Biloxi Blue (The Biloxi Series Book 2)

by Jerri Ledford

  On the other hand, Caleb had to cover all of his bases, and Jack knew that. He might not agree with Caleb’s approach, but he understood it, so he offered up the best name he had. “Conner Antosz.”

  “He good?” Caleb seemed to ignore or not notice Jack’s discomfort.

  “She’s the best. I’ll call her and tell her you’ll be contacting her. If I don’t, she’ll never take your call.”

  “Thanks.” Caleb stared through the windshield. “There’s one more thing.,” he said after the silence stretched on for a while. “I’ve heard you wanted to let the guy that murdered Dale Abernathy get away with it. You didn’t want to investigate it because Abernathy was a criminal and deserved to die. That true?”

  The question caught Jack by surprise. “What?”

  “Did you want to let Abernathy’s killer get away with murder?” Caleb’s voice was flat and cold.

  “Who…” Jack didn’t finish the question. Only one person knew how he felt about that whole case and could have told Caleb. His partner. Kate.

  Understanding blossomed in Jack’s brain. That was why they were so distant lately. Or at least part of it. Maybe everything going on with this new position contributed to their issues, but this wasn’t all in his own head. Kate thought he was a bad cop.

  The realization hit him with the force of a speeding train. Did she think he was a bad cop? It didn’t feel right, he always thought she respected him. But why else would she mention it to Caleb?

  She doesn’t trust you.

  Jack didn’t know what to do with that. It hurt more than he could have imagined it would.

  TWENTY

  Kate dropped the phone handset into the cradle, grabbed her pen and notebook, and headed for the bowels of the precinct. To the tech department. It was two floors below the pit, well-protected by scanners and security cameras, and it encompassed dozens of offices and rooms littered with old and new computer equipment. This is where the tech-crimes squad worked, and where Beth’s computer had been taken so someone could go through the hard drive byte by byte to find out what she was working on.

  Kate punched the B2 – basement, second level – button and waited for the elevator. Which took what seemed like forever. Seeing Jack had created an instant tornado in her chest. It felt as if the stupid thing were bouncing around in there chewing up every shred of control that she had. She needed something to distract her, and waiting for this elevator wasn’t helping.

  “Kate.” Caleb’s voice jerked her back to attention. The elevator door pinged open and she stepped inside before she turned to look at him.

  “About time. Let’s go.” She didn’t mean to be sharp with Caleb, but where had he and Jack disappeared to? She hadn’t spoken to Jack outside of work since she left his house last night. Maybe this was it? Was their relationship over? The thought took her breath away. She wasn’t ready for that. Surely, they could work through this?

  Another thought occurred to her as she stared at the elevator doors, ignoring Caleb. Had he shared the things she’d told him with Jack? Even if their relationship was finished, it wasn’t Caleb’s place to get involved. She wanted to punch him. Or to cry. Or both. Instead she shrunk into a corner of the elevator, as far away as she could get, and bunched her free hand into a fist at her side.

  “Where are we going?” Caleb leaned against the far wall and folded his arms over his chest. Kate didn’t know if he realized it, but it made him look that much larger. Somehow, that made her angry, too. Why did he have to show up just as she was getting on the elevator?

  “Computer labs.” She nearly spat the words at him.

  “Ok. What happened? Why are you suddenly acting like a cottonmouth in a blackberry bush?”

  His tone was all the provocation Kate needed. “Look who’s talking about being a snake, huh? I would have thought you would at least wait until I wasn’t looking to go running to Jack. Guess at least I can give you credit for not going behind my back.”

  Caleb’s deep laugh caught Kate off guard. “You really do have trust issues, don’t you?”

  What was that supposed to mean?

  “Kate, I was talking to Jack about an apartment. I still need a place to live. He knows people. He thought he might be able to get me into a condo that he used to live in. He took me by there to see it. That’s all.”

  “Oh.” Caleb’s words drained all the anger Kate felt and left her leaning against the hand bar on the wall like some un-stuffed Build-a-Bear.

  Caleb stepped in close enough that Kate could smell him. A rich, woodsy smell with a hint of something sharper. Pine, Kate’s mind latched onto the scent. He smelled like pine. Only, not. Because it was much more sensual. Just shy of musky.

  Her knees threatened to give way completely.

  “Kate.” He waited until she dragged her focus from the floor, across the width of his chest to his nearly-perfect features. “You can trust me.”

  The elevator door slid open, this time without sound. The techs didn’t appreciate the elevator bell. It competed with the dings, beeps, and blips that came from their machines. So, they did what tech guys do. They disabled it. But the soft whoosh as the door opened was enough to bring Kate back to her senses.

  She nodded her head as she pushed past him. “Of course. Sorry. I’m just all keyed up.”

  Basement level two was a very clean, very white space if you could ignore the computer equipment that seemed to bleed out of one doorway into the hall. It still seemed creepy to Kate. Too clean. She hated coming down here, and preferred to deal with the tech people on the phone. But this time she couldn’t. Seth, the tech that was working on Beth’s computer, and the one person that Kate liked in the Tech group, had said he couldn’t tell her what he’d found. He needed to show her.

  Seth’s office was a good candidate for the professionals on “Hoarders.” Every spare inch was covered with computer parts, carcasses of computers that had been scavenged for parts, and working machines blinking green text and white code at speeds that made Kate’s eyes hurt.

  Kate knocked at the door frame. If ever there had been a door there, it was now either buried behind floor to ceiling stacks of electronics, or it had been removed to make room for more equipment. Kate couldn’t tell which.

  “Yep.” Seth’s voice drifted from between piles. Had he finally been buried alive under the mountain of machinery he kept adding to?

  “Where are you?” Kate could feel Caleb behind her, but she didn’t feel like explaining to him that Seth was the best. He was also an albino, and his appearance – white porcelain skin, white hair, and red eyes – shocked those who weren’t prepared. That was something she should probably tell Caleb, if not for his sake, then for Seth’s.

  Kate took a few steps forward and then turned abruptly back to Caleb. She found herself with her nose buried in his chest.

  “Whoa.” He grabbed her around the waist to keep them both from toppling over.

  Electricity singed every nerve ending in her body. She stood perfectly still. Breathed short, shallow breaths. Immobilized by his closeness. The scent of him washed over her.

  “You okay?” His voice rumbled through her like a freight train.

  “Uh. Yeah. Sorry.” Kate scrambled to regain control of her senses. “I just wanted to tell you that Seth is albino. I didn’t want you to be shocked when you see him.” She looked at piles of computer equipment and electronics. At the floor. At her ragged fingernails. Everywhere but at Caleb.

  “Gotcha,” he took a step back.

  “Yeah, so…” Her voice trailed off and Kate spun back in the direction Seth’s voice had come from. The office was a mess. Seth was allowed to hoard whatever he wanted because he was the guy you called when you needed a computer fixed, or dismantled, or information uncovered. There were few people better at what he did than Seth.

  “Follow the path.” Seth’s voice floated out from between the stacks and piles.

  Kate followed the only clear lane through the room. It was barely w
ide enough for a person to fit through. She tightened all her muscles trying to make herself smaller. If she brushed up against something, the whole stack might fall and bury her.

  She reached a dead end, and as she tried to wiggle around to push Caleb back the way they’d come, she saw an opening. It was to her left, hidden well by a wall of equipment.

  Through the opening, she could see floor to ceiling screens, all filled with something different. Most of which Kate couldn’t decipher.

  “You found me.” Seth sat with his back to the opening of the room, fingers busily dancing across several different keyboards. Each burst of typing resulted in some change on one of the screens.

  “You said I needed to see something?” Kate had met Seth before. She’d been in his office before. But never past the doorway. She’d never seen, nor could she have ever imagined that he had his own little “Matrix”-like world down here.

  “I did.” Seth spun his chair. His pale skin glowed under the light of the screens, and his albino-red eyes sent Kate’s gaze skittering around the room.

  “Oh. You brought us a guest.” A wide, pink grin spread across Seth’s face.

  “Detective Caleb Castille. My new partner.”

  Caleb showed no reaction to Seth’s condition at all. He stuck out his hand and greeted the computer tech, then Seth spun back in his chair and his fingers went back to work. “What I want to show you is this.”

  All the screens suddenly went blank, leaving the room lit dimly by a single lamp for a second. Kate bit back a gasp, and tried to control a sudden rush of panic that made her want to scurry back to the safety of the pit. Then, all the screens filled at once, each a separate segment of a single image.

  The image of Beth’s computer desktop. A standard Windows background, and nothing more. No icons. No personalization at all.

  Kate waited for Seth to continue, but the only sound from his direction was the tapping of fingers flying across keys.

  “Okay. Could you please explain?” Kate sounded as impatient as she felt, and she bit back the urge to apologize.

  “I thought you would never ask.” Kate knew by the set of his shoulders that Seth must be grinning at the monitors. “I’ve spent the last couple of days foraging around in this computer. It’s quite a piece of work, actually. I mean it looks like your average run of the mill machine. But as I’m sure you know, looks can be deceiving.”

  Was he alluding to his own looks?

  “I –.”

  Seth held up a hand to silence Kate before she could tell him she had no idea what he meant.

  “Rhetorical. What I mean is this Beth person that used this computer? She was more than just an accounting clerk. A lot more.”

  “Explain that please.” Caleb’s voice drifted over Kate’s shoulder making her aware of just how close to her he stood. A zap of excitement worked its way up her spine.

  What is wrong with you? Five minutes ago, you were ready to kill him. And now this? Get a grip.

  Kate inhaled and filled her lungs with as much air as she could squeeze into them, then exhaled slowly, concentrating on the breath and trying to ignore Caleb’s scent. When she’d released every molecule of oxygen from her lungs, she realized that Seth was speaking and she hadn’t heard a word of what he said.

  She tuned in on his voice again.

  “So, what I’m telling you is that this girl was good. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Kate leaned away from Caleb hoping a little distance would help her stay focused.

  “Were you really not listening to me? At all?” Seth’s fingers had stopped. Now he slowly turned his red-eyed gaze in her direction.

  “I’m sorry. I was distracted.” Kate looked at the floor. What was it about those red eyes?

  “Fine.” Seth was obviously hurt by her lack of attention. “I said that this computer has been wiped clean. There’s a nasty little cleaner protocol on the hard drive unlike anything I’ve ever seen. While there might be data you could recover if you know what you were doing, the more I mess with it, the more those chances decrease.” Seth sighed, and Kate watched his shoulders droop a bit.

  “I don’t know anyone with that kind of knowledge.” He sounded defeated.

  “I do.” Kate didn’t want to hurt Seth’s feelings, but this wasn’t over yet. It was just another obstacle. And a reason to connect with an old friend.

  “Who?” Seth spun the chair around, his face a mask of disbelief.

  “Conner Antosz.”

  ~*~*~

  Kate sat the computer she’d collected from Seth on top of her desk. “Let me call Conner. Just give her a heads up that we’re headed in her direction, and then we can take off.”

  “No problem.” Caleb dropped into his own chair and crossed his legs as Kate dialed Conner’s number.

  No answer. The beep sounded and Kate began to talk to voicemail. “Conner, it’s Kate. I need—.”

  “Giveans. Castille.” Jack’s voice startled Kate. She looked up to find him standing right behind Caleb.

  “I’ll have to call you back,” Kate told Conner’s voice mail. She ended the call and glanced at Jack, but didn’t allow her gaze to stay on his face too long.

  Out of her peripheral vision, Kate could see Caleb watching them. He cleared his throat. “What’s up Chief?”

  Jack stayed focused on Kate. “Just wondering how the investigation is going?”

  Caleb filled him in on what they had just learned about the computer.

  “So essentially you’re still nowhere.”

  “Essentially, you would be correct. But we’re going to—.”

  Kate jumped in. “We’re going to keep looking. We haven’t exhausted all our leads, yet.”

  Caleb shot Kate a look of confusion.

  She shook her head imperceptibly.

  “Fine. Let me know if you get a break.” Jack turned to leave. Kate’s heart went with him.

  The sharp pain in her heart renewed Kate’s anger. Fine. If that’s the way he wanted to play.

  “Hey.”

  Jack stopped and turned back to her. His face was a mask of expectation.

  “Oh, sorry, Chief. I didn’t mean you. I was talking to my new partner here.” Jack started away again and Kate turned to Caleb. “Do you have a tux?”

  “Yeah,” Caleb cocked his head to one side. “Why?”

  Kate kept her gaze locked on Caleb, but she still saw Jack stop. Let him. He made it obvious that he didn’t want to be her escort. She might as well ask Caleb. It would be better than going alone.

  “I have this charity thing I have to do Saturday night. My date backed out on me. How would you like to go?” Kate said the words strong and clear, but internally she felt as if a fault line had shifted and left her insides scattered in all the wrong places.

  Caleb glanced back at Jack, who stood motionless a few feet away. He hadn’t turned back to them, but he also wasn’t moving toward his office.

  “Sure.” Caleb grinned at her. “What time should I pick you up?”

  Kate watched Jack’s back in her peripheral vision. His shoulders remained squared, rigid even. Without a word, he continued into his office and closed the door.

  “Earth to Kate.” Caleb waved a hand in front of her face.

  “Oh. Sorry. Time?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to calm the panic that tied her insides like a Celtic knot. “Seven. Pick me up at seven.”

  What had she just done?

  TWENTY-ONE

  Ryan drove past the house again. Situated on a tributary of the Biloxi Bay, the house wasn't impressive from the outside. A 1970s-brick, nice lawn, large live oak trees in the backyard, dripping moss from their branches. He wondered how long those trees had been there. In his research, he found that Frankie Deveaux bought the house just after his divorce over a decade ago. The house was flooded almost to the ceilings during Hurricane Katrina, so Ryan was certain the inside had been completely remodeled.

  He a
lso made it a point to check out the back of the house. A deck in the back led down to an outdoor, screened-in bar. A shed to the side of the house had an old Shrimp Boat parked behind it, and another bass boat sat in the lift at the private dock. Ryan suspected the bass boat was for fishing and getting around using the waterways instead of the highway. Folks in the South thought nothing of taking a boat ride to a restaurant or public pier to spend the day away from home.

  There was nothing remarkable about the home. It looked like all the others in the neighborhood. Even the silver Chevy Silverado truck that Frankie drove was unremarkable. It was also not sitting in the drive as Ryan drove slowly past making the circle back to the main road. More wasted time. Where was Deveaux? He already knew the man worked in North Dakota, but also that he was home on a furlough turn.

  The company Frankie worked for, like so many of the oil companies, worked their men on a 28-day on and 21-day off schedule. Frankie had opted to work three 28-day shifts in a row. Ryan didn’t know why, but he suspected it had something to do with Frankie killing John Juarez. Frankie had been gone all winter and only just returned for the first time since it happened. Maybe he thought he could escape retribution. Ryan wasn’t sure. What he did know was that Deveaux was a hard man to find.

  Ryan had also entertained the thought that Frankie killed Beth Martin. He supposed it was still possible, but Frankie didn't get back into town until the morning Beth’s body was discovered. Frankie may have come home early but from what Ryan had could find, it didn't look likely. Ryan’s source at the TSA said that Frankie, or someone that presented all the right identification, had boarded the flight. No, Ryan’s instinct said someone else got to Beth Martin. He just wasn’t sure who yet.

  Ryan turned the possibilities over in his head. Who would want Beth dead? And why? He wondered if it was a hit La Raza ordered, but that didn’t make sense. As far as Ryan could tell, La Raza had no reason to kill Beth. La Raza had the most to lose. Beth was tracking all the shipments used to smuggle guns, drugs, and other contraband into the US. Shipments that La Raza coordinated for Maestro. Unless he had someone else to take that job – and Ryan knew he didn’t – then it would be suicide for La Raza to kill her.