by G. K. Parks
“Steele lawyered up,” Jablonsky announced, entering the conference room. “So we’re finished with him for now. I talked to the hospital. Heathcliff has a concussion and a few hairline fractures, but he should be okay. The police department is conducting an investigation to determine how he was compromised, but so far, they don’t have anything conclusive.”
“It’d be faster if Steele was willing to talk.”
“Yeah, well, we can’t go near him until his lawyer gets here.” Jablonsky picked up my report and the corresponding police file. “It looks like he gained access to your apartment by bumping the lock. What happened to your deadbolts and the security bar?”
“Martin distracted me.”
Mark held up his hand. “Besides that, the investigators found two broken light bulbs in your sink.”
“That’s probably what woke me. I don’t want to think what Steele planned to do if I hadn’t heard him.”
“More than likely, he would have shot you up with heroin, and whenever we discovered your body, it would’ve discredited your investigation or the tips you were feeding to the police. It’s still not clear if he thought you were undercover or just an informant.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I watched Mark scan the report.
“They boarded up the broken glass on your fire escape. Thankfully, the damage wasn’t that bad.”
“Where’s Martin?”
“He’s giving his statement at the precinct.” Mark flipped open another folder, pulled out a piece of paper, and signed the bottom. “Tell him what he needs to know. If for some reason Kendall has a problem with it, I’ll take the blame.”
“Thanks.”
We worked through the rest of the morning, recording the events that occurred in the last twenty-four hours and solidifying our answers to whatever questions remained regarding DeAngelo Bard and his drug network. Agents Cooper and Lucca arrived around noon. So much for taking the weekend off. Cooper compiled a list of evidence collected for the prosecutor’s office, and Lucca examined my report and the police reports that were filed within the last twelve hours.
“Parker,” Lucca began, “the police just sent over the IDs of the men that attacked Detective Heathcliff.” I swiveled toward him, wondering why he thought this was breaking news. “They’re known enforcers for the Lords.”
“What?” I kicked off the floor with my good leg, rolling my chair across the expanse to Lucca’s desk. “Heathcliff said he recognized one of the men as a KXD lookout. Why would the KXDs be aiding the Lords?”
“The man you brought into custody,” he pointed to a mug shot of the man from the vet’s office, “is affiliated with the KXDs. But these two men,” the photos were provided by the coroner’s office, “were part of the Lords.”
“Shit.” Processing the information, I stood, cursing again at the pain that shot through my leg. Hobbling to Jablonsky’s office, I barged in. “Did Steele’s lawyer arrive yet?”
“It’s Saturday. What do you think?”
“In that case, I need to speak to Veronica Kincaid.”
“Take Lucca,” his eyes darted to the way I was favoring one leg, “and be careful.”
Exiting Mark’s office, I cast my eyes at the analyst. “C’mon, boy scout.”
“I thought you weren’t calling me that anymore,” he protested.
“I changed my mind.”
He drove to Veronica’s address, filling me in on the DEA’s bust and the cartel connection. Bard paid the Mexican cartel hundreds of thousands for opium, cocaine, marijuana, and whatever prescription drugs the cartel had access to. Since the drug business continued to be lucrative for both sides, Bard soon began importing firearms to safeguard his investment. The KXD dealers, enforcers, and lookouts were equipped with military-grade weaponry. And it acted like a deterrent to hold the rival gangs at bay ever since the previous gang war which occurred half a decade earlier. And since Bard was such a loyal customer, he used that connection to convince the cartel to help squash the Lords’ uprising.
“The DEA checked into a list of travelers that entered the country around the time you were attacked. Four names came up in conjunction with the cartel. We’re under the assumption that Bard called them,” Lucca concluded.
“That doesn’t make any sense. How would they have known that the Lords were planning something that night?”
“An educated guess?”
“Steele set me up. I know he did. I could see it on his face.” I thought back to the night in question and everything that had been divulged in the last couple of hours. “The KXDs and Lords were working together.” Lucca looked at me like I was crazy. “Not when Bard was running things, but with Steele in charge.”
“Steele’s never been in charge.” Lucca pulled up to the curb. “Do you think Steele was planning a coup?”
“No. He wouldn’t betray Bard. That’s the only thing I know for certain. But maybe he wanted to merge the two gangs that way they’d control more than half of the city. Just imagine how much they’d stand to gain by doing that.”
“Bard would never go along with it,” Lucca argued. “And I’m sure the head of the Lords wouldn’t either.”
“Unless the Lords suddenly lost their hierarchical system and Steele planned to assimilate their dealers, stockpiles, girls, and other connections into the KXDs.”
“What you’re talking about would take precision planning, and quite frankly, I don’t think Francisco Steele is capable of that.”
“When he was a kid, Steele executed his mother’s boyfriend, and ever since, Bard’s the only family he’s known. He would do anything to protect that family and to make Bard proud of him.” I thought about Steele’s beef with Heathcliff. On the surface that was about who had claimed me, but Steele resented the way Bard treated Heathcliff. Steele wanted to be the favorite and would do anything to maintain that position. “Veronica allegedly worked both sides, and we know she worked for Steele. We need her to cooperate.”
“Then let me do the talking,” Lucca insisted. “She already doesn’t like you.” He smirked. “I can’t imagine why.”
Veronica Kincaid didn’t seem particularly interested in speaking with us, and I considered calling it quits after the front door slammed in our faces. But Agent Lucca wasn’t as easily deterred. He spent five minutes speaking through the heavy door, finally coaxing her into opening up.
After enough promises and threats were made, she willingly agreed to come with us. Once inside the federal building, she insisted on seeing everything we’d agreed to in writing, and Lucca spent the better part of the day on the phone with various state and federal prosecutors trying to get them to agree. As soon as the ink dried, Veronica spilled her guts.
Originally, she’d been recruited by Francisco, along with a few of the other girls, to deal out of the club. She wasn’t from the neighborhood, but once Bard acquired partial ownership of the Black Cat, it was easy to take some of the girls under his wing. Over the past few years, the KXDs used the girls to deal and turn tricks. Most of them became addicted to the products they were hocking, couldn’t pay to cover their usage, and in order to work off their debt, Bard put them to work on their backs. It was the same plan Francisco had for Alexia Nicholson, but that didn’t work out the way he hoped either.
“I got clean,” Veronica said, playing with the handle on the coffee mug, “and Francisco didn’t like it. He told me that he didn’t want me working for the KXDs anymore.”
“So you went to the Lords?” Lucca asked.
“No. About a month later, Francisco pops up again. He says he misses me. That I was always his best girl.” Her gaze lingered on me. “And he had a special job for me to do, but I couldn’t tell anyone.” She shrugged. “He wanted me to deliver shipments to some dealers. They’d drop by the club, and either before or after shift, there’d be an exchange.” She dropped her hands to her lap. “It seemed easier than the other things he had me do. And the pay was better.”
“Do you think you wo
uld recognize any of the dealers?” I asked, pushing a mug book across to her.
“Yeah, I guess.” She began flipping through the pages. “I thought it’d be safer that way, not having to go off with some john and do things.” The pages continued to turn. “And then those men came at me. I was sure they were gonna kill me. They were pissed. They had no idea they were buying from the KXDs. They thought the bar was Lords’ turf.” She pointed to a couple of photos, and Lucca marked them. The men she identified were Lords’ dealers. “And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why Francisco would be selling to his rivals. After I was admitted to the hospital, he came to see me and told me not to say a word to anyone about what happened and to stay as far away from the Black Cat as I could get.” She shook her head. “That nasty son-of-a-bitch nearly destroyed me.”
When we exited the interview room, Lucca disappeared to work on the new angles. The fatigue was finally setting in, and I glanced at the time. I’d been going nonstop for over twenty-hours. I needed to crash.
“Parker, my office,” Mark bellowed, and I gave the coffeepot a forlorn look before reversing direction. Inside, Martin was waiting. “Take as much time as you need,” Mark said, shutting the door and leaving the two of us alone.
“I’m so sorry.” I dropped into the chair next to him and launched into the abbreviated version of everything that had transpired over the last two months, leaving out the details that were relevant to the ongoing investigation. The look of betrayal in his eyes was too much to stomach, so I focused on the cut above his eye.
“You should ice your hip,” he said when I was finished. “A tear in one of your tendons or ligaments could require surgery, and I know you don’t want that.”
“That’s the last thing I want, just like lying to you.”
He bit his lip and looked away. “Sure.”
I glanced at the clock and opened the door. Jablonsky was in the midst of an interrogation with Steele. The office was fairly busy for a Saturday night, but the focus seemed to be on paper-pushing. Cooper caught the confused look on my face and stepped inside.
“Agent Jablonsky said you can call it a night, and he doesn’t expect to see you again until Monday. Understand?”
“What about the progress we’ve made?”
“Lucca and I have it handled. Enjoy your weekend, Agent Parker.” He nodded to Martin and went out the door.
“It’s been a long day, Alex. Are you staying with me, or should I call my driver to pick me up?” Martin asked.
I handed him my car keys. “I’ll go home with you but only if you drive.”
Forty-two
By Monday, most things were finalized. Steele had planned to usurp the Lords’ power by making them dependent on the KXDs for their drugs. It was also the impetus for attempting to pillage the Lords’ stockpile of drugs the night that the PD tear gassed me and made their busts. Steele was willing to explain his plans, snitch on the Lords and the cartel’s hit squad, and plead guilty to the charges against him in exchange for a reduced sentence. Since no murder charges were pending against him, the AUSA and DA were willing to play ball.
The PD reviewed their findings concerning the breach of Heathcliff’s cover, and upon a close examination of phone calls placed to the precinct, they discovered that someone phoned for information regarding a police officer. The caller provided a perfect description of Heathcliff, and the idiotic desk sergeant gave them his name. It didn’t take much for the caller to make the connection, inform Steele, and discover Heathcliff’s address. From there, they searched Derek’s apartment, believing I was his CI. And since he had no other Alex listed in his phone, they took a guess that I was one in the same. The two valuable lessons we learned from this were to use password protection and that I never wanted to go undercover again.
Director Kendall called me into his office, asking about permanent placement at the OIO. I told him I’d think about it, but he said he needed an answer by next week. This was it. I was either in or out. There would be no more sitting on the fence. I’d been back and forth numerous times to assist on investigations or more accurately get roped into investigations, but this was really it. Yes or no. I couldn’t afford to be wishy-washy any longer.
That evening, I drove back to Martin’s. I’d been staying with him while my window and back door were being replaced, but mainly, I was there because I feared Steele might have determined who he was and sent someone to seek revenge. That was called a paranoid delusion, but that knowledge didn’t stop my worrying.
Martin had barely spoken to me since that night in my apartment. We could sit in the same room or share the same bed, but there were plenty of unresolved issues simmering just below the surface. And I could tell he couldn’t take the silence much longer.
“Alexis, look at me.” I glanced in his general direction before dropping my gaze back to the table. “You seriously can’t be that repulsed by what I did. That man planned to kill you. So don’t expect me to apologize for beating him senseless.” He licked his lips. “What should I have done instead?”
“It’s not that. I’d be dead without you. You know that. You’ve known that for a long time.”
“Then why won’t you look at me? You’ve avoided eye contact ever since that night.”
“It’s because I can’t stand the look in your eyes.” I glanced up again, willing myself to remain focused on his face. “I went back to work and didn’t tell you. Yes, I was undercover as a heroin-addicted stripper, and there are a lot of things that I want to forget. But those damn, soulful green eyes of yours won’t let me. You just keep staring, like I betrayed you. I didn’t betray you.”
“I never said you did.”
“Bullshit. The moment I gave 911 dispatch my information things changed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why did I have to find out like that?” And there it was. The question that he’d been harboring.
“I couldn’t tell anybody,” I insisted.
“I’m not just anybody. I’m somebody. At least, you should think I’m somebody. Shit. Nick knew. Derek knew. Mark fucking knew because you were working for him. Hell, even Jenny probably knew. I’m the only person in your life that didn’t know.”
“That’s not fair.”
“But it’s true.” He circled the room. “You don’t trust me.”
“Yes, I do.” I blinked, resisting the urge to storm out and slam the door. Avoidance was easier than dealing with one of Martin’s tirades, but we needed to hash this out. “It wasn’t entirely my decision to keep you in the dark.”
“Yeah, right,” he said sarcastically.
“It’s true. At first, I didn’t want to tell you because it wasn’t safe for either of us.”
“Right, because not knowing some psycho gangbanger might bust into your apartment makes way more sense than allowing me to consider that possibility.”
I ignored that comment, intent on taking the high road. “And then once I decided you ought to know, your international business ties and friendships delayed your background check. It’s not my fault that you know someone in every goddamn country on this planet.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault.”
I put my face in my hands. No explanation would ever satisfy him. “I should go. Fighting with you won’t change what happened. It’s done. You can either accept it or not.”
“Dammit, Alexis,” he squeezed the bridge of his nose, “do you remember what you said to me when we first started dating?”
“That I better not find you in a stash house with stripper Barbie? Yeah, it’s ironic how that description fits me now.”
He snorted. “No, not that. The other thing you said, how you had to choose between the job or me because you couldn’t have both.” He let the magnitude of his words hang in the air. “Is this your way of telling me that you came to a decision?”
The reason for that declaration was because I almost lost him to a bullet, and after that, I promised myself never to risk his safety again. An
d the night Steele broke into my apartment I had unknowingly put Martin back into the line of fire. But Martin proved once more that he was more than willing to save me and completely disregard his own safety.
“That’s ancient history. Not too long ago, you agreed to stand by me, even if I pursued reinstatement. So have you changed your mind now that you fully comprehend what that entails?”
“Sweetheart, I love you,” he fidgeted, rubbing his eyes and face while he sought the proper words that would inevitably break my heart, “but I can’t do this. I can’t wait around for months at a time while you lie to me about working at some insignificant security firm. You became a different person. Hell, you still aren’t completely back to normal. And I understand that’s necessary to maintain your well-being, but you can’t continue to be so distant. If this is going to work, you have to let me in. You have to tell me what you’re doing.” An ugly laugh escaped his lips. “Who am I kidding? You’ve always been distant. You aren’t capable of letting anyone in, especially me.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and left the room. As the door slammed behind him, I jumped. It was just a fight. We’d figure it out and get past it. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. But this felt different, and it would take more than a half-assed ‘I’m sorry’ to fix things.
Returning to the office, contemplative and a bit shaken, I finished reading through the reports. The KXDs were behind bars, and Francisco’s attempt to take over the Lords had failed. This was one merger that would never come about. If anything, it helped the DA’s office rack up additional charges against the two largest gangs in the city. Maybe we really did kill two birds with one stone.
Veronica was the key, and currently, she had been moved into witness protection until after the trial. Sure, her life was on hold for a year or two, but from the outside looking in, it seemed like a positive thing. She had the opportunity to reinvent herself, get away from the negative influences, and solidify her sobriety on a stronger foothold.
