by Laura Scott
Less than twenty minutes later, Max had packed a bag, including supplies for Sam, and announced he was ready to go. They rode the subway to the precinct without incident and he walked her inside.
“We’ll meet again for lunch,” Max said, telling her rather than asking. “Please don’t go anywhere alone, okay?”
“I won’t. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to check out the real-estate office, see if anyone remembers anything fishy from last night before Patti was attacked. Once Tayron and Ricky are back, I’ll interview them.”
“Okay.” She forced a smile. “I’ll review the video, see if there’s a clear image of Patti’s attacker.”
“We have a plan.” The dimple in Max’s left cheek flashed. “Let me know if you find anything.”
“I will.” She stood for a moment, watching as Max and Sam left. As she turned, she caught Penny’s speculative gaze.
“He’s been a good friend,” she said, trying to downplay whatever thoughts were going through Penny’s head.
“Of course,” Penny agreed. “It’s nice to see Max smiling more, too. Are you both planning to attend Bradley and Sasha’s wedding on Christmas Eve?” Penny’s older brother, Bradley MacGregor, a detective at the K-9 Unit, was marrying a local journalist.
“Um, I’m going to stop in for the reception after work, not sure about Max.” She hadn’t thought that far ahead; Christmas Eve was a week away. Would she see Max there? Maybe, but she didn’t want to think about that too closely. “Catch you later, Penny.”
She headed up to her third-floor workspace and shed her coat. Setting her personal laptop off to the side, she logged into the K-9 Unit network and began pulling up video feeds.
It didn’t take long for her to find Patti Wang leaving the real-estate office at roughly eight thirty last night. She was startled to notice how Patti had been wearing a red coat similar to hers and had the same long dark hair.
Still, there were some obvious differences. Patti was taller and wore a pair of red earmuffs along with knee-high black boots. Was Max wrong about the attack being a diversion? Maybe there was someone out there who really was attacking Chinese women.
She shivered and continued following Patti as she approached the subway station. A man dressed in black followed several paces behind. When she zoomed in to get a better look at his face, she saw he was wearing a hat pulled low and had a scarf covering the lower half of his face.
It had to be the same man who’d attacked her, but she couldn’t be absolutely sure until she pulled up both video feeds, the one from her attack and the more recent one, and compared them side by side.
She stared for several long moments, then caught her breath. There was a small tear along the left cuff of the guy’s black jacket.
The same tear was visible in both videos.
Definitely the same man. Her pulse kicked up a notch. Now if she could only figure out who he was. The facial features were too obscured to make out the size of his nose, or his eyes. Honestly, he could have been just about anyone. There was a hint of dark hair peeking out from beneath the cap, but hair dye was cheap.
And it was eerie the way he seemed to know exactly where all the cameras were located. Which unfortunately made her think about her friends in the Geek Quad and the way they enjoyed hacking into various systems.
She saved all the video segments into a new file labeled with Patti Wang’s name. Then she returned to the camera angles that displayed the coffee shop, fast-food restaurant and drugstore, backing up the video to see what had happened earlier in the evening.
She found their perp coming out of the fast-food restaurant about an hour after she and Max had left the precinct the night before. Had he realized they’d slipped past him? Had he gotten upset and taken his anger out on Patti Wang as some sort of substitute for her?
If so, what were the chances that he’d known Patti had been her brother’s former girlfriend? A coincidence? Or something more sinister?
In each image she was easily able to identify the slight tear in the left cuff of his jacket, confirming it was the same suspect.
She watched the video until her vision blurred, forcing her to take a break. Walking around her office, she tried to think of another way to figure out who this guy was.
Her phone rang, and her heart leaped when she saw the caller was Max. “Hi, Max.”
“I just finished with Tayron and Ricky. Unfortunately, they didn’t give me much. Ricky claims he hasn’t seen Patti in four months, which matches her story.”
“Okay, so now what?” She tried to mask her disappointment. “I was able to get one detail from the guy’s jacket. He has a very small tear along the cuff of his left sleeve. I’ve been able to confirm the same guy attacked me and Patti.”
“Interesting. One thing Ricky did mention was that Patti had several pictures of them together on her social media pages.” Max paused, then added, “Could be our guy stumbled across that information and targeted her on purpose.”
“Which is exactly why I don’t have a social media presence,” Eden said with a sigh. “I guess you’re right about the fact that I’m still the primary target.”
“Yes, but we’ll keep you safe, Eden. Listen, I’m hoping to finish up here within the hour. If you’re interested in getting something to eat, I can pick something up on my way back.”
She didn’t like the thought of staying cooped up inside. “Why don’t we return to the 646? We can bring pictures of our guy and question the staff again.”
There was a long pause before Max said, “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Later.” She disconnected from the call and stared out through the windows overlooking the back of the building. It was a small consolation the guy sitting across the street and watching the front of the precinct couldn’t see her office.
Being cooped up never bothered her before, so she told herself to get over it. Time to go back to work.
The tear in the cuff was one thing, but they’d need far more in order to figure out exactly who this guy was and why he wanted to cause her harm.
* * *
It was disappointing to admit that interviewing Tayron and Ricky had been a complete bust. It had to be done in order to fully cross the two off the list, but he’d hoped for more. For something that might lead them to the identity of this unknown stalker.
He met Eden at the precinct and waited until she’d printed a couple of photos of their suspect to show the staff at the 646 Diner. They left through the back door again, staying away from the front of the building.
Sam sniffed at various things along the way. His K-9 partner didn’t alert on anything, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.
“Hey, Joe.” He flagged down the owner of the diner.
“Did you get my message?” Joe Best asked as he approached.
“What message?” He pulled out his cell phone and realized he had a missed call. “Sorry, no. What’s going on?”
Joe scowled and rubbed his jaw. “One of my cooks left early yesterday because he claimed he didn’t feel well, but also didn’t show up for work this morning. He didn’t call or answer when I tried to contact him. It might be nothing, but I thought the timing was odd considering how he’d been fine until you questioned everyone.”
He reached for his notebook. “What’s his name?”
“Hank Voight.” Joe’s expression was grim. “If I find out he had anything to do with hurting Eden, I’ll arrest him myself.”
Max didn’t bother pointing out the former cop no longer carried a badge. He pulled the photograph from his pocket and showed it to Joe. “We were able to catch a glimpse of this guy leaving through the back alley. Do you think this Hank guy allowed him in?”
Joe shook his head. “If Hank allowed him in, others would have seen him. But he may have been paid to put the peanut oil o
n the salad.”
“I’d like to question the staff again, just to be sure. And we’ll send a couple of uniforms to Hank’s place.”
Joe gave him Hank’s address and Max called Sarge to make the request. Then he went into the kitchen to talk to the staff. After questioning everyone again, no one admitted to seeing the guy in black. However, one of the employees mentioned how Hank had gone out back in the middle of the lunch rush for a quick break, returning after a few minutes. The news was sobering.
“I’m sorry, Max. I feel like this is my fault.” Joe blew out an angry breath. “Hank has worked here for six months now and seemed to fit in.”
“We don’t know for sure he’s involved,” Max cautioned. “But it does look suspicious. The peanut oil came from somewhere.”
“But I don’t like thinking it was my employee rather than some random customer.” Joe’s scowl deepened. “If he’s involved...”
“We’ll take care of it,” Max finished firmly. “Now how about getting us something to eat? I’m in the mood for a Reuben.”
“I’ll have a grilled chicken wrap,” Eden said, taking one of the two open seats on the side at the counter. Sam lay down, munching on the biscuit Max had given him.
“I’ll make your lunches myself and won’t take my eyes off yours, Eden, until I bring the plates out.”
Eden thanked him, and she and Max both kept careful watch of who came in and out of the diner.
As they finished their meals, Max’s phone rang. He recognized the number of the local precinct. “Santelli.”
“We found Hank Voight, looks a little green but I think that’s because we’re on to him rather than his claim of being too sick to work. You want to talk to him?”
“Absolutely. We’ll be right there.” He disconnected and gestured for the bill. “We have to run. Hank has been brought in for questioning.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Wish I could come with you. Tell you what, your meals are on the house. It’s the least I can do if Hank is responsible.”
“It’s not your fault, Joe.” He tucked a twenty-dollar bill beneath his plate and stood. Sam eagerly jumped up to his feet, anxious to get on the move.
They walked to the K-9 Unit, heading toward the back side of the building, when Sam began to growl low in his throat.
Max abruptly stopped, raking his gaze over the area. “What is it, boy?”
Sam’s nose was in the air, and the low growls continued. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he realized danger was near.
“What’s wrong with Sam?” Eden’s tone held an underlying note of anxiety.
“I don’t know.” Max put his arm around Eden’s shoulders, drawing her close. He wondered if maybe Sam had picked up on the assailant’s scent, but the only place he’d been exposed to it was outside Eden’s apartment door and at the precinct front desk.
Had Sam caught the guy’s scent? Or that of an explosive device? “Seek, Sam. Seek.”
The K-9 lifted his nose higher, trying to capture the scent.
He drew Eden close to the apartment building to keep out of the way of other pedestrians moving along the sidewalk. Scanning the area, he tried to think about where a bomb might be hidden.
Although, there was no guarantee the assailant had planted one. For all he knew, the guy had a weapon trained on them.
His gaze landed on two small Christmas trees with twinkling lights set in potted planters on either side of the entrance to the building located just a couple of yards ahead.
Max took Sam off leash. “Seek! Seek!”
Sam took a circuitous route, his nose working, until he abruptly altered right in front of the Christmas tree planter closest to them.
Fear gripped him. “Come, Sam!”
The dog whirled around and returned to his side. Using his radio, Max called for backup and the bomb squad.
“Are you sure?” Eden whispered in horror.
“Sam’s got the best nose around.” Max waved his hand and shouted, “Everyone clear the area! I repeat, clear the area! Police business. I need you to step back and clear the area.”
Pedestrians gaped at him, then began backing away. But they weren’t moving fast enough. Eden shouted at them, too, but they still didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation.
“Sam, Speak!”
The sturdy Rottweiler let out several sharp barks. The impact was instantaneous. People scattered, giving them and the entire area a wide berth.
“Now what?” Eden’s voice had steadied, and she looked ready to do her part.
Every cell in his body wanted Eden out of danger, but he couldn’t help but think this could be nothing more than another diversion. That the assailant was out there somewhere, waiting for a chance to get Eden alone.
“Backup will be here shortly, along with the bomb squad.” He eyed the planter, wondering when the device would detonate. He drew Eden and Sam back a few steps, tucking them behind him. He didn’t dare go too far from the source of the bomb, as he also needed to keep the public out of harm’s way.
Please, God, keep us all safe in Your care.
The prayer was instinctive; he had to trust in God’s will. Hearing the wail of sirens, he mentally urged them to hurry.
The seconds ticked by slowly. When the first squad arrived, double-parking a few yards ahead of where he stood, he still didn’t move.
“Where is it?” one of the NYPD officers asked.
“The base of that Christmas tree. Help me secure the perimeter.”
“Done.” The two officers flanked him on either side, shooing the gawkers back.
“Eden, I want you to get into their squad car.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You’ll be safe there.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue, but then nodded and lightly jogged toward the police vehicle. When she slipped into the back seat, he told himself to relax. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t far enough away, but at least she’d be safe there for the moment.
As long as the bomb didn’t go off.
EIGHT
Eden watched through the passenger side window of the squad car as Max, Sam and the additional officers took charge of the scene. The bomb squad set up a cushioned barrier between the officers and the building, then used a robot device to approach the planter.
She held her breath as the robot had a steel head on it that raised and lowered. It was hard to see, but eventually the pincher end of the robot pulled a small package wrapped in dark green paper from the planter.
A sick feeling settled in her stomach. Was it possible that bomb had been meant for her? She thought back, retracing their steps. Even if they’d left from the front of the building, rather than the back, they would still go past the building.
The only way to have avoided the planter was to have gone around to the alley behind the restaurant.
But if the bomb was meant for her, why hadn’t it been detonated? Had they found it too quickly? Maybe he thought they were too far away to do much damage? She buried her face in her trembling hands. Why? Who was doing this and why? While the bomb may have been intended for her, she knew that it would have hurt dozens of others, too.
Innocent bystanders, who had nothing to do with this.
Dear Lord, help us find the answers we need to keep us all safe.
There was a light tapping on her window, causing her to jerk upright. Her pulse settled when she recognized Max.
He opened the door and knelt in front of her, his gaze full of concern. Sam sat, too, as if intent on offering his support. “Are you okay?”
She forced a smile. “I will be. I’m just glad no one was hurt.”
“Me, too.” He held her gaze for a long moment, and it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms. “Officer Neely is going to give you a ride back to the precinct.”
“What about you and Sam?”
Max glanced at his partner. “We still need to head over to interview Hank Voight. In the meantime, I’d like you to go back to that video, see if you can see our perp leaving the bomb in the planter and/or doing a handoff with anyone from the 646.”
She blew out a breath, realizing he was right. They each had a job to do and finding their bomb-planting assailant was at the top of the list. “All right. But will you please call me after your interview with Hank? I’d like to know if he gives you something to go on.”
“I will.” His dimple flashed. “I promise.”
She reached over to lightly stroke Sam’s fur. “I’m so thankful for Sam’s incredible nose.”
The K-9 leaned into her caress.
“That makes two of us.” Max briefly covered her hand with his, then rose to his feet. “Come, Sam.”
She felt certain the K-9’s dark eyes held disappointment as he left her side to follow Max back to the bomb scene.
“Ready, ma’am?”
“Of course.”
Officer Neely was a nice enough guy. He chatted nonstop on the short drive to the K-9 Unit, but Eden didn’t hear a word he said.
Her mind was preoccupied by the near miss. And she wondered why in the world the assailant hadn’t detonated the device.
Because there were too many people around? Or because he’d been waiting for the perfect time to do the maximum amount of damage?
Neither theory was reassuring.
“Eden?” The officer was looking at her expectantly.
She realized he’d parked in the angled space right in front of the doorway to their precinct. “Oh, sorry. Thanks.” She pushed open the door and climbed out of the car.
Resisting the urge to glance back over her shoulder, she hurried inside.
“Eden!” Penny’s eyes were wide with fear. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Where’s Max and Sam?”
“Max took Sam to interview someone possibly connected. They’ll be here soon.” She paused near Penny’s desk. “If it weren’t for Sam’s keen nose, things could have turned out very differently.”
