by Neal Griffin
“To take a lesson from the sheriff. My old buddy made it clear we ought to stay a hundred miles away from Stahl and anything he touches. Told me if I had any cops working with Stahl, pull them the hell out.”
“Did you tell him that they’re sitting on a human-trafficking case?”
“I did. To be honest, I don’t think he wanted to talk about it over the phone. He’s a good friend and I think that’s the only reason he even called me back. I’m telling you, Tia, he sounded like he was trying to warn me.”
“About what?”
“Like you said. Stahl’s got some serious juice. We know that he falls under the Director of National Intelligence, and I’d be willing to bet he’s not part of any of the major agencies. He’s not CIA, NSA, or anything like that. All that is too old-school and traditional for him.”
Tia thought back on her conversation with Delafield. “You’re right there. They call themselves DTAT. Domestic Terrorist Assault Team. I don’t know, but based on what I saw, my guess is they pretty much freelance it. Looks like they’ve got a nice budget for toys. They’re living out of a SCIF in Milwaukee.”
“A SCIF?” Ben asked.
“Stands for ‘Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.’ The whole concept was just coming online when I discharged. Basically it’s a bunker. An ultra-safe room. Built to be bug proof. Supersecure phone and computer lines. Hell of a way to spend a few billion in taxpayer money. Course nowadays, all the spook agencies compete with each other. Who can have the most whizbang, bitchin’ SCIF.” Tia shook her head. “Bunch of boys making up for some other inadequacy, if you ask me.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Ben said, “but Stahl definitely has that post-9/11 feel to him. You must have dealt with a lot of guys like him.”
Ben was referring to Tia’s days in the Marines, when she was part of a black-bag operation out of Afghanistan. The Marine squad she served on had a CIA contingent and she became more than a little familiar with the ugly underbelly of intelligence collection. But that was then and ten thousand miles away in a foreign hostile country. This is Wisconsin for Christ sake.
“Yeah. Too many. And I don’t care about any of that anymore. All I know is that we, local law enforcement, have information about a kidnapping victim. Milwaukee PD doesn’t care and somebody seems to have cut the balls off our county sheriff and put them in a jar on the shelf. That leaves us, Chief.”
“What are you suggesting, Tia?”
“You know damn well what I’m suggesting. That we do something. We’re cops, Ben. We’ve got all the authority we need to follow up on this case. The hell with Stahl.”
“Why this case, Tia? Why are you willing to risk everything for this one case? We’ve had to walk away before.”
Tia paused, then answered, her voice low, “It’s personal, Ben. I can’t let it go.”
“Tia. You’re the one making it personal.”
She started to speak, but he raised a hand and kept talking. “I know what you’re going to say, and you’re right. I’m not one to talk about not getting involved, but Tia, that was my wife. The mother of my son. Don’t you think this is just a little bit different?”
A long moment passed between the two of them. Tia thought back to her conversation with Connor—a conversation she already regretted. Connie had every right to feel angry and left out. She didn’t want to do the same thing again here. She looked at Ben and saw, not the chief of police, but a friend. Someone who cared about her. Someone she knew she could trust. She started in.
“When I was shot down in Danville, I was pretty sure that was it. I could feel that I was checking out. It wasn’t a big deal, I just knew it was the end, and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s get on with it.’ I just figured it was time to see what comes next.
“And then a girl came to me. A little girl. She spoke to me.”
Ben didn’t move and his gaze never left her, so Tia went on. “She told me, in Spanish, that it wasn’t my time yet. She told me that I needed to come with her.”
“Did you go?” Ben asked. He looked serious but Tia thought she heard some doubt in his voice.
“Yeah, I did. We walked away together, left the café. The whole time, I kept asking her who she was, where we were, all the stuff you’d probably ask a ghost given the chance, right? Maybe she told me, maybe not. I don’t know. It’s not like it’s that clear. But it happened.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “I’ve heard about that sort of thing. People who, you know, almost die. They have dreams … images that really stick with them.”
Tia shook her head and spoke patiently. “It wasn’t a dream, Ben. It happened. I left this”—Tia motioned to her body—“and went somewhere else.”
Tia could see him thinking over what she was saying. “Go on,” he said.
“That was the end of it, or so I thought. I talked to Gage about it.” Tia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “That was a mistake. He told me it happens to people all the time in situations like that. He called it an NDE. A near-death experience. He just blew it off.”
“Kind of like I just tried to do?” Ben said quietly.
“Yeah. Kind of like that. Only he writes everything down.
“That’s when he told me I needed more time off.” She shrugged. “Okay with me, I thought. I headed down to Mexico, spent time with Mom and Dad. Everything was pretty normal for a while.”
A few seconds went by while Tia remembered her time in Mexico.
Ben encouraged her to keep going, saying, “Then you came home.”
“Yep.” Tia regrouped and shifted in her seat. “I thought a lot about it, but the more time that went by, the more I figured maybe Gage was right. It was just about blood loss and shock.”
“You don’t think that now?”
She shook her head. “The thing in the courtroom, Ben? The whole ‘What the hell got into Suarez?’ thing? She came back to me that day, right then.”
“The girl from the café?” The doubt in his voice was thick enough to cut with a knife. “She came back?”
“Yeah. While I was testifying. She took me out of the courtroom to where the molestation victim was … where the son of a bitch…”
Tia wasn’t sure she could say what came next, but Ben waited, his gaze warm and open, and at last she was able to go on.
“I was in the room. I was watching what he did to her. Then, it was like somebody flipped a switch and I was back in the courtroom.” Her voice went low. “That scared the hell out of me. Let me tell you, it was the oddest experience of my life and it scared the living hell out of me.”
Ben looked away and Tia wondered about the position she was putting him in. He’s the chief, she reminded herself. There are things he doesn’t want to know. But he was also her friend. She plowed ahead. “After that I didn’t even know what to think. You sent me back to the shrink and I get that; I know you had to do it. But I talked way too much with that jerk-off, Gage. Next thing I know I’m on meds, labeled damaged goods.”
“What does all that have to do with this?” He didn’t sound angry but genuinely curious.
“She’s been quiet for a while. The girl, that is. I think all the drinking has been my way of trying to keep her that way. I don’t want this shit in my head. At least, I didn’t.”
“And now?”
“After the van, after that night, she came back. Told me the girl in the van needs me. That she’s waiting for me.”
“She told you all that?” Tia could hear disbelief in his voice. She couldn’t blame him.
“Yeah, Ben, she did. I know how it sounds, but I don’t care. I know I can’t explain it and neither can you. But I’m not crazy.”
“I’m not saying you’re crazy, Tia. But don’t you think maybe there might be some reasonable explanation? I don’t know. Something that doesn’t involve … time travel, ghosts, and the supernatural?”
Tia sat forward as if accepting his challenge. “Okay. Then explain this to me. She was in the field last
night. She led me to the auction. I was in the middle of a cornfield I’d never seen before in my life. In the middle of one of the craziest thunderstorms of the last ten years. Believe me, all I wanted was to get the hell out of there, but it was like she pulled me into that shed.”
Ben spent a moment and she could tell he really was thinking about it, but she knew he still wasn’t convinced.
“All right then, explain this. You didn’t find the girl from the van, Tia. Why not?”
Tia got his point and looked away. Ben wasn’t about to let her off the hook.
“Sure, you found some other woman, who definitely needed finding, but weren’t you expecting the girl you saw in Milwaukee?”
Tia shook her head. “I thought of that, yeah. And the truth is, I don’t know. But I don’t think it matters either. I heard a voice. I followed it and, well … You know the rest.”
“I don’t think you’re taking enough credit, Suarez. Sounds to me pretty much like business as usual for you. It’s not the first time you pulled a rabbit out of the hat.”
Tia looked at him doubtfully. “Come on, Ben. You know this goes beyond anything like that.”
“Okay, Tia. Fine. I get it. You had a crazy night. But—”
“She’s real, Ben.”
“The girl in the van?” he asked. “I know that, Tia. And I should never have doubted you.”
“No. The girl in my head. She’s real. Maybe not the way you and I are. She’s not walking around, have a beer with you real. But in some way. In some strange way we can’t understand, she’s real.”
“Have you told anyone else about this?” His voice was hesitant.
“No.” She got his meaning. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to.”
He sighed in relief. “Probably just as well.”
“But I’m not going to ignore it anymore either. I’m not going to disrespect her like that.”
Silence fell, but it was comfortable. Tia felt more at peace than she had in as long as she could remember. He must have felt it, too, she thought, because he squeezed her hand and smiled at her in a way that he hadn’t in a long time. A smile free of worry.
“So what now?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m not waiting around for Stahl and his team. We’ve still got a kidnapping case. I say we work that.”
To her surprise, Ben didn’t immediately disagree. “You got a starting point?”
“Maybe,” Tia said.
Ben huffed. “Let me guess. You’re going to tell me not to ask any questions and you need to work alone.”
“That’s why you’re the chief, smart guy.”
“The answer is no.”
“I don’t remember asking you.”
“Look, Tia—”
She cut him off. “Chief, the deal was I get to work this case, no restrictions. If you still want my resignation, fine. But hear me on this.” Tia leaned forward and looked directly at her boss. “I’ve sat on my hands for damn near a week while some girl is going through who knows what. Why? Why haven’t we done something about that?”
Tia waited for an answer and when none came she went on. “Exactly. There’s no reason. A bunch of yahoos show up, stringing together some bullshit about national security, puffing their chests out, making phone calls, telling us they’ve got the authority of the federal government, and we sit back and do nothing? The hell with that and the hell with them. They can work whatever op they want. But I am going to go find that kid and get her out of there. If I have to do it as a private citizen, fine.”
Ben said nothing and Tia stood. She looked down at him as she said, “Sir, effective immediately, I resign my position with the Newberg Police Department. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I think this is where I step out.”
She’d taken only a few steps back toward the street when he called out, “Resignation not accepted.”
She turned back. “Excuse me?”
“I said, I don’t accept your resignation.” Ben stood. “Damn, Suarez, don’t you know there’s all kinds of paperwork I have to fill out when someone resigns? Personnel forms. Pension stuff. And you have to write a letter.” He quickly closed the distance between them. “So whatever it is you’ve got planned, for now, you are a Newberg police detective and you’ve got all the authority that comes with it. You understand what I’m saying?”
Yeah, Tia thought. You’re saying you got my back.
“I hear you, Chief,” Tia said. “Thanks.”
“Be careful, Tia.”
“Will do, sir.”
They walked around the house together, both lost in thought. The rest of the Sawyers were still clustered on the front lawn. Tia gave Jake one more hug and said it was time they took in a Brewers game. “Just the two of us, huh?”
His smile was so bright it was practically incandescent.
Tia took Chief Norgaard’s hand in both of hers and shook it warmly. “Good seeing you, Chief. Keep fighting your way back, okay?”
The old man spoke, but Tia couldn’t make it out.
Alex translated, “He says you look good, too.”
When she pulled away, she glanced back to see their smiling faces. Except for Ben. His expression was somber and his message clear. He was there for her; she knew that. But the time had come. She was on her own and she needed to get this done.
ACT III
THIRTY-FOUR
Tia slipped up to the back entrance of the Crossroads Café, pulling open the battered screen door that led down a long, narrow hallway. The rusty spring on the door went off like an alarm and the door slammed shut behind her. Tia stopped and waited for some sort of reaction, but no one seemed to notice. She heard the sizzle of grilling meat, along with voices singing in Spanish to the Latin dance music, coming from what she assumed was the kitchen.
By the accents, Tia made them for Oaxacans. A white woman in a flowered muumuu lumbered toward her, filling the space from wall to wall. Feeling trapped, Tia was prepared to give ground, but the woman turned off, squeezing through the restroom door. Tia’s anxiety level climbed as she continued down the hall to the dining area. Her heart raced and sweat beaded across her forehead. Everything served as a reminder of the diner in Danville. The linoleum tile on the floor was damn near identical. The stale odors of pike and walleye. Up ahead a stout waitress poured coffee, making small talk with a man at the counter.
No time for one of your ridiculous flashbacks, Suarez. There was something about meeting a cop she barely knew in an unfamiliar café that caused her to grip the four-shot derringer in her jacket pocket a little tighter and make sure the safety was off. Even that didn’t give her much in the way of comfort. Faces from the not-so-distant past flashed across her mind. Paranoia kicked in. What if it was a setup? What if Stahl and Delafield were getting her off by herself? Where would two agents of a semi-legit spook agency draw the line when it came to protecting their case? She rested her trigger finger along the pistol’s short barrel and walked into the crowded café.
Looking around at the signs advertising blue-plate specials and “kids eat free,” the place struck her as the kind popular with locals. Delafield sat at a booth alone. The café’s dozen or so other patrons—who appeared to be average citizens—were enjoying hearty breakfasts, but Delafield sat stiff backed, a single, untouched cup of coffee on the table. His gaze was fixed on the front entrance and Tia was able to make it all the way to the booth undetected. She clapped him on the back and heard him gulp with surprise.
“Hey, Delafield.” Tia slid into the opposite side of the booth. “The clock’s been ticking for a while on this, so I’m not here for long. What did you want to talk about?”
Delafield put his hands out and his gaze darted around the café. In an urgent whisper, he said, “Jesus, keep it down, Suarez.”
Tia didn’t lower her voice, but his reaction pretty much convinced her that Delafield was not in cahoots with anyone. Like Tia, Delafield was acting on his own. If that was the case, she wanted t
o be sure she was the one calling the shots. “I don’t really care who hears. I’m done playing games.”
Tia saw the apprehension in the man’s face as he looked over his shoulder, in the direction Tia had come from. “Were you followed? Were you careful?”
“Jesus, Delafield,” Tia said. “What are you so worried about? Who’s going to follow either one of us?”
Delafield’s voice was insistent. “Were you followed?”
“No. I wasn’t. But it doesn’t much matter if I was. Like I said, I’m done dealing with you people. This is just a courtesy visit. I’ve decided the best thing for me to do is head over to the Waukesha County Courthouse and swear out an arrest warrant against Tanner. While I’m at it, I’ll get a search warrant for his place. I’ll do my best not to step on your operation, but you should probably tell Stahl that if he wants Kane he’d better go ahead and pull the pin.”
Delafield didn’t exactly relax, but he was able to give a nervous laugh. “Trust me on this, Suarez. You won’t be getting any warrants against Jessup Tanner or Gunther Kane.”
“Are you kidding? After what I walked away from last night, I’m just worried the judge might have me arrested for dereliction of duty.”
Delafield shook his head. “If anyone enters Tanner’s or Kane’s name into a courthouse database, Stahl will know it. You start swearing out warrants? Graham will shut that down with one phone call.”
“Thanks for the warning, but I’m in pretty good with the presiding judge in Waukesha County. I’ll give him a heads-up. I think he’ll be a little harder to push around than a county sheriff.”
“Really?” Delafield said. “Patricia Graham is a U.S. attorney attached to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Unless your judge-buddy wants to end up hearing traffic cases in a Sheboygan night court for the rest of his career, he’ll stay off her radar screen.”
“She’s FISA?” Tia couldn’t keep the shock out of her voice.
Delafield ignored Tia’s question. “All I’m saying is that Stahl and Graham are connected. Trust me, nothing good will come out of going straight at either one of those two.”
