Don't Look Back
Page 26
“What is it?”
“A suicide letter. It was on Calvin’s laptop. There was a leak to the press about the shooting in Willowcreek. It listed the names of witnesses. Rosaria’s name was in it. Calvin must’ve seen it. It sounded as if he thought Rosaria knew he was the one who had called Pablo. Between believing it was over and the guilt, he had decided to end it.”
Brie swore she hadn’t felt guilty for pushing Calvin to the brink, but maybe a part of her did, because some heaviness in her chest lightened.
* * *
Connor watched Mark and Brown leave the room, but he stayed seated across from Brie. Considering she’d just witnessed a man kill himself, she came off strong, composed, and professional. Not that he didn’t notice the way she closed her fist every few minutes. He recalled all too clearly the days after that dreadful day in the alley. Flashbacks. Don hitting the ground, Don’s eyes empty, then the kid: scared and dying, then gone.
She closed her fist again. He felt a tight grip in his chest. Instinct had him wanting to reach for her, hold her, help her, but his gut reminded him she’d already pushed him away.
The interview lasted only twenty minutes. The crime scene told the story. Brie pushed in her chair and met his gaze.
“You called Eliot—”
“It’s not because I saw you as weak!” he said quickly. “I know…I saw my partner killed. I know he wasn’t your partner, but you worked for him for five years. You respected him. At one time he was your hero. You wouldn’t let me help, so I called Eliot. You can be pissed—”
“I was going to say thank you.” She rested her hand on the table.
Relaxing his defensive posture, he slumped back in his seat. “I’m sorry. I thought…”
“I know,” she said.
He shifted his hand close to hers. His fingers brushed against the side of her hand. “Are you okay, really?”
“I will be. I probably won’t sleep for a few days, but I’ll be okay.”
He nodded. “If I can do anything. All you need to do is ask.”
She pulled her hand away and clenched her fist again. “Is someone contacting Agent Calvin’s wife? Should I—”
“No. Sergeant Brown called the FBI. They’re sending someone.”
She took a deep breath. “Can I go see Rosaria? I’m assuming you’ll be cutting the protective detail.”
“No one has discussed it yet, but I’m sure we will. Let me clear a few things, and then I’ll drive you there.”
“You don’t have to.”
A knock came at the door. Brie flinched.
He frowned at her reaction. “You shouldn’t drive, at least for a few hours.” He looked at the door. “Come in.”
Mildred walked in, tears in her eyes. “I just wanted to give you a hug. When I heard the gun go off, I was so afraid…”
Brie’s eyes teared up as she stood and hugged the woman. It lasted several long seconds. Two people drawing strength from one another. So, she’d let Mildred comfort her, but not him. That stung when all he wanted was…Hell, what did he want?
The answer came back. A chance. A chance with Brie Ryan.
When Mildred left, Connor stood up. “You want to hang here? I’ll swing by and get you as soon as I can leave.”
“Yeah.”
He started out.
“Wait,” she said.
Connor turned back around.
“Have you gotten the prints back yet?”
His gut tightened. “I was going to tell you later.”
“Tell me what?” She studied him. “Why do you look like it’s bad news?”
He exhaled. “It’s not Dillon Armand. It’s his cousin, Marcus. He was using his own passport.”
“What?” She dropped back down in a chair. “But he’s passing himself off as—”
“I know, but as Mark said, impersonating a cousin isn’t enough to hold him on. But I’m confused as to why he’d lie…”
“Access to the girls.” Brie nipped at her lip. “By pretending to be part-owner, Grimes worked with him to get him whatever he wanted. Encouraged the employees to…give him favors.”
“Yeah, that has to be it. But wouldn’t Grimes recognize it wasn’t Dillon?”
“I told you, they look alike.” Sighing, she looked up, tears in her eyes. “He might not be the one who killed Alma.”
“I know.”
“Or maybe…Wait. Remember I told you that Dillon wasn’t here when she went missing. That’s why we couldn’t get him, because he wasn’t here. But Marcus was. We can prove that now.”
“Just being in the country isn’t enough, Brie. You know that. And the witness in Guatemala said he had seen Alma with Dillon, not Marcus.”
“It’s a family business. They might both—”
“We need more.”
“So what does that mean for the case?” she snapped.
He saw the desperation in her eyes and would have given anything to assure her that he saw them proceeding as before, but the truth was he didn’t know where things stood. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean ‘I don’t know’?”
“I mean, we can’t arrest him yet. And I’m not sure ICE will continue helping.”
“Maybe we don’t have enough for my sister’s murder, but we have him for the human trafficking.”
“I don’t know if we have enough for that either.”
“We know two women who worked at the clubs, the one using the fake identity of Tammy Alberts and my sister, are both dead. And we have proof that both were taken outside the country. And you said Regina Berger ran for a reason. You can’t just give up.”
“I’m not. But right now we have no proof tying Marcus to those girls.”
“Then we get the proof. I’ll get it.”
How, Connor thought, but didn’t ask. Brie was already taking too much on herself and risking her life. The last thing he wanted was for her to take on more.
* * *
Anger felt good. It helped Brie focus. Or it at least took some of the focus off what she’d seen. Not that she was angry at Connor. She even told him that, but he seemed to be cautiously leery of her. Or maybe just quiet.
They walked into Rosaria’s hotel suite.
“She’s in the room,” the officer said. “I told her you were coming and that she was safe now, but I didn’t explain anything.”
Rosaria rushed out. “Is it really over?”
Brie nodded. “Yes.”
“So you got the agent who ordered Pablo’s death? Tell me he will be in prison for the rest of his life.”
Brie swallowed. “He committed suicide.”
“He’s dead?”
“Yeah.”
Rosaria put a shaking hand over her lips. “Is it wrong for me to be happy?” Tears filled her eyes.
“No,” Brie said, but it hurt. And a part of her wanted to explain to Rosaria that they had threatened Agent Calvin’s daughter, to take some of the guilt off the man she’d once known, but to even say it seemed to imply it justified what he’d done. And it didn’t. Nothing would.
“Are you sure I’m safe now?”
“Positive.”
Brie reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope with a thousand dollars in it. She’d had Connor stop by her bank on the way here. “I want you to take this. It’ll help you get back on your feet. I also think you need to contact a lawyer. The FBI should compensate you for what happened. Tell your lawyer if he needs someone to testify, I’ll do it.”
Rosaria looked at the envelope. “You don’t have to give me this.”
“Please. It’s a gift to Pablo as well.”
Rosaria took the envelope. “He was right. You are a good person.”
Brie smiled. “I think about him a lot. His infectious grin. His jokes.”
Rosaria let out a sound that was half laugh, half cry. “He was so bad at telling them.”
“Really bad.” Brie laughed and breathed deeply, emotion almost choking her.
&n
bsp; “I miss him so much,” Rosaria said.
“I know. He was one of a kind.”
They hugged. Tight. In the embrace, Brie felt a tiny emotional shift. Maybe now she could let go of the guilt about Pablo. As she pulled back she saw Connor studying her. For one second, she wondered what it would take for him to lose the guilt he carried.
“That went well,” Brie said as they left.
“Yeah,” Connor said.
Brie and Connor had just settled in his car when her phone rang with an unknown number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“This is Detective Ashmore from the APD. May I ask whom I’m speaking with?”
“What’s this about?” Brie glanced at Connor.
“I’m working a missing person case. And this number was found in the victim’s things.”
“What victim? Who’s missing?”
“Candace Brooks.”
“Candy’s missing?” And just like that, Brie recalled part of the phone conversation she’d heard outside Grimes’s office. How many are blond?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It has to be connected,” Brie fumed to Connor. “I told you I think he raped her.”
“Let’s see what the officer knows before jumping to conclusions.” Connor drove Brie to Candy’s parents’ house, where she said she’d meet Ashmore. A gray-haired man in his late fifties met them on the porch. Connor introduced her as an FBI agent. Brie got the feeling Connor and Ashmore knew each other.
“So you think this might be connected to another case?” Ashmore asked.
“It’s likely,” Connor answer. “What happened?”
“The mother says Candace was going to the store to get a few items on Friday evening and didn’t come home.”
“And you’re just now looking into this?” The anger simmering inside went straight for the detective.
Ashmore frowned. “The mom didn’t call the police. She said her daughter works at a strip club, and she expects things like this from her. The reason we’re here is because her daughter’s car was found abandoned in a grocery store parking lot. Her trunk was open with her groceries still inside, as if she was taken while unloading them. It took two days before the store owner called to report it.”
Brie’s chest went hot with fury toward the mom.
“We went through Candy’s things,” the cop continued. “We found a piece of paper with your number scribbled on it.”
Brie frowned. “Wait,” she said. “Grimes said Candace called in sick on Saturday. He called me into work.”
Ashmore appeared puzzled. “I thought you were FBI. You work at the Black Diamond?”
Connor spoke up and gave the man a few details. When the conversation ended, Ashmore agreed to keep looking into the case but let Connor handle the work angle.
“What now?” Brie got back in his car.
“Now I talk to ICE. This might be enough to keep them on the case. Then I’ll pay Grimes a visit. After that, I’m searching for Regina Berger.”
“What can I do? I don’t have to be at the club until four.”
“I think you should relax.”
“I can’t! Candy’s been taken.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have any leads yet.”
“At least give me some information on Berger. Addresses of friends and family and the make of her car. If all I do is drive there and check for her vehicle, it’ll keep me from…reliving today.”
Connor relented, and a few minutes later, he pulled into a fast-food drive-thru. He glanced at her. “I’m starving. What do you want?”
“I don’t think…”
“You need to eat.”
She frowned. “You’re sounding a lot like Eliot.”
“That’s not a bad thing. What do you want?” He motioned to the sign.
“A grilled chicken sandwich.”
“Fries?”
“No.”
“Cookie?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Chocolate chip, oatmeal, or chocolate chocolate chip?”
“Chocolate chocolate chip.”
“You like chocolate?” He studied her, as if her answer was important.
“Yeah.” She reached into her purse to hand him some cash. When she pulled out her wallet, she also pulled out her sister’s bracelet. She held it in her hand, scared that if she couldn’t find Candy, she might face the same fate as her sister.
Tears filled her eyes. “We have to find Candy, Connor.”
He looked at her. “We will.”
* * *
The place looked dingy and smelled like day-old cigarette smoke and stale beer. The last time Connor had come to the club was when they worked the Noel case. Abby Noel had worked in the club before she’d gone missing and was suspected to have been murdered by the same person who’d killed her boyfriend. Connor had come to interview a few of her work associates. Mr. Grimes had been less than thrilled to work with them then, and Connor could only guess the man would feel the same now.
“I can’t say I’ve missed seeing you,” Mr. Grimes said.
Connor moved up to the bar where the man stood.
“Ditto,” Connor said dryly. After talking to ICE, who agreed Candace Brooks’s apparent abduction was enough reason to stay on the case, Connor had driven straight to the Black Diamond.
“What’s it this time?”
“You seem to be famous for missing employees.”
He frowned. “Who’s missing?”
“Candace Brooks.”
To the old man’s credit, he appeared shocked. “I…don’t know anything about it.”
“Really? You didn’t notice she missed work?”
“Yeah.”
“Did she call in sick?”
He hesitated.
“Before you answer, know that I’ve requested a warrant for your phone records. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
He paled. “She did call in sick.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was sick and didn’t know when she’d be back in.”
“What else?”
His pause told Connor there was more. “And…” His frown deepened. “She screamed something and hung up.”
“What did she scream?”
“I couldn’t make it out.”
“What day did she call?”
“Saturday.”
“What time?”
“Around two.”
“Do you know anyone who might want to harm her? Has anyone taken an interest in her lately?” This was the test.
“No more than usual.”
“Who showed an interest in her?” His tone deepened.
The man visually flinched. “No one.”
Connor leaned down and got right up in the old fart’s face. “My gut says we’ll be talking again.”
* * *
A red Porsche was parked outside the Black Diamond when Brie pulled up. Her heart lurched. Not from fear, but from fury. Getting this lowlife murderer was gonna feel good. Real good.
She’d been restless and didn’t want to keep replaying Calvin’s shooting in her head, so she’d left her apartment early. Her search for Berger had been futile. No one had been home at any of the addresses they had for her.
Before going home to get dressed for work, she’d gone to the hospital.
Eliot and Sam were both there. Tory had hugged her extra hard and said he was sorry she’d seen the suicide, but he wasn’t sorry Calvin was dead. She told him she understood. And she did. Oddly enough, Brie had started thinking of Calvin as two people. One she had respected, and one who had done horrible things.
The doctors still hadn’t removed Carlos’s tube. Though she’d been told earlier that he was alert, he slept the entire time Brie was there. But she sat with him until visiting hours were up.
Brie started to reach for her purse when her phone rang. Grabbing it out of the car’s console, she checked the number. Connor.
“Tell me you have something.”
“Good.” Brie prayed they found Candy. “Anything on Regina?”
“No, but we’re still looking.” He paused. “How are you doing?”
Her chest tightened. “Okay.”
“You could call in sick.”
“No. I’m already at the club. Just pulled up.” Her gaze lifted. “The red Porsche is here.”
“I know. Billy’s already there. So is Agent Hamilton, the ICE agent. I’m texting you his picture, so you’ll know who he is.”
She frowned. “Make sure they don’t blow my cover.”
“They won’t.” He got quiet. “Be careful.”
“I always am.”
“Call me when you get home,” he said.
“It’ll be late.”
“That’s okay.”
“Okay.” She hung up. Seconds later, her phone dinged with a text. It was the picture of Agent Hamilton with ICE. After studying it, she deleted it. Dropping her phone back in her purse beside her Glock, she slipped on her large hoodie and got out.
Danny, the bouncer, opened the door to the Black Diamond as she walked up. “Doing okay today?”
“I’m here.” She forced a smile.
Only a few steps inside, shrouded in darkness, she spotted Marcus Armand at the bar. When he looked over at her, she longed to glance away, afraid he’d see the hatred in her eyes. Instead, she smiled. Smiled for her sister. For Candy. For every woman that man had ever hurt.
* * *
“Does Madden have a record?” Juan asked.
“Petty stuff.” Madden’s address had come in, and Connor teamed up with Juan in case trouble arose.
He followed his GPS into an older neighborhood that’d seen better days. Most of the properties needed some TLC. But several of the houses had front yards with kids’ toys strewn about. Families lived here.
Because the call to the Black Diamond had pinged on the cell tower across town, they didn’t think Candy was here. So the plan was simple. Find Madden and get him to talk and pray they could find Candy and the evidence to arrest Marcus Armand.