Derek shot her an incredulous look.
“Now I’d like to hear a bit more about those gun sales. Did anyone approach you personally in the past few days? Did they know your were going to meet me instead of Derek?”
“Hell, I said I don’t know!”
“So you really have nothing,” Derek observed. “It might be time we go separate ways then.”
“Hey, I helped you with that crazy kid who blew up the bar, right?”
“You’re not helping right now.”
“Okay. There’s this bar. I hear they sometimes let them out on the weekend or something. They’re not supposed to drink, I think, but no one says anything if the men do it. They hook up with the working girls as well, and it’s a place where people offer the merchandise.”
“Oh crap. I know the place. Mac, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
“No way,” Derek said. “If there’s any whisper he’s been talking to the Feds, he’s dead.”
“He’s talking to us now, isn’t he? I can set up something low-key with Bethany.”
“I don’t like it.”
Mac’s expression said clearly that he didn’t like it either.
“Wait here,” Jordan told him. “Derek? This is important,” she said after they’d walked a few steps, keeping Mac in sight. “They have a company that’s dealing in leather ware. The sooner we can prove what their real intentions are, the sooner they can get their agent out.”
“Her well-being is Bethany’s responsibility, not yours.”
“Oh for Christ’s sake, she made a mistake and nearly got me killed, I get it. I was there, remember? I’m not sure what’s up with you, but stop it. I’m going to call her tonight.”
“I can’t guarantee that he’ll show up.”
“Yeah, we’ve been there.” She held up a hand when Derek was about to protest. “We’re good. Hey, Mac. Don’t leave town.”
Jordan wasn’t sure what Derek’s plans for the evening were, or if she even wanted to deal with his cranky mood any longer. They both drove to the station to finish up on their respective workdays, and she didn’t see him again until she pulled out of the parking lot and noticed his car behind hers. Oh well. She’d make that call to Bethany quickly.
She was first to arrive at Ellie and Kate’s apartment—apparently Derek had taken another turn or had stopped at a grocery.
When she heard the sounds, she momentarily thought she was in front of the wrong apartment—but it was definitely Ellie’s voice.
Ellie, as she noticed, walking inside, talking to a baby.
“This was definitely a success,” she said. “Not the fun part, but a success.”
“Did I miss anything?” Jordan asked, amused. “When did this happen?”
“Well, it was time for changing, and I thought to myself how hard can it be?” Ellie chuckled. “That’s not what you’re asking. Hi.”
“Hi.”
They shared a quick kiss before Ellie laid the baby down into his carrier.
“You were busy, so Darla called me instead. She had a job interview, but couldn’t find anyone to take care of him.”
“Thank you for this. Derek and I finally met his elusive informant.”
“You did? Did he have anything good for you?”
“Promising,” Jordan said, remembering she still had to make that call. “Excuse me for a second?” Or maybe she just didn’t want to discuss details with Ellie at this moment, which would disrupt the unexpected, cozy scene.
Bethany picked up right away. Jordan could hear a female voice in the background, asking, “Who is it?”
“Work,” Bethany said. “It won’t be long. Right?”
“I don’t think so. Can you come in tomorrow? There’s someone I want to introduce to you. He had some news about the Prophets of Better Days case. Not all good, but it might be helpful for Strickland. Apparently, they are stockpiling weapons from the black market, and the name Beaumont was mentioned, not in connection with Raphael.”
“And that person is trustworthy?” Bethany asked doubtfully. “You don’t think Raphael killed her?”
“Oh, I know he did, that case is solid. But we might get closer to proving that the family put him up to it.”
“I’ll be there. Thank you. See you tomorrow.”
When Jordan returned to the living room, Ellie was sitting on the couch with Darla’s son in her arms.
“You want to hold him?” she asked.
After a moment of hesitation, Jordan nodded. She laughed self-consciously. “I’m not sure how this will go. The last time I held a baby, they threw up on me.”
“Relax. I don’t think that’s going to happen every time.”
They heard the key in the lock, and a moment later, Kate and Derek walked in.
“Okay…This is new,” she remarked. “Something you didn’t tell us?”
“It was news to me,” Jordan said. “He’s Darla’s. She’ll be picking him up in a bit. You guys brought beer?”
“You called Dr. Roberts?” Derek asked, obviously in a better mood now.
“I’m going to see her tomorrow. I promise, we’ll do this the right way.”
“Tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” Ellie remarked. “We’ll finally find out who stole the sex toys.” Even though her tone was absolutely serious, everyone burst out laughing, waking Jordan Avery in the process who made small happy baby noises.
Jordan was both intrigued and spooked.
This was not the time.
* * * *
To her surprise, Bethany caught up with her early in the morning, intent on joining her for roll call.
“I want you guys to focus on the gun sales,” she told Jordan on the way. “No word on Lilah.”
“Is she doing okay in there?” Jordan didn’t have any update on the woman Ellie had rescued, but it seemed like the brothers and their sons weren’t strong on impulse control. If they started assaulting and harassing women when on the outside for five minutes, she hated to think about what was happening on the inside.
“So far, so good,” Bethany said. “I’d like to pull her out rather sooner than later, so if you can get Henderson’s informant to meet…”
“He’s reluctant, but I think he’ll do it.”
“Make sure he does. I don’t want to take any chances.”
Derek would be pleased to hear that. Hopefully, he could convince Mac too.
* * * *
The address Ellie and Casey Lyons pulled up to was an old warehouse that had been converted for office space. As they entered the building, they noticed that most of the offices were empty. There was a private investigator on the first floor, and a computer repair service on the second. The repair service was closed. The PI opened the door to them.
“Officers, how can I help you?”
“We have a warrant for Jack Smith under this address.”
He frowned. “Well, it’s not me. I’ve been in this building since they first started renting out, and I don’t think I ever met a Jack Smith in here. There’s a computer firm upstairs, and an insurance broker just moved in. Real estate company coming next month. Maybe it’s one of the employees?”
“We’ll check that, thank you,” Ellie said, turning to Casey. “Insurance…Irwin’s ex owns an insurance company. I wonder if the two are connected.”
“Let’s find out.”
They only found the secretary who confirmed that there was no Jack Smith working for the company. She didn’t know Irwin’s ex-husband either, but she could give them the name of the landlord, a company named Modern Development. A quick check revealed that this company also owned the building where Irwin had his insurance business.
Too much of a coincidence?
They had barely fastened their seatbelts when dispatch alerted them to shots fired only a few blocks away from their location, two people injured, the shooter fleeing from the scene.
Ellie wondered if Jordan, who had been mostly silent when she’d come to roll call w
ith Bethany, was having a better day. She could only hope. They arrived shortly after the ambulances, sirens competing. Libby, who was already on the scene, told them what she knew.
“Male, white, late twenties, pulled a gun on a woman. When someone tried to help her, he shot him too and ran. Male victim’s got a flesh wound, but he could describe the shooter.”
“What about the woman?”
Libby looked somber. “Doesn’t look good. We should make the call.”
Ellie cast a look at the woman on the stretcher, to the blood staining the concrete, and back. “Damn.” She would have liked to use a stronger word, but the realization came like a gut punch—she knew the woman.
“Fiona Grayson. The man, was he with her?”
“No, he was just a bystander,” Libby said. “More backup is on the way. Let’s send a detective to the hospital too.”
With all necessary measures taken, Ellie and Casey joined the search, and at the same time, warned residents to stay inside. While it looked like the shooter had targeted Grayson specifically, he had already injured another person and likely wouldn’t hesitate doing it again.
They were combing the neighborhood, house by house while the description was going out to all officers on patrol.
Ellie had a hard time forgetting the image of Fiona on that stretcher, wrestling with questions she had no way of answering at the moment. Had she been targeted for talking to the police about the incident at the bar, or did she know more about the Prophets? Were the gun sales Derek’s informant had talked about, related—had she known about the book?
“Pay attention,” Casey snapped at her.
“Sorry,” Ellie mumbled, knowing that Casey’s criticism was perfectly justified at this moment.
“What’s going on?” a woman called from a first floor balcony.
“Ma’am, please, please go inside. We’re looking for a man who ran from a crime scene. He might have a gun.”
“Well, good luck finding him. That sounds like most of my neighbors. Forget I said anything, most of them are just paranoid, or so I thought, but now that you’re looking for…”
“Ma’am. Please,” Casey stressed.
“All right, all right.”
Fortunately, the woman stepped back into her apartment and closed the curtains. They had almost made it to the end of the street. Behind, there were woods and fields, another team on the lookout.
The last house had a wooden gate leading to a backyard. It looked like no one was home. There was no car in the front. The mailbox was nearly flowing over.
Ellie wanted to curse again, but this time, she had no words. The gate stood wide open. Chances were the owners hadn’t left it that way.
“He might be long gone,” Casey said quietly.
Or he had noticed that the way the teams had been set up, they were closing in on him, Ellie thought.
In the backyard, a swing and outdoor furniture were protected by plastic covers, one more hint that the owners had likely prepared for their absence.
One of the chairs was turned over. There was a small shed nestled against the fence around the property. They carefully edged closer to the shed, noticing that the lock and its windows were intact.
Both of them rapidly duck for cover behind the small building when a shot rang out.
It was coming from inside the house. Casey called for backup while Ellie tried to get a glimpse of what was going on inside. The sun was almost blinding, but she could see a shadow moving inside, a man pacing. Would he come outside, try to shoot his way to freedom, or move the other way? He had to know that the house would be surrounded within minutes.
What kind of weapon was he carrying?
Seconds later, Ellie had her answer, and it was the worst possible. He came out shooting, advancing on them with every step. Both she and Casey had their guns drawn.
“Police! Put your gun down!” Casey yelled, then ducked when her words were returned with more gunfire. As he was coming closer, they had no chance but to return shots.
One of his bullets hit the shed’s wall, bits of brick flying around. Ellie could hear Casey curse. She raised her weapon again, and then the shooter jerked, dropping to the ground.
He didn’t move.
“Ellie. Ellie, are you okay?”
“I suppose,” she said, feeling sick as she turned to Casey, startled at the smear of blood on her face.
“It’s the damn brick,” Casey said. “I’m okay, it’s nothing. Cavalry is here too.” Several officers had come from inside the house, one of them taking the rifle out of the shooter’s reach, another kneeling down to reach for the man’s pulse, shaking his head.
Ellie took a deep breath, feeling lightheaded and a tad confused. Had she actually killed him? It was entirely possible. She had fired her gun at the same time as at least one of their colleagues who had backed them up from the inside. One of those bullets had found its mark. She was relieved that none of them were hurt, save a few scratches from flying brick…she thought she might be sick.
“Breathe,” Casey advised as they walked over to their colleagues. “It will be okay. You had no choice.”
Ellie knew this for certain, but that didn’t mean she had accepted the fact yet. At her first look at the man, she involuntarily took a step backwards.
“She’s a beautiful girl, don’t you think? Why does she have to draw attention to herself, being dressed like that?”
“His name is Seth,” she said. “I don’t have a last name, but I’m sure he’s with the Prophets of Better Days. I talked to him at the bar…he said he was married.” Something inside their sect was unraveling, and fast. The man who had slipped something into Fiona’s drink, hadn’t come after her, but one of his fellow cult members had. Ellie felt her throat go tight. She had no reason to feel sorry for Seth who had obviously attempted to kill Fiona, and injured another person—but she imagined the wife he left behind, probably young, mother to a few children.
“Ellie! Thank God you’re okay.”
Jordan’s embrace was brief, but it was enough to do away with some of the confusion. This wasn’t about her and her feelings.
“Hey,” she said, wondering why Jordan was here, but grateful for it. “You might want to get Bethany in on this. He was the guy at the bar who talked to me, and gave me his opinion about Lilah’s clothes. Unless he lied to me, he had a family.” Ellie shook her head. “One he didn’t seem to care about much if he put the brothers’ secrets above them. What a shame. I mean…I would have preferred if I didn’t have to shoot him,” she added quickly. “I had to. He kept coming at us.”
“We’ll figure it out. No one’s going to blame you for that. He was coming at you, it’s a clean shot.” Jordan’s expression, however, showed concern.
She stood a little straighter, as if pushing against a weight on her shoulders.
“Did you go to the hospital?”
“Doss went,” Jordan said. “Fiona Grayson is still in critical condition. The witness is doing okay.”
That was a bit of a relief. There was still hope for this day—and Fiona.
“Okay. How do you think they will react? I don’t assume they will easily accept that this was his fault to begin with?”
“Probably not. Do you want me to drive you?”
Ellie shook herself. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll go with Casey. I’ll see you later, and…thanks for coming.”
Jordan’s smile was slightly pained. “I had to,” she said.
* * * *
Being in the same room with Derek and Bethany was uncomfortable and awkward. At the moment, Jordan couldn’t care less.
“Mac mentioned guns on the street, and a group that’s probably with the Brothers looking for large quantities that don’t show up on background checks. One of those guns might have ended up in the hands of a guy who decided to shoot two people earlier. The serial number was scratched off,” she explained to Bethany.
“I want Mac in here. Arrest him for loitering, anything th
at makes him look innocent and harmless and not like a snitch.” That part was meant for Derek rather than Bethany. Jordan turned back to her. “Meanwhile, we have to go see Daniel Deane again.”
Seth, as it turned out, was Raphael’s half-brother, from Daniel Deane’s third marriage. Of course, wives number one and two still lived on the compound with their children and grandchildren. Whatever the women’s opinion was on how the brothers ran the family and the business, they would not welcome the police.
They had to be careful not to alert them and jeopardize the operation in progress. The reason why they could identify him so quickly, was partly due to their earlier surveillance.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Derek warned. “After this incident, Mac will want to lay low.”
“Don’t we all,” Bethany said sarcastically. “The thing is, we don’t have that luxury. Strickland’s life is on the line.”
“I’m aware. Regardless, I can’t promise anything.”
“Just try,” Jordan said. “We’re on the same side here, remember? We don’t want to tip them off, but we need to move fast before more people get hurt. Derek, you call me the moment you get a hold on Mac. Meanwhile, we have to deliver the bad news.”
At least, no one protested. Jordan was comforted to know Ellie was safe somewhere in the building and probably would be for the rest of the workday…On a day like this, Jordan had even less patience than usual for Bethany and Derek’s mutual resentment.
Chapter Nine
He couldn’t help being excited, even though he knew it was very, very bad. Both Nathan and Seth had been courting Lilly, regardless of the fact that Seth’s wife was five months pregnant with their fifth child.
He had watched the cops come to their house, again, and the Prophet answering them with his grief and fury…
He wasn’t grieving though, not that much anyway, and if it was wrong, he couldn’t help it. What had happened, would put him higher in the hierarchy, and closer to Lilly. He’d be smarter than Seth, too, who had volunteered to clear up the mess Nathan had made with the whore at the bar.
Eventually, the Prophet would understand that he was worthy, unlike the man who snuck out to drink and hook up like college girls, or Seth who’d been falling over his feet to be helpful and screwed it all up.
Initiations (Carpenter/Harding Book 5) Page 9