Avenged

by Janice Cantore

  She and Maddie were a block from the beach when her cell phone chimed with a call from Alex.

  “I was going to come by. Where are you? At home?”

  “On my way to Dog Beach. Meet me down there?”

  “Sure.”

  She and Maddie had been in the sand for a few minutes when Alex showed up. He opened his arms and gave Carly a hug. As he apologized for what was happening, Carly fought to keep her composure.

  “It’s not your fault, Alex. You have your hands full. I’m sorry about your mom. How’s your dad doing?”

  Alex shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down before meeting Carly’s gaze. “He’s a broken man. My mom doted on him for over forty years and he treated her badly. Now he’s all remorse and regret. Says he loved her but never told her. It’s eating him up.”

  “You can’t ever go back.”

  “No. But enough about my problems. I do feel responsible for yours. You know that Masters has hired a publicist? She’s trying to get spots on all the big national news programs.” He kicked a pile of sand. “I hate to say it, but people are nibbling and it’s just making her more aggressive.”

  Carly took a deep breath and tossed a stick for Maddie. It was a struggle not to give in to all the negative emotions she felt. “What do you know about her? How’d she hook up with Duncan Potter?”

  “I know you don’t like Potter and his motives bug you, but he takes great pictures. Everyone wants his work. As for Masters, she fancies herself the next Katie Couric, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get herself there.”

  “Do you know anything about where she was before she was hired by the Times?” Carly outlined what Ned had told her about Virginia Masterson.

  Alex frowned and rubbed his chin. “I knew she was from out of state, but I only paid attention to what she did at the Times. They liked her work, or at least they said they did. She was let go because of layoffs. Last hired, first fired—that kind of thing.”

  “How long has she been in California?”

  “She’s been with us for six months, and I think she was with the Times for at least a year.” He stopped. “You’re not getting paranoid on me, are you? Do you think there’s more going on here than a dead parolee?”

  “I don’t know, Alex. All I know is that I did nothing wrong—nothing. And she’s trying to make me sound like Drake or Tucker. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, but the FBI might be listening to her.”

  “They’re just being polite.”

  Carly snorted.

  He reached out and gripped her shoulder. “I know things are bad right now, and I want to help.”

  “I’m not sure what you can do. I’m off at least until I see the occupational health guy on Monday. The feds are in on the shooting investigation, and I have to talk to internal affairs today.”

  He put an arm on her shoulder as they strolled down the beach, and Carly felt the comfort of a friend.

  “Are they going to suspend you?” he asked.

  “The investigation is ongoing, so no, I don’t think so. I think it’s just routine. But then I don’t know how much political pressure is building. Mayor Hardy was elected because he promised a scandal-free city. And then, of course, there’s the Burke trial.”

  His face scrunched with worry. “Brace yourself. Scuttlebutt in the newsroom is that there’s a lot of pressure building. Masters seems to have her finger on the pulse and she’s exploiting that. Something may come up about the trial.”

  “I was afraid of that. Which brings me back to the big question: why me?” She stopped and turned to face Alex, hands on her hips.

  He tossed another stick for Maddie. “You’re a name. Let’s face it—everyone in Las Playas has read about your work. By just doing your job, you made national news. You already brought up the trial. And next week you’ll be honored at the bridge dedication. Masters saw you as a target; if she can topple you, think how much news that would make. And how many job offers she could conceivably generate.”

  “So this is all about her career?”

  “From what I’ve seen, everything is about her. Now, about this Barton guy. I can only tell you what the newsroom gossip is. The more I think of it, this fits with what Ned told you. Masters seemed to indicate she had this long-distance relationship with him that only became a close physical relationship a month ago—”

  “A month ago? He told officers the first night I saw him that he’d been out a month but had only just gotten into town.”

  Alex shrugged. “An ex-con lied to the police—imagine that. Masters said when she met him, it was love at first sight but they weren’t able to be together. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was one of those sick women who falls for someone behind bars and becomes a pen pal and that was their long-distance relationship.”

  “Ned said he thought they met when Dean first got arrested. She went from reporter to groupie to girlfriend, I guess, in six years.” Carly rubbed her hands together. “While I’m certain Barton was behind the shooting and guns, do you think she has any connection at all to that?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past her. She’s a climber.”

  Carly said nothing and they started back the other way down the beach.

  “I really do want to help,” Alex said. “I can be the anti-Masters. Tell me what happened that night.”

  “That’s the problem. I don’t remember the most important part.” Carly told Alex what she could recall up to the point where she saw Barton grinning at her.

  “Is it possible your gun went off when you fell and it was just dumb luck the bullet hit him?”

  Carly wrapped and unwrapped Maddie’s leash around her wrist. She didn’t tell Alex about the GSR. Homicide was trying to prove or disprove something with that; she could only speculate. “I don’t know. I was in a haze when they took me to the hospital, so I didn’t get a good look at the spot I fell from. But Barton was hit in the center of his forehead. If I’m falling down . . .” She stopped and tried to envision falling with her gun in her hand. “I guess it’s possible. I just don’t know for sure.”

  Alex shook his head and frowned. “I wonder if I could get in there and take a look at the scene.”

  “I doubt it. It’s probably still sealed. Jacobs mentioned that the construction company was going to do a thorough inventory.”

  “I heard that the contractor is having a cow about how far behind that will put the restaurant opening.”

  They’d reached the walkway leading up and out of the beach. Carly unraveled the leash she’d been fiddling with and bent down to hook it to Maddie’s collar. “You’ve already tried to get in, huh?”

  Alex smiled. “I really mean it when I say I want to help. Let me ask you this—are you sure Barton was grinning at you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you don’t think he wasn’t there by himself, right?”

  Carly nodded and Alex continued. “Suppose he was grinning because he knew something you didn’t? Maybe that you were outnumbered in there?”

  Carly brought a hand to her forehead, trying to picture Barton’s face in her mind. What had he been so gleeful about? “But even if there was someone else there—someone who was working with Barton—they had the advantage. They could have just killed me.”

  “Maybe Barton irritated more people than just you. Maybe the man who pulled the trigger was in the restaurant and he wanted to sever the partnership with Barton and saw the perfect opportunity to frame you.”

  They’d reached Alex’s car. Carly looked at him and arched an eyebrow. “Maybe you read too many novels. I do know he was working with at least one other person, maybe two. I saw him with someone, and he told Ned he had a partner.” She told Alex about Michael Carter. “And someone did lock the gate behind me, which slowed down my backup. But I’d need to know more about what Barton and his buddies were doing at the old marina.”

  He folded his arms and leaned against the side of his car, cocking his head to the side. “Boy, I
go away for a little bit and this whole city falls apart. Wild parolees, gang wars—what’s next?”

  “I hope truth and closure. You know, before this happened, when Barton was implicated in the stolen guns, Nick and I sat down and tried to figure out what was going on.”

  “You mean with the gang shooting?”

  “We’re not sure it was a gang shooting. We think Barton was trying to instigate a war, but we don’t know why.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to review everything. If I’d been here, I would have been covering everything. As it is, I have to go by what’s been published.”

  “We were thinking it had something to do with the Ninjas—Londy specifically. He was shot at and he used to be a Ninja.”

  “Maybe Barton’s partner had a beef with the Ninjas?”

  Carly shrugged. “Not sure. We were hoping Barton would answer questions and fill in the blanks. I didn’t want him dead.” She shook her head in an attempt to shake away her uneasy feeling. “I have to get going. Thanks, Alex, for being a friend.”

  “No problem. But you still haven’t told me how I can help you the most.”

  “I don’t know.” She turned to leave and then stopped. “Maybe if I knew for certain why Masters hates me.”

  “I’ll find out everything I can about her,” Alex promised. “And . . .”

  “And what?”

  “This mysterious Michael Carter has piqued my curiosity.”

  “The feds will find out about him soon, I’m certain.”

  “So you say. One more thing.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t think Londy and the Ninjas are the only targets. Something tells me Officer Carly Edwards fits into that equation as well. Watch yourself.”

  29

  “WATCH YOURSELF.”

  Carly considered Alex’s words while she got ready for her meeting. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember anything controversial she and the Ninjas had been involved in. And as for Londy—she had helped clear his name, but that was about the mayor’s murder; it had nothing to do with the Ninjas.

  The whole thing was giving her a headache, so she pushed it away to concentrate on her appointments.

  She decided to dress casual for IA, settling on jeans and a blouse with flats instead of tennis shoes. She also called and asked the union for a representative to be with her during the interview. On the way to the car she debated texting Nick about the IA meeting. She’d been listening to the police radio and knew the funeral was in full swing. She finally concluded that it would be better not to distract him. If he called her, she’d tell him, but she wasn’t going to take the chance of throwing him off his game at all.

  IA was in a building across the street from the police department. Though she wasn’t surprised, the sight of protestors on the station’s front steps still gave her a shock. Just about any police shooting brought protests out of the woodwork; the fact that a man was dead amplified the dissent. She didn’t dwell on the crowd but did read a couple of signs as she pulled into the lot across the street. One read End Police Brutality and another said Send killer cops to prison.

  Carly saw Sergeant Cooper as she parked. She was a day sergeant, a union rep, and a welcome presence. Cooper had been a cop for about fifteen years and was highly respected. She was Nick’s substitute weaponless defense instructor when he couldn’t teach a class. She’d also passed the bar and did law work in her off time. While Carly doubted she needed a lawyer at this stage of the game, it never hurt to have experience on your side.

  “Hey, Carly, how are you doing?” Cooper held out a hand.

  Carly shook it. “Okay. Feeling healthy. Hoping to be cleared for duty next week.”

  “Good. Glad you weren’t hurt bad. I guess you noticed the cheering section.” Cooper jabbed a thumb toward the protestors.

  Carly nodded. She could also see now that a podium was set up for a press conference. She wondered if one had already been given or was going to be given soon. “I hope the protests aren’t making life hard for the guys on the streets.”

  Cooper shrugged. “Don’t worry about that. Things will settle down once we get more information on the whole incident. Captain Jacobs might have some information. He’s giving a press conference later.”

  Carly thought about that. Jacobs hadn’t mentioned a press conference to her. She wondered if something had happened since she spoke to him. Regardless, she found herself hoping she’d be home before that circus started.

  “I guess we should head in,” she said to Cooper. Together the two of them entered the IA office.

  “I talked to Granger—he’s the investigator assigned to you,” Cooper said.

  Carly silently groaned. Granger was a much-hated old-timer. Though he was known as a relentless investigator with the nickname Headhunter, he didn’t play dirty as far as she knew. She’d always felt that if cops were doing wrong, they needed to be weeded out. Guys like Granger were a necessary evil. But rumor had it he was angry that Drake and Tucker had managed to be involved in so many illegal activities and yet had escaped notice. Some guys said he made up for that oversight by being especially hard on everyone who now came to his attention.

  “This meeting has to do with a couple of IA complaints filed by Dean Barton and Ginny Masters,” Cooper said. “Granger assured me he just wants your side of the story. Since no shooting board has been convened yet, this doesn’t have anything to do with the shooting.”

  “A couple? I only knew about one.”

  “His words were ‘a couple.’ Don’t stress; let’s hear him out.”

  Carly puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

  The secretary directed them to Investigator Granger’s office.

  Carly saw three complaint forms spread out on Granger’s desk and struggled to keep surprise from her face. Her palms got clammy.

  Granger waved her forward and passed the three complaints to her. “Read through them,” he said, his expression pure cop.

  She quickly scanned the first and only one she recognized, then picked up the other two and saw that Barton had filed one after Carly saw him in the coffee shop the second time and that Barton and Masters had filed the third jointly after the incident at the hospital.

  “We just hadn’t gotten around to contacting you about these two,” Granger explained. “The complaints were coming in fast and furious and we got a little behind.”

  Carly did a double take to see if he was joking but saw only hard eyes. She certainly saw nothing humorous in the situation but knew getting angry and upset would do nothing for her cause.

  “I wasn’t persecuting him, and I never drew down on him at the hospital.” Immediately Carly hated sounding defensive.

  “I’ll write that down, but you sure seemed to cross paths with this guy a lot.” Granger sat back in his chair and fixed a stony gaze on her. When he spoke, his tone said he’d not tolerate any fabrication. “Just tell me your side. You know the drill. I’ll be talking to all of the witnesses in each incident. You can also tell me who you remember being present at each confrontation.”

  Carly refused to be intimidated and took a deep breath. She told her side of the two incidents, speaking as dispassionately as possible, as though she were on the witness stand and relating only the facts. Granger interrupted her.

  “That’s all? Just coincidences here?” he asked with one raised eyebrow. “Sure there’s nothing else?”

  “What else would there be?” Carly tensed.

  “This reporter claims your body language was threatening.”

  “I was alert. By then I knew Barton was an ex-con. Officer safety dictated my body language.”

  “Relax, Carly.” Cooper put a hand on her shoulder and addressed Granger. “Thought all you wanted was her side.”

  Granger gave a half shrug. “If this is what she wants down, this is what I’ll put down.”

  Cooper stood and Carly followed suit. Granger regarded her with s
uspicion, and it hurt. But she couldn’t think of anything to say without sounding more defensive, so she followed Cooper out.

  “You can see where he gets his nickname,” Cooper said wryly.

  Carly managed a half smile. She was glad for the walk across the street to talk to Dr. Linder because it helped loosen up residual tension.

  Carly said good-bye to Cooper as the sergeant went back into service, then watched the crowd of protestors for a minute. For the time being, they’d taken the spotlight away from Oceans First. They walked in a circle on the sidewalk in front of the steps chanting, “Justice for Dean.” They couldn’t block access to the station, but they had the right to organize on the sidewalk.

  Two news trucks pulled up as she watched, probably to set up for the press conference, and Carly decided discretion was the better part of valor and crossed the street at the far corner to enter the station from the rear.

  Carly arrived at Linder’s office a few minutes early. Linder ran things differently than Guest. Carly knew from departmental memos that she didn’t have a secretary and there was no nameplate on her office door. Her rationale was that she wanted officers to know that when they came to see her, it was in strict confidence. Her waiting room was furnished with comfortable, homey furniture, and Carly took a seat and picked up a magazine she paged through but didn’t read.

  Her phone chirped with a text from Nick. He and Fernando were keeping an eye on a couple of gangbangers after the funeral gatherings. If all stayed mellow, he’d be home early.

  Carly sighed, praying quiet would rule the day. She sent back a text that she loved him and asked him to stay safe.

  Carly hadn’t heard anything negative on the department grapevine about Linder, so as she waited, she realized anxiety was absent and she’d come to the meeting with an open mind. About five minutes passed before the door to Linder’s office opened.

  A petite Asian woman smiled at her. “Officer Edwards, come on in.”

  Linder immediately put Carly at ease. She seemed genuine, and the vibe Carly got from her was totally different from the vibe she’d gotten from Guest. She’d never really cared for Guest, even before she knew he was corrupt. But the more she spoke with Linder, the more she saw a woman she’d like to socialize with, sit down and have coffee and pastries with at HBAAG. They chatted for about twenty minutes before they finally got to the shooting at the construction yard.