by C. M. Sutter
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to be sure. You Monroe women are gung ho when it comes to apprehending criminals, and I didn’t want to jump the gun.”
“Okay, here’s the video. I’m going to fast-forward it until his hands are on the bar.”
There were plenty of times his hands were visible, but the best image was when he reached across the bar for the bill. An entire shot of the back of his right hand showed up. I froze the footage when it reached that spot.
“Oh my God!”
I gave Jade a wide-eyed stare. “What?”
“I just had a flashback of the accident. It must have been buried in my subconscious until now. A man opened my car door, and I reached for his hand and asked him to help me. He leaned into the car and pressed his hand against me—it was full of tattoos. It was definitely Craig who cut my brake lines, followed me, and watched the crash from a distance. He was there to finish me off.” Jade closed her eyes for a second. “Thank you, God, for bringing that woman and the doctor to my car. They interrupted his plan in the nick of time.”
I couldn’t imagine the close call Jade had gone through that night, and Kate would have been next.
Jade looked closely at the tattoos on Craig’s hands. She pointed at the dots in black ink on his knuckles. “Wow, that’s scary. That’s prison ink, and it represents the number of people he’s killed. I’ve been around enough inmates in my years of service to know that. They like to brag.”
Kate looked astonished. “So he’s killed other people?”
“According to the ink on his knuckles, yes. It could be BS or not, but we don’t know for sure.” She grinned at Kate and me. “One thing we do know is that he served prison time somewhere, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar it was at USP Atlanta.” Jade gulped her beer and grabbed three more out of the refrigerator. “The last thing I need to know tonight is if that was Craig you were texting after dinner.”
Kate nodded. “It was, so what’s our plan?”
Chapter 43
We had spent the last two hours going over our options. None of us wanted Kate to be questioned for not revealing her suspicions earlier. Without solid proof of wrongdoing on Craig’s part, we knew our hands were tied, anyway. If we revealed our suspicions at tomorrow’s meeting, Kate could get away with only a stern warning from Jack for not sharing her thoughts earlier in the week.
“We could have Todd pull up the facial recognition software and see if there’s a match of Craig’s face in the prison system. At least we’d have his real name and learn where, and for what crime, he served time,” I said.
“True, but you need Jack’s okay to do that.” Jade turned to Kate. “What story are you going to spin to have Craig’s face entered into the database?”
“I’ll be honest with everyone. I did have those nightmares, and Craig does look a lot like the man in my dreams. I’ll admit to reviewing the tape from Tap and Tavern. The bar video confirmed the black jacket with the red zipper tabs belonged to Craig.”
“But you knew that before you viewed the tape,” Jade said.
“I’ll say the jacket was in my dream too.” Kate sighed. “There I go again, depending on my dreams to do my job. I’m a damn good detective, and I want my colleagues to realize that.”
I patted Kate’s shoulder. “There’s no crime in depending on both, unless you don’t tell anyone what you know. We’ll explain who we suspect in the meeting tomorrow, have Todd pull up the facial recognition software, and then see if there’s a hit. We’ll learn that snake’s real name and where he served time. My guess is that he was at USP Atlanta and well acquainted with Tony Lynch.”
Jade spoke up. “Don’t forget, it took coconspirators to get Craig set up with a vehicle, weapons, and money if he actually was just released from prison. He needed a way to support himself as well as instructions about what to do and photographs of his targets. Somebody has been coaching him for a while.”
I shuddered. “That’s more than scary. To actually know that you’re on somebody’s hit list is terrifying, yet proving it is another thing.”
“You will. If Craig was really an inmate anywhere, the facial recognition software will pull up all his information. You’ll know what’s going on tomorrow, and then you can move in on that weasel.”
“But we have no idea what he’s driving or where he’s staying,” Kate said.
Jade carried our empty beer bottles into the kitchen. “North Bend isn’t that big of a town. He has to be hanging out somewhere nearby to be readily available. Put your heads together tomorrow and set a trap. The problem is, Kate, you may end up being the bait.”
Chapter 44
We shivered in the car as I drove to work. That January day was starting out clear, cold, and brisk. Kate sat on her hands as the seat warmer heated up.
“I’m nervous as hell, Amber.”
“About what?”
“About bringing up Craig at our morning meeting. Jack is going to be pissed that I haven’t mentioned my suspicions earlier.”
“Don’t bring up dates unless you’re asked. The dreams were real. It just took a few days to tie everything together.” I gave her a quick glance as I turned out of the subdivision. “We don’t actually know that Craig’s the culprit, but we will soon enough if there’s a hit on the facial recognition software. That man—if he’s guilty—needs his ass thrown back in prison before he tries an attempt on your life. Jade got lucky. Don’t forget that.”
Kate gave me a solemn look. “I know, and I’m so thankful she’s okay.”
We arrived at the sheriff’s office at 7:50 a.m. Kate sucked in a deep breath of cold air as we crossed the lot to the front entrance.
“You’ll be okay. I have your back.” I gave her a wink. “Always.”
Jack sat at his desk, reading the morning news on his computer with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. Clayton and Billings had just arrived and were hanging their coats when we entered the bull pen.
“Cold enough for you this morning?” Billings asked, his nose and cheeks still bright red from the chill.
I grunted my displeasure for the minus fifteen-degree morning temperature.
Kate snickered. “Thank God for seat warmers. They warm up a hell of a lot faster than the heater does. The damn car was still cold when we got here.”
I hung my coat and headed straight for the coffeepot. “Want a cup, Kate?”
“Of course. It’ll thaw me out.”
Jack pushed away from his desk and entered the bull pen. He grabbed my guest chair and took a seat. “Morning, everyone.”
“Morning, boss,” we said in unison.
“No sense in heading to the conference room. Let’s conduct our meeting right here. Horbeck and Jamison didn’t get anything substantial to follow up on from the tip line calls last night. Our description of Marvin’s killer was just too vague.”
I raised my brows at Kate as I placed the cup of coffee on her desk. She knew it was time to speak up.
“Boss?”
Jack turned and faced Kate. “Yep?”
“We actually do have substantial information to discuss, and it isn’t related to the tip line. I think we should have our meeting in the conference room, if you don’t mind.”
Jack’s eyes lit up. “Did you have a breakthrough in a dream?”
“Sort of but mixed with good detective work too, sir.”
He stood and slapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s go. Grab your notepads.”
I gave Kate a shoulder squeeze as we walked the hallway. I tucked my laptop under my left arm. We’d need the laptop soon enough. “It’ll be okay. We don’t have anything yet except the bar video, but if Craig’s face is identified in the system, then all bets are off. It’s going to be an all-out manhunt for that creep, and it’s thanks to you.”
We took our usual seats with Jack at the head of the table. He wiped down the whiteboard in preparation of what Kate was about to say to the group. Jack gave her a nod. “You’ve got the floor and everybod
y’s attention, Kate. Go ahead.”
“Thank you. I’ve had several nightmares this week”—she looked at each of us—“and I’m sorry for keeping them to myself. I didn’t realize at the time that the villain in my dream was an actual person because I hadn’t met him yet.” Kate gave me a smile. “And I want to apologize to Amber for getting angry for telling everyone I had that nightmare. I was embarrassed at the time because I didn’t think it was related to our case. I’ve changed my mind.”
Jack leaned forward in his chair. “What have you learned since then?”
“I believe my dream character is the man Amber and I met at Tap and Tavern a few days ago. Of course, without any proof, I can’t randomly accuse every person who’s in my dreams of being a murder suspect.”
Jack stood. “What’s the man’s name?” He held a dry-erase marker in his hand.
“He said his name is Craig Hartman, but we’ve done a thorough Google search. We haven’t found anyone named Craig Hartman that matches his description.”
Billings spoke up. “Other than looking like your dream character, what makes him suspect?”
“He has uncharacteristic tattoos for the type of man he’s trying to represent, but the main reason is that the suspect we’ve focused on from the Candyman surveillance tape was wearing the same jacket Craig had on at Tap and Tavern. I recognized the jacket from a dream or from seeing somebody wear it, but I couldn’t connect it to anyone in particular.”
“So how did you remember it was his?” Clayton asked.
“I went back to Tap and Tavern yesterday and asked to see the bar tape. I didn’t want to accuse anyone unless I was sure, and even then, a matching jacket wouldn’t be enough evidence to convict somebody of a crime.”
It was my turn to speak up. “That’s why I had Ty send me that tape. Boss, we have a full-face visual of Craig paying the tab at the bar. I know the man walking into the hardware store vestibule can’t be identified because there wasn’t a clear image of him, but what if Todd tried to pull a facial recognition on Craig and see if he’s in the database? If he isn’t, then we go back to square one without accusing the guy of any wrongdoing. On a side note,” I said, as I powered up my laptop, “Jade gave us a bit of information that we didn’t know about.”
Jack gave me a stern look. “Jade is in on this?”
“She isn’t in on it, we live together. I can’t kick her out of the room every time we discuss something.”
Jack sighed and tipped his chin at me. “Okay, go ahead.”
“She gave us some good intel, and you’ll see what I mean in a second.” I logged in and clicked on the email attachment from Ty. “Gather around.” Clayton, Billings, and Jack stood at my back as I opened the video file. “Kate, you want to narrate? This is your case.” I gave her a quick grin.
“Okay, as you can see, Amber is on the left, I’m on the right, and Craig is to the right of me. He seemed overly friendly to a creepy degree.”
“Yeah, isn’t he the guy who paid for your lunches after knowing you for five seconds?” Clayton asked.
I nodded. “Yep, the very one, and in hindsight, it might make sense now.”
Kate continued. “Anyway, you can see the black jacket with the red zipper tabs hanging over his barstool.”
“No shit,” Billings said as he leaned in, his chin on top of my head.
“Excuse me.” I batted him away.
He chuckled. “Sorry, kiddo.”
“Here’s what Jade noticed.” Kate pointed at Craig’s hands when he reached across the bar to pay for the lunches.
I paused the video.
“Yeah, the guy’s hands are covered in tats. That is kind of weird,” Clayton said.
“True, but look a little closer.” I clipped the frame and zoomed in on his hands. “Look at his knuckles.” I turned to Jack. “Jade said you’d know what these mean.”
“What the hell? Those are prison tats indicating how many murders he’s committed.”
I nodded. “Bingo. We had no idea until Jade pointed that out last night. She even had a flashback of the pileup. She remembered seeing those hands reaching into her crashed Mustang.”
“Son of a bitch,” Billings said. “He was watching the crash in real time. Jade is damn lucky he didn’t finish her off right there.”
Jack nodded. “That may have been his intention, but somebody interrupted him.”
I continued. “That’s right. Now all we need to do is give this tape to Todd and see if the guy is in the system. Kate put all of this together. Craig Hartman, or whatever his name is, has to be our suspect.”
“Great work, Detectives.” Jack picked up the phone and called the tech department. “Todd, Amber is sending you a video file right now. We need to see if the face of this guy with the hand tattoos is in the system, ASAP.”
Chapter 45
We discussed our options as we waited on pins and needles. Todd was in the process of matching Craig’s face to any known criminal in the database. We hoped to have an answer soon.
“How much information about himself did Craig share with you two on Monday?” Jack asked.
I looked at Kate. She probably remembered more than I did except for what he ordered to drink. “He likes Scottish Ale. I only remember that because it’s Jade’s favorite too.”
Jack nodded.
“Anyway, we had a brief conversation about it, and then he ordered a Belhaven.”
“Interesting that he would order Jade’s very favorite. I wonder if he did research on you ladies before accidentally meeting you at Tap and Tavern,” Chad said.
Kate shook her head. “That is so creepy. He also mentioned he was from the South.” Kate looked at me. “Louisiana, right?”
“That’s what he said, and it could be true. He did have a Southern twang.”
Jack wrote that information on the whiteboard.
“Wait a minute!”
Everyone turned toward me as if they were anxious to hear what I was about to say.
“When Jade and I searched the name Craig Hartman on the internet, only three names came up. The one that we assumed was him was a thirty-seven-year-old salesman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Once we clicked on the picture, though, that guy definitely wasn’t him. It sounds like our mystery man Craig took over this man’s identity for some reason.”
“So maybe he isn’t from that area at all.” Jack groaned.
“Or maybe he is. He might know the real Craig Hartman and thought he’d be easy to impersonate, especially if his name was familiar and they’re around the same age.”
“You may be on to something, Kate,” Jack said. “Let’s find out if he’s in the database first, and then we’ll contact the real Mr. Hartman in Louisiana and see what he knows.”
The conference room phone rang seconds later, and we all stared at Jack. I rubbed my hands together with excitement. “Here we go.”
Jack picked up on the second ring. “Lieutenant Steele speaking.” He gave us a thumbs-up. “Todd, tell me something I want to hear.” He cradled the receiver against his shoulder and scribbled a name on the whiteboard. “No shit. We got him dead to rights. Thanks, buddy.” Jack clicked off and fist pumped his enthusiasm. “Okay, everyone, here’s what we have. Our mystery man has a real name, and it’s Warren Ricks, not Craig Hartman. He’s a recently released inmate from USP Atlanta.”
I high-fived Kate. We were on the right track all along, and taking down the man who murdered Marvin and nearly killed Jade would be sweet justice. I knew Kate felt relief—it was obvious from her expression. I couldn’t wait to have a free second to text Jade and let her know that her suspicions of the perp serving time at USP Atlanta were right on target.
“What was he in prison for?” Clayton asked.
“According to Todd, and he’s printing the guy’s rap sheet for us right now, he served eight years for armed robbery.”
Billings rubbed his chin then raised a brow. “So why the prison ink dots on his knuckles? Was he just blowing
smoke to keep the other inmates at arm’s length?”
“Not necessarily,” Jack said. “He could have murdered people prior to that but was only caught and convicted of armed robbery. The prison ink could have been a way to drum his chest, so to speak, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t a murderer.”
I smirked. “He’s already proven that at Marvin’s expense.”
Jack turned back to the whiteboard. “We need a plan of action to take down this man as soon as possible. Every second he’s out on the streets is a danger to Kate and possibly to Jade again.”
“I believe he’s been watching the house.”
Kate spun toward me. “You mean since Sunday night?”
“I’m not one hundred percent certain, but I believe so. When Jade showed us the outdoor security system Wednesday night, there were far more footprints in the yard than there should have been for one installer. I think Warren was going to make another attempt on Jade’s life that day, knowing she was home alone, but possibly got interrupted by the installer showing up. The prints looked like they headed into the woods behind the house.”
Jack rolled his shoulders and let out a puff of air. “At least the system is in place now, and nobody will get close to the house without setting off alerts or lights. It’s doing its intended job.” Jack pointed at Clayton. “Get a still shot of Warren’s face from Todd and contact the real Craig Hartman. Find out if he knows the guy. If Warren was local to the area, we may gather important information. Billings, get ahold of the news channels. I want his face on the six o’clock news for every North Bend and Milwaukee station. Set up a new tip line number too.”
“Billings pushed back his chair. “On it, boss.”
Kate yelled out. “Wait, everybody.”
Billings stopped in his tracks, and Clayton returned from the hallway.
Jack gave Kate a frown. “What’s wrong?”
“Do we want to catch him or send him deep into hiding? We have no idea what he’s driving or where he’s holed up, so we can’t put a BOLO out for his car or watch his movements. If we jump the gun, we’ll lose him. The only way to catch him is to think this through and outsmart him. At this point, he’s roaming free without any idea his jig is up.”
