Will wait for fallout
Stuffing the phone back in his pocket, he continued his route around the compound. He’d been hired as muscle. They actually thought he was dumber than a box of rocks, but that was all by design. It was much easier to watch your prey if they underestimated you, and that’s exactly what they were. Prey.
21
So far, nothing had really come of Quinn going into the center. She had to relay what’d happened to her so many times that she wasn’t able to actually ask any of the kids about Paulie Romano. She noticed that some of the regulars were nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. It was a mantra that had played in her head since she found out that someone had been preying on her center. Just because they aren’t here doesn’t mean they’re in danger. It replayed in her head so many times, she was sure she was losing her mind with fear.
Mid-morning, she reminded herself that it was a school day, and even though some of the missing kids had a habit of being truant and trying to spend the day at the center, it didn’t mean that was the case today. Maybe today they had gone to school. A couple of them had been warned that they couldn’t miss more days without a valid reason. Like that would matter. When you had some of the family situations these kids did, idle threats weren’t going to do much. It had taken months to build up a relationship with many of the people who frequented the center.
There was nothing she could do to locate them without actually leaving the center, and she had promised Ethan she wouldn’t leave, not to mention she had a self-defense class to teach. She wouldn’t be as hands-on today, but she could still teach the class. As a matter of fact, teaching the class in her current state might not be such a bad idea. Maybe it would instill confidence in some of the battered women that you could fight back even if you’re knocked down.
The group had started to assemble when one of the kids she’d been looking for showed up with another girl—one who Quinn didn’t recognize. They were deep in conversation and didn’t notice her watching them intently. The conversation seemed serious, or at the very least, very animated, and Quinn felt warning bells sounding in her head. Carefully, she moved toward the girls so they wouldn’t notice her yet. Pretending to organize the brochures, she overheard snippets of the conversation.
“…haven’t seen her in days…”
“Maybe she ran away…”
“I don’t think she would…she promised…”
“Maybe her dad was touching her again…said she would leave if he did.”
“Shhh…Ms. Sanders is over there.”
Busted. Nonetheless, Quinn kept arranging the brochures like she hadn’t noticed them. The silence stretched on so long that she almost gave up and approached them. But then she heard the girl she didn’t know trying to convince Shawna, a girl who came in all the time, to talk to Quinn.
“We should ask her. I mean, that’s why you dragged me here, isn’t it? You say you can trust her. So just ask her for help.”
“I don’t know, it would be like betraying her.”
“Not if she needs help. What’s the worst that can happen? If she doesn’t want to be found, and we find her, she can tell us to get lost.”
Quinn had moved on to one of the plants that had some dried leaves and began to pick off the dead leaves.
“You can quit pretending you aren’t listening, Ms. Sanders,” Shawna said. “We knew you were there the whole time.”
“Did you, now?” she asked, playing the game that Shawna wanted to play. She knew the girl hadn’t seen her at first and wanted to save face in front of her friend for getting caught. “Why don’t we go in my office where there are fewer ears around?”
Once they were inside her office, she told them to have a seat and then asked if they were comfortable with the door open or if they wanted it shut. Being alone in a room with an underage person could prove to be dangerous territory. She knew that Shawna and her friend would want to have some privacy, but this opened her up for someone to accuse her of impropriety.
When the center was built, this concern was voiced. Because of it, they tried to put safety precautions in place. It was suggested to put in a window, so she was visible. This was the easiest solution, but also problematic. Some of the people that came through there wanted to speak with her on condition of anonymity—having a window might scare some of them off. But, in the end, the window stayed. They also placed a camera in the room. All of the people who came to the center knew that there were several cameras throughout the building. At first, they’d thought it would deter people, but it had done the opposite because the people who were victims of violence felt more secure knowing cameras were there monitoring the whole building. Some of the kids were still skittish, but it was a necessary precaution. There were also recording devices. Those tapes were logged and secured in a locked vault, as an added security blanket. Only she and Kara had access.
It was useful in case an angry spouse showed up, as well. They couldn’t falsely accuse their spouse of something because everything was recorded and could be released if needed. Because Quinn counseled rape victims, she’d made sure that she was a licensed therapist. It made it more difficult to force her to testify against one of her clients because she was licensed, but she also knew that videos could help prove her client’s innocence if a manipulative spouse wanted to try to stir up trouble.
“What’s going on, Shawna?”
“We can’t find Jasmine,” the new girl spoke over her friend.
“This is my friend, Kaylee,” Shawna said, looking affronted. “Like she said, we can’t find our friend, Jasmine.”
“How long has she been gone?” Quinn asked, choosing her words carefully, making sure not to use the word missing and create a panic. Even though Quinn was feeling a bit panicked herself.
“I haven’t seen her in two days. I know that isn’t long, but still. She doesn’t have a boyfriend to hang out with, and with Father Romano nowhere to be found, we thought it best to come to you,” Shawna blurted out, almost entirely in one breath.
The hair on Quinn’s arms stood on end. Father Romano. That was a new twist to his scheme, and it was clever on his part. Too bad for him that he was killed before he was able to really use it and no doubt that was why the girls couldn’t find him because there was no way that Father Romano wasn’t Paulie Romano.
“Who’s Father Romano?” she asked, hoping she sounded casual.
“Just some priest who tries to talk to kids like us and help us to make better choices,” Kaylee responded while shrugging.
Sure, by gaining trust so he could take them under his wing and then turn them into prostitutes, she thought sourly.
“Why haven’t I heard of him before?” Quinn asked cautiously.
“What do you mean? Why would you have?” Kaylee was suspicious, and Quinn needed to be careful how she proceeded.
“No reason. I just figured since we both have the same goal, he might have stopped in and introduced himself. That’s all.”
“Paulie—I mean, Father Romano—doesn’t trust establishments like this.”
Red flags bounced up all over that statement. What priest would allow kids to call him by his first name? I guess it really wasn’t unheard of, but coupled with his distrust of establishments like this, she definitely heard warning bells. Normally, a priest would partner with a place like A Place to Hope. Nevertheless, she chose to ignore the slip of the name and focus on the second part of that admission.
“Why not? This center is a safe haven for people who need it. Rape victims, domestic abuse victims, people who are on the street and need a warm shelter, people who would just like to learn how to protect themselves and countless others come here because it’s a judge free zone.”
“I don’t really know why. I mean, he never really told me, but I think he maybe sought help at a place like this and was turned away.”
Shawna’s eyes met Quinn’s, and she knew the girl
was speaking mostly truth, at least as far as the truth that Paulie had given her. But she was holding back more of his cover story. But, why? To protect the man from Quinn? That seemed preposterous but totally believable. Grooming at its finest—turn them against all they trust, so they feel there’s nowhere left to turn.
“Surely, he must know not all places are like the one he was at?” When she saw that both girls were becoming agitated, she decided to back off. “Back to Jasmine, what makes you think there’s something wrong?”
“Even if she ran away, not sayin’ she would, but if she did, she’d contact Kaylee or me. The three of us are tight.”
“Does she have a cell phone?” The girls nodded. “And I assume that you tried calling her?”
“A bunch of times, it just goes to voicemail.”
“I have a friend I can call and see what he thinks. I won’t mention your names,” she was quick to add when she saw how nervous the girls got. No doubt the girls knew that her friend was a police officer. It was no secret that she had many friends in the DFPD.
“You’ll let us know if you hear anything?” Shawna asked.
“Absolutely, just give me a phone number to reach you. I also need a picture of her.”
“Why?” Kaylee asked, chewing on her nail.
“So they know who they’re looking for. We know what she looks like, but the beat cops don’t. Jasmine is relatively new to the center; I’m not sure how tall or what her weight is. She’s your age, right? That would make her sixteen?”
“Yeah. She’s a little shorter than me, and I’m five feet three. That means, she would be about five feet two. I don’t know about her weight. I know that we can’t borrow each other’s clothes. I’m stick straight, no curves, but she’s very curvy.”
“I’m sorry I don’t remember her very well; she was so new here and very quiet around me.”
“It’s okay. There are lots of us who hang out here. We can be hard to keep track of. I was wonderin’ what happened to you. Your boyfriend beat you up for steppin’ out on him or somethin’?”
“No, I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“But I thought Paulie said you were dating that cop—” Kaylee was cut off when Shawna grabbed her wrist and tugged her out of the chair she’d been sitting in.
“We better be going now,” she said hastily, grabbing the bag she had set on the ground.
“Wait, what do you mean that Paulie, Father Romano told you I was dating a cop? How would he know that if I haven’t ever met him?”
Kaylee was chewing her nail again, obviously refusing to speak further out of fear she would mess up again.
“I don’t know why he told us that. You’d have to ask him.” And with that, she nearly dragged Kaylee out of Quinn’s office.
Quinn followed them, but she was still clumsy, and her clothing got snagged on her desk. By the time she’d freed herself, they were long gone. Why would Paulie have told them that? Was the man they were talking about Ethan? And, if so, when would he have seen them together? One thing was for certain, she needed to see a picture of Paulie and fast. Because if Paulie knew her, maybe she knew Paulie.
“We’re just spinning our wheels, and it’s freaking frustrating as hell. I need to accomplish more than just driving around and talking to people that know nothing.” Ethan was in a foul mood, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself. Every second that ticked by was another that Quinn’s life was in danger, and that was unacceptable to him.
“Listen, E, I realize that you’re all in love and stuff and that testosterone-filled head of yours is in super protective mode, but you know that police work takes, well, work, right?”
“Yeah, stuff it. First, I’m not in love—” When Caleb snorted, Ethan gritted his teeth. “And if I were, what would be the big deal?”
“If?” Caleb was smiling.
“Yeah, if I’m in love, like you say, I would prefer that the first person I admit it to is the person who I feel that way about.” Geez, he sounded like a schmuck.
“Good Lord, man. You know that’s as good as admitting it, right?”
“Whatever. Anyway, I don’t remember you being such a calm person when it was Kara whose life was in danger, and you were drooling all over her. What I remember is a lovesick dog and someone who was devastated when she went missing. Even in my drug-induced state, I saw that. I felt it.”
“Yeah, look, I’m sorry.”
“I never told anyone this, but the night Kara went missing?”
“Yeah?”
“Quinn came to the hospital and stayed with me while Kara was gone. She held my hand, didn’t say a word the whole time. She just came in, sat down, and held my hand. The. Whole. Time. And when Kara came to see me, she just got up and left.”
“Damn. That’s, um, I don’t know what to tell you, man.”
“She hasn’t figured it out yet.”
“Figured it out?”
“That she loves me. I’m going to make her see it. I told myself to give her time and wait for her to come to me, but screw that. I’m tired of waiting.”
“About time, man. I’m tired of you pining away for her, too. At the very least the female population needs to know you’re off the market for good. I think Quinn just needs a little shove in the right direction.”
Was that the case? Was he off the market for good? Hell, yeah, he was. Quinn was it for him. She was the end all and be all that he wanted to wake up next to every damn day. The person he wanted to fight with, have make-up sex with and have children with. She was his beginning, middle, and end; he just had to get her on the same page that he was. Maybe Caleb was right, and she just needed a little shove.
“She’s holding something back. I think once she gets past that, she’ll see me finally and what I can be for her.”
“And what’s that?”
“Her future.”
Caleb just smiled and then reached into his pocket, pulling out a picture.
“Since we’re sharing good news…” He handed it to Ethan. “Here’s my baby’s first picture. Lay your eyes on your future niece or nephew.”
Ethan would definitely call that good news. The little baby in that picture was a sign that good could come from evil. He stared for a long time at the picture, he couldn’t wait to be holding a similar picture to share with Caleb someday. Hopefully, soon. He wanted nothing more than to have children. He especially wanted them to grow up with their cousins close in age, and he couldn’t wait to welcome his niece or nephew. He needed that close familial connection for his own family that they were deprived of as children. But he needed to stop himself from putting the cart before the horse and needed to get her to admit that she was actually interested in him. For now, he needed to focus on his damn job so they could have that happy ending.
“Let’s go back to the office. We aren’t accomplishing anything out here. We can stop and get some lunch and then help Stuart and Sanchez filter through the filth online.”
“Good plan. Not sure how far it’ll get us, but it’s worth a try,” Caleb said.
“Now who sounds like a crab?”
“Just a realist. I agree about the spinning our wheels comment. We need to get those brothers to talk. They’re the quickest way to link the actual buyer and seller.”
“Getting them to flip is going to be next to impossible. Unless the state goes after them and they’re facing hard time. Even then, they’re going to aim for self-preservation. Squealing on their business partners wouldn’t be a wise move.”
“Unless it comes down to life in prison or telling all,” Caleb surmised.
Once they’d picked up lunch, they made their way to the station. As soon as they walked in, they could tell something had happened. The chaotic energy from earlier was subdued and almost somber. Not only had something happened, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He looked at Caleb, and he could tell from his expression that he also could feel the tension in the room. They weaved their way through the bull pen to their desk
s. Stuart looked up from his computer, his eyes bloodshot from hours of staring at the screen.
“What’s going on?” Ethan asked.
“Nothing good. I’m not really sure, but Cap got a phone call and hung up swearing like I’ve never heard him swear before, then he slammed out of here—hasn’t been back for thirty minutes.” As if the words had conjured the very man they were talking about, Captain Bob Wickman came stomping back into the room.
“Conference room. Now!” he bellowed. No one questioned him; they all just got up and walked into the conference room and took a seat. Without preamble, he began to speak. “Both Hernandez boys were found dead an hour ago.” A chorus of voices began shouting questions.
“Be quiet, and I’ll tell you what I know.” Everyone promptly shut up. “They found Manuel shanked and Luis hanging in their cell. All hell broke loose. They aren’t sure what the hell happened.”
“Or they aren’t ready to share,” Stuart mumbled.
“GBPD is a good group. If they knew what happened, they would tell us. Right now, they’re running off the following three scenarios: either Luis killed Manuel to keep him silent and then killed himself; someone killed Manuel and hung Luis to make it look like he killed Manuel, or someone killed Manuel, and Luis was devastated, so he killed himself. Either way, they’re both dead, and neither gave up any information before they bit the big one. We’re back to ground zero, folks.”
“How the hell did someone get to them?” Stuart’s voice was frustrated. They all were frustrated.
“For some damn reason or other, they weren’t in a locked cell block.”
“They let them around the gen pop?” Ethan asked, incredulous. “They had a target on their backs for dealing with kids. That’s basically asking for someone to take them out.”
“Where did he find something to hang himself?” Sanchez asked.
Breaking Shadows (Darkness Falls Book 2) Page 21