Behind Her Eyes (A Riley Thompson Thriller Book 1)

by Robin Mahle

  “If you don’t mind, Captain, it might be best to call your people back to base. We’ve been monitoring this group for over a year and they are dangerous. They won’t hesitate to take out your officers if the mood strikes them,” Moody said.

  “Fair enough. I’ll call them back now.” Ward stepped away to make the call.

  Riley looked to Moody. “Do you have any idea where George Hammond is? I believe he’s going to be key to containing further escalations.”

  “He’s the one who pulled me into this situation,” Jacob said. “Right now, I’m wearing a big fat target on my back.”

  “And you led them here,” Ethan replied.

  The lieutenant seemed to pick up on the friction between the men and brushed it aside. “Hammond hasn’t yet been located. We’re tracking down his financial activity. Credit card use, ATM use, anything that might point us to a location. So far, he seems to be keeping a low profile. More so than I would’ve expected for a man who has no idea we’re here.”

  “But you said you all have been after these men for at least a year. Seems to me he’s flying under the radar for that reason. And if that’s the case, we might not track him down after all,” Riley said.

  Jacob approached Riley. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

  She eyed the lieutenant before replying, “Please excuse us for just a moment.”

  Moody continued to discuss the situation with Pruitt, though Pruitt’s gaze followed the two of them until they disappeared beyond the corridor.

  “What is it?” Riley began. “You can’t just pull me away like that, Jacob. This is my job and we’re doing everything we can to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I didn’t mean any disrespect; I needed to talk to you about Blake Rhodes. We discussed a way I might reach out to him and get a feel for what his people were doing. I think the time to act on that is now.”

  “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “I’m going to use Chloe. I want to tell him that the cops think it was George who killed her.”

  “We have no idea…”

  “I know, but hear me out. Blake is a good architect, but he’s driven by jealousy. I’ve seen it first-hand. And if he thinks George had anything at all to do with his girlfriend’s death, he might give him up, or at the very least, help us avoid an all-out war with these people. I don’t know if it was George or not, but neither does Blake and neither do any of the men he’s with now. Who’s to say I’m not right? Virgil Howard is protecting his boss. Even the captain at IMPD doesn’t seem to know who he is. What if Blake does? What if I can get that from him?”

  “You’re pinning a lot on ‘what ifs’.”

  “Look, I didn’t want to say any of this in front of all those cops. I’m telling you because you know that if I can get a sense for what Blake is up to, then you can too. And that might give us the advantage we need.”

  Riley considered his suggestion. If he was right, then they could put a plan into place that might preempt what she had already seen in her mind as a storm to end all storms. A gun battle that could cost Ward his life. And that was a risk she was unwilling to take. “If you’re right and he talks, then we might just get ahead of this situation. Maybe even stop them before they get here. But if not, then Blake will inform his boss and that could make matter worse. They could bring reinforcements.”

  “I’m not wrong. In all the years we’ve known each other, I’ve put my trust in you. Now I’m asking that you do the same for me.”

  “Okay. Make the call, but do it here, not in front of those guys. If this goes wrong, I don’t want them to know. I’ll pull the captain aside and tell him. At which time, I fully expect to be fired, but I’ll deal with that if it comes to pass.”

  “It won’t, Riley, I promise you.” Jacob reached for his cell phone and pressed Blake’s contact information. “Blake, it’s me, Jacob.”

  Riley was only privy to one side of the conversation, so she tried to read Jacob’s expressions as he spoke. What she really needed was to be in front of Blake so she could see him for who and what he was. Then she would know if he was being truthful.

  “Look, man, forget what happened back there, okay? I’m telling you, the men you’re with now—they have no idea who killed Chloe. So who does that leave? Who would take that poor girl’s life at the very plant that tied George to these men. And who took the money? I’m just saying, it’s entirely possible it was George who did both.” Jacob looked at Riley and revealed a smile as though he might get what he needed. “Dude, if it wasn’t him, then who was it? Cause I’m not seeing any other possible reason for her to be dead in a pool of concrete. Do you?”

  Riley believed he might have been making progress. The fact that he was still talking was a good sign.

  “They’re running down George’s banking trail right now, Blake. They will find him. And I can be the one to tell you when they do. But you have to help me too. Regardless of what’s happened, we were friends, man. I need your help and you need mine.”

  Riley peered at Jacob and tapped on her wrist, indicating his time was up.

  “I’m running out of time, Blake. Please, we can work through this and both come out of it on the other side. You can take down the person responsible for this entire raw deal.” Jacob held Riley’s gaze as he continued to listen to Blake. “Thank you. Contact me when you can via text.” He returned his phone to his pocket.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “He said they’re tying up loose ends now and plan on heading here tomorrow morning. Riley, he says Bayliss was instructed to destroy computer files and documents.”

  “They’re trying to cover their asses. Meaning Bayliss and Howard had talked. They know we’re close to proving Chloe’s death was at their hands. So we have until morning. Better let the captain know.”

  The two returned to the stares of everyone in the room, including Abrams and Decker, who’d just arrived.

  “You two ready to join in on the discussion now?” Ward asked.

  “Actually,” Riley looked at the team. “Jacob reached out to his former colleague, Blake Rhodes, who we all know has been instrumental in attempting to frame him for the supposed money he stole. And who also happens to have been Chloe Dawson’s boyfriend.”

  “You made contact without informing us?” Moody appeared hot under the collar. “That’s something we really need to coordinate on. I’m sorry, but we didn’t come down here to have you folks go off half-cocked.”

  “He didn’t,” Riley said. “He thought he could make progress with this guy. He knows him and his personality. And frankly, he accomplished just that. Jacob, you want to let them know what you found out?”

  “They’re coming tomorrow morning. Someone instructed the plant manager to destroy files and documents.”

  “That won’t do them any good,” Moody added.

  “They might not realize that at the moment and that will work for us because it means they aren’t in a hurry to get here. We’ve just been handed the gift of time, but in exchange for the information, I agreed to provide him with the whereabouts of George Hammond when he’s located. I made sure Blake believed that he was the man who killed Chloe.”

  “We don’t know that,” Ward said.

  “It was the only leverage I had, so I used it,” Jacob replied.

  “Do we need to stop these guys from destroying evidence at the plant?” Abrams chimed in.

  “No. I want the rest of them here first,” Moody said. “We wait until morning. In the meantime, the captain and I will work to find Hammond. In fact, I should be getting an update from my captain at any time.”

  “What do we do until then?” one of his team asked.

  “If we locate Hammond, we’ll get on him. If not, then we’ll sit tight until morning. We’ll have them on extortion, kidnapping, and possibly murder. And I won’t even go into the trafficking operation I’m sure the plant was set up for. It’ll take days for their lawyers to sort through the red tape I’ll be piling on. Tha
t’ll give us enough time to build a solid case.”

  Blake returned to the living room of the apartment, where the others were discussing the plans. What had started off as an effort to extort Jacob Biggs and recruit the unwitting man to help them find Hammond had now become an attempt to discover who killed his girlfriend. Blake was going to play both sides and needed to find the confidence to make it believable because if any one of these men got a whiff of what was really happening, Blake would find himself wearing concrete shoes to match Chloe’s.

  “Was that your boy, Jacob?” Virgil asked.

  “Yeah. He still thinks we’re after the money, but I told him that if he knew where Hammond was, it was in his best interest to give him up. Hold Hammond accountable and he would be let off the hook.”

  “Good, but you see the problem now is that Jakey caused the death of one of our own. Eddie’s gone because of that prick. That isn’t going to fly, you feel me?”

  “I understand. He doesn’t know we’re coming, just that we’re still after the money. You gotta do what you gotta do. Eddie’s gone, and yeah, he’ll have to pay for that,” Blake replied.

  “That boy should’ve left the cops out of it. They’ll be after us too, if they aren’t already. Won’t take long for them to put two and two together once they ID Eddie, which means they’ll be watching us. If they see we’re headed to the plant, they’ll be right behind us,” Virgil added.

  “How are we going to handle that, boss?” Kearns asked.

  “Once I get confirmation from Bayliss all the evidence has been destroyed, I’ll let the big man know and he’ll tell me what to do next. But he’s not happy we lost Eddie. He wants revenge. And he wants to know who killed that girl and how the fuck she ended up inside our operation.” Virgil’s phone rang. “I gotta take this.” He walked outside and answered the call. Standing on the balcony that looked out over the city, he started, “Yeah, boss?”

  “I’m going to need you to get our sacrificial lamb ready, you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s still here with us and has been in touch with Biggs. He has no idea we’ve been watching him.”

  “Let’s keep it that way for now. Keep monitoring his phone. I want to know what he’s telling Biggs because that’s what IMPD will get. Biggs will pass along everything to them, I guaran-damn-tee you that.”

  “What about Bayliss?” Virgil leaned against the balcony railing.

  “Let me take care of him. He’s been a good soldier so far. I’ll do what I can to repay his loyalty. In the meantime, keep Rhodes on ice.”

  “How are you going to get out?”

  “I have an idea. You just make sure to keep Rhodes and Biggs on a short leash. They’re both going to become very important to us.”

  “Understood.” Virgil checked his phone at the sound of the click, as though he’d accidentally ended the call, but it wasn’t him. He returned inside.

  “Was that the boss man?” Blake appeared overly eager for an answer.

  “Our orders haven’t changed. Head to the plant in the morning to take care of any loose ends and then find Jacob Biggs. And kill him.”

  Riley strapped her holster around her waist while she stood at her desk. She looked through the window as the streetlamps in the parking lot flickered on. “I think we have one last shot at Justin Rehnquist. If we can’t get anything out of him, I have a feeling he’ll pack up and leave town.”

  “You really believe he killed her?” Ethan approached her desk. “With the connection to Rhodes and what we think is the mafia?”

  “I can’t say for sure if he killed her, but I do believe he played a part in her death. There was no reason for her to be at the plant. None. Ward asked me to build a better case, so I did. I searched through more of Justin’s Instagram posts. There was a lot more there than we initially looked at.”

  “Well, he wasn’t really a suspect at the time.”

  “No, but maybe he should’ve been. We were focused on identifying her, so when we initially met up with him, we didn’t know if our victim was Chloe or not.”

  “Now that we do, you want to revisit this? Just like you said when we left him that day,” Ethan continued. “If you’re right, then where does that leave our investigation? This money Jacob says he’s being blamed for. The plant and its connections to the mob.”

  “It’s all connected, but this is the first step in finding out how.” She started toward Jacob. “I want you to stay here. Depending on what happens, on our return, I’ll take you to Carl’s place. We’ll stay there tonight.”

  “We?” Ethan asked. “You and him? At Carl’s?”

  “Can you think of a better place? I can’t go home. I’m sure the car that I’ve seen belongs to those guys, maybe Bayliss himself. Jacob can’t go back to his cousin’s. But no one knows about Carl. And he lives in a secured facility. I think we’ll both be safe there tonight.”

  “You can stay with me,” Ethan continued. “I’ve got no connections to any of these people. They aren’t going to just start showing up at cops’ houses and start shooting. I mean, Carl doesn’t have much room.”

  “I appreciate your offer, Ethan, but I need to see Carl for other reasons too. And it’s best if I stay there.”

  “Fine. Whatever. Are we leaving, or are we going to stand around here all night?” His frustration became obvious.

  “Let me just check in with Ward.” Riley continued to Ward’s office, where he sat with the lieutenant. “Pruitt and I are headed out to have another chat with Justin Rehnquist. I don’t know what will happen, but whatever it is will probably happen quickly. So, I don’t expect us to be gone for long.”

  “Okay. Take your shot at him, just be careful,” Ward replied.

  “You want one of my guys to go with you?” Moody asked. “They’re getting anxious. I can see it. I don’t think any of us planned on sticking it out for the night.”

  “No. I don’t want to spook him into taking off the moment he sees us. Besides, I thought you all had your hands full tracking down Hammond?”

  “Doesn’t take all of us, but we’re talking with the bank and reviewing surveillance footage from an ATM it looked like he stopped by earlier today.”

  “Oh yeah? Where was he?”

  “By the looks of it, on his way here,” the lieutenant replied.

  “Then that makes this mission all the more important.”

  “If you say so.” Moody snickered. “No offense, Thompson, but how long have you been in uniform? And here in this town where nothing much happens?”

  “That’s not necessary Lieutenant Moody,” Ward started.

  “Look, I get this is your town. I do. And again, I’m not trying to belittle any of your officers. Please know that.”

  “Sure sounds like you are,” Riley said.

  “I don’t mean to. What I mean to say is that I’ve run these types of operations many times. And until I know for sure Hammond is heading this way, my guys are going to continue tracking him down. That’s what we should be focusing on. Look, I can’t stop you from doing whatever it is you’re about to do, but I think it’s a waste of time.”

  “That’s not up to you to decide,” Ward added.

  “No, it’s not. Just giving you my two cents,” Moody added.

  Riley brushed over his remarks and looked at Ward. “I’m going to talk to Rehnquist and Pruitt’s coming with me.” She started toward the door. “Captain, let me know if anything pops up and we’ll get back here as soon as possible.”

  Ward watched as she left and turned his sights again on the lieutenant. “I understand where you’re coming from, but when Thompson gets something in her head, nine times out of ten, she’s right. So I put a lot of faith in her. And by the end of this, you will too.”

  19

  Despite the fact Owensville had changed very little since Riley was a kid, it now seemed to her to be different. She viewed it through different eyes—older, wiser perhaps. Of course, as a child, she had been preoccupied with a chil
ling gift she couldn’t control, an alcoholic father, and gun-running militia men. Now that she thought about it, perhaps things hadn’t changed at all.

  Except that there were a few more apartment buildings, a couple of new stores, mostly retail chain stores, and it was nice having a Wal-Mart nearby. And the apartment building they were driving to now had been built only two years ago, around the time Justin Rehnquist graduated high school, along with his friend, Chloe Dawson.

  “I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me back there at the station.” Ethan kept his eyes on the road ahead as he spoke.

  “What do you mean, sticking up for you? I was sticking up for all of us. I know IMPD is a hundred times bigger than we are, but that doesn’t give Moody the right to tell us we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.”

  “Well…”

  “Well what? You agree with him?”

  “Not entirely, but when was the last time we handled a homicide, let alone a vast mafia conspiracy?”

  She pursed her lips. “I’ll give you that one. Still, he should respect our work regardless.”

  “Yes, he should, and from what you said, Ward put him in his place anyway.”

  “He did.” She eyed the road ahead. “That’s the building up there.”

  “What’s going to be our approach to this?” Ethan asked.

  “I’ll know more when I see him.” She parked in the lot and cut the engine. “And if Chloe’s ever been in his apartment, I might be able to pick up something there too. We’ll just have to take this one step at a time.” Riley stepped out of the patrol car and waited for Ethan to join her. “There’s one other thing.” She regarded him. “You and I are partners—and friends, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then I’m going to need you to step back where Jacob is concerned, I mean, from a personal perspective. Whatever happens after all of this is over is my business.”