Deadly Reckoning

by Robin Mahle

  “Resided?”

  “That’s right. Apparently, the way they used to do business, outsourcing their shipments and deliveries to partners, they’d decided to handle themselves, bringing it in-house after discovering they could save not only money but reduce the risk of informants from said partners. The cartel members, in many cases, moved into the areas they controlled. They sent their kids to the schools; hell, they even mowed their own lawns. Just like every other red-blooded American.”

  “And dealt drugs.”

  “As well as take care of those who tried to cross them.” Quinn switched back to the grave site.

  “Okay. Say this is the same thing. That doesn’t explain the difference in techniques. The Crown Pointe victims weren’t executed. They were bludgeoned and they weren’t buried.”

  “I’d disagree with you there. They were absolutely buried. That mineshaft is as much a grave site as anyplace else.”

  “But you said yourself, unless it was a local, how would they know about the abandoned mine?”

  “Like I said, these people are moving into sleepy communities. And that’s exactly what Crown Pointe is. A sleepy community with a very high ratio of addicts. What could be more perfect?”

  “The only way this makes sense would be if the victims were also involved in dealing. Or else why kill them? You don’t kill your customers,” Kate said.

  “I’m still working on that logic. Which is I why I think we need to go back and ask Chief Tate who might’ve moved in in the past what, few months maybe?”

  “Maybe. But I’d say we could go back a year. People don’t move into a place like that without causing a stir.”

  “We should speak to Ness then too. If we can all agree this could well be the work of a cartel, as this theory dictates, he will most likely want to refer this to the DEA.”

  “Yes and no. I’m not one hundred percent sold on the idea. I think it’s another avenue to get to the truth. See, that’s the thing about theories. If you aren’t always trying to disprove them, then you aren’t doing your job.” Kate’s earlier irritation at his perceived slight had vanished. Because he was absolutely right. And this was a legitimate lead. She knew how easy it was to get caught up in your own head. She’d done it before. And while in that instance, she was right, it was the time when she would be proven wrong that frightened her the most. Because that meant her blinders kept her from finding a killer.

  “You want me to make the call or do you want to handle this one?” Quinn asked.

  “I’d like to run on it.”

  “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

  With her head full of new ideas, and a confident stride, Kate was on her way back to her office when she almost collided with Nick. “Whoa! Hey there. Sorry about that,” Kate said. “I was on the way to my office. Did you just get here?”

  “No. I was in a meeting earlier. You look absorbed with something.”

  “Just a lead on the Crown Pointe consult. I need to put in a call to the local field office agent.”

  “That’s good news. I was actually on my way to see Duncan. Have you seen her?”

  “No, I haven’t. I’ve been with Quinn since I arrived, which is why I need to make that call.” Kate paused a moment. “You know what? I think I’d like to run something by Duncan. When you’re done with her, would you mind letting her know I’m looking for her too?”

  “Sure thing. Hey, you let me know if something interesting pops up on that deal.”

  “Will do.” She continued toward her office and began compiling more information as it related to Quinn’s theory. Within a short while, she was ready to make contact with Agent Ness and reached for her phone. But before she dialed the number, Eva Duncan appeared.

  “Heard you were looking for me. What’s going on?”

  “Oh, hey. I wanted to talk to you about what you’re working on with ViCAP.”

  “Sure.” She walked inside and sat down. “About the questionnaire? Thanks for the input, by the way.”

  “Have you made any progress with the program manager regarding that?”

  “Some. He seems receptive to it. In fact, I was going to bring it up in our meeting later today. I’m sure Quinn will want to put in his two cents. Maybe Scarborough too. Why do you ask?”

  “Quinn and I just got back from a consult on a case in Crown Pointe, Kentucky yesterday.”

  “I heard about that. Did something come of it?”

  “I’m not sure yet. But before I move forward on Quinn’s suggestion, I think I’d like to run a search on ViCAP to see if I can find any other similar cases. Quinn found some interesting similarities with a cartel investigation from ten years ago, but I’d like to enter different parameters and see what pops up.”

  “You two aren’t on the same page?”

  “Almost. Not entirely. I’m not quite ready to give up on my idea. Not that he’s asking me to. He’s just looking at alternative leads.”

  “He usually does,” Duncan continued.

  “I figured. I got that from our first interactions. But, I don’t know, I just get a different vibe and I’d like to start with ViCAP.”

  “You want some help on it?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  On his way to see Levi Walsh, Nick was stopped in the hall by the man himself. “I was just coming to see you,” Nick said.

  “Good timing, then. I’m heading to Quinn’s office to drop off the archived files he requested.”

  “Oh yeah? Anything to do with the Crown Pointe consult?”

  “Don’t know.” He raised the box he held in his hand to view the writing on the side. “This says—oh.”

  “What?”

  Walsh looked at Nick. “I asked someone downstairs to pull the files, but I only gave him a number. Guess I didn’t realize what it was.”

  Nick peered at the box. “What the hell does he want with this?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.”

  Nick continued alongside Walsh as they headed toward Quinn’s office. There was no mistaking Walsh’s marked change in demeanor. He appeared uncomfortable, verging on awkward, neither mentioning anything further.

  As they appeared in Quinn’s doorway, Walsh was the first to speak. “Got those files you asked for.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate you pulling some strings for me on this one.” He glanced to Nick. “Scarborough? What can I do for you?”

  Walsh placed the box on Quinn’s desk and turned on his heel to leave, appearing not to want to get involved further.

  “Well, how about you explain to me why you requested the Hendrickson case file from the WFO?”

  8

  The discovery of three dead bodies, horribly battered, their remains tucked into an intentionally carved opening inside an abandoned mineshaft had everyone in Crown Pointe terrified. And Chief Tate still had no answers.

  “I understand your fears. I’m fearful too.” Tate stood behind the podium at the high school’s cafeteria that doubled as the drama department’s stage and auditorium. But this was no performance. He was afraid.

  “What are you and your boys going to do about this, Chief?” One of the residents stood and wagged his finger angrily at him.

  “Mr. Shepherd, I can assure you we are working day and night to get justice for those poor souls. We even got some advice from the FBI.”

  “Does that mean they’re going to help you find the person who did these things?” another woman in the crowd shouted.

  “Right now, they’re consulting with us, helping us to gain a better understanding of the situation. As you all know, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen here in Crown Pointe.”

  “We sure as hell got enough problems down here without adding to it. We need answers, Chief. And I hear there are other folks missing too.” He looked to a man and woman who were seated next to him. “When are you going to get us some damn answers?” Shepherd asked.

  “As I said, we’ll keep y’all
informed of any new developments, but right now, please, just let us do our jobs. Thank you.” He stepped away from the podium amid more questions. As Tate made his way toward the side exit, Slocum approached.

  “Hey, Chief. Can we hang back for just a minute?”

  “Why is that?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Walcott would like to speak with you—in private.”

  The chief eyed Slocum, his nerves standing on end, already expecting the worst. “All right. Let this crowd leave. I’ll stick around and talk to them.”

  It took another ten minutes before everyone filed out of the cafeteria. But one couple remained.

  The chief approached them along with Slocum and Lazaro. “Evening, Charlie, Maggie. Deputy Slocum here says you wanted to talk. I can only assume your son Andy hasn’t yet turned up. And I’m afraid we haven’t had luck on our end either. We haven’t forgotten about him. I can assure you of that.”

  “Go on, Charlie.” Maggie nudged his arm.

  “Well, Maggie here thinks our Andy is gonna turn up—well, like them others. And she…”

  Maggie interrupted. “Chief Tate, you know us. You know our boy. This ain’t like him. You gotta find him before… Can’t you just ask them FBI people to come here and help? No offense, but we only got the three of you here and we know that ain’t gonna be nearly enough.”

  “Maggie, we are doing everything in our power to find Andy.”

  “Our son ain’t no washed up addict like the others you found. You know that.”

  “Andy’s a good boy. I do know that. But I just don’t have anything else for you right now. I wished to God I did.” Tate held his hat in his hand. His eyes held Maggie’s. Both teared up. “It’s best me and the boys head back to the station now. We know y’all ain’t gonna sleep until Andy comes home, and neither are we.” The chief pushed through the exit doors as his deputies followed him.

  “Chief, you think we should take a drive out to the mineshaft and have a look-see if Andy Walcott is there?” Lazaro asked. “We haven’t checked out there since we took them others out.”

  “If that boy’s dead, and he’s in that shaft like the others were, then we’re dealing with a killer who’s all kinds of stupid. Damn near the whole town was in there. They all know where those bodies were found. They’ll be standing watch outside the mine, I know they will. No. If Andy Walcott is dead, I’d bet a dollar to a donut he ain’t inside the mineshaft. But before we write this boy off, let’s put all our efforts into finding him—alive.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Quinn shed his gaze from Scarborough. “I was planning on running this by you and I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to explain before now.”

  Nick continued inside and took a seat. “I’m listening.”

  “Look, you of all people know how valuable Reid’s insight into the Hendrickson case is. I simply wanted to gain a better understanding of her motives, her problem-solving abilities. I think it’s important I know how she operates.”

  “And you think the only way to get that information is by reviewing the case file?” Nick wore a doubtful expression. “Do you have any idea how long it took for her to put that behind her? That man hunted her. That man killed her childhood friend. And yes, I do know first-hand, her insight. And there was a time when I utilized that knowledge.”

  “You mean exploited?” Quinn appeared to regret the comment.

  “Frankly, I don’t know what you could learn in those files that you wouldn’t learn simply by working with her. Wasn’t that the whole point of bringing her on as your apprentice? And, I thought Reid made it clear she wasn’t ready to discuss that case with you in any great detail.”

  “She told you I asked about it?”

  “Of course she did. I’m her boss, for one thing. And I was there. I faced Hendrickson and I helped take him down.” Nick stood again. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I was in the process of tracking down Walsh. I’d better go back and find him.” He began to leave but stopped short and faced Quinn. “Something you should know about Reid. If she believes you’re taking advantage of her, she’ll become your worst enemy. You only need to look at the Copeland investigation to see that as fact. If you want to get inside her head, you’ll only be there because she allows it.”

  Quinn watched Scarborough leave and turned to the files on his desk. “I guess the gods have spoken, Joseph Hendrickson. Looks like you’ll stay boxed up for a while longer.”

  Duncan was stationed in the forensics lab when Kate arrived and caught up to her. “Hey, you have a minute?”

  “Sure.” She swiveled away from her computer screen. “I haven’t finished running your parameters yet on the Crown Pointe case.”

  “I know you’re busy, but that’s not why I’m here anyway. It does have to do with Crown Pointe. I made contact with the Chief of Police after we talked and asked if he could send me data on the town’s murder investigations, in addition to details of any people who’d moved into town recently. Oh, I also wanted to know the details of the murders. Domestic violence, drug-related, crime-related.”

  “He got back with you?”

  “He did.” Kate held a flash drive between her fingers. “I copied the files to this. Mind if I show you?”

  “Go right ahead.”

  “I put together a quick and dirty spreadsheet because I wanted to run something by you.” Kate began highlighting areas on the spreadsheet. “Take a look at this. Over the past five years, there have been almost thirty accidental drug overdoses. Mostly Oxy, but some heroin.”

  “That’s a lot.”

  “It is for such a small town. We already know they have a problem with addiction, much like the rest of the country. Only it seems to have hit this community particularly hard.”

  “It’s hit a lot of rural communities hard,” Duncan added. “Big pharma made it so easy to get scripts, we’re now dealing with a significant portion of the nation who’s addicted to pain meds. Most have graduated to heroin because it’s cheaper.” She paused. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get off-track.”

  “Which is another reason why I wanted to get this data. What I wanted to know was how many deaths were related to drugs, either ODs or trafficking deaths.”

  “And what did you find? Is this looking like it should be farmed out to the DEA?”

  “I don’t think so. Even with the case histories Quinn found. Initially, the chief reached out to his local FBI field office because he believed the deaths were related to drug trafficking, which of course makes it a Federal crime. However, based on what I’m seeing here. I think this investigation could be right up our alley. In the past five years, these deaths were all ruled accidental. Every investigation that was opened was almost immediately closed once the labs came back. Of course, we don’t see any accidental deaths on here because, well, why would we? Car accidents, falls, whatever. But the suspicious deaths. That’s what I was interested in.”

  “What are you looking to get from this?”

  “Quinn suspects this could be a cartel moving in. Sinaloa, Los Zetas, or whatever. Because it’s happened before. There is precedence and I recognize that. However, I don’t think that is the case here because there is not one drug overdose death caused by a drug-related crime. A deal gone bad, robbery, or the like. So what? These cartel thugs move in and immediately kill three people? Doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “No.” Duncan studied the screen. “What does make sense is that someone killed those people for another reason.”

  “Now we just need to find out what that reason was. Do you think we can take a look at the search? I’d like to know if we get any hits on similar crimes elsewhere. Markers are pretty clear in this instance. Head trauma, staged bodies, etc.”

  “Right.” Duncan returned to her screen and began typing. “We should do that right now.”

  With keys in hand, Kate opened her apartment door to see Nick approach. “Didn’t expect to see you home already.”

  “I didn’t see your text until I left and
I thought, well hell, why not surprise you.” He kissed her lips. “Are you surprised?”

  “I am. Pleasantly so.” She shed her things and continued inside. “Eva and I had a particularly good day. I think she’s warming up to me.”

  “Oh yeah? I knew they’d come around. What were you two working on?”

  “Crown Pointe. We don’t have what I was looking for just yet, but we’re getting close. She’s helping me look for hits on ViCAP regarding similar crimes.”

  Nick walked into the kitchen. “You want a glass of wine? Have you eaten yet? I could order something.”

  “Yes and no. Let’s get something delivered. That’d be great. So anyway, you know Quinn was suggesting that the deaths were cartel-related.”

  “Sure. Makes sense.”

  “It does. And while I don’t completely disagree with him, I am taking another path. One that I think seems a little more viable.”

  “And have you brought this up with him?” Nick retrieved the glass from the cabinet.

  “In a roundabout way.”

  “He is your supervisor. I think it’s important you maintain the chain of command. I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”

  “And you don’t.” She reached for the glass. “I’m doing what I always do, Nick. And that is to find the truth. Find the real reason why those two men and that woman were murdered. Look, I think taking a two-pronged approach is the right course of action.”

  “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying you should keep Quinn informed of what you’re doing.”

  She sipped on the wine before continuing. “I didn’t expect push back from you.”

  “Kate, I just need you to play by the rules here. I realize we had a lot of leeway at the WFO. It’s not like that here. We’re part of a much larger team. A team that I’m in charge of. And you’re an apprentice. If Quinn decides you aren’t the right fit, it’s his prerogative to terminate the deal.”

  “I don’t get where this is coming from. I’m not doing anything wrong. I did mention my theory to him. Are you telling me I can’t do anything without getting his authorization? Duncan didn’t seem to feel that way.”