by Blake Pierce
But she was willing to risk that.
“I just wanted to wish you well,” DeMarco said. “I hate that you were taken off of this. I really do. If it makes you feel any better, Duran chewed me out later on last night. Said I had no backbone and that you apparently swayed me.”
“Well, I can sway with the best of them.”
“Seriously, Kate. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. It’s not the first time I’ve irritated my superiors.”
“You need anything from me before you head back?”
This question hurt a bit. It made Kate all but certain that DeMarco had only made this call to check in on her—to see when she planned on following Duran’s orders and heading back.
Makes us even, I guess, she thought. Given what I plan to do in the next few hours, her little ruse is barely an offense.
“No, I’m good. I’m going to get dressed, grab some breakfast, and then I’m out of here. How about you? You good?”
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for getting me this far.”
“Sure thing.”
They ended the call, Kate riddled with an odd sort of guilt. She nearly called DeMarco back to tell her what she had planned. But that would go one of two ways; either DeMarco would turn her in or she’d go along with it and then she, too, would be reprimanded. So she left the phone where it was as she climbed out of bed and got ready for the morning—a morning that was already starting to feel tense and filled with a sense of finality.
***
When Kate pulled into an empty parking spot at Ashton Elementary school, the last of the school buses had parked in the rear lot, having delivered the last round of students. She headed for the entrance and saw several parents and other adults stepping into the double doors where they were then asked to sign in and have their driver’s licenses scanned.
As Kate neared the station to scan her license, she knew this could come back to bite her But then again, if Duran was going to take her badge, effectively ending this little second career she was compiling, she figured it didn’t really matter.
The woman at the scanning station asked her to sign in while she scanned Kate’s license. She then looked to Kate with a smile and said: “Are you a parent of a child here?”
“No,” she said. “Just visiting. I was here yesterday on business and heard about the auction. I thought it might be a fun way to spend the morning.”
“Ah, I see. Well, you certainly aren’t the only non-parent here. We’ve got quite the turnout today. It should be quite the special event! Now, the artwork is already up, but the students won’t be in the gym until nine.”
The woman then handed her a stick-like name tag that came out of a small mobile printer at the back of the little station.
“Thanks.” Kate picked up a nearby flyer for the show and, with an adhesive name tag on her chest, walked into the school for the second time in about fourteen hours.
She followed the small group of adults through the central area of the school and into the gymnasium. However, before she walked into the gym, Kate stepped to the side of the doors and pretended to be looking over the flyer. She peered quickly over it and checked out the inside of the gym. There were many well-designed wooden boards, boasting ten to twelve pieces of art. There were simple sketches and rather elaborate paintings as well. Some of them did indeed look quite nice.
But she wasn’t concerned with the artwork. Instead, she glanced around the edges, against the gym’s walls. And there, stationed in a corner with a fold-out desk and a steel folding chair, was Jennifer Nobilini. She was speaking to someone standing nearby while also typing something into a laptop. Seeing the laptop, Kate realized that her morning had gotten significantly better.
If that’s her laptop, this is going to be much easier than I had thought, Kate thought.
She checked her watch for the time and saw that it was 8:41. The events page on the school website had the auction schedule for 8:45, and the woman at the check-in station said students would be arriving in the gym at 9:00. That was a lot of moving parts and would mean lots of people in and out of the gym, plenty of witnesses to see her if she approached Jennifer and things got heated—which she was certain they would.
She kept the flyer in her hand, making sure she blended in and didn’t look suspicious. She eyed the surrounding area, getting a grip on the scene. Adults were still filing in for the art exhibit. The women in the main office, visible through the large picture window that allowed them to see out into the hallway, were chatting and getting ready for another school day. A lone janitor was pushing a large trash can along on wheels, smiling at a passing parent.
And that’s when she saw her opening. Right there, between the gymnasium doors and the space where the janitor was standing. She walked slowly in that direction, cautious as she was now out of the throng of adults. She kept the flyer in her hands, pretending to read it as she positioned herself directly in front of the fire alarm on the wall.
She checked quickly to make sure the janitor was not looking at her and there were no teachers or staff looking out of the large office window. When she was certain there were no eyes on her, she reached up and pulled the handle down.
There was a very brief silence between the time she pulled it and the moment the alarm started to blare. She took a single large stride away from it and started to look around in confusion, relying on her rather weak acting skills. Fortunately, she didn’t have to rely on them for very long. Within seconds, the adults who had filed into the gym came out in a quick yet organized line. Those that were in the process of coming into the school and headed into the gym were rerouted back the way they had come. Over the din of human movement and a few teachers in the hallways directing people where to go, the alarm blared on.
About ten seconds later, the classrooms started to empty out. Some children were laughing while others were clearly a little frightened. Their teachers led them out of the exits calmly and without much fuss.
Through it all, Kate kept her eyes on the gymnasium doors. She watched the people file out until she caught sight of Jennifer. She was speaking hurriedly to someone in the throng of people, her eyes set dead ahead toward the exit. When Jennifer had passed by within several feet, Kate darted through the crowd of people, the only person heading toward the gym rather than away from it.
There were only a handful of people still working their way out of the gym when Kate entered. She figured her best bet was to appear as if she had been there the entire time. She ran toward the back of the gym to where Jennifer Nobilini’s little station had been set up. She saw that in her haste, Jennifer had not done anything to protect her computer. Her screen was just it was when she had left it. Currently, there was a document up with a listings of children’s names and their artwork, next to empty slots with the headings AUCTIONED FOR and PURCHASED BY.
Kate minimized the document and found that the internet browser was already opened. Kate wasn’t at all sure what she was looking for, but she figured she’d know it when she saw it. She hoped maybe her email would be up and already logged into, but there was no such luck there. The browser’s window was blank, opened up to the basic Google home page. Thinking quickly, Kate pulled up Jennifer’s browsing history. She could tell right away that she was not the type who cleaned it out often; there appeared to be several weeks of online activity still listed under her basic history log.
Shew scrolled through it all, scanning each entry. There were lots of email log-ins and Pinterest pages but nothing of any real substance. That was, until she came to a Craigslist listing. She recalled Alvin Carpenter mentioning that some hitmen would use Craigslist for their business, either posting clever and subtle ads or waiting for clients to post ads.
She opened up the page and found a very brief listing. Only, it was not an ad that she had responded to, but one she had posted. The ad had been posted thirteen days ago and was posted under Relationships. The listing title was Tired of My Husband. All the ad said was: Tired of
my husband. Seeking a man with a keen eye for detail and can get the job done.
It was an alarming ad for sure, but Kate was more confused than anything else. Frank had been killed eight years ago. Why would she post something like this last week? It was a clever ad, especially if it was meant for someone in particular. There was a certain provocative tone to the wording but someone who was looking for something non-sexual could certainly see something else as well.
A keen eye…
…can get the job done.
And it had been posted last week.
The theory she had been stitching together in her head since last night suddenly all fell into place. It was like being overcome with an epiphany or a moment of clarity. She knew that anything she did from this point on would be scrutinized by Duran and would likely result in the end of any hope she had of reconciliation with the bureau. But she also could not let this go. She could call DeMarco, sure, but there was no guarantee that DeMarco would go with her hunch—especially not if Duran had already instructed her to cut Kate out of the case.
“Shit,” Kate breathed, and ran back out of the gymnasium. She fell in at the back of the line that was even still meandering out of the school and out toward the rear parking lot.
From what she could tell, this exit had only been for those in the gym and the front office. It appeared that the kids and the teachers had taken an exit on the opposite side of the school. Kate could hear some excited chatter from the other side of the building, mixed with the still-blaring alarm. There was no real sense of panic among the adults. It was as if everyone knew that there was no real threat here. Still, there was just enough commotion for Kate to blend in with everyone else. She used that advantage to scan the crowd for Jennifer Nobilini.
It took her about twenty seconds to locate Jennifer in the crowd of seventy-five or so people. She slowly made her way over, coming in at an angle so that Jennifer wouldn’t see her and try to make an escape. She made her way through the crowd with a few simple excuse me statements and managed to come up directly behind Jennifer.
“Mrs. Nobilini…”
Jennifer turned around. When she saw Kate, she recoiled a bit, as if she had been slapped. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I know what you did,” Kate said. This wasn’t one hundred percent true, but she felt that she knew enough to do what she was about to do.
“You made that perfectly clear yesterday,” Jennifer spat. “What the hell are you doing here? Trying to publicly embarrass me?”
“I’d prefer not to do that. It would be much easier if you came peacefully with me. Mrs. Nobilini, I’m placing you under arrest.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” She said this loud enough for a few people around them to take notice.
Kate leaned closer and said, “I know about the Craigslist ad.”
Again, Jennifer looked like someone had reached out and slapped her. It was more than enough of a reaction to tell Kate that was indeed some kind of guilt there.
“I’m placing you under arrest. You can come with me peacefully or I can handcuff you right here in front of everyone. Your choice.”
“I complained about you yesterday,” Jennifer said. “And I was told explicitly that it would be handled. I have a feeling you arresting me without hard proof is going to be bad for you.”
“I’m willing to take that chance. Again, it’s your choice, Mrs. Nobilini.”
Kate could have never expected what happened next. Jennifer Nobilini tried to slap her. It came fast but with great inexperience. Kate caught the slap easily, then twisted the arm so sharply that it caused Jennifer to twist her body around. She yelled out in pain—whether out of actual pain or just attract attention in the hopes of generating some bullshit brutality charge, Kate wasn’t sure. Whatever the reason, it made it that much easier for Kate to slap the set of handcuffs that she had been hiding under her jacket onto Jennifer’s wrists.
There were a few gasps but the crowd had fallen mostly silent. The fire alarm continued to blare behind Kate as she pushed Jennifer Nobilini along toward her car. She roughly placed Jennifer in the back of the car and locked the door. Before she got behind the wheel, though, Kate knew there was one other thing she had to do…something she was not looking forward to.
She took out her cell phone and placed a call to DeMarco.
When DeMarco answered, Kate took a breath and said: “I did something you aren’t going to like very much. Can you meet me at the precinct in half an hour?”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
One thing Kate had not been prepared for was for the NYPD to also know that she had been removed from the Jack Tucker case. When she arrived at the precinct and tried to take Jennifer Nobilini inside, she was met with resistance from several of the officers. She made it no farther than the lobby before she was stopped.
“Agent Wise, we can’t let you process this woman,” one of the officers said. “And we won’t do it for you. We know that you’ve been removed and—”
“Jesus, Kate!”
This was DeMarco’s voice, coming from the hallway beyond the bullpen. She was glaring at her from across the bullpen, her eyes filled with fire.
“DeMarco, you need to hear me out.”
DeMarco walked up to her, standing face to face. She was acutely aware of the staring officers, but was trying to save face for both of them.
“You should be on the way to DC.”
“I should. But something didn’t feel right. And I couldn’t send you on to seek out my theories out of fear of Duran getting upset.”
“You’ll be fired for this,” DeMarco said sadly.
“Probably.”
“You have a good reason for having a handcuffed Jennifer Nobilini?”
Jennifer answered first, bucking against Kate and shouting, “No, she doesn’t.”
“Yes,” Kate said. “DeMarco, give me five minutes to tell you everything I learned this morning…my theory and how I think this all played out.”
She could tell DeMarco was at war—part of her wanting to show Duran that she could handle this by herself and was a good babysitter when it came to Kate, and another part knowing that Kate tended to do her best thinking when under pressure.
“Five minutes,” she said. “Officer Stephens, can you please take Mrs. Nobilini to a private room for five minutes.”
“Sure. Should I uncuff her?”
“Yes. But don’t let her leave. Not yet.”
DeMarco led Kate back down the hallway, to the small office that had been given to Kate four days ago. As they reached the room, Kate’s cell phone started to ring. She knew it would be Duran before she even saw his name on the display.
“You told him what I did?” Kate asked.
“I had to,” DeMarco said, closing the door behind them. “You may not give a shit about losing your job, but I need mine.”
It was a good point and honestly, Kate didn’t blame her. She answered the call, fully prepared to catch an absolute nuking from Duran.
“This is Agent Wise,” she answered.
“You can drop the agent part from your name as of this very second,” Duran said. “Kate, listen to me. I respect you and I would be an idiot if I was blind to the amazing career you’ve had. And for that reason, I am not going to publicly fire you. Rather, I don’t want to. But if you so much as look at Jennifer Nobilini in a harsh way, I’ll fire you. I’ll make a fucking proclamation of it if I have to. You blatantly disobeyed me and then you arrested a woman that was never given the relief of having her husband’s killer found. What in God’s name were you thinking?”
“That’s just it,” Kate said. “I think I do know who the killer is. For both Frank Nobilini and Jack Tucker. Sir, can I put you on speaker to explain this to you and Agent DeMarco at the same time?”
“Make it quick. And let me make this abundantly clear one more time: your reputation is very likely on the line here.”
She placed the call on speaker and set it down on the
table that DeMarco had claimed as her own over the last twelve hours or so. DeMarco was looking at her with a sense of distrust—and honestly, Kate didn’t blame her. She probably felt hurt or even stabbed in the back. If there was to be any future between them, Kate knew an apology would be in order very soon.
Kate did her best to explain her theory…and all of the interlocking pieces that supported it. “A nanny that once worked for the Nobilinis is the only person I have spoken to that claims to have witnessed a less that perfect version of them. Arguing all the time, to the point that one night, Frank threatened to take the kids and leave. He’d found suspicious texts and confronted her about it. I went back to Jennifer and confronted her about it—asking why she lied to us. And she never denied—she basically admitted that yes, she was involved in an affair right around the time of Frank’s death. Now this morning, I was able to look at her computer.”
“How did you manage to do that?” Duran asked.
She was not at all proud of herself as she walked them through the morning’s events. Duran let loose a few expletives from his end of the phone. But he went quiet when she explained the link she had found to the Craigslist ad.
“That’s one of the methods your friend Alvin Carpenter said he’s known other hitmen to use, right?”
“Right. It’s almost like speaking in code.”
“Well then how would she know how to reach out to him?” DeMarco asked. “And why?”
“I think she hired Zeus Beringer eight years ago to kill her husband. Frank was threatening to leave her and take the kids—making for an ugly scene. Something that Jennifer Nobilini wasn’t willing to risk.”
“Okay,” Duran said. “Even if I was willing to buy that—and I’m not saying that I am just yet, what about Jack Tucker?”
“I’m not absolutely sure yet, but I have a theory. Director…all I ask is one more chance to speak with her.”