Incisions

by Barbara Winkes

  “Fuck!” One of them complied, his expression between anger and disbelief as he turned away from the open window where the apparent buyer who had met them had jumped.

  The other one had a cool calculating look on his face, Jordan noticed as she kept her gun trained on him.

  “Don’t try anything,” she warned. His finger twitched slightly on the weapon, but then he laid it down and Derek put the cuffs on him.

  Jordan alerted their colleagues downstairs on the jumper. If they were lucky, they’d catch him running away from the scene.

  * * * *

  It turned out they weren’t that lucky. Troy Haynes, one of the two arrests, had a long record. He’d been selling guns and drugs on and off, and was more than happy to turn on his partner who was in the bigger game, dealing with anything that could blow up, selling it to anyone who was interested. Haynes described the buyer as some “scrawny kid” who looked like he’d be “pissing his pants if he had to light some fireworks”, but brought the money anyway. Not that anyone had any money now, because he’d thrown it out the window and jumped after it. “Kid had balls after all,” Haynes commented. How could he have gotten away with the building surrounded?

  “Was he the one who contacted you first?”

  Jordan thought it was a terrifying world in which some scrawny kid could just hook up with dealers like that and get enough C4 to blow out a couple of buildings at the very least, if he cared to. He got away with some of it.

  “I don’t know anything about that. I just came to get the money.”

  “Sure you did. The scrawny kid, did he talk about what he needed those explosives for?”

  “Not a word, but I told you before, I didn’t even know what was inside until they opened the cases. Kid didn’t talk much. He looked freaked out pretty much the whole time. Wait a minute. I think they were talking about an order from a guy named Watts? That’s all I remember. Am I going to get my deal or what? I told you everything I know.”

  “We’ll see about that. How about we take a break and we see if you remember some more?”

  Jordan stepped outside the interrogation area, coming face to face with her superior.

  “Sir. Anything on the runner?”

  “No, and Henderson’s not having any luck with the other guy. It’s a good thing though you got to them when you did. This is odd. It’s not that easy to get in touch with these people.”

  “Yes, I wonder how he did it, even with one go between contact. The way they describe him he’s not one of the regulars. Let’s hope he doesn’t find anyone else to do business with,” Jordan said. “On the other hand, he could just go on the internet and find his material there.”

  “You’re not helping, Carpenter.”

  “Sorry about that,” she mumbled. It was a valid question though. The internet was the first place to go for many criminals these days—often, they didn’t have to resort to deals like this that left them out in the open, visible. “We’ll keep an eye on purchases in the area anyway, online and in person. He’s already gone this far, he might want to try again. Not that I trust him so much,” she gestured to Haynes on the other side of the two-way mirror, “but it worries me that we might be dealing with an angry guy buying C4. Whatever his plans are, they can’t be any good.”

  “Right. That’s why you’re going to find him before he can realize them.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ellie was still home when Jordan returned at the end of her shift, but in uniform, coffee ready.

  “Good morning,” she greeted her. “Would you like to eat something…or straight to bed?”

  Jordan almost laughed at the possible insinuations. Every once in a while, when they met like this in the morning, neither sleep nor food was the first thing that happened. She assumed Ellie didn’t have that much time though, and Jordan had trouble deciding whether hunger or the need to sleep was stronger.

  “Coffee first, thanks. I won’t be hanging out nights with Derek for a while either.”

  “You caught the guy?”

  “Not the guy, unfortunately, but two fellows who were to sell two cases of C4 to him. We have all kinds of prints, but that probably won’t help.”

  “Sorry about that. Would you like eggs? I made some. Don’t worry, I can clean up before I go,” Ellie added quickly.

  “It’s fine. And yes, I think I’ll have some, thank you.”

  It would all work out fine. Even with conflicting schedules, they were already managing to maintain some sort of routine. Jordan had to admit it was a relief having Ellie around, after everything, and realizing this house had enough space for the two of them. Maybe the amount of space hadn’t been the problem to begin with, between her and Bethany. The fact that it had been filled with suspicion and resentment had made it seem more claustrophobic. Between her and Ellie, the air was clear and mostly calm. It was a refreshing, new feeling. Jordan reminded herself to look at rescheduling the trip soon. Next it occurred to her that she didn’t even know when Ellie’s birthday was…but that was something she could easily check at work. Later.

  Chapter Eleven

  There were still some loose ends to tie up. Since returning to work, Ellie had spent as long as she could without raising suspicion looking at mug shots and listening to interrogation tapes in similar cases, with no success. She agreed that Tucker Branson hadn’t changed his ways much, but he hadn’t been the man with the mask, his build and demeanor all wrong. Now everyone was most concerned with the buyer of the C4, and keeping the holiday celebrations safe.

  Sometimes, the sound of a door being locked made her flinch, still. That wasn’t so bad all in all, but it wasn’t good enough for Ellie. She wanted closure, a clean slate. Now that they could finally be together, she didn’t want any distraction. The job. The relationship. She’d never gone that far off track before, and she needed to get back to the plan as soon as possible.

  “Officer Harding?”

  The soft-spoken address made her look up, and the next moment, Ellie did a double-take. She hadn’t seen Darla Pierson since she’d been admitted to the hospital after a vicious beating. Now, the visible marks were gone, but that wasn’t the only change. Jordan had helped her former informant to go back to school and find a job.

  “Ms. Pierson, how are you?”

  “I’m okay. Do you know if Jordan is here? I need to talk to her.”

  “She’ll come in later today, but I assume she called you back? The last days were pretty hectic.”

  “Yeah, I know. We rescheduled, but I was hoping to meet her here.”

  “Can I take a message?”

  Ellie blushed as it was so obvious what Darla needed to tell Jordan. She scolded herself for her initial, prejudiced notion. For all she knew, Darla had everything under control and was just checking in to say hello, or maybe thank you. The fact that she was expecting didn’t have to mean she was in trouble.

  “I can come by later,” Darla offered with a smile that seemed forced.

  “I could call her if you like.”

  “No, thanks. Have a good day.”

  Ellie watched her walk away, wondering if she should warn Jordan. Neither of them should assume anything beyond the obvious facts.

  She went back to her reading, minimizing the screen quickly when she saw Sergeant Bristol approaching her desk.

  “Harding, you’re here, good. I want you to meet McCarthy and Marshall at the stadium. There’s some fight about tickets for tomorrow’s holiday event. Apparently they’re all sold out already, and some customers didn’t take it so well.”

  “Wow, really? Okay. I’ll be on my way.”

  Ellie found it baffling that people spent this much money to watch fireworks, not the mention the money they did spend on actual fireworks.

  When she arrived on the scene, there were already two squad cars next to the ticket booth, one man in handcuffs glaring at another who has holding some cloth against his bleeding nose. Two more were in handcuffs, a man and a woman, shouting obsceni
ties at each other until Kate yelled, “Hey! That’s enough!”

  Kate had toughened up since the horrific incidents that led to her fiancé’s death, they all had.

  Libby Marshall came over to Ellie.

  “Hey, good you’re here. You may drive some of these charming folks to the station. Wow, getting into a fistfight over a place to watch fireworks? Okay. The lady and the gentleman over there are the least likely to try and kill each other during the ride, so I’m leaving them to you.”

  “Did they come here together?”

  “No.” Libby laughed. “Don’t ask. Will we see you later?”

  “I’m not sure, but maybe I’ll make it for one beer.”

  Libby’s expression had turned serious. “Please do. Kate could use some show of support. You probably have an idea why. Don’t look so surprised.” Libby sighed. “Someone always finds out, and a couple of guys have been jerks about it. Not that they would say anything to Henderson. You know how it is.”

  “Yeah. I just wish the people we work with knew better.”

  “Don’t we all. Anyway, it would be nice if you could come by.”

  Ellie delivered her drunk and disorderly charges for booking, wondering what the same people had said about her and Jordan. The downside of a tightly knit community was that it was hard to keep secrets. She didn’t know the whole story, and it seemed that neither did Jordan, but she didn’t think it was fair to shame Kate for being human. She would say so to anyone who’d bother to ask her opinion.

  She didn’t get to talk to Jordan all day, and when she returned home after work, Jordan’s car wasn’t in her parking spot yet. Ellie wondered if she had an opportunity to talk to Darla, and what the real story was here. Either way, Jordan had gone out of her way to help her, and there was no way either of them could control the outcome. Ellie realized that for the first time in hours, she hadn’t thought about her abduction or finding the mystery man…Truth be told it was a good feeling. Perhaps everyone else had been right, and her imagination was playing tricks on her. It was easier to think of a benevolent, if weird, kidnapper, than volatile Ward who could snap at any time and had already hurt her.

  Ellie shuddered at the memory as she hung her purse on the coat rack and walked into the bathroom where she stood, indecisive for a few moments. She felt like a long, relaxing bath, but she had promised Libby to check in with them tonight. It would have made more sense to stay in the city and meet them later, but she had wanted to come home and change into something other than the clothes she’d put on this morning. She’d rushed in the hope to spend some time with Jordan, dinner maybe, but she wasn’t even here.

  Ellie was about to leave again when the doorbell rang.

  “Oh. Hey. Jordan isn’t here.”

  “Do you have a moment?” Bethany asked, and Ellie resisted the childish impulse to slam the door in her face. She had to find a more adult way to deal with Jordan’s ex, be smart about it. There were times, however, when she made Ellie feel uncertain, especially now when she had basically abandoned her apartment and sought shelter with Jordan. She still needed to cancel her lease. Yes, there was the idea she might find another place of her own, but as it was, Jordan wasn’t pushing the issue, and so far, they’d been comfortable together. Ellie wasn’t comfortable with Bethany knowing she lived here for the time being. She realized she still hadn’t answered the question.

  “Actually, I don’t. I was going to meet someone.”

  She couldn’t imagine what she and Bethany would have to talk about, and she didn’t want to find out.

  “I need just a few minutes of your time, then I’ll be gone,” Bethany promised, walking inside. “Thank you so much. I think this will be of interest for you too. It’s about your abduction.”

  * * * *

  Bethany didn’t need to be here, Jordan thought with rising frustration as she let herself into her house. They had worked together on cases in which the perpetrator was a ruthless psychopath, and then it made sense to involve a profiler. Lately, work seemed to be slow for her ex who found the time to hang around all too often, for no good reason.

  She walked into the living room where Bethany sat comfortably. Ellie, judging from the sounds, was in the kitchen—preparing something? Goodness. Probably she’d found a way to escape until Jordan returned.

  “What’s this supposed to mean?” she asked by way of greeting.

  Bethany regarded her with the patient expression that never failed to irritate her.

  “Hi, Jordan. I can’t blame you for being suspicious, but I can assure you, I’m not here for you.”

  “Okay, what do you want?”

  This moment, Ellie entered the room, carrying two coffee mugs.

  “It’s ready…You’re home.”

  “Yes, I am. Could somebody explain to me…?”

  Casting an uncertain glance at Bethany, Ellie said, “I guess we have some vague proof for my theory after all.”

  There was no doubt as to what she was talking about, and by now, Jordan was interested—and less irritated with Bethany’s presence. Tying up those loose ends would go a long way to ease all of their minds. Jordan sat on the side of the armchair Ellie had taken a seat in. “Okay. Tell me more.”

  “We’re interested in your mystery man,” Bethany explained cheerfully. “I talked to a few colleagues, and Josh Ward was no stranger. Apparently, he was involved in some bombings earlier this year, empty buildings, insurance fraud, no one got hurt.”

  “Yeah, I heard about those. Go on.”

  “Haynes’s boss was one of the suppliers. Haynes wasn’t always doing the deliveries, but he must have known that Ward was doing business with him.”

  “Really?” Jordan made the connection in a split-second. “He called him Watts! That’s who he must have meant! That’s who the order was for. Okay, but Ward was already dead by the time the deal went down. Who was the one who went to pick up the explosives instead? And where’s the connection to the second kidnapper?”

  “We don’t know yet about the buyer. My point here is, Ward was the hired help to just about every criminal in town, which included Haynes, and a number of others. We have a transcript of a voice chat that has him talking about a job he was doing for some other guy, scaring his girlfriend, locking her up in his apartment for a few days. He mentions that she’s an officer.”

  Bethany hesitated for a few heartbeats, before she added, “Said he might even get himself some action during that time.”

  The color had drained from Ellie’s face, but she sat up straight, her voice even, when she said, “He didn’t.”

  Jordan wordlessly took her hand, regardless of the witness to this display of affection.

  “I’m sorry,” Bethany said. “I thought you guys would like to know about this. It sounds very much like Ward was paid to execute someone else’s plan, and that would make a lot of sense. He never works alone. Ellie has been very observant under the most difficult circumstances. I got to take a look at the notes she wrote right after her abduction. It’s impressive. You’ve got competition coming to your floor.”

  Ellie smiled, self-conscious with the praise from an unusual source.

  “I just wish the bastard had taken off his mask once.”

  Jordan got to her feet, trying to process what she’d just heard.

  “We will take this back to Haynes. If he knows something about the other guy Ward worked for, hopefully we can convince him to share.”

  “Yeah, about that. It’s certainly worth a try, but Haynes is ours now, obviously. What I can do is try to stall for a bit, so that you get another shot at him.”

  “Thank you.” Owing Bethany might not be the best idea, but Jordan didn’t see an alternative in this case. Besides, it sounded like a genuine peace offering.

  “I understand the PD had some trouble backing Ellie’s theory,” Bethany continued. “I know the resources…” Of course this was also a chance for her to point out something that was amiss at the department.

&n
bsp; “Well, yeah. It’s great that someone has those resources. I need to see the transcripts.”

  Bethany got up as well. “I’ll make sure you get them too. Thanks, Ellie.”

  “No problem. Jordan, would you like a coffee too? I’ll be right back.”

  Ellie didn’t wait for an answer, but disappeared into the kitchen, silence ensuing.

  “I better get back to work.”

  “Sure. Bethany…You didn’t have to come here, so…thank you.”

  Bethany shrugged.

  “I mean it. It’s not in your job description. It was tough on Ellie, with everyone believing that there was never a second man.”

  “I can imagine. Look, I know it’s quite the awkward situation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to be adults about it. I made mistakes I still feel bad about, and I hope you can forgive me one day. Yeah, like it’s all about me and my feelings.” She laughed ruefully. “I’m glad we found this. There are things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and of course, Harding is far from that. That sounded better in my head. I should go. You’ll have those transcripts as soon as I get to a computer.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Jordan went to see Bethany out. At the door, she hesitated, a clear indication that a part of the conversation wasn’t over yet, making Jordan fear there was another detail in the transcript, or something that Ellie hadn’t mentioned yet.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Take good care of yourself. I know this can’t be easy for you.”

  “I wasn’t the one who got abducted,” Jordan said automatically.

  Bethany’s words echoed what she hadn’t said out loud. “This time. Regardless of what you might think, yes, I was angry with you for some time, but I don’t wish you harm. You started out in this relationship with some pretty heavy stuff.”

  “Do you ever turn this off?”

  Bethany laughed. “Guilty as charged. I guess what I’m trying to say is…There’s no reason why we shouldn’t talk ever. If there’s something on your mind, you can always call me. I want you to know that.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jordan returned to the living room where Ellie sat, poring over some notes. Those were copies of the originals she had given Maria Doss and that Bethany had obviously seen as well. She looked up, giving Jordan an apologetic smile.