Mayhem & Mistletoe

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Like I said, she’s a diligent worker,” Eliot stressed. “She’s incapable of letting go of a story until she has all the answers. That’s why she’s so respected.”

  “She’s also hated.”

  “Only by people who have something to hide.”

  Mahorn was quiet for a moment, before shaking his head. “That’s an interesting spiel, but I’m not falling for it. I’m taking both of you in for questioning.”

  I balked. “You can’t do that. We weren’t doing anything. In fact ....” I trailed off at the sound of a slamming car door. Turning, I found Jake stalking toward us.

  “This won’t be good,” Eliot muttered. Despite his words, I could feel him relax against my back. Now that Jake was here, he wasn’t nearly as worried as he had been.

  “What’s going on here?” Jake was all business. He didn’t even pretend he wasn’t preparing to throw his weight around.

  Mahorn laid it out for him. He didn’t appear intimated by Jake’s stature, which didn’t strike me as a good thing. “Your friends have been here for two separate altercations. It’s time I sat them down and got to the truth.”

  “What makes you think they’re not telling the truth?” Jake challenged.

  “I’m not a rookie.”

  Jake folded his arms over his chest and waited.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” Mahorn sneered. “They’re clearly up to their necks in this.”

  “You have no proof of that,” Jake argued. “They said they were here to interview the owner of the halfway house.”

  “And now he’s dead.”

  “Did witnesses say they did the shooting?”

  Mahorn faltered and then sucked in a steadying breath. “Witnesses say they were standing on the street. Once it became an active shooter situation, Mr. Kane yanked Ms. Shaw behind that car and waited things out.”

  Jake nodded. “So, in the scenario you just described, how are they involved?”

  “They’ve been here twice!”

  “Ms. Shaw is a reporter.” Jake utilized his most practical voice. “She chases stories. She followed a lead to this location. The fact that she could’ve been caught in the crossfire of whatever is going on here is cause for alarm, but she shouldn’t be punished.”

  Mahorn’s eyes were narrow slits of hate. “I’m in charge of this scene. I say she’s going in for questioning.”

  Jake dug in his pocket and retrieved his phone. “I’ll call your chief and we’ll hash it out. Once I explain what happened, I’m sure she’ll agree that hauling Ms. Shaw in is neither necessary nor warranted.”

  Mahorn worked his jaw. It wasn’t difficult to read his thoughts. He wanted to tell Jake where to stick it. Ultimately, though, he offered a stiff nod. “Call her. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t side with you because you have standing in another county.”

  “I have no intention of using my standing to convince her. The facts will do.” Jake pinned me with a dark look as he pressed the phone to his ear. “As for you, don’t say a word. Just ... be quiet.”

  I had no intention of speaking. That would simply cause more trouble.

  “We’re sorry,” Eliot offered lamely. “We had no idea this would happen.”

  “That doesn’t help me now, does it?” Jake was a coiled ball of rage. “You just couldn’t leave things alone as I asked, could you, Avery? You can never let things go.”

  He wasn’t wrong. I turned to the lawn, where the medical examiner’s personnel toiled over the bodies. Jake’s anger aside, something very big was happening here. What had I gotten myself into this time?

  21 Twenty-One

  Jake wouldn’t let us leave. He insisted that we hang back until he smoothed things over with Mahorn. We waited by Eliot’s truck, open to stares from the emergency personnel.

  “Do you think someone was watching Cal or us?” I asked.

  “Hmm?” Eliot dragged his attention away from the driveway, where the medical examiner’s team loaded the bodies. “I don’t know. It makes more sense for Cal to be the intended target.”

  “He was obviously the target.” I couldn’t argue with that. “But what if our killer was following us?”

  Eliot’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I guess I wouldn’t rule that out. I don’t know that it makes much sense. I mean ... you’re in this, but you’re hardly leading the charge with the articles you’ve been writing.”

  He had a point, but still .... “I’ve been down here twice today. What if someone saw me earlier?”

  “You were talking to prostitutes. It’s not as if they gave you a ton of information.”

  “No, but they gave me more than I had.”

  “Fair enough.” He automatically moved his hand to the back of my neck and started rubbing. His fingers were cold against my skin, causing me to hiss. “None of this makes a heckuva lot of sense. We’re just going to have to wait to see what Jake says.”

  “All he’s going to do is give me a lecture and tell me to stay out of it.”

  “He has more than that on his mind,” Eliot countered. “Let’s just sit back and see how he approaches us.”

  “It will probably be with a gun.”

  Eliot smirked. “You’re so dramatic.”

  “He’s dramatic.”

  “You’re dramatic together.”

  Even though I knew he was trying to be reasonable, his approach bugged me. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I am on your side.”

  “It doesn’t sound like it. You do know that if we get married, I’m going to demand that you’re always on my side? Like ... you’ll have to stand up in public and tell people I’m never wrong.”

  His lips quirked. “I didn’t realize that was part of the package.”

  “Does that have you re-thinking things?”

  “Nope.”

  “You’ll have to make public declarations about me being the smartest woman in the world. I’m deadly serious about that.”

  “I know. I’m fine telling the world I think you’re smart.”

  “The smartest woman in the world.”

  “We can debate that point later.” He shifted his gaze to the house across the street and inclined his head. “I’m pretty sure the shots came from there.”

  I frowned when I took in the dilapidated house. The windows were boarded up, the rotting porch filled with holes. “I’m pretty sure that place is abandoned.”

  “Or used as a drug house.”

  Now that was an interesting thought. I moved away from him to look up and down the street, my mind busy. “How many houses here do you think are inhabitable?”

  “I don’t think any of them are inhabitable ... at least given my standards. There are people who don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. People are probably squatting in most of these houses — except that one down there where the roof has caved in maybe.”

  I nodded and tapped my bottom lip. “If Hypno is the new designer drug and people are getting hooked on it, doesn’t it make sense that those in dire need would position themselves in close proximity?”

  His features lit with intrigue as he considered. “I hadn’t thought about that, but I get what you’re saying. Once the shots were fired, anyone in those houses would’ve temporarily fled.”

  “It’s not as if we can track people to question right now anyway,” I pointed out. “I’m pretty sure the cops would frown on that.”

  A muscle worked in his jaw. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to completely ignore your instincts and stay away from the drug addicts?”

  I shrugged. “It depends on what knowledge Jake imparts.”

  “I was afraid you would say that.” He looked resigned. “You need me with you.”

  “I’ve dealt with addicts before.”

  “Not in this area you haven’t.” He was firm. “These people are hardcore. I don’t want you getting in over your head.”

  “When do I ever get in over my he
ad?”

  “You don’t really want me to answer that, do you?”

  “Not right this second.” I straightened when Jake started in our direction. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “We definitely will.”

  Jake’s grimace was pronounced. “You’re free to leave ... for now.”

  “Thank you,” Eliot said. “Really, we weren’t looking for trouble when we came down here.”

  “I believe you.” Slowly, his eyes tracked to me. “Your blond sidekick is another story.”

  Oh, that was a dangerous dig. “Hey, if anybody is anybody’s sidekick, he’s mine. I’m the boss here.”

  “Good, then you’re the one I can yell at over dinner.”

  That sounded dangerous. “Um ... I don’t often eat in this neighborhood. I think we’ll pass.”

  “We’re going to Greektown.” He was matter-of-fact. “If I’m going to be stuck down here because of something you did, I want some freaking chicken and rice.”

  Now that he mentioned it, Greek food did sound good. “Fine, but you’re buying.”

  “Oh, no, you’re buying. I’m only down here to keep you out of trouble.”

  He had a point, which I hated to admit. “Eliot’s buying. We probably have some things to talk about.”

  “We definitely do.”

  JAKE PICKED THE RESTAURANT, WHICH I WAS fine with. I’d eaten at the establishment a time or two and was familiar with the menu. The waitress, a harried woman with her hair falling out of a ponytail, didn’t even bother to recite the specials.

  “Chicken and rice all around,” Jake volunteered. “A few small Greek salads would be nice, too.”

  The waitress jotted down the order without a word and took off. That left the three of us to stare at each other ... and wait.

  It was a competition. Sure, Jake probably didn’t think of it that way, but I enjoyed winning, so that’s how it played out in my head. The first one to speak lost, and there was no way that was going to be me. To my surprise, Eliot got uncomfortable first. He cleared his throat and shifted on the vinyl booth seat.

  “I know you two have little games you like to play with one another, but I don’t think it’s necessary right now. We need to work together.”

  “No, we don’t,” I shot back. “I’m fine working by myself.”

  “You’re not. You’re spinning your wheels.”

  I pinned him with a dark look. “I have everything under control. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

  “Just until I believe it.” He leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You need to work with Jake. It will benefit you both.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. I folded my arms across my chest and jutted out my chin. There was no way I was sharing information if Jake didn’t reciprocate.

  “And what if I think that it’s best she’s not involved?” Jake challenged, fixing Eliot with his best “I’m the sheriff and what I say goes” look. “This situation is dangerous.”

  “I think she’s already aware,” Eliot replied calmly. “It’s because this situation is turning so dangerous that we should all work together.”

  “Or she could just stay out of it.”

  Eliot shook his head. “She can’t do that and you know it. It’s not fair of you to ask her to do things out of her wheelhouse. This situation requires compromise.”

  “I’m the sheriff. I don’t have to compromise.”

  “You proved that wrong when you drove to Detroit to bail us out,” Eliot argued. “You know as well as I do that she’s part of this. You two need to come to a truce.”

  Jake didn’t look thrilled at the prospect. “Or she could just stay out of trouble for once in her life.”

  “I’m not in trouble,” I snapped, cringing at how shrill I sounded. “I have things completely under control.”

  Jake shook his head. “That’s why Eliot had to shield you with his body on the pavement two hours ago.”

  That had my temper boiling. “How do you even know that? Maybe I was sheltering him with my body. Did you ever think of that?”

  “Sure. I definitely think you’d be stupid enough to pull that move. But I know him. I know how he’d react.”

  He wasn’t wrong, so I decided to change the subject. “Cal Shepperly was involved in selling Hypno. He was organizing the men under his watch. There’s no sense denying it, because I already know it’s true. The question is, did you guys suspect him before this happened?”

  Jake held my gaze for a long time, so long, in fact, that I thought he was going to ignore the question. He slouched low in the booth. “About three months ago, a multi-jurisdictional task force was set up to trace the sale of Hypno. As you know, these new boutique drugs don’t always get on our radar right away. We believe Hypno was on the street a full year before we became aware.”

  That wasn’t much, but it was something. “Cal obviously wasn’t involved in the early stages. At some point he was brought into it. Do you know by who?”

  “No, but we thought we were getting close until a few nights ago.”

  “What happened a few nights ago?”

  I could see the debate raging behind his eyes. “This is off the record. You can’t use any of it.”

  That wouldn’t have been my preferred method of operating at this stage, but I nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “We had an undercover agent in this house for two months. He came from Macomb County because we figured there was less of a chance of him being recognized. His job was to lay low and get a feel for what was happening.”

  “Beau’s crew,” I mused. “You wanted him on the team.”

  “We didn’t know it was Beau’s team at the time. We thought it was Cal’s team. Our man was supposed to try to infiltrate the team and figure out who was supplying the drugs. He was making good headway and was even allowed to participate in a few drops. We thought he would eventually get to meet the suppliers ... and then he disappeared.”

  “A few nights ago.”

  “He completely fell off the face of the earth five nights ago. We didn’t get concerned the first night. If he’s being watched, he can’t always call. Once he missed three contact windows, we knew he was in trouble.”

  “Did you come down here looking for him?”

  “We did. It was under the guise of arresting him for a parole violation. We provided him with an extensive background of drug arrests when we put him in the halfway house because that would also be an easy reason to pull him out.

  “When my men arrived and asked about him, Cal feigned confusion,” he continued. “He said that our man had voluntarily left days before. He claimed to have reported it to the police department, and his paperwork checked out ... from his end.”

  That’s when the rest of it started to come together. “I’m guessing it didn’t check out from the Detroit Police Department’s end.”

  “You’re catching on.”

  “You think someone in the Detroit Police Department is involved in this,” Eliot mused. “That might explain why you didn’t realize Hypno was a thing until the game was in the third quarter.”

  Weariness washed over Jake’s features as he rubbed his chin. “It has to be someone in the narcotics division. We don’t know if we’re looking for one person ... or ten ... or an entire department. We just don’t know.”

  “It makes sense to buy off the cops in this scenario,” I noted. “If they look the other way, business can proceed with minimal interruptions. The department has so much ground to cover, so many dark pockets to patrol, that they’re focused on violent crimes rather than petty drug violations most of the time.”

  Jake nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell. We didn’t suspect that Cal was involved until we got our inside man into the house. He had a good reputation. Turns out that’s not the case.”

  “So somebody shot him to shut him up,” Eliot mused. “The discovery of the Santas has made somebody nervous.”

  “We believe that the Santas were o
ne arm of the operation,” Jake admitted. “We’re talking a significant arm. We were hoping our man would be able to discover why so many people were leaving the halfway house.”

  “My understanding is that they didn’t leave at the same time,” I said. “I thought the departures were staggered.”

  “By a few days, yes. They didn’t all get up at the same time and walk out the door. Very little time passed between the defections.”

  I wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Maybe Beau and his cohorts were trying to break from Cal because they thought they could make more money on their own.”

  “That’s possible,” Jake agreed, “but we don’t have confirmation on that. In fact, we don’t have confirmation on anything.”

  “Because you lost your source,” I surmised. “Do you think your guy voluntarily disappeared?”

  Jake averted his gaze. “I wouldn’t normally believe that. He was a good officer.”

  “Then that means he’s dead.”

  Jake worked his jaw but didn’t speak.

  “There’s no confirmation of that,” Eliot offered, trying to ease the tension. “It’s possible that Jake’s man has been taken prisoner. Maybe they found out who he was and decided to keep him for leverage.”

  That sounded like wishful thinking. “That would be dangerous for them. If he escaped or got access to a phone ....” I was sympathetic when I focused on Jake. “I’m sorry. I know this must be difficult for you.”

  “It’s even more difficult with you involved.” He leaned closer. “This is a tenuous situation, Avery. Things could blow up at any time. I don’t want to see you get hurt. It would be better if you backed off.”

  “I can’t do that.” I was calm, but it took effort. “This is a big story. Those dead Santas are going to be the talk of the town when word gets out.”

  “You have no idea.” Jake rubbed his forehead and stared at the tabletop. He was good at hiding his emotions, but for a moment, true anguish twisted his features. That’s when a dark thought entered my mind.