Deadly Target (Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series Book 6)

by Renee Pawlish

  “We’ve got an all-points bulletin looking for that SUV,” Spats said. “They’ll have to dump it somewhere, and hopefully we can track them down. It sounds like Ernie hit the dark-haired man during the shootout, so they’ll have to get him fixed up somehow.”

  She started to cry. “I just can’t believe all this happened.”

  Ernie studied her for a moment. “There’s one thing I’d like to know.”

  “What?” She wiped her eyes.

  “You seemed like you were hiding something about Nick.”

  She glanced away. “It’s just … things weren’t okay in our marriage.” She sighed heavily. “I put up a good front, but I could sense something was wrong.”

  “And?” Ernie waited for her to say something about Julie and an affair.

  “I just hate that he died and we hadn’t had a chance to work things out.”

  Ernie treaded carefully. “No other marital issues?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Ernie glanced at Spats with a subtle shrug. She seemed to have no idea about Nick’s affair.

  Spats looked at her sympathetically. “Thanks for talking to us. We’ll have an officer give you a ride home, and someone will stay with you until we find the dark-haired man and Kinnear. We may be in touch again as the investigation moves forward.”

  “Of course,” she said. She shivered and pulled the blanket around her shoulders.

  As Spats escorted her to a squad car, Rizzo walked up. Ernie gave him an update.

  “Let’s hope we can track down that vehicle,” Rizzo said. Then he swore, uncharacteristic of him. “They shot two people and Nick, just to make a point.” His eyebrows were an angry line. “One of them my officer.” He stared at Ernie and Oakley. “Get this guy.”

  “We will,” Ernie said as Rizzo walked away.

  Chapter Forty

  “Be careful of the door,” Harry said to me. “Easy now.”

  “Thanks, hon, I’m fine.”

  Harry held the door open for me, and I gingerly walked into the kitchen. I had my left arm in a sling, and my left side ached, but I was grateful to be alive. I had several more weeks of recovery, and it would be a while before I was back on the job, but I couldn’t complain.

  “Would you like to watch some TV?” Harry asked.

  I shook my head. “Maybe sit down, have some water.”

  He nodded and walked with me into the living room. I sat down on the couch, surprised at how tired I felt. Earlier in the day, I had been excited to leave the hospital, but it had taken a while to do all of the paperwork, get dressed, and finally get wheeled out the door. It was now almost one o’clock, and I was looking forward to something other than hospital food. Overall, the food wasn’t bad, but it’s not the same as home cooking. I got comfortable on the couch, and Harry got me a glass of water. He was going to fix lunch, and then later he planned to help me get a bath. As I took a sip of water, the doorbell rang. Harry glanced at me.

  “I wonder who?” he called over his shoulder as he went to the door.

  I heard Ernie and Spats. They were both grinning as they came into the room.

  “Hey, Sarah,” Ernie said. “We heard you were coming home, so we thought we’d surprise you.”

  “Who spilled the beans?” I looked at Harry, and he shrugged.

  Ernie studied me. “You look good. Ready to take on anything, including us.”

  I laughed. “Good to see you two.”

  “We don’t want to stay too long,” Spats said. “We thought you’d like an update on the investigation.”

  I gestured with my good hand to wingback chairs across from the couch.

  “Have a seat,” I said. “And you guys know me too well. Of course I want to know what’s going on.”

  Ernie sank into the chair. “Thanks.”

  Spats took the other chair, crossed one leg over the other, and picked at some lint on his suit. “I’m afraid there’s good news and bad news on the investigation.”

  I cocked an eyebrow as Harry sat down next to me. “Oh?”

  Ernie nodded. “You heard about what happened at that autobody shop a couple of days ago.”

  I nodded. “Yes, Rizzo talked to me this morning. I was tied up with doctors and with getting discharged, so he wasn’t able to tell me much.”

  Ernie ran a hand over his face. “Yeah, things got crazy really quick. As the investigation progressed, we had an idea that Rachel Armistead was tied up in something she shouldn’t have been, but I didn’t know she was being blackmailed.”

  He launched into a long description of what had happened with Rachel Armistead and how he ended up at the autobody shop. Spats periodically added something for extra flavor, and then Ernie wrapped up.

  “I apparently wounded the dark-haired man – his name is Frankie Gallo – and he took off with the driver, who it turns out is Anthony Kinnear. He’s a suspect in a couple of murders back east, and he purportedly works for the Molchan crime syndicate in New York. He drove Gallo east on I-70, then they dumped the car and stole another SUV. However, Kinnear was speeding through Deer Trail, and a cop happened to be there.”

  I laughed. “You don’t want to speed in some of those small towns; the cops will get you for sure.”

  Spats smiled broadly. “And half the time, it’s a little thing that trips up these criminals. That was the case for Kinnear.”

  Ernie thumped the arm rest. “Yeah, but he’s got enough connections, I hope we can still make something stick. The police did find a rifle in the backseat of the car. It was a slick little number, the type of gun that could be broken down and carried in a briefcase.”

  Spats nodded. “He could have carried that into the alley behind the abandoned café, and no one would’ve known he had a gun with him when he shot Cody Sheen.”

  “Yes, no one would’ve been the wiser.” Ernie looked at me. “We’ll have to hope that ballistics matches that rifle.”

  “I bet it will,” I said.

  Ernie didn’t look so sure as he went on. “Anyway, Gallo and Kinnear were arrested in Deer Trail, and Spats and I went out there to talk to them. Gallo was at the local hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. As you would expect, both clammed up. They’re not saying anything.”

  I sighed. “That’s too bad.”

  “This all came about because they wanted Rachel Armistead to transfer some money,” Spats said.

  Harry looked at them. “Who wanted the money transferred?”

  Spats held up his hands. “We think the Molchan crime syndicate. It’s rumored that a woman named Sofia Soroka runs it. The auto body shop is a front for corporations tied to that syndicate and her. But good luck trying to tie this back to her. She’s slick and she’s never been charged with any crimes.”

  “There are so many different connections, and holding companies and whatnot, I don’t know if we could ever find out for sure,” Ernie said. “We asked for the FBI’s assistance on this one, because Kinnear crossed state lines, so it’s their jurisdiction.”

  I shifted to get more comfortable, but inadvertently caused pain in my shoulder. I grimaced, and Harry held my hand.

  “You okay?” Ernie asked.

  I nodded. “Just something I have to get used to. At least for a little while. It’s not my dominant arm, so that’s good. I still need to be able to shoot a gun.”

  Spats scratched his head. “So it appears that Cody Sheen and your attempted murder were random. They were meant to throw us off.”

  I shook my head sadly. “I got off lucky, but Cody Sheen. What a waste.”

  “And Nick Armistead,” Ernie said. “They hoped to scare Rachel into doing what they wanted, but even that didn’t work.”

  “They didn’t know who they were messing with when they went after her,” Spats said. “She wasn’t going to be bullied into doing what was wrong. I talked to her again this morning, and it’s a terrible burden she has, on top of her husband’s murder. Of course, she never thought her refusal would cause t
hat. And once he was dead, she wasn’t going to transfer the money. She said it felt like it would be a waste of his life. She just wasn’t sure how to report it and still keep her family safe.”

  “Who knows what else they might’ve done to her.” Ernie frowned.

  “Good work getting to the bottom of things, guys,” I said. I glanced between them and saw there might be more. “What?”

  Spats hesitated. “Nick was cheating on Rachel with his neighbor, Julie Novack.”

  I frowned. “Does Rachel know that?”

  Ernie shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  I thought for a second. “Are you going to tell her?”

  “Not unless we have to,” Spats said. “I think it’s better that she doesn’t know, unless Julie wants to tell her.”

  I nodded. “I think that’s best, too.”

  Ernie yawned. “That about wraps things up.”

  “Except he has to go through department protocols.” Spats pointed at Ernie. “An officer-involved shooting.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Ernie said gruffly.

  “Rizzo is backing you, right?” I asked.

  He nodded. “It was justified.”

  I looked at each one of them slowly. “I can’t thank you two enough for all you’ve done to make sure you caught who shot me, and more importantly, who killed Nick and Cody.”

  Ernie cleared his throat, and Spats waved a hand.

  “We need you back on the job,” Spats said.

  Ernie nodded as well. “You’d do the same for us.”

  They both got up and smiled at me as they got ready to leave, and Harry walked them to the door. Then he came back to the couch and took my hand.

  “I’ve got two of the best partners in the world,” I said.

  Harry nodded. “They really are great, aren’t they?”

  I looked at him. “And you are, too. This hasn’t been easy for you, either, has it? I’m glad you’re seeing this through with me.”

  He took my hand and kissed it. “I’ll always be here for you.”

  I put my head back and closed my eyes. I was so grateful for that.

  Get the next book in the Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series DEADLY CORRUPTION.

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading this ebook. If you have borrowed this book through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription program, I kindly ask that you close the book here or at the end. This will ensure that the author is properly credited for the book borrow. Thank you.

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  Acknowledgments

  The author gratefully acknowledges all those who helped in the writing of this book, especially: Beth Treat and Beth Higgins. Also a shout-out to Lou Powers for her medical expertise; any health-related mistakes in the novel are mine, not hers.

  Thanks again to Randy Powers, retired, Chief Deputy. His assistance is invaluable, and any mistakes in police procedure are mine.

  If I’ve forgotten anyone, please accept my apologies.

  To all my beta readers: I am in your debt!

  Maureen Anderson, Tracy Gestewitz, Sherry Ito, Maxine Lauer, Becky Neilsen, Dick Sidbury, Albert Stevens, Marlene Van Matre

  About the Author

  Renée's early career as a counselor gives her a unique ability to write characters with depth and personality, and she now works as a business analyst. She lives in the mountains west of Denver, Colorado and enjoys hiking, cycling, and reading when she's not busy writing her next novel.

  Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents' cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, Colorado, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim.

  She is the author of the Reed Ferguson mysteries, the Dewey Webb historical mysteries, and the Sarah Spillman police procedurals. She also wrote the standalone suspense novels The Girl in the Window and What's Yours is Mine, Nephilim: Genesis of Evil, a supernatural thriller, along with children's novels and other short stories.

  Visit Renée at www.reneepawlish.com.

  Renée’s Bookshelf

  The Sarah Spillman Mysteries

  Reed Ferguson Mysteries Series

  Reed Ferguson Boxsets

  Dewey Webb Historical Mystery Series

  Dewey Webb Boxsets

  The Girl in the Window

  What’s Yours Is Mine

  The Noah Winter Adventure

  (A Young Adult Mystery Series)

  Take Five Collection (Mystery Anthology)

  Nephilim Genesis of Evil (Supernatural Mystery)

  Codename Richard: A Ghost Story

  The Taste of Blood: A Vampire Story

  This War We’re In (Middle-grade Historical Fiction)

  Nonfiction:

  The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within