“I have to help Katie.”
“No, you have to stay safe. If you interfere and we lose her I will arrest you. Now do as I say.”
She lightly rubbed her hand over the obvious bump on his head.
“You’re hurt. You will only hinder us. I’m going to get her back. Now do as I say.”
She pushed him back against the wall and nodded to the officer.
Dani pulled the door open and peeked out—first left, then right—before exiting the stairwell.
Daren stuck the gun up against Katie’s ribs as he scanned the parking lot. “My car is six rows back on the right. It’s a blue Camaro. We’re going to walk fast but calm. If you try anything funny I will kill you.”
They weren’t past the first rows of cars when Jake spotted them. He spoke quietly into his phone. “Section D. Moving east.”
“Right behind you,” Dani said. She motioned to the two officers that were with her to move passed Daren and Katie on the left. Jake was keeping low on the right. They were at the third row of cars when two more officers showed up. They held up at a car and started an argument with each other.
Dani had to smile. Jeremy was one of them. He was doing what needed to be done to distract Daren so she and Jake could circle around. Daren did turn around but he continued to move Katie further into the parking lot.
Daren’s head was going side to side. Katie was staring forward. He pushed the gun against her again. “There it is. Move it.”
Jake, Dani, and the others surrounded them. Daren unlocked the doors as they walked up to the car and pulled the passenger door open. His head was still swiveling left to right. Dani and Jake stayed low. Jeremy pounded his hand on the car he was pretending was his and yelled at his partner again. The other officers had made it around to the last row of cars. They were no more then three cars away in every direction.
Hoping Katie knew they were there and she wouldn’t do anything stupid, Dani stood. Jake moved around a few more cars until he was behind the Camaro.
“Get in the car, Katie.” When she didn’t move, he pushed her.
“No. I’m not going with you.” She pulled away.
Daren grabbed for her. This time she lost her balance when she broke his hold. Next thing she knew she was on the ground with someone pulling her under the car. With Katie out of the way, Dani, Jake and the others pointed their gun at Daren. Dani took lead this time.
“Drop the gun, drop the gun!”
Daren wasn’t very smart. Instead of dropping the gun he raised it, pointing it at her.
Jake yelled. “Don’t even think about it. I have no problem with killing you.”
Daren swung around, pointing his gun at Jake.
Dani yelled. “You’re surrounded. Drop the gun now!”
Jeremy chimed in. “Don’t die in this parking lot. Nobody wants that. Put the gun down and place your hands on top of the car.”
Daren eyes darted from Jake to Dani then to Jeremy. Dani slowly walked toward him. “Don’t die in the parking lot. You can’t get away. Put the gun down.”
“I just wanted to talk to her.”
“I know. It’s okay.” Jake moved closer. “Once you put the gun down, we’ll let you talk to her.”
“She kept running away from me. I had to talk to her.” His eyes continued to scan from one cop to the other.
Dani was only a few steps away when Jake calmly said, “I know. She ran away from me a few times. I’ll make her talk to you now. Come on, you’re not suicidal. You’re surrounded. You can’t get away. Do us all a favor and put the gun down.”
When Daren turned to Jake, Dani cross-checked him into the car. She kicked the gun out of his hand and elbowed him in the jaw. He was falling to the ground as Jake picked up his gun.
Jeremy grabbed Dani’s hand to stop her from swinging at Daren again. “Enough, Lieutenant. That’s enough.”
“He killed Zach. It can never be enough.”
“Killed Zach? Who’s Zach? I didn’t kill anyone,” Daren yelled as Jake turned him over and slapped the cuffs on.
As Jake lifted him to his feet, Dani stepped toe-to-toe with him. “You sick bastard. You killed a cop. I’m going to personally lock the iron gate of the cell you will be spending the rest of your life in.”
Jake pushed Daren face first against his car and stepped between Dani and Jeremy. “Jeremy, do us a favor and bring him in. Take him to our precinct. We’ll be right behind you.”
When the other officers saw the situation was under control, they broke off to get their cars. They pulled up just as Jeremy pulled Daren off the car. “Are you sure you don’t want to deal with him and let me deal with her?” He pointed to Dani.
Jake looked at Dani. “Ah, I’m her partner. It’s my job to bring her down.”
Now Jeremy laughed as he pulled Daren toward the car. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“Hey, you can’t arrest me. I didn’t do anything,” Daren yelled. “I want a lawyer. You can’t do this. I didn’t kill anyone.”
Jeremy read him his rights before pushing him into the back of the car. He climbed into the passenger seat and they took off.
CHAPTER 39
AS SOON AS THE CAR was out of sight, Jake knelt down to look under the car. “You can come out now.”
Slowly Katie crawled out from under the car. Dani grabbed her, hugging her tight. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Jake looked under the car. “Do you plan to live under there?”
“That depends on whether you’re going to kill me or not.”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I think I’ll just stay here until you do.”
Dani and Katie laughed even though they were as mad at him as Jake was. Katie knelt down next to Jake and looked under the car. “I’ll protect you. You can come out.”
Willy crawled out from under the car and stood behind Katie holding her shoulder so Dani and Jake couldn’t get to him. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let that guy hurt her.”
“You think we were going to let her get hurt?” Jake glared at him.
“Well, no, but I had a chance to help her. I had to take it. I’m sorry.”
Dani and Jake sighed in unison. “We’re going to let this little incident go. And that’s only because you didn’t get her killed with that stupid move.”
Jake took a step closer and moved in over Katie’s shoulder.
“If you ever pull a stupid stunt like that again, I will personally throw you in a cell and throw away the key. You get me?”
“Yes, sir. I promise it will never happen again.”
Dani stared at both of them as Willy stepped next to Katie, taking her hand. “You are so lucky I have to get to the precinct and tear someone else apart or they would be wheeling you into surgery right now.”
Willy swallowed as he looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. You’re not going to stop me from seeing Katie, are you?”
Dani glared at him, then smiled. “Yeah, like she’d let that happen.” She shook her head. “Where are your parents?”
“They were going to wait for me in the cafeteria.”
“Call them on your way to the emergency room.”
“I don’t need the emergency room.”
Dani and Jake leaned forward and glared again.
“Right, yeah. I should get checked out.” He turned to Katie. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“I’ll go with you.” She looked at Jake and Dani to make sure that was okay.
“Go ahead. We’ll be right there.”
When there was a good distance between them but still in sight, Jake turned to Dani and walked backwards so they could talk.
“Are you calm now?”
“Nope.”
“Do you think you’ll be calm by the time we get back to the precinct?”
“Nope.”
Jake grinned. “So what did Zach do when you got like this?”
“Stayed close to make sure I didn’t k
ill anyone.”
“Is that what you want me to do?”
“What I want you to do is go home, but every time I suggest that you ignore me. So I guess you might as well make yourself useful and keep me from killing him.”
“You remember that we don’t think he did it, right?”
“Yeah, but he knows who did. If I have to work to hard to get that info out of him I might kill him before he tells us.”
Dani walked up to the desk that Willy and Katie were standing near. His parents arrived at the same time.
“I’m Lieutenant Castello,” Dani said. “This young man is a witness in a kidnapping case. We need him for a positive ID of a suspect as soon as possible.”
She looked around the waiting room. “Any chance we could cut the line and get him looked at next?”
The nurse looked at Katie. She must have been at the memorial. “I’m sorry about your mother. She was a great nurse. We’re going to miss her around here.”
Katie lowered her eyes before she started to cry again. “Thank you.”
“Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Follow me.”
While Willy and Katie were being looked at, Jake pulled Mr. and Mrs. Textler aside and explained what happened. They were far from happy about everything that happened, but since they know their son they couldn’t put all the blame on Jake and Dani. It was a tough sell, but they agreed to let Willy come down to the precinct to work with a team on finding the others.
Twenty minutes later, they were on their way to the precinct. Katie was lucky enough to get away with only a few scraps on the palms of her hands from when Willy pulled her under the car. Willy was also lucky. He did have some bruises on his side from Daren’s kicks, but the lump on his head had not caused a concussion. A little ice on both areas tonight and he should be fine.
They handed Willy and Katie off to Wilson when they entered the squad room. Dani and Jake found Jeremy in Dani’s office with his feet up on her desk and a phone to his ear.
“How long?” He took his feet down and stood. “Okay, call me as soon as they get here.”
He hung up and headed around the desk.
“No, please make yourself comfortable,” Dani sneered.
Jeremy looked at Jake. “I thought you were going to bring her down.”
“Yeah, she didn’t want any part of that.”
They both laughed as Dani took her seat behind her desk. “Where is he?”
“Holding cell.”
“Did he say anything?”
“Yeah. I want my lawyer and my father.”
“How long?”
“That was my partner on the phone. He’s at the airport. Becket’s plane just landed. They should be here within the hour. The lawyer has been notified, but refused to give us an ETA. He did advise Daren not to say a word until he got here.”
“Great. Just great.”
They were silent for a good five minutes before Jeremy asked, “So how do we handle this?”
Dani finally looked up from the file she was reading. “Who’s the lawyer?”
“Meyer.”
“Senior or junior?”
“Senior.”
“Does it matter?” Jake asked.
“Not really. Junior will let us get away with a little more, but not much. Senior will let us go at them as long as we keep it calm. The first sign of a raised voice he’ll stop the interview and pull his clients out.”
“That may work with Matt, but we have Daren cold on kidnapping,” Jake commented. “No way is he walking out those doors.”
“True, but we need him to tell us who killed Zach.”
“Are you going to accuse him of killing Zach?” Jeremy asked as he took a seat.
“Yes.”
“Are you going to do it calmly?”
“Probably not.” She sat back and rubbed her face with her hands. “I’m thinking we’re all in the room. I’ll play bad cop. Jeremy can play good cop and Jake can play intimidator.”
“Will Meyer let that happen?” Jeremy checked his phone. “They have Becket. They’re thirty minutes out.”
Thirty-five minutes later, they were notified that Becket and Meyer were in the interview room. They gave them another thirty minutes to sweat it out before heading out. Jeremy broke off to go get Daren. Wilson pulled Dani and Jake aside.
“We have a match for Keith Oberman to the sketch Willy worked up. He and Katie have been on Google earth for the last thirty minutes or so. They have the area narrowed down to somewhere in Jersey. He’s thinking somewhere in Hoboken.”
“How did they come up with that?”
“It seems Willy was not given the drugs right away. When he was caught trying to escape, he was knocked out from a hit to the head. He came to a few times on the trip into the city. He remembers a train station. A big one. Somehow they get Hoboken out of that.”
“Okay, keep at it. We may be awhile with this interrogation. We are the first to hear about it if they nail it down.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jake hung back as Dani headed to the interrogation room. “Wilson, nobody moves on the location until we are sure that’s where they are. Katie and Willy do not leave this office until we get back. Trust me when I tell you that they will try to find those kids on their own if you don’t move fast enough when they pin it down.”
“In other words, if I take my eyes off them I’m a dead man.” He laughed.
Jake slapped him lightly on the back. “Not in other words. In those exact words.”
Jake headed out. Wilson shook his head and headed back to Katie and Willy.
Dani and Jake waited in the viewing room for Jeremy to come in with Daren. They watched as Matt tore into his son for causing more problems.
“What the hell did you do now?” were the first words out of Matt Becket’s mouth when Daren walked in the door.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Really? Is that the way you’re going to play this? I had police detectives waiting for me when I got off the plane. A plane I was on because I had to go do your job. All I wanted to do was go home, have a drink and hit the sack. Instead we are sitting in an interrogation room at a police station. I find it hard to believe that they brought us down here for nothing.”
“I didn’t do anything. I just wanted to talk to her.”
“Talk to who?”
Daren looked at his shoes and whispered, “Katie.”
“Speak up. Who?”
Daren lifted his head. “Katie. I wanted to talk to Katie, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Mr. Meyer broke in before he said anything he shouldn’t. “Stop. Don’t say another word.”
“But…”
“Not another word. You do not say a word unless I tell you to. Do you understand?” When Daren and Matt nodded he turned to Jeremy. “What are the charges?”
Dani and Jake walked in. Dani took lead. “Let’s start with the formalities.” She hit the switch on the wall to start the recorder. After stating who was in the room, date and time she turned to Daren. “Have you been read your Maranda Rights?”
Daren looked at Mr. Meyer and answered at his nod. “Yes, ma’am.”
Dani looked at Mr. Becket. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Then I’ll get right to the point. Daren Becket you are under arrest for the murder of Detective Zach Danato.”
“Murder?” Daren yelled. “I didn’t murder anyone!”
Dani didn’t respond to his outburst. She continued with the charges. “You are also being charged with the kidnapping and accessory to kidnapping of Katie Granta.”
“I didn’t kidnap her! I just wanted to talk to her!”
Mr. Meyer put his hand on Daren’s arm to stop him from talking. Dani continued.
“This precinct will also be charging you with the illegal possession of a fire arm. Detective Vanella, would you like to tell them what you’ll be charging them with?”
Jeremy smiled. “
Sure. Might as well lay it all on the table.”
He turned to Daren. “I will be charging you with the murder of Jennifer Granta. You, Mr. Becket, will be charged with accessory to murder.”
Now it was Mr. Becket’s turn to protest. He jumped up. “Are you out of your mind! I didn’t kill her.”
This time Mr. Meyer put his hand on Matt Becket’s arm. When both the Beckets took their seats, he motioned to Dani.
“I think I’m going to need a minute with my clients,” he said.
Dani stared at him a moment, and then turned, hit the switch to turn the recorder off, and walked out. “Five minutes.”
Jeremy followed, but Jake decided to play the good guy. Daren was going down for destroying his family and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. “It’s going to be a long night. Would you like some coffee?”
“No, thank you, Detective.”
They met in the viewing room and watched as Daren and Matt went at it again. They couldn’t hear what was being said, but when you watch as many interviews as the three of them have, you learn a little about lip-reading and a lot about body language.
Exactly five minutes later, they returned to the room. Dani hit the switch to announce that they were back and ready to continue. She didn’t waste any more time on formalities.
She went right for his throat. She stood with her hands on the table, leaning into Daren’s face. “Why did you kill him?”
Daren slid his chair back. “I didn’t kill anyone. I swear I didn’t kill anyone. You have to believe me.”
“Lieutenant, maybe you better tell me why you think my client killed Detective Danato.”
“We have witnesses that put him in the warehouse at the time of the murder. We have accessories to the first kidnapping that have gone on record stating that Daren was the mastermind behind that whole thing. The kidnapped person was brought to the warehouse where Detective Danato was killed. You were seen having a heated argument with Detective Danato.”
Even though the next line was a little bit of a lie, she said it anyway.
Fatally Linked Page 31
