Switchblade

by Carsen Taite

  Not like I hadn’t suspected, but I’d never suspected Jess could be caught in the crossfire.

  Your cop girlfriend. Key word, girlfriend. Whoever had left me the note threatening Jess did it because they thought she was my girlfriend and I would care enough about her to do whatever they asked to keep her safe. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion, when I’d only just figured out my feelings.

  But they were right.

  *

  I stood outside Jess’s door, but I hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to knock. I wished I could’ve done this over the phone, even sent a text, but I needed the show to make it really work.

  After I’d left Diamond, I’d gone back to my apartment, partly to drop Cash off and partly to give whoever was up in my business a chance to catch up with me. Cash hadn’t wanted to be left behind, but I figured it was good practice for next summer’s hot temperatures. I wouldn’t be able to take him with me everywhere then. Funny that the only long-term relationship I was certain about was between me and a dog.

  Once I reached Jess’s neighborhood, I’d driven around the block several times until I was certain I was followed. I didn’t know where the sedan was right now, but I hoped they had a good view.

  When Jess answered the door dressed in a tank top and boxers, my knees buckled.

  She’d taken a nap. I could tell by the way her short blond hair was smashed against the side of her head and the sleepy haze in her eyes. The bed was probably still warm. I desperately wanted to find out. All I had to do was walk through the door, sweep her in my arms, and tell her how I felt.

  And then wait. Wait for something bad to happen. I knew it would. Diamond had lied to me many times, but she wouldn’t have lied about Jess being in danger, and I knew in my gut Jess would be in trouble, no matter what I did. I already decided I was staying on the case. Not for Ronnie, not for Jorge, but for me and Jess, for the possibility of a future. But I had to convince whoever was watching that I was following their instructions. To seal the deal, I was also going to let them know Jess wasn’t my girlfriend anymore, so they could look elsewhere if they wanted to motivate me.

  “I was hoping it was you. Come in.”

  Jess’s hand on mine was almost my undoing. I shook it off and took a step back, hoping distance would make this easier. All that happened was I got a better eyeful of her legs. Her naked legs. Legs that could be wrapped around me in a matter of seconds, if I only did what she asked and came inside.

  I shook my head. If all I cared about was sex, this would be easy. But things between us were so much more complicated. I needed to do what I’d come here for and get out. Like ripping off a bandage.

  “I’m not coming in.”

  “Okay.”

  Her voice was sluggish and I guessed she was still tired. Understandable since neither of us had gotten much sleep the night before. I pushed the memory of hours of lovemaking out of my head and prepared to do the damage I’d come here to do. “I told Ronnie I quit.”

  She smiled. “That’s great.”

  “No, it’s not great.”

  “Luca, what’s going on?”

  She was alert now. I raised my voice, but not for her benefit. “Where do you get off thinking you can tell me what to do?”

  She shook her head. I didn’t blame her for being confused. Hell, I was confused. I tried again. “I only quit because of you, so I could be with you.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “I control my life, not you.” I waved my arms for effect. I was making a total mess of this, but my heart wasn’t in it. Please let her catch on quickly.

  “I’m not trying to control you.”

  “Yes, you are. If you weren’t, then why give me an ultimatum?”

  “Do you want to be with me?”

  “No,” I lied. “Not bad enough to give up who I am.” That was closer to the truth, but still off the mark. Jess hadn’t asked me to be anything I wasn’t. This whole case was totally outside my usual MO. Wasn’t I the one who was trying to be something I wasn’t? I couldn’t think about that now. I had to focus on why I was here. Whoever was watching needed to believe Jess and I were done. But more importantly, Jess needed to believe it, or she’d wander into my life and get herself killed. And if anything happened to her, we’d never have a chance and I’d never forgive myself.

  I ignored the hurt in her eyes and pressed on, my voice raised. “I’m leaving now. I just wanted you to know we’re done.” I waved my arm between us and then gave an umpire sign for “you’re out” for the benefit of anyone watching. I spun around and jogged down the sidewalk before I could register her reaction. She might be mad now, but she’d get over it. She’d probably come around to thinking she should have expected it, just not so soon.

  When I reached the Bronco, I looked at her door, thinking it might be safe to risk a final look.

  I was wrong. I’d expected anger, but pain? The hurt in her eyes ripped me wide open. All I wanted to do was run back to the door, sweep her in my arms, and tell her I was sorry. Instead, I drove away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ipulled up in front of Ryan Foster’s office and glanced down at Cash. He’d slept the entire drive with his head on my thigh, like he could sense something was up. I wasn’t sure how Ryan would feel about a dog in the office during business hours, but I wasn’t ready to be separated from his unconditional dog love. He hadn’t left my side since I’d returned home from Jess’s last night.

  With Jess in mind, I made a call. John answered on the first ring, and I didn’t bother with small talk. “I need a favor.”

  “Surprise, surprise.”

  “Seriously, John. It’s important.”

  “Hit me with it. I’ll do what I can.”

  “Jess may be in trouble. Look out for her and don’t tell her I called. If she’s going to stay safe she needs to steer clear of me.”

  “It would help if I had a little more information.”

  “I’ll tell you when I can. Promise me you’ll look out for her.”

  “I promise, but it would sure help if—”

  I hung up. Time to go see Ryan.

  Unlike Saturday, today, the law office had a gatekeeper. The guy at the front desk looked at me and the dog, but I didn’t register judgment for either of us. “Are you here to see Ms. Logan?”

  Took me a minute, but then I remembered Ryan had said the office was actually her wife’s. “Actually, I’m trying to track down Ryan Foster. Is she around today?”

  He took my name and went off somewhere in the back to see if she was available. I’d had this brainstorm sometime during the sleepless night. I wanted to talk to a lawyer, but the thought of confiding in Ronnie made my gut churn. She’d left a half dozen messages, each more panicked than the other. She sounded genuinely scared about the incident at Jorge’s house, but I didn’t feel like sharing my ideas with her. On the other hand, I’d liked Foster, and my gut told me to trust her.

  A few minutes later, the guy, who said his name was Anthony, led Cash and me to the conference room where I’d met with Foster on Saturday. Before he left, he offered both of us water. I declined, but couldn’t help but appreciate the fact he acted like it was perfectly normal to bring a dog to a business office.

  When he left, I looked around at the boxes. Judging by the volume, the lawyers for the police department were trying to snow Ryan’s clients under. If the attorneys were willing to go to great lengths to keep from paying out, I wondered what the boys in blue would do if their scheme was being threatened. Something bad. The only way to stop them would be to figure out what the scheme was and shut it down. After talking to Diamond, I was convinced there was a bigger picture. Bigger than Jorge, bigger than Ryan’s case. Maybe together we could cut through the crap.

  “Did you find Garcia?”

  I turned at the sound of her voice. Ryan was dressed in a suit, which threw me a little. “Where’s the T-shirt and jeans?” I asked.

  She looked down a
t her clothes as if she wasn’t sure what she was wearing. “Oh, yeah. I had a hearing this morning.”

  “Judge give you access to the police department records you wanted?”

  “Different case.” She took a seat and motioned me to do the same. “Did you find Garcia?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “Not surprising. I think Garcia might be working for the feds.”

  She leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled. “I guess that could be. After getting burned on these state cases, maybe he peddled his information to the DEA.”

  “No, that’s not what I mean. I mean I think he might be a fed.” Without telling her everything I knew about Diamond, I gave her a rough sketch of my search for Garcia. “I think he was involved with DPD, not as a former criminal enlisted to help the cops, but as a federal agent investigating something way bigger than minor drug buys.”

  “Sounds like a bit of a leap to me.”

  I didn’t blame her for being skeptical, but my hunch was strong. “You have any better ideas?”

  “Not really. So, what do you suggest?”

  “I don’t think we’re going to find Garcia. At least not the way we’ve been looking. I think we should go about it another way. Flush him out by exposing whatever’s really going on with DPD.”

  “I don’t get it. Why are you so interested? I did a little checking of my own. You’re a bounty hunter, not a PI.”

  “Well, technically, I am a PI.” I read the yeah, right expression on her face. “Let’s just say I have a friend who might be in trouble if this whole thing doesn’t come out.”

  “Cop?”

  “Yes.” I’d already shared more than I intended, but Ryan’s sympathetic expression lured the words out. “Detective Jessica Chance. You know her?”

  Ryan let out a long breath. “I always thought Chance was a solid cop. She’s mixed up in all this?”

  “Yes. I mean, no. What I mean is, she’s likely to be a casualty if someone doesn’t stop these guys.”

  “And she’s a good friend?”

  I ignored the emphasis. The wound was too fresh to revisit. “Yes.”

  “But you said yourself, you’re not sure who these guys are or even what they’re really up to.”

  “I know. And it’s not like we can call the cops.”

  “Then I guess the someone who stops them will have to be us.”

  “I had a feeling you’d say that.” I handed her the envelope containing Greg Jackson’s divorce papers. “I think there’s a clue in here, but I need a good lawyer to cipher it out. You up for the job?”

  *

  I drove back to Ryan’s office after lunch for our first adventure. Cash was home, sleeping off a bowl of kibble and half a hamburger. Ryan was waiting in front, wearing the suit she’d had on earlier, but without the jacket. She slid into the passenger seat of the Bronco and set the envelope I’d given her earlier on the console.

  “Well?” I asked, motioning at the envelope.

  “Looks like Greg Jackson’s ex hates his guts. And she was inordinately focused on his finances. Strange for a woman who’d been married to a cop for that long. You think she’d realize he wasn’t ever going to bring home big bucks.”

  “Ready to go talk to her?”

  “I’m game.” She looked around the car. “Where’s your dog?”

  “Cash. He’s at home. Not sure how the former Mrs. Jackson feels about dogs.”

  “Who doesn’t like dogs?”

  “I wasn’t sure I did until I had one. We never had any pets when I was growing up.”

  “Me neither. I lived with my aunt and she wasn’t big on anything that disrupted her sense of order. I always wanted a dog, though.”

  I’d never brought up getting a pet to my folks. My dad would’ve been all about it, but my mother resented having children. A dog would have sent her over the edge. I’d known enough not to even ask.

  When we pulled up in front of the apartment complex where Lily Reynolds, formerly Jackson, lived, I shut down the car and turned to Ryan. “Let’s talk about how we’re going to play this. Since I don’t understand all the legal mumbo jumbo, why don’t you take the lead?”

  “Fair enough, but feel free to chime in. I told her on the phone that I wanted to talk to her about her ex-husband’s career as background for a case. She acted like she was dying to give me the scoop on him, and she didn’t even ask why I wanted to know. I’m sure she’ll be happy to answer any questions we have.”

  Lily Reynolds answered the door dressed in scrubs. Maybe that was her idea of lounge attire, or maybe she was actually a nurse getting ready for a night shift, which would make sense given she was home in the middle of the day. She was petite and, even in scrubs, pretty in a made-up-to-go-somewhere kind of way. Ryan made the introductions, after which Lily gave us each a once-over and then invited us in. Ryan declined coffee so I did too even though I was feeling a post lunch coma creeping in. Lily disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared a few seconds later with a mug of her own. I smelled a hint of alcohol, but passed it off to nurse stuff. Once we were settled on the couch in the living room, she opened the discussion without any prompting from us.

  “Look at this place. Can you believe I have to live like this?”

  Ryan murmured sympathy, while I looked around the room, unsure about the source of her complaint. If by living like this, she meant in a clean, neat, and well-decorated apartment, I couldn’t really relate. I for sure didn’t live this way, but I knew people who did and liked it. I guess it could be a burden.

  “As I told you on the phone, I’m working on a lawsuit against the police department and your husband’s name came up,” Ryan said. “We’d like to ask you some questions about his career.”

  “Ex-husband, may he rot in hell.”

  “Sorry, ex.”

  “You call it a career. I call it a life of crime.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you mean?” Ryan asked.

  “Take our divorce, for instance. He fought me every step of the way. Cost us both a pretty penny.”

  “Now that you mention it, that’s something I was curious about. It looks like you had a lot of questions about his finances and wanted his records reviewed by a forensic accountant. Did you have some reason to believe he had more money than a normal cop with his tenure on the force?”

  She laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  We both stared at her as her laugh trailed off. Guess it wasn’t as funny if we weren’t in on the joke.

  “Actually, I’m not,” Ryan said. “What am I missing?”

  “He was loaded.” Lily nodded her head vigorously, and then to emphasize the point, said, “I’m sure of it.”

  Ryan and I exchanged a glance. If she was so sure of it, why hadn’t she been able to prove it to the divorce court judge who’d declined to award spousal support? They didn’t have any kids, so basically, Lily had walked away from the marriage with half of everything, which included a decent debt load.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but I’m convinced Greg had money squirreled away. He was just smart enough not to flash it around like the others.”

  “What others?”

  “All of them. They were all in on it.”

  I was now convinced Lily Reynolds was a bit of a nut, but being a nut didn’t mean her theory was completely wrong. I wanted to believe her. If something bigger was going on within the police department, that would explain the shooting, Diamond’s reluctance to share info, and the threats against anyone who might expose the scheme. The key was to find out what “it” was. I decided to cut to the chase. “Tell us what you think they were involved in and why you think so.”

  “If I could prove anything, I’d be rich right now. Every one of Greg’s pals on the force had expensive cars. Their wives had nice clothes, jewelry. Plush houses. I was the only one married to a tight-fisted asshole.”

  “If Greg wasn’t flashing any money, wha
t makes you think he had any?”

  “Because no one works that much overtime and has nothing to show for it. He was never home, and when he did come home, he was always drunk. He said he was working, but I’m not stupid. He was with his pals, probably spending his share as fast as he made it.”

  I was getting frustrated. Her theories weren’t going to get us anywhere, and it didn’t sound like she had anything concrete to offer. I was about to suggest we leave, when she dropped a bomb.

  “He probably spent it all on her.”

  “Her?”

  “Teresa Perez. Those two.” She twisted two fingers. “They’re like this.”

  She’d finally hit on the connection that had bothered me from the start. Perez had covered Jackson’s tracks on the charge of assaulting his wife. Perez had shown up to question me after he got shot. Perez sat with Jackson at the hospital. “What’s the deal with those two? They having an affair? I thought she was gay.” I added that last to let her know I knew the players so she couldn’t just make stuff up.

  “I don’t know what she is, but she’s got Greg wrapped around her little finger. She says jump and he jumps.” She took a sip from her mug, which I was now sure wasn’t coffee. “Why are you asking all these questions, anyway?”

  I decided to let Ryan field this one and shot her a look to let her know it was time for her to use her lawyer superpowers.

  “Lily, did you know Greg was shot? It happened last week. He’s been in a coma ever since.”

  “Shit, really? I read something about a cop getting shot, but I didn’t know it was him. I mean, how would I know, seeing as how we haven’t talked except through lawyers in forever. I don’t know how I would’ve known.”

  She was trying too hard to act like she had no idea Jackson was in a hospital bed, comatose from a gunshot wound. Could she have had something to do with the shooting?

  I dismissed the idea as quickly as it came. Even if she wanted revenge for the abuse she’d gotten from Jackson, it was too much of a coincidence to believe she would’ve done it that night. And why have Nancy shot? The idea was silly, but I couldn’t seem to let it go. I took a chance. “Lily, was Nancy Walters in on the scheme with Greg and his pals?”