by K. M. Hodge
She had returned from leave the day Sally almost died, because she needed to work. Having access to all of the department resources would be pivotal if she was to capture and bring in Charles MacAvoy.
“Well, I’m surprised to see you in today. I heard you’re getting a temporary new shrink to work with since yours is on leave. How’s Ellie?” Quinn sidled up to her desk and pulled out a chair.
Mari looked up at him, annoyed by his interruption. “She’s fine. Her foot is healing. She and her husband are staying on the base until all this business is cleared up.”
“That’s good.” He gave her the once over. “What’s wrong with you? You don’t look all that happy for getting off desk duty.” Quinn sat backwards in the chair across from her, a sly smile on his face.
Creep.
“What do you want, Quinn? I’m really not in the mood.”
“That time of the month? No, wait... I forgot you’re always a bitch.”
Mari pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. An angry retort hung on the end of her tongue waiting for permission to be unleashed upon the meathead before her. The pent-up rage reached critical levels and she snapped the pencil in her hand.
“Sheesh, Marianna, calm down. I’m just joking around. Don’t be such a spaz.”
That’s it!
She rose to her feet and stalked over to Quinn, who backed up quickly.
First the pencil. Now his neck.
“Detective Espinoza, a word.”
Mari caught the displeased glare of her boss, Lieutenant McDaniels, over Quinn’s shoulder. Shit.
A slow, sinister smile snaked across Quinn’s face. “Better not leave the lieutenant waiting.”
She shouldered past him, making sure to give him a quick jab to his rib with her elbow. Asshole.
Her lieutenant gave her a chastising glare.
Should she just walk in and hold out her wrist for the routine slapping? Mari let out a slow breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Maybe that bitch comment hadn’t been so far off. She hadn’t slept regularly or eaten anything remotely healthy for the last two weeks. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone for a run or, hell, even smiled.
Manny. She missed him. Work didn’t even touch the ache left by his absence, but how could she ever trust him again?
“Shut the door behind you,” her lieutenant said.
Mari followed the command and then stood at attention, ready for her reprimand.
“A few weeks ago there was an explosion in Danville, at a bar owned by Charles MacAvoy.” Her boss paused as if to let the words sink in or, perhaps, to gauge Mari’s response.
She kept her stone-faced expression, not letting the lieutenant or anyone else know her emotions.
“The local police seem to think he was killed in the blast even though he’s supposed to be under house arrest. This seems to be of interest to you, even though I asked you to drop any lines of inquiry you had over this issue.”
Mari’s body hummed and her mouth went dry. Keep cool. Keep cool.
She took in a trembling breath. “I can explain—”
“Detective, stop right there.” The lieutenant pointed to a chair. “Take a seat.”
She sat down, taking in a short breath and folding her hands in her lap to keep the trembling under control. In all her years on the force, she’d always followed the rules, always respected the chain of command. She’d been top of her class in school. Maybe the lieutenant would go easy on her since it was the first time she’d ignored a direct order.
“Relax, Marianna, I didn’t call you in here in chew you out. I wanted to talk to you about coming back to homicide.”
A nervous breath left her mouth and her shoulders dropped. “Oh?”
Lieutenant McDaniels shifted in her seat, rested her arms on her desk, and leaned towards Mari. “We need your help with this case, and you’ve made it quite clear that you are just as eager as I am to get some real answers. We think that the incident at your partner’s home may be connected with Charles MacAvoy escaping house arrest. The business with the doctor confessing seems unbelievably fishy to me, but proving foul play isn’t so easy. The woman....” She paused and glanced down at the report on her mini. “Sally Ride, a supposed dead woman, was shot outside our own precinct last year. Says here she had no knowledge of the chip being embedded under her skin, which, because of how it’s put in, could very well have been done without her expressed knowledge or consent.”
Mari looked away and bit her lip. “I’ve wondered the same thing. I suspect that MacAvoy offered her a kidney transplant in exchange for taking the chip. Her medical records show nothing about a donor, which calls into question where the kidney came from.”
“Sally Ride’s son, Dr. Zander Ride, is the new head of the hospital’s ER. His identification was found on the scene in the bar explosion in Danville, but his and MacAvoy’s remains have yet to be found. Satellite data only shows the front of the bar, so it’s possible they escaped out the back.” The lieutenant sat back in her chair.
Mari noticed she had dark lines under her eyes and that her suit was rumpled. This case had gotten under her skin, too. She’d seen it happen to other officers, but never her unflappable boss that everyone called the ice queen.
“I was able to get information from the Alphabet Car service, and the records show that Jason Knettle and Julie Richards left the bar just an hour before the explosion. I don’t know if you’re still close to him or not, but it might help if you talked to him about his involvement in recent events.” Her boss wet her lips and sat forward in the chair.
Mari’s body stiffened. So that’s why the lieutenant wants me back.
Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “Um... is that such a good idea since we were in a relationship?”
Her lieutenant’s thin right brow rose like it was attached to a fish hook. “Do you want to work on this case or not?”
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll get right on it.”
“Wonderful. I know now that we have you back on the team, we’ll solve this case in no time and get it off that board. You know how I feel about having a clean board.”
Mari rose from the chair and nodded in her boss’s general direction.
What did I get myself into? “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”
Chapter 17
MDNA Headquarters
Unknown Location
July 19, 2026
7:00 PM
~~~
Zane watched the scenery fly by through the tinted windows of the private car. Since the automated services required fingerprinting, they couldn’t use them, not with the police after them both. His mother had been driving his truck for the last year and he’d grown accustomed to the high tech cars, but there was nothing high tech about this Lincoln. It shook when they rode on the highway, and made a rumbling noise that made it difficult for Zane to hear his own thoughts.
Not that he wanted to think much at this point, anyways. He’d give anything to shut off his mind and feel numb, even for a second. Charles’s briefing earlier on the details of the planned meeting had left him spent.
Charles told him about the “catch me if you can” message that Scott had sent over a missed connection website. Both men had sent representatives to discuss the terms of an in-person meeting. The members from both groups came back with an agreed upon time and place for the three of them to meet.
Zane didn’t quite understand how he fit into the mix, but somehow he’d become a pivotal piece in Scott’s game of revenge.
“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, kid.” Charles patted Zane’s knee and shot him a half grin as if to reassure him.
The unfamiliar touch set him on edge instead. The end results of the last time Charles and Scott had sparred off flashed in his mind. He knew enough to know that Scott had bested Charles once. What was to say he wouldn’t again?
“Excuse me if I don’t have a lot of confidence in your ability to assure me of anything.”
&nb
sp; Charles frowned, the lines on his cheek and chin forming a deep seated scowl. “Watch it.”
Zane rolled his eyes and went back to looking out the window. He wondered if he would ever talk to his mother again. No matter how angry he might get with her, he still loved her. Then there was the thing with Julie, too new to make anything of it, but too awesome to not hope for more time with her. Had she been mourning him or had she already moved on? Was he simply now some quaint story she would tell to future boyfriends?
Charles sat beside him grumbling at his mini, thrusting his finger in angry jabs at the screen.
Another reason to lack confidence in him and his ability to come out on top. The man lacks any real sort of control over his emotions. Hotheads don’t win at war.
“Scott’s changing the meeting.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be tonight near the pipeline bridge in Richmond.”
“Doesn’t it make you wonder if he planned this switch in the first place? We’re playing right into his hands. Shouldn’t we step back? I’ll come up with something.”
“Like what? I’m just going to shoot the psycho between his eyes.”
“Because that worked so well for you before?”
“Look, kid, unless you got a better idea, I suggest you keep your trap shut. Capiche?”
“Whatever, dude.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
If Charles called him kid one more time, he was going to punch him in the face—gun or no gun. Apparently the old man wasn’t exactly an expert marksman, anyways, or he wouldn’t have gotten himself almost stabbed to death by Scott.
“Huh.”
“What now?” Zane asked.
“Shut up.” Charles waved a hand at him and turned up the volume on the mini.
On the screen, an MDNA tech stared back at them. ”Sir, there’s been some unsanctioned communications going out through the devices. We haven’t been able to isolate the source. It was coming from inside the compound, but we aren’t picking up the reading anymore. The person who sent it encrypted the message and masked the source data.”
Charles looked over at Zane through his narrowed eyes. “I might have an idea of what happened. Place Jude in containment and take his watch.”
Zane swallowed hard. The watch, the one in his pocket, suddenly felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds. He avoided Charles, staring out the darkened window instead.
Their driver rolled down the old-fashioned partition and glanced back at them through the rearview mirror. His dark eyes, framed inside the rectangular mirror, stared back at them with interest.
Zane recognized him at once: Henry.
“Where to, boss?”
“Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.”
Zane’s heart hammered inside his chest. Cemetery? Would Charles do away with him now and risk screwing up his chance to get Scott? No. He was worth more to Charles alive than dead.
They drove along in a strained silence. With his hand in his pants pocket, Zane clasped hold of the watch. His thumb rested atop the crown, which back in the day people would use to wind up their watches. Growing up, he’d never known that his mother’s antiquated ways were actually a cover for her hacktivist group activities.
Charles finally broke the silence. “Did you finish the book?”
Zane cleared his throat, trying to not sound nervous. “Uh... yeah, I did.”
“What do you think?”
Zane crossed his feet at the ankles and folded his arms across his chest. It was a weighted question and he needed to tread carefully. “I think it’s a pretty comprehensive telling of the story from Jason’s point of view.”
Charles chuckled and crossed his own arms, mirroring his posture.
“The Syndicate did some fucked-up things, but I already kind of knew that. I grew up in Ocean City, remember? It’s not like these men kept their exploits hidden too much from each other, since they have an unwritten code about not snitching on each other.” Zane cleared his throat again. He would need to get himself under control. “But no one ever notices the quiet kid. They would talk with me in the room and brag to each other about the things they’d gotten away with, and the police they paid off. So the things in the book didn’t shock me, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Charles harrumphed. “Nothing surprised you, eh? Boy, if you aren’t a cocky little shit. It’s too bad you didn’t know your real father. He’d have gotten a kick out of you.”
“Not cocky, just heard enough justifications over the years about why it’s apparently okay to break the law. But I’ve yet to hear an actual credible argument.”
The old man tightened his arms around his chest like a snake squeezing its prey. “You think taking Mitchel out isn’t justified?”
Zane bit his lip and closed his eyes. He thought back to his days at O’Mally’s bar, when he and the neighborhood boys would do their homework, or sneak booze from the bar when their dads weren’t looking. The men would brag about their exploits, rag on each other, and grab-ass the half-naked waitresses who waited on them. They might argue for days over anything from a bad call in a football game to who had the biggest rap sheet, but they always agreed on one thing: they all hated the Virginia men who ran The Syndicate.
Though they never called it that.
“Well, kid?”
“No.” Zane opened his eyes and stared at Charles. “No, I don’t think it’s justified. Murder is murder. We could find him and call the police. Let them put him away. It’s not like they would let him off. He’s wanted by the FBI.”
Charles shook his head and let out a huff of irritation. “The naivety of youth. When you’re older, you’ll understand.”
He hated that phrase. When he was older, he would still be against murder. Laws were there for a reason. When society started policing itself through vigilante justice, chaos would ensue—of that he was certain.
***
St. Rita’s Hospital
Danville, Virginia
July 19, 2026
7:00 PM
~~~
Jason slouched on the sofa in the hospital penthouse, rubbing his throbbing temples. “So what exactly do we know?”
Sally sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table at the center of the room.
Jason mused how quickly she was recovering and how much healthier she looked with each passing day. She didn’t look like someone who had almost died a few weeks ago. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of gratitude.
“Jude only sent the one message, but his receiver’s been turned off, which means he can only transmit. He must not want anyone to know where he is.” Sally nibbled the nail on her thumb, an endearing bad habit. “His one message said that Zane and Charles are both alive and are planning a rendezvous with Scott sometime tonight, but he didn’t know where.”
Manny stretched out his long legs and groaned. The poor man didn’t look good, but he insisted on being a part of the meeting even though he still should be resting.
“Even if we did know where they are, if we tell the cops, they’ll arrest Zane.” Sally took a trembling breath and cleared her throat. “I just want my boy to be safe. I never wanted him to get in the middle of all this. I only brought him back here so that he would be safe from Scott. I’d rather have my boy in jail than dead.”
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. “So what are we going to do?”
The door to the hospital suite swung open and Mari walked in, a look of grim determination twisted her features. “We find them and bring them in.”
Jason’s anger about how Mari had handled the case still clung to him despite his best efforts to be understanding. He took a deep breath before reacting this time. Divisiveness wouldn’t help them get the kid back.
He moved over on the sofa to make room for her. “Come on in and take a seat. If we all work together, maybe we can bring an end to this once and for all.”
She walked into the room and sat down beside Jason. The women gl
ared at each other like two snarling dogs, but neither of them said a word—no blood shed, for now.
Jason hoped this truce would hold for a while so they could get Zane back, safe and sound. “Where do we start?” he asked.
“How does The Syndicate exchange information? How does the MDNA share information?” Mari asked Sally.
Jason nodded at his wife. He knew her desire to see her boy back safe and sound outweighed her hatred of Mari.
“The Syndicate used newspaper personals and online personals like the C list—the missed-connection ads online.”
“Wait... those ads people leave in the hopes of hooking up with people they meet, but don’t know their name? Like, ‘Dear Hot Girl at Starbucks with the Mets cap, would you like to chat?’”
Sally smirked, “Yeah, something like that. It’s how they hired out Ocean City men to do their jobs. There’s a code, but since Scott’s been dethroned there hasn’t been much communication between Richmond and Ocean City. Most of the Richmond boys have distanced themselves from the group since they’ve been in the spotlight. No one wants to lose an election or get fired over this.”
Mari pulled out her mini and started taking notes. “What else?”
Sally touched her wrist above her watch. “All the MDNA members have a watch. We communicate through Morse code. There’s going to be a meeting tonight between Charles and Zane.”
Mari nodded. “Who contacted you with this information?”
“A friend in the organization.”
“A trusted friend?”
“Yes!” Sally’s cheeks pinked and her lips formed a tight line. “He put himself at great risk to get me that information. Charles has the whole group under lockdown. No one gets in or out until this is all done.”
Mari hooked her thumb towards the door. “I’m guessing those burly men out there are serving the same purpose to keep you in here as well.”
“For our safety,” Sally said, her lip curling.
Mari nodded. “And if you were to try and leave? If things go south?”
Jason rubbed his forehead. This conversation was only making his headache worse. “I think we’re toast.”
