by D. A. Brown
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sophia called Tommy back after Pierson left.
“How’s it going with Martins?”
“I don’t know what to do with this guy, Soph. He’s pouring out his guts to me. I’m learning all sorts of sordid shit from this mope. I’m just a little worried he’s going to off himself after I leave.”
“Is he giving you anything about Loveschild?”
“He’s a little hinky on that guy. I can’t really tell if he’s afraid or holding back. But he’s freaking me out a little.”
“In what way?”
“He’s suggesting, not sure if that’s the right word, but what the hell, that there’s a group or a ring in Seattle. And I get the impression that he thinks there are people attached to his thing that are,” he lowered his voice, “connected.” Tommy paused. “At least that’s how he puts it. But he won’t drop any names. And the more we talk, it’s like he’s putting two and two together for the first time.”
“Anderson reminded me that these guys are pretty much pathological liars.”
“Yeah, I know, and believe me, guys like this… well back in the day, I would have beaten the truth out of him. You know, used an enhanced interrogation technique.”
“I’m not listening.” Sophia said.
“You know it’s true. But hey, I’m the new police. I love everyone.”
“Are you really worried he’s going kill himself?”
“He’s wound pretty tight right now. I’m trying to get him to call his shrink, maybe get in earlier to see him. He’s in his office making a call.”
The connection was starting to break up.
“Hey, I can’t hear you.”
It sounded as though he’d dropped the phone. Then she heard a single, muffled gunshot.
“Tommy! What the hell is going on? Tommy!”
Sophia called the chief dispatcher.
“This is 664. There’s been a shooting at 404 Bolyston Ave. I’m calling from headquarters. I was talking to my partner. He was there with a witness. I don’t have a connection anymore.”
Jess, Tony and Jimmy gathered around her desk. She picked up her cell phone and screamed into it.
“Tommy!”
There was the sound of scuffling, as though the phone was underfoot.
“Tommy!”
Jess grabbed Sophia’s arm. “Let’s just go. Bring the phone and keep trying to raise him.”
The ride up the hill seemed to take forever. Patrol and fire had already arrived. Yellow crime scene tape was strung across the entrance to the condos. Paramedics descended the stairs, carefully stripping off their light blue protective gowns, stained with blood.
Tommy stood out on the balcony with a patrol sergeant. A cigarette dangled from his mouth. Sophia could see blood on his jacket and shirt. She jumped out of the car.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Havin’ a great day.” He took a long draw off his cigarette. His face was a peculiar shade of gray with a tinge of fake tan.
Sophia climbed the stairs two at a time. Jess ran after her. A new officer put his hand up to stop her at the top of the stairs but waved her through after she flashed her detective shield.
Azzo Martins lay on his back at the end of a long hallway. His right index finger was still in the trigger guard of a small revolver, next to his head. Brain matter and chunks of hair stuck to a door behind him. Blood streaked the soft pastel blue paint on the wall in a gory waterfall.
Jess stood behind Sophia. “This is why I never want to go to homicide. I couldn’t look at this shit day in and day out.”
Sophia bent over Martins. Most of the back of his head was missing. His eyes were partially open and there was a strange softness to his features.
“We meet again, Detective.” Sgt. Drew Taylor had come up behind her and Jess. Both women jumped.
“Jesus.”
“So the two of you once again show up somewhere with a dead body. Is this some kind of joke, Benedetti?”
“I wasn’t here when it happened. My partner was.” She nodded at Tommy who stood in the living room.
“You weren’t there for the other murder either, as I recall.” He looked around the condo.
“Much nicer place than that last one where your husband lived.”
“He was my ex- husband. And I know how this looks.”
“It looks like you enjoy beating us to our scenes and sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. That’s what it looks like. You didn’t get transferred to homicide, and I didn’t get the memo, did I?”
“No sir.”
“Get out of here unless you have something to contribute. You’re contaminating my crime scene.”
Sophia and Jess walked into the living room. Tommy was wiping his hands with an antiseptic towelette.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Remember how I said I was afraid he was going to off himself? I was right.”
“How did he…”
“He was in the office. I thought he was calling his shrink. I was talking to you. You know the rest, I think. I saw him walk out with the gun. He was holding it to his head. I tried to get to him. I didn’t even think about drawing my weapon, which I have to admit was really stupid.”
“He could have killed you.”
“Point taken.”
Tommy’s eyes were watery and his jaw was tight.
“I gotta get some air.” He brushed past Jess and Sophia.
“He’s a mess.” Jess spoke softly so no one could hear her.
“Fuck.”
Jess pointed to the door. “Let’s go.”
“There’s a line of folks that would love to see a pedophile take one to the skull.” Sophia said.
“A pedophile? Ok, I’m confused. Tell me again what Tommy was doing here?”
“Let’s get out of here and find Tommy. We need a unit meeting to get everyone up to speed about what’s going on.”
“No shit.”
As she left the condo, Sophia noticed a black unmarked car parked across the street. The window was rolled up and the man’s face looked away as she descended the steps. But as she got to Jess’ car, she had no problem recognizing the driver. It was Assistant Chief Marcus Burton.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jared always sat in the back of English class so he could slouch safely out of view of the teacher. He was bored as usual, not interested in early English literature. He wanted to study steampunk, something edgy and progressive, but Mr. Adams only wanted to shovel shit like Shakespeare at them. At least last semester he’d assigned A Voyage to Arcturus, so Jared and Petra could geek out on a sci-fi book.
He was still flying high from discovering his stepfather was a bonafide pervert. He had plenty of time to devise a plan to out him, but he worried about his mother and her career, and what she would do when she found out. She’d probably believe Ed, who’d protest that it was all a big misunderstanding. That was her job, after all. She spent her days trying to figure out how to keep rapists and murderers out of jail. He was sure that Ed would try and blame him for the porn. He’d act all cool about it, explaining to Shelly that Jared was a teenager, and experimenting, and that it was no big deal. He’d come to Jared’s defense, encourage her to forgive him for his indiscretions.
Jared would have to set a trap for Ed and make it idiot proof.
As soon as the bell rang, Jared headed for his locker. Barrett Halifax stood across the hall from him, his arms crossed. He was uncharacteristically alone.
“Hey, I need to talk to you.”
Jared ignored him.
“Poppins, I need to talk to you.”
Jared turned around. Barrett was standing next to him.
“I have a problem I need solved.”
“I thought I was your problem, Halifax. Can’t one of your fuck buddies help you?” Jared looked straight ahead. He hated him so much he could hardly stand to share the same air with him.
“I think we have a com
mon problem…”
“You and I? We don’t have anything in common.”
Barrett hesitated. “Yeah, we do.”
Jared grabbed his Chemistry lab book, shoved it into his backpack and shut his locker door.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” He tried to muscle past Barrett. “I’m gonna be late for class.”
Barrett blocked him. The hallway had cleared except for the two boys.
“I saw your step-father, Ed and my father talking the other day.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Halifax?”
“They were sitting in your dad’s car and it looked like they were having a fight. An argument.”
Jared stared at Barrett.
“He’s not my stepfather. He’s my mother’s husband.” He pulled tighter on the strap to his backpack. “And why should I care?”
“You know about my sister, right?”
“I only know what everyone else has heard. Something about pictures.”
“Yeah.” Barrett cleared his throat. “Really fuckin’ bad pictures.”
“Where did you see them, anyway?”
“On my dad’s computer.”
“Shit.”
“Look, I know I’ve been a royal fucker to you…”
“And everyone I know.”
“Right.” Barrett looked down the hall and then back.
“My dad was really angry. He was all up in Ed’s face.”
“Where were they?”
“Here, at the school, in the parking lot. I was here late working out.”
“So they were arguing. I don’t get it. What do you want me to do about it?”
“I need you to get into Ed’s computer and see, see if there’s a connection,” Barrett looked over his shoulder, “a connection to my dad. I just thought since we both have this thing…”
“Halifax, you and I? We don’t have a thing. She’s your sister, not mine. And Ed’s a piece of shit who fucks my mother and beats me up. Why don’t you just go to the cops?”
“I can’t turn in my father. No one will believe me.”
“What about your sister?”
“Dude, she’s autistic. She can barely even talk.”
“What about your mother?”
“She’s clueless.”
“Or maybe not.”
“Let’s keep my mother out of it for the moment.”
“That’s cool. But I still don’t know what you want from me.”
“Fuck it. Never mind. I should have known…” Barrett put up his hands.
“Look, let me think about it. I can hack, but I’m not sure I have the skills to make it happen.”
“Let me know, ok?” Barrett turned and jogged down the hall and around the corner toward the lunchroom.
Jared headed to class. Now he had even more incentive to screw with Ed.
Jess hugged the center line with the Crown Vic trying not to run over several bicyclists as she drove back to headquarters.
Sophia pulled her phone off her hip and answered.
“Benedetti, it’s Anderson. I’ve got a name and address for you.”
“Hang on.” Sophia grabbed a notebook out of her pocket. “So, 23rd and E. Spruce? That’s in the central district, isn’t it?”
“On Google it looks like it’s one of those houses that’s been condemned. Kids squat in them all the time. I guess they’re still inhabitable. At least someone appears to be paying the utility bills.”
“Listen, we just lost a witness. Guy shot himself. Tommy was there. It’s a mess. And we’re about to have brass all up in our ass shortly. Can you get some guys to set up on the house until I can try and get a search warrant?”
“You guys handle your end. I’ll get a warrant. And we’ll pull in some folks from narcs.”
“George, you should know something about this case.”
“You mean about some of the players? Yeah, I know.”
“How do…”
“Take care of your partner. I’ll be in touch.” George hung up.
“Sounds like this case has just gotten a lot more complicated.” Jess pulled into the garage entrance and swiped the prox card to open the gate.
“You have no idea,” Sophia said.
Tommy had changed into his spare court suit, the one that seldom saw the light of day. He sat in front of a blank monitor screen, hands on the keyboard but motionless.
Sophia put her hand on his shoulder. “You ok?”
“I’m fine. Just have to go over and talk to homicide. That should be fun.”
“We have a name and an address.”
“No shit. George came through, huh?” He smoothed down his tie and ran a comb through his hair then tossed the comb into the top drawer of his desk.
“They’re getting some bodies to sit on the house until he can get a warrant. I’m heading up there. You can join us later.”
“Sure, you bet.” Tommy stood and stretched.
“I’ll call you when I’m done.” He turned around. “Be careful. And you need to get Pierson on board. We’re hanging out there with this, Soph. Tell him to grow a pair.” He disappeared around the corner.
Pierson was staring at his computer screen. He looked up when Sophia knocked on the door.
“What’s up? You ok?”
“Just wanted to check in. I figured we owed you an explanation.”
“Oh, you mean you thought I should know why you two are apparently following up on a case we closed at the request of our chief? You mean that explanation? Can’t wait to hear it.”
She closed the door and sat down. “This is a real clusterfuck.”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“ICAC is in the process of getting a warrant for a house where we think a child porn ring is set up, and we think a current city IT guy may be involved. And yes, it all stems from the Halifax case. But it’s also about my ex-husband…”
“Whoa. Back the hell up, Benedetti. You’re going way too fast for me.”
“David Montero, my ex…”
“I know who he is, or was.”
“He called me a week ago and told me he had some information on the Halifax case, and on the day we were supposed to meet, he ended up dead.”
“What was it he was going to tell you?”
“I don’t know but we’ve since learned from our rape victim, Victoria Tilden that David was at the dead drop…”
“The dead what? I’m totally confused here.” He leaned back and rubbed his temples.
“I guess we’ve left you more out of the loop than I realized.”
“Tommy should know better. He’s got more time in this unit than anyone. Not to mention time on the job.”
“We’re in this together. Have been since the beginning. He’s not going to take the heat alone.”
“That’s to be decided at another time.” Pierson sat up. “So get me up to speed and do it fast.”
“There’s a place under the freeway where these child porn guys are doing something called peer to peer sharing. Victoria said she saw David.”
“Ok, so Montero was involved somehow…”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Sophia stood up. “She also saw Marcus Burton with Stewart Halifax.”
Pierson remained silent.
“David wasn’t with Burton and Halifax.Victoria is a little off, but she puts Burton and Halifax at the scene. And she said there was another person there, but she couldn’t say whether it was a man or a woman. I think David stumbled onto something. I think he was trying to confirm his suspicions by going to the dead drop. And I believe someone recognized him and made the connection, maybe to me, maybe not.”
“So where are we on this mess?”
“We asked for some help from ICAC, since technically this case was better suited for their expertise.”
“Ok, I’m liking this.” He sat up straighter. “I’m still not happy with the two of you, but at least you’ve gotten it out of our bureau.”
“Then there�
��s the problem of Burton,” Sophia said.
Pierson stood and looked out of the window.
“I’ve got two years left at this place. I’ve got a great life planned for me and my wife. We’ve got a place over on Lake Chelan.”
“Look, we didn’t mean to go behind your back.”
“And I know why you did.” He brushed down his mustache with his thumb and forefinger. “So what are you in here for, Benedetti?”
“I want us, all of us, to sit on a house that George Anderson has identified as possibly the source for this ring, and then I want us to assist on the warrant. And I want to take these monsters out.”
“Be careful of what you wish for, Sophia.” Pierson looked out the window again and then waved his hand toward the bullpen. “You and Tommy can take Jess. Let ICAC supply the rest of the bodies. And don’t do a damn thing without calling me. You need to be 100% sure you have the right place.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And close the door.”
Sophia looked back as she closed the door. Pierson stood at the window, looking down at the street in the rain.
“I said, close the door.”
Jess was just ending a phone call. Jimmy and Anthony tapped away at their computers.
Sophia peered over Jess’ cubicle and lowered her voice. “I need you to assist me with something. Bring your go bag.”
Jess grabbed her bag, strapped on her gun and followed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sophia and Jess cruised slowly by the house. It was snuggled between two new condo complexes that loomed over the block. Dark except for a dim light in the back, most of the windows were covered with graffiti-decorated plywood. The grass was at least eighteen inches high and a golden shade of brown.The neighborhood was in the center of the latest gentrification craze. Big developers were quickly buying out generations of families and constructing ‘green’ apodments and ultra-modern single family homes for white urbanites. But there were enough run-down houses left on the block to make the neighborhood sketchy.