He logged into the military database again on his computer, typed in the victim’s real name, Stanley Bingham, and hit enter. Information rolled down his screen. It listed Bingham as being in the Navy and having been trained as a cryptologist—a function for the practice and study of hiding information, reading code, and various other security measures. He leaned back in his chair, now understanding why Bingham was so secretive. It was a carryover from his military days. Zach knew that serving in such a capacity took a high degree of intelligence. He was certain Bingham required security clearances as well. The Navy wasn’t about to let anyone handle that work.
As he scrolled down the list, he noted that Bingham had been stationed stateside in Groton, Connecticut. Further investigation indicated Bingham had an honorable discharge and then seemingly disappeared into thin air. Remembering Irene’s comment that she thought Harold was working for the government, it now seemed she might have been half right. He could have been working at home utilizing the skills he’d learned in the Navy but working for a private company that was contracted to do government work. This was a big deal for the government, mainly because they most likely didn’t have anyone with the extended expertise Bingham had within the non-military framework. Zach also knew that in order to do this type of job, it was imperative he have no criminal record, bad credit, or lawsuits of any kind against him. But why take on a new identity? Zach sent the document to the printer and walked over to remove the printed pages to place in his folder.
The information McGee had under Harold Thomas showed he’d died in a car accident in 2005, but he didn’t live in the Bronx. He lived in Chicago. Further investigation showed that Bingham must have used the deceased’s name for most things but continued to use his real name for filing income taxes and social security because there was nothing listed under Thomas’ name after 2005.
Taking a breather, Zach walked out into the hall to the vending machine and dropped coins into the slot for a candy bar. Not a good substitute for supper, but it would hold him over temporarily until later when he would most likely have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He chuckled to himself as he bit into the bar and chewed.
“You still here?” Lieutenant Miller asked when he walked past the vending room.
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you working on closing out the Thomas case?”
“I am,” he answered between chews.
“Good. Come see me tomorrow with a status update. I’d like this case closed by the end of the week.”
“Lieutenant, I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“Then make it possible, or I will.”
Zach watched Miller’s gait increase and wondered what had happened to cause his boss’s good mood to evaporate?
A sudden burning pain in his gut convinced him this job was giving him an ulcer. He released a sigh and returned to his desk wishing Witsec would hurry with the DNA sample from Jake. Scooting his chair under the desk, he leafed through the file and found a report from McGee he hadn’t seen. He’d been out in the field while McGee remained in the department doing his own investigating. Neither had seen the other all day. McGee had apparently contacted the school Jake had attended before his father opted to home school him. The report confirmed Jake Thomas had attended the school until six months ago; that a valid birth certificate had in fact been provided at the time of registration, but was now missing from the file. Zach drove his fingers through his hair. He wanted to continue, but his eyes were becoming blurred from strain. He needed to go home.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“GOOD MORNING, LIEUTENANT,” Zach said, as he sat down in the chair facing his superior.
“Where’s your partner?”
“McGee hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Okay, then you tell him to come see me the minute he does.” He leaned back in his chair and tapped the fingers of both hands together. “Okay, let me have the update.”
Zach swallowed hard. He had enough experience with bosses to know where this conversation was going. “You already know the Thomas/Bingham connection,” and filled him in on the background with cryptology. “McGee checked with the school where Jake Thomas attended before his father decided to home-school him and they provided his record of attendance, but no proof of birth.”
Miller remained silent until Zach finished, tapped his fingers together again, and cleared his throat. “All right, Zach. Here’s how this is going to play out. I don’t know what you did in your other precinct, but in this precinct, we get the caseload down. We don’t linger on things that are of no concern to us. Now that ballistics proved the perpetrator was the guy who shot our victim, the case is back in ATF’s hands. You, sir, are a homicide detective. We don’t handle identity theft. We leave that up to the Magnificent Fourteen unit. I’d like you to go back to your desk and empty out your file and turn everything over to that unit, and get cracking on your other cases.”
“But Lieutenant, there’s got to be a reason for his secrecy—the changing of both their names. It has to mean something illegal went on. Can’t you give me a little more time to figure this out now that I’m in this deep?”
“Absolutely not. You weren’t supposed to get into it this deep to begin with. Hand it over to the unit.” He stopped talking. “Are you familiar with them?”
“No.”
“Then let me tell you.”
Zach shook his head. “Lieutenant, it’s fine,” he said, “Let me prepare the case file for the next person.”
“I’m sure the unit chief will be thrilled with your discovery. Hand it over to them,” he raised his brows above his horn-rimmed glasses, “this morning.” Miller lowered his head and began reading the opened file on his desk. “That will be all.”
Zach left the room without so much as a wave. He was ticked that he wasn’t going to be able to finish what he’d started.
McGee was getting in when Zach returned to his desk. “Don’t get comfortable, the Lieutenant wants to see you right away.”
“He wants to see both of us, doesn’t he?”
“No, I already saw him.”
“You mean you didn’t wait for me?”
“Look, McGee, getting here on time is your responsibility—not mine. I’ve told you before, when the Lieutenant calls, you drop what you’re doing and get in there. I’m not going to get in hot water because you’re late. I’m sorry, but I’m done covering for you.” Zach listened to McGee grumble as he headed toward to his superior’s office.
He sent a text message to Jessie. “Dinner tonight?” She replied positively. He emptied the contents of the file onto his desk and separated the items he was going to transfer over as ordered.
McGee returned, his face solemn. “Well, you got your wish, Zach.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m being transferred out of here.”
“I never wanted that, McGee. Don’t blame me for your lack of respect for your job. Think of this as a gift.”
“Yeah, some gift. A little tardiness and my stripes are pulled.”
“Whether you choose to believe it or not, Miller did you a big favor. He could have fired you on the spot, but he’s giving you another chance. You have two choices when you join law enforcement: use it as a stepping-stone to a career that advances, or one that declines rapidly. The Lieutenant is the one who calls the shots. Not us. We do as we’re told.”
“What are you doing with that file?” he asked.
“It has to be turned over to the detective unit that handles identity theft,” Zach said. “We’re done . . . so give me what you’ve got on the case.”
“You have it all.”
“When are you leaving?” Zach asked.
“As soon as I can clean my desk out.”
Zach threw his hands up. “Hey, I warned you.”
“Don’t rub it in.”
Zach gathered up the paperwork, placed it into a folder and headed for the fourteen-man unit. As annoyed as he was about Miller pulling the case
from him, he was happy the Lieutenant had recognized McGee wasn’t ready to be a detective. Although Zach had seen some improvement in McGee’s performance recently, showing up late for a meeting with his boss indicated he wasn’t quite there yet.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Jess,” Zach said when he saw her standing at the top of the Grand Street subway exit waiting for him.
“You’re not so bad yourself, hotshot,” she said and looped her arm through his. She could tell by the scowl on his face that something was wrong. “Want to walk over to Mulberry to our favorite restaurant?”
“That would be wonderful. I could really use a nice glass of Chianti and some Italian food . . . yep, that’s the first thing I need tonight.”
“Uh oh, sounds like you had another bad day at the office?”
He blinked his eyes, “Yeah. Miller told me to stop whatever I was doing on my homicide case and turn it over to ATF. Needless to say, I’m really pissed about it. I was unraveling the case like pulling yarn from a sweater.”
“What did you find out?”
“The real identity of the victim,” he snorted. “I don’t have the kid’s DNA yet, but I can almost guarantee you it doesn’t match. He pressed his lips together in anger. “I was this close,” he said holding his fingers an inch apart.
“Ooh, that is a bummer.”
“Yeah, Miller told me to stop the identity theft sleuthing . . . we have the Fabulous Fourteen unit to handle such stuff.” He shook his head, his mouth twisting to the side in disgust.
They followed the crowd across the street when the light changed, and a concert of horns erupted from drivers who didn’t like waiting beyond the light change. As with most New Yorkers, they ignored the cars and took their time to get to the other side, lacing through the crowd on the corner waiting for the next signal change.
“So,” Zach said, continuing his conversation, “I turned everything over.”
“I’ll bet the unit chief was thrilled you did most of the work for them,” Jessie said.
“Of course.” He shrugged. “Hell, I guess there’s no point in getting all twisted up.” His hand flew up, “I took such a liking to that kid.” Jessie nodded without speaking. “Even though we weren’t together that long . . . I don’t know—” He stopped talking when they walked toward the entrance to Bella’s restaurant on Mulberry Street. Sandwiched in between two restaurants, il Mondo Vincenza’s was a small but popular romantic spot in the Village. With outside dining at each of the restaurants, it was like restaurant row. Seeing people already waiting, Jessie questioned whether they should find something else. “What do you think? Wait or go?”
“Let’s grab a glass of wine and wait. I’ve been tasting the fried calamari ever since we decided on this place.”
She laughed. “Okay, you get the wine, I’ll get our name on the list.”
“Sounds like the perfect solution.”
Ten minutes later and Zach was walking toward her with two glasses of wine and handed her one. He gave a nod of his head, “want to sit on the bench? It looks like the seat is going to be vacant in a few minutes.”
“That’s okay. I’ll stand next to you.”
“Well, don’t get too close. I might lose my head and attack you.”
“You’re beginning to sound better. Finish what you were telling me about the kid.”
“I forget where I stopped.”
“You were saying even though you hadn’t spent that much time together . . .”
“Right. I remember now. I saw me in him, and I became so damn parental, I wanted to nurture him.” Jess could tell he was embarrassed. “I must be getting sentimental in my old age.” He pulled out the photographs he’d found in the property box. “Here’s the kid and his father on a fishing trip.”
“What a good-looking kid. But what are you doing with these photographs? You didn’t put them in with the evidence?”
“No. They weren’t listed as evidence. I got them out of the property box. I’ll eventually turn them over when I’m done with them.” He nudged her. “Look, here’s a picture of his room.” He leaned forward to point things out to her. “This was the bed he was hiding under.” He stopped and looked closer. “Hmm,” he said, “I didn’t see this before, but it looks like he’s hanging onto a stuffed animal,” he said pointing. “Isn’t that unusual for a kid his age?”
She snickered. “You’re asking me like I should know what kids his age do. Although, truth be told, I had a favorite doll that I secretly took to bed with me after my father walked out. It reminded me of him.” She paused. “You know,” she stared at him for a moment, a shocked expression on her face, “I’ve never told anyone that before.”
“I’m very flattered you shared that with me.”
She got a toasty feeling in her stomach. “That’s because I love you with all my heart.” She remembered the woman who commented about her smile. “As a matter of fact, when I was at the mall and you called me, I guess I had a huge grin on my face after we’d disconnected.”
“Yeah.”
“A total stranger walked up to me when she noticed the smile on my face.” She told him what she’d said.
“What a nice thing for her to say.”
“It was. And the best part is she hit the nail right on the head.”
He pulled her closer to him for support and kissed her, not caring others were around.
He viewed the picture again. “Was your doll a security blanket for you?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. My father gave me that doll for Christmas one year.” Jess stared in the distance, then shook it off because her eyes began to fill with tears. She forced her mind to stop before she ruined the evening.
“That certainly makes sense. Thank you for sharing that part of your life with me.” He kissed her. “I love you more than anything in this world.”
“Aww,” she said wrapping her arm around his waist and jerking him closer.
She chuckled. “But this poor animal looks like he’s been run over by a truck. Black eye, missing ear.” She looked a little further. “This bear is really loved by that little guy.” She squinted her eyes to focus. “What’s that on his nose?” she asked.
“It looks like a red button was sewn on.” Zach gave the picture a closer look. “Do you think being that attached to a bear at his age gave him comfort?”
“Absolutely. It gave me comfort when I was a kid.”
“But based on what he told me about his life, it sounded like he and his old man had a good relationship.”
“What if that was to throw people off?” Jess asked.
“Yeah, but wouldn’t you think he would have told me all that stuff after the fact?”
“I suppose.” She pouted. “Maybe it reminded him of his mother.”
“Yeah, but he was three when she died. You think he’d remember that?”
“I don’t know, but something in the back of his mind remembers something. That animal means something to him.” Jess looked closer at the photograph. She leafed through them again. “Did you see him with this?”
“No. Not when we first met, and I don’t remember seeing it with him at the foster home, either, but then, I didn’t pack his suitcase.”
“Oh, he had it. At his age, there’d be no way he’d want anyone to know.” She snickered. “I still have my doll.”
“You do?” They both grinned.
The waiter came and led them to a table. He took their order for the appetizer and left.
“And I don’t think your attachment to the boy has anything to do with you getting sentimental in your old age,” she said. “I think that’s very nice.”
“It’s like . . .” he stopped. “I saw fear in his eyes. He was lost without his father and even though he tried to act like a tough guy, I knew it was a facade.”
“That’s a shame.” They clinked a second glass of wine together. “Hey, I had a thought. Want to help me with Abby’s case?”
“How am I going to do th
at?”
“You can come to my precinct after you’ve finished work and look over the evidence with me.” She winked at him, “C’mon, you know you want to partner with me again.”
“Hey, you want to be my new partner,” he asked
“Gee thanks, here I am flirting with you and you’re not paying the least bit of attention to it.”
“I’m sorry.” He laughed. “When you said partnering, it suddenly occurred to me I forgot to tell you that the lieutenant demoted McGee and now, I’m alone again.”
“Yeah, but that handwriting was on the wall from the start, wasn’t it?”
“It sure was. Actually, McGee had started easing into the job nicely, but it didn’t take long for him to revert back and I guess the boss had had enough.” He winked at her. “So what do you say?”
“Yeah, but if I did, we couldn’t date, nor would I be able to work on Abby’s case.” She tilted her head to the side, “Wait a minute. Are you trying to get rid of me?” she baited him.
“Not a chance, sweetheart. You know that I’m madly in love with you.”
“So you say,” Jessie teased, “but then . . .”
“Want to try living together again?” he asked off the cuff.
“We don’t work living together.”
“Why do you think that is though?”
“Inflexibility?” She turned when a waiter passed by with a tray of food, the aroma of fried food and sauce spiraled up her nose. Her stomach growled from hunger and she pressed on it. “Damn that smells good.”
Zach tilted his head back and inhaled as a basket of bread was delivered. He dug into the basket immediately, poured olive oil onto both their bread plates and dipped a corner of the bread into it, popped the piece into his mouth and moaned. “This place has such good bread. I’m famished. So,” he nodded, “continue. Why do you think it didn’t work?”
Elusive Justice (Kensington-Gerard Detective series Book 2) Page 12