by Robin Mahle
Ward reached for the phone. “You should’ve led with this. This is something we can work with. Let’s get it to Moody. He’ll have the resources to trace these numbers.” He started back into the corridor and toward the bullpen, where he found Abrams and Decker at their desks. “You two, come with us.” He continued to his office. “Moody, we’ve got something.” Ward held out the phone. “This belonged to Justin Rehnquist, the kid who just died.”
“We already have his cell phone.”
“This one’s a burner. If the kid was hiding something, it’ll be on here,” Ward replied.
“How did you get this?” Moody eyed Ward but glanced to Riley too.
“It’s still my crime scene,” Ward said. “Suffice it to say, we got it. Now do you want to look at this or not?”
Carl tapped his fingers on the arm of his recliner as he eyed Jacob. “And you just let her go?”
“You do know Riley, don’t you? Do you really think I could’ve stopped her?”
Carl groaned. “I suppose not, but you could’ve insisted you go along.”
“I tried, Carl, I did. She’s at the station with Ward.”
“Something’s not right. I know it and she knows it. The problem being is what the hell are we going to do about it? I feel so damn useless here in this old folks’ home, which is really just a holding place for those about to die, including me.”
“Carl, that’s not…”
“Oh, hush, I know. I’m just frustrated as hell because I don’t know what to do.”
“I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. Ward will take care of her, not that she needs taking care of. She’s made that pretty clear.”
“I’ll bet she has, and then some,” Carl said. “But that don’t change the fact that I can’t see us sitting here while she and Ward take all the risks.”
“That’s their job,” Jacob replied.
“Well.” Carl pushed slowly off the chair. “I, for one, can’t sit back and wait. I won’t do it, not where Riley’s concerned. We’re going down to the station.”
“What good will that do? You know Ward will send us back here, or have his boys escort us back. Either way, we won’t be there long enough to make a difference.”
“Boy, I never guessed you’d be the one to give up so quickly. Of course, you were the one who left her, not the other way around.”
Jacob turned thin-lipped. “Absolution is not my friend in this town. That’s okay, I don’t suppose I deserve it, after everything I did.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you can do something about it now, show your worth,” Carl said.
“How do you propose I do that?”
Carl made his way to the kitchenette for a bottled water. He tossed back half of it, then continued. “The way I see it, going to the station probably isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Ward will do as you say and send us packing. So what if we tried to track down your friend, what did you say his name was? Drake or Blair or some shit?”
“Blake. His name is Blake Rhodes. You want me to call him and find out what’s going on?”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know how much more he’ll be willing to share. Honestly, I still can’t figure out whose side he’s on.”
“I bet he’ll be choosing sides when you tell him that Rehnquist boy was killed and that you know it was on orders of the man he’s with now.”
“But I don’t know that for sure.”
Carl eyed him. “Boy, you’re going to have to play like you do. You understand me? Get him talking. He learns that kid is dead and so is his girl, what do you think he’ll do?” He paused while Jacob appeared to consider the question. “He’ll spill the beans on their plans, won’t he? He’ll want retribution, believe you me. That’s all anyone wants who thinks they could be next.”
“Right.” Jacob retrieved his cell phone. “I’ll do it now.”
Riley propped herself against the lateral filing cabinet behind Ward’s desk. They listened while Moody made the call to Captain Pryce.
“If we get this to IT forensics, they might be able to trace the cell towers where the calls originated. If it turns out they came from someplace near Howard or his cronies, we can start putting two and two together,” Moody said into the phone.
Riley sensed this was not going well. She could see it in Moody’s eyes, and he seemed to be avoiding contact with hers. Another bad sign. She looked at Ward, who returned an equally disappointed glance. This was all they had right now. When morning came, and it was speeding down the highway, they were going to have to face Virgil Howard, Roy Bayliss, and whoever was running the show at the plant, and whether that was George Hammond was still a big question mark.
“Yes, sir. I understand, Captain. I’ll let them know.” Moody ended the call and peered at the small town cops. “He says it’ll take too long to pull the information. And it would only waste valuable manpower. Best thing to do is ride it out till morning, like we planned.”
“But if we do that,” Riley began, “we’ll be putting lives at risk. Yours, mine, and all these guys here. Including your people staking out the plant now.”
“I understand, but he says these burners take a lot of time, and more often than not amount to zilch, as he put it.”
Riley eyed Ward. “Are you going to do something about this? This is still our case.”
“What do you want me to do? We don’t have an IT department, let alone IT forensics. Unless that burner has pictures of a potential suspect, or names, or any identifying factors at all, sounds like we got ziltch at this point. Now, I appreciate what it took for you to get this. I really do, but we’re going to have to put it aside and keep to our initial plan.”
“No one seems to want to put a stop to the impending blood bath.” Riley pushed off the cabinet.
“What makes you think this is going to end in some sort of shootout at the O.K. Corral?” Moody asked. “I have no intentions of going in there with guns blazing looking to take people down.”
“You might not, but they do,” Riley began. “They’re coming here looking for Jacob Biggs. They’re coming to hide any trace of a connection to Chloe Dawson. Virgil Howard made sure the concrete was there and gave the order to take Chloe’s life with it. I’m sure of it. What I don’t know is why you can’t find George Hammond. He’s the key to this and you know it as well as I do.”
The rain fell in heavy drops as Hammond drove a car that was not his own. He fumbled for a moment to figure out how to turn on the wiper blades and finally, they began to clear the windshield. His meeting was going to be a wet one, but in light of the present situation, what the hell did that matter? Hammond was being hunted by those on both sides of the fence and the outcome wasn’t looking to break in his favor.
The prearranged location was just ahead and he noticed he was the last to arrive, meaning he hadn’t been left to hang out to dry—just yet.
“I wasn’t entirely sure you were going to show. We haven’t heard from you in two days.” The man placed a piece of gum in his mouth. “Figured you might just drive on through.”
“Thought about it for a second.” Hammond figured the gum was one of those nicotine gums designed to help quit smoking. “Don’t suppose you got a cig on you? I could really use one right about now.”
“No sir. Trying to quit.” The man walked toward the sidewalk with a covered awning. “Let’s get out of the rain, shall we?”
Hammond followed him. “Where the hell am I supposed to go? They got the entire force looking for me.”
“I wouldn’t worry as much about the cops as I would your colleagues. The cops won’t shoot you. Can’t say the same about your own people. You really screwed the pooch, didn’t you?”
“Doesn’t help when they’re one in the same. Look, I need to know my family is safe before I agree to anything else.” Hammond glossed over the truth that had been so eloquently stated.
“I’m working on making that happen, but as you know, we have to keep a low profile unt
il this blows over.”
“Blows over? With these guys, things don’t just ‘blow over.’ I’d think you of all people would know that.” Hammond cast his sights toward the street, watching the rain bounce off the asphalt. “You people were supposed to protect me.”
“We did, until you decided you couldn’t keep your pants on. This isn’t on us.”
“I see. So whatever I can offer doesn’t matter to you at all? Is that what you’re saying? After I’ve been cooperative for the past few months? Guess I should’ve figured as much.”
“Just keep your panties on. I’m working on getting you someplace to hunker down. And your family. But right now, we’re trying to make sure IMPD doesn’t get wind of the fact that we’re pulling the strings. That happens and your family is toast. Now we know you don’t want that.”
“Fine. So get me the fuck out of here and do what you need to do to end this.” Hammond was losing his patience with this man who did nothing but make promises.
“As I said, we’re working on that. In the meantime, stay off the grid. I’ll reach out to you soon.” The man spit out his gum. “This stuff doesn’t work for shit.” He began to walk away, but stopped short. “Regardless of what you might think, your intel will lead us to the man we’re after.”
“And what about the dead girl?”
“We’ll get to the bottom of that too.” He started away again.
Jacob stood outside on the small balcony of Carl’s apartment. He wanted a drink and a smoke, though he wasn’t a smoker, but neither were available to him at the moment. Instead, he’d have to make the call sober, with all cylinders at full speed. With the exception of the other day when he’d held those men at gunpoint, never in his life had he been the type to be good in a situation like this. But he surprised even himself at the way he handled the so-called meeting with those men. So perhaps now he could summon that same mettle and push through the phone call that would force Blake to, once and for all, take a side. And if it wasn’t Jacob’s, then so be it.
Jacob held his phone and typed in the message. “Can you talk? Urgent.” He pressed send and waited. For a moment, he considered the idea that Ward could track down Blake’s location using his cell number, then have IMPD storm the place, if that was possible. That would bring all this to an end. But there was still the question of George Hammond. And he still believed Blake might know how to find him, that they were working together somehow. With Hammond still out there, Jacob would always look over his shoulder. And that wasn’t something he wanted to consider for the rest of his life. No. This was the way it needed to play out. He had to convince Blake to turn on these men and give up Hammond. With Rehnquist dead, he might accomplish just that.
Jacob was pleased Carl saw his initial plan to go to the station as a mistake. The last thing he wanted to do was drag the old man around town, risking his safety, because if he let something happen to Carl, Riley would never forgive him. Hell, she hadn’t forgiven him for leaving in the first place.
Blake replied to his message. “I’m walking outside now. I’ll call you.”
“Okay.” Jacob steadied himself. “Let’s do this.” He waited for a moment when his phone rang. He answered the call. “Blake?”
“Dude, this wasn’t the plan. I said I’d call you with news. I don’t have news, brother. Plan’s the same as it was a few hours ago.”
“That’s not what I need to talk to you about. Look, man, you know Chloe’s friend, Justin Rehnquist? You mentioned him before?”
“What about him?”
“They found his body earlier tonight in his apartment. Someone tried to make it look like a suicide, but the cops here don’t think it was.”
“What the fuck? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, man, I’m sure. Dude, this is messed up. Who would’ve killed that guy? Why?” Jacob waited while the line went silent for a moment.
Blake began to reply, “Shit, I don’t know. I mean—fuck, I don’t know.”
He heard the panic rise in Blake’s tone and now the time had come to put the nail in the coffin. “That’s not the worst of it. Blake, Chloe was pregnant. I saw a text message from her myself to Rehnquist. I have to assume it was yours.”
“Do not screw around with me, Jake.”
“I’m not, bro. You gotta do something about this. It had to be one of your people up there.”
“No way. No one even knew her or Justin.”
“Wait, I thought Hammond knew her? Didn’t she come into the office a few times to see you?” Jacob said.
“Well, yeah, but she probably said two words to him the whole time.”
“You sure about that, man? You know what George is like. He takes what he wants. Just like he took the sixty grand.”
“No fucking way. I don’t believe you,” Blake replied.
“You don’t have to believe me. I’ll show you the messages. Look, man, the only other conclusion would be that the kid wasn’t yours—and she’s dead. So is her friend. You can put that puzzle together, can’t you?”
“I gotta get down there. I have to see what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Can you get away or are you being watched?” Jacob waited while it seemed Blake was pondering the question. Maybe he’d planted the seed well enough to take root. “You need to find Hammond and find out what the hell is going on. And you got an opportunity to turn the tables on Howard. Someone knows what the real story is and I think someone is protecting Hammond and Virgil Howard. Maybe they don’t want you to know the truth. They want to keep you on a short leash until they get their money. And who knows, maybe Kelly lied to me. Maybe she does know where George is.”
“If what you’re saying is true, she wouldn’t have known about Chloe. I can’t believe it myself. Look. I’ll figure this shit out. I’ll call you back.”
The line went dead and Jacob smiled. “Guess I could do it.” He walked back inside.
Carl eyed him as he closed the sliding door. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”
“I got him on the hook. I got him thinking it could’ve been Hammond and everyone’s about to hang him out to dry. And I told him Chloe was pregnant.”
“She was? Damn, that poor girl. You best get on the horn with Riley. She’ll want to know about this.”
22
Moody’s expression over the question of his department’s ability to locate Hammond appeared as though she’d struck a chord of doubt in him. And as Riley awaited his reply, she noticed a text appear on her phone. It was from Jacob, and as she read it, she realized that he had just jeopardized his own safety. He’d told Blake about Chloe’s pregnancy. This was something she had yet to reveal to Ward, primarily because it wasn’t officially determined by the coroner’s office yet. But also, because not only had Chloe not shown this major life event to Riley at their previous encounter, Riley hadn’t picked up on it either. And this too gave her pause. Was Chloe telling the truth to Justin?
“Thompson? You okay?” Ward appeared concerned by her silence as she stared intently at her phone.
She glanced at him before turning to Moody. A way out of this might have just presented itself. “Lieutenant Moody, do you have any contacts, outside the usual ones, who could help you track down a name or location if I give you a number that had called Justin’s burner phone?”
“Given that Pryce has already made clear he doesn’t care about the burner, you want me to disobey orders from him?”
“It’s not a matter of want. It’s a matter of need. And I think you know that. I think you’ve known that for a while now.” Riley felt that seed of doubt in Moody growing. He was a man conflicted and she only needed to nudge him.
“There might be someone I can call,” he checked the time, “who might still be awake at this hour.”
“Then we should get on it now, before we’re out of time,” Ward said.
Moody headed outside to make the call where his men couldn’t overhear. Ward and Riley returned to the bullpen and waited.
“You saw something, didn’t you?” Ward asked.
“Picked up on it, more like. I don’t think Moody trusts Pryce, not entirely. But there’s something else you should know too.” Riley showed him Jacob’s message. “He’s trying to turn Blake against the people he’s with. And he might have accomplished his goal. Captain, Chloe Dawson was pregnant.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, on that burner phone, we saw messages from her to Justin. She told him she was. Whether that was true, I don’t know.”
“Oh my Lord. That poor girl. What on earth did she get wrapped up in?”
“We need to find out because I’m getting the feeling that Pryce is willing to put everyone at risk to get his man—whoever that might be.”
Moody returned inside. He eyed Abrams and Decker, who seemed to be watching his every move.
Riley noticed his return and waited for his approach. “What’s the verdict?”
“I’ve got a guy. I’ll send him the information now.”
Captain Ward stood outside the doors of the coroner’s office at an hour when he should have been sleeping. But what Riley said rattled him because if this girl had been pregnant, that would change everything. Her case would become a multiple homicide.
A car approached, and it could only have been the doctor Ward called upon leaving the station. He’d asked Riley to stay put and assist Moody in any way she could. But what he really wanted from her was for her to watch Moody’s every move. She would know whose side he was on pretty quickly, depending upon how he chose to handle this situation with his own captain.
The doctor stepped out of his car and pulled his coat around him, thrusting his hands in his pockets.
“Thanks for coming down, Doc. I know it’s late.”
“I figure it must be important.” The doctor unlocked the door and walked inside the dark office, switching on the lights. “If what you’re thinking turns out to be true, that sure will change things for your investigation.”