by Kay Bigelow
“I’m glad to hear that. I was hoping there was at least one decent judge left in the system. What about Nikki Coleman?”
“That’s what I need to follow up on,” Cots said, glancing at Leah.
“As soon as you can. Our list of people we can trust in law enforcement is too short as it is.” Please let Nikki be one of the good guys. I’m tired of questioning my gut.
“Where to now?”
Before Leah could answer, her phone buzzed. “Yes?” she said.
“Leah, this is Shelley Robinson.”
“Good morning, Commissioner,” she said, wondering how Robinson had gotten her phone number. Quinn probably gave it to her.
“Good morning. I’m doing some follow-up on the case you’ve been working on.” Even though she was technically her boss, she sounded tentative.
“Yes?”
“Are arrests imminent?”
“No, ma’am. We’re still gathering evidence.”
“Would you say you’ll be making the arrests in the next week?”
“No, ma’am. I wouldn’t say that.”
“How about in two weeks?” Robinson asked.
“I think it’s possible.”
“Good. Let me know when you intend to make the arrests.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said as she broke the connection.
“That was our esteemed commissioner wanting to know exactly when we’re going to make the arrests. I told her in two weeks.”
“I thought we were going to do it today if Scotty can find something in the chipper,” Peony said.
“We are. I don’t want the commissioner making the announcement. If she does, Preata and Martin will disappear and we’ll never be able to get them.”
“You don’t trust the commissioner, do you?” Peony asked.
“Not as far as I can throw her.”
“How did she get your phone number?” Cots asked. “Only three people have the number: me, Scotty, and Quinn.” Cots paused a moment and then said, “Never mind. Stupid question.”
Cot’s computer dinged at him. “Okay, found it,” Cots said.
“Found what?” Leah asked.
“Nikki Coleman was accused of misconduct four years ago. She’d been promoted to captain a few months earlier. She was accused of, shall we say, creating evidence in a case against a suspected serial killer.”
“I have a vague memory of that. She swore she hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“And she was right. She was proven innocent of all charges.”
“What were you looking for?”
“I wanted to see who her accusers were and how she got exonerated.”
“And?”
“Weston went to Internal Affairs and accused her of manufacturing evidence. Said he’d seen her do it. The hired killer worked for the Dragon’s Eye gang and he was accused of killing sixteen people for the gang. Judge Tarbor was on the bench during the probable cause hearing. She bound the suspect over for trial after hearing the prosecution’s case. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. Is this the Weston you fired?”
“One and the same,” Leah said.
“He sure had a problem with women in power, didn’t he?” Peony asked. “How was Coleman cleared of manufacturing evidence?”
“All the evidence turned out to be rock solid, and the chain of custody preserved. There was no evidence any of it had been manufactured. IA gave her a clean bill of health,” Cots said.
Leah’s phone rang before they could discuss Weston’s many problems. “Yes?”
“Leah, it’s Scotty.”
“Scotty, tell me it’s good news.”
“It is. I found blood and flesh on the chipper’s blades. A quick DNA test showed the blood belonged to unknown females. I also found bone fragments beneath the blades. Best of all, I found a piece of skull, and it has a partial hole in it that I think we can prove is a bullet hole. I did a quick scan on hair left on the skull piece, and it belongs to the bishop. I think we’ve got enough for an arrest.”
“You are, as always, Scotty, the very best.”
“Thank you. Thank you. Go get ’em, Leah.”
“I take it Scotty gave you what you needed?” Cots was already pulling onto the road.
“Yes. Take us back to the courthouse. I need Judge Tarbor to sign the arrest warrants.”
When they got to the courthouse, Leah found the judge was still hearing a case. The judge’s clerk sent a note into the courtroom saying Leah was waiting. While she waited, Leah paced the corridor outside the judge’s chambers.
“That was fast work,” Judge Tarbor said as she opened the door to her chambers.
“The crime lab supervisor is the best there is.”
“He found something in the chipper?”
“Yes, there was blood and flesh on the blades.”
“I do not like the image that conjures up.”
“Then I’ll stop there.”
“It gets worse?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Who are the arrest warrants for? I see Robinson signed blank warrants.”
“Yes, ma’am. I was surprised but didn’t point out her mistake. The warrants are for Joseph Preata and Frank Martin.”
“I recognize the first name. Who is the second man?” Judge Tarbor read the arrest warrants as she talked.
“He’s the one who fed the victims into the blades.”
The judge signed the warrants and handed them back to Leah. “I hope you get your men, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Leah could feel the end of the case coming toward her and was glad it would soon be over even though she’d have to face her new reality. Whatever that’s going to be.
On the way back to the van, Leah called Taylor. “Want to be in on the arrests?” she asked.
“You bet.”
“Meet me at Forty-ninth and Broadway. I’ll have the arrest warrant you’ll need.”
Forty-ninth Street was halfway between Martin’s home and the bishop’s mansion where Preata worked.
“There’s a news flash you’ll be interested in,” Peony said from the backseat. She turned up the volume on the handheld vid screen.
“The Vatican,” a reporter’s voice intoned, “has announced that Joseph Preata has been appointed acting bishop of the New America Bishopric. As you may recall, Bishop Cohane disappeared three weeks ago. Until he is found, Preata will be acting as bishop.”
“We’re about to end one of the shortest reigns of a bishop,” Cots said with glee.
Leah wasn’t sure why Cots didn’t like the Church or what he had against it, but he was clearly enjoying Preata’s impending downfall. Maybe once this was over, she’d get to know Cots better. Better than I knew Quinn. She shook the thought off and forced herself to focus on the case.
Taylor and Franklin were waiting for them in a parking lot at the designated meeting place. Leah got out of the van and handed them the warrant for Preata’s arrest.
“There’s been a little complication. It was just on the news Preata’s been appointed acting bishop. There’s going to be a lot of media at his door.”
“Lieutenant, are you sure you don’t want to make the arrest, then? You’ve done all the work. You deserve all the credit.”
“No. There are various reasons I can’t, including the fact most people think I’m dead. You two go make the arrest. Take him to your precinct. We’ll follow you with our guy.”
“See you soon, then,” Taylor said.
Back in the van, Leah said, “Take us to Martin’s house.”
She got her phone out of her pocket and dialed Nikki Coleman’s number.
“Coleman.”
“Nikki, I’m on my way to arrest one of the two men responsible for the killing field murders. Taylor and Leigh are arresting the other suspect. Can I use two of your interview rooms?”
“Of course. Anything else? Do I need to know anything?”
“I’ve sent Taylor to arrest Joseph Preata.”
“Yes. You okay with having him in your house?”
“Bring him on.” Nikki laughed.
“See you soon,” Leah said as she broke the connection.
When they got to Martin’s house, his car was nowhere to be seen. Leah decided to wait for him to return and hoped he hadn’t decided to take a vacation while his chipper was being refurbished. It occurred to her his supervisor might have called him to alert him she had impounded his chipper. She was betting on the fact the guys at the yard weren’t any fonder of him than Mrs. Martin had been.
As they waited, Leah’s phone rang.
“Yes.”
“It’s Taylor. The acting bishop isn’t at his office or his home. His staff doesn’t know where he is. What is it with disappearing bishops?”
“Stay put.”
Leah’s mind was reeling. Had someone alerted Preata and Martin she was coming after them and they’d managed to disappear? If so, who? No one knew they had the arrest warrants except Taylor and Leigh, and they hadn’t known who was being arrested until fifteen minutes ago. And the judge. She hoped it wasn’t the judge who had alerted the suspects. She liked the woman. Robinson had known enough to hand her two blank arrest warrants, which would indicate she knew she would be arresting two people, but did she know which two people she had in mind? It seemed likely, but was it probable? With this case, anything was possible, although with Quinn no longer supplying information, surely other people knew less now than they had. She decided she’d stay where she was for at least another hour in the hope Robinson hadn’t known who she was after and Martin would return to his home.
Who else could have known Martin was a suspect? As she began mentally running down a list of people who might have known, a car turned onto Martin’s street. There was a man behind the wheel.
As the car approached, Cots said, “It’s Martin. Or at least, it’s his car.”
Martin pulled into the driveway. He got out of the driver’s seat as the trunk lid popped open, and then retrieved three bags of groceries. After closing the lid with his elbow, he went to his front door, managed to get the knob turned without dropping any of his bags, and entered his house. He left the door open. Leah noted he hadn’t bothered to lock his front door when he had left to go shopping.
“You stay here,” Leah told Cots.
Leah and Peony got out of the car and went to the front door.
“Mr. Martin?” Leah called.
“Yeah, come on in,” he yelled.
As Leah and Peony entered the living room, Martin came in from the kitchen.
“What do you want? I don’t know where my wife is. The last time I saw her was when she was leaving with you.”
“Frank Martin, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Bishop Cohane, your daughter, and twelve others.”
Leah quickly read him his rights. She left her weapon holstered but was ready to grab it, if necessary. She wanted information, and she wouldn’t get it if he was dead.
“Do you understand your rights?” Leah asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Martin said.
Something’s wrong here. He’s too calm, too cocky. “Check the rest of the house,” Leah told Peony.
Peony drew her weapon and headed for the back of the house and the bedrooms there.
Leah removed her restraints and approached Martin. She stopped just outside his reach.
“Put your hands on your head and turn around,” Leah said.
Surprisingly, Martin did as he was told. Leah approached him cautiously. She grabbed his right arm at the wrist and pulled it down and behind him. She clipped the restraint onto his wrist. When she moved to take his left arm, he wheeled on her, almost knocking her down. She’d expected it, and he swung at her but only landed a glancing blow off her right cheekbone with the huge ring he wore on his left hand as she stepped backward. She noted the pain, but years of training came back to her. She punched him as hard as she could in the diaphragm, knocking the breath out of him. While he was trying to catch his breath, she drove her fist into his already-broken nose. He sank to his knees. Within seconds, she had him facedown on the floor and his left arm yanked up behind his back.
“Hey, you’re hurting me!” His voice was muffled by the blood from his nose.
“Give me your arm,” Leah growled at him, yanking harder on the right one.
He quickly put it behind him.
“Stop right there,” said a voice from the doorway to the bedrooms.
Leah looked up after she finished cuffing Martin.
Preata had an arm around Peony’s neck and a gun to her head. Fortunately, although she looked scared, Peony wasn’t panicking.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Preata.” Leah looked for an opening, trying to figure out what her next move was.
“That’s my line, Lieutenant.” He smiled at her, but there was ice in his eyes.
“What do you want?”
“I’m going to walk out of here, and I’m going to take your detective with me. I want a jet waiting for me at Baseline Airport.”
“I’m not going to let you walk away from a multiple murder charge.” She planted herself between Preata and the door, her arms crossed. He’d have to get close to her to get her to move. Maybe that would be her chance.
“Then I’ll kill your detective.” He shrugged like it didn’t matter to him.
“Whatever happened to ‘Thou shalt not murder’?” Leah asked.
“That’s as archaic as the rest of the dribble.”
Leah was surprised. She wondered what possessed the man to go into the priesthood if he didn’t believe its teachings. “Be that as it may, it’s my job to arrest you for the murders of Bishop Cohane and thirteen others. How’d you get Martin to do your dirty work for you?” If she could keep him talking and waste time, Cots would figure out something had gone wrong. If he called for backup, everything would be okay. If he didn’t, well then…
“It was too easy. I knew he hated the fact his daughter was a member of that stupid coven. I simply told him a few dozen times it was God’s will and his duty as a father to make sure the coven and its members were eradicated. The idiot told me how, when, and where he was going to do God’s will.”
Leah was pleased Preata couldn’t resist bragging. The longer she could keep him talking, the more likely it would be he would make a mistake and she could exploit it. “How’d you get the bishop to the field?”
“I drove him, of course.”
“You drove him there yourself?”
“Yeah. I convinced him he should put a stop to devil worship and told him where the coven was meeting. He was stupid enough to think he could just show up and convert them.”
Leah could see Preata’s hand with the gun in it was getting tired. It was beginning to tremble, and the gun was no longer pointed at Peony’s temple. Now, however, it was pointed at her throat.
Leah took a tiny step toward Preata, but he leveled the gun once more.
“I know what you’re doing, Samuels. And it won’t work. I’m already responsible for the killing of a bishop. It won’t matter much to have the tag ‘cop killer’ added on. You won’t walk out of here alive. Actually, I should kill Martin there, too. Make it look like Martin resisted arrest.”
“Hey. You promised me I was doing God’s work and I wouldn’t go to jail,” Martin said.
“Shut up, stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid,” Martin said as he started to roll over.
Leah put her foot on his back to keep him facedown. “Don’t move.”
“Yeah, lie there like the dog you are.” Preata spat out a mirthless laugh.
Preata seemed to be trying to goad Martin into trying to get to his feet to give him the distraction he needed to kill all three of them. Leah kept her eyes on Preata and her boot planted firmly on Martin as Cots moved silently into the room behind Preata.
“I’ve always wanted to blow
a priest to hell,” Cots growled as he put his gun to Preata’s head.
It was distraction enough for Peony to grab Preata’s gun hand by the wrist and twist. Leah heard the bones breaking from across the room. The gun clattered to the floor. Peony kicked the gun away and quickly had the priest on his knees and restraints on him.
“I thought I told you to stay where you were,” Leah said to Cots.
“I didn’t want to miss the fun. I was watching from the van with my trusty binoculars,” he said. “But I thought I’d let you chat awhile before coming to your rescue. You know, in case he said anything useful.” He grinned at her.
Taylor and Leigh rushed into the room with weapons drawn. Doesn’t anyone do what I tell them anymore? I’m losing my touch. Leah sighed, but relief flowed through her.
“Well, drude. We came to rescue you, Lieutenant. But it looks like that job’s been done.” Taylor put his gun away and smiled at her.
Rushing into the room behind them were two uniformed officers.
“Here’s your backup,” Taylor said with a grin.
Without anyone noticing but Leah, Cots stuck his gun into his pocket. He slipped out of the room the same way he’d come into it. Leah suspected since he hadn’t trusted the city’s boys in blue before he started working with Leah, he trusted them a whole lot less now. She let him go.
“How did you guys know what was going down here?” Leah asked.
“One of his neighbors called and told us,” Taylor said.
Leah knew it hadn’t been a neighbor making the call, it had been Cots. He had called Nikki and told her about Preata holding her and Peony at gunpoint before he’d come in himself.
“Your captain has two interview rooms waiting for us. Let’s get these two into them as quickly as we can,” Leah said.
“Quincy, take the fat guy on the floor with you. We’ll take the priest with us,” Taylor told one of the uniformed cops.
“Read him his rights on the way.” Leah wasn’t about to let a technicality get in the way of a conviction, and at this point, she’d simply have to trust she had good cops on her side.
After the others were gone, Leah called Nikki. “Thanks for sending Taylor and Leigh to our rescue.” She was glad her paranoia hadn’t messed up her friendship.
“I just got a call from Taylor, who said you already had both suspects in restraints.”