“I’ll talk to her.”
“Thanks. That’s all I wanted.”
Jordan wasn’t convinced he had told her the whole truth, and she wasn’t sure they would want to get in the middle of a rejected proposal, but now wasn’t the time.
A black van passed them by and came to a halt in one of the parking spaces behind Rigley’s.
“Show time,” she said, which might have been an unfortunate metaphor.
Vegas? She’d settle for a quick, clean bust, and some quality time with Ellie later. No more complications.
* * * *
Ellie jumped when the phone on Jordan’s desk rang. Seeing that she was closest to it, she got up and answered.
“This is Detective Harding.”
“Hello,” the woman said reluctantly. “I got this number from Detective Carpenter.”
“She’s not here right now. Can I give her a message…or can I help you?”
“Maybe…she said to call if anything came up. I’m not sure.”
“What’s your name?”
“Kim Geller. I work at the hairdresser’s on the corner of Newton and Bradford.”
“Ms. Geller, what can I do for you?” The name was familiar to Ellie. Geller lived in the same building where Dinkins and Oswald had been found dead, and the hair salon was situated in another building owned by Cartwright/LHS.
“I’m not sure, but I was about to close up, and this black van has been circling the block four times now. You know about the murders in the neighborhood. I’m scared.”
With the operation going down at Rigley’s, possibly at this moment, and the other recent crimes, she probably had reason to be. Especially since her landlord, both privately and with the business, was likely implicated.
“Why don’t you lock up and I come by and take a look around? I can give you a ride home.”
“That would be great, thank you so much.”
“Did you get a license plate?”
“Yes, I wrote it down.”
Ellie did the same, intent on having it checked right away.
“All right. Please stay away from the windows. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes—but if you feel threatened, call 911 first.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Detective.”
“You’re welcome.”
* * * *
There was only a lone bicyclist on the street when Ellie arrived at the hair salon. The back-up unit she had asked for was on its way. After parking her car, she headed across the street to the front door with the “closed” sign in the window, and rang the bell. Kim Geller opened right away and locked behind them.
“Thank God you’re here. I didn’t know what to do.”
“That’s okay, Ms. Geller, we’ll figure it all out.”
They were standing to the side of the huge window, as Ellie had instructed Geller earlier. “Does the name Leeden Housing Solutions ring a bell?”
“Yes, of course, they own this building, and the one I live in. Are you saying—”
Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw the black van, slowing down as it neared the shop.
“Get down!”
She pushed Kim Geller behind the counter and to the floor the moment the shots rang out and pulverized the window. Seeing that the woman was curled up underneath the counter, she took out her gun and inched closer to the front door, but the van was gone. Holstering her weapon, Ellie took a deep breath, before she went back to check on Geller and wait for back-up to arrive. This could have gone many different ways.
* * * *
Chucky Mulveney looked on, somewhat in awe, when police officers led the two men, who had come to collect, out of Rigley’s in handcuffs. The situation had been resolved without a single gunshot, a success in Jordan’s book. Now, if those men were willing to turn on their boss, they might have all the information they needed to close two cases.
She patted Mulveney’s shoulder.
“See what happens when you act like a law-abiding citizen?”
He snorted.
“Yeah. Mostly,” she amended. “I bet the profits went up since you got all your licenses in order.”
“That was freaky,” Mulveney admitted. “In many ways.”
“Well, you’re still here, and so is your business. You’re welcome.”
“Right. Thank you, Detective. Just make sure they don’t come back again.”
Their banter was interrupted when the disturbing information came over the scanner: Shots fired at Newton and Bradford—Kim Geller’s workplace.
Chapter Nineteen
When they arrived with blazing sirens, the hairdresser’s front window had been shot out, a million shards all over the sidewalk. What Jordan hadn’t expected was Ellie to emerge from the back room, and her reaction reflected her surprise more than she would have liked.
“What the hell…what are you doing here?”
“Um…work? What I had in mind was a quiet evening with paperwork, but then Ms. Geller called your phone. I was going to give her a ride home, but it never came to that.” Before Jordan could comment on her relating the course of events, Ellie continued, “I ran the car, and they seem related to LHS. A BOLO is going out as we speak. They’re not getting out of the city. When Ms. Geller called, they were just circling the block. Unfortunately, shortly after I arrived, they were trying to shoot their way in. Relax. I’m fine. So is she.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Jordan defended herself which got her a raised eyebrow from Derek.
“Good. I guess this means more paperwork…”
* * * *
The vehicle of the men who had destroyed the store window was stopped minutes later. Of the arrests made that night, one of them was willing to talk, and his story shone a new, disturbing light on the murders, and LHS’s business practices as a whole.
Ellie watched the interrogation from behind the window, thrilled at how the information she had gathered, backed up tonight’s operation. Aside from the legit hair salon, Kim Geller’s boss owned a side business that involved escort services and prostitution.
It was late, everyone was tired, but she admired the way Jordan got the man to reveal this many details.
LHS had found a lucrative business in renting out to individuals and businesses that they were able to blackmail—once the authorities got too close, they diverted attention. For sure, there were many ways that misfortune could come to players like Oswald and Dinkins. Their murderers didn’t have the wellbeing of the women they harmed in mind—just their own. Hardly anything was what it seemed at first sight…and with that, her brief reprieve from her own situation was over.
She knew this episode wouldn’t change any of her plans in the long run, continue on her career path, start a family with Jordan once they were both ready, enjoy the life they were building together. She had so much to be grateful for. Why couldn’t she act like it?
The next morning would bring more arrests and paperwork, but eventually, they were able to go home.
Ellie stood by the kitchen island, pouring a glass of water for both of them, when the email came in.
Holy Shit. April wasn’t holding back. We widened the search, and there are more than a dozen cases that sound eerily familiar. Meet me tomorrow?
Ellie tossed the phone aside and started to cry, fairly embarrassed about it, but unable to stop. Jordan silently embraced her, which felt good, but didn’t make her stop either. Perhaps she could chalk up part of her reaction to the stress of getting shot at. Ellie wasn’t kidding herself. It had been stressful without a doubt, but her tears came from another source, something that had been building up over the past few days.
It had been the perfect story—in which Patrick Harding had done nothing wrong. After all he didn’t know about the pregnancy, and if he had, he would have done all the right things. What counted in the present was that Ellie had a biological sister, family that connected her to her parents more than their best friends, Madeline and her family—or so Ellie had foolishly
believed. She felt bad for even putting so much emphasis on this detail when it was her chosen family that had been there for her through the worst, and the best times. She’d let them down. There was still the deep sadness about having something taken away from her when she hadn’t even known how much she had longed for it—and the anger that was still trying to work its way through.
“I’m sorry,” she finally managed. “This is pathetic.”
“Not really. When you throw a glass against the wall, then we can talk about pathetic.” There was a smile in Jordan’s voice, and also a reminder that so far, they had taken on any challenge coming their way. “You have the right to be angry, and sad. But she messed with the wrong people. We’ll get her.”
“Yeah.” Ellie reached for the roll of paper towels, and tore off one to wash her face.
“I think I’ve had enough of this day. Meet me in bed?”
“I look forward to it.”
Later, Jordan told her about the suggestion Derek had made. Ellie could see the wisdom in getting out of town for a weekend, though she was wondering about something.
“He’s going to ask her to marry him, right? And we both know that could go either way.”
“He denies it, but I’m not so sure. In any case…I think we should go. April knows her job, and otherwise there’s not much we can do for now.”
“Yeah.” Ellie sighed. “I can’t help thinking she’s not done.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll put an end to it either way. I’m sure she’s moving on to the next target,” Jordan mused. “I guess that is something we need to realize. She doesn’t care…at all.”
“True. Creepy.” Ellie snuggled closer. “I guess we’ll go to Vegas then.”
“After another mountain of paperwork, that is.”
* * * *
By noon, William Leeden was in custody, and two more of his hired minions had given a full confession. They had purchased the gun used to kill Dinkins and Oswald on the black market. How it had gotten from the evidence locker into the seller’s hands, they had no idea.
Lieutenant Carroll called a meeting with all investigators involved to discuss a strategy going forward with what they had learned.
After twenty minutes, a knock on the door preceded Officer Marshall into the room.
“I’m sorry. Jordan, there’s someone here for you,” she said. “Says it can’t wait.”
Jordan pushed back her chair as quietly as possible and left, wondering if April had a lead. They had made plans to meet her in the afternoon. To her surprise, the woman sitting in the visitor’s chair wasn’t her. Jordan could hardly believe her eyes.
“Ms. Combs?”
“I asked to speak to the lead investigator, the one who put Hank away.”
“I’m Detective Carpenter. We’ve been looking for you. Your mother—”
Isabel’s eyes filled with tears. “They said no one would come for us, ever, and if anyone tried, that they’d kill them. I had to make sure. I had to know it’s over.”
“It is,” Jordan told her. “I think we should call your mom, have you checked out, and then…I guess you understand we have some questions.” She waved over Libby Marshall who was about to leave, and asked her to drive Isabel to the hospital. There were no obvious injuries, but with what she knew about the case, she wasn’t going to take any chances.
Isabel didn’t object to anything she said.
“Please, tell me, where have you been?”
“I was lucky,” Isabel said. “When I got out, I didn’t know where to go. I was terrified that they’d find me, or come after my family. I spent some time in a shelter, and I met someone there who got me to a place that was safe for a while. I didn’t know what to do…until I walked past a store, and there was a TV on. It said you solved the case.”
There were still holes in that story, but they could certainly wait.
“Did you see who killed the two men in the apartment, Oswald and Dinkins?” Jordan asked.
“Yes. I’ll never forget their faces.”
Once she had seen her mother and a doctor, a line-up would be a good idea.
“Okay. I’ll notify your mom, and I’ll join you at the hospital. I’m glad you came here.”
Isabel gave her a smile, though the sadness in her expression was heartbreaking. She had made it through the worst, but it would be a long time before anything would be close to normal in her life.
“You are so much stronger than them,” she said, considering it a success that Isabel didn’t disagree.
* * * *
Nina Torres called to congratulate her on closing the case, and a few hours later, so did Bethany.
“Well, there were a lot of details that had to come together. Including Isabel Combs walking right up to my desk.”
“How is she?” Bethany asked.
“Physically—she’ll be okay. The rest, it’s the same nightmarish stuff as with the others. At least she has her mom.”
“Yeah. That way, she’s better off than most of them.”
Jordan realized that she might be aware of Nina’s background. It wasn’t up to either of them to bring it up in this context. In any case, it was good to know that some of these stories had a chance at a better ending.
“True.”
After they ended the conversation, it was almost time to meet April. They hadn’t had time to read all of her dossier yet, but from what Jordan had seen, there was a clear pattern to Natalie’s behavior. She seemed to revel in other people buying her story and persona more than anything. Sometimes she had sought a romantic relationship with her subject, sometimes pretended to be long lost family, always inserted herself deeply into her targets’ lives. The amounts of money she had gotten out of them were relative, though enough to trigger a Fraud investigation.
If April was right, she had done her spiel for almost a decade. What did that mean for them?
April came by shortly before five, and they retreated to the break room.
“I went over all of these with a fine-toothed comb,” she said. “The silver lining is that we can now tie them together.”
“You have any leads to where she is?” Jordan asked. Ellie looked pensive.
“She has fallen off the face of the Earth as it seems.” April sighed. “She alters her appearance completely, steals identities. By the time people realize something’s up, she’s usually gone. No offense. She’s good. I’ve never seen anything like it. Since she’s not going after money specifically, that makes it even harder to trace. I just wanted you to know we’re not letting up.”
“We appreciate that,” Ellie said. “So there are all those cases, but we have no idea where she is now.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m really sorry.”
“She makes clean cuts, right? Finishes one job, and then it’s off to something completely else.”
“I’m not sure she’d call it a job,” April said. “It seems to me that to her, it’s more of a lifestyle.”
Ellie shook her head. “I think I’d be fine if I never saw that woman again, but…she did this with so many people. I want her to pay.”
Jordan could only agree.
Chapter Twenty
Once the flights were booked, and bags packed for a weekend stay, Ellie actually managed to get excited. She was looking forward to spending time with Kate whom she didn’t see often since she had left the force to study law.
That, and she could use all the distraction, from the Natalie issue and from the recent cases.
Perhaps after that, they could revisit an idea that would require a lot of planning, financially and otherwise, should they go through with it. A year or two. It didn’t seem all that long. They would always be busy, and their respective approach to family would be the same as well.
It would be important not to miss the right moment. There was always a right moment for everything.
They had agreed to meet Kate and Derek later for dinner after checking in—enough time to shower, relax, and make o
therwise use of the King size bed.
Jordan was half-dressed, Ellie still in her robe when a knock on the door propelled them into action. She quickly tied the belt while Jordan, still barefoot, but wearing pants and a shirt, went to answer.
Kate walked into the room with a huge smile and a bottle of champagne.
“I know we said we were going to meet up later, but we kind of need you now. Come on, Ellie, get dressed already. It’s happening now…”
She held up her hand to showcase the ring.
“I was right!” Jordan said. “Tell him I knew all along. We’ll be right there.”
At least something was leading to a somewhat unexpected, happy ending.
* * * *
“I’m really sorry I lied to you.” They were less than ten minutes away from the big moment, and apparently, Derek needed to get this off his chest.
“No problem. You knew I didn’t believe you, right?”
“Of course. You’re scary good that way.”
Jordan laughed. “It’s only scary for people who lie, but I understand you wanted to keep this between you and Kate for as long as possible. I’m happy for you. You deserve it. There’s something that’s bothering me though.”
“What’s that?”
She stepped forward and straightened his tie. “There. Now you’re ready.”
“Thank you for being here.”
“I wouldn’t want to miss this for anything. Now go say yes so we can properly celebrate.”
They ended their conversation with a quick hug between two people who usually weren’t too comfortable with the gesture—but it seemed fitting.
* * * *
After the papers were signed, they retreated to the hotel for more champagne and a bit of gambling. Jordan joined Derek at a blackjack table while Kate and Ellie tried out several machines, so far, with acceptable losses.
“How are you doing?” Kate asked, out of the blue. She seemed self-conscious about the question a moment later. “I feel like I should give you some context. This—it’s the best day of my life, something that, after Jensen…I didn’t think could still happen for me. You’re my best friend. I want you to be just as happy.”
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