Impressions

by Barbara Winkes

  This was not where Natalie had told them she lived, the building with the water damage. Why make up a story like this? Jordan checked her watch, wishing she didn’t have to be somewhere within the next hour. She couldn’t confront Natalie right now, but she would get answers. Jordan found this disconcerting. She didn’t have much of a choice, and at least Ellie would be at work too.

  Natalie’s secrets might be completely harmless, and for Ellie’s sake, Jordan hoped that they were. There was no doubt Natalie could be charming, and she had made herself an tolerable house guest…still. If she had another apartment, why hide the fact? Why rent it under a different name? There was a Natalie Morgan living in the building currently undergoing renovations. She was working in an office at the Mason tower, and her car registration was for the vehicle Natalie drove. What piece was she missing?

  The ringing of her cell phone made her jump, and she quickly stepped away from the door.

  “Everyone’s wondering where that coffee is,” Derek said. “You went to get those beans in Guatemala or what?”

  “On my way,” she assured him. “Sorry about that.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. It’s just taking a moment.”

  “All right. See you soon—I hope.”

  Jordan took another look at the door and turned to leave. In her car, she called a detective in another division.

  “Let me guess,” April said. “You need a favor.”

  Jordan sighed. “You know me so well.”

  If she hurried now, she’d still bring the coffee in time before everyone would leave.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jordan still sat at her desk, absent-mindedly sipping her coffee. Ellie couldn’t help but worry. First the coffee run that seemed to have taken quite longer than necessary, and then she had looked up something but minimized what was on the screen the moment Ellie arrived. Perhaps she was focused, ahead of this all important assignment, but Ellie wanted to be sure.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. I just had to check something. What about you? You’re all ready?”

  “I so am. A lot of people have been waiting for this day.”

  “I’m sure Ms. Gilbert is very grateful for everything you did. You never gave up on her.”

  “Well, yeah, Waters shouldn’t have either. He was primary on the case, and…now I wonder if there might have been others, especially in the past year. He seemed really eager to get out.”

  “Oh, don’t say that.” Maria Doss sighed. “That could mean IA will look at all of his cases, and some of them were mine too. This is going to take a while either way.”

  “You’re right about that,” Jordan said as she got up and picked up her keys. “But now we have other things to worry about.”

  Ellie couldn’t help it—she still thought Jordan’s tone might be revealing she was occupied with something in addition to the case. She didn’t want to address this in front of Maria. Perhaps Kathryn had decided that the break in communication was too long for her. She was going to ask again—after tonight.

  * * * *

  Ellie’s first task at the stadium was to intervene in a fight between fans, though when she arrived at the scene, the two opponents didn’t present a problem any longer. Instead, it was Chris Atwood yelling at this colleague, Sam Potts.

  “Don’t tell me what to do! You can be grateful this department has a thing for minorities, otherwise it would be you out of a job.”

  “Chris. Hey. What’s the problem?”

  Silently, Ellie questioned the wisdom of putting Atwood and Potts this close together. She had no doubts which of the two had started the argument.

  “She’s supposed to cover this section.”

  “I did. There were two groups of fans arguing. One threw a cup, and they went at each other…I needed some help.”

  “That sounds reasonable to me. Was there any trouble in your section too?” Ellie asked even though was fairly certain she knew the answer already.

  “You’re not my boss,” he spat, turned and walked away.

  “Everything okay on your end?” she asked Sam, who nodded, her frustration obvious. Perhaps she should have a word with Bristol at the end of the day. So far, Atwood had only been a nuisance, but that might change.

  She wasn’t here to keep the peace between fans of opposing teams. So far, only the politician had shown up with a group of aides and security personnel.

  Neither the judge nor the elusive Hank had shown their faces yet. The politician wouldn’t be so brazen with this many people around? Or were some of them in on it? Owens had provided young women for Robertson. Nothing was impossible when people were greedy and ruthless.

  She hoped that for many of them, luck would run out tonight. Ellie went back to her post, where she took a moment to contact Casey Lyons. “Do me a favor and keep an eye on Atwood and Sam, okay?”

  “You don’t even have to ask,” her friend said.

  * * * *

  The judge eventually showed up in his VIP box, together with a much younger woman that was neither his wife, nor one of the trafficked women they were on the lookout for. They learned that she was a secretary from his office.

  Nina Torres groaned. “That leaves us with nothing much on him, and he certainly knows how far we can go with that. I want to bring him in anyway. Maybe she knows something as well. His name was on that tape, damn it.”

  Jordan agreed whole-heartedly with that assessment. Hank’s clients were in high profile positions—that also made it harder to get to them. That tape helped, but they needed more than that.

  “Ellie? Derek?” she asked via the two-way radio.

  “Everything is quiet here,” Derek assured her from the other side of the VIP lounge. “Wait, one of his aides just left. Let’s see what he’s up to.”

  A few tense moments passed, before he reported back: “That would be hot dogs.”

  About ten minutes passed before the judge’s companion left her seat as well. The game had begun. The noise level in the stadium was rising.

  Another ten minutes passed, then twenty, but the woman didn’t come back. Then two men joined the judge in the VIP box, one of them tall and broad-shouldered, the other one shorter, wearing a suit and bleached blonde hair: Hank.

  “Bingo,” Nina said. “Henderson, Harding, don’t let your guy get further than the parking garage. We’re on the move.”

  Jordan briefly thought she would have preferred if they could have gotten to them somewhere further away from the crowd, and she hoped no shots would be necessary. The last thing anybody needed was a mass panic.

  * * * *

  The politician and his security staff were getting ready to leave, even though the game was just barely into the second quarter.

  Ellie and Derek unobtrusively followed until one of the guards spun around and held up his hand. “Stay back! You can’t go this way.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we can,” Derek said, holding up his badge. “Detective Henderson, this is Detective Harding. Mr. Cornell, we have a few questions regarding…”

  They’d seen this many times from a suspect during an impending arrest, but neither of them had expected the State Representative hopeful to run.

  “Are you kidding me?” Derek asked to no one, while Ellie gave chase.

  “Suspect is trying to escape, now Block 82B. Can anyone see him?”

  It was the worst possible moment for a touchdown, nearly everyone in the stadium on their feet.

  “We’re close,” Casey answered via the radio. “Atwood, Potts?”

  “Ellie, are you anywhere close?” Officer Potts asked. “We got him. 82 B, row 25.”

  “Great. I’ll be right there.” Ellie hastened down the steps and a moment later, saw Sam and a male officer, the angry-looking man with them in handcuffs.

  “I have no idea what this is,” he snapped, “but you’re going to pay for it. I have done nothing wrong. I’m going to sue you, and your
boss, and every single one of you.”

  Casey arrived as well. Ignoring the rather empty threats, Ellie asked, “Where is Atwood?”

  “Geez, Harding, why do you have to be such a bitch all the time…” He broke off when he realized that Casey, and now Derek, were with them.

  “Good,” she said. “Why don’t we take this elsewhere and let the folks enjoy the game?”

  * * * *

  At the precinct, Ellie and Derek went to interrogate Cornell while Jordan and Nina sat down with the main suspect Henry Maddows a.k.a Hank. He was much too comfortable for a man who would be charged on multiple counts of human trafficking, abuse, torture, possibly murder.

  “My clients come from all over the world. I provide high class entertainment to them, and yes, I run a legal escort service.” Hank leaned back in his chair. “I assume my lawyers will soon sort all of this out.”

  “Once they’ve sorted through the numerous charges against you, sure,” Jordan said.

  “Oh honey. I’ve been over this with the cops before. None of that will stick.”

  Nina slammed the folder onto the table with such vehemence even he flinched.

  “In the past, that might have been true, but you got a little careless. We have sworn testimonies from a number of witnesses who either made money with you, or made you money. Too bad for you that some folks got greedy, and one of your high profile clients was killed.”

  “Speaking of lawyers, I’d like my phone call now, before you ladies embarrass yourselves even more.”

  “You can call him in a moment. Detective Carpenter, could you give us a minute?”

  Jordan hadn’t expected anything like this so early in the interrogation, and so far, he hadn’t given her any clue as to the original murder case. Nina had to know what she was doing.

  From the other side of the window, she watched with Lieutenant Carroll as Nina continued, “Look, I’ve been doing this for a long time. Let’s stop pretending we don’t know exactly what this is about. I’ll have my colleagues turn off the cameras, so it’s just the two of us.” She leaned closer, whispering something.

  There was another agent watching with them, one of the additional personnel Nina had asked for. “Let’s turn off those cameras,” he said.

  “This is highly unusual.” Carroll wasn’t amused, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

  The body language of the two people in the interrogation room was intriguing, and, to some extent, surprising. The man sitting in that chair treated women as commodity—for sure, there was no respect whatsoever from his side. Still, Agent Torres dominated the scene, and whatever it was she was telling him at the moment, seemed to cut through his cocky attitude.

  Given her own initial suspicions, and Bethany’s reaction to them, Jordan was beyond curious. She took a second to check her cell phone, noticing that there were no new messages. Good. If April thought there was an emergency, she would have contacted her right away.

  As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and Ellie walked inside.

  “Our guy has realized that he won’t be winning any elections any time soon, but he’s willing to work with us as long as we don’t tell his wife he booked Hank’s services, not that she won’t find out when he goes to prison.” She looked disgusted, but kept her tone level and professional. “He has some documentation, and texts. There’ll be a lot of evidence to go through.”

  “Thanks, Harding,” the lieutenant said. “See Bristol and have a couple of uniforms help you with that.”

  “Will do. How’s it going here?”

  That was also meant for Jordan who was guiltily reminded of secrets she was keeping from Ellie. Once they were able to leave here, she would confess.

  “So far, so good.”

  * * * *

  “Big day,” Sergeant Bristol commented when Ellie found him in his office.

  “Oh yes, and it seems there is no end to it yet. I was hoping I could borrow Martin and Potts?”

  “No objections from me. What happened with Atwood?”

  Ellie hesitated a split-second. Then again, she already had a reputation with Atwood and his friends. It wasn’t like she was setting him up to fail. Just like his friend Cliff Waters, he was doing a fine job himself.

  “From what I know, Potts needed help with some fans going at one another. He was biding his time. He and Detective Waters were friends, but that’s no excuse.”

  “I agree.”

  “Potts, on the other hand, caught a suspect. She did a great job.”

  “So you’re rewarding her by having her sift through a ton of papers.” Bristol chuckled when Ellie opened her mouth to protest. “Don’t worry, I don’t think she’ll mind. I remember another officer who was eager for every minute she could spend with Homicide.”

  Ellie hoped she wasn’t blushing too hard.

  “I hear you’ve been doing a great job as well these past months. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I had. If you’ll excuse me now…”

  “Of course, Detective.”

  As she left the office, Ellie felt a little taller. All of her dreams had come true. The most urgent ones, anyway. There might be a few left, but there was time. First of all, they had to get the documents in question, and go through all of them.

  * * * *

  When Thalia left her apartment, one of her neighbors came out of his at the same time, and they walked to the stairwell together.

  “Hey, how are you?” she asked.

  He smiled back at her.

  “Great. Even better if you introduce me to your friend sometime.”

  Thalia frowned. “Which friend are you talking about?”

  “The one who was at your door earlier? Tall, brunette?”

  “Oh. Yes, of course. I’m sure she’d be happy to meet you.” She halted abruptly. “Damn, I forgot something. See you later.”

  “Sure. Have a great day.”

  “You too.”

  She headed back to her apartment and walked inside the guest room. The sight never failed to make her smile.

  Chapter Fourteen

  All of their shifts had long overlapped with the night shift, and by the time they made it to the likewise named bar, it was well after nine. Nina Torres would leave town soon, so this would be the last chance for Jordan to find out whatever it was she had said to Hank in the interrogation room.

  She had the feeling that not every single word would be in Nina’s report, and the man in question was now in Federal custody. Still no news as to who had killed Dinkins and Oswald, but some of Hank’s properties had been raided, more associates arrested, and more women freed. It was a good day…though there were still missing pieces to it. On Torres’ end. And regarding another issue. Ellie had texted Natalie that they wouldn’t be home for dinner. Natalie wished them good luck and said she was going to spend the evening on the couch with TV and a glass of wine. Thumbs up emoji.

  April hadn’t gotten back to Jordan, and she assumed it wouldn’t happen before the next day. There might be a perfectly normal explanation. Either way, she was going to find it. Above everything, Ellie deserved the truth.

  Maria Doss had joined them as well, sulking a bit because she couldn’t be at the game.

  “Who was playing anyway?” Jordan asked, making everyone crack up with laughter.

  “What kind of lesbian are you?”

  “Really? That was work, and of course I know who played. I just couldn’t care less. Everything else is for my wife to judge.” Her words led to more amusement in the group, and a pensive look from Nina Torres. Ellie looked content with herself and the world. Jordan hoped she wouldn’t have to put a damper on her good mood soon.

  One thing at a time.

  She waited until some members of their group had gone to get some drinks. Ellie had briefly taken a seat at another table with Sam, Libby Marshall and a couple of other officers.

  “Quick,” Nina Torres joked. “What do you want
to know?”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “Actually, no. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t talked to Dr. Roberts.”

  “Oh. Right.” Thanks, Bethany.

  “She was right to tell me, you know. But you should have come to me first.”

  In the context of this conversation, after the multiple arrests of this day, there was an awkwardness to the subject, even more so when Jordan remembered Natalie’s suspicions.

  “Yeah, I should have. Forget about it. I’m sorry.”

  “No need. I did shoot that guy to save my ass and yours. Would I have liked to do it anyway? Of course. Have I thought about it a million times? Absolutely. But we need as many of those scumbags alive so we can help the women.”

  “I understand that. Really, I’m sorry. I don’t know why—”

  “I know. Perhaps you sensed something about me that bothered you.”

  “Nina…” At this point, Jordan was fairly concerned about how much Bethany might have told her. “I don’t think we need to have this conversation. I made a mistake.”

  “That depends. Look, things could have gone either way for me. I assume you understand about having a crappy childhood.”

  This was going into a completely different direction from what she had anticipated. So much for instincts.

  “I do, but I’m still here.” Kathryn had committed to change in the past few years. Jordan didn’t feel she needed to give her much credit for her parental skills in her early years.

  “Yeah, so am I, even though my foster parents found it convenient to make money off me. I’m glad to have this job. There are rules. They actually keep my desire to kill in check. I’m kidding,” she added when the alarm must have shown on Jordan’s face. “About the killing part, anyway. The rest is unfortunately true.”