His partner, Paul Jones, was enthusiastic and thorough and his buoyancy increased the pleasure of working patrol with him. He proved to be pleasant and interesting to work with. They both shared the same view on relationships, for totally different reasons, and went trawling together on many occasions. His blonde hair, blue eyes and boyish good looks never failed to draw the lookers, so along with Lucas’ dark brooding handsomeness they catered to the tastes of all women. As a team at work and play they were a powerful combination. Of course, Lucas didn’t actually need any help picking up, however, doing it with a companion made it seem less seedy somehow. As much as he enjoyed working with Paul, his ultimate goal came down to the results he impatiently waited for.
After seven years on the force and an impeccable arrest record, he was no closer to his original goal, the reason for his chosen career, finding his parent’s murderers.
Every robbery they attended, every thief they collared, he wondered whether it was the same punks. Would he ever know? Similar robbery or murders had occurred intermittently since that night but no-one had ever been caught and the cases, as his parent’s had, went cold. He constantly checked the databases, seeking similar MO’s, but there was never enough evidence with any of the cases to catch a perp. He began to wonder whether they would ever be caught, this troubled him and his sleep now.
Finally Captain Shaw stuck his head out the door and called him in, it was the moment of truth.
14
Detective Russell Cooper
The first day with his gold shield, Lucas woke early and eager. Having passed his exams easily he’d been assigned a partner, and would be beginning on his new journey. As he was younger than usual for a detective, he’d been partnered with a veteran, a legend, Russell Cooper. His reputation for getting results, patience while training his partners and his superior interrogation skills, was legendary. Lucas couldn’t have struck a better partner.
After knocking on Captain Shaw’s door, he was called in. His senior partner sat waiting for his arrival, chatting amenably with the Captain. This being the first time he’d laid eyes on the respectable Russell Cooper, Lucas surveyed him for a moment. His height was indeterminate due to his seated position along with him leaning forward, elbows on knees but Lucas guessed him to be of medium height. His dark hair, greying at the temples was cut short and neat. He’d lifted his dark brown eyes as Lucas entered and he appeared to be taking in his younger partner too. His face, although weathered, was distinguished and Lucas determined women would deem him handsome, even though he was probably well into his fifties. Russell greeted him with a crooked smile which softened his face and gave him a boyish quality.
“Hey there, Hudson,” he said as he stood and held out his hand which Lucas shook. His evaluation had been correct; Cooper was a good four inches shorter than him. “I hear you’re a hard worker, dedicated, tough, all great qualities in a D.”
“Thanks, I’m honoured to be assigned to you.” Lucas groaned internally, how green did he sound? Like a fresh faced rookie. To hide his chagrin he kept his face indifferent.
Cooper laughed. “Loosen up, Hudson. We’re going to be working together for a while.”
“They’re waiting for you at the scene, Detectives,” Shaw interrupted before Lucas could answer, thankfully. He would probably just put his foot in it again.
Cooper immediately strode to Lucas’ newly assigned vehicle and waited at the passenger door. “I prefer not to drive.”
“Works for me, I like to drive.”
After giving Lucas the rundown of where they were going and what they knew about callout, Cooper caught him completely off guard.
“So, Kiddo, do you have any idiosyncrasies, skeletons in your closet or weird ticks which are going to prevent you from doing your job properly? If so, let’s air them now. This way if something comes up which will affect you in any way, I’ll have a heads up.”
Lucas mulled over exactly what he would reveal to his new partner. They were strangers and he would be confiding something personal and painful, if he told him, that is. He decided to go with honesty, well an edited version. It couldn’t hurt.
“Nothing will prevent me from doing my job properly. Law and justice are my life.”
“That’s great, Kid, spill it.”
“What makes you think there’s anything to tell?”
“You secured a gold shield after only seven years on the job. You’re a workaholic who has pulled way too many double shifts over the years to have any semblance of a family life and worked the night shift without complaint for over three years. You act tough and indifferent which indicates to me you’re either protecting a secret or yourself.”
“Very perceptive.”
“I’ve been a detective for twenty years, I don’t miss much. I asked to have you assigned to me because of the things I just listed and because you’re a good cop. Still, I believe there’s always a reason why this is. I just want to know how you’re going to handle homicide.”
Lucas sighed; maybe the time had come to share his burden with someone.
“I’ve never told anyone on the force this before. There’s a reason why I became a cop and why I’m so ... ambitious.” He stopped. Cooper waited. “When I was seventeen, my parents were ... murdered during a robbery. I found them and it wasn’t pretty. I guess it’s never really left me. I joined the force at eighteen, gung-ho on getting vengeance and catching the killers. Being a cop wasn’t my first career choice but after that night ... well everything changed. My sister has coped with the loss better than I ever have or could. It was tough to begin with, attending murder scenes, especially my first one. It’s the same reason why I don’t have a family and live alone. The job became my life, girls a pastime and Carrie, my sister and her family, my only personal link.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. How are the nightmares?”
“How do you ...”
“Know you are plagued by bad dreams. Join the club, Kiddo. My first wife was killed by a drunk driver. As luck would have it, I was on duty that night. It was a long time ago and I remarried several years later. My sons are both in high school and neither wants to be a cop which I’m grateful for.”
“The guy who ... did he go to prison?”
“Yeah, he served ten years. It didn’t change anything. She was still dead, I wasn’t.”
“How did you know it was the same for me?”
“I had the same look in my eye and aloof mask as you. I saw you once, at the firing range and was blown away, pardon the pun, by your accuracy. Then I noticed your face, your expression, grim and determined. I wore that armour until I met my Sammy.”
“I’m glad it worked out for you but I’m fine with my life how it is.”
“Okay, Kiddo, I won’t bring it up again. I see a promising detective in you and wanted to be aware, so I can help you out if needed.”
“Appreciate it but I’m handling it fine. In the beginning it was ... difficult but it’s getting easier now.”
“Alrighty then.”
As Lucas tried to sleep that evening Cooper’s words rolled around in his mind. Was it time to let go? Would getting justice change anything? In the beginning it was all he’d wanted, the reason he joined the force. Now things were different, the satisfaction of catching the bad guy, any bad guy was enough. His first day as detective enforced this. Investigating and hunting down criminals would be fulfilling and perhaps this would be the reward for hard work, not reprisal.
He could learn a lot from his new, seasoned partner, perhaps he could learn more than the art of detecting from Cooper. It was time to let go.
Suddenly tired, he slept his first full night, dreamless and unbroken for the first time in eight years.
Renewed vigour lived with Lucas now and he vowed to learn everything he could from his new partner. The previous day they’d began an investigation into the shooting of a young drug user. It was the first murder scene he’d been to, not only as a detective, but also where a drea
mless night followed.
After his first horrific murder scene all those years ago on patrol, he suffered through many others and although his dreams continued they began to diffuse the more he attended. Now it seemed attending a murder scene did not always entail a nightmare.
Now he had something to look forward to, he dressed with haste, craving to begin another day of learning from Cooper.
On arrival at the station, he poured himself a coffee and drank it while reading through the file as it stood to date. Yesterday’s victim was the third drug user and as it turned out, dealer, who had been killed in the same manner in as many weeks. The previous two appeared as though they occurred during a deal but the so called buyer left the drugs and killed the victim with a single shot to the head. Granted, these guys were the scum of the earth, undesirables that were much better off the streets, but murder was murder.
He continued to read the second file which encompassed similar details. Drug deals gone sour? Interviews had been conducted with the victims known associates and family but either no-one was willing to divulge information to the police or they actually had no clue.
The first word which entered his mind after reading each file again was vigilante. Could it be another drug kingpin sending in someone to erase the competition? Or perhaps it was someone seeking revenge against dealers?
Cooper arrived while he was taking notes and he peered over Lucas’ shoulder before taking his seat at his desk across from Lucas.
“What are you working on?”
“Just getting up to speed on the first two murders. I have a few theories.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“I could be way off the mark or stating the obvious ...” He was suddenly nervous and daunted by the veteran.
“Please, I want to hear. It’s how you learn.”
“Well, my first thought was either a competitor is taking them out or they are being punished by who they work for ...” He stopped.
“Nice idea but opposition or drug lords tend to, in theory, dispose of the body. They rarely leave the victim so they don’t leave evidence. They tend to just disappear. We shouldn’t write it off though. This could’ve been a lazy killer.”
“My second idea could be closer to the mark. Revenge killings. Maybe someone has something against dealers or perhaps one in particular but they’ve yet to find the right one ... so whoever it is, is picking them off one by one.”
“Now you’re onto something. I believe our perp is setting up a deal and then killing the dealer. If this was another dealer from a different territory, they would take the stash as well. So it’s either someone who has a grudge against dealers in general or as you suggested, they are trying to locate a particular one.”
“Maybe a relative of an overdose victim?” Lucas suggested.
“Good pickup and fast too. I can see I’m going to like working with you.”
“So we need to obtain a list of overdose victims and question their relatives and friends?”
Cooper tossed a list across the table at him. “These are the OD’s in the past six months. The first vic was killed just over three weeks ago. I think it’s time to see how good your interview skills are, Kiddo.”
15
Annabelle
Cooper encouraged Lucas to conduct half of the assigned interviews. After he listened and watched Cooper at work, Lucas was ready to take the next. They pulled up outside the residence of Annabelle Richardson. Her younger brother, a prolonged drug user who’d been in and out of rehabilitation, had overdosed on a bad batch of heroin four months earlier.
Having called ahead and arranged the interview, she would be expecting them. Cooper wanted Lucas to start with a female, as tact and courtesy were more important with the fairer sex. Being harder to interview than men he thought it the best start for Lucas’ interrogation and questioning lessons. Although asking questions and conducting interviews were part of a patrol officer’s duties, being a detective was a whole different thing again.
Their knock at the door was answered by an attractive girl in her early twenties. Medium height, with black hair cut short and pixie like framing dark penetrating blue eyes. She caught Lucas off guard for a moment. If he’d met her anywhere else, he would already be trying to get her into his bed. He took the opportunity, while Cooper introduced them, to thoroughly check her out and he liked what he saw. It would be a pleasure interviewing her.
He followed Annabelle and Cooper through to the sitting room and took a seat in the chair next to his partner and adjacent from her. Lucas was attempting to, unsuccessfully, erase the visions of exactly what he would like to do to her, when she spoke.
“How can I help you detectives?”
Lucas cleared his throat, shoved the thoughts of her envisaged nakedness from his mind and cleared his expression.
“Miss Richardson, we’re investigating the murders of three men who we believe may in some way relate to the death of your brother Billy.”
“Please call me Annabelle. What does this have to do with Billy?”
“The men were all known drug dealers and we believe they could have been murdered by a vigilante of sorts.”
“You really care about drug dealing scumbags who’ve been murdered? Do you know how many innocent lives are lost and destroyed by those people? They don’t care about the lives they destroy, why should you care about theirs?”
She crinkled her brow and set her mouth. The passion in her eyes caught him off guard again. He wanted to put a different kind of passionate look in her eyes.
“It is our job to investigate every murder ...”
“No-one investigated the murder of my brother,” she cut him off.
“Was your brother murdered?”
“In a way. The drugs were a particularly bad batch, mixed with toxic chemicals. They may not have injected the drugs into his arm but they willingly sold them to him.”
“Unfortunately overdoses are always deemed accidental.”
“Of course they are.” Her eyes filled with contempt.
“Do you know exactly who sold the drugs to your brother?”
“No, he had many dealers and the police were unable to ascertain where the drugs came from. I have no idea which dealer sold the bad batch to Billy. Some of the scumbags are arrested but the big guys, the main drug smugglers, they never get caught. The lowlifes never rat them out. Billy first started using when he was fifteen, wrong crowd and all that. He changed dealers every so often either because he got used to certain batches and wanted something new, stronger or because they were caught. There are always more, one gets caught, another takes over. I know the police do the best they can but it will never stop.”
Her legs jiggled as she spoke, her agitation evident in every movement. Lucas understood her distress and dissatisfaction over justice going unserved.
“Could you tell us the names of any of these dealers?”
“No, like Billy would ever tell me that. He was a drug addict, Detective, they lead totally different lives. If he did happen to slip out a name, it was never their real one. Spike, Funboy, Skull, stupid street names like that.”
“Do you own a gun, Annabelle?”
“No!”
“But it’s safe to say you have a grudge against dealers.”
“Of course I do. Those scumbags constantly fed Billy’s addiction until it killed him!” Her face contorted again in what appeared to be pain.
“Where were you last evening between the hours of four and eight?”
“Home.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No.”
“What about the third, it was a Thursday, around the same time.”
“I don’t know. I would have to check.” Lucas gave her a crooked grin. “Can you check now?” She sighed and went off to fetch her diary.
“Good work, Kiddo, she seems exactly like the angry, grief stricken relative who would do something like this,” Cooper said quietly.
“I feel like a
scumbag badgering her like this. She’s right about them.”
“She might well be but no-one is allowed to take the law into their own hands. You know that.”
“Yeah I do but if I were in the same position, I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same thing.”
“You wouldn’t, you would arrest them.”
Annabelle returned ceasing further talk on the subject. Would he arrest the punks who killed his parents or would he do as this murderer is doing and seek revenge? He wasn’t sure he could answer the question the way Cooper had. It appeared his partner had more faith in him than Lucas had in himself.
“The third ... um, nothing in my diary so I don’t know, probably home. I finish work at three and I usually come home before I go anywhere else. I might have been out with friends. I go out a lot on Thursday nights.”
“How about the fifteenth of last month?”
“I had a party that night from about seven.”
“What about before the party?”
“Probably setting up and making preparations, it would have been Billy’s twenty first and I was having a party in his honour, his memory.” She paused and looked down at the diary in her hands as tears threatened to spill over. “You don’t really believe that I had anything to do with these murderers do you?” She finally spoke again in barely a whisper.
“We have to cover all bases, Annabelle. We’re sorry to take up your time. If you happen to remember what you were doing on these dates or have any further information which could be of use, please give me a call.”
He scribbled his number on the back a business card and handed it to her. The department hadn’t issued him with personalised cards as yet.
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