by Iris Bolling
“I’m good with that.”
“Excellent. Chief Williams and Tess are going to be a part of our circle for now. No one else will be privy to our findings. Here is the first thing you should know. Tess found a tracking device on the woman who was in Alex’s bed.”
A car horn blew behind him. Nate looked up to see the light had changed to green. He pulled off, turned the corner then pulled into the Medical Examiner parking lot.
He parked, got out of the car then opened the passenger door. Skylar stood and began walking to the entrance as he closed the door.
“You wanted to get to me before I got to the precinct to tell me this. Why?”
“We believe someone from your department is passing information to our suspects. The plans to raid certain establishments were spoiled because the targets were tipped off. I cannot help but think whoever killed Alex knew his steps from yesterday. They knew when he left the office, and the approximate time he would arrive home.”
“His movements were unscheduled, therefore, uncertain,” Nate stated. “They did not sit and wait for him to appear. That building is too secure for that. In addition, what if he had gone right to his date with Candace instead of stopping home to take a shower? No, I believe that someone was watching his movements.”
“Exactly,” she nodded. “From the moment he left the office, to the time he walked into the building…”
“They knew he was coming,” Nate completed her statement. “They went to his place just before he arrived with the intent to kill him.”
“And destroy his reputation.”
Nate opened the door to the building. “It seems they went out of their way to accomplish that. They killed a woman, then carried that dead body to his condo. Why?”
“Why, indeed.” Skylar replied as they walked into the building. “And why weren’t they seen carrying a dead body through the lobby?”
“All good questions. I have another. Why did they hang him? Was that a message?”
“Sounds like something our White supremacy brothers and sisters would do as a way of reminding Black men of their place.”
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”
Skylar stopped to look up at him. “Do you know something I don’t know?”
“Probably.” Nate replied as he opened the door to Tess’s office.
22
Tess stood under a light holding a small chip with a pair of tweezers. “This was under the skin on the heel of her foot where the markings are located.”
“Any idea on its range?” Nate asked as he studied the chip.
“No,” Tess replied. “What I can tell you is that I checked out two Jane Does from last night.” She walked over to her desk. “I found this in #23.”
“You received two Jane Does last night?”
“I did. They were in when I returned with Alex.” She sighed.
“But you only found this in one, not the other girl?” Skylar asked.
“Nothing.” Tess placed the plastic case next to another that was open on her desk. She put the chip she held with tweezers inside the empty case then covered it with a top. “It may be a starting point to identifying the women.”
“Does anyone else know about this?” Nate asked.
“No,” Tess replied.
“Was anyone working in the lab with you when you discovered the chips?” Skylar asked.
“No, but if there were,” Tess scoffed. “I trust my staff. They would not pass this information to anyone.”
“I trust you, Tess,” Skylar declared.
“No questions here about your integrity,” Nate assured her.
“But you do have concerns?” Tess raised an eyebrow.
“I will ask that you secure your files on this find and do not share the discovery with anyone. You, Nate and I are the only people who should know these tracking devices have been discovered,” Skylar ordered.
“May I ask why I’m being asked to cover up this information?” Tess’s eyes narrowed.
“Cover up is such a dirty term.” Nate frowned with a smirk. “I am asking for a brief delay in revealing that the information was found. According to RPD regulations, if we believe revealing the information will hamper the investigation, we can request you to hold back reporting the discovery for up to 72 hours.”
“Don’t think for one moment those dimples and piercing dark brown eyes are swaying me,” Tess replied as she closed the book. “I will honor your request, for now.”
“Alex would have made the same request if he was here,” Skylar stated.
Tess exhaled. “There is something about this case that is off. I can’t put my finger on what is causing me to double-check everything to the point that I am questioning myself. But when the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and scream, I know we are in trouble.”
“This one is screaming to high heaven,” Skylar nodded.
“I would say it is because the victim is Alex.” Nate shook his head. “But my gut is telling me there is something more to this case than what we have.” He held up the plastic case with the tracking device inside. “Let’s hope one of these little fellows will lead us somewhere. May I take one with me? You will have the other for chain of evidence if needed.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Tess asked as she placed one plastic container in his hand, then locked the other with the book in a drawer.
“I will take it to the FBI lab to have it examined.” Skylar reached for the device.
“No.” Nate closed his hand around it. “I have someone who can examine this and get me information in 24 hours. Your lab will have to do the chain of evidence check in. That can be done with the second device after we know where it leads.”
Tess nodded. “The second device will be turned over in 48 hours, no delays.”
“Fair enough.” Skylar glanced at Nate. “Your person better be able to produce.”
“He will,” Nate said with certainty, then glanced at Tess. “Anything back from toxicology on Alex?”
“No,” Tess shook her head. “Janice called wanting to know when I think Alex’s body will be released. She’s working on funeral arrangements.”
“What did you tell her?” Nate asked.
“We can’t release the body until we know cause of death,” Skylar advised.
“She knows,” Tess replied. “I told her as soon as I have the report back, she will be my first call.”
“Second,” Skylar interceded.
“First,” Tess replied fervently.
“First,” Nate supported Tess. “A phone call is not going to delay our job.” He glared at Skylar.
“Emotions are going to have to take a back seat here.” Skylar declared. “I liked Alex too. He would be the first to tell both of you to turn every stone until we find out who killed him.”
“Respect,” Nate corrected her. “We are not dealing with emotions here. Releasing Alex’s body to his sister is out of respect for him and a family of police officers who have dedicated their lives to the force. Janice will get that first phone call. Do you have anything else for us, Tess?”
“No.”
Before Tess had the word completely out, Nate was walking out the door.
Nate needed fresh air. Of course, Skylar was correct. He and Tess made that decision based on emotions.
“The family has given enough.” Nate declared when Skylar walked out the door. “The moment she can begin to close the chapter the sooner she can move forward.”
Skylar simply stared at him. “I do not disagree with that.” She firmly stated. “I believe it is more respectful to discover who took her brother from this life. I think you know that too.”
Nate watched as she walked to his car then turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
He realized she was waiting for him. Nate walked over and did the gentlemanly action his mother had instilled in him and opened the car door. “When did it become a ‘we’ case? The DeFazio case is yours. Alex is mine.”
“
It’s ‘we’ until I know the two are not connected.”
He closed the door once she was inside, then cursed as he walked around to the driver’s seat.
Pushing the button on the dashboard to ensure privacy, he hit another button to make a phone call.
“Hey, Reigns here. I have a project for you. Can you free up a few hours?”
“I feel used. It’s been weeks since you last called.”
Nate frowned. “You are not the woman in my life.”
“If this is how you treat women there is no wonder you don’t have a permanent one. What do you need?”
Nate hissed. “If there was anyone else….”
“You would get misleading information. You come to me because you know I am the best in the field. Acknowledge it and tell me what you need?”
“You are good. I am not going to give you the best title until you earn it by telling me where this tracking device came from.”
“You have a GPS tracker?”
“No, it’s more like a chip.”
“Contradicting yourself. A microchip is not the same as a tracker.”
Nate pulled the device out then looked at it. “It looks like a small chip. Something like what you see on a credit card.”
“One stores information while the other uses satellite technology to locate places.”
“I’m pretty sure this is a tracking device of some kind,” Nate replied.
“Stop guessing and bring me what you have. You get twenty-four hours of my time, and it will cost you.”
“Doesn’t it always,” Nate said as he disconnected the call.
“That was a male voice, but I have to ask, is he a special friend?” Skylar glanced in his direction.
Nate slowly found himself laughing out loud as he started his car. “You are hilarious. No, he is not a special friend. Well, he is special in the little yellow bus kind of way, but no to your question. I am not gay, and neither is he. His sense of humor is rather interesting. Reminds me of your method of gathering information. But I am flattered you asked.”
“In the last few weeks, I have heard enough about your escapades to know you are not gay. Your friend, however, sounded a little bothered by the fact that you haven’t called in a while.”
“My friend is Jarrell Williams, a CSI Tech who works on cases with me from time to time. It’s been a minute since I have needed his expertise on a case.”
“Jarrell Williams, Chief Williams’s son?”
“One of them.” Nate nodded.
“You believe he can get some traction on the device?”
“We will find out as soon as we get this in his lab.”
23
After dropping off the device with Jarrell and returning Skylar to her vehicle, Nate finally made his way to the precinct.
“Where in the hell have you been?” Cory jumped up from his desk the moment Nate walked in. “The brass has been calling every ten minutes looking for an update. I stalled them as long as I could.”
“Why not just give them an update?”
Cory stared at him with the intensity of a pit bull. “You have been keeping me in the dark. I don’t have anything to tell them.”
“Neither do I,” Nate replied then turned on the computer on his desk. He slipped a disk into the computer.
“What do you have there?”
“Surveillance tape from the condo,” Nate replied.
“Where did you get it from?”
Nate shook his head. “The place you should have gotten it from if you had followed Captain Daniels’ orders rather than going to Alex’s office and pissing the federal prosecutor off.”
“How was I supposed to know the Feds were involved in this case?”
Nate turned from his computer with an exasperated look on his face. “How did you get this job?”
“There you go questioning my position again.”
“You are a detective in Major Crimes. You should know all the pieces on every case you investigate, including all the people involved. If anyone should be questioning how you got a position as a detective, it should be you.”
“Reigns, my office,” Captain Daniels yelled from his doorway.
“I can run through the surveillance tape. I don’t think I can screw that up. What do you think?” Cory asked sarcastically.
Nate knew Cory did not want to hear that he believed if given a chance he could screw up a wet dream. “I will handle it when I get back.”
Cory threw up his hands. “Fine. Suit yourself.”
Nate ignored Cory as he removed his coat then headed to the captain’s office.
“Give me something,” Captain Daniels spoke.
“We are in the process of identifying the woman. The ME stated Alex did not die by strangulation, he was poisoned.”
“With what?”
“Toxicology reports haven’t come back yet,” Nate replied.
“What’s your next steps?”
“The key is the identification of the woman. I’m working that angle, in addition to looking at Alex’s caseload, to see if anything jumps out at us.”
“This federal prosecutor, is she able to give you anything?”
Nate nodded. “She’s been helpful. Neither of us have a clear picture on what direction we should be going. I hope to change that before we hit the twenty-four - hour mark.”
Captain Daniels nodded. “I certainly hope so, Reigns. The brass is chewing my ass out every hour on the hour. This shit has rocked the media with every kind of conspiracy theory you can imagine. Inmates are itching to file appeals if this thing goes south.”
“Alex was not dirty, Captain.”
“Hell, I know that Reigns, but you were a defense attorney. You know how they can twist the least little thing into a big fucking issue.”
“Only if something is there to twist, Captain,” Nate replied, picking up on the insult the Captain intended. “This is why it’s imperative to learn the lessons from before. Not jumping to conclusions because it’s easy keeps defense attorneys, like I once was, from exploiting mistakes from the department. Every aspect of a case should be investigated before we make an arrest. Before a case is closed by this department it should be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Don’t you agree?”
“Not at the expense of having open cases that impact our closure rates and having to kiss the media’s ass for weeks on end from high-profile cases.”
“I would think conviction rates would be in the best interests of the department.”
“You and I don’t run the department. The Chief does and he wants cases closed. Don’t give me that the result is the ‘pinnacle of success for the department’ bullshit. Do whatever the hell you do to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and close it.”
Angry at the cut, Nate stood. “How many times have we seen the Chief in front of the cameras flaunting the 98% conviction rate of the Major Crimes Division? At least three times last week, if I recall correctly.”
“That praise only lasts until the next high-profile case hits us. It has,” he yelled. “And it landed right at our front door. And don’t think that number is attributed to you. We were closing cases before you got here.”
“And I was getting them thrown out of court,” Nate retorted. “Is that all, Captain?”
“Get me some answers, damn it.”
Nate nodded then walked out of the office. He knew the Captain’s eyes were burning into his back. At some point the brass and other officers would learn he bites the hell back when you sling his past occupation at him. Yes, he called them on their dirt. If they had handled their cases correctly, he would have never been able to get his clients off on technicalities. His purpose in becoming a detective was to demonstrate how to work cases to prevent defense attorneys like him from getting the cases thrown out of court. To date he had a 98% conviction rate on cases he was the lead on. The only reason he hadn’t hit the 100% mark was because for the first year in the department, he had to follow someone else’s lead. “Closes ver
sus convictions, you asshole.” He mumbled after closing the door.
“You good?” Tony asked as Nate angrily walked by.
“Captain has a stick up his ass about…” He did not finish his statement. Instead, he shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to put Tony in the middle of him and the Captain. “I’m going through the surveillance tapes from Jim. When I picked up the disc, he told me the only people who came through the lobby were residents. We did a quick view of the video while I was there. He never left his desk from the time he arrived until the call came from Alex’s neighbor. He ran to the elevator. But I noticed something once he was out of the lobby.” Tony stood then walked over to Nate’s desk as he pointed. “Watch this area right here.”
They watched the tape.
“There,” Tony pointed. “Is that a moving shadow?”
Nate nodded. “Yes. Something or someone moved out that back exit.”
“Run it again.” Tony moved closer. “It looks like more than one movement.”
“It’s a slim possibility, but one we need to explore.” Nate nodded as he fought back the urge to tell Tony about the other lead he was following.
“Hmm, I wonder why Cory didn’t catch that.”
Nate looked up at him. “Catch what?”
“The shadow,” Tony replied as he walked back to his desk.
“He hasn’t seen the video.”
“Sure he has,” Tony corrected. “He was looking at it when I came in.”
Nate stared at Tony, then his glance slowly moved to the desk where Cory sat.
24
Nate was at his desk going through the surveillance tapes. The program he was using would search frames from the security footage to compare with other versions that were captured in the hallway on Alex’s floor. The footage did not show any one in Alex’s hallway leading up to the murder. Why? They knew the neighbor saw the door open. Why was that not showing on the surveillance tapes? He made a mental note to have the tapes checked to see if they had been altered. He wanted anything that resembled the image from the first floor tagged to be reviewed. It may or may not lead to the killer, but it would close the door on any thoughts a defense attorney may have to implicate that someone else may have been involved. Other detectives would say this was a waste of time, but Nate wasn't going to leave a stone unturned. Something about the neighbor being missing from the surveillance tape had his gut churning, and when that happened there would be no peace for anyone until he got his answers.
