by Chris Culver
“Miguel and several members of my husband’s gang,” she said, nodding. “I told him a journalist from Mexico City had hitched a ride in one of his trucks and planned to write a story about her experiences. He didn’t think that’d be good for business.”
I exhaled heavily through my nose. “So rather than get a bad review, he’s killing all his customers.”
“Yes,” she said. “I guess he tried shooting them at first but found that was too much work. Burning them is so much easier. Miguel hasn’t hit all his warehouses, though. You can still stop him.”
So she wanted a trade. “And I bet you’ll only tell me the location of his remaining warehouses if I release you.”
She shook her head and continued to focus on the window. “He only has one warehouse left, and I’ll tell you its location for free. No strings attached.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s in my interest.” She took her gaze from the city and then looked at me. “The second piece of information, that’s the one you pay for.” She smiled and chuckled a little. “First one’s free, and then you start charging. I feel like I’m slinging crack.”
I ignored the quip and crossed my arms. “Lay it on us, then. Where’s this warehouse?”
“Howard Street, maybe half a mile south of I-70. I don’t remember the address, but it’s a red-brick warehouse building. There’s a freight company nearby. You’ll know you’re in the area when you see a parking lot full of shipping pallets.”
I didn’t know the street, but we could find it easily enough. “Why hasn’t he torched this warehouse yet?”
“Because he’s a weasel and he puts his most valuable customers there. These people have families in the US already, so they can pay the most. He’s probably going to try to unload as many of them as he can. The rest, he’ll kill. He also stores methamphetamine there, so he’d want to load up as much of that as he could.”
I’m sure Carla could lie convincingly about any topic in the world, but she had no reason here. If this tip didn’t pan out, we’d ignore anything else she had to say. “Give me five minutes. I need to call somebody.”
“Sure,” she said, smiling.
Paul and Emilia stayed in the room while I stepped out into the hallway. Bowers answered his cell phone on the third ring, but I had difficulty hearing him over the clamor in the background.
“Mike, it’s Ash. The victims in these mass casualty situations. Are they all Hispanic?”
“Hold on,” he said. I waited thirty seconds or so while he got somewhere quieter. “So far. What do you know?”
“They’re illegal immigrants smuggled into the US by a man named Miguel Navarra. I’ve got a credible CI who says he’s got one more warehouse that he hasn’t lit up yet.”
“Where?”
I described the warehouse’s location.
“I’ll get units en route,” said Bowers. “If this pans out, I’ll need access to your CI.”
“I’ve got her in custody, so she’ll be around. Good luck.”
Bowers thanked me and then hung up. I dialed a second number. Special Agent Kevin Havelock picked up shortly thereafter.
“I’m afraid I don’t have time to talk, Lieutenant,” said Havelock.
“I know,” I said. “I’ve got a CI who says Miguel Navarra is our fire starter. He’s murdering men and women he smuggled into the US.”
Havelock paused. “Who’s your CI?”
“Carla Ramirez. She’s the wife of Santino Ramirez.”
“She with you now?”
“Yeah. Red building on Ohio Street. Fifteenth floor.”
Havelock didn’t say anything; he simply hung up, and I walked to the nearest vending machine, where I purchased four bottles of water. When I got back to the conference room, I put them on the center of the table.
“You’re a dear,” said Carla, reaching for one of the bottles. “I don’t suppose you’ll give me my cell phone while we wait? It might be a good time to check my email.”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Just checking,” she said, after taking a long pull on her water. She turned her chair to look out the window. The conference room faced east, so we didn’t have a view of the sunset, but we could still see streaks of purple, orange, and red in the sky. It looked to be a glorious night. Special Agent Kevin Havelock knocked on the door about fifteen minutes later. Paul Murphy and I met him in the hallway.
“IMPD has dispatched the SWAT team to the warehouse,” said Havelock. “I’ve got a couple of agents there as well. We’ll hit the building shortly.” He looked at the door that led to the conference room and then to me. “That Carla Ramirez in there?”
“That’s her,” I said.
“She said anything else about Navarra?” he asked, glancing at Paul Murphy.
“Nothing pertinent, but I thought I’d call you in just in case you wanted to talk to her.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, nodding. He looked at Paul again. “What does your support staff know?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“I am right here, guys,” said Paul. “I can hear you, and I kind of feel like I’m out of the loop.”
Havelock looked at him and then clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s nothing personal, but if you’ll excuse us for a moment, I’d appreciate it.”
Paul looked at me. “It’s a rarified world you live in, my friend.”
“Unintentionally so,” I said. I waited for Paul to go into the conference room again before looking to Havelock and speaking. “I know Navarra is your informant, but if he’s at that warehouse, he’s going down. No way IMPD can keep it quiet.”
“If Miguel is at that warehouse, he’s going to go down shooting. I already told our teams.”
That’s what I feared. I allowed my eyes to settle on Havelock. He and I lived in different worlds, but we fought the same fight and employed some of the same tactics. I should have known he planned to use me when he showed up at our briefing the night after I shot Dante, but I hadn’t been seeing straight. Now that I was, I don’t know if I blamed him for the deception or not.
“When you gave me Miguel Navarra’s name, did you have any idea about this side business?”
Havelock took a step back and then tilted his head to the side. “You think I gave you Miguel Navarra’s name?”
“I don’t think,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m pretty positive. Miguel’s a problem for you, so you mentioned his name knowing I would eventually investigate him and bring him down.”
For a moment, the FBI agent simply blinked and stared at me. Then, he smiled just a little.
“Whether I mentioned him intentionally or whether it was an accidental outburst, I had no idea of his involvement in these fires. If I had known, I assure you that he’d be in prison right now.”
His eyes never wavered as he looked into mine. He was telling the truth.
“Good,” I said, turning toward the conference room door. I stopped before reaching it. “Just for future reference, if you ever use me to take out your garbage again, I’ll burn you to the ground. Clear?”
“We’ll see.”
I wanted to say something snappy back to him, but instead, I simply walked back to the conference room. Havelock followed a moment after me, and for the next hour, we sat and watched the city skyline as afternoon changed to night. Periodically, Paul or Emilia or Agent Havelock would stand up and stretch or go to the restroom or just walk around, but no one spoke. And then, Havelock’s phone rang. I don’t remember why he had put it on the conference table, but we stared at it as if it were some artifact from a future we knew nothing about. When Havelock answered, he spoke in a low, hushed tone. He sighed twice, but I had no idea what that meant. Eventually, he looked at me and shook his head, but again, I had no idea what that meant. By the time he hung up, his face had gone red. He looked at each of the officers in the room in turn.
“IMPD’s SWAT team hit the warehouse and came under heavy fire immediate
ly. Three officers went down. At least two are gone, while the third officer is in surgery now.” He looked at Carla. She stared at him with unblinking green eyes. “They took down all five men guarding the facility and found twenty-two people inside. They also found six fifty-five gallon drums full of crystal meth.”
Carla smiled.
“That was the free tip,” she said, looking at me. “Remember, Valerie Perez is still out there. I can give her to you.”
I wanted to strangle her, but instead, I looked her directly in the eye. “Why would Jacob and Miguel kidnap Valerie?”
“They wanted to kill every eyewitness who testified against Tino,” she said, shrugging. “They believed that would help solidify Barrio Sureño around them.”
I could see that, I guess, but it left one pretty big question. “Why is she still alive, then?”
To that, Carla actually tittered. “Because they’re Catholic, and Valerie is pregnant. Seems like a silly stipulation to me, but they won’t kill the unborn. As soon as Valerie pops, she’s dead.”
My jaw dropped open just a bit. I looked at Paul and Emilia. They looked as dumbfounded as I felt. “Okay, sure,” I said, nodding as if that made sense. “I assume you’re going to want some guarantee that I won’t arrest you as soon as we find her.”
“Oh, you’re not going to have the chance,” she said, shaking her head. “By the time you find her, I’ll be long gone.”
“How’s this going to work then?” I asked.
Carla paused. “This is the part you’re not going to like.”
Chapter 31
“Go on,” I said, crossing my arms. “Tell me what I’m not going to like.”
“Well,” said Carla, looking from me to Emilia to Paul Murphy and then to Havelock. “I hope you all forgive me for saying so, but I don’t trust any of you.” She settled her gaze on Emilia. “Here’s what I propose: this officer and I get into an unmarked, civilian vehicle. We drive to a location I specify—a safe place—and I drop her off. At that point, I will tell her where Jacob is holding Valerie. I take the car and go. I’ll even drop it off somewhere she can pick it up. This officer will then walk until she can get cell reception—and it’s not that far, half a mile at most. You’ll rescue Valerie, and you’ll never see me again. Everyone wins.”
She hadn’t lied, at least—I didn’t like it.
“How long have you been planning this?” I asked.
She took her gaze from Emilia and settled on me. “I’m improvising, believe it or not.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. Carla matched my posture.
“Why should we trust you?”
She blinked and then smiled wickedly. “Because you don’t have a choice.” I started to shake my head and stand, but she held up a hand. “I have no reason to hurt anyone else. My husband is going to die for the crimes he’s committed. Miguel and Jacob deserve to die, too, I suppose. But not me. I’m getting out, and you’re going to watch me walk away.”
The room went quiet. I could practically feel Emilia’s eyes burn into Carla before she told her, “You killed seven innocent people. You don’t get to walk away.”
Carla narrowed her eyes at Emilia. “The adults are talking, sweetheart. Please shut up.”
For a moment, I thought Emilia would slap her. Thankfully, Havelock spoke before she could. “Can you give us Miguel Navarra?”
“And who are you again in this?” asked Carla, narrowing her gaze at Agent Havelock.
“Nobody important,” he responded.
“Well, nobody important,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “I haven’t seen Miguel since he and my stepson decided they no longer needed me. However, I don’t imagine he’s left Jacob. The two of them believe they’re on a mission from God.”
I waited for Havelock or Carla to say something else. When neither did, I looked at Emilia and then to Paul and then to the FBI agent. “Let’s go talk about this outside.” I looked at Carla. “Stay there. You stand up, I’ll tie you to that chair.”
“I’ll stay.”
The three officers and I left the conference room and shut the door behind us.
“What do you guys think?” I asked.
“I think she’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” said Paul.
“She didn’t lie to you about the warehouse,” said Havelock, quickly. “Crazy or not, she’s in the middle of this.”
“Then I’ll go with her,” said Emilia. “I guarantee I can get her to talk.”
“Bad idea,” said Havelock, almost immediately. I nodded, concurring.
“Did you know Kim Dennison or Doug Osbourne?” I asked. Emilia started to say something, and I could tell that she was going to lie to me. I shook my head to stop her. “We all saw your reaction when Carla mentioned killing those two. I doubt you knew the civilians, so I’m guessing you knew one of our fallen officers.”
Emilia’s face reddened, and she took a deep breath through her nose. “Kim, all right? She was my friend, and she didn’t deserve what that bitch did to her.”
“No,” I said. “She certainly didn’t, but there’s no way I’m leaving you and Carla alone together. I’m going.”
Paul sighed. “You sure about this?”
I looked back at the door and shook my head. “No, but it’s our best shot to get Valerie back.”
“You’re seriously just going to let her go?” asked Emilia, crossing her arms.
“Oh, no,” I said, turning to face her. “Carla knows that, too. She’s probably going to try to kill me as soon as we get to wherever we’re going. I don’t plan to let her.”
“What’s your plan, then?” asked Emilia.
“We’re going to follow him,” said Havelock before I could say anything. He reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone. “I need twenty minutes. I’ll put a GPS tracker on your car and have a team five minutes out wherever you are.”
I nodded to him, and he left our group, his cell phone already pressed against his ear. I stepped in closer to my team and lowered my voice. “I want you two following me, and I want you less than five minutes out. I’d rather not die if I can help it. See if you can get some night vision goggles from the tactical team so you can drive with the lights out.”
“Any thoughts on how you will prevent Carla from killing you?” asked Paul.
“I’ll figure that out when I come to it.” I raised my eyebrows and looked at my two partners. “Other thoughts?”
“You’re as nuts as she is,” said Emilia. “Other than that, it sounds fine.”
I looked at Paul. “You got anything?”
“I concur with her,” he said, looking to Emilia. “Try not to die.”
“All right,” I said, turning to go back into the conference room. Carla perked up at our entrance. “You’re on, but you’re not going with Officer Rios. You’re going with me.”
She wiggled her nose and then squinted at me before brightening. “That’s acceptable. Where’s your car?”
“You’ll see in just a bit. I’ve got stuff to do first.”
“And whatever you have to do is more important than Valerie Perez’s life?”
I blinked and crossed my arms. “How about I put it like this: if Valerie Perez dies, all deals are off. We will hunt you down and kill you. Clear?”
“Direct and clear,” she said.
I took a step back and then looked at Paul. “Watch her. I’m going to call my wife and have Maghrib.”
“That another prayer?” he asked.
“The one just before sunset. If I die tonight, I figure I’ll need to get in as many prayers as I can.”
Paul shook his head. “That’s not funny, but go and do what you need to do.”
I called Hannah from my office. She sounded okay—tired, but okay. I didn’t tell her what I had planned, but I said we had a lot of work to do and that I’d be back as soon as I could. I talked to Megan and Kaden a little bit as well. Both of them told me they loved me and promised to be good for their moth
er. I could have stayed on the phone with them all night and been happy, but talking to them reminded me of something very important. Valerie Perez was a daughter, too, and her parents were probably crying or even praying about her right now. I’d seen too many corpses because of Carla and Jacob; we needed to finish this soon.
After hanging up, I had evening prayer and then recited an additional dua, a short prayer, asking God for protection and guidance. I met Paul, Emilia, and Agent Havelock outside the conference room after that.
“We’re set,” said Havelock. “You’re taking your wife’s VW, right?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “We put a GPS transmitter in the right rear wheel well and an emergency transmitter in the storage compartment on the driver side door. The transmitter’s shaped like a garage door opener, so if you come under fire, press the button like you’re opening your garage and we’ll come running. I anticipate that Mrs. Ramirez will ask you to go unarmed, so we also wedged a Beretta M9 beside your seat. It’s got a fifteen-round magazine, so use it wisely.”
“How’d you get that in my car?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure I locked the doors last time I used it.”
“We’ve got a few guys on staff with experience breaking into cars,” said Havelock. “Remember, you hit that button, we’re still at least five minutes away. Try to anticipate when you’ll need us.”
I nodded to him and then looked to the rest of my team. “You guys squared away?”
Emilia and Paul nodded. Hopefully they weren’t lying. I nodded to each of them before rejoining Carla in the conference room.
“You ready?” I asked, looking at our prisoner.
“Almost,” she said. “I’m not going if you’re carrying a weapon.”
Just as Havelock had said. I nodded and took off my jacket. Havelock pretended to look alarmed. “Are you sure that’s wise, Lieutenant?”
I doubted the wisdom in anything we had planned, but I nodded anyway and slipped my arms through my shoulder holster. A dull pain spread from my shoulder joint and into my chest as I rotated my arm, but I tried not to grimace.
“Bum shoulder?” asked Carla.
