“But, you still talk to Mar—Ahrens.”
“We catch up over a drink once in a while.”
“And you told her about Nate.”
“I did,” he admitted. “I thought the information would help her be sensitive to your loss.”
Cameron processed the words. Maybe it was the truth, but right now, it didn’t matter. “I need to get out of here, get some air, maybe go for a drive.”
Ricky led her toward the door. “You won’t go doing anything crazy, will you?”
“What would I do?” she asked, wishing he would give her an idea. She would do anything—crazy or not—if she thought there was a chance it would lead her to Nate. Right now, she could only wait until someone else had a lead.
“Just be careful. You’ll have your phone?”
She nodded. “Call me if there’s any word—”
“Of course, I will. As soon as I hear anything.”
The sobs gathered like a volcano beginning to smoke, and she turned away before they broke free. She found her jacket under Ricky’s on the chair by the door, put it on and zipped it to her chin as she left the house.
She made her way east on Cesar Chavez back toward work and cut south, heading for the marina where Diego had sent her. She didn’t expect to see him there, but she had to go somewhere and it seemed as good a direction as any. Beside her on the passenger seat was a travel pack of baby wipes and two of Nate’s diapers. Unable to stop herself, she let the tears fall down her cheeks.
Her phone rang. She pulled over, wiped her eyes, and took a quick breath before answering.
“Cameron Cruz?” It was a woman’s voice.
“This is Cruz.”
“It’s Mei Ling.”
“Hi, Mei.”
“Listen, I broke the code to the last two files. That Blowfish encryption is good, so it took forever.”
Cameron gripped the steering wheel. “What did you find?”
Mei was quiet.
“Mei?”
“Images. Women—” She stopped. “Girls, really. Nasty stuff. Strangulation, burning, water boarding, clamps, and every kind of torture you can imagine. Maybe twenty-five, thirty women.”
“Christ.” These were the men who had Ivana and Nate. “Is there anyone else in the images?”
“Not in most of them. But, two men show up in a few of the images. I’ll send images as soon as we hang up.”
Cameron felt sick. “Okay.”
“There was one other file. A lease on a warehouse. The encryption on that file was as secure as the pictures, but I can’t tell why. It’s a standard lease for a company called Divka holdings.”
“Divka.”
“Means girl in Czech.”
Ivana. “You speak Czech?”
Mei laughed. “I speak Google Translate. There’s an address.”
“Give it to me.”
The address Mei gave her was off Illinois on Humbolt, a district of rundown warehouses south of PacBell Park.
“Send me the image of that guy, and call Hailey Wyatt and Jamie Vail. Make sure they get all of this, too.”
“I’ll do it now.”
Cameron pulled back into traffic. “Mei?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re part of the team.”
“Happy to help.”
Cameron made an illegal U-turn and started north. She called Hailey Wyatt first, then Jamie Vail. Neither answered their phones. Her phone rang a few seconds later. “Cruz.”
“It’s Lau. What the hell’s going on?”
Cameron updated him on Rosa and Nate. “Any word on Daley?”
“He’s AWOL.”
“I’m heading to a warehouse where I think they might have Nate. You want to be my backup?”
“Where’s the lead from?”
“My source is legit,” she said, aware that she wasn’t answering his question.
He didn’t push. They’d both been with the police long enough to respect when you couldn’t reveal your sources. “Give me the address and I’ll meet you there. Don’t go in until I arrive.”
With that, she disconnected and dialed Ricky’s number, but got his voicemail. She left a message, trying not to imagine what she would find when she arrived. The address was on the water, and she was familiar with the district of rundown warehouses south of PacBell Park. She prayed no one had touched her baby. She pulled her service weapon from the glove compartment and ejected the magazine. It was full. As she drove, she snapped the magazine back in place and loaded a round into the chamber so she was ready.
She cut back across Cesar Chavez and went north on Illinois. She passed Humboldt and slowed down, then pulled over a half block away. She peered down the street as though somehow she would know it by sight, as though she’d be able to tell that Nate was there from a set of tire tracks or a smell in the air. No, she’d have to go find him.
She decided to leave the car behind. It would keep it out of sight and also allow others to find her more easily. Lau would be there soon. She wouldn’t wait. She couldn’t. She had to go find Nate. Lau wouldn’t agree with her decision, but she thought her chances were better alone. She could take them by surprise. Backup meant noise and warning. She didn’t want Nate’s kidnapper to have any warning.
She holstered her SIG and tucked her .22 in her ankle holster before pulling on her leather coat and stepping out of the car. In her baseball cap and jeans, she hoped she’d be mistaken for someone out for a walk along the water rather than a cop.
As she made her way toward the water, she spotted two warehouses at the end of a pitted, dirt road. In the lots next to them piles of rubble were stacked next to massive pits. Some sort of construction had been started and then abandoned. Cameron walked along the south side of the gravel hills, hoping to keep out of sight of the warehouses.
It was impossible to tell which of the warehouses—if either—was in use. Both were painted industrial gray and locked up. The windows had been painted black ages before and were now a worn dark gray. She wondered if someone could see out through them.
Once she was past the pits, she started through the construction site toward the closest warehouse. As she made her way closer, she spotted a parked car. It was an old burgundy-colored Ford Explorer like the one the sergeant drove. She wished she had a pair of binoculars. The car looked empty, but it was facing the water, and she could only see the passenger side clearly. She drew her weapon and made her way slowly through the dirt and gravel.
She was less than thirty yards away when she heard a voice. She dropped down, seeking cover behind a short stack of cement blocks. She counted to ten to catch her breath, then moved forward again. She could see a man’s figure against the far warehouse. He appeared from behind the warehouse and stopped in front of a door on the southeast side. He reached for the knob and shook it. When it didn’t open, he kicked it, ranting and raving. He was slurring and she couldn’t make out his words.
At first, she thought it was just some drunk, but as he turned around, she recognized Sergeant Lavick. In his right hand, he gripped his service weapon, waving it in the air as he walked toward her.
She aimed her gun and waited until he was close enough to make a clean shot. The sergeant wasn’t the shot she was, and if he was alone, she had clear advantage.
Maybe Nate was in the car. She had to hold herself from moving too quickly. She waited, poised to bring him down. He tried another knob and, when it didn’t open, kicked again.
He stopped and the arm with the gun slacked to his side. Cameron made her move. She crouched close to the ground. She had no cover, but it would be harder for Lavick to hit her squatting than standing. “Drop the weapon, Lavick,” she yelled.
The sergeant spun around, searching for the source of the voice.
“Drop it now,” she said again.
He swung past her and stopped, then slowly turned back until he saw her. “Cameron Cruz.”
“Where’s my son?” she demanded.
&nbs
p; “He’s gone.”
The gun trembled in her hand. She refused to believe they’d killed him. “Where is he?”
“I’m sorry this happened,” he said. The gun hung slack at his side, but he made no effort to put it down.
Cameron took sweeping looks over her shoulder to be sure they were alone and kept her weapon carefully aimed at the sergeant. Her heart raced. She wanted to shout again, but knew better than to rush him. She didn’t want this to end in gunfire. She wanted her son. Ricky or Lau would show up with backup, and Ivana and Nate would be safe. There had been enough bloodshed.
“I can’t take it anymore, Cameron,” he said.
“Tell me where they are, Sergeant. Where is Ivana? Where is Nate?”
“I thought they’d be here. I expected them, but it’s empty. Those bastards.” He scoffed.
“Who?” she called out.
“I trusted them,” he said, walking with jerky, tired steps like a man who had crossed a desert. “I knew it was bad, but they swore I wouldn’t have to be involved in the deaths.”
She listened, gripping the gun.
“You play a couple hands. Get down a few grand. That’s how they get you. Promising to forgive that debt. Add a little on top. Help pay for a few extras.”
She wasn’t following him. “What game?”
“The money was so hard to resist. Then, they get you. They threaten, and you can’t quit. They used my kids, my girls.”
She didn’t want to listen. Only Nate mattered. “Where is Nate? I don’t care about anything else. I just want my son.”
He glanced around like he’d never been there before.
She thought he was drunk. Did he really not know? “Where’s Brad Daley?”
“He’s gone. It’s good he’s gone, because he was one of them. That bastard tried to take me, but I shot him. I shot him right in the head. Made a mess of the car.” He swung the gun in the direction of his car and rubbed his head with his free hand. “The car. Bela’s going to be so pissed.”
The sergeant’s car was too far away to see who might be inside. Where was Nate?
He moved toward her. “They said he’d hurt my family. They said it didn’t matter where I was. If I were in jail, they’d hurt them. They’d make my girls suffer. Can you believe that? Mariela and Alexis.”
She blinked back an onslaught of emotion, warning herself not to think of Rosa, not to get sucked in. That’s what he wanted. She set a knee on the ground and shifted her position. She leaned her elbow on her knee, steady.
“I didn’t believe they could do it. How could they hurt innocent girls?”
“You did that. The knife—it was your prints.”
“I didn’t,” he said. “I would never kill anyone. That’s the trick. They catch you up in it. They frame you—like they did me. Just like him.”
“Who?”
“Diego.”
Her breath escaped her lungs like a punch. “Diego,” she whispered.
“They’ll do the same to you. They’ll use the thing they have on you.” He faced the ground, his shoulders low and sloped. He seemed destitute and harmless, but she didn’t drop her guard. She wasn’t going to risk it. He took two more steps toward her.
“Don’t come any closer,” she warned.
He halted and looked around as though she might be speaking to someone else. He swayed on his feet.
He’d been drinking. Cameron felt herself begin to sweat. Where the hell was Nate?
“I didn’t think they’d really hurt anyone,” the sergeant continued. “They killed all those women—a whole boat of them. Women.” He made a choking noise. “They weren’t even women. They were girls, barely teenagers, and they killed them all.” He let out a choked sob, and Cameron felt like she was being strangled. She needed Nate. “And they’re everywhere. Be careful, Cameron. You can’t escape them. They’re everywhere.”
“Who is ‘they,’ Lavick? You need to help me. You can save Nate. You don’t want him to die.” The words caught in her throat. “You don’t want to be responsible for that, do you?”
Her arm ached from holding the gun, a tremor starting. Her knees were stiff from squatting, her leg cramping. She wanted to scream, to shake him and beat him until he told her. Instead, she did as any good cop would do. She waited.
He smiled, and she felt shivers down her back. “I’ve given them up. Now, it’s only you.”
She took aim. “Put the gun down.”
He shook his head.
She put her finger on the trigger. “Put it down,” she repeated.
“I wanted to warn you not to trust them.”
“Where is my son?” she screamed, unable to keep the panic from her voice.
He waved the gun through the air.
She applied the slightest bit of pressure to the trigger. It moved ever so slowly.
His gun rested against his own temple, and it took a second to realize what he was doing. “No!” she screamed.
The gun exploded, and the sergeant fell sideways.
She sprinted for him.
His eyes were wide open when she got there, and his heart was pumping because the blood was flowing like a geyser.
“Where is Nate?” she said, shaking him.
He didn’t answer.
Shaking, she pounded on his chest. “Where is he? Where’s my son?”
His eyes rolled upwards until all she could see were the whites.
She ran for his car, kicking up dirt. She was sobbing, her heart pounding.
She pulled open the passenger door, and Daley fell out onto the ground.
She felt for a pulse, but there was none. The car was empty otherwise. Dead. He was dead, too. She leaned back over him, pressing her palms into his lifeless body.
It was then she noticed the button she had thought he’d lost on Nate’s bedroom floor still hung by a thread to his navy blue jacket.
Chapter 47
Lavick’s burgundy Explorer was right below him. Diego had spotted Lavick’s car driving by him at the safe house and followed him. Maybe it was Lavick’s job to make sure Diego was done, or maybe he was there for something else. Either way, Lavick didn’t seem to notice the tail, and Diego was suspicious about how easy it had been until he watched the sergeant blow off the side of his own head. He was short of breath. He would need to get to a hospital before too long if he was going to save his leg, or himself for that matter.
In the distance, he saw Cameron, pounding on the doors to the warehouse. Diego hurried to the far side of the roof where there was a ladder to the ground. He called out to her.
He dropped to the base of the ladder and came around the side of the building. By the time Cameron was in view, he was making an attempt to run.
When she heard him, she raised the gun instinctively.
“Are you okay?”
Cameron lowered her gun. “They have Nate. Where is he?”
The words knocked the breath from Diego’s chest. “When?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Diego.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I swear. I followed the sergeant. He’s the only one I saw.”
“Where’s my son?”
He choked on his next breath. Not Nate. “Jesus, Cameron. I swear to God, I don’t know. What happened?”
Cameron cried out, “Oh, Jesus. They’re gone. They’re gone.”
Just then, there was the crunch of tires on gravel. A black sedan came toward them. Diego focused on the driver, praying it was someone who could help.
Cameron aimed her gun at the car and then lowered it dropped it as she recognized the driver. “Thank God,” she called and ran toward the car. It was getting dark, and Diego couldn’t make out his face behind the windshield.
The door cracked open. She heard a voice, Nate’s name. Cameron cried out.
“Cameron,” Diego screamed. “Don’t.”
Tim Ballestrini emerged from the car.
“He knows where Nate is,” Cameron shouted and her gun hand dropped to h
er side.
“Cameron. No!”
He lifted the gun. He had no shot with Cameron there. He was fully exposed. Ballestrini was quick. He pulled the gun from Cameron’s hand, aimed his own at Diego.
Diego dove sideways a moment too late. The explosion was followed by a searing pain across his left forearm. The next explosion came right on top of it. The bullet grazed his neck. Blood flowed under his collar. The ground rose to meet his face. Gravel and dirt scraped his cheek, and he felt it all build until all he could see or feel was fire.
Chapter 48
Cameron cried out, starting for Diego. Ballestrini held her back. “He raised his gun. He was going to shoot.”
“Let go of me.”
Ballestrini didn’t.
“We have to call an ambulance,” she cried. As she pulled her phone out, she saw two faces on the screen. Photos from Mei. One was Ray Benjamin, and the second face belonged to the man beside her.
“That’s not necessary,” Ballestrini said, snatching her phone and pocketing it.
“You sick fuck.” She thrust her palm toward his chin, but he was fast. He blocked her hand and struck her hard in the face. “Enough.”
Cameron reeled as a second and third car came down the gravel road. She hoped it was Lau or Ricky, but the three men who emerged weren’t police officers. Among them were the two men who had come to her house, posing as police officers. Tony Kelly and James Caltabiano.
“Where’s my son?”
Ballestrini shoved her toward the warehouse. “Let’s go see, shall we?” He walked ahead of her. “Check her out, Marty. Make sure she’s clean.”
The man she’d never seen before came toward her with a wide smirk like she was a party favor. “Let’s take a feel for weapons.” He palmed her breasts, taking his time. His breath was steamy and sour in her face. Cameron felt the rage grow. If there wasn’t a chance Nate was in that building, she’d have kneed him in the nuts and taken the punishment. Instead, she took measured breaths. Saved it for when she would need it most.
Twenty yards ahead, Ballestrini used the toe of his boot to kick Diego’s body onto his back. She watched it, lifeless, and started to shiver.
The Rookie Club Thriller series Box Set Page 82