Retribution: A Psychic Detective Kate Pierce Crime Thriller (Psychic Detective Kate Pierce Crime Thriller Series Book 1)

by C. M. Sutter

  Lutz spoke up. “I talked to the deputy chiefs of patrol in those areas earlier, Kate. They have that covered.”

  An officer sitting in the center of the room turned to me. “You still haven’t said why you think the killer could be a cop.”

  “Call it a gut instinct, but I promise you, I’m not singling out cops. The killer could be anybody who has access or inside information, if you will, about the goings-on of the police force. He somehow found out where Jesse went Sunday night and stalked him until it was time to make his move. He abducted Jesse with his own car and made sure to do it late at night so Jesse wouldn’t be missed until the next day. That’s why there haven’t been any hits on the BOLO alert. Jesse’s car is tucked away somewhere, and it won’t be found until we have the location of where he’s being held.”

  I saw a few nods in the crowd. “The assailant followed me from the police station to Jesse’s house then forced me inside with my own weapon pressed into my back. Yet when he made his unexpected exit, he left my gun and cell phone behind. Why? I’d say it’s because he already had a weapon to use, and his hands were always gloved. He knew we wouldn’t find any prints, anyway. He had less than an hour to kill Officer Lennard from the time I left Jesse’s house until I returned. How did he know Lennard was going to park there? I didn’t know that myself. Does he have a police scanner or radio access? Maybe he and Jeff knew each other? Could that be how Lennard was caught off-guard?” I looked at each face and saw the wheels turning with some of them. “See where I’m going with this? That man thinks and acts like a cop. He knew how and where to find Terry Lewis too. He also knew to leave Terry’s ID behind so law enforcement could easily find out who he was. The murder would be blamed on a rival drug cartel. I don’t have enough yet to be certain, but I’m putting all possibilities out there. The perp could be a vigilante killer. He has an axe to grind with criminals as well as the judicial system. Somebody with an unusual name that begins with an M is involved. That much I’m sure of. Please, if anyone comes to mind, let Sergeant Lutz know. In a nutshell, I’m saying this man hasn’t been caught because he’s always one step ahead of us and knows how we operate.” I turned back to face the sergeant and sat down. “That’s all I have.”

  Lutz took over. “Okay, Detectives, do your job and put the pieces together. Find the cases that both Adam Pitts and Bill Waters worked on at the same time.”

  “We’ve already gathered those cases, Boss.”

  Lutz looked at Detective Gaines. “Good, now see if Jesse was compelled to testify in any of them. There could actually be a connection to everyone in the killer’s mind.” He slapped his hands together. “Let’s go, people. I want answers today.”

  I rose from my chair and approached Lutz. “Sir, I’d like to look over that list of names now if it’s okay.”

  “You bet.” He tipped his head toward the hallway. “I put the roster on a stick for you. It’s in my office.”

  I walked with Lutz to his office, where he offered me a seat. He closed the door behind him then sat at his desk. “You sure you’re barking up the right tree, Kate? Your comments didn’t score any points with my guys.”

  “I’m here to do a job, sir, not to be best friends with the detectives. The perp either has some kind of police training or has worked in the legal field. He knows the ropes. I’ve thought about the possibility of him being with the military or university police. The naval station and the University of Chicago are both nearby, but it wouldn’t explain why he knew or killed a drug dealer. I’ll keep my opinions to myself if that’s what you want, but personally, I’m leaning toward somebody closer to the Chicago police force.”

  Lutz let out a sigh. “You didn’t come here to keep your opinions to yourself. Run everything you know or dream past me first, then we’ll decide how to proceed.” He opened the top drawer and slid the flash drive across the desk to me. “I hope this helps.” The sergeant opened the small refrigerator behind his desk. He pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to me.

  “Thanks. I have one more idea that might be worth checking into.”

  He nodded. “Go ahead.”

  I cracked open the cap and took a sip. “The perp has his own vehicle, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to follow Jesse or me so easily. That’s telling me he drove to the area of Rush Street Sunday night and parked nearby. He had to lie in wait for Jesse to return to his car.”

  “Agreed.”

  I went on. “Henry and I found an area where he could have hidden with a perfect view of Jesse’s car. Henry told you we dropped off the cigarette butts we found in the area at the crime lab.”

  “He did, and I’ll follow up on that.”

  “Thanks. What I’m thinking is, since he drove away in Jesse’s car, his must have been left behind. I’m sure there are plenty of parking tickets issued every day, but what about Sunday night in that general vicinity and possibly a dark-colored SUV? I believe it’s worth checking out.”

  “It is, and I’ll call the Citation Administration Division and have them look into that.”

  I stood and slipped the flash drive into my pocket. “Thanks for having faith in me, sir. We’ll figure this out, I know we will.” I walked out and met up with Henry at his desk.

  Chapter 31

  I pushed Henry’s guest chair to the front of his desk and took a seat next to him. “Are you in the middle of something?”

  “No, why?”

  I pulled the flash drive from my pocket. “We need to use your computer to check out some names. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all, but what’s with the stick?”

  I leaned in and whispered, “Lutz downloaded the entire police roster on it. I’m only looking for a name that starts with an M. I can’t get its importance out of my head. I think that person is somehow connected to this case, but seeing the name seems to be the only way I’ll remember it.”

  “Kate, do you have any idea how many Chicago police officers there are? We have the second largest police force in the country.”

  “I’m sorry, but that name is going to lead us to Jesse, I just know it.”

  Henry gave me a dubious stare. “Okay, but first I’m going to get us some coffee. Going through those names will take hours.”

  I wasn’t sure what to do when Henry’s desk phone rang. He had gone to the lunchroom, and nobody else was paying attention. I hesitated then answered it.

  “Detective Johnson’s phone, Detective Pierce speaking.”

  Lutz spoke up from the other end of the line. “Kate, where’s Henry?”

  “He went to get coffee while I started on the list of names.”

  “Sure, no problem. My call is for both of you, anyway. The citation department is checking on ticketed cars from Sunday night, and the lab called with the results from the cigarettes. Give me a second here.”

  I heard papers rustling and imagined Lutz had either written down what the lab told him or they had hand delivered the results to his office.

  “Here we go. They said the unsmoked cigarettes had no fingerprints on them anywhere. Either they fell out of a pack or the person who dropped them was gloved.”

  I sighed. “I’m sure it could go both ways.”

  “Right. The smoked cigarette butts had partial prints on them but not enough to pull a hit. The DNA test will take longer, but if we have nobody to compare the results to, testing for DNA is a moot point.”

  “I understand. What about the residue in the baggie?”

  “I’ve already passed that information on to the organized crime division. Mills will touch base with Crosley in Narcotics. The substance was meth, just like we assumed it was.”

  “Okay, I’ll let Henry know. Thank you for the update, sir.”

  “What update is that?”

  I hung up the phone and looked over my shoulder. Henry was back with two cups of steaming coffee.

  “That was Lutz. He said the cigarette results were in and didn’t give us anything to go on. He also said the bagg
ie in T-Bone’s pocket contained meth residue.”

  “No surprise there.”

  “Oh yeah, he also said that the citation department is checking to see if they ticketed any cars that were parked overnight Sunday near Rush Street.”

  “Smart thinking.” Henry set the cups on his desk. “Are you ready to dig in?”

  I glanced toward the coffee. “I am now.”

  We spent two hours viewing the list of names then took a much-needed break. “I’m sorry, Henry, but I have to be sure. All I need is that damn name.” I cracked my neck, stretched, and sat back down.

  Moments later, Lutz entered the bull pen and asked for everyone’s attention. “I just got a call from Potter. He and Murray are searching through archived records at the downtown courthouse. So far they’ve found three cases that Jesse testified in where Adam Pitts represented the state and Bill Waters led the defense team.” He pointed at Mills and Gaines. “I told them to continue searching the files and to email what they’ve found so far to you guys. Keep in mind, Jesse worked in Narcotics for nine years before transferring here. There could be a lot of cases to look through. Henry, as soon as I hear back from the citations department, you and Kate will work those leads. Relay whatever you have to the night shift when they get in. They need to put in the legwork too but remind them to give you a heads-up if they learn anything. The budget can’t justify paying everyone overtime, and my ass will be handed to me on a platter if I okay it. I want all of you out of here”—he glanced at his watch—“in forty-five minutes.”

  Mills checked his in-box. “Those three files came in. We’ll get started on them right away.”

  With only forty minutes left to finish the list of names, we got back to work but found nothing—our search was a bust. I felt bad for making Henry endure hours of looking through names and, in the end, coming up empty. Henry shut down his computer just as the night shift guys came in and it was time to tell them what we had and hadn’t accomplished that day.

  The update took only a few minutes. All we had to say was to watch for an email from the citations department with the list of ticketed vehicles from Sunday night. We needed to see a dark-colored SUV somewhere in the area of Rush Street and East Cedar—give or take five blocks in any direction. We didn’t have a make, model, or color, although the SUV could be registered to somebody with a first name of John. It wasn’t much, but it was all we had.

  By six o’clock, I’d said good night to Henry and climbed into the borrowed cruiser. I’d do my best that evening to organize what we had and see if anything made sense.

  Back in my room, I settled in with a cup of tea and got to work. The church bells down the street rang out the half hour. It was already seven thirty, and my brain felt fried. I stared at the nearly blank sheet of legal paper, and after an hour and a half of thinking, I was sure I’d have most of the lines filled in but I was wrong. Feeling defeated, I set the paper down and closed my eyes. My mind needed a break, and that was usually when ideas came to me, but so far, I hadn’t had that aha moment. I knew Jesse’s kidnapping had something to do with my dream of those two men in the white car. I let my mind drift back to the dream and the conversation between the men about gambling debts, an illegal activity, and a risky endeavor.

  Wait a minute! Could it be that simple?

  My eyes popped open, and I grabbed the pad of paper.

  Maybe everything is connected. The illegal activity is the meth itself. Cooking and selling meth is absolutely illegal, and Terry Lewis was a midlevel dealer. Maybe he went to buy the meth from the cooker and got knocked off by him, not by a rival drug dealer. John admitted to killing Officer Lennard, and it turns out the same gun was used to kill Terry Lewis. That means John is the person cooking the meth and was likely the man behind the wheel of the white car.

  I was suddenly thinking faster than I could write, and everything was falling into place. Jesse was a lead detective in Narcotics and worked that unit for nine years. For some reason, John had a grudge against Jesse and possibly those attorneys too, and I didn’t know why, but finding that evidence would tell us who John really was.

  There must have been a trial against a drug dealer where Adam Pitts, Bill Waters, and Jesse McCord were all involved. Maybe Terry Lewis ratted out the dream character whose name starts with an M because he was a direct threat to Terry’s business. He had to be put away because the risky endeavor was actually cooking and selling meth.

  I scribbled down those ideas before they escaped me and continued with that train of thought.

  John had to be the silent partner and the man with a conscience at that time. If the meth lab got shut down when the other guy was busted, it took all of John’s seed money with it. Now he’s stuck cooking meth himself so he can pay back his gambling debts. Terry Lewis probably didn’t even know John was affiliated with the man whose name starts with an M.

  I filled my teacup and continued writing.

  John’s partner is likely serving time, yet John still owes the debt to whoever is strong-arming him. He has no choice. He had to start up the business again on his own. He’s pissed and taking out his rage on everyone who had a part in putting his partner in prison.

  It made total sense. John was the cooker, and that meant he had access to all the meth he needed. He killed both attorneys with a lethal dose to the carotid artery. He was exacting his revenge. Two attorneys were dead, and who knew what his intentions were for Jesse. Officer Lennard and I just happened to get in the way, and unfortunately, Jeff was killed. He was collateral damage, and I would have been next. I still didn’t know how John was always one step ahead of us, though. That information would possibly be revealed as we got closer to the truth.

  I had to explain my theory to Henry or Lutz. I needed an introduction to Jim Crosley, the detective in charge of Terry’s murder investigation. He worked in Narcotics and likely didn’t even realize the valuable information he had. He, if anyone, would know the cases Jesse had worked on while he was in that unit.

  Before I called Henry, I looked over my notes to see if they made sense.

  Chapter 32

  I paced the room as I spoke to Henry. “What do you think? It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  “It makes total sense, Kate, and I’ll call Lutz right now. We need to meet back at the station so the sergeant can review everything you wrote down and make some calls.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I clicked off the call and pocketed my phone. My notes were already gathered and jammed in my purse and my mind was going in a million directions. If my theory was right, the detectives would search the drug charge cases and find the right one. I doubted if John’s name would come up anywhere, but the man whose name began with an M likely would. We’d track him down at whatever prison he was serving time in and interrogate him. I was sure John’s full name would be revealed if we sweetened the deal a bit. First thing tomorrow, I’d have Henry escort me to the narcotics unit of the organized crime division and introduce me to Detective Crosley. I knew I’d find out even more by talking to him.

  I pulled the heavy oak door closed behind me then took the ten steps down to the front gate. A more logical path would be to go out the back of the building, but that exit was used by food-delivery services, employees, and cleaning personnel only. I pressed the gate’s latch, and with the car keys in hand, I stepped out to the public sidewalk, where I had to round the corner and go to the back of the building. I walked out into the night and headed for the guest parking lot while my eyes darted every which way for anyone who could possibly be watching from a darkened area. As I walked, I stayed in the middle of the parking lot, where the light was the brightest, and got to the cruiser without a problem. Inside, I immediately locked the doors and let out a relieved sigh.

  Henry arrived at the police station within seconds of me. I leaned against the cruiser and waited for him to park.

  He approached me with a grin. “You may have cracked the case, Kate.”

  I sm
iled. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, mister. We might have the who and the why, but we still don’t have the where or even John’s real name. His name and address is the link we need to find Jesse.”

  We entered the building together and headed to the bull pen. The night detectives who were checking into the parking citations called us over.

  Danny King spoke up. “Citations issued forty-seven tickets on Sunday night within two miles in every direction of Gibsons.”

  I plopped down on Henry’s guest chair. “They couldn’t squeeze in the parameters closer than that?”

  Danny shrugged. “That’s what they gave us. Anyway, three of those vehicles were SUVs, but none of them were registered to anybody named John.”

  Mark Phelps added his two cents. “And the colors were tan, white, and silver.”

  “Damn it. Maybe he did catch a ride that night after all. He knew in advance that he’d be driving away in Jesse’s car and he wouldn’t have a paper trail, as in a parking ticket to worry about.”

  We heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

  Henry gave me a side-eye glance. “That’s got to be Lutz.”

  We looked toward the door, and seconds later, Sergeant Bob Lutz walked in. He jerked his head at me. “Let’s see what you have, Kate.”

  “Sure thing, sir.” I pulled the bullet-pointed notes out of my purse and unfolded the sheets. I smoothed them out on Henry’s desk and moved aside while Lutz took a seat in Henry’s chair. We watched and waited while he read what I had written down.

  I took note of Lutz’s expression as he rubbed his forehead. He was giving my theory his full attention.

  He gave me a nod. “You may be onto something, Kate.” Lutz jerked his chin at the detectives who were handling the cases from the courthouse. “Did Potter and Murray send over any more files before the courthouse closed?”

  Tom Roberts spoke up. “We have five in total, sir.”

  “Are any drug-related cases?”