by G. K. Parks
“Why threaten me?”
“He didn’t want you to learn the truth.”
“That’s your theory?”
“Isn’t it possible?” Heathcliff asked. “Depending on how we twist the evidence, it could fit. Until we learn more about Cross’s connection to Gallo or until we positively identify Knox’s killer, Cross can’t be cleared. The suspicion remains. The murder weapon was in his possession.”
“There has to be some sort of explanation for that. Every member of Cross Security who accessed that SUV swore there was no gun in the truck. How did it get there?”
“That’s your job to figure out.”
“Fine, so why is Cross walking around free if you think he’s so dangerous?”
“His father made sure the bail hearing got pushed up. He was released last night.”
“I bet he was thrilled when you picked him up this morning to answer more questions.” That explained why Cross ate breakfast here. “Did he cooperate?”
“More than I expected. He must see this as the light at the end of the tunnel. He wants to put this behind him. But he’s cagey. He’s hiding something. I know it.”
“What he’s hiding isn’t relevant.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
I shook my head. “What do you need from Cross in order to make this go away?”
“We have his bank records. If he paid Gallo, we’ll know about it.”
“Cut the crap, Derek. There are too many of these weird coincidences. Someone on the force is framing Cross. You know it. I know it. Moretti knows it. Why are we still playing this game? If I were the one accused, this wouldn’t be a discussion. You’d set me free and assign a detail to watch my ass.”
“It’s possible someone on the force is sabotaging our case against Cross. At this point, I could argue either way.” He glanced at the whiteboard flipped to the blank side.
“Is that really what you believe?”
He sighed. “The evidence is inconclusive. Yes, I think someone wants Cross to get caught for murdering Knox. Lucien is not stupid enough to leave evidence, like the ring, with the body, but at the same time, I’m not convinced he didn’t kill Knox, clean up the mess, and someone else went behind him and planted evidence.”
“Wow, and people think I’m a conspiracy theorist. You and Lucien have a lot more in common than I thought.”
He rolled his eyes. “What you fail to realize is things are complicated when it comes to Lucien Cross. His father is the police commissioner. And in order to avoid scandal, the law has to come down harder on Lucien than anyone else. His son won’t get the benefit of the doubt. The commissioner wants proof of his innocence before we kick him.”
“What if you don’t find it? This goes to trial and Cross gets sentenced for something he didn’t do?”
“If we’re this conflicted, the jury will be too.”
“Derek, at that point, he’ll lose everything.”
“He’ll maintain his freedom.”
“At what cost? Cross Security would no longer exist. Clients wouldn’t trust their security to a suspected murderer, specifically one accused of killing a client. We can’t let it come to that, not unless we’re sure.”
“Do you want to share your progress with me?”
“I’ve told you everything I know.”
“Cross was here. He must have said something to you.”
“He’s innocent.”
“Is that you talking? Or him?” He gratefully accepted the coffee I poured for him and took a sip, giving it a funny look. “Is this a different roast?” He peered into the cup.
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s smoother, like the way Martin makes it. His always comes out like the fancy café on the corner. Yours tastes more like it’ll keep me up for the next seventy-two hours. This is a little bit of both. Did Cross make it?”
“It’s not poisoned. I’ve already had three cups.”
“Should I ask why you need so much caffeine this morning?”
I turned my head, hoping he wouldn’t see me blush. At least I’d hidden Martin’s note before the detective could read it too. “Martin’s flight left at six a.m. We didn’t get much sleep.”
“What time did you leave the bar?”
“We didn’t.”
“No wonder you didn’t get much sleep.”
“No,” I laughed, “we didn’t go. We got ice cream instead.” I opened the freezer, finding the four take-home pints. “Would you like some? He ordered this jumbo banana split that was meant to feed the entire table.”
“No, I should head back soon.” He assessed me, watching curiously as I opened the lid and took a spoon out of the drawer. “Did you go to the meeting?”
“We went.” I swallowed. “Cal said to say he missed you.”
Heathcliff smiled. “Sounds like Cal, so you spoke to him?”
“Briefly, just as we were leaving.” I ate a spoonful, wondering how Martin was. He hadn’t wanted to talk about what he said in group after we left, but he took me for ice cream. He must have wanted to talk more about it, but after his brief reminiscence down memory lane, he dropped the subject entirely. And he said I avoided things. He flew across the country to avoid this.
Getting up, Heathcliff crossed the room and lifted the couch cushion. “What’s this?”
“My notes and files.”
He skimmed them, but I told him everything I thought was relevant. “Gallo graduated from the police academy the same year Scott Renwin did. Renwin’s the cop who died in that shooting involving Cross.”
“Yes, but the records are sealed on that. Scott’s ex-girlfriend gave me that connection. It’s not much, but it could be motive. Then again, Gallo’s been sucking up to Cross for years. He could be eyeing a promotion or hoping to get into the commissioner’s good graces. Like you said, it reads either way.”
He moved beside me. “Listen to me. None of the evidence adds up. You know it, and I know it. The department has a problem. The simplest solution is to take Cross down for Knox’s murder and pretend everything is fine. But it isn’t. Moretti and I are working to figure out what’s going on and who’s pulling the strings. But we can’t do that unless we have the whole picture. Get Cross on board. Tell him he has to cooperate. Get him to come clean on whatever it is he’s hiding.”
“He’s helping, Derek. You just don’t see it, but he is. He wants to know who killed Knox just as badly as you do.”
He pointed at the files Cross had hidden in the couch. “That is not helping. Helping would be staying here to discuss matters.”
“I’ll keep you updated.”
“Like you did with the apartment? Or Gallo tipping off Cross? Or the bank?”
“I told you eventually.”
“Tell me first next time.”
“Will you do the same?”
“I can’t,” he said.
Neither could I. “Any idea who left the most recent note in my car? My money’s still on Gallo.”
“We saw them arrive. I’m not sure he had a chance to do it.”
“Maybe he did it before they parked in front of the apartment complex. But I take it there weren’t any cameras around.”
“That’d be correct.”
“Has CSU finished with the apartment?” I asked.
“More or less. We have a surveillance team keeping eyes on it. Since it appears someone’s been staying there, we’ll catch him if he returns.”
“Yeah, if he doesn’t already know you’re staking out the place.”
Heathcliff studied me. “You really think it’s Gallo?”
“I don’t know who else it could be.”
Thirty-three
My stomach was in knots. The sooner I figured out what was going on, the sooner everything could get back to normal. I just hoped everything would be okay when the dust cleared, and I wouldn’t lose any friends over this.
When I arrived at Almeada’s law firm, I found Cross sprawled out on the sofa wit
h his eyes closed. He’d taken the time to shave. “What did the detective have to say?” he asked.
“Not much.”
“I’m shocked,” he deadpanned, pulling himself into a seated position. “Let’s pay Gallo a visit.”
“Are you insane?”
Cross cocked his head to the side. “He’s the logical choice. No other cop knows that much about me and my involvement with Trey Knox.”
“Are you sure? What about Moretti and Renner?”
He laughed. “You want to go after Dominic Moretti?”
“No, that’s not—”
“That’s exactly what you said.”
“I was making a point.”
“Not a very good one.” He went to the mini bar and filled a glass with soda water. “And we both know it’s not Renner.”
“Renner didn’t attack me, but he could have hidden the gun in your SUV.”
Cross drained the glass and put it down on a coaster. “Bennett wouldn’t do that. Hurting me would only hurt him. One of the assholes who served the warrant planted the gun. Did you ask Detective Heathcliff if Officer Gallo was involved in the search?” Cross waited, but I didn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought, which is why I took the liberty of pulling our security feed. Gallo was there. He did this.”
“You’re sure?”
“Damn near.”
“I still don’t understand why he’d frame you or wait so long to do it.” But everything indicated Gallo threatened me. I couldn’t fathom why he’d tip off Cross only to knife him in the back. “Where would he even have gotten the gun? Are you saying he killed Knox?”
“Have you checked his alibi?”
“We don’t have a TOD.”
“But it’s reasonable to assume it happened during that two-day window. Gallo was around. I remember seeing him at KC’s bar one of those nights. As I recall, he’d been giddy about something.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You really remember that?”
“Sure, why not?”
But I didn’t buy it. “Lucien, pointing fingers isn’t going to clear you. We need proof.”
“Gallo kept tabs on Knox’s house. Knox was buried with his championship ring. The only way he got that was by going home. Moretti had to divert resources to other cases. The police were no longer staking out Knox’s place. As far as they were concerned, Knox was a nobody. But Gallo had that sick fascination. He kept tabs. I know he did.”
“Can you prove it?”
“After I returned from my trip to see Knox, I ran into Gallo at the bar. He told me he was monitoring Knox’s house. He hadn’t stopped investigating. He wanted to find out what happened to the man. That’s when I said he shouldn’t worry about it anymore.”
“Gallo never mentioned that part to me.”
“Why would he?”
The more I thought about it, the less sense everything made. “Fine, so Gallo spotted Knox sneaking into his house. He followed him to the apartment Knox rented under an alias. Then what?”
“Gallo confronts Knox. Knox freaks. They get into a scuffle, and Gallo shoots him. It could have been self-defense.”
“Four times in the chest?”
Cross shrugged.
“Where’d he get the gun? He didn’t use his service piece. If it was an accident or self-defense, why wouldn’t Gallo report it?” I asked.
“How do you think it’d look?”
“It’s more than that. What aren’t you telling me, Lucien?”
“After I left your apartment, I dropped by the office to pull the surveillance footage. That’s how I found out Gallo had stopped by Cross Security to execute the search warrant, except according to Sara, Gallo wasn’t assigned to do that. That got me thinking. So I went home and checked my security system. Gallo paid me a visit too. But by the time he went to my apartment, the police had already finished clearing the place.”
“That was the same morning I was attacked outside the bank.”
“The way I see it, Gallo dropped by Cross Security, overheard you on the phone with Almeada, and went to stop you. That delayed him from getting to my apartment, especially since he was on shift and had to make an appearance with his partner in order to keep his alibi solid.” Cross sunk into Almeada’s office chair and clicked the mouse a few times. “Check this out.”
I stared at the screen, watching Cross’s front door open. It was Gallo. He wore his uniform, hat, and sunglasses, just like he had when I ran into him at the apartment. According to the timestamp, this happened late in the afternoon, approximately around the time he took his dinner break.
“Watch.” Cross let the footage play, pointing to the screen when Gallo unbuttoned his uniform shirt and pulled a leather-bound portfolio out. He glanced around the apartment, went to the bookcase, and laid it flat on the top shelf. “He just planted evidence.”
“What is that?”
“Knox’s ledger.”
“How did Gallo get it?”
“I’m guessing he’s had it ever since he confronted and killed Knox.”
“Where is it now?”
Cross jerked his chin toward the door. “I gave it to Mr. Almeada, along with a copy of the security footage from my apartment. Building security can verify it, along with nearby CCTV feeds. He’s presenting it to the authorities.”
I stared at Cross, making the conscious effort to keep my jaw from hanging. “Why didn’t you start there?”
“I don’t think it’s enough,” Cross said. “That’s why I want to confront Gallo before the police give him a chance to talk his way out of this. He’s a fucking liar. My involvement with Knox is well known. It’s a cold case, which remained open. I was the prime suspect. Hell, I might have been the only suspect. When Knox’s body was found, Gallo saw an opportunity to use it to his advantage to set me up.”
“Why?”
“Cops want revenge on me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a troublemaker. You read Jade’s e-mail.” He didn’t bother concealing his annoyance. “Gallo and Renwin went to the academy together. He probably figured he’d get close to me and wait for an opportunity to present itself. The police and their misguided loyalty. My history and involvement with Knox fit perfectly into his plan. That’s why the setup is also perfect.”
“How would Gallo have gotten access to the surveillance footage of you threatening Knox?”
“It could have been an accident. It must have already been in the safe deposit box. Bank records show the box hadn’t been accessed since it was opened. Knox must have done it. We didn’t end things on good terms. Gallo got lucky there. But like I told you, Gallo tipped me to the bank. Only he could have known I’d go there. Even if the box turned out to be a dead end, he had photos of me entering and leaving the bank. He could have said I stole the evidence. That only feeds into this bullshit conspiracy theory and forwards this ridiculous narrative. Gallo’s done everything in his power to make me look damn suspicious.”
“You chose to go to the bank,” I pointed out.
He exited the paused surveillance footage. “Do you know what else I found when scrubbing the security feeds?”
“What?”
“The white sedan. It’s gone to the same places Gallo has.” He stared at me. “Now can we go see him? The police should be knocking on his door as soon as Mr. Almeada finishes with show and tell. I’d like to stop Gallo before he makes more evidence disappear or finds creative places to put it. I can’t afford more marks against me.”
“What evidence? What else is there?”
“The ledger contained a list of account numbers. Most were for Knox’s clients, but Knox used so many aliases and so many accounts, he jotted down who paid which of his aliases and which account it went to. Two of those accounts were emptied.” He met my eyes as he pushed away from the desk. “You didn’t find them all, but you found a few. Two that you missed were transferred to offshore holdings belonging to an LLC which was created by Joe Gallo seven years ago, right before he popped back up to offer me
help with troublesome clients and pass work my way. He thought I might be on to him. That was his misguided attempt to keep tabs on me.”
My boss loved the conjecture, but this was the evidence we needed. Gallo had a lot of explaining to do. “All right. Let’s go.” Grabbing a pen and the pad of stationery off Almeada’s desk, I jotted down a note of where we’d be, folded the paper, wrote Almeada’s name on the front, and tucked it beneath his keyboard. In the event things went south and the police arrested us for interfering or worse, Cross’s attorney would have some idea of what happened.
“I told Justin to pull all the footage from the office and garage, dating back as far as we can go. Gallo didn’t usually drop by. He knows I have a no tolerance policy when it comes to cops snooping around, but he must have been by to perform some recon. That’s probably how he determined where I kept the SUV parked. For him to sneak in the gun while the police were conducting a search, he had to know exactly where to hide it in order to get in and out without arousing suspicion.”
“You make this sound like a spy movie.”
“Isn’t it?”
Again with the theatrics. “Didn’t the police take the footage and logs with them?” I asked. “Even the servers were pulled. Shouldn’t they already have whatever they need?”
“If they bother to look. This will speed up the process and ensure they don’t miss anything. Didn’t you say I should help the investigation in any way possible? I handed over a crucial piece of evidence. Video footage will be icing on the cake, assuming we can’t convince Gallo to fess up once we confront him.”
“What exactly is the plan?”
“We find Gallo. The rest will fall into place.”