by V. K. Powell
He hung up and turned back to Alex. “The MO’s not quite the same as the others. This one is off campus, but I’d like you to take a look anyway.” He scribbled the address on a piece of notepaper and handed it to her. “Come back by when you finish, if it’s not too late, and we’ll wrap up the task force details.”
“Will do, sir.”
Alex was halfway to the door when the chief added, “Whoever is bringing this poison into our town is turning it into a death trap for our young people. I want it stopped, Alex. Whatever it takes, make it happen.”
*
The drive to the crime scene in the low-income housing area of town took only five minutes. Captain Ted Joyner, the evening watch commander, met her in the parking lot of the complex, handed her a pair of latex gloves, and led her into a modestly furnished apartment.
“She’s back here in the bedroom. We still don’t know who she is, didn’t have an ID on her. We’re canvassing the other members of the group.”
“What group?”
“This girl was trying to help organize a community watch group in the neighborhood. Guests from half the complex were in the house and the backyard for a cookout.”
Alex worked her hands into the gloves on her way to the back bedroom. Dodging officers pretending to be busy, she stepped into the small space. The young woman’s body lay face down on the bed. Alex moved in for a closer examination. The body was in full rigor and the skin had an ash-gray tone that made it appear death had occurred days ago instead of hours. “Looks like she had some sort of seizure,” Joyner said.
“Help me roll her over,” Alex directed one of the paramedics standing by the bed. She took one arm and turned the body toward her.
As the victim’s face came into view, Alex froze. Time collapsed around her as she looked into the thinly clouded eyes of Stacey Chambers. Those haunting orbs of once-living human substance begged for help. The young woman’s mouth gaped open. Emesis had dried around her lips and nose. Alex wondered what words had died on Stacey’s lips as her last breath passed over them. A knot rose in her throat and bile churned in her stomach, threatening to escape.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
“Alex, do you know this girl?” Joyner asked.
“Yes. Stacey Chambers. She worked for me as an intern in Vice/Narcotics last summer.” Alex backed up to the door and grabbed the frame for support. “She just graduated from college.”
“You don’t mean Councilman Chambers’s daughter, do you?”
“Yes.” Alex couldn’t take her eyes off the lifeless form that once hosted the lovely and vibrant spirit she knew. Her breath came in staccato bursts. She’d seen more than her share of dead bodies, but never someone she knew, not even her parents. “She didn’t do drugs, Ted. This has to be investigated as a suspicious death. We can’t afford to leave any questions on this one.”
He nodded. “You don’t need to be here. Would you brief the chief? He’ll want to tell the councilman himself.”
“Of course.”
As Alex exited the room and hurried from the apartment, images of Stacey’s contorted features flashed through her mind over and over like a hiccup in an old reel-to-reel movie. Once in the confines of her vehicle, she allowed the hot tears pooling in her eyes to escape. The drive back to police headquarters seemed to take twice as long as the earlier trip.
Chief Lancaster was pacing in his reception area when Alex walked in. He motioned her back into his office and closed the door. “From the look on your face, I’d say you don’t have good news for me.”
“This one hit close to home, Chief. It’ll be in the papers before morning. The dead girl is Stacey Chambers, the city councilman’s daughter. She interned in Vice/Narcotics last summer.”
“Jesus.”
“She collapsed at—of all things—a community watch meeting in one of our low-income neighborhoods. It was called in as an overdose, but she had no drug history. It’s just not possible. I knew her. I worked with her. I’d stake my reputation on it.”
Alex had liked Stacey Chambers immediately and they’d formed a sort of mentoring bond. Stacey wanted to become a drug abuse counselor. Now all that potential was snuffed out. Gone. There was no way on earth Stacey would have been using drugs. Something was badly wrong and Alex planned to get to the bottom of it.
Lancaster wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and shook his head in disbelief. “I’ll have to break the news to Councilman Chambers personally. I can’t imagine losing a child, especially like this.”
“There was no trauma to the body,” Alex said. “But Captain Joyner is handling it as a suspicious death for now. We’ll have to wait for the coroner’s report before we know anything definite.” She flinched at the thought of the state ME impassively probing Stacey’s body in search of clues. “It has all the signs of a drug overdose, but we’ll need to see a copy of the tox report before that can be confirmed.”
“The councilman and the mayor are going to want answers on this one in a hurry.”
“So far, we know the tainted ecstasy in our area is coming from a single source,” Alex replied. “And all our street informants finger Davis as the distributor. If we can link Stacey’s death with the others through the toxicology results, we might be able to follow the trail to Davis and build a case for negligent homicide.”
Chief Lancaster wiped his broad hand over his face again. “I don’t need to tell you how it looks for us when we have a bunch of kids ending up dead because we can’t nail this guy.” He paused. “Get this tied up in a neat little package and we’ll discuss a promotion for you.”
Alex didn’t point out that bringing down Sonny Davis wasn’t all about kudos and a pay raise. “None of those dead kids deserved an end like this. I’m going to find out who’s behind Stacey’s death and weave a chain of evidence so tight that Sonny Davis will never draw another free breath. And some of the asset forfeiture money from his holdings would go a long way in a small department like ours.”
Lancaster nodded. In a pensive tone, he said, “Quite honestly, Alex, I need a perspective like yours on my command staff, a vision beyond the ordinary, if you get my drift. A woman’s perspective.”
Alex’s enthusiasm rose. She couldn’t deny the part of her that was competitive. She wanted to be among the very best at her job, and a promotion would be her ticket to make some long-overdue changes in the department. Her anger boiled just beneath the surface as she remembered her less-than-ceremonious promotion to lieutenant. The good ol’ boys’ club worked hard to keep people like her and Lancaster “in their places.” The chief had struggled to diversify the force from the bottom up without much support. Many of the white male supervisors in the five-hundred-member department viewed him with distrust. It would really chap their asses if she made captain. Meantime, finding Stacey’s killer and putting Sonny Davis away came first. She would have plenty of time to think about getting the railroad tracks on her collar later.
Chief Lancaster continued. “Now, about the task force team. DEA will kick in a techie to help with surveillance and hardware. Caldwell PD is contributing one detective and Layton PD will send a black male-and-female team. You’ll be choosing a sergeant and two detectives from our department.”
Anxiety shot through Alex’s system like splinters. Layton’s involvement could be problematic, given her history with an ex who worked there, but she could handle Helen Callahan if their paths crossed. Adrenaline surged as she began to map her plan of attack. “What are the limits on my choices internally?”
“Actually, there’s only one.” Lancaster studied her closely for a moment before explaining, “I know you have a history with Keri Morgan, but one of my commanders submitted her name to serve on the team. He thinks very highly of her and I have to admit, her narcotics work in the field is quite impressive.”
Something about the chief’s hesitation stirred anxiety in the pit of Alex’s stomach and she gently chewed the inside of her cheek. Her first instinct was to raise an
objection, but she counted slowly to ten. The investigation into Keri’s partner was old news. She didn’t want her boss to think she would allow emotional baggage to affect her decision making.
“I’m certain you’ve moved on and I’d like to give her a chance to do the same,” he said, making her glad she’d kept silent. “One of the things I admire most about you, Alex, is that you never let your feelings get in the way of the job. You have connections to both Stacey Chambers and Keri Morgan, but I’m confident you’ll put the job first.”
Alex forced a smile and hoped the same could be said when this assignment was over. Her mind flashed to Keri Morgan, stooping to pick up the papers, her clinging red top leaving little to the imagination. “I’ll do my best, Chief. So I’ll be choosing a detective and a sergeant?”
Lancaster nodded and stood, signaling the end of their meeting. “I’ll send out the order this afternoon. Start recruiting immediately. You’ll work out of the office next door to Vice/Narcotics. The mutual aid agreements have already been signed. If you hit any roadblocks with the other agencies or their reps, let Wayne run interference for you. I want you totally focused on this. Any questions?”
“No, sir…and thank you again. I won’t let you down.”
Alex left the chief’s office torn between exhilaration and apprehension. The earlier conversation with Keri replayed in her mind. The last thing Alex or this assignment needed was a team member with a grudge. If Keri was serious about moving into Vice/Narcotics, this would be the ideal opportunity. If she wanted to prove herself, she would have to toughen up.
Alex headed for the afternoon lineup with a sense of anticipation she hadn’t felt in a long while. Her feelings had nothing to do with Keri Morgan, she reasoned, but her heart continued to beat faster than it should. Alex found that very unusual.
Chapter Two
In the musty police locker room, Keri switched mechanically from street clothes into her uniform, her mind on the frustrating woman she’d left at the elevators twenty minutes earlier. Alex Troy still had the power to intrigue her and anger her after three years. No one ever had that effect. Keri could not understand why her reactions to the arrogant lieutenant seemed to be frozen in time. She would never forget the browbeating she’d received over the complaint of excessive force against her partner. Alex had practically accused her of being complicit in the battering of a suspect and of lying during the investigation. Her emotionless questioning and nitpicky badgering were typical of administrative pencil pushers who hadn’t worked the street in years. What level of detachment allowed her to turn on her fellow officers? Was her motivation strictly political, her aim merely to hurdle another rung in the departmental hierarchy?
Keri thought back to the encounter at the elevator and flushed again. She’d rehearsed her next meeting with Alex Troy a hundred times since the day of that interview, planning on a calm discussion. She wanted to provide a levelheaded account of events that would clear her partner’s name and restore her own reputation. In her imaginary encounter, Alex would realize she’d been wrong and she and Keri would become…what, friends? Amiable coworkers?
It infuriated Keri that when she saw Alex today, she was too disconcerted to think calmly. The gorgeous, auburn-haired woman with the roguish grin seemed at odds with the coldhearted, ambitious lieutenant locked in Keri’s memory. The lightly etched lines of her face were carved by a greater depth of caring than Keri recalled. And the gaze from her cinnamon-brown eyes had the precision of a laser and was equally impossible to hold.
Keri pushed Alex Troy from her mind. The last thing she needed before going on shift was to be distracted by a three-year-old nightmare and a woman she probably wouldn’t see again for three more years. She snapped the keepers securing her ten-pound gun belt to the smaller pants belt, grabbed the brown paper bag her mother had filled for the squad, and headed to lineup.
“That’s my girl,” Brian Saunders, her zone partner, yelled when she entered the small assembly area just outside the lineup room. “More snacks from Mama Marie?”
The other six officers redirected their attention from gun cleaning and inched closer as she placed the bag on the rickety metal-legged table. “Yeah, she thought you guys might not get a dinner break. Dig in. There are enough ham biscuits to go around. But only once.”
One of the other officers piped up. “You know, I’d ask your mom to marry me if she wasn’t already attached.”
“Right, I know your wife would appreciate that,” Keri replied. “By the way, how are she and the baby doing?”
“Good. She said thanks for coming by the hospital and for the gift you sent.”
“Sure, no problem.” Keri grabbed her hat and fell in line for inspection as Sergeant Larry Barnes entered the gray-walled lineup area. The distinctively pungent odors of solvent and gun oil permeated the air as officers holstered freshly cleaned weapons and moved to the side of the room.
“Lieutenant Troy from Vice/Narcotics is with us today,” Barnes announced. “She’ll address you after inspection.”
Alex marched into the cramped room and stood opposite Sergeant Barnes in formation. Keri wondered why she was here. Perhaps to skewer another unfortunate officer in return for a second bar on her collar.
Keri conducted a thorough appraisal of the lieutenant, which embarrassment and haste had prevented earlier. A beige linen jacket accentuated her neatly cropped auburn hair. Threads of silver at each temple gave her an air of distinction. She wore tailored jeans and a white cotton blouse that clung to her muscular body. Except for the beginnings of crow’s feet, Alex’s years of experience weren’t physically evident. She exuded the energy of a rookie with the confidence of a seasoned officer. The combination was almost breathtaking.
Keri stole a glance at her eyes, wondering if she’d imagined the sorrow she glimpsed there earlier. Something in Alex’s expression told a story of too closely guarded emotion. How did a woman so attractive and accomplished arrive at such a desolate place? Maybe stepping on the little people was taking a toll.
After calling the squad to attention, Sergeant Barnes waddled toward the end of the line and began his methodical inspection. He sidestepped in front of each officer, scrutinizing hair length, shine of hat and breast badges, press of uniform, placement of tie tack, and finally gloss of leather gear and shoes. When he stopped in front of her, Keri prayed he wouldn’t linger as he often did, staring needlessly at her breast badge or trouser cut. His overattention made her the butt of jokes from guys on the squad. To her relief, he passed quickly with only a cursory glance at her uniform, leaving the stench of stale cigarettes in his wake.
Her relief was momentary as he executed a military-style turn and continued the inspection behind the officers. “Morgan, button that pocket.” He poked her left buttock with his pudgy finger.
Keri caught her bottom lip between her teeth and continued to look straight ahead. She thought she saw Alex’s jaw tense as she snapped a return salute to Barnes and stepped forward to speak.
After ordering the squad to stand easy, she said, “I’ve been advised by Chief Lancaster that I’ll be heading up a task force to target Sonny Davis and his expanding drug and prostitution business. As some of you may know, Councilman Chambers’s daughter was found dead of an apparent drug overdose earlier today.” Her throaty, enticing voice seemed to fracture slightly and Keri had the impression she was containing a strong emotion. “Sonny Davis may be connected to this young woman’s death. He probably sold the drugs responsible.”
Keri found herself fascinated by the way Alex stood and the confidence she exuded. Her slender fingers sliced the air in controlled gestures, their perfectly manicured nail tips healthy with a shine free of polish. She made direct eye contact with each officer, her intense gaze a quiet plea and a challenging invitation to action. No wonder her subordinates followed so readily.
“I’m sure most of you are familiar with this guy’s history,” Alex continued. “But for the new and uninformed, Davis is the
kingpin of narcotics and prostitution in the city. He drives an old-model Cadillac, pale yellow in color, with personalized tag ‘SD.’”
One of the officers cautiously interrupted. “If he’s so bad, why haven’t we nailed him before now?”
“Davis has the highest paid lawyers and the best Teflon coating I’ve seen in years. We haven’t been able to get anyone inside his operation. Hopefully this task force will change that.”
“We’re going to infiltrate Davis’s organization?” The voice was skeptical.
Alex shook her head. “Infiltration is probably not going to be a possibility, but we’re considering all options. Our best chance may be a hand-to-hand buy directly from him through a trusted source. This isn’t going to be a glamour job. There’ll be a lot of grunt work. Information and intelligence gathering, surveillance, and informant buys before we even think about trying to nail this guy. I’ll be assembling my team over the next few days. If any of you are interested, please let me know. Also, if you encounter Davis or his associates, use extreme caution. They’re usually armed. Forward all intelligence up the chain to my office so we can keep building our case against him.”
Alex exchanged a glance with Keri and a spark flashed between them. Keri had never seen such intensity or singularity of purpose before, but there was something else, something she couldn’t name. Keri weighed her chances of being chosen for the task force, considering her history with the lieutenant. Her next thought caused even more consternation: Why would I want to be on a team supervised by someone I can’t trust? Her heart sank. The opportunity was everything she could have hoped for, but her dream of becoming a narcotics officer evaporated. Alex could pick and choose. Why would she pick someone who had insulted her?
Barnes dismissed the troops and followed Alex into the cubicle adjacent to the lineup room. Behind them, Keri veered into a musty supply room and sensed immediately she shouldn’t be there. Alex’s calm but forceful voice penetrated the wall.
