Fatally Linked

by Juliann Vatalaro

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Thanks for your help,” Jake said and walked over to Dani.

  “How’d I do?”

  “That depends. You get anything we can use?”

  “Nope. Closed around one. Left with the last garbage of the day. No body. Came in today. Went outside to unlock the dumpster. Body. Called police.”

  Dani was looking anywhere but at Jake as he was running it down. Concentrating on the job was not going to be easy with him around.

  “Time of death was around one, so he didn’t die here.”

  “That makes it murder,” Jake clarified.

  “Maybe. Could be his drug partners got scared and dumped him.”

  “Morgue guy give you anything?”

  “Nothing worth talking about,” Dani said, and walked away. Jake followed.

  “We need to talk,” Jake told her when he found her outside.

  “Not now. We have to canvass the area. You go left. I’ll go right.”

  She walked away.

  Two hours later, they met back at the scene. The body had been removed and the last of the crime scene unit were packing up.

  “Anything?” Dani asked, still not looking at him.

  “Not really. The owner of the Set ‘em Up bar across the street said it was pretty quiet around here last night. He said if anyone saw anything, it would be the bouncer. He’ll be back in at eight tonight. You get anything?”

  “Nope” was all she said as she headed for the car. She headed to the captain’s office when they returned to the precinct.

  “What did you find out?” she asked.

  “I called his captain in San Diego. He says after the drug bust Jake took some time off. Said it was a family issue. He also said he’s the best cop he has ever seen. He regretted giving him the transfer.

  Dani fell into the seat opposite the captain’s. “That’s it? He didn’t say what the family problem was?”

  “He claims he never asked him.”

  “How long has he been a cop?”

  “Twelve years.”

  “Captain, something’s not right with this guy. Where’s his file?”

  “Right here. What do you expect to find in there?”

  “I don’t know, but he is up to something. You knew Zach. And I don’t mean just as his boss. You were friends. Why wouldn’t he tell me or even you about Jake?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t believe it himself. Maybe he wanted to be sure it was true before he said anything.”

  “I thought of that myself. Then I decided it was bullshit. It’s not like he was hiding a bunch of money, or having an affair. This is big. He found a lost brother. An identical twin brother. Zach liked to talk. He would have wanted to talk about this.”

  “Maybe you just need to talk to Jake. Get it all out.”

  She shook her head. “Talk to him. I can’t even look at him.”

  “Dani, you are no good to me if you are going to be preoccupied with this. I have two dead teenagers. If you can’t do your job, then take that vacation. Think about what you want to do with your life now.”

  Her head jerked up from the file. “I know what I want to do with my life. That’s why I had to think about the proposal. Do me a favor. I have three cases on my plate. Just don’t dump more on me,” she said and walked out.

  Katie sat in her usual seat in the café with her laptop on. She just stared at it. She didn’t know the first kid, but she knew Willy. Now he was dead. Apparent overdose, they said. She knew Willy didn’t do drugs. He was murdered, and she wasn’t going to sit by and let them say otherwise. The cops needed to know that he didn’t do drugs or they would drop the case, write it off as another teen overdose. She watched the lieutenant run the scene.

  She seems to know what she is doing. She’s the one she should tell.

  She turned on the laptop and started typing.

  Willy did not do drugs. He was murdered. Please find out who did it. He was my friend.

  She hit “send” and sat back in her chair.

  CHAPTER 2

  BACK IN HER OFFICE, DANI sat with her eyes closed. There was a headache starting in the back of her eyes.

  Ah, Zach, why did you have to die on me? I don’t know if I can do this without you. Now this guy shows up and says he’s your brother. Because of the resemblance, I can only believe him. Why wouldn’t you tell me? Did you think I would not have understood? Did you think I would think less of you somehow for not knowing all this time he was out there?

  She was brought out of her thoughts by the beep on her computer. New mail message.

  What the hell? From a friend? If you are such a good friend, why not come in and talk to me? I have too much on my plate to deal with false leads.

  Jake walked in as she hit the “print” button.

  “You got a minute?”

  “Not for you.”

  “Well, you are going to have to find one. I’m not going anywhere. You’re going to have to get over it and work with me. You may even have to look at me.”

  She wiped her face with her hands and looked at him. “You’re right. What do you want?”

  “Morgue called. The kid this morning has the same tattoo as the Jane Doe from last week. Glander says it’s about 48 hours old.”

  “Shit. We got a serial brewing here. Cause of death?”

  “OD. Six different types shot into him. Died within five minutes of the injection. He didn’t feel any pain.”

  “That’s something, I guess. Come up with an ID yet?”

  “William Textler. Missing for a little over two months from the private school he attends. They’re trying to find his next of kin now.”

  “William, Willy. Shit,” she said again as she opened the email. “Look at this.”

  Jake moved behind her, leaning over her shoulder. “When did this come in?”

  “Ah, a few minutes ago,” Dani said as she got up out of her chair to pace the office. It was really because Jake was too close, but she would never let him know that.

  “From a friend. Did you trace it?”

  “I was about to try, but computers are not my specialty.”

  “Yeah, I remember Zach said something about computers not being your strong point.” Jake sat at her machine. “Let me see,” he said as he started to hit the keys.

  Dani walked to the door and closed it. “What else did Zach say about me?”

  “Let’s just say you made him very happy and leave it at that for now. Damn it!”

  “What?”

  “Whoever sent this is good. It is going to take me some time. Is there a desk I can borrow? I don’t want to disturb your thought process. I hear you get mean if your process is disturbed,” he said as he got up from her desk.

  “Why would he tell you so much about me and not tell me anything about you?”

  “Maybe he wasn’t as proud of me as he was of you,” Jake said before walking out.

  Dani walked up to her computer and started to lay out what she had on all three cases. On the right she put the teen murders. In the center was Zach’s murder. On the left, she put Jake Santos.

  Even with the resemblance, she was having a hard time believing his story was true. She sent the murder board to the large monitor hanging on the wall in her office.

  She worked through all three at the same time. Well, not really. She had others follow up her thoughts on the teenager murders. She didn’t know where to start on Jake Santos. The captain had already called his former captain and didn’t get much. So she worked on Zach’s murder.

  It was almost nine o’clock when Dani had had enough. She had spent the afternoon going through all of Zach’s files. There was nothing there that she didn’t know about. Nothing that she could see that would cause someone to kill him. She hadn’t eaten all day, so her headache was really kicking in. She had her eyes closed and was rubbing her temples when the door opened.

  “Hey,” Jake said. “I noticed you haven’t eaten today so I brought you a burger
.”

  She stared at him. “So they don’t knock on closed office doors in California?”

  He ignored the question and stated, “You have to eat.”

  “Says you. Look, I can’t deal with you right now.”

  “Okay, don’t deal with me. Just eat,” he said, putting the food in front of her.

  She stared at him again. This was not the first day she had forgotten to eat. Zach had always brought her something. He took care of her better than she did herself.

  She opened the container and stared at the contents. A burger and fries—one of her favorites. Good guess or just something else Zach had mentioned to him.

  “Thanks, but I still don’t trust you.”

  “Understandable.” He looked at the monitor with the murder board. “Did you come up with anything?”

  “On which one?”

  “Let’s go right to left. Anything on the teenagers?” He took a seat even though he had not been invited to. “I hate seeing pictures of dead people. When it’s kids, it’s worse.”

  Dani figured if she was going to find out anything about this guy, she might as well let him in a little. Not much; just enough to get him talking.

  “Me too. When we find out who they are, I’ll change out the pictures.” She took a bite of her burger. “I have some of the detectives checking the tattoo parlors. Nothing back yet. The email says he did not do drugs. I had Glander do a quick check of track marks. He didn’t find any. So if he did do drugs, this was the first time he used a needle.”

  “You believe the friend from the email?”

  “I’m starting to, but not yet. You figure out who it came from?”

  “Not yet. The email has been routed through eight accounts so far. I’m still working on it.”

  “So we’re still nowhere. Great.” Dani finished her burger and started on the fries.

  “Okay, let’s move on to Zach.” He crossed his left leg over his right. “Don’t like his picture in his dress blues?”

  Again, she hesitated and stared. She ignored the comment about Zach’s picture. “Strike two. I spent the day going through all his files. There is nothing there that I didn’t already know about.”

  “Anything he could have been working on alone? Is it possible he would do something without you knowing about it?”

  Dani nodded slowly. “It’s possible.”

  “How about his home computer?”

  “I haven’t looked at it yet.”

  “Cell phone calls? In or out?”

  “Again, I haven’t checked yet.”

  Jake looked at her a minute before he said anything else. When she popped the last fry in her mouth, he laughed to himself. Zach had told him so much about her. All day long he was seeing everything firsthand. He found her amusing. Zach’s description of her did not do her justice. She was not beautiful, but she was very cute. Five eight, about a hundred and thirty pounds. Wavy black hair that fell about two inches below her shoulders. Strong athletic build, a nice rack and pretty green eyes. The way she walked showed she had confidence in herself. Maybe a little too much for his liking.

  “I understand this is hard for you. Why don’t you let me take care of finding his killer?”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll do it.” She knew she was staring at him. He looked so much like Zach, she couldn’t help herself. Five eleven, about one seventy. Short wavy black hair. Big brown eyes that made your heart skip a beat. The shirt he wore showed a body that looked like he spent at least two hours a night in the gym, but somehow she didn’t think he ever stepped a foot in one.

  She fell in love with Zach’s body the second they met. It just took two years before she could show him how much.

  There was an instant attraction for both of them, but being partners, neither acted on it. They flirted all the time. Everyone just took it as two partners helping each other get though the day. But they knew it was building to more. It used to drive Dani nuts when he talked about his latest one-night stand. She could tell by the look in his eyes that it also drove him nuts when she told him about hers. Still, they were partners, and they couldn’t let happen what they both wanted so much.

  After two years and a particularly rough night, they gave in to their feelings. Though they had to keep their relationship a secret, neither had to hear about the others’ one-night stands ever again.

  Now Zach was dead. All she could think about was how they had wasted the first two years together. It pissed her off. There was nothing that was going to stop her from finding his killer. She also knew there would be no mercy when she did.

  “We can do it together if you want,” Jake said.

  “I don’t. I’ll do it myself. Thanks for the food. I’m going to call it a night.”

  She got up and held the door open for him.

  “We didn’t talk about the case on the right,” he said as he stood up. “I know there is a better picture of me in my file.”

  She rubbed her eyes. “That’s the one from the newspaper write-up on your drug bust. Since Zach didn’t have a beard, that picture helps me separate you from him.” She stood up. “I’ll take care of that one myself also. Goodnight.”

  “Okay, if that’s the way you want it.”

  When he was out of sight, she grabbed her jacket and headed out. She needed a drink. Being around him was like being tortured. She had only buried Zach yesterday. Today she was staring at him in the flesh again. Anyone would need a drink if they had a day like hers. She ran her hand over Zach’s picture as she walked out.

  CHAPTER 3

  DANI WAS IN THE BAR about fifteen minutes and working on her second screwdriver when Jake walked in. He walked right over to her and took a seat.

  “How did you find me—or are stalking me now, Detective?”

  “Nope, no stalking. I asked the guy at the front desk of the precinct where a cop would go around here to get a drink. He told me since it’s only two blocks away, O’Mally’s was the local hang out.”

  “So you’re just here to have a drink with the guys?”

  “No, I’m here because we need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t. I’m off for the night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. About work and only about work.”

  “I’m sorry Zach didn’t tell you about me. He told me everything about you, so I don’t understand it myself. However, if we are going to find out who killed him, we need to work together. There is no point in us stepping all over each other trying to get to the same goal.”

  “Can I get you… something?” the waitress said as her heart stopped.

  “Bud Ice, bottle,” Jake said without looking at her.

  She turned toward Dani with a puzzled look in her eyes.

  “Long-lost brother,” Dani said.

  “Oh. One Bud Ice bottle coming up. You good?” she asked Dani.

  “Yeah, for the moment.” She swirled her drink and took a long sip. “How do I know this is not a set-up? Maybe you killed him and you’re just trying to find out from me how much I know.”

  “Wow, I didn’t think you would figure it out so quickly. I underestimated you. You’re right. I did kill Zach. He told me so much about you that I decided I had to have you. So I killed him and came here to make a play for you.”

  She stared at him as she tried to figure out if what he just said could be true. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I was involved with a drug bust four months ago. Zach saw me on the news. He looked me up. We met. We found out we were brothers. We talked on the phone a couple of times a week. He was killed. I came to find his killer. End of story.”

  “And you think that is so easy for me to believe? How many times did you meet in person?”

  He was quiet while the waitress gave him his beer and stared at him for another moment. When she was gone he spoke up.

  “What’s with her?”

  “One of Zach’s old conquests. You going to answer the question?”

  “Twice. Once in California and once here in
New York. We needed to be together when we talked to our parents’ divorce lawyer.”

  “Had he told you about me before you came here?”

  “Yes. A little.”

  “Why didn’t he introduce us when you were here, then?”

  “I asked to meet you. He said he didn’t think it was a good idea yet.”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  “Did he have a problem with you?”

  “Not that I know of. I thought we were getting along pretty well.”

  “Did he call you or did you always call him?”

  “We called each other. Whenever we had something to tell each other or just to work something out. A case, maybe. Or if you were diving him nuts.”

  “How long did these conversations last? A minute, an hour?”

  “It depended on the topic.”

  “Did he tell you he was going to ask me to marry him?”

  “Yes. Did he do it?”

  Tears started in her eyes. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the ring. “Yes.”

  “At least he died a happy man.”

  She didn’t respond to that. She wiped the tears from her eyes and put the ring away. She motioned to the waitress for another drink.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know him all that long, but I miss him. I’m not going anywhere until I find out who took him away from me again.”

  “You do what you have to do and I’ll do what I have to do” was all she said. She took the drink from the waitress and drank it down. She dropped some money on the table and walked out.

  As Jake pulled up to the Set ‘em Up bar, he saw Dani walking around the corner. He parked and came up behind her.

  “Something wrong with your car?”

  She turned to look at him, but continued walking. “I didn’t think it would be wise to drive after the three drinks.”

  “So you walked? You could have gotten someone to take you.”

  “It’s only about fifteen blocks. It gave me time to think.”

  “Did you come up with anything?”

  She gave him a sideways glare. “Nothing you need to know about. What are you doing here?”