“What do you mean?”
“A Christian.”
He picked up on the tone of her voice. “Why are you so negative about Christians?”
“I can’t stand the hypocrisy. My father was one person in church and another in our home. All talk but no action. Always judging.”
“We’re not all the same.”
Granted, a lot were exactly as she described. However, most weren’t. He hated that she’d pegged them all with the same attitude.
Her eyes brightened. “You’re right. Diane is different. She took me in for a period of time and treated me like I was her own daughter. I’ll never forget that.”
“I’m glad you had someone like her.”
She looked away. “Me, too,” she whispered.
A ding on his computer jolted him from their conversation. He leaned closer. “Looks like we got a hit.” He scrolled through the entry. “Our suspect is Percy Brown.”
He clicked the link to pull up the record. “It appears Mr. Brown has been in and out of jail. Armed robbery, numerous drug trafficking busts and domestic violence.”
“Regular nice guy.”
“He was paroled six months ago. Well, he certainly didn’t learn his lesson, did he?” He stood and grabbed his weapon. “How about we pay Mr. Brown a visit in the hospital?”
“Sounds good to me.”
He prayed they’d find out information to bring them closer to busting the ring.
Before more drugs infiltrated the streets and more teens ended up like Matthew.
* * *
Kaylin rushed behind Hudson down the corridor of Windsor Regional Hospital. She hated hospitals. They brought nothing but sorrow.
However, this visit was a welcome interruption to their otherwise dreary conversation. No way did Kaylin want to talk about Marshall Poirier to anyone. Her father was a distant thought in her memory bank. She could never forgive the heartache he’d caused. She hated that she had to work with him on this task force. She needed for it to be over so she could go on with her life.
On the drive to the hospital, she placed a call to her cell phone provider and requested a new number and that it be unlisted. She texted it to her father, gave it to Hudson and her boss, plus her closest friends. No one else would have it until this case was over. She wasn’t taking any more chances.
They reached Percy Brown’s room and the officer on duty stood from his stationed position. “Constable Steeves. Good to see you.”
“How is he, Jacobs?”
“The doctor reported this morning that he was stabilized. He’s awake, but be careful questioning him. He’s frail.”
“How long are you on duty?” Hudson said.
“Another three hours. Sergeant wants someone at his door twenty-four/seven.”
“Understood, since he was almost taken out yesterday. We need him alive.” Hudson paused and pointed toward her. “This is CBSA officer Kaylin Poirier.”
“The chief’s daughter.” Jacobs nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
“Has the victim talked at all?” she asked.
“He’s been silent, but maybe you guys will get something out of him.”
Hudson motioned toward the door. “Let’s go see what Mr. Brown can tell us.”
Kaylin moved into the darkened room. The heart monitor’s beeping intruded on the quietness. Percy Brown lay in his narrow hospital bed. His shallow breathing could barely be heard over the machines. His curly hair was now matted to his head like a bird’s nest, while a five o’clock shadow had taken over his chin. He moaned and turned his head back and forth.
Hudson stepped to the side of the bed. “Mr. Brown, are you awake?” He turned on the overhead light.
Percy blinked his eyes open and squinted from the sudden brightness. He scowled when he saw Hudson. “What do you want?”
Kaylin stepped forward. “Mr. Brown, how long have you been dealing drugs?”
“Right to business, I see.” He looked out the window. “Only this one time.”
He was lying. Why couldn’t suspects just tell the truth when they were caught?
Hudson eyed her, raising a brow, and then turned to Percy. “We don’t believe you. How many kids did you sell to?”
“That snot-nosed kid squeal on me?”
“You were caught in the act,” Hudson said. “How can you deny it?”
Percy fidgeted with his IV. “I ain’t sayin’ nothing more. I know my rights.”
Kaylin rubbed her temples. She hated it when suspects pulled this card. “Don’t you get you were targeted by a sniper? Someone wants you out of the picture.”
“Tell us what you know and we’ll protect you.” Hudson pulled out his notebook.
Percy cringed. “You can’t keep me safe. Not from these people.”
“What people?” Kaylin grabbed a chair and positioned it beside the bed. “Who are you working for?”
He bit his lip. “They’ll go after my family, man. They don’t play around.”
“We’ll make sure they’re okay.” At least Kaylin hoped so. “Tell us what you know.”
“I don’t deal with the head honcho. Only his right-hand man, Blaine.”
Him again. They needed to find Blaine Ridley and fast.
Hudson moved closer. “How do you contact him?”
“By text. I tell him what I need and he plans the meet.”
“So you’ve never seen him?” Kaylin found that hard to believe.
“Only once, when he didn’t have a thug to deliver my goods.”
“Can you describe him?” Hudson asked, then when Percy nodded, he said, “We’ll get a forensic artist down here to make a composite.” Maybe it would be more accurate than the one they’re currently working on.
Kaylin hoped they were finally getting somewhere. “What type of drugs do you deal?”
“Anything I can get my hands on, but right now what seems to be popular is the new doda.”
“What’s new about it?” Kaylin concentrated on the suspect. Could they trust what he told them?
“Not sure. Blaine just said it was more powerful and would give an added kick to my users. More bang for their buck. Who was I to argue?”
“You try it?”
Percy pushed the morphine button. “Nope. Just sell the stuff.”
Figured. Another hot shot who liked to get kids high and line his own pockets. Pictures of her brother, Todd, high and useless, popped into her mind. Whenever he used he became lethargic and passed out on the couch, no good to anyone. The last image she remembered of Todd was the needle poking out from his motionless arm. He’d taken too much and it had cost him his life. Kaylin had vowed to fight drugs. Keeping them outside of Canada was her goal at the CBSA and right now they were losing the battle.
They had to get this drug ring off the streets. Before it cost more kids their lives.
But would it mean she wouldn’t see Hudson any longer? She was getting used to having him around. Already. His charm was whittling down the wall she’d built. He—
Pay attention to this case and stop fantasizing.
Duly chastised by her inner self, she stood and walked to the window, putting distance between herself and Hudson. “Did Blaine ever mention who his boss was?”
“He only referred to him as Valentino, but I never dealt with him.”
Kaylin glanced at Hudson.
He raised a brow.
That was the second time they’d heard that name. First by Akio and now Percy.
Hudson sat in Kaylin’s chair. “Can you get in touch with him? Set up a meet?”
“With Valentino? Hardly. He never makes appearances. I only deal with Blaine.”
Hudson rubbed his head. “Okay, then set up a meet with Blaine. We catch him, we catch Valentino.”
“I need my phone. You
guys confiscated it.”
Hudson handed him his. “Use mine.”
“No can do. He knows my number. He’ll suspect a trap.”
“We’ll get it and bring it over later.” Hudson stood. “What else—”
“Time’s up, people.” A nurse sauntered in with a tray of meds. “Mr. Brown needs his medication. Everyone, out.”
Kaylin and Hudson left the room.
Jacobs met them in the corridor. “Nurse kick you out?”
“Yup.” Hudson closed his notebook and shoved it in his pocket. “We have to get his phone from the station.”
Kaylin nodded. “It’s the only lead we have. Sounds like we need to get to the top. Both of our suspects named Valentino.”
“Agreed,” Hudson said.
Minutes later the nurse emerged from the room. “He’s sleeping now. You’ll have to come back later.” She walked down the hall and disappeared.
Hudson shrugged. “So much for him giving us details for a composite.”
“Maybe we can come back this afternoon.” Kaylin hoped the man would be more alert then. A more detailed sketch of someone within the ring would definitely help.
Another nurse came around the corner with a cart filled with meds. “Morning, Officers. I need to give Mr. Brown his meds.”
Hudson tipped his head to the side. “What do you mean? Another nurse just gave them to him.”
Her eyes widened. “What? I’m the nurse on duty who administers the meds.”
Hudson, Kaylin and Jacobs rushed into Percy’s room.
The man’s body shook with seizures and then lay still.
“No!” Hudson ran to his side. “Jacobs, follow where that other woman went. Catch her.”
Jacobs ran out of the room, gun in hand.
The nurse rang the call bell. She felt for a pulse and immediately began compressions. “Get back!”
Her coworker appeared. “What happened?”
“Code Blue. Stat. Call for a crash cart.” The first nurse stopped her compressions and grabbed a breathing tube. “All of you, out. Now! Let us do our job.”
Hudson and Kaylin stood outside the door as a team scrambled in with a crash cart.
A jolt from the defibrillator sounded.
Seconds ticked by.
Another jolt.
A flat beep echoed into the corridor.
They’d lost their only witness.
SIX
Hudson paced to rid himself of the frustration seeping through his body. How could this have happened right before them? Another witness gone. They’d lost their only lead and all they had was one name.
Valentino.
They would run it against any known felons in their database, but it was unlikely they would find anyone without a full name. He yanked out his phone and called his boss.
“Miller here.” His gruff voice boomed in Hudson’s ear.
Great, he wasn’t in a good mood. After Hudson broke the news, Sergeant Peter Miller would be even grumpier.
“Sarge, it’s Hudson. Hate to tell you this, but we lost Percy Brown. Someone posing as a nurse just took him out.”
Miller cursed. “How could you let that happen, Steeves?”
Hudson winced. He couldn’t win. He’d made a mistake on a previous case and now this. Miller would never let him hear the end of it. He’d paid for his past blunder, and this one wasn’t his fault. Who knew the nurse would turn out to be a killer? Her sweet smiling face had fooled all of them. “She wore a uniform and slipped by us. Jacobs is trying to track her down right now.”
“Did Brown give you any details before he died?”
“Just that Blaine Ridley is Valentino’s right-hand man. Can you run Valentino’s and Ridley’s names through our database and see if anything pops up?”
“Got it. Steeves, catch this killer so we can bring down the ring, or I’ll put you on desk duty. You hear?” He clicked off.
Hudson loosened the button on his gray uniform shirt and pulled at his Kevlar vest. Now he had another reason to solve this case.
Kaylin grabbed his arm. “You okay?” She left her hand there.
He felt at home with her touch. Was he crazy? He needed to concentrate, but she made it hard. “Nothing I can’t handle.” At least he hoped so.
“Your boss giving you a hard time over this loss?”
“Yup. Just another mistake to add to my list.”
She scrunched her nose. “Another? Have there been many?”
Not her, too. He stayed silent.
“What happened?” she prompted.
“Let’s just say I lost a witness and it was my fault.” A memory he wanted to erase but couldn’t.
“How?”
His shoulders drooped. “I waited too long to act and he drowned.”
“When was this?”
“Two years ago. A suspect pushed his hostage into the water and took off. I froze.” He had just gotten a big lead on the case he’d been investigating and everything had spiraled from there. He’d been working ever since to right his wrong.
Her brows furrowed. “You can’t swim?”
“I can, but water has always scared me since I was a boy. When I realized the hostage couldn’t swim, I jumped in, but it was too late. We couldn’t resuscitate him.” He studied his shoes. “It’s a day I’ll never forget and neither will my boss. Made me go for therapy to get over it.”
The coroner arrived and wheeled Percy’s body by them and down the corridor. A forensic pathologist would perform an autopsy to find out what killed him.
“And now you lost this suspect.”
He followed Kaylin’s gaze to the dead body. “That pretty much sums it up. He’s threatened to put me on desk duty if I don’t solve this case.”
“Accidents happen. He can’t hold that over you forever.”
“You don’t know Sergeant Miller. He’s a bully.” He toyed with his holster belt, fiddling with the buckle. Would she blame him like everyone else did? He couldn’t bear the thought of her disappointment.
She nodded. “Oh, there are a few of those in my department.”
“I guess they’re everywhere.” He studied her face and when he saw no judgment there, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Jacobs and another man walked around the corner, interrupting their conversation. “She’s gone. Disappeared. Don’t know how. Security checked all entrances.”
“She was dressed as a nurse. Probably walked right by everyone.” Hudson stuck out his hand to the stranger. “Constable Hudson Steeves.”
The burly man shook Hudson’s hand with a firm grip. “Paul Dawson. Head of Security at Windsor Regional.”
He gestured toward Kaylin. “This is Kaylin Poirier of the CBSA. She’s working with us on this case. Do we know how this woman could pose as a nurse so easily?”
“My guess is she had a fake identification card and got past everyone that way. Or—”
“—she really was a nurse,” Kaylin said. “One bought by the smuggling ring.”
Hudson nodded. “Can we check your security footage? Maybe we’ll find something.”
“Yes, come with me. Our office is on this floor.”
They followed Paul around the corner and into a security area. Guards sat behind a collage of screens. Individuals coming and going passed by the cameras.
“Surely we caught her on tape.” Hudson brightened and glanced at his watch. “Take us to Mr. Brown’s hall at about ten o-five. That was just before she came in the room.”
The guard rewound the footage to the appropriate time and pressed Play.
Jacobs appeared on the screen, sitting in the chair in front of Percy’s room. A tall blonde holding a tray of meds nodded to the constable and walked inside. Seconds later Hudson and Kaylin walked out. After that, the nurse reappeared.
>
“Wait, freeze it there.” Hudson pointed to the frame.
The guard pressed Pause.
The woman’s face froze on the screen.
Hudson snapped his fingers. “Got you. Can you send me that frame?” He passed him a card. “To this email address. Now can you let the footage run again? Let’s see where she went.”
The guard pressed Play. The woman rushed down the corridor and took the door through to the stairs. The camera picked her up on another screen. She was in the east side of the hospital. She hurried around a corner and into a room. She came out as a redhead and in civilian clothes.
Kaylin whistled. “That’s how she escaped. She changed and got rid of her wig. See if you can find her anywhere else.”
They followed the footage and caught her again leaving the hospital through the front door.
Jacobs cursed. “She left too easily.”
Hudson agreed. “Jacobs, go find her wig and clothes. We might be able to get something off them.”
He nodded. “I’ll take it to Forensics and they’ll get back to you.” He rushed out of the room.
Hudson’s cell phone rang. He swiped the screen. Bianca.
“Steeves here. What do you have, Bianca?”
“A print from Blaine Ridley’s apartment.”
“Whose?”
“Benji Rossiter. The kid you arrested yesterday. You best get over to his place.”
“What?” Hudson’s jaw dropped. “We’re on our way.”
* * *
Kaylin gritted her teeth. How did this kid fool them? He had seemed so willing to help them in order to get off any charges. Why would he risk that opportunity? “This doesn’t make sense. What was he looking for?”
Hudson shrugged and motioned her toward the elevator. “No idea, but we need to find him. We’ll check the Rossiter house first.”
“I’m certain his father is going to stonewall us. He wasn’t on board before.”
“Agreed. We need him to help us convince Benji to give us the truth.”
Fifteen minutes later Kaylin exited the cruiser at the Rossiter home. She gazed at the mansion before her. The two-story red brick building housed a four-car garage. A sparkling red Porsche was parked in the driveway. Obviously, Mr. Rossiter came from money, so why did Benji stoop to selling drugs? Kaylin scratched her head. Nothing about this made sense. There had to be more to his story.
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