by Debra Webb
The man’s dark eyes studied her for a long moment. “Hector tells me that you are a very persuasive and trustworthy woman.”
Jess lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “He tells me you’re Leonardo Lopez.” There was always the chance this could be a body double. Guys like him sometimes had numerous look-alikes for security purposes.
“As much as I would prefer not to be who I am just now, unfortunately that is beyond my power to change.”
Seemed even badass gang leaders weren’t happy when their children misbehaved.
“What would you like to talk about, Mr. Lopez?”
“Straight to the point. I admire that in a woman.”
That was probably intended as a compliment. “I also admire that trait in a man.” Where most things were concerned anyway. There was a time for foreplay but this was not it.
Acknowledging her pointed comment with a dip of his head, he said, “There are many things I can offer in exchange for leniency where my daughter’s charges are concerned.”
Jess would just bet there were. “I’m afraid you’ll need to speak with Supervisory Special Agent Duvall and Chief of Police Burnett about that. I just catch the bad guys. I don’t make deals.”
“I’m certain you can see how speaking with your friends would be quite impossible.”
There was that. “Getting your followers under control might help your case,” Jess offered. “You make that happen and I’ll put in a good word for you.” Sounded fair to her.
“Perhaps that step has already been taken,” he suggested. “My people have squashed the rebel movement. I’m certain you’ve noticed the lack of bodies being thrown in your path. In the past twenty-four hours there have been no reports of violence. Any others you discover will be those who choose to continue on their disobedient paths or incidents that occurred before my edict was issued.”
She couldn’t deny some truth in his words. Maybe this was her chance to confirm once and for all that Gabrielle’s death had nothing to do with his world. “I have a problem with innocent victims being used for making points,” Jess challenged.
“If you’re referring to the unfortunate murder involving the wife of one of your detectives, the jury is still out on that one. I have found no one who wants to claim credit. You can rest assured that you will be the first to know if the culprit is uncovered in my organization. You will also find justice levied.”
Surprised, she openly studied his face. “Why would you do that?” The MS-13 was the most ruthless gang on the planet. Why would the man who held a great many members on the West Coast in the palm of his hand offer to be supportive of local cops here in Alabama? She hoped Harper was hearing this, otherwise no one was ever going to believe her.
“I have a new vision,” he said, clearly pleased that she was so startled by his offer. “I am a businessman, Chief Harris. The savage tactics of the past offer little advantage in the business world. There are many ways to maintain power.”
Jess got it. He had allowed the ruthless tactics to get him where he needed to be and now he was done. Now he wanted to focus on drugs, guns, and such without all the fanfare of mass murders and the like. Well, wasn’t that just the most interesting news? Give the man a medal. A Nobel Peace Prize or something. But his need to extend his business reach would never change the heinous traditions of the Mara Salvatrucha.
“You tell Agent Duvall that if he ensures my daughter receives immunity I will give him something immensely important to him. Something to which my wayward son Salvadore has no access.”
“Does that include you?” Jess asked bluntly; might as well clarify his exact intent. “Because I’m under the impression that’s what Agent Duvall and most of the federal, state, and local agencies between here and California really want.”
Leonardo smirked. “I have something much more personal to his beloved bureau than that in mind.”
Jess looked him straight in the eye. His statement could mean only one of two things. He either knew of plans to launch attacks against the bureau or he had someone on the inside. A mole. Anticipation sent a new kind of shiver up her spine. “I’m all ears, Mr. Lopez.”
“I have many powerful and influential people in my operation. Some are deeply imbedded within his circle. This, I believe, will interest him greatly.”
He could be bluffing. Jess ignored the way her pulse skipped a little more swiftly. “I’m afraid he’ll need something more conclusive than innuendoes. Irrefutable evidence is the traditional requirement.”
He leaned close to Jess. The air stalled in her lungs.
“You must trust me, lucerito, I have much evidence.” Lopez stood. “You tell them for me, Chief Harris. Hector will know how to reach me. I will notify you if I find your killer among my people. You have my word.”
Stunned but certain he would do exactly what he said, Jess watched Leonardo Lopez and his posse drive away.
She tugged her cell from her pocket and confirmed that the call to Harper was still connected. “Did you hear any of that, Sergeant?”
“Yes, ma’am. Where the hell are you? We haven’t had time to triangulate your position.”
“Marconi Park but I’ll be at the office in about ten minutes. Let Duvall and Burnett know I need a meeting.”
Jess ended the call and sat there for another couple minutes. Mostly because she still felt a little weak-kneed. She’d just had an up close and personal meeting with the most ruthless man on the West Coast.
Birmingham Police Department, 9:05 a.m.
“That’s what he said,” Jess reiterated. “Sergeant Harper can confirm every word.”
“I can’t believe he approached you out in the open like that,” Wesley argued. “And the suggestion that he has someone inside the bureau is ludicrous.”
Between him and Burnett, they would have the carpet worn out in the chief of police’s office before this meeting concluded.
“You think you’re surprised.” Jess scoffed. Men. The entire species had a way of delivering the most memorable understatements. “I was still in a state of near shock five minutes after he walked away.”
Burnett shook his head. “This is exactly what I was worried about. You’re all over the news, Jess. You need out of the limelight until this Lopez business is resolved.”
Jess shot to her feet. “I have a murder case and a missing child. I will not step back from this case, so don’t even ask me to.”
“I wasn’t planning to ask,” Burnett warned, fury lighting in his eyes.
“Fine.” Jess shrugged. “Take me off the case. You know I’ll just continue to investigate on my own. Either way works for me.”
“Calm down, both of you,” Wesley fairly shouted. “We have to weigh every step. This is far bigger than any one of us or any one case.”
Judging by the outrage on his face, Jess estimated that Burnett was on the verge of having smoke roil out of his ears. She didn’t have time for territorial wars or politics. She had work to do. These two could go at each other without her around.
“Watch yourself, Duvall,” Burnett warned, “you are a part of this meeting and our ongoing investigation at my pleasure. Push me and you’re out of here.”
So much for department-bureau relations.
“I did what Lopez asked me to do.” She gathered her bag and smiled. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m done here. Have a nice morning, gentlemen.”
Before either could demand she stay, she was out the door. Wesley had the details Lopez had given her. That was his problem. The only thing she wanted from Lopez was word about anyone in his organization who might know something about Gabrielle Grayson’s murder.
Thankfully, Sheila, Burnett’s secretary, was on the phone when Jess left his office, which prevented her being derailed for small talk. Jess gave the woman a wave and hurried out. In the lobby she got lucky again when she found Tara away from her desk.
By the time she made it down the corridor and to the stairwell door without being intercepted, Jess felt confide
nt she might even reach her office before being waylaid.
The door opened before Jess could reach for it. Lori, purse hanging over her shoulder and keys in hand, skidded to a stop to prevent running into her.
“I got a call from the administrator at the New Life Rehabilitation Center. She wants to talk to us about Gabrielle Grayson. I was just coming to look for you.”
This could be the break they needed. “Where’s Harper?” Jess followed Lori back into the stairwell and down the first set of steps.
“He’s in a meeting with the search team leader. Nothing new on Devon Chambers as of five minutes ago.”
Renewed worry twisted in Jess’s stomach. “And Cook?”
“He’s following up with a guy who was partnered with Lieutenant Grayson while Sergeant Riley was out of commission after his accident.”
Anticipation zinged Jess. The more leads they uncovered the more likely they were to find answers about who killed Gabrielle Grayson and who might have taken Devon Chambers. The faster they got to the truth the higher the odds of finding that child alive.
Jess was glad to let Lori drive. After this morning’s unexpected encounter with Lopez she was still a little shaky. She didn’t like admitting anything scared her but she couldn’t claim those few minutes hadn’t rattled her just a little.
“I have a personal issue we need to talk about at some point,” Lori announced as she guided her Mustang from the city parking garage and pointed it in the direction of New Life Rehabilitation Center.
“We have twenty minutes or so.” Jess shifted in her seat until she was facing Lori. “What’s going on?”
“I’m considering moving into Harper’s place. Is that going to be an issue?”
Technically, yes, but Jess didn’t want to lose either one. And she couldn’t point to a single reason as far as their work record went to indicate their personal relationship was causing any difficulty.
“You need to keep it low key. The fewer who know, the better. As far as I’m concerned, as long as your private affairs don’t impact your work, I’m fine with wherever you take your relationship.”
How hypocritical would she be if she felt otherwise? She and Burnett had a thing. She wouldn’t quite call it a relationship, but it was some undefined connection. Friends with benefits… sort of. A mental eye roll accompanied the idea. She still couldn’t get used to thinking in those terms. But for now, there wasn’t a better definition of what they shared.
“Tread carefully,” Jess warned. “What you went through two weeks ago is still coloring your perception on life.”
“Harper said the same thing.”
At least one of them was keeping that in mind. “Just take it slow and you’ll be fine.” Both Lori and Harper were smart and levelheaded. They could make this work if that was what they really wanted. And if their relationship continued to progress, Jess would deal with the changes in her unit that progression would require.
A minute or two of silence followed. She and Lori were both at milestones in their lives. Lori with decisions about moving into her first serious relationship and Jess with the decision as to how she wanted to proceed with almost every aspect of her life. Her career was getting back on track. But the rest, well that was a whole other ball of wax.
At forty-two it was time to take a step back and seriously consider where she went from here. Though she was pretty damned happy with where her career had landed, what about marriage and children? A person could marry almost anytime but the decision as to whether or not she would have children in her life fell within a swiftly closing window.
She didn’t want to ignore any one option and wake up one morning to realize it was too late.
God, had she just thought that?
“Can I ask you a question, Jess?”
Jess gladly dismissed the nagging doubts about her own life and turned back to Lori. “Why not?” She didn’t need a preview to know it would be about Burnett. Certainly it would be personal, since Lori had chosen to use her first name.
“I’ve asked you this before,” she hedged, “but do you think you and the chief will ever be able to be together as a couple again? I mean, really together? Like married?”
Married? “I honestly don’t know.” Jess hadn’t even considered the possibility. “I’ve been married once and it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.” That, however, had been as much her fault as Wesley’s. “And Burnett’s taken vows three times and failed. Maybe we’re not the marrying kind.”
“But you’ve never been married to each other. That could be the issue. Maybe the two of you belong together and nothing is ever going to be right until that happens.”
Lori had been thinking on the subject way too much. “To be honest, I’m not sure we could live together without killing each other or ending up hating each other.” And his mother would never accept her only son marrying Jess.
The idea of having Katherine Burnett to dinner on a regular basis was terrifying.
Lori sent her a sideways look. “It just seems like you belong together. Harper says the same thing.”
Jess laughed. “You two don’t have better things to do when you’re together than to talk about Burnett and me?”
“We have lots of deep conversations these days.”
“You should never stop doing that.” That was the most important advice Jess could give. “Communication is so damned important.” Jess wasn’t sure she had realized just how important until very recently. “When all else fails, if you can talk about things then you always have a way to work out the worst of the problems that come your way.”
The conversation died a natural death as Lori made the turn into the rehab center’s parking lot. That hopeful anticipation of finding a new lead had Jess’s heart pumping.
“The administrator’s name is Pauline Allison. She replaced the one who retired last year. She’s mid-forties,” Lori went on, “and seems sharp. I’m hoping she’s learned new information from her personnel interviews.”
“We can also assume that one or more of those employees said something that Allison felt might assist in our investigation.”
Jess and Lori exchanged a look before getting out of the car. “We could sure use a break about now,” Lori suggested.
“No question,” Jess agreed.
There were cases, like this one, where there was no place to go in the investigation. There was no one piece of evidence that gave them a definitive direction. No witness—that they could find—who could provide details that might point toward a suspect.
They basically had nothing that jumped out and said here you go.
This was the kind of case where a good cop had to shake the apple trees until the fruit started to fall. Otherwise they were going to be in for a long wait. Because apples rarely just fell at one’s feet unless they were too ripe or full of worms and already half rotten.
11:00 a.m.
Pauline Allison had an office not much larger than a closet and enough files and paperwork to fill the National Archives. There were manila folders stacked from the floor to the ceiling in three of the four corners.
The administrator, a petite, pleasant woman, made quick work of emptying out the two chairs in front of her desk and ushering Jess and Lori into them. Then she collapsed into her own as if the task had taken the last of the energy she had on reserve.
“You’ll have to forgive the mess. We’re in the midst of an unexpected State audit and I’ve been working twenty-hour days.”
“I appreciate your taking the time out of your hectic schedule to help us with this investigation, Ms. Allison,” Jess said.
“No problem.” Allison unearthed a legal pad and then scrounged for her reading glasses. “What I have here is a list of three nurses who worked with Gabrielle”—she glanced over the rim of her glasses—“before my time here. Two of the three were reluctant to talk but one couldn’t spill her guts fast enough. Bear in mind,” she pointed out, “that she was written up twice by Mrs. Grays
on while she served as the charge nurse on the drug side.”
Needing clarification, Jess asked, “Drug side?”
“Our facility is divided into the drug side and the alcohol side.”
Made sense. “Will we be able to interview this nurse today?” Jess broached, hopeful. “I know the request is short notice but this is a murder investigation and time is our enemy.”
“I thought you might want to do that, so I asked her to come in this morning. She’s waiting for you in the employee lounge.” Allison pushed back her chair. “I’ll show you the way.”
The center was quite large and immaculate. Allison explained that the facility was both privately and state funded. Their services ranged from long-term inpatient care to twice-weekly counseling sessions for ongoing maintenance. They ranked in the top ten in the nation.
Beyond two layers of security, the employee lounge, like the rest of the facility, was state-of-the-art, clean, and welcoming.
“Netty Winters,” Allison announced, “this is Deputy Chief Jess Harris and Detective Lori Wells. They’ll be speaking with you about Mrs. Grayson.” She turned to Jess. “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be in my office.”
When Ms. Allison had left the room, Jess and Lori joined the off-duty nurse at her table. “Ms. Winters,” Jess began, “Detective Wells is going to read you your rights. Not because you’re in any kind of trouble,” she hastened to add, “but because we have an obligation to ensure you’re informed before we begin this interview.”
Winters couldn’t be much over thirty. Tall and thin, she wore her black hair in a tight bun and apparently attempted to disguise her pale coloring with an extra helping of blush and eye shadow.
“Whatever you need to do,” she said agreeably.
While Lori took care of the Miranda rights, Jess readied to take notes. She settled her eyeglasses in place and waited until Ms. Winters had indicated that she understood her rights and still wanted to speak with them.
