by Karen Rose
Decker looked up from the map he was marking. ‘If it was Alice’s half-brother, Sean, he was sophisticated enough. He was a frickin’ computer genius. And Alice told her father that Sean helped McCord’s partner set up proxies and offshore servers after McCord’s arrest and murder. Sean could have jumped in and taken care of anything incriminating that night.’
Diesel’s shoulders slumped. ‘Then it could be gone.’
Decker felt his frustration. ‘Possibly, but their servers would have been moved offshore by now anyway, so you wouldn’t have an electronic trail to follow. I’m wondering if Alice and the others thought they’d fixed it by wiping the evidence from McCord’s Wi-Fi-enabled computer.’
Kate drew in a breath. ‘Oh. You mean they either didn’t know about the laptop in the fire safe and were shocked when he got arrested, or they did know and used it to set McCord up? As a sacrificial lamb of sorts.’
Decker nodded. ‘Exactly. But I’d bet on the first one. I don’t think they knew.’
‘I’ve been wondering why they’d leave evidence like that behind,’ Zimmerman admitted. ‘It doesn’t make sense, especially since McCord seemed to be a weak link. He was about to turn state’s evidence and expose them all when they killed him.’
Scarlett was nodding. ‘And if McCord’s cronies didn’t know about the laptop in the closet before the raid, it also explains why they were so scared of Marcus. They figured someone would see that the files on McCord’s laptop were all old and—’
‘And that the damn laptop wasn’t hackable,’ Diesel interrupted, ‘so how would Marcus have even seen anything to report to them . . . anonymously.’
‘And that whoever invited me to a curbside viewing of McCord’s arrest might tell me and I’d dig some more.’ Marcus seemed to relax. ‘Whoever tipped me off was probably not the same person who tipped off Alice. That makes me feel a bit better, actually.’
‘Okay,’ Kate said, still knitting. ‘We have two leaks in ICAC and/or CPD. One is benevolent to us – or to Marcus, anyway – and the other is on Team Evil with McCord’s partner. We can look at who was on duty that night when Marcus made his anonymous call, or who was called in to plan the raid. They would have had time to tip off Alice. We know that Alice was engaged in some sort of sexual relationship with this Team Evil leak. There may or may not have been financial payoff as well. We need to investigate Alice’s personal life – which necessitates finding her apartment – to hopefully find some link to this dirty cop.’ She grabbed both needles in one hand to dig in her bag. ‘I need a pen so I can write this down.’
‘Novak’s taking notes on his computer,’ Zimmerman said. ‘He’ll email them to you.’
‘So keep knitting,’ Novak added with unmistakable fondness.
Her grin was quick, then gone as her hands resumed their task. ‘Alice, dirty cop . . .’ she muttered. ‘Oh, right. Alice’s killer and ricin. We need to investigate McCord’s associates to find out who has the knowledge to make ricin in a home lab or possibly even one at school. We can start with Troy’s list of science teachers.’
‘Although the partner doesn’t have to be local,’ Troy said. ‘He could be anywhere.’
‘He’s close enough to recruit Sidney Siler and Eileen Wilkins,’ Kate replied, not missing a stitch. ‘Recruit them, sell to them, extort them – at least in the case of Nurse Wilkins.’
‘And then kill Sidney,’ Novak added.
Kate went still, then looked up, her expression sad. ‘She had friends, Sidney did. She was popular at King’s College. Somebody – even one person – had to know she was using. We have to find that person. We need to find her dealer.’
‘We also have Eileen Wilkins’s boyfriend,’ Novak said. ‘If he shares a dealer, that’s another avenue.’
‘What about a boyfriend?’ Decker asked, feeling irritated that Novak knew information that he didn’t. He was annoyed with himself for it, but he couldn’t deny the reaction.
‘The nurse who tried to kill you?’ Kate said. ‘Her boy toy hangs around King’s College and uses coke, just like Sidney Siler. He most likely uses steroids too. Guy’s supposed to be all buff and burly and . . . you know, grrrr,’ she growled, making Decker’s lips twitch. ‘Boy toy – his name is Roy – hangs at the gym near the college. Takes a class or two, but mostly hangs at the gym getting buffer and burlier while Eileen supports him.’
Kate leaned forward to look at Zimmerman a few chairs down. ‘Since the victims on McCord’s laptop are not recent and probably not associated with McCord’s partner, are we still reviewing them?’ she asked carefully.
Zimmerman drew a long breath, then let it out. ‘God, I’ve been dreading this question. We can’t ignore them, but at this point it would be very difficult to tell where they came from. We’d make better use of our resources to search out current victims.’
‘The documents on McCord’s computer before they were wiped were most likely scripts,’ Novak said. ‘For films. Meredith Fallon was going to talk to the young women in the halfway house to see if any of them were familiar with film-makers here in the city.’
‘She was at it all morning,’ Zimmerman confirmed, ‘texting me every half-hour so that I knew she was okay.’ He lifted his brows and shook his head. ‘Because she ditched the agent I sent to protect her.’
‘What!’ Adam demanded.
‘She said nobody would talk to her with “Agent Tall, Dark, and Scary” following her around.’ He shook his head again. ‘Agent Colby.’
Novak looked pissed off. ‘He is scary. I can’t believe he’s still on the job.’
Zimmerman sighed. ‘We’ve been over this, Deacon. He did the required counseling. Faith’s forgiven him.’
Novak glared. ‘Yeah, well she’s nicer than I am.’ He glanced at Decker. ‘Colby went off on my fiancée when his partner got killed, and grabbed Faith by the throat. He and his partner were supposed to be guarding her. I don’t think he’s stable, but the department shrink disagrees.’ He rolled his shoulders, trying to throw off his anger. ‘But this is about Meredith. We can’t let her put herself in danger like that.’
‘That’s why she texted me every thirty minutes,’ Zimmerman said evenly. ‘She had a friend with her. Wendi Cullen.’
Adam snorted. ‘Wendi Cullen is five-feet-nothing and a strong breeze would blow her away. She’s not exactly protection.’
‘Don’t let Wendi hear you say that,’ Scarlett cautioned. ‘She’ll take you out.’
‘As entertaining as that would be,’ Zimmerman said dryly, ‘there is no need. Agent Colby stayed a block back so that he didn’t scare away the women she was trying to talk to. Marcus, Diesel, and Stone, thank you for coming. You’ve helped us clear up some critical items. But you need to get Stone home where he can properly rest. I’m sure we’ll be in touch with you as more questions arise.’
‘Thank God,’ Stone said. ‘I was about to cry uncle and ask to be excused.’
‘I’ll be going too,’ Scarlett said.
Decker frowned. ‘Why?’
‘I’ve recused myself,’ Scarlett said. ‘Too much conflict of interest. But if any of you need anything, you call, okay? It was good to see you again, Decker.’ Her lips turned up. ‘We’re all really glad that you’re not dead.’
‘So am I,’ Decker said. He watched Diesel push Stone’s wheelchair to the door. Hopefully everyone would leave soon and he could go to bed too. He was barely holding himself up. Marcus and Scarlett followed them out, then Zimmerman rubbed his eyes wearily.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Assignments. Deacon, find Alice’s apartment. Work with IT to crack into that cell phone that belonged to Alice’s father so you get that tracking info. And while they’re doing that, take the map Decker marked up and triangulate a position.’
Novak nodded his head. ‘Once I’ve narrowed it down, I’ll get some unifor
ms to canvass the neighborhood with a picture of Alice while I view the CCTV tapes, run them through facial recognition software. If we’re lucky, a camera somewhere got a shot of her face. If we’re really lucky, we’ll be able to use that tracking info, because even with facial recognition software, going through the tapes will take a long time.’
‘Then you’d best get busy,’ Zimmerman said grimly. ‘Troy, same assignment as this morning. Dig into Alice’s background. Check the gym. I want a profile on the woman. Kate, you take the Siler woman – find her dealer and whoever she was meeting last night.’
Kate nodded. ‘What about Eileen, her boy-toy boyfriend, and his dealer?’
‘The nurse is still missing. Her son will need to be taken by Children’s Services. Adam, you take her house and interview her kid. Get Meredith involved when you do the interview. Find out who their dealer is.’
‘Got it,’ Adam said, looking relieved.
‘What about the jail?’ Novak asked. ‘We need to chat with the infirmary staff and the woman who attacked Alice in the exercise yard yesterday evening.’
‘I’ll take that,’ Zimmerman said. ‘I need to make my presence known to the warden over there. If he didn’t direct the cover-up, he let it happen. I’m going to give the dirty cop to your lieutenant, since it’s really a CPD issue.’
‘She’s gonna love that,’ Novak said grimly.
‘I can—’ Decker started, but he was quickly shot down.
‘Sleep,’ Zimmerman said.
‘Sleep!’ Kate said at the same time. ‘And then start writing down the ledger details you can recall.’
‘Okay, okay,’ Decker muttered, peeved and relieved at the same time.
‘The next meeting will be in my office,’ Zimmerman said. ‘Tomorrow morning, oh nine hundred hours.’
‘I’ll be there too,’ Decker said, and Zimmerman gave him an impatient look.
‘We’ll see what Dr Novak says.’
The woman herself came out of the bedroom, looking annoyed with them. ‘I’m this far from giving you all a piece of my mind for keeping him in that chair so long.’
‘I’ve been a recipient of a piece of her mind, and it ain’t fun, so I’m gone.’ Novak gathered his things. ‘Be safe, all of you.’
Adam, Troy, and Zimmerman took their leave, and then it was only himself, Kate, Dani, and Triplett. Kate put her knitting into her yarn bag while Triplett helped Decker back into the hospital bed.
As soon as he was prone, Decker groaned quietly. ‘God, I’m tired. I just sat in a chair.’
‘You’ll be stronger tomorrow,’ Dani promised. ‘Now go to sleep. Kate, you’re great and all, but you need to get your ass out of here.’
Kate laughed. ‘Give me a minute to speak with Agent Davenport, then I will.’
His eyes were closed when she came to stand next to his bed, but she brushed her fingers over his face, and he sighed because it felt so nice. He’d craved this while he’d been sitting next to her, unable to touch her. ‘Be careful out there, Kate. Promise me.’
‘I will. I’m thinking that this place is more comfortable than my hotel room. If Dani’s okay with it, I’ll come back here to sleep tonight. That’ll be another gun watching over you.’
‘Wake me when you get here.’
‘I will. Sleep now, Decker. It’ll all be here when you wake up.’
He knew she was right. It was on that damn depressing point that he went to sleep.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Thursday 13 August, 6.15 P.M.
He sank into the chair behind his desk, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘I’m too young to feel this damn old.’
Nell mirrored his movement, taking the more comfortable of the chairs on the other side of the desk. ‘Tomorrow will be better,’ she said quietly.
He let go of his neck to smile at her. ‘Today wasn’t so bad,’ he said. ‘I’m just whining.’
She pointed to the uneaten half-sandwich on his desk. ‘You never even finished your lunch. You should eat it now.’
He grimaced. ‘I don’t think so. Food poisoning is not on my list of favorite things to do. Besides, Mallory’s making steaks for dinner.’
She lifted her brows to study him over the wide expanse of desk that had once belonged to their father. ‘What is?’
He frowned at her. ‘What is what?’
‘What is on your list of favorite things to do?’ She shrugged. ‘I mean, being here isn’t one of them. You hate this.’
His frown deepened. ‘I hate what?’
She gestured grandly. ‘All this. The office, the patients, the responsibility of it all. Be honest with me. You hate it.’
‘No, I don’t hate it. Not exactly.’ But there were so many other things he preferred doing. Working in his basement, for one. Developing his special blends always made him happy. And rich. He made far more selling chemical enhancements to high school and college students with way too much disposable income than he did giving shots and physicals to those same kids.
They liked him more as the Professor, too. Which wasn’t a huge shock. Who wouldn’t prefer the cool guy selling them top-notch chemicals over the guy telling them to stay away from drugs and observe safe sex? Boring.
But the practice was a practical necessity. It gave him respectability and a legitimate source of reportable income, so the government stayed off his back. It also gave him the inside scoop as to which of his patients would make the best customers of the Professor’s wares.
So he didn’t actually hate it.
Nell shook her head. ‘You could have fooled me. Look, Remy, this practice isn’t your dream. It was Dad’s. He built it, nurtured it. Made it grow.’ She smiled sadly. ‘You haven’t grown it a bit. We’re still the same size we were the day Dad died. No offense.’
‘None taken. You’re the heart and soul of this place and I’m good with that.’ He had no vested pride in the family business. It was simply a means to an end. And it allowed Nell the opportunity to become what their father had always denied her. She should have been the one to go to med school, but dear old Dad had been an old-fashioned guy. Only his son needed college. His two daughters needed husbands so that they could produce grandchildren.
The fact that neither of them had done so had been revenge enough. Nell had never been so inclined, choosing instead to live on her own, working her way through school. Becoming a physician’s assistant had taken her far longer than it had taken him to become a doctor. But she’d done it and now she saw most of the patients. He was here to sign papers, supervise, and put in the requisite few hours a week so that he could get a paycheck.
That Nell was the one who kept their father’s practice alive seemed fitting. And, when combined with the fact that the college degree his father had subsidized was being used to make very high-quality, very illegal drugs, he and Nell had each achieved the final fuck-you to their father, who had to be spinning in his grave like a rotisserie chicken.
Their little sister Gemma had been the only one to want kids, but she couldn’t have them. She’d tried to adopt via legit agencies, but had never passed the psych test. Which was both a surprise and a shame, because she passed so well for sane on a day-to-day basis. He’d honestly thought she’d have been able to fool the testers, but she hadn’t, so he’d stepped in to the rescue, brokering a private adoption.
He’d won the eternal gratitude of his sister, but more importantly, that of her husband as well. It was a debt his brother-in-law had repaid a thousand times over. It made good business sense to do favors for people who could do the same in return.
It had been his first deal with a crack mama. Her toddler for a week’s worth of hits. He’d gotten Macy that way – and the surprise bonus of Macy’s big sister, Mallory, who’d been only twelve at the time. And so damn pretty. A natural for the camera.
>
‘So?’ Nell asked. ‘What is your dream? What’s making you smile right now?’
‘I hadn’t realized I was,’ he said, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d always thought that mixing chemicals for fun and profit was the thing that made him happiest – until the first time he’d turned the camera on pretty little Mallory.
Sunshine Suzie had been born, and she’d been more profitable than even his very best special blend. He’d retired her a few years ago, but Sunshine Suzie was a gift that kept on giving, her videos still downloaded by thousands of fans every year. He’d made hundreds of videos in the last few years, but not one had made as much money as even the least successful Suzie vid. All because of Mallory.
And she’s mine. Still mine. Because of Macy. Mallory behaved herself because she knew he’d make Macy his next star if she didn’t. Of course, he fully intended to do so anyway, when Macy was old enough. Just a few more years.
Nell made a grumpy sound and he realized she was frowning at him.
‘What?’ he asked, genuinely puzzled.
‘I hate when you do that. When you get all up inside your head. If you don’t want to tell me what’s making you so happy, then don’t. But just say so instead of going off to la-la land.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, and he was. Nell had been there for him when they were growing up. He owed her much. ‘I was thinking about how mad Dad would be if he could see us now.’
Her lips twitched. ‘Really?’
No, not really, but he wasn’t about to tell his big sister that the brother she thought hung the moon was smiling about making kiddie porn. She would not approve. He didn’t want to hurt her, but neither did he need her approval.
‘Yeah, really,’ he said, knowing she would never suspect him of telling the smallest untruth. He was far too good a liar, knowing exactly how to blend the lie with a truth to make something that anyone would believe. ‘He would’ve shit a brick if he’d known you were running the place while I went out and did charitable work.’ Which he also did from time to time. It opened doors, exposing him to contacts that he’d never otherwise have known. Charity work was how he’d met Mallory and Macy’s mother, piece of work that she’d been.