit that had a well-stocked wine section. There was also a beautiful little park with a view of a lake. Once, when I was a different person, I’d bought a couple of bottles and drunk them in my car while staring at the lake. I could do that now and forget all about being worried about Garrett.
A Grave Peril Page 11