Julio was about thirty and average in every possible way. His brown curly hair could’ve used a shampoo, and the acne on his chin and nose made me think he didn’t wash as often as he should. I said, “You’re sweating. That doesn’t do much to recommend a hit man.”
“Hit man! Hit man! You can’t be serious.”
“You tried to shoot me yesterday. I can only assume you did it for money, since we’ve never met and I never made a case on you.”
“Look, man, I don’t think I want to talk to any cops right now.”
It was time to get serious. “You’re already talking to a cop. Your options are very simple. You talk to me and tell me what the hell is going on or you end up in Rikers Island. And I spread it around that you’re a snitch.”
“What?” He yelped like I’d slapped him across the face.
“The inmates will hate you because you’re a snitch, and none of the cops will help you because you tried to kill a cop. I’ve never met anyone who was stuck between such a rock and a hard place.”
I saw him consider exactly what I was talking about. I sat back and let him think up the worst possible scenario himself.
After almost two minutes, he looked at me and said, “Okay, what sort of information are you looking for?”
“Who hired you to kill me and why?”
“I don’t know all the details. It was my cousin who hired me. He needed someone to drive. I pulled out my old MAC-10 when I saw you were kicking his ass. I swear to God I was just trying to keep you away from them so they could get away.”
“Who’s your cousin?”
“Willie. Willie Perez. But he was hired by someone else. I swear I don’t know who.”
“What did Willie say about who hired him? C’mon—I know he had to talk about it to get you to help.”
Julio stared at me like I was a witch who could read his mind.
He looked down at the stained upholstery of my police-car seat and mumbled, “It was a chick.”
“What?”
He spoke up. “A woman. It was a woman who hired Willie.”
“What did she look like?”
“I don’t know. He just said she was beautiful. That was all he said, I swear.”
“Where’s Willie now?”
“I don’t know. He lives in the same apartment as me, but I don’t see him that much. He’s got girlfriends. Lots of them.”
I said, “I’ll tell you the truth. I’m not sure how much of this is bullshit.”
“None. I swear. I’m just sorry I shot at you.”
“For once I’m going to say it doesn’t matter that you shot at me. The only thing that will help you now is to help me find whoever hired your cousin. I’m not making any specific deals. I’m not doing shit. Nothing until you help me.”
I let him digest that. Often someone’s imagination will do your work for you.
Julio looked at me and said, “Okay, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“And I’m going to need you to try to set up a meeting with whoever hired your cousin.”
“I can’t do that from a police car.”
“I’m going to go way out on a limb and give you a day to set that up. Don’t say anything to your cousin about me yet. I’ll tell you something: you don’t want to cross me. You believe me?”
“I swear to God I believe you.”
Chapter 58
Alex Martinez spoke to Oscar, her contact from the Mexican cartel, on her throwaway phone to confirm that the contracts on the Canadians were complete. She threw in Alicia Toussant’s bodyguard for free. Now she was just tying up loose ends—like Detective Michael Bennett.
Oscar said, “This is all good. We don’t need to make statements with these Canadians in New York. They know someone is tracking them. If we need to, we’ll send you to Quebec in a few months. Then we’ll make a statement, like killing one of these pricks in front of his family or cutting off a few dicks. That will show them how far we’re willing to go.”
Alex said, “That’s another conversation. I was just calling to say things are almost wrapped up here in New York.”
The conversation was brief. All he said was, “Very good. That’s why we pay you so much.”
When she told him she was tying up loose ends, she didn’t go into details. The Dominican gang that had tried to kill her was the biggest loose end she’d ever had on a contract. She had an address for one of the men, and it would make a statement to kill him in his own apartment.
This was as close to a personal reason for killing as she’d ever had. She was angry. The young man she’d killed in the crappy old hotel in East Harlem had been vile. His attitude and comments made her shudder.
The fact that they thought they could eliminate her made her livid.
Finally she found the apartment, on 129th Street in East Harlem. It looked like most of the other run-down apartment buildings in this part of New York. The city had planted a few trees in the grassy swath around the sidewalks, and about every other apartment had an air conditioner hanging out of its window.
She stood on the corner for a few moments and took in the whole block. There was nothing out of place. Some children played in the green space in front of the building. Alex didn’t want to be seen entering through the front door.
She walked another block to look at the rear of the apartment complex and checked for video cameras. The surge in video surveillance and security had made her job more difficult. One of the reasons she was paid so well was that she knew how to adapt. In a neighborhood like this there wasn’t nearly as much video surveillance as there was in more affluent and commercial areas.
The rear door locked automatically as soon as it closed. She watched as a couple of people came and went, each using a key to get back inside.
An elderly woman carrying two heavy bags of groceries slowly moved alongside her.
Without thinking, Alex said in Spanish, “Let me help you with that.” She took one of the bags from the woman’s skinny arms.
The older woman smiled and said, “You have very nice manners. I don’t see that much around here anymore.”
“I’m not from around here.”
The woman reached up and touched Alex’s cheek. “Good for you, sweetheart.”
After they walked for a minute, Alex realized she was headed toward the back door of the apartment building. Perfect. Sometimes luck did favor those who were prepared.
It was natural to follow the woman in the door with a bag of groceries in her arms, and she even helped take it inside her first-floor apartment.
The woman tried to hand Alex a dollar bill as a tip.
Alex smiled and refused as she backed out of the apartment. She turned as if she was headed back out the door, then took the stairs to the second floor.
She found the apartment right next to the stairs and listened carefully for several minutes. There was no sound or movement from inside.
She quietly tried the handle. The door was locked but loose in its frame. The old story: a cheap landlord who never wanted to repair anything.
Alex retrieved her stiletto and popped it open. It only took one push in the right place by the lock to slip the door past the frame. She let it swing open silently.
She stepped inside the empty apartment.
Chapter 59
Sometimes even I was amazed at the turns my days could take. An hour ago, I was talking to a guy who tried to kill me. I cut a deal no sane cop would make. I gave up an immediate arrest that would probably lead to two other arrests for the chance to land the big one. As long as I didn’t tell anyone about it, I probably wouldn’t get in trouble. Now I was downtown and meeting Mary Catherine for lunch.
I had gone from talking to a guy who tried to kill me to talking with the woman who had saved me.
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I called her and asked her to meet me on the seventh floor of the Bergdorf Goodman department store, in the little restaurant. She sounded shocked by the invitation, then blu
rted out, “I didn’t know you realized there was a restaurant up there.”
The BG Restaurant was fancy by my standards, with big, ornate windows and stiff, formal chairs. The menu prices made me flinch a little, but I rationalized the midday splurge. The croque monsieur made that rationalization easier.
We sat at a small table overlooking Central Park near 57th Street. The view was spectacular. And so was Mary Catherine. Her beautiful face, framed by that lovely auburn hair, and those clear green eyes that seemed to take in the whole world made the view pale by comparison. It’s too bad I could never put that kind of shit into words around her. Instead I said, “You look great.”
She blushed slightly and smiled. “You always say the right things.”
We chatted about subjects we normally don’t get to chat about. Current events. Where the kids might end up going to college. Where we might go on vacation this coming summer. It was great.
Then we ended up on the topic of Juliana.
Mary Catherine said, “I really think you need to give her more room. By the way, that was a sneaky trick, getting Carter to admit he was planning on moving to LA.”
I smiled. “Sneaky or brilliant?”
She shrugged and said, “I guess it’s a little bit of both.”
“When you get a little older, you have to get sneakier. It’s our only advantage.”
Mary Catherine wasn’t swayed. “I want you to let her live her life. At least within reason. Carter seems like a nice enough boy.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem with him if he was a boy. But the fact that he’s closer to thirty than twenty bothers me.”
“Do you really think anyone would try to do anything stupid to any of your daughters after they met you?”
I thought about it. Maybe I did come on a little strong sometimes.
I changed the topic. “Have you thought about a date for us yet? A spring wedding might be nice.”
“No, I haven’t thought about it.”
“I could be sneaky and trick you into it.”
“There’s no need. It’s just that I have so much to keep up with running the house. It’s hard to take time to plan anything. I can’t even think about a wedding right now.”
I said, “It doesn’t have to be big and elaborate.”
“The hell it doesn’t. If I’m going to marry the man I love, it’s going to be way over the top. I mean Barbra-Streisand-as-entertainment big.”
I chuckled as I said, “What do you mean if you’re going to marry me?”
She reached across the table and took my hand in hers. “When I marry the man I love. But right now I want to focus on Bridget and Fiona as they get ready for their first boy-girl dance. And Trent, the forgotten kid, who never does anything wrong. And Chrissy, who is taking this baby-of-the-family thing a little too far.”
I thought about what she was saying. “I know you end up getting a whole family with me. A giant family. I don’t want to stress you out any more.”
“Oh, you silly, oblivious man. That’s just it. I do get the whole family. The whole fantastic family. It’s not a negative. I get to adopt each of the kids, just like you and Maeve did. It’s thrilling. It’s more than I ever wanted. But right now I have cookies I have to get to Shawna’s class for history day, and then I’m taking Seamus to the eye doctor.”
I leaned close and kissed Mary Catherine. I had never loved her more than I did right then.
Chapter 60
By the time I got back to the office I was on fire. I had more information—specifically, that a woman hired the Dominicans to shoot me. I wanted this whole ordeal over as soon as possible.
Some of my ad hoc task force was already there, and I called in Cassie Max and Roddy Huerta.
When we all gathered in a conference room, Roddy was the first to say, “You do realize you’re not my sergeant. You can’t just order me into the office any time you want to talk to me.”
Cassie casually turned toward Roddy and said, “Shut up and maybe learn something.”
I appreciated that kind of support. I hate to admit it, but I got a kick out of seeing Roddy brought down a peg or two.
I said, “I think I have something that’ll change how we look at this case.” I glanced around the table. The detectives and the three forensics people were all staring at me intently.
“I have a tip that a woman hired the Dominican gunmen who tried to shoot me. They describe her as beautiful.”
Roddy shook his head. “You called us in to tell us that? An attractive woman is trying to murder you? Are you bragging?”
“No, numb nuts. I’m telling you this because it’s a lead. I know we’ve all looked through surveillance videos trying to identify a suspect, but I’ve been looking for a man. Not only is that sexist, it’s also the biggest trap a detective can fall into. I got tunnel vision. Now I’m hoping you guys can help me out. If we all start reviewing surveillance videos, we might be able get an image of this woman.”
Roddy said, “And what if she’s just a go-between? Maybe the killer really is a man.”
“I’m not sure how you want me to respond to that, Roddy. Are you saying we should ignore this lead? I think we should run it down, and if we find her, see if we can’t get her to identify who she’s working for. It’s kind of basic police work.
“Also, this fits in with the murder at the hospital. The corrections officers who were guarding the murdered gunman both said they spoke to a woman. They just couldn’t give any description and didn’t know exactly how she was involved. She may have just been a distraction.”
Cassie said, “I have hours of video from businesses around Madison Square Park. I didn’t have any idea what to look for, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
Roddy said, “That shitty hotel purposely doesn’t want anyone knowing who comes and goes. And there are no businesses at the entrance that would have surveillance. I did grab a tape from an electronics store not far from the rear entrance to the hotel. I looked at it but wrote off the females who were leaving as prostitutes.”
Cassie let out a laugh and said, “Typical.”
I intervened before Roddy got too bent out of shape. “Unless anyone else has anything useful to add, I would recommend we all get to work. There are other pieces of this puzzle that might fall into place.”
As the little meeting broke up, I looked over to my lieutenant. Harry Grissom hadn’t said a word during the meeting as he leaned against the back wall with his arms folded.
Now he looked at me like he was about to speak. Instead he just nodded and grunted something that could’ve been “Good job.”
Chapter 61
Alex took advantage of being alone in the Dominicans’ apartment. She didn’t just sit on the couch and wait. She did a good, thorough search of the place, putting everything back where she found it. To Alex, planning was a part of the job she enjoyed. With attention to detail and preparation, she felt ready all the time.
The kitchen drawers gave up something that really interested her. This creep had a photograph of her from the time when they had sat at the White Castle talking about things. It was clear that his friend had taken it somehow when she wasn’t paying attention. They had printed out at least two copies.
From a photographer’s point of view, the picture wasn’t that bad. He had been lucky to catch the light just right, and her hair was over her shoulder, away from her face. It was really quite flattering.
From another point of view, the fact that these men were serious enough about killing her to hand out photographs made her angry. She didn’t know how many were in the group, but it was definitely suffering some serious casualties. And it was only going to get worse.
In the next drawer there was an old-fashioned Smith & Wesson .38 revolver. It was the kind of weapon you used up close, for protection. It was small, simple, and reliable.
She took it out of the drawer and stuck it in her purse. She’d find a way to use it sometime.
The apartment had
two bedrooms, and from what she could tell, at least two men lived there. They weren’t particularly tidy, and a nasty odor of stale beer and cigarette smoke hung in the air. She didn’t care for it at all.
She also found the photograph she had given them of Detective Michael Bennett, which she’d found on the Internet, but it was clear and showed the handsome detective’s face in full.
Her recent research on the Internet had turned up quite a bit of information about the detective. Since it was obvious she was the one who was going to finish the contract on him, she wanted to know everything she could.
Alex respected a man who adopted ten children. He’d been very smart and careful not to let any of the children’s photographs appear on the Internet. No news story carried any information about them. Several articles referenced the fact that he had adopted a number of children, but there was no mention of names or descriptions.
It was a shame someone felt that a man like this had to die, whereas no one really cared about incompetent idiots like the men who lived in this apartment. She hated doing something like this for no money, but she couldn’t risk their trying to kill her again. The answer was to send a strong and serious signal that no one should mess with her.
Just as she placed Bennett’s photo back in the folder on the cheap, shaky table, she heard the floor creak just outside the door.
She froze in place.
Then she heard the key slip into the lock.
The door started to open.
Chapter 62
As the door swung open, Alex was ready. She stood in the corner of the main room, perfectly still. The gun she’d taken from the drawer was in her right hand. She watched as a man stepped into the apartment, but it wasn’t the person she was expecting. This man was too young and too tall. He had a little acne on his face and thick, curly hair.
He shut the door and tossed a plastic bag of groceries onto the kitchen counter. He walked across the room and flopped onto the leatherette couch, then clicked on the TV.
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