by Kelly Shade
“With Vaughan’s family was the same. Nothing at all,” said Ian sadly and Mila nodded in agreement.
Nick Lee and Sam Klein were as sad as Ian and Mila. Nick started explaining why.
“The guard was a loner. He had no family, and he lived alone. We checked his one-bedroom apartment. Nothing exciting. He was an ordinary guy who had only his work. No friends outside the store.”
“On the bright side, we had luck.” Hunt was pleased to see that only he and Ryan didn’t waste their time. “The owner said there is GPS in two diamond rings. Unfortunately, they turned it off. If it is still with them; Gray will turn it on remotely, but I think they got rid of it.”
Ryan stopped the furious typing and looked up.
“Yeah, the GPS is two blocks away from the store.”
Hunt sighted and continued.
“Okay, Blake I want you to look at the video from the robbery. Well, at least the beginning of the robbery. Gray, turn it on, please.”
Jane leaned on Ryan’s chair and now she was literally on his head. He glanced at her but didn’t say anything and played the video.
Three people entered. They wore military clothes and their faces were covered faces. The smallest of them pushed the door and locked it with a chain; then he went to every camera in the store and sprayed it with black paint. Meanwhile, the other two were threatening the people with rifles. That was all they could see of the whole record. The robbery team said this wasn’t the first time for those people. Two galleries and three small jewelry shops in the last three months but they hadn’t killed until now.
“Isn’t it weird?” asked Ryan thoughtfully “You said they robbed only small places, but this one is the biggest store in LA, and they killed three people. Why this one now?”
The agents were puzzled. There was no way of catching these thieves with so little information. Hunt noticed that Jane was convincing herself to talk. She wasn’t wondering what to do, but she was hesitating about whether she should speak.
“Blake? Do you want to share your thoughts?” asked Hunt politely.
Jane looked at him. She was trying to decide if she could trust them. A moment later she spoke with a quiet voice.
“I know who they are.”
“What? And you didn’t say anything till now?” Klein shouted, and Jason slapped him on the arm.
“I didn’t know until now, obviously!” Jane raised her voice. “When I saw the video, I recognized their body language.”
“Who are they, Jane?” asked Ryan kindly.
“Denis Petkovic is the tallest. Alfredo Salles is the other man.” She took a breath “The woman I don’t know.”
“How do you know it is a woman? We all saw the record; I can’t tell if there was a woman,” mocked Mila.
“Because you are not paying attention,” Jane said. “Her movement is typical for a woman.”
“What else can you tell us about them?” Ian was curious. “How do you know them?”
“My first heist . . . worked with them in New York. Just one time. I haven’t seen them since. I have no idea why they are in California.”
Ryan, Ian, Nick and Connor glanced at Jane with disappointment and anger. She hadn’t said anything about them when they asked her after the shooting.
“Ryan, check for the properties they or their siblings or parents own,” ordered Jane with a cold tone.
Gray opened his mouth to protest, but Nick tapped him on the shoulder and gestured for him to get to work.
“Adkins, help him. Start with the siblings, if they have any.”
Mila Adkins sat next to Ryan and took one of the laptops.
Jane preferred to wait at her desk. Jason Carter went after her and made himself comfortable in Gray’s chair. They waited half hour in silence. The only sounds in the office were breathing and typing.
“Found something.” Adkins broke the silence.
“Me too,” said Ryan.
They gathered again. Mila found just two apartments in Beverly Hills owned by Miranda Salles, Alfredo’s step-sister. Ryan, on the other hand, found five places_three houses, one cabin, and one plot of land.
“The apartments are not likely, the land either,” Jane said. “I guess one of the houses. Where are they?”
Before Ryan could answer, Mila Adkins spoke with an arrogant voice. “We have to send teams to all the places. We are not going to catch them with guesses. Right, Klein?” she turned to her boss.
“I’ll go with Ms. Blake’s idea. I don’t think chief Wilson will be thrilled if we spend resources on probabilities.”
Jane chose to ignore them and asked, “Tell me the locations.”
Ryan opened a map and showed the addresses of the three houses.
“Can you access street cameras near that one?” Jane pointed out the house she suspected most.
“Yeah, sure,” answered Ryan and a minute later he got cameras from the near gas station, ATM and even the neighbor’s security camera that he shouldn’t have access to.
“Nice!” cheered Nick.
“It has to be here.” Jane was carefully looking at the footage.
“Well, there is no movement at all, so what about checking somewhere else?” insisted Adkins.
“It’s here. And you won’t see any movement because they are hiding.” Jane pointed to the house. “Look, the blinds are down even though it is a wonderful day.”
“Maybe, someone is on night shift at work, and he is sleeping and doesn’t want the sun in his eyes. You ever thought about that?” continued Adkins.
“If you were right, the blinds would be down only in the bedroom, not on the first floor where the sun can barely show.” Jane turned to Hunt. “Go check that one.”
“Okay, Hunt check that one, but my team will check the other places,” said Klein. “Carter, Adkins, go to that one.” He pointed to the other house on the list. “I’ll go check the cabin.”
“Great! We are going with Jane’s idea. Lee, Valdez with me; Gray, Blake stay here in case something pops up,” Hunt ordered and stormed out with Ian and Nick.
“Why didn’t you tell us about them?” Ryan asked with irritation.
“I told you, it was my first and last heist with them. I just forgot to mention them, that’s all. What’s with you today?”
“I’ll believe you.” Ryan calmed a little bit “Nothing. I’m just . . . Do you want to have a drink later?”
“We can have a drink now if you need it that much,” smiled Jane.
“I meant like a date, that kind of drink.”
“Oh . . . well, no. Sorry.” The answer came without any sense of tact. “Don’t you have any restrictions here about dating colleagues?”
“No, we don’t.” Ryan was angry again.
Jane found it funny how two men asked her on a date in one day.
Since Ryan didn’t want to talk, Jane went back to her chair. They had to wait for news about the case. Of course, the robbery team came back first with nothing. After them team homicide returned, each of them holding one suspect. Hunt was glowing about the fact that they caught the bad guys, and the robbery unit had nothing.
The interrogation rooms were filled with people. In the first one, Hunt and Ryan were speaking to Gabbie Hyde, the woman in the crew. The second was for Klein, Carter and Jane’s old friend, Alfredo Salles. And the last was occupied by Ian and Nick who tried to convince Denis Petkovic to say where the missing, stolen stuff was. They found half of the jewels on the suspects, but the other half wasn’t in the house with them.
No one was speaking. The thieves were smart enough to ask for a lawyer.
The happy faces from before were gone after the two teams left the interrogation rooms with no results.
“No one is speaking.”
Jane stood in her place for a minute to think and then ran to Hunt.
“Put them in one room. I want to talk with them together.”
“They lawyered up,” huffed Hunt.
“Before the attorneys are h
ere. Come on, I have a plan!” she said excitedly.
Hunt didn’t believe she could make them talk, but, in his opinion, it was worth a try, so he did what Jane asked.
“Ryan, come on. We need a confession. The killer in one of them. ” Jane took Ryan’s forearm and dragged him inside the room with the three convicts.
“Jane Blake!” screamed one of them “I heard, but I didn’t believe it! You are a cop! Damn!”
“Yeah, Denis, I am a consultant,” Jane said. She was not using her normal voice. “I thought you were not a killer. Since when do you like shooting people, Denis?”
“Me, a killer, come on girl, you know me!” He laughed, but a second later he realized what he had done.
“Okay, and you my dear Alfredo?” Jane turned to the other one.
“Blake, I respected your work. Now you are a disgrace to the profession!” he shouted with a Latino accent.
“Okay, fair enough.” Jane laughed “Now tell me how do you like Denis fucking your girl?”
“Shut up, bitch!” Gabbie Hyde had a squeaky teenage voice which made Ryan jump off his chair.
“Watch the language!” Ryan said.
“What’s up, Alfredo? You didn’t know?” Jane continued teasing. “Our Denis is a sneaky bastard. He took Viki from you, don’t you remember? And I will not start the story about me.”
“Fuck you, Blake!” Denis was mad.
“You couldn’t, that’s my point,” Jane nagged “Anyway, so Alfredo, you want to take the fault for these two? To be charged with murders you didn’t commit?”
“Hell, no! I didn’t kill anyone!” Alfredo murmured and turned to his girlfriend. “Is it true, Gabbie?”
“Of course not!” she choked.
“Denis?” Alfredo was looking at him with hate.
“No, bro! You know she is trying to make us turn on each other!”
Alfredo stared at the floor for a little while. Jane and Ryan were patiently waiting. A few moments later Alfredo spoke.
“It was them. They shot the guard and then the couple.”
“Now, we’re getting somewhere!” Jane was glowing.
“You, fuckin’ liar, you know she shot them! You will pin this on me just because I fucked your whore?” Denis stood up, and Ryan had to push him back.
“I knew it!” Alfredo punched Denis and Ian stormed in to prevent the fight from escalating. Jane turned to the woman.
“Gabbie, Gabbie, Gabbie. We both know these two don’t have it in them. To kill someone. You need balls for that.”
“Damn! I know they’re just barking dogs. When the guard pointed his gun, you know what they did? Nothing!” Gabbie said calmly. “I had to do all the job.”
“Why did you shoot the couple?” Ryan asked
“How should I know they just wanted to hide? I thought they wanted to do something stupid,” she said with boredom.
“I think now we know who the killer is. Our job here is done! Come on, Ryan, I’ll make coffee!” smiled Jane and Ryan dropped Denis’ hand immediately and went after her.
Jane handed out the coffee, but this time it was not in porcelain cups but in plastic ones. Ryan glanced at the cups. “Why is that?”
“We want to get the stolen jewels, don’t we?” asked Jane.
“Of course, but they didn’t tell us where they are.” Ryan was confused.
“Because I didn’t want them to tell us. I want our team to close the robbery and the homicide cases. Got it?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Still puzzled, Ryan ran after her to the car. “Where do you think they are?”
“There is only one place in town, and only one person in Cali who can buy that expensive stolen stuff.” Jane smiled widely.
“Garry Skinner?” asked, Ryan but he knew the answer. “Your guy.”
“Mmmm.”
They drove to a small house near the one where they found the thieves. Ryan couldn’t understand what they were doing there. It looked abandoned. Jane explained the pawnshop was for emergencies and not for planned hits. Here was the place he usually did his business. “Probably he didn’t even pay for the jewelry,” finished Jane.
“Why?”
“Because when it is a planned hit, it means the police may be involved. So Garry takes the stolen stuff and pays a week after, so if the cops ask him where did he got these things, he says friends asked him to keep it, and he didn’t know they were stolen. If the thieves want to rattle him, they can’t prove anything since they don’t have the money. It’s a win-win for him.”
“I thought he wasn’t very bright.” Ryan was impressed.
“He isn’t. I offered him the idea.” Jane said a little ashamed.
They knocked on the door, and after Skinner heard Jane’s voice, he opened it immediately.
“My best . . .” he started, but Jane interrupted.
“I’m with the LAPD now, Garry. Behave!”
“Oh my God! Jane Blake a cop!” His smile changed into terrified curved expression.
“It’s okay, Garry, just give me the stuff Denis and Alfredo gave you.”
Skinner looked at her with fear and went behind an old sheet which divided the living room. A minute later he went out with a black sack full of diamonds, rubies, and God knows what else. He handed it unwillingly to Ryan.
“Thanks, Garry. See ya around . . . probably!” Jane was about to walk out the door, but Ryan stopped her. “What?” Jane asked with surprise.
“Don’t you think we have to arrest him?” Ryan asked seriously.
“No. Leave him alone.” For a millisecond Jane turned from happy jumping girl to evil.
Garry Skinner was in a dilemma about whether he should run or stay. Ryan hesitated but agreed with Jane.
The way back felt longer. Jane and Ryan didn’t say a word to each other. He was pissed at her, and she was mad at him. With the bag full of jewelry worth millions, Gray and Blake entered the office. It was the end of the workday, so only the two teams were in the building. Since nobody informed them where Jane and Ryan were going, Hunt welcomed them with surprise. “What are you two doing here? I thought you went home. We got our murderer.”
“But we don’t have half of the stolen stuff, right?” Jane pretended she didn’t have them in her hand.
“Yes, but this is our job, Ms. Blake,” Klein said as politely as he could.
“Don’t worry, we did your job for you!” Ryan mocked with the most arrogant face he could make.
Adkins opened her mouth to argue, but Carter stopped her.
“Great, where is it?”
“Here.” Jane made a glib smile and handed over the bag.
Full of curiosity the team jumped on it to see if she really had it. Adkins, with the list the owner made, was checking every item and it turned out everything was there. Only Klein, as a boss, was happy about the closed case. The others were more than annoyed that Jane did all the work.
Happy or not, everyone was prepared to go home after the exhausting day. Jason waited for Jane. Ryan too. It was a very confusing situation, but Jane didn’t have the scruples and said sharply.
“See you tomorrow.” She turned from Gray to Carter. “Ryan.”
“See you! Have a nice evening, Blake,” Ryan said and nodded to Jason as a goodbye.
“So?” Jason said the moment his competition went in the elevator.
“So,” Jane said mysteriously, “Let’s go have a drink.”
“I know an awesome place!” Jason’s happiness was written on his face “Shall we?” he offered his hand, but Jane walked by it with a smile.
Chapter 8
H.G. Rewera
With a twenty-four-carat smile Jane entered the small apartment. She met Nick at the door, and her smile froze. Nick’s expression suggested the victim was either in horrible condition or he knew the person. For a moment Jane hesitated wondering if she should leave him alone, but then she realized it was her job to ask questions.
“What’s wrong?”
“Come and see f
or yourself! You were right. And we didn’t believe you,” Nick answered with guilt.
Jane got confused. It was good that Nick didn’t personally know the victim. All thoughts disappeared when Jane entered the small room, and an awful view was revealed. A horrific and familiar scene made Jane forget about the great time she had last night. The team was gathered around the victim. They all observed without saying a word. Ryan stepped aside to leave space for Jane. Blake nodded at the others instead of saying hi and looked down.
A woman, maybe in her early twenties, was lying face-down on the floor. The blood from her cut veins was still dripping slowly, making the blood pool more prominent. The chair, the rope, everything like the first time. The victim’s shirt was torn at her waist and through her belly button. Already cold, she’d been dead for hours. Her eyes were open, glazed over, empty. Ian lifted her blouse with fear. The hole in her back suggested she was killed with a long, thin blade, stabbed directly in the heart. The poem written on her skin completed the terrifying image. Mascara on her eyelashes, red lipstick, red nails recently polished. It was the serial killer no one believed in. It was no one’s fault, but the guilt everyone felt was making the atmosphere tense and oppressive. Jane took a deep breath, looked at her colleagues and read the text on the woman’s back.
Scream and shout my doll
Dark is it as in your soul
the blade is deep, your heart so small
the end is coming really slow
I’m here, and you can’t make me go
I’ll enjoy the bloody show . . .
H.G. Rewera
Jane lifted her eyes to see the reactions of the team.
“I guess this is what he calls himself_H.G. Rewera.” When she saw Ryan’s horrified face, she decided to stop talking. Hunt shook a little bit, cleared his throat and spoke very slowly.
“We . . . we have to talk to the roommate. She’s waiting outside.”
Everyone rushed through the door as if their lives depended on it. Jane stayed for few more minutes to take a good look at the apartment. The pictures hanging on the walls were of family and girlfriends, so no boyfriend. The kitchen was clean and tidy; just two bags of chips were lying in the cupboard. An empty fridge and no coffee in the apartment suggested that the women were working almost all the time and used this place just to sleep. As Jane was turning the pages of the calendar on the victim’s nightstand, Nick opened the door, slamming it into the wall. He called out with a concerned voice. “Please, come, we can’t calm the roommate. She’s in shock. I think she’ll collapse.”
