Denouement

by E. H. Reinhard

  “Okay, fine,” Amy said. “I’m just kind of nosy by nature. You don’t have to tell me.”

  “There’s really not much to tell.”

  “Can I hear the not much?”

  Ray paused, trying to put together something that sounded believable.

  “If you must know, that was my ex-girlfriend’s brother dropping off my clothes. We don’t really get along.”

  “Why would he be dropping off your clothes?” she asked.

  “My ex kicked me out. She won’t let me in the house, so she had her brother drop off my clothes.”

  “See, that wasn’t so hard. She didn’t do that to your face did she?”

  Ray smirked. “No. I, um, walked into a door.”

  Amy laughed. “Must have been one hell of a door,” she said.

  Amy made a right into the Wooden Spoon. Ray would have imagined the small diner to be abandoned if it wasn’t for the neon Open sign lit up in one of the dusty windows.

  “Don’t let the looks of the place fool you,” she said. “They actually have some pretty damn good food here.”

  “I trust your judgment, being a local and all,” Ray said.

  She pulled into a parking spot and killed the motor. “So what did you do that got you kicked out?” she asked.

  Ray laughed. “You are nosy, aren’t you?”

  “Sorry,” she said.

  “I um, I did something pretty bad,” Ray said.

  “Which was?”

  “I slept with her sister.”

  “Ooh. That is bad. I guess I can see why you don’t get along with the brother,” Amy said. She stared over at Ray, smiled, and placed her hand on his knee. “I like being bad.”

  Chapter 24

  Hank and I gave our statements and wrapped up at the casino around seven. The casino police had shut down the entire floor and relocated each of the guests. At the time we left, they still hadn’t removed the body or even begun to search for Ekel’s vehicle. Swift said his supervisor needed to go over the scene before they could get underway. I learned a bit later that the supervisor lived in Orlando. Hank and I pulled into the station’s parking structure around a quarter after seven. We stepped from the unmarked cruiser.

  “Need me for anything?” Hank asked.

  “Nah, head home. I’ll call you if Faust turns up anything, but from our end, it’s looking like it will be morning before we have anything to work with.”

  “Are you staying here again?” Hank asked.

  “Yeah, probably just for tonight. I don’t know if Azarov has any plans of coming after me, Callie, or my family, but I’ve had enough of hiding out and hiding them. I just want to get back to normal and on with my life.”

  Hank nodded. “That’s understandable. I can’t imagine what Karen would be like if I told her she had to go and stay in a hotel under FBI protection.” Hank’s face grew thoughtful.

  “What’s on your mind?” I asked.

  “There wasn’t anything anywhere on Ekel that would explain why he did what he did?”

  I shook my head.

  “It just seems pretty damn extreme to kill yourself to avoid even being questioned by police.”

  “I’m guessing that he knew if he went with us, he’d never see the light of day again,” I said.

  “What do you think he did that was so wrong?”

  “I have a feeling we’ll find out.”

  “A hunch?” Hank asked.

  “He probably knew his goose was cooked and would be heading off to prison. He was an arms dealer and had been doing something with the Azarovs, I’m sure he was doing enough illegally to get him put away for some time.”

  “If he knew anything, he probably could have tried to make himself some kind of a deal, I’d think.”

  “Who knows, Hank? All right, I’m going to head inside, talk to the cap, and call Callie.”

  “Okay. Make sure you call me if you hear something from Faust.”

  “I will.”

  I headed into the station and made for Bostok’s office. He was sitting inside, staring at his computer screen. I knocked on his door and entered.

  “Cap,” I said.

  “Hey, grab a seat.”

  I did.

  “Everything done over at the casino?”

  “Yeah, one of the officers there is going to call me when the vehicle is located and taken to the city impound lot. I need to get a hold of Ed and have him notify me when the body and personal belongings get over to the ME’s office. Which brings up another thing: I’m going to need warrants for this Ekel guy’s car and personal items. He was connected to Azarov, and there might be something he left behind that can lead us to him.”

  “I’ll get them put in. We should be able to have warrants within the hour. Are you trying to do something with that tonight yet?”

  “If I can. But in reality, it’s looking like it will be morning.”

  What’s the plan, moving forward?”

  “See if we can get anything from whatever he left behind. Faust was going to try to get Ekel’s call history from his cell-phone carrier and let me know if there was anything there.”

  “So, we’re just waiting?” Bostok asked.

  “It looks like it.”

  “Okay. Anything else?”

  “Not really.”

  “Are you staying here tonight?”

  “Pretty sure I am. It’s probably going to be the last night, though. I’ve had enough of disrupting my and my family’s lives. If Azarov comes after me while I’m at home, I’ll be ready. From what Faust said, I’m not sure he has the means to get to my family and try to do something there.”

  Bostok let out a breath and nodded. “Just use your best judgement.”

  “I will. I’m still kicking it around a little. Who knows?”

  “Well, I’m here—you’re here. Do you want to go over some things about the captain’s test?”

  “I guess. I thought your wife was making you dinner.”

  “Dinner is cold now. I doubt it’ll get much colder.”

  “I’m up for it if you are. We may as well do it now, while nothing is going on. Let me go give Callie and Ed a call quick, and I’ll be back.”

  “Sure,” Bostok said.

  I headed next door to my office, took a seat, and dialed Callie. She picked up within a few rings.

  “Hey, babe,” she said.

  “Hey, Cal.”

  “We just got back. I had Ron and Jim escort us to the store so I could buy some magazines.”

  “Ron and Jim?”

  “The FBI guys. I wanted to pick up some house and decorating magazines for ideas.”

  I smiled. “We don’t own the place yet.”

  “We will,” she said. “I don’t suppose you heard anything back yet?”

  “No. I’m guessing it will be a few days. I think I’m going to come and get you guys out of there tomorrow night after work.”

  “Really? Did something happen, or—”

  “No. We’re still looking, but what you’d said earlier kind of stuck with me. We don’t know if he’s planning on coming after us, and I’m not going to put our lives or my family’s lives on hold any longer. I want you home with me.”

  “You won’t get an argument from me about it,” she said. “I don’t like being away from you.”

  “That’s probably a good thing,” I said. “Okay, I just wanted to say hi and let you know that this will be the last night you’ll be there. I need to get next door and meet with the captain. He wants to go over some things about my captain’s test and oral boards next Friday.”

  “Next Friday?” Callie asked. “When did you find out you had a date for this?”

  “I think it was right after I talked to you last.”

  “You need to call me immediately with that kind of news from now on. Man, we really have to work on your communication skills.”

  I laughed.

  “I’m serious. I care about these things, Carl.”

  “Okay,
okay. I’ll call you right away whenever I have any kind of news from now on.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes, I promise.”

  “Good. I love you. Call me before you go to sleep. I’m going to go read about decorating our house.”

  “Sounds good. No purple, pink, or pastel anythings,” I said.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll talk to you in a bit,” she said.

  “Love you, bye,” I said and hung up.

  I dialed Ed next.

  The answering system at the medical examiner’s office picked up and spoke the hours of operation and the address. I clicked off and dialed Ed’s cell phone. He answered within a couple rings.

  “Ed Dockett,” he said.

  “Hey, Ed. It’s Kane. You’re done for the night, hey?”

  “Yeah, I just got home a couple minutes ago. Why? What’s up?”

  “There will be a body and belongings coming over to your office sometime tonight. I’m getting a warrant for the belongings, and I’ll have to come by to pick them up. You need to be there to release them to me, correct?”

  “That’s correct. Any idea what time?” Ed asked.

  “Sorry, no.”

  “Well, I’ll call our overnight receiving guys and have them give me a buzz when it comes in, then I’ll give you a call. Will that work?”

  “It should be fine.”

  “What’s the name?”

  “Erik Ekel.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you know.”

  “Call this number I’m calling you from. It’s a different cell phone than normal.”

  “Okay.”

  “I appreciate it, Ed.”

  “No problem.”

  I hung up and walked next door to Bostok’s office. I took a seat across from him at his desk.

  “Everything good?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Ed is going to let me know when they receive the body and belongings.”

  Bostok crossed his arms over his stomach. “Okay, I put the warrants in. You should be getting them to your e-mail before nine.”

  “Thanks.”

  “How is Callie?” he asked.

  “Callie is excited,” I said. “We put an offer in on a house earlier.”

  “Really? You found a place?” Bostok asked.

  “Yeah, the place is on Lake Thonotosassa—five acres, great house, and a big shop area. We’ll see in a couple days if they accept it. The realtor seems to think they will.”

  “Well, congratulations. Engagement, baby coming in a few months, new house—you’re plugging right along.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I doubt you could have made me believe it not too long ago.”

  “That’s life, Kane. You don’t know what you’re going to get. But I’m glad you’re taking it as it comes and just going with it. It seems like everybody has to have every last thing planned these days. Before you know it, your plans go to shit and you get old.”

  I chuckled. “One way of looking at it, I guess.”

  “Okay.” Bostok scooted his chair back and pulled a file from one of his desk drawers. “This is just something I put together for you. Take a minute to look it over, and we’ll start going through it.”

  I flipped open the folder and thumbed through the pages.

  Bostok and I spent a good hour and a half doing mock questions and answers. He broke down each answer I gave and explained how it could be expanded upon. By the end of our little session, I had a completely different view on how to approach the upcoming oral boards. I hoped his advice would give me an edge over—as he informed me—another four people from different precincts that would be applying for the position. Bostok and I planned to try to squeeze another few hours together over the weekend and again during the week. I thanked the captain as he left for the night, and I headed back to my office.

  I put the mock test Bostok had given me in my desk and took a seat. I glanced at the time, which was a few minutes after nine—too early for sleep but about the right time to see if my warrants were in. I woke my computer and logged into my e-mail for the station—they hadn’t come in.

  I gathered every last thing I had in my office that pertained to the Azarovs. I set the stack on the left side of my desk and went through each sheet contained in the files, hoping I could find something that had gone overlooked. After two hours of rehashing the files I’d been through countless times, I flipped the last folder closed. I’d found nothing that wasn’t already burned into my memory. I stretched my stiff back in my chair, and it cracked and popped in protest. I stared over at my office couch, which was exactly a foot too short to fully stretch out on.

  “To hell with this,” I said.

  I rolled open my desk drawer, grabbed my car keys, and stood. I hoped I’d get a call waking me in the middle of the night from Faust or Ed, but until that happened, I was sleeping in my own bed. I logged back into my e-mail, found the warrants in my inbox, printed them, and locked up my office. Then I headed for my car in the station’s parking structure.

  Chapter 25

  The sound of my cell phone vibrating woke me. I cracked open my eyelids. My cell phone’s screen lit my pitch-black bedroom. Callie not being beside me immediately registered in my head and stirred a weird feeling. I reached over, pulled the power cord from the bottom of the phone and stared at the screen. The call was coming from the medical examiner’s office. The time on the right corner of the phone read 4:58 a.m. I clicked Talk.

  “Kane,” I said. My voice crackled.

  “It’s Ed. Rise and shine.”

  “Did the body and personal belongings get dropped off?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I just got the call, but I was about to head in for the day anyway. I should be at the office in about twenty minutes or so.”

  “Okay. Is there a cell phone with him?”

  “The guys didn’t say. Do you want me to call and ask?”

  “Nah, I’ll just meet you over there in a bit, grab everything, and take it back to the station.”

  “Are you coming right away?” Ed asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a few.”

  “Yup.” I hung up, reached over, and flipped on the bedside lamp. I looked at the screen on my phone—no calls or messages from Faust or from the casino, regarding Ekel’s vehicle. I reached under my pillow, grabbed my gun, and stuck it back in my holster, hanging in my closet. I got dressed for work, grabbed the warrants from my breakfast bar, and headed out.

  I pulled the Cadillac into the entrance of the medical examiner’s office twenty minutes later. I parked and walked toward the front doors, where I saw Ed waiting inside. He flicked the lock on the door and swung it open.

  “Morning, Kane,” he said.

  “Hey, Ed.”

  “I have the guy’s things in my office. Come on in, and we’ll get you set.”

  Ed locked the door at my back.

  I followed him past the front desk toward his office. “Did you see an old-looking black phone?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it’s there. I also have a carry-on suitcase and a stack of small crates.”

  “Stack of small crates?” I asked.

  “I guess the casino police are pretty thorough,” he said.

  “I don’t follow,” I said.

  “You’ll see.” Ed opened his office door and waved me in.

  I stepped inside.

  A light-brown rolling carry-on bag was butted up to the corner of Ed’s desk. Beside it was what looked like a stack of milk crates filled with bags. Each crate was a foot tall, five total. I leaned over it and looked inside the top crate. It held clothing.

  “They separately bagged each personal item he had. Every piece of clothing, down to individual socks. Every toiletry item,” Ed said.

  I furrowed my brow. “Why would they do that for a suicide?”

  “Couldn’t tell you, but it’s probably why it took them ten hours to deliver everything.”

  “Well, whatever. Here is your paperwork,” I said. I hande
d Ed the warrant for Ekel’s personal items.

  “All I need, Kane. Do you want a hand loading this up?”

  “Um, sure.”

  I grabbed the top three crates, balanced them in one arm and rolled the carry-on suitcase with my other hand. Ed took up the remaining crates and led the way out to my car. Everything fit in the rear cargo area of the station wagon.

  “That was everything, right?” I asked.

  “That’s it.”

  “Thanks, Ed. I’m going to get this stuff back to the station and get going on it. I’ll probably get Rick to lend me a hand as soon as he’s in.”

  “Did you need to see the body?” he asked.

  “No. I’m more interested in what he had that could lead us to Andrei Azarov. Besides, I was there when this guy decided to take his own life.”

  “What?” Ed asked.

  “Not in the room when it happened but moments later. We were at the casino to bring the guy in for questioning when this occurred.”

  “Well, that’s probably why they were so thorough in going through his things. If the guy killed himself to avoid questioning, it probably stands to reason he was hiding something. My guess, they were looking for that something.”

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “All right. Time for me to go and get this place ready to go for the day.”

  “Have a good one, Ed.”

  “You too, Lieutenant.” Ed walked back toward the building.

  I rummaged through the stuff in the back of the car until I found a plastic bag with the phone inside. I pulled the bag out and turned the phone in my hand. It looked like something from the nineties. I left the bag around the phone and thumbed the button on the phone’s side. The screen lit. I fumbled with menu buttons until I found the phone’s call log. The screen showed me five numbers with a scroll bar on the right.

  I pulled up the Internet on my personal phone and punched in the last number Ekel had dialed. It came up as a local escort service. I shook my head. The next number I punched in belonged to the casino. I assumed he’d called ahead to book his room. I continued down the list. The next call went to a Florida number that somehow looked familiar. I searched it but came up with nothing. I thought for a moment and then reached into my pocket for my notepad. The folded sheet of phone numbers we’d pulled from Azarov’s phone was still there. I unfolded it and ran my finger down the numbers. The last call had gone to Ivan Blok’s cell phone, which I was positive Ekel didn’t get an answer from because by the time the call went out, Blok was already in custody. I moved on to the next number. It showed as having been received instead of called. I searched the number. It came up as the Dusty Hill Motel in Ridge Manor, Florida.