Deadly Connection

by Lenora Worth

  “What are you looking so serious about?” Belle asked after she and Justice were done.

  “My old home,” he admitted. “I sold it a year after my mom passed. Since I travel a lot, I needed something smaller and with less maintenance. The roommate situation came up and I jumped on the apartment in Dumbo. But I did save a few things. I rented a storage unit not far from where we used to live. I’m going there later on to see if I can find any of my dad’s files and notebooks.”

  “So there might be information on Randall there?”

  “I don’t know. My dad would have followed the law, but like me, he would have tried to do his best by Randall, too. I know he kept some personal files at home, and he took meticulous notes on all of his cases.”

  “I could go with you and help,” she offered. “Justice is clear to go, and he can stand guard. An easy assignment.”

  Emmett laughed when Justice’s ears perked up. “I think he likes that idea but as long as you don’t overdo it. I’ll buy dinner.”

  “I’m starving,” she said. “Let me get cleaned up.”

  They started walking toward the locker room.

  “Hey, what did you find on our friend Albert Stein?”

  “Nothing yet,” she said. “Looks like he has a clean record but...I got the impression he could be shifty. You know how you get a certain vibe?”

  “Yep, part of the job. Instincts kick in. I felt the same way.”

  “I’ll be back in a few,” she said. “C’mon, Justice. You get to go home with me tonight.”

  Justice woofed and danced around. The canine seemed to be on the mend.

  Emmett settled into a chair in an anteroom and watched as officers and their partners returned for the shift change.

  A tall officer with auburn brown hair walked by, a sleek Malinois at his side. The man glanced at Emmett and kept walking but then he turned and came back.

  “Hey,” Emmett said when the officer stepped into the room. Noticing the name on the officer badge, he added, “Officer McGregor.”

  “Bradley. And this is my partner, King.”

  “Long day?” Emmett said, knowing why Bradley McGregor had come back around.

  “You could say that. You know who I am, right?”

  “Yep, and I’m guessing you know who I am?”

  “Right.” Bradley stood there with his hands by his sides. “I not sure what to say to you.”

  “Say what’s on your mind,” Emmett suggested. “Or I can say it for you. My cousin might have murdered your parents twenty years ago.” He saw a flash of pain in Bradley’s eyes. “I’m truly sorry for what you and your sister have been through.”

  Bradley sank down on the chair across from him and told his K-9 partner, King, to stay. The dog got comfortable by his boots.

  “Yeah,” Bradley said. “I’m not judging, and I won’t jump to conclusions. I hope we can both get some answers.”

  “That’s why I’m hanging around,” Emmett said. “I’ve already told Officer Montera I’ll be the first to bring Randall in for questioning. That’s part of my job, same as yours. But I want this to be handled in a fair way, too. He’s innocent until proven guilty.”

  “I agree,” Bradley said. “I know how it feels to be accused of something you didn’t do.”

  Emmet could understand that. He knew that Bradley McGregor, as a teenager who hadn’t gotten along with his parents, had been the prime suspect in their murders until he’d finally been cleared. But the suspicion had lingered in public perception. Emmett had heard enough of those kinds of stories from his dad. “I’ll find my cousin and we’ll get to the truth so you and your sister can find some closure, okay?”

  Bradley stood and offered Emmett his hand. “Okay. Thanks.”

  “You got it.” Emmett watched Bradley and King head toward the locker room. He needed to keep digging. These people wanted answers and so did he.

  * * *

  Belle finished her salad and glanced over at Emmett. “You’ve been kind of quiet. Is all of this catching up with you?”

  Emmett pushed his plate back, his hamburger steak finished. Belle had recommended a diner near the precinct and they’d scooted in for a bite before they headed for the storage unit. Justice sat at her feet. He’d had his dinner earlier after they’d finished their workout and he’d had playtime with his favorite hamburger-shaped squeaky toy.

  “I talked to Bradley McGregor while I was waiting for you earlier,” he said, his tone quiet. “He saw me and stopped in. I think he wanted to check me out and see if he could trust me.”

  Belle gave him a sympathetic stare. “The whole team is on this case and...it’s not easy. We knew bringing you in would be awkward, but you have every right as an officer of the law to want to find your cousin.”

  “But it could be considered a conflict of interest. I don’t want anyone to resent me being involved.”

  Belle couldn’t help it. She liked this man. He was the real deal and he put the law above everything else, just as they all did. She wasn’t ready to drop her guard yet. “Look, people will talk, but Sarge vouched for you and I’ve reassured people that you want to find Randall and question him. That’s the first step. We’ll worry about who we offend later. We don’t know much now. We need Randall’s DNA to know if he’s a match for the particle found on that broken watchband.”

  Her cell buzzed and she held up a finger. “It’s our tech guru, Eden Chang.

  “Hey, Eden. Do you have news on the DNA lifted from my clothes and fingernails?”

  “Yep,” Eden said. “I’m reporting for the crime scene techs since we compared notes. DNA matches Lance Johnson. Same with the envelope he left under your door. No prints on the envelope but one or two prints on the actual paper. He’s your man. We got facial recognition from the sketch to back it up. Sarge put out a BOLO on him. So be aware.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Belle asked, “What about the ring?”

  Eden told her that the ring Belle had described could be a knockoff of an expensive gold signet ring.

  “I’m guessing he either stole it or he bought it on the cheap from a costume jewelry store,” Eden said. “If he’d stolen it, why would he wear it? He’d hock it right away. Until we have the ring, we can’t really say. But we can rule out it being any type of insignia for an organization or club. I didn’t find any matches on that and didn’t find anything on that type of ring missing or stolen recently.”

  “Thank you,” Belle said. Then she ended the call and reported back to Emmett. “So...now we need to locate Lance Johnson and your cousin.”

  “Let’s get to the storage unit,” Emmett suggested after he tossed two twenties on the table. “We’ll start there, and I can run some more detailed checks when I get home, too. The sooner we find Randall, the sooner we can end this one way or another.”

  “Meantime, I’ve asked for the NYPD’s assistance guarding my apartment building,” Belle said. “I don’t need Johnson snooping around there and messing with my family.” Or worse, hurting one of them.

  SIX

  Belle watched while Emmett went through heavy plastic storage bins and cardboard boxes marked to show their content. Some of the containers came with the storage closet and some he’d obviously brought here himself. But this wasn’t much stuff and certainly didn’t give her a clue as to who he really was.

  But then, like most law enforcement people, he lived for his work and probably liked to keep to himself. No time for sit-down dinners or taking a day to goof off. She knew that feeling.

  Which made her stop thinking about the man beside her so she could get back to the reason they’d come here in the first place. She’d only agreed to come with him since she hadn’t wanted to go home without getting in a little productive work. Even if this was off the clock and even if her heart was leading more than her head.

  The building
in a border area of Bay Ridge looked like an old industrial type that had changed hands. Rows and rows of orange-colored doors lined up on long wide hallways with concrete floors. Emmett’s unit was on the first floor above the parking garage and near an open catwalk that offered a feeble wisp of air now and then, thankfully.

  “They close up at seven,” he said as he shuffled pots and pans and boxes. “We don’t have much time. I should clean this thing out but...never can seem to make myself do it.”

  Belle helped him rearrange a few smaller boxes, noticing a pack of letters and some pictures. “Is it hard to let go of your parents’ stuff?”

  “Harder than I thought, yes. I kept what’s here and what I have in my closet back at the apartment. Years of their lives and I have yet to accept fully that they’re gone.” He stopped and wiped at his brow. “They should have had more years together, but I guess I can fuss about that when I’m at the pearly gates.”

  Belle smiled at his gentle faith. Emmett presented himself as a big strong man but she could see that soft heart underneath.

  “We’ll all have questions then,” she said on a soft note. “I’m glad I came to keep you company. I can’t imagine my parents being gone.”

  No one should have to go through grief alone. She tried to imagine if something were to happen to her parents or siblings. How would she handle that? Hard to think about and yet, that day could come. Maybe he’d grown used to being a loner because the pain of being alone hurt so much. Tough to crack that facade.

  When she heard a door opening down the way, out of habit, Belle checked the exits and entryways, then glanced out the one nearby window that had a good view of the street. Justice did the same, trained in much the same way as she’d been.

  Dusk began to settle like dark velvet over the city while the last of the sunset left shadows that stretched across the eerie hulk of the nearby buildings. Outside, a hot wind whipped around corners, darting here and there in the simmering heat and blowing half-dead leaves off the trees. Traffic sounds echoed back into the open parking garage one floor below. Somewhere down the way, a car door slammed. Someone had a moving truck backed up to an open storage unit two rows over. Belle could hear the movers shouting at each other.

  Emmett grunted and squinted at each container. Pushing away a table and two heavy chairs, he stretched toward the back of the square unit. “I think I see my dad’s file box.”

  At least they didn’t have to search long. Emmett’s organization skills sure beat her own. Everything in this locker was neat and categorized so it didn’t take long for him to find the bin marked Emmett Marlin Gage.

  Popping the hinged lid up, he started methodically going through the batches of mustard-colored envelopes, each marked to show its contents.

  Just outside the open unit door, Justice stood at attention since Belle had commanded him to guard. The big dog lifted his nose, sniffing the air with seasoned practice. He could pick up any number of scents around here, but she knew he’d zoom in on a human and alert them of any changes in what he sniffed.

  She shouldn’t be so jumpy, but her instincts repeated over and over that someone could be lurking around here. What if Emmett’s cousin had gotten word that Emmett wanted to talk to him?

  Why did she have that same feeling she’d had last night? That someone was watching her. It had to be Johnson, but something felt different.

  “You’re a junior?” she asked Emmett to keep her mind from going overboard on the speculations, noting the name on the bin he’d located way up top. “I’m surprised your dad’s name hasn’t popped up on our radar more.”

  “He went by E.M. Gage,” Emmett explained while he pulled out and returned envelopes. “Never did like his name but my mom wanted to give it to me. He was Emmett Marlin Gage and I’m actually Emmett Michael Gage. We have the same initials but not the same name. A compromise—just one of the many lessons I learned from my parents.”

  “They sound like a wonderful couple,” Belle said. “My parents are like that, always offering up life lessons even if none of us want to listen. I worry about my younger brother, Joaquin. He’s going through a rebellious stage so he’s disrespectful to my dad sometimes.”

  “How old is he?” Emmett asked as he moved bins and reorganized the tiny locker.

  “Joaquin is fifteen, but he thinks he’s older.”

  “Tough age but he’ll learn.”

  “I’m afraid of what he’ll learn,” Belle said, her anxieties kicking in.

  A pigeon fluttered down from the top of the squat building, startling Belle. Justice’s ear perked up but he didn’t move.

  “Joaquin thinks he knows everything,” she added.

  “Ah, I remember that age.”

  Belle gave Emmett a twisted smile. “C’mon. You had to have been a Dudley Do-Right. I can’t see you acting out like my brother’s doing.”

  “So you consider me to be that boring?” he asked, grimacing. “I’ll have you know I was indeed an upstanding citizen but I did have one of those summers a boy never forgets. But my dad never forgot, either. After those rebellious few months, he made sure I had a job lined up at the end of each school year.”

  Belle could imagine him as a teenager. Tall, with that sandy-blond hair and those piercing eyes. “I’m thinking you were a real charmer. Could have gotten into a lot of trouble and talked your way out of it.”

  “Actually, I have a hard time lying,” he admitted. “I got in trouble, but I always fessed up. Took the rap to cover for a lot of friends who later turned out to be not-so-good friends. I wanted to be cool and wild, but my mom told me that God had a plan for me and it didn’t include me trying to be something I wasn’t. I guess I am a straight arrow. Boring but loyal.” Then he grinned at her. “With the occasional rogue streak.”

  “Loyalty is a good trait,” she replied, thinking her ex Percy Carolo hadn’t had a loyal bone in his body but he had the rogue thing down in a bad way. Percy had wanted to be in law enforcement, but his hotheaded attitude didn’t go over very well during training. “I’ll take loyalty over being too wild and out of control any day.”

  “You seem loyal to your team,” Emmett replied. “But you also seem very in control.”

  She moved another bin and then checked on her partner. Justice stood waiting patiently. “I love what I do. It’s easy to be loyal when you want to do the best you can.”

  “A good trait.” Then he gave her a determined glance. “But this kind of work takes its toll. Makes it hard to settle down.”

  “I hear that,” she said, a deep disappointment coiling through her system. This man was heavily commitment shy.

  Even though the place was climate-controlled, Belle noticed the sheen of sweat popping out on Emmett’s upper lip and forehead. She also noticed that he was in good shape. Not an ounce of extra weight on him and mostly muscle. With a grunt, he lifted out one last filing envelope.

  “Bingo.” He held up a thick file envelope held together with strong bands. It was marked with the name E.M. Gage and the word Private.

  Emmett shifted a few more boxes and containers. “I think it should all be in this one file I found. Might not be anything much in here, but Dad kept a few records and notes on cases he’d worked. If he knew anything of the McGregor murders, it might be in here. Okay, so are you ready to go somewhere and dig through this folder?”

  Justice glanced back at them and then lifted his nose again. Belle heard a noise, like someone running on the industrial gray hallway floors.

  Emmett put away the container and then tucked the file under his arm. Then he guided her out and secured the keypad on the door. In the next instant, Justice gave a soft woof of warning and then a shot rang out followed by a ding. A bullet pierced the top of the folded metal door.

  Justice stood his ground and growled low while Emmett tugged Belle down into a crouch and automatically shielded her. “Are
you okay?”

  “Yes,” she said, her weapon drawn, her eyes searching the long row of identical storage units but the hall light was muted, causing all of the shadows to merge and dance. “Do you think Lance Johnson followed us here?”

  “Somebody did,” Emmett replied on an angry growl of his own as he held her close to the floor. Pulling his shirt up, he shoved the file against his stomach and then tucked his shirt back in. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Holding his weapon up as he scooted toward the other side of the unit, he whispered, “I can’t see anyone. We need to get to the truck.”

  “What about the few people in here?”

  Emmett checked the keypad again. “Let’s move along each row on this floor and try to find any bystanders. I know where a staircase to the left can take us down to the street level on the backside. Once we have people out and safe, we can circle back around.”

  “I can cover you,” Belle said, eying both ends of the long aisle and the exit a few feet away. “You can make a run for it and warn people.”

  “I can do that,” Emmett said, keeping his voice low. “But I’m not leaving you in here alone.”

  “Excuse me,” Belle said. “I have Justice, and this is my job.”

  “I get that, but if we leave together, we have a better chance. What if the shooter isolates you in here? You’ll be a sitting duck.”

  “Okay.” Belle positioned herself on the other wall, by the door. “I’ll get in place first, then motion to Justice. Justice can lead us out. He’ll pick up any scents on the aisle or the stairwell. But we might have to split up to get help and we need to get everyone out of this building.”

  “Stay down and let’s go.” Emmett nodded and turned toward the first exit, a few yards away. A shot echoed over the building. Screams and people shouting soon followed.

  Emmett went to his knees behind the container of files. “Those people are close by. That’s not good.”