by Wendy Byrne
There were too many corners and angles to be able to maintain a good visual. She reached into her pocket and fingered the handkerchief. Once again she thought about calling Landry, but brushed back the thought.
At nine-fifteen, the door swished open. Isabella held her breath, readied her gun, and tried to shield herself as much as possible.
A homeless woman shuffled in, pushing her shopping cart with all her belongings stuffed inside. She didn’t seem to notice Isabella’s presence as she circled the perimeter of the room before settling in the last stall.
Isabella blew out a breath and glanced at her watch one more time: nine-twenty. How long should she wait before giving up?
The toilet flushed and the woman shuffled back out of the stall. Still hyper vigilant, Isabella eyed her cautiously. The woman caught Isabella’s eye and smiled. Something about her face was familiar.
Holy crap.
“Isaiah?” Isabella had sent his brother Nathan, a hardcore gangbanger, to prison on a drug-related charge a few years back. During the course of the investigation, she’d learned a lot about the Johnson family and their struggles—everything from putting food on the table to having a roof over their head. Mrs. Johnson had tried her best, but Nathan had succumbed to a life on the streets. Isaiah, on the other hand, was his mother’s pride and joy. An honor roll student, he’d received an academic scholarship to attend Yale next fall.
He nodded slowly. “You’ve always been real nice to my family, Ms. Sanchez, I mean Detective Sanchez. You bring us food and clothes. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I can take care of myself, Isaiah. Do you need to tell me something?”
“At first I didn’t know what to do about it. My brother Nathan got out on parole about a month ago. My mother thinks he’s doing great, going to work and everything. But—” he hesitated for a few moments as if trying to wrestle up the courage. “I’m not so sure about what’s going on. They’re paying him too much considering…well, you know…and he’s spending a whole lot of time on the phone whispering whenever I’m around.”
“That’s not much to go on.”
“There’s more. I heard him talking about some kind of big money deal going down between the Aces and the Kings. Then he mentioned your father’s name and said he needed to be taken care of. Considering my brother’s been a member of the Aces since he was thirteen and now your father’s dead…”
Her heart sped up. “Did your brother kill my father?”
He gulped. “I’m not sure. There’s something big going on, and somehow your father knew about it.”
“Who posed as me and went to see my father?”
He smiled despite his heavy duty case of nerves. “There’s a girl down the block. She looks a lot like you. Somebody put her up to it.”
“The Feds?”
“No. The Aces used her to somehow scare or intimidate your father. It’s almost like they knew he was getting out somehow.”
“I need to talk to this girl.”
He shook his head. “She’s more scared than I am, which is why she did what she did. They said they’d give her little brother a pass on joining the gang if she agreed to go through with it.”
The irrational part of her wanted to hunt down these overgrown bullies and put them behind bars. But the rational part knew that wasn’t the solution. If she wanted to kill the snake, she had to cut off its head. But who or where could the head be?
Something didn’t gel in her head. “But my father was in a maximum security prison for twenty-five years, why would he fear somebody from the outside?”
“I don’t think he feared for his own life. He feared for yours.” He reached out to touch her arm. “You’re good people. I’d feel terrible if something happened to you.”
The idea sunk inside her and ping-ponged around her chest for a few seconds before she got the courage to speak. “Who’s behind this? You’ve got to give me a name.”
He glanced down then back up. “I can’t. I trust you and all, but it’s too risky. You might have to tell some of your cop friends, and some of them…well, they’re not so nice.”
“Are you saying there are cops in on this?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I’d rather be careful.” He put back on his wig and his granny glasses. “I’ve got to get going to school.”
She grasped the sleeve of the sweater he wore. “Isaiah, where does your brother work?” There weren’t a lot of places that hired convicts, especially ones with a long history, like his brother. The thought that he’d gotten a job so easily in this economy sent up a huge red flag.
“I think it’s called Swan or Schwab Packaging. At least that’s what he says.”
Her heart did a nose dive to her gut before righting itself. “Do you mean Schmidt Packaging?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like it.” He turned before he got to the doorway and glanced at her. “Whatever you do, Detective Sanchez, please be careful.” For the first time he gave her a smile. “My mother would have my hide if I let anything bad happen to you.”
Without another word, he opened up the door and walked out, leaving her to wonder what her next step could possibly be.
* * *
She could count on one hand the number of people she could trust: number one, Landry, and number two, the lieutenant. She wasn’t even sure she had a three, four or five. She’d talk it over with Landry later, but for right now she’d enlist the lieutenant to help solve her dilemma.
She went into his office and gave him a brief, somewhat watered-down version of her suspicions. She needed an angle to get into Schmidt Packaging. Maybe they were running drugs out of there.
“You want me to what?”
“I want you to figure out a way to get a court order to tear apart Schmidt Packaging.”
“That’s what I thought you said. What would be your cause? Hiring parolees? Heck, the judge would probably want to give the guy an award for employing the unemployable.”
“I know. I know. But don’t you think that’s a little suspicious?”
“Maybe the owner has a soft spot in his heart for jailbirds? What do I know? Come on, Sanchez, you’ve got to do better than that. You tell me the Johnson kid won’t come in cause he’s scared, which I understand. You tell me the neighbor who impersonated you at Stateville is scared as well. Tell me where I have probable cause for anything?”
“I’m…not sure…but you know the system—”
“My point exactly. You’ve got diddly.”
She chewed on her lip. “Okay, let’s look at this another way. Let’s assume we can’t get an order from the judge.” She glanced up to see him nodding. “What can we do to figure out how to connect the dots?”
“Ask Malone. If he sprang your father, he should know something.”
“I tried that route. He gave me nothing.”
“Then maybe you have to assume the Feds got this covered and let it be.”
She shook her head. “Lieutenant, you know that’s not my style. I’m not wired that way.”
“You’re going to have to change your circuits then, Sanchez. You can’t control the universe no matter how hard you try.”
“But it involves my father’s murder…somehow.”
He gave her an ‘I-thought-you-didn’t-give-a-crap-about-your-father’ look, but didn’t say the words. “The only way to go at this is to let Malone in on what you found.” He held up his hand to her protest. “I know. I know. But I’m telling you the guy is solid. He might play things a little close to the vest, but I think he’s okay.”
Frustration ebbed through her like a swell before a tidal wave. The lieutenant didn’t get it. Although he normally had an excellent BS meter, this time he must have been letting Malone’s aggressive nature intimidate him, which she found hard to believe. But it was difficult to refute the obvious.
“What happens if Isaiah ends up on the bad end of this? Will you be singing Malone’s praises then if we could have done something?”
She didn’t wait for the his response.
There were very few times when she and the lieutenant disagreed. Okay, truth was he mostly let her go with her instincts. When he put the brakes on like this, she took it personally.
That only gave her two options. She had to either go it alone, or enlist help from Landry.
She had her hand on the door and was about to leave when she thought of another missing piece to the puzzle. “Lieutenant, do you know why the file about my father’s murder conviction is missing?”
He had already put his reading glasses on and slid them down his nose to peer at her. “It should be downstairs, but I guess the Feds could have checked it out to examine it.”
“Wouldn’t they have to sign out for it?”
“That would be protocol. Did you check with Jenny?”
“Not yet.”
“Chances are it’s probably misfiled, or she hasn’t put it back yet, but check with her to see for sure.”
“I’ll do that.”
When she got to her desk a few moments later, her phone rang. “Detective Sanchez.”
“Why’d you lose my guy this morning? And how come you didn’t go straight in to work?” The voice was irritatingly familiar.
“Malone?” A minor victory. Surely he could sense the smile on her face.
“You got a death wish, Sanchez?”
“Not particularly. Just a need to do things my way without your interference.”
“Don’t think you can outsmart a Fed.”
“I must have, since you’re calling me to find out where I went.” This was the first conversation she’d had with Malone she actually enjoyed. Based on the less-than-calm tone, he was rattled, which served to ratchet up her satisfaction level.
“We’re trying to protect you.”
“You didn’t do so well with my father, did you?” She let the sting sink in for a few seconds before continuing. “Besides, maybe I did a little shopping.”
“Try another one, Sanchez.”
“Last I heard I didn’t owe you any explanation about my whereabouts.”
“You need to accept the fact that sometimes you can’t control the outcome of every investigation. I don’t want to tie your hands, but I will.”
“How will you do that?” A prickling sensation throbbed at the base of her skull. He’d pulled out the big guns.
“I can make sure you’re sent out of town on assignment, for example. Or take you into protective custody.”
She straightened in her seat. Ten minutes ago she thought she might not be able to get any more frustrated. Now she knew differently. He was playing hardball.
“That’s bull and you know it.” The Feds could pretty much do whatever they wanted. She knew that.
“Then don’t make me tie your hands.”
* * *
Isabella was bored, despite the fact her life had somehow become one gigantic disaster. The real rub was she would need Landry’s help if she wanted to get any further in her own investigation, which made for some major complications. First off, she didn’t like having to rely on anybody but herself; secondly, she wouldn’t blame him if he was still mad.
Drumming her fingers on her desk, she waited for him. But instead of stopping by her desk, he waved and walked right into the locker room. Jonas didn’t stop by, either.
Now what?
Even Matthews, her partner, wasn’t around to distract her. He was at the gun range trying to qualify for sharpshooter’s status so he might be selected for the SWAT team.
He admitted he didn’t really care about SWAT, but figured making it on to the unit would make him a total chick magnet. That was definitely a Matthews’s thing.
Instead of sitting around and waiting, and hoping Landry might check back with her before he went on patrol, she decided to check with Jenny about the missing file. At least that might be somewhat productive.
Jenny was straightening her desk and shutting off her computer by the time Isabella arrived. “Jenny, I’m glad I caught you.”
“What’s up?”
“I was looking in the old records and couldn’t find a file. Do you have the sheet for ones that have been checked out?”
“I keep the sheet, but I swear nobody pays any attention to it.” Jenny showed Isabella a clipboard. “According to this, nobody’s pulled out a file in over a year, but I see people going down there all the time.” She shrugged. “Maybe they don’t always bring it up with them, but I’ve got to believe sometimes they do. They just ignore protocol.”
“Have you noticed anybody going down there lately?” As much as she wanted to throw the Malone carrot out, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Half the office goes down there for one thing or another. Matthews is down there all the time, but, to be honest, he usually has some unsuspecting female in tow.” She smiled as if she’d been taken in by his so-called charms herself a time or two. “That Fed guy went down there, but I didn’t see him come back up, so he might have brought something up with him. Taylor and Jonas were down there the other day, along with Trickel and Burrows. Like I said, everybody’s down there.”
That didn’t help much.
Chapter Twenty
Landry was shocked to see her number on his caller ID. After spending the last few nights camped outside her house in his car in case the stupid Fed fell asleep or something, he was beyond exhausted.
“Hello, beautiful.” He kept his tone light, even though he wanted to lock her up someplace safe to protect her from herself. Taking chances had always been her modus operandi, but lately she’d been completely out of control. He suspected the whole fiasco with her father was bothering her a whole lot more than she’d let on.
“Could you stop by after work?”
“I knew you’d need a booty call sooner rather than later.” He laughed, although he knew instinctively that wasn’t the intent of her call.
“That might be a by-product if you’re lucky. How do you feel about going undercover?”
“Sounds intriguing. Care to enlighten me?”
“Schmidt Packaging. Stop by your place and bring some I-just-got-out-of-prison clothes. We can talk details later.”
“I should be there around eleven-thirty.” After he hung up, he noticed Jonas staring at him.
“Isabella have another one of her harebrained ideas?” Jonas’s tone seemed different this time. Normally he responded like a father to an energetic but wayward daughter, but lately he’d been sounding more frustrated than anything else. No doubt the troubles with his son were heavy on his mind.
“Not sure yet, but it’s looking that way.” Landry shrugged, not sure why he didn’t want to divulge anything to Jonas. Maybe it had to do with him already playing the part of a double agent working with Malone on this case. Bringing Jonas along for the ride seemed to be stretching the limits too far. Besides, the truth was he probably didn’t want to see that look of disgust in Jonas’s eyes.
“That girl is going to wind up dead if she doesn’t watch out,” Jonas said.
Hearing those dire warnings come out of Jonas’s mouth sent a chill clear down Landry’s spine. That’s precisely what he was trying to avoid.
* * *
Landry brought the pizza and beer with him. He set their dinner on the coffee table and pulled her next to him on the couch. She divulged what she’d been up to, and his blood pressure went through the roof.
“What?” Landry tried to tamp down the anger. Isabella was out of control, and he had no way to reel her back in. “Lou was waiting in your car and you’re just now telling me. You meet up with your long—lost aunt who tells you to watch your back. So of course that means you meet some guy in Grant Park without back-up, without a plan. Are you crazy?”
She shrugged off his comment. “I’ve had a busy couple of days. Besides, I’m not all that sure that the Feds aren’t monitoring my phone. I wouldn’t put it past Malone. This is the first chance I’ve been able to talk to you in person.”
“How do you know they haven’t bugged your place?” His heart beat at twice its normal rhythm. If he didn’t figure out what was going on soon, Isabella would get hurt, especially considering all the crazy chances she’d been taking. As usual, she was a woman on a mission.
“I checked it out and didn’t find a thing. We’re safe to talk.”
“Lou tells you he’s been communicating with your father in prison. He also tells you Malone’s been to visit him and tells you your mother was killed as a result of bad blood between the Aces and the Kings. Then you meet up with some kid who tells you that he knows the person who’s behind this, but won’t tell you—”
“Ramirez. It’s got to be him. The kid looked too scared for it to be anybody else.”
He cursed. Then cursed some more. At this very moment, Landry wanted nothing more than to book a flight on the next plane out of here and drop her in the middle of Alaska or Siberia or someplace far away.
“But he also mentioned his jailbird brother is working at Schmidt Packaging, which is where the tie-in comes.” She clasped her fingers with his. “Which is why we need to go there tomorrow and see what we can find out.”
Landry figured he could play this two ways—he could call Malone and get him to put Isabella in protective custody to keep her safe or he could work his way into her plans in order to minimize her exposure.
* * *
The combination of a night filled with incredible sex, coupled with having Landry’s arm wrapped around her while she slept, had done wonders for Isabella’s insomnia. While she relished her independence, being half of a couple definitely had its perks.
In the morning it felt normal when they showered together before getting dressed. The increased intimacy of this new relationship with Landry wasn’t lost on her. There’d somehow been a shift this time around. Knowing their history together, she wasn’t sure why or how or even if it would last. But, for the time being, it felt right.
Despite his willingness to go along with her plan, she now felt reluctant. Not only was she putting Landry’s life in danger, but her plan could potentially put both their careers in jeopardy.
“Are you sure?” She chewed on her lip trying to decipher whether or not he’d be honest with her.