Interesting. “Yeah. How long was Stack watching that show?”
“Gotta be a few years now.”
“How long was Stack using?”
“I don’t know. At first, he said it was for his girlfriend,” Dick said.
“How long?” Jake pushed.
“A year or so. You got my cash?”
“I’ll be around to pay you, Dick. Oh, one more thing. Do you know the name Phil Lucci?”
Silence. Jake checked his phone to make sure they were still connected. “Dick?”
“When Stack threatened me, he made it sound like he and Phil were good friends.”
Chapter 35
Jake hung up, added the conversation notes to his file. Next he wrote up the timeline on his investigation into Stack’s death. After reviewing the facts, he called Trooper Sergeant Cal McDermott.
“Hi, Cal, Jake Carrington here,” he said when Cal picked up.
“What can I do for you today?”
“It’s a courtesy call. I’m requesting a warrant to search Stack’s condo.”
“We already searched and shared the information with you. What’s up?”
“I know, thanks. I’m searching for information on the missing person he was investigating. I also requested a warrant for Stack’s home and cell phones. Did you get that far?”
“I haven’t requested them yet. Are you going to share?”
“Yes. I’m looking for one number in particular.”
“We took some stuff into evidence. I have several half-filled-out forms on a missing person. A Saul Church.”
“That’s the case I’m investigating.”
“That so? I’ll fax you copies. Give me your number.”
Jake hung up and processed his warrants for both the phone records and Stack’s apartment. He added his financials to the mix. As soon as the warrants came through, he called Joe Green and Louie to his office.
“Louie, I’m taking Joe with me to search Stack’s apartment. You I want on the phone with the phone company. I want those records yesterday. Also, start the bank requests. Check offshore accounts too.”
“Got it,” Louie replied.
Jake and Green tossed Stack’s apartment. It was messy to begin with. Their search added a little more. The state troopers had done a thorough job. Stack liked his alcohol. His fridge was stocked with beer, vodka, and very little food. His sink was full of dirty dishes. His desk piled high with unopened bills. Green started pulling drawers from the desk while Jake worked the bedroom. If there was one thing constant about police work, it was the tediousness of it. You talked to people, you searched records, you banged your head against a wall. And if you were lucky, you’d find something that led you to more answers and an arrest. Frustrated, they found nothing.
“Joe, come here. Help me turn this dresser over.”
“Sure, Lieutenant. What are you looking for?”
Shrugging, he said, “I’ll know when I find it.”
They turned over the last nightstand and there, taped to the bottom, was a flash drive. He’d found his luck. How in hell had Cal’s team missed this? Jake tapped a few keys to see if Stack had left his computer on. He had. It called for a password. Jake tried the obvious. He typed in ‘Password’ and the screen came to light. Stupid of Carl to be so lax even at home. Jake loaded the flash drive. It contained two files. A Word document and an Excel spreadsheet.
“Holy Mother of God,” Jake said, as he watched the data load.
Jake’s eyes widened as he scanned down the Word file. All there, in black and white, were the dates, case names and numbers along with a list of evidence Phil Lucci had requested Stack make disappear. It was a treasure trove. Carl Stack had kept a road map covering his ass. As a cop, Stack should’ve known better than to keep records implicating himself. Christ, he even named other cops. Jake noticed that he had a side note of the different people who’d gone missing, but didn’t follow through. Well, we will, Jake declared. It was only right.
What he did notice was there was no reference to Kyra Russell in any of the files. She wasn’t on Stack’s radar. Was she clean of this mess? But his gut still told him she wasn’t.
“I’d never have pegged him as stupid, but he detailed every transaction, didn’t he? I worked alongside him and Carrusso every freaking day. I didn’t have a clue. What does that say about me?” Green questioned him.
“Carl was covering his ass. But you’re right, it was stupid, because it confirms he was dirty. IA is going to love this.”
Jake hunted up two more flash drives, made copies, then flexed his fingers before taking the flash drive out of the computer. He also emailed a copy to his office and home units. He wasn’t taking any chances of the original going missing. He’d lock up the second copy at home, away from the station for the same reason. Phil had to own more than one or two cops in Wilkesbury. The third copy was for McDermott. Jake put the original one in an evidence bag. The copy for McDermott he put in another. Again he questioned the state troopers search—who performed the search—Cal or one of his team members? How had they missed it? Did Lucci’s reach hit them too?
As he climbed into his car, he dialed Louie’s cell phone number. “Did you find the money?” he asked, with no preamble.
“I have traces. I’m working with the Electronics division to get the whole thing.”
“We’ll be back in ten minutes. Grab a conference room and ask Shamus to join us in there in twenty.”
He hung up as he outlined in his head how to proceed with the case. What charges should be levied against the dirty cops and Phil Lucci. The corrupt cops he’d toss to IA, but he wanted Phil Lucci to himself for corrupting his department, murder of a cop, and screwing with Kyra’s life. And his own.
As Jake entered the conference room he nodded to his captain and Louie. It didn’t surprise him the captain had invited Lieutenant Rinaldi of IA to join them. Jake walked right to the front of the room and took charge. As he started talking, the others stopped.
“Green, shut the door please. What I’m putting up on the screen is only being shared with the four of you at this time.” Jake clicked the remote in his hand and the overhead lit up with Stack’s information.
“We need to proceed with caution. I’ve found five cops in this department that are on Phil Lucci’s payroll. In Missing Persons there was Stack and Carrusso, in Electronics there’s Al Murphy, and two uniforms assigned to Illegals.”
“Isn’t that Miller’s department?” Lieutenant Rinaldi asked.
“Yes.”
“Is he on the list?”
“Not that I found. I haven’t studied the entire contents of the drive. There wasn’t enough time, but I’ll have all that information for tomorrow.” Jake handed Lieutenant Rinaldi his copy of the information.
“I’m going after Lucci first. I believe he killed Stack.” Jake let that sit out there for a minute before he continued. “No one gets away with killing a cop—even a dirty one.”
“What else do you have, Jake? We can’t go after Lucci based solely on this evidence. It’s hearsay,” Captain McGuire said.
“Can we present it as a dying man’s last confession? The only reason I haven’t picked up Lucci is that I agree with you. I’ve been putting together other things that will add weight to this evidence. Louie, how did you do with Stack’s financials?”
“He has six accounts with local banks, totaling three hundred thousand dollars. He has four more accounts in New York banks totaling another two hundred fifty thousand. I haven’t heard back from the offshore accounts or the Caymans. I don’t expect an answer there until tomorrow afternoon at the soonest.”
“Lucci is generous. That’s five hundred fifty thousand dollars. We need to trace the deposits to their source.”
“I’m already on them, Jake,” Louie said. “I should have some information on that by tomorrow .”
“Good. Green, I need you to pull all the cases that Stack referred to in his notes. I also need the outcome from those trials. If anyone asks, I’m running you ragged.”
“On it.” Green left the room.
“What about Saul Church?” Captain McGuire asked.
“There’s the pisser. We haven’t found anything on the guy. Stack made only one vague reference to him. The man’s disappeared into thin air.”
“No theories?” Rinaldi asked.
“I’m working on one, but it’s far-fetched.”
“Care to share?” McGuire asked.
“Not at this time.”
“Lieutenant Rinaldi, I’m going to leave the cops to you. Can you share what you glean with us tomorrow?” Jake saw him hesitate then added, “I’m looking for the gist of it. How it pertains to my part of the operation. I don’t want to duplicate our efforts. At some point, I’m going to need to interview those cops.”
“I’ll speak to my captain and get back to you. You understand any investigation into an officer has to be confidential until he’s charged or cleared.”
“I’m not looking to hurt anyone.” Frustrated, Jake ran his fingers through his hair. “I want this mess to go away. The publicity’s going to smear the department yet again.”
“I understand. We’ll spin that if we can, but there will be fallout over this both from within and out.”
He got the warning. He’d pay dearly for uncovering this mess. A mucked-up system at best. “Let’s meet tomorrow at ten o’clock if your schedules are open.” Jake gathered up his notes and the drives.
“Jake, you have a minute?”
“Yes, Shamus.”
“Tread lightly here. I’ve done some research on Phil Lucci. I’ve connected with some people in the organized crime section of the FBI. They say Phil Lucci’s one mean son of a bitch, but they warned that his sidekick, Angelo Rainford, is far worse. He’s Phil’s enforcer.”
“I’m not going in until I’m sure we can get a conviction. I’m going to give the state trooper I’ve been working with a copy of the drive. He seems straightforward. I like the way he shared everything with me.”
“Your call, but the more people who know, the more chance it’ll get back to Lucci.”
On the way back to his office, he found Louie unusually quiet. Expecting him to continue on to the bullpen, he was surprised when Louie walked into his office behind him and shut the door.
“What weren’t you telling the others?”
“Nothing.”
“Jake, I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re hiding something. Not sharing with your partner? There’s something in your head you’re struggling with. Nine out of ten times it’s right on the money.” Louie tilted his head. Jake rubbed his.
“I’m not sharing right now, Louie. You need to back off.”
Louie glared, then stormed off.
Freak it, I don’t want to get into it with him on top of everything else right now. With Louie, there is no forgiveness. No, he wasn’t going to put Kyra in his sights yet.
Chapter 36
Kyra popped into Jake’s mind as he reviewed Stack’s evidence. Relieved that there was nothing connecting her to Stack, Jake ran her financials. He knew he was walking a thin line without a warrant. Over the line, in reality, but if he linked her to Lucci, he’d have probable cause. His ringing cell phone killed his next plan of action. He picked it up, answered without looking at the caller ID.
“Hi.” He’d been expecting Kyra’s call. Instead, it was Mia’s voice on the line.
Hmmm! “Hello.”
“Everything all right?”
“Yes, I have a couple of cases hitting their peak, putting in some crazy hours to wind them up.” Cops made lousy life partners. It took a special person to put up with the hours.
“How are things on the personal front?” What did she need? They weren’t supposed to contact each other until Monday.
“My week has been interrupted with a cop killing. And I’m fighting insinuations that I had Kyra’s ex-husband’s beaten up. It’s cramped our socialization, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Silence from Mia. Interesting.
“Was the cop anyone I knew?”
“No, he wasn’t at Louie’s party.” The one where we met.
“I guess I’m a bit jealous. That’s new for me. I’m counting the days until Monday.” It had to be hard for her to admit that. But damn it, he needed to focus on his cases, not his love life.
“I hope I can clear these cases soon. How about we plan on a long weekend away next month?”
“I like that idea. I won’t bother you again until Monday.”
“You’re not bothering me. I have a lot on my mind right now. I’ll call you tonight if I can.”
* * * *
Kyra bought the car at lunchtime. The silver Audi looked to be in good shape. Title in hand, she dashed off to the Motor Vehicles Department and got temporary plates. Before she took it home, she stopped at Staples and picked markers to play around with the numbers on the temporary plate. She drove the car home, garaged it, then called a cab to pick up her car. At the curb, while she waited for the taxi to arrive, she placed a call to Dina. Nobody needed to know about the new car.
“Dina,” she said, the minute the phone was answered. “I won’t be back this afternoon. My errands are taking longer than I expected. Mark it off as vacation hours.”
The cab arrived as she hung up. When she got to her car, Kyra headed to her parents’ house to visit her mother. She feigned a headache and asked to lie down for a while. Once upstairs, she opened her old closet. She moved around several of her mother’s hat boxes. In the largest one, she hid half the money, in case she got caught.
This money took care of Trevor’s future. With the money secured in the closet, Kyra left an envelope addressed it to her parents on her old bed. Her mother vacuumed all the rooms every day. She’d find it tomorrow. It was a dramatic gesture, but she needed to let them know how much she loved them and trusted them to take care of Trevor if anything happened to her. She’d given them ammunition against Tom and his parents to make sure they got custody.
Back downstairs in her mother’s kitchen she sat at the table while her mother made tea. The kitchen needed updating. It hadn’t changed since her teens. The maple table displayed a beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers her mother had picked from her garden. The wallpaper, yellowed with time, needed to be changed out. She’d go nuts looking at those big blue flowers on the wall all the time, but her mother didn’t seem to mind.
“What’s the matter, Kyra?”
“Everything and nothing.”
“Well, that makes sense.” Her mother’s concerned look almost had her confessing.
“Mom, someone beat Tom up last night.”
“No.” Fear and suspicion spread over her mother’s face.
“Yes, I was questioned, but I didn’t have anything to do with it. It seems he’s been out drinking every night. I hate that Tom’s been leaving Trevor with his parents most nights. It’s not good for Trevor.”
“No, it isn’t. His mother’s a horrible woman.”
“She is. Trevor doesn’t like her. I have a favor to ask, Mom.”
“What is it?”
“If I can’t get custody of Trevor, will you and Dad petition the court for it?”
Her mother didn’t answer right away. She walked back to the stove, lifted the teakettle and poured the water into a cup. After a few seconds she turned and locked eyes with her.
“Yes, we will.”
Kyra got up from her chair and hugged her mother. Pleased that Trevor’s future was settled, Kyra left her parents’ house to head to the school to pick him up. Before she reached the school her cell phone rang.
“Mrs. Russell?”
“Yes?”
“This is Sister Mary Joseph at All Saints School. Can you come immediately?” Oh God, had something happened to Trevor? “Yes, what’s wrong?”
“It seems during recess Trevor went into the building to use the restrooms and hasn’t been seen since.”
“What do mean he hasn’t been seen? Someone abducted him?” Kyra screamed into the phone.
“Our cameras don’t show him leaving the building again. I’m sure he’s in a classroom playing somewhere.”
Her hands trembled on the steering wheel as she pressed the pedal to the floor. Was he okay? Did someone take him? Was Phil involved? He’d better stay away from her son or she’d kill him with her bare hands.
“I’m a block away. I’m going to hold you personally responsible for finding my son. And he better be safe.” She didn’t care she was screaming at a nun. How dare they lose Trevor.
Kyra sped down the street and had to swerve to avoid hitting a delivery truck. She frantically called Jake, informing him of the situation and begging him to meet her at the school. As she pulled up to the building, she slammed out of her car and raced up the school steps. The information officer tried to stop her. “Get the hell out of my way. Why weren’t you doing your job when my son went missing?”
“Mrs. Russell, please come to my office,” Principal Sister Mary Joseph said.
“I want to search along with your team. If Trevor hears my voice he’ll come out if here’s still here.” Dear God please let him be here.
Kyra rushed into the first classroom, pulled open every door and the closet, then moved on to the next one. Twenty minutes later her cell phone rang.
“Right out from under their noses. See how easy it is, Kyra. Make sure you stay loyal.”
“Where the hell is my son?” she shouted into the phone, but the line went dead.
Jake rushed down the hall. Kyra saw him as she turned. “Do you have news?” she asked him.
“No, who were you talking to?”
“Someone, and I didn’t recognize their voice, is taunting me. He said it was easy to snatch him from under their noses. Oh, Jake, we have to find Trevor.”
All the Hidden Sins Page 30
