Sal’s eyes narrowed as he listened. “I’d like to get my hands on whoever’s scaring a nice little lady like Dani that way.”
“You and me both. I’m going to do some digging today, see what I can find out about beating an ankle monitor.”
“There was a day that we’d have just held up that scoundrel by his ankles and shaken the answers out of him,” Sal said, clenching and unclenching his big hands.
Sal had the softest heart of anyone Jake knew, but he had little patience for those who hurt the innocents of the world. “I enlisted,” Sal had said upon meeting Jake in SERE training, “because the world is full of bullies. I never liked bullies on the school playground. I still don’t like them. Hooyah!”
Jake thought about that now. Brooks was a bully, just as Dani had said. Bullies, like tigers, didn’t change their stripes.
The law wouldn’t allow it, but Jake had given serious thought to having it out with Brooks on his own terms.
After Jake had gone over everything, for his own benefit as much as for Sal’s, his friend said, “You don’t think Brooks is behind it?”
Jake had asked himself the same thing. Maybe he was wrong about everything. Maybe Brooks was the original stalker and had escalated his efforts to vandalizing Dani’s apartment, but Jake’s gut told him differently.
“I think Brooks is too hotheaded to have the patience to plan the stalking. His style is to strike fast and then get out.” He lowered his voice. “I’d like you to do some checking on Dani’s coworkers. They don’t seem overly upset about what’s happening to her.”
“You think one of them could be involved?”
“I think I can’t afford to overlook anyone.”
Dani appeared, dressed in one of the suits he’d given to her, looking more rested than she had and ready to face the day. Jake couldn’t help a spurt of pleasure that she’d liked what he’d picked out. The soft peach color set off her hair and eyes.
One of the things he liked best about her was her total unawareness of her appeal. She wore little makeup, which, in his opinion, made her all the prettier. Her hair was still damp, curling about her face.
She sniffed. “Bacon and eggs? Who do I kiss?”
“That’d be me, ma’am,” Sal said and leaned down so that she could kiss his cheek.
To her credit, Dani didn’t miss a beat and laughed delightedly. Jake felt an unfamiliar twinge and was outraged a moment later when he identified it as jealousy.
Jealous? Of Sal? The man was one of Jake’s best friends.
Sal raised a brow, nodded. “I hope you’re hungry. I’ve cooked enough here for the whole unit.”
“I’m hungry enough to eat everything you’ve got,” said Dani.
Sal loaded her plate with stacks of whole-wheat toast, a mound of scrambled eggs and six strips of bacon, fried to perfection.
Dani’s eyes widened. “I’ll be as big as a barn if I eat all this.”
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but you could stand a few extra pounds, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
Dani favored him with one of her thousand-watt smiles. “Thank you. You’re a sweetie.”
It was then that Jake witnessed something he’d never thought he’d see—Salvatore Santonni blushed.
After Dani offered a prayer, they dug into the country-style breakfast. Dani ate with relish and managed to polish off most of the toast, all of the eggs and five strips of bacon. “Delicious,” she pronounced.
“I’ll cook for you every meal,” Sal promised. “Put some meat on those scrawny bones.”
“I think her bones are fine just as they are,” Jake snapped.
Sal flashed a grin in Dani’s direction. “Preacher always did get a little testy when he overate.”
“Preacher,” Jake said with deliberate emphasis, “can speak for himself. And I did not overeat.”
Dani stood and began clearing the table. “I’ll take care of these and then we can go.”
Sal took the plates from her. “My mama taught me that a gentleman always cleans up after himself.” He dispatched the dirty dishes in short order. “If you’re ready, ma’am, we can be on our way.”
“Let me grab my purse. And, Sal? It’s Dani.”
* * *
Jake tried to defuse Dani’s insistence that she go with him to question the officer who oversaw Brooks’s ankle monitor. “You have your own work to do,” he pointed out.
Dani nodded. She was busy with her cases, most especially those of Newton and Brooks. That didn’t mean, however, she didn’t want to be part of the investigation.
She wondered about Jake’s motives for not wanting her to accompany him to interrogate the officer.
Did he want to approach the officer man-to-man? She knew some men were put off by a woman’s presence.
Jake’s and her research into the policeman assigned to monitor Brooks revealed that Charles Washington had been divorced twice and had a reputation among his female coworkers of being difficult to get along with.
“I’m going with you,” she said.
Looking none too happy, Jake only nodded.
They tracked the officer down, and she was immediately struck by the man’s belligerent attitude.
“I’ve got a bunch of irons in the fire,” Washington told them, sweating heavily even in the air-conditioned building. “I don’t have time to tell you what you can see for yourself.” He made a show of shuffling a pile of papers.
“We have just a few questions,” Dani said, deliberately taking the lead. “First, how accurate is the monitor?”
Washington shifted his weight, and his overburdened chair creaked in protest. “It’s state-of-the-art.”
“What does it take to fake the results?” she persisted.
A heavy sigh of impatience. “I told you, the monitor is state-of-the-art. A hundred percent accurate.”
“Can we look over your report?”
Washington shoved the paper in her direction.
With Jake looking over her shoulder, Dani scanned the report, failing to see any deviation in movements. Brooks went to work, returned home and repeated the pattern day after day. Two nights ago showed him at home.
“You can see Brooks is right where he was supposed to be,” Washington said. “Including Monday night.”
“How did you know we were interested in Monday night?” Jake asked.
Washington flushed. “I heard, okay? Nothing’s secret round here.”
Dani filed that away. “Mind if we make copies of this?”
Washington gestured to an ancient copy machine. “Have at it.”
After making the copies they needed, Dani turned back to the man. “Thanks for your time.”
More expansive now that his questioners were finished with him, Washington leaned back in his chair. “Brooks has kept his nose clean. No way he was outside the prescribed perimeter.”
“Thanks again.”
Interesting, Dani thought on her way to Jake’s Jeep. Washington had gone out of his way to champion Brooks. It might pay to check into the officer’s background, see what chains they could rattle.
Two hours later, Jake and Dani had what they wanted. Washington had big-time money problems. The man had two ex-wives, was behind over six months in alimony and child-support payments. He also liked expensive cars.
Now they had to find a tie between Brooks and Washington. That took more digging, but they found what they were looking for when they went back to the men’s college days.
“College ties can run deep,” Dani said.
Jake nodded, his face grim when they found the link. Both men had attended Georgia Tech. What was more, they had both played on the school’s football team.
By four-thirty, Jake and Dani made their way back to the Atlanta P.D. They found
Monroe holed up in his office.
“What do you have for me?” the officer asked.
Jake took the lead this time. “A connection between Brooks and the officer handling the monitor.”
Monroe’s eyes narrowed. “You’re kidding.”
“Both attended the same college at the same time. Both were on the football team. Washington played wide receiver to Brooks’s quarterback.”
“Don’t get much closer than that.” Football wasn’t just a sport in the South. For many, it was a way of life.
Taking turns, Dani and Jake filled in Monroe on what they’d discovered about Washington’s finances.
“He’s hurting,” the detective agreed. “No doubt about it.”
“Any chance you can get a court order to look at his bank statements?” Dani asked.
“Audit trail,” the detective said with a knowing nod.
She nodded. The cliché of “follow the money, find the truth” usually held true.
“I’ve got a couple of lines I can tug.” Monroe checked his watch. “It’s about quitting time over at the city offices. Do you need to be there?”
Jake looked at Dani. “I’ve arranged for a friend to stay with Dani, so, yeah, I want to be there.”
“If he’s one of yours, I figure he’s solid.”
Jake dipped his head at the implied compliment. “He is. Sal will take down anyone who tries to get to her. And he won’t be fussy at how he does it.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Monroe steepled his fingers together. “Assuming Brooks managed to beat the ankle monitor and sneak past the doorman. How did he enter the apartment? CSU didn’t find any evidence that the lock had been tampered with. It’s like he just waltzed right in.”
Dani had been pondering the same thing. It bothered her more than a bit.
“Dani told me she hadn’t given out any keys to her place,” Jake filled in. “Then there’s the security code. Whoever did it needed to get past that, as well.”
“Of course, if a person beat the monitor, chances are he wouldn’t have a problem with getting past a security code.”
“You’re right.”
The three of them kicked around other ideas. “Even if we prove Brooks did the vandalizing, you think we’re still looking for someone else for the stalking,” Monroe summed up.
“That’s how it’s shaking out for me,” Jake said.
Though Dani had expected his words, she couldn’t stifle her disappointment. It would have been over if they could prove Brooks was behind the stalking. She stiffened her resolve. She wouldn’t let this defeat her.
“I’ll get on Charles Washington’s bank records,” Monroe said, standing. “Keep me in the loop.”
“Count on it.” Jake took Dani’s elbow and escorted her from the station.
“I expect you to do the same with me,” she said once she and Jake were outside. “Keep me in the loop. It’s my life on the line.”
“Do you think I’ve forgotten?”
She took in the hard expression in his gaze. “No.” Jake would protect her with his own life. She had no doubt of that. No doubt at all.
NINE
“A police officer altered the files? Are you sure?” Dani didn’t want to believe what Jake had discovered.
She’d come across a few dirty cops in her years with the D.A.’s office, but they were the exception. Most of the men and women who wore blue were honest, hardworking and dedicated to the job. To have a police officer, perhaps even one she had worked with, directly try to sabotage her made her feel sick inside. It brought the whole thing of corruption right to her own front door.
“Monroe is checking out Washington’s financial records, but, yeah, we’re pretty sure. He and Brooks went to school together, even played on the football team at the same time. Brooks had motive, means and, with Washington in his pocket, the opportunity.”
Sal had been silent up until then. “You think I should have a talk with this Brooks fellow, Preacher?”
Despite her heartsickness, Dani smiled. Sal, the Gentle Giant, had been at her side every minute of the day. He had made sure she’d eaten lunch, even going so far as to order a bistro sandwich from her favorite delivery place.
He’d stared down anyone who tried to approach her and had, she’d learned from Clariss, once intimidated even the great man himself, Leonard Freeman. He was well-read and could discuss anything from Dante’s Inferno to the latest vampire series.
Dani answered for Jake. “No, Sal. I think we can leave him for the cops. The honest cops, that is,” she amended.
“Monroe’s bringing Brooks in tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll have a little question-and-answer session with him.”
Dani couldn’t help herself. She shivered. The hard look in Jake’s eyes along with the grim tone of his voice didn’t bode well for Brooks.
“What about Washington?”
“If Monroe finds what we think he will—payments from Brooks to Washington—he’ll bring Washington in tomorrow, as well. IA will get their chance at him.”
“I want to question him, too.”
Sal rubbed his hands together. “I don’t know about y’all, but all this talk of corruption has given me an appetite. Hooyah!”
Jake grinned. “When aren’t you hungry?”
Sal scratched his head. “Don’t rightly remember.”
Dani smiled. “You’re a fraud. I heard you discuss Elizabethan poetry with Trevor Ryan at the office. That good-ol’-boy act of yours won’t cut it.”
Sal nodded. “You got me there, ma’am. But I do it so darn well, don’t I?”
“You do at that.”
They decided to go out for Thai. “The spicier the better,” Sal said. He picked Dani up, swung her around. “We’re going to fatten you up yet.”
Though she wished it were Jake picking her up, she laughed up at Sal. “If you have your way, the whole world will fatten up.”
With the two men flanking her, they made the short trip to the elevator, took it down to the building’s parking garage. Sal, weapon raised, walked ahead of Jake and Dani, peering into the shifting shadows cast by the overhead lights.
When Dani slanted a glance at Jake, he said only, “Sal’s the best at scouting out Tangos.”
She supposed that Sal’s skill for spotting enemies ought to make her feel safer. Instead, it only emphasized the seriousness of the situation. “Why can’t you believe it’s Brooks?”
Jake didn’t answer at first. “I’ve learned not to ignore my gut,” he said at last.
“Your gut? What does your gut have to do with anything?”
“It saved my hide and the lives of my men more than once.” In the garish lights of the garage, she saw the shadow pass over his face and guessed he was remembering the time his gut hadn’t saved his men.
Silently, Dani took his hand, gave it a hard squeeze.
The look that passed between them told her that Jake knew what she was doing and why.
When they reached the Jeep, Sal had already opened it, checked the interior. “Everything’s clean, Preach.”
Jake nodded his thanks. He helped Dani inside, closed the door behind her and jerked his head to the backseat.
Sal grimaced. “How am I going to get all of me in that teeny, tiny space?”
“I can take the back,” Dani offered.
Jake gave an offhand shrug. “Sal’s fit himself into tighter spots than the back of a Jeep.”
“He’s right.” Sal folded himself into the backseat, then leaned forward and wrapped a beefy arm around Jake and Dani each. “Where’re we going, Mom and Dad?”
“Put your seat belt on and be quiet.”
Their byplay was easy and friendly, Dani reflected. Apparently serving in the same unit together had
made for an easy camaraderie that carried beyond the time serving their country.
She was discovering that she liked Jake’s friend. Without thinking, she said just that. “I like you, Sal Santonni.”
“That makes us even, ma’am, ’cause I like you right back.”
“You’re sweet.”
“I’m going to remember that,” Jake put in. “Sal Santonni being called sweet. I think I’ll let the rest of the men know. They’ll thank me.”
Despite his light words, Dani couldn’t help but notice the displeased look in Jake’s eyes. Had she done something to make him angry?
“Preach, you wouldn’t really do that, would you?” Horror heightened Sal’s voice to a squeak.
Dani caught a glimpse of Sal’s face in the rearview mirror. Mortification filled it. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault, ma’am. It’s Preacher. For all his Bible spouting, he can be a hard man. Real hard. He made us toe the line something fierce over there in the Sandbox.”
“I think it’s like your good-ol’-boy routine. That hard exterior is just an act.”
Sal winked at her in the mirror. “I think you could be right about that.”
The restaurant was busy with the late work crowd. With his hand at the small of her back, Jake asked for a booth to the rear of the dining room. After seating her, he then made sure that he took the seat with his back to the wall. Dani had noticed he’d done the same thing in other places.
Sal caught her look and explained, “Back to the wall is instinctive to a soldier. Or a cop.”
It must be hard, she reflected, to always be on duty, to never be able to relax. Her gaze rested on Jake and she warmed at what she saw there. Was there more in his eyes than feeling protective of a client? She wanted to think so.
When the waitress appeared to take their orders, she sized up the table’s occupants and turned to Jake. He gave their orders to the twentysomething woman, who favored each of the men with an especially warm smile. She all but ignored Dani, who watched with a big smirk at her two escorts.
“You’ve got an admirer,” she said, including both men in her smile.
“She’s too old for me,” Sal said promptly. “I’m just a babe in the woods compared to a big-city gal like that.”
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