Catalyst

by Steve Winshel

  Josh saw a gun as large as the one Helen had been holding come around the doorframe. This was all still new to him and he couldn’t focus on who held the gun, only another dark barrel pointing at him.

  “Drop it!” was the shout, “drop it now or I’ll put a fucking bullet in your eye!”

  Josh’s eyes focused past the gun pointed at his face and onto the figure holding it, the person who had just killed Helen. It took him a moment to recognize the face, to understand in this context. He forgot he was holding a gun. Joann Rigas took a step forward.

  “Put it down now, Barnes! You have three seconds and you’re dead!”

  Not exactly what you expected your rescuer to say after slaying the dragon. Josh lowered the gun, then tossed it on the desk. It clattered on the glass top and he thought for a moment it would go off by itself. Even though the gun was still within reach, Rigas must have known Josh was no danger to her. She kicked Helen’s gun away. A finger to the pulse on Helen’s neck was unnecessary but confirmed what he had seen as she lay on the ground: dead and no longer a threat. Not to him, not to Allison. Not to anyone. Josh’s relief at not being shot was tempered by the knowledge she had a boss; someone who had hired her and who still wanted the Ventrica design. He didn’t care about the design, but he did care there was still someone out there who posed a threat. This was not over. Josh felt enough relief to slow his heart down and think about what would be next.

  Rigas didn’t look happy, though that didn’t surprise Josh after his encounter with her yesterday. Hard to believe it had only been the night before. But whether she was less happy about just having killed a woman or seeing him standing there was unclear. She walked over to Josh as she holstered her gun.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Barnes? Are you out of your goddamned mind?” She was angry; angry at him for putting her in this position and angry at him for lying to her. She knew Josh had lied about Crawford and somehow she had ended up here. Maybe she had followed him, Josh thought, maybe there were ten cops about to burst in and arrest him for breaking and entering and forcing a cop to kill an innocent woman. He didn’t know, but he didn’t care how pissed off she was. Josh was just very, very glad to see her.

  “Detective, how’d you…”

  “Shut the fuck up, you moron.”

  It was like a slap in the face. She pulled a radio off her belt and identified herself to a police operator, then asked for the coroner, an ambulance, and the crime scene investigators. She also told the operator to find Crevins and tell him to “get his ass over here now.” Josh had to decide what he was going to do. Rigas already had him pegged as a liar. She was also pissed off and maybe confused. He didn’t know what she knew, but he had to assume it was enough. Was there any reason not to come clean now, with Helen dead? She put the radio away and crossed the office to pick the gun up off the desk. She slipped it in her pocket and motioned for Josh to follow her. At least she didn’t curse at him again. As Josh passed Helen’s body, he couldn’t help notice the sheen of her hair, the blood just starting to matt it.

  She looked at the shattered glass and then at Josh. Shaking her head again. He was getting a lot of that. “You broke in here to do what, kill her? Where’d you get the gun? Why her – is she the partner of the guy you killed? What were they extorting from you?”

  She’d figured out Josh was being blackmailed and somehow knew Helen and Crawford were partners. Josh was relieved even more; maybe now he could turn this over to the police and they would take care of it. “I didn’t come here to kill her. I was trying to…to get evidence of what she was doing.”

  “You’re starting to look good for one murder, the guy at your house, and one attempted, on her.” She gestured to the office. “You better do a helluva lot more explaining than that.”

  “They threatened me, Detective. They said they’d kill my sister and then me if I didn’t do what they wanted. You saw the guy in my house – I was lucky to get home, lucky to stop him. Lucky to…lucky to kill him.”

  “What did they want? What the fuck is so important?”

  “Some technology…a device my company is going to build. It’s important, but I don’t see how it’s worth all this.” Josh gestured emptily.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Last night, you could have explained the whole thing.” She was putting it together and he was starting to look like the bad guy. Josh could see her blood pressure was rising and it was his fault.

  “She would have killed us. She told me not to tell the cops.”

  The tension mounted in Rigas’ jaw. “You dumb shit…that guy you killed slaughtered the wife of another guy who played along with them, too. He was too stupid to tell the cops and he’s just as dead as she is now. You put your sister in danger.”

  Josh’s eyes hardened and at that moment he didn’t like Rigas. “Fuck you, Detective.”

  Rigas didn’t hesitate. Her right arm shot out, hand open, like a whip. She was going to slap Josh, hard, across the face. No metaphor this time. It was probably not the first time she had knocked sense into someone who didn’t do what she wanted. Josh was the scared, uncooperative yuppie who needed to be taught a lesson. But she miscalculated. He leaned back fast, faster than she could have expected, and pushed her arm away as she caught air. It was instinct, something he hadn’t done in twenty years since he was a kid competing in self-defense tournaments. Back then it was fun and games, something to keep him out of his parents’ hair during the summer. This was different. She had put some weight behind the strike and her momentum carried her forward half a step. Josh leaned in and pushed her shoulder into her forward movement as she took a half step past him. Not hard, but enough that she had to take two or three more steps to catch herself. She recovered instantly and turned around to face Josh, her gun back in her hand and pointed at him. He wasn’t scared any more. He’d had enough guns pointed at him in the last six hours that it didn’t hold any mystery.

  Josh had surprised himself, but surprised her even more. They locked eyes for a few seconds until there was the sound of footsteps coming up the drive. She lowered her gun, then put it back in the holster. She fingered the handcuffs hanging on a loop on her belt. Josh could read in her eyes the battle; arrest him or wait and see. Being a good cop won out over being pissed off and a little embarrassed. Either that, or she figured she’d have to take a different tack with Josh. The cuffs stayed on the belt. Josh didn’t feel like much of a tough guy, but enough was enough already.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  It was a long night. Josh saw many of the same faces he had seen twenty-four hours earlier. Different patrol officers, but he recognized the coroner, several of the crime scene investigators, and Rigas’ partner. Not all of them recognized Josh, their eyes on the body or cataloging every item in the house, but the ones who did seemed surprised. Crevins remained as pleasant, calm, and methodical as before. If he was surprised to see Josh he didn’t show it. His demeanor was the antithesis of Rigas’.

  Amid the bustling of photograph flashes, cops in and out the door, and lab workers taking samples, Rigas and Crevins took Josh aside and asked a lot of questions. Rigas first filled him in with broad strokes, painting a picture that was none too complimentary of Josh but not as harsh and derogatory as earlier. He was forthcoming, telling them everything that had happened, starting in the hotel bar in Minneapolis. When he was done, they went to division headquarters in Van Nuys and did it again. They let Josh follow them in his own car – a good sign, he thought, that they weren’t planning on having him spend the night. In a spacious but cold room whose main feature was the harsh glare and constant buzz of fluorescent lights, he told the story again. This time their boss sat in, plus another detective, and he didn’t know how many others watched through what was obviously a one-way mirror. A couple of times there were looks around the room as Josh described everything that had happened. The meeting at the beach with Helen caught their attention. So did stealing the Ventrica design. He had nothing to hide now and kne
w he needed to tell them everything so they would go find the person behind all this and make sure it was over. Josh described how he tracked Helen to her home and what he had done to set her up so he could collect evidence. They brought in a scrawny, pale guy whom they didn’t introduce and told Josh to repeat that part. He asked a lot of questions, very excited, when he wasn’t sneaking long, hard looks at Rigas who ignored him. Listening to his own voice, Josh knew he was creating a serious list of felonies he had committed. When he was done answering questions, he finally asked one of his own.

  “You need to find the guy who hired Helen. He’s still out there and my sister and I are in danger. What are you doing about that?”

  The captain stood. He’d listened attentively throughout Josh’s discourse, never asking a question but making sure nothing was missed. He had periodically flicked a glance at one of the detectives or at the mirror, and whatever Josh was talking about at that moment was pursued in detail by whoever was doing the questioning.

  “Dr. Barnes, you’ve had a very difficult couple of days. I suggest you go home and get some rest. We’ll follow up, but I believe you’re out of danger.”

  “Captain, I appreciate your help, but I don’t think this is over. That woman and her partner were working for someone, she told me that. I don’t feel safe and won’t until you catch him.”

  The captain smiled warmly, maybe a little condescendingly, too. “Dr. Barnes, there may or may not be someone else behind all this. Since there apparently was extortion involved, we’ll bring the FBI in on it. They’ll work with us to figure out all the pieces.”

  That sounded impressive to Josh, having the FBI called in. He thought of them as quiet, capable men and women in dark suits, whom criminals were afraid of and who always got their man. Josh stood up and took the captain’s hand as he offered it. “Okay. Please let me know any way I can help. I could probably…”

  He cut Josh off by putting his hand on Josh’s shoulder and telling him “the best way you can help is to go home, get some rest, and be available when we have more questions. The investigation will take some time, but I’m confident we’ll be able to wrap this up.”

  Josh followed as he was led to the door. “Can I expect to hear from the FBI soon? I really don’t feel safe bringing my sister back until…”

  He cut Josh off again, but gently. “They’ll have the report by this afternoon and will give it the attention it deserves. This is in very capable hands, sir. You’ve been through a lot. Let us do our jobs now.”

  Josh wasn’t used to being in a police station. Watching NYPD Blue wasn’t the same thing. Cops had an air of confidence, of competence that comes through in real life. He felt comforted, but still hesitant. Josh headed out the door and something gnawed at his comfort. How patient would the person who controlled Helen’s activities be? Josh believed the police and FBI would do their jobs, but he wasn’t as sure they would do it fast enough.

  As he headed down the corridor to the front of the building, Josh realized Rigas had come up beside him and was matching his stride. Josh still didn’t know whether she was more likely to help or harass him. He kept walking. Pushing out the double glass doors and starting down the cement steps to the street, the smell and heat of an early L.A. morning hit his senses.

  Rigas grabbed Josh’s arm just above the elbow. Strong grip. He let her stop him and turned to face her. He looked her straight in the eye and saw something that hadn’t been there before. Josh didn’t know her well enough to decide whether it was respect or disdain. But she hadn’t proven herself an ally and didn’t seem to be a big fan of his. She kept her hand where it was.

  “Detective, I need to go home now. Please, find the people behind this. That’s all that matters.”

  “Barnes, the Captain didn’t say it, but you’re in a shitload of trouble. Killing Crawford is going to get looked at again, hard. Breaking and entering the woman’s place. Definitely some blowback on hacking into whatever systems you cracked with your computer. And I don’t think your company’s gonna look too kindly on stealing their secrets. A jury will be sympathetic, but that doesn’t mean they won’t send you to jail.”

  Josh didn’t hear any threat in her voice, which was a surprise. It was more like a heads-up or a helpful warning. But Rigas hadn’t done anything to suggest she had any sympathy for him. He was mostly just an irritant who had delayed her investigation by lying. So Josh didn’t know what her point was.

  At the same time, he realized something was bothering him about all this. Like most people, Josh saw the police as highly skilled professionals who brought special tools and experience to the task. They usually got their man or woman and as a civilian he had faith in their abilities. It was like trusting your doctor who had the training and background to figure out what was wrong with you and make you better. But after the events of the last two days, Josh understood that no matter how skilled they were, the police couldn’t always protect you. Part of him knew he might have to rely on himself again. It was a possibility he would never have considered a week earlier.

  This was more of a feeling than a conclusion, but once again Josh had the sense Rigas was reading his mind, like when he had lied about knowing Crawford.

  “Ya know, with the woman and Crawford dead, this wraps up at least two murders. Maybe more, after we start poking around. Those sociopaths probably ran this scam on a bunch of people, so who knows what we’ll dig up? The department’s gonna focus on the murders, since that’s our jurisdiction. The Feds’ll find whoever hired them.”

  Maybe she was trying to give him some comfort, or maybe she was trying to keep Josh from mucking things up any more.

  “And if you turn into some kind of vigilante, you’re just going to increase the pile of shit you have to deal with.”

  Josh hadn’t even thought that far ahead, just that he might have to rely on himself again. “Detective, I need to get some rest. May I go now?” She thought about it for a moment and nodded. Letting go of his arm, she gave him a pat on the shoulder.

  “Okay, Barnes. Stay close to home. I’ll have some questions for you later.”

  She watched Josh as he headed down to the street, reaching his car just as a meter maid finished putting a ticket under the wiper blade. Crack of dawn on a Sunday morning and they were giving out tickets. Josh turned and looked at Rigas as he took the ticket. She gave him a shrug and smile. He put the ticket on the passenger seat instead of tearing it up and throwing it in the street. Following the rules was a hard habit to break.

  Rigas kept watching as he drove away, her arms folded, leaning against the railing down to the street. Barnes was turning out to be an interesting guy. Nice, regular guy, but with an edge. And apparently balls of steel, judging from his behavior over the last twenty-four hours.

  * * *

  Rigas headed back into the squad room still thinking about Barnes, but focused on the case. He had handled himself pretty well under questioning. He hit all the high points, provided details others might have missed, and stayed calm despite the fact he was a civilian and had been through a whole lot of shit in one day. Her captain wasn’t someone whose goal was to put people at ease, and the questions from her and the others were direct and pulled no punches. Barnes was under a lot of pressure, but never looked scared or confused. What she wasn’t sure of was whether he had enough sense to stay put now. If he got puffed up feeling like a can-do kind of guy, he was going to screw up her investigation and maybe get himself hurt, if there really was someone out their pulling the strings on the scam he’d fallen into. But that didn’t seem to be what was on his mind. He just wanted to know his sister was safe. Rigas got distracted by that thought for a moment. Having someone to worry about like that, to almost die for. She imagined it would be even more intense with kids, spouse, home…and wondered why Barnes didn’t have all that.

  Her mind got back to the issue at hand. Barnes was probably just doing what she would do under the same circumstances, though of course she wouldn’t hav
e screwed it up and almost gotten killed twice. She was starting to sense a potential problem here. She had to keep Barnes out of the way while the department did their job, along with the FeeBIes. Barnes presented a dichotomy to Rigas; he seemed like the typical yuppie, but then defended himself against an animal like Crawford. Sneaky son of a bitch, too, and pretty smart, to track down the female partner. But then he almost got himself shot for not being careful. Two minutes later he gets the drop on her just as she’s about to slap a little sense into him. Pissed her off, but it was a slick move. Some karate shit or something. Usually didn’t work in the real world. She’d thought at that moment in the woman’s house he’d crossed some kind of line in his mind. She couldn’t worry about it now. Rigas saw that Crevins and the other cops who’d questioned Barnes were in the Captain’s office. She hurried her pace and made an abrupt and loud entrance, a statement that she was the lead on this and there shouldn’t be any powwows without her there. The Captain was listening to Crevins and shot her a glance as she came in. He was the only one sitting. She cut off Crevins: