At Large

by C. M. Sutter

  “Sure thing, Jesse. He’ll be ready in five.”

  As soon as we got the confirmation that Conway was in interrogation room two, Frank and I entered the box. We sat across from him and began. I did everything in my power to control my emotions and remain levelheaded.

  I locked eyes with the man who made my blood boil. “I want to know who sent you after me.”

  He laughed. “You must have an oversized ego. I don’t know you, and I don’t give a shit about your dog. A cellophane wrapper from the hamburger I made for lunch the other day and an empty pouch of rat poison proves nothing. You saw my neighborhood. The rats there are the size of cats.”

  “Good answer, loser. Give me the location of the Vasquez brothers now, or you’ll be charged along with Maria Vasquez as a coconspirator in the murder of Tina Morton. That, along with stalking, breaking and entering, and an attempt to kill my dog.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You have nothing to hold me on, and like I said, I wasn’t there. I’m nonstick, just like the pots and pans.”

  “Suddenly you’re a comedian? I can hold you indefinitely and push back your court date for months or longer. You aren’t going to slide out of this one.” I nudged Frank. “Funny, huh? He isn’t going to slide out. Guess you aren’t nonstick after all, asshole.”

  “I want my phone call and then my attorney.”

  Frank shrugged. “You get one call, not two. Your wishes don’t magically come true in our precinct.”

  “Then connect me with Jared Bell. He’s my lawyer.”

  I chuckled. “Of course he is, and we’ll get to that in due time.” I left the room and told Bill to put Mark back in a holding cell. “He wants to call his attorney, Jared Bell.”

  “Isn’t that the same—”

  “Yeah, same lawyer Maria has. Bell may as well set up shop here. Let Conway stew for an hour or so while we go through his phone contacts.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Frank and I returned to the bull pen to retrieve Conway’s phone. Henry updated us on what he’d heard—the Tacoma was on its way to our impound garage, and Forensics, along with a handful of officers, was at Mark’s apartment, looking for evidence and names we could use.

  Lutz waved us on. “Take that phone down to the tech department and see what they can pull as far as numbers. Don’t know if we’ll have any luck, though. If Conway has half a brain, his contact list will all be burner phones.”

  I scrolled through Conway’s contacts as we took the hallways to our tech department. Todd Jacobsen, the lead analyst, looked up from his desk when we entered.

  “Hey, Detectives, what can I help you with?”

  “We need to go through the list on this phone and hopefully find some with names attached to them. Looks like the contacts are coded. No names to go with the numbers.”

  “Yep, we can take care of that. How many are we looking at?”

  “Seventeen in total.”

  “Sure, that’s doable.” Todd tipped his wrist and checked the time. “I’ll give you a call in an hour. I should be done by then.”

  “Thanks, buddy.”

  Back in the bull pen, Henry had news. “I just got off the phone with the coroner in Poplar Bluff. He said the two men have been dead for a good three days. He narrowed it down to early Monday night, give or take a few hours on either end.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Yeah, that totally rules out the Vasquez brothers as the shooters. There’s nothing saying that Conway couldn’t have done it, though. He could have easily driven back and resumed his normal illegal activities by now. Let’s throw as much shit at him as possible, then he and his lowlife attorney can pick and choose their battles with us.”

  Chapter 31

  “We’ve got a problem, Mr. Vance.”

  John, sitting on the patio of their home in Mexico with Curt, had just popped the cap off a cold bottle of beer. He tapped Speakerphone and placed his new burner phone on the table in front of him. After a chug, and with glaring eyes, he stared at Curt and shook his head. “Those aren’t words I ever want to hear, Cruz.”

  “I’m sorry, Boss, but Conway got nabbed.”

  In a fit of rage, John threw the bottle at the wall, and glass shattered the length of the tiled floor. “Explain how that’s possible!”

  “My calls to him kept going to voicemail, so I finally drove past his place. The building is swarming with cops, and a forensic van is parked along the street. That can’t be a coincidence. The only people in the area that know Conway are the Vasquez brothers and their sister, Maria, and she’s in police custody.” A loud sigh echoed through the phone line. “The cops are probably coming after me next, and with Mauricio and Antonio staying at my house, the trail will lead back to you sooner or later. Those two have loose lips and aren’t trustworthy.”

  John paced the patio then yelled at Curt to bring him the bottle of tequila. “The Vasquez family is nothing but trouble, and I should have never brought them on board to move drugs out of Mexico for me. Now that they’re up to their eyeballs with that damn murder their sister involved them in, they may throw my name into the ring, and I’m sure giving me up would get them pretty far. It’s already been proven that their family has no loyalty since it had to be Maria spewing out names. She wants to score that ‘get out of jail free’ card.” John gulped tequila from the bottle then wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. “Start eliminating everyone involved in the Tina Morton murder that knows my name or has a connection to you. Begin with the Vasquez brothers and then Hal Morton. Dead men can’t talk. Don’t call here again until the job is done, and clear your damn contact list!” John ended the call and tossed his phone down on the lounge chair. He poured tequila into two glasses. “We need to tie up loose ends before we make Mexico our permanent residence.” He handed one of the glasses to Curt. “Looks like we’re heading back to Chicago earlier than I had planned.”

  “But the biggest threat is Maria and Conway, and now there’s no way to get to them.”

  John snickered. “That’s where you’re wrong, brother. There’s always a way, but first things first. Luca has to die.”

  Chapter 32

  Crossing the border on foot had become second nature to John and Curt. They didn’t want a car wearing stolen plates seen too often. With the border patrol guards, Paulo and Ernesto, in their back pocket, passing into the US was a breeze.

  On the US side, John flagged down a cab and gave the driver Luca’s address. “Park a half block away. It’s our friend’s birthday, and we want to surprise him.”

  The driver nodded with a quick grin. “Sounds like a good reason to party.”

  Curt agreed. “We’ll definitely be partying today.”

  Ten minutes later and after being dropped off at the nearest intersection, John and Curt walked the remaining distance to Luca’s house. Wiping the sweat droplets that had already bubbled up on his forehead, John whispered instructions to his brother. “Take my knife. A gunshot will alarm the neighborhood. I’ll keep Luca’s attention on me with some bullshit questions while you come up from behind and slit his throat. If he fights you, just kill him any way you can. No loose ends, remember?”

  “Got it.” Curt opened the nine-inch pocketknife and gripped the handle as he entered the backyard.

  Watching until his brother was out of sight, John turned and walked to the front door then gave it several loud thumps. He heard footsteps approaching, then the doorknob turned.

  “John!” Surprise covered Luca’s face, and he peered out, looking across the porch. “Where’s Curt?” He waved John inside. “Come in, come in. Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I just have a few questions about banking in Mexico. Do you think it’s safe to keep a large balance in savings? I’m sure the US would scrutinize a new account more thoroughly than Mexico would.”

  Luca scratched his cheek and appeared to be in thought. John’s eyes darted to Curt as he tiptoed in barefoot behind Luca. Shoes would definitely have clacked against t
he tile floor, and the element of surprise would vanish.

  “Well, if I were you, I’d—”

  It took only a second for Curt to wrap his thick arm around Luca’s head and pull him in against his body. He lifted Luca’s chin as the man struggled to get free, and with a quick and silent sideways pull, he opened Luca’s neck, and blood pumped out.

  Backing up to avoid blood spray, John entered the kitchen and pulled two beers from the refrigerator. After returning to the living room, he took a seat on the couch and waited. “Drop him.”

  Curt did, and he watched as Luca continued to squirm.

  “Stab him in the heart a few times. We can’t sit here all day.” John tipped his wrist and checked the time then took a swig of beer.

  Five minutes later, with his eyes wide open, Luca had lost the fight. With two fingers, Curt checked for a pulse at Luca’s wrist. “He’s gone.”

  John handed the second beer to Curt. “Come on. We have to look through this place to make sure our names aren’t associated with anything. Find a rag and carry it with you. We can’t leave fingerprints or any evidence that we’ve been here.”

  Chapter 33

  My desk phone rang at four thirty. The screen showed the call originated from the tech department. Todd had news, and I hoped it was information we could use.

  “Tell me something good, buddy.” I tapped my pen against the notepad I had opened to a clean sheet.

  “Looks like Conway called a landline phone in Brownsville, Texas, two days ago.”

  “Did you find out who it belongs to?”

  “Are you holding onto something?”

  My spirits were lifted. It sounded like Todd was going to tell me news I wanted to hear. “I am now, so shoot.”

  “That phone number is registered to Luca Vasquez, a cousin of Mauricio, Antonio, and Maria.”

  I rifled through the clutter on my desk to find that sheet of paper from Maria. When I found it, I ran my finger down the names, and nobody named Luca Vasquez was listed. “That bitch!” I leapt from my chair. “Thanks, Todd.”

  Frank’s eyebrows nearly touched with the frown he shot my way. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Maria Vasquez, that’s what. She withheld the name of her cousin who’s obviously tied to the case. He lives in Brownsville, Texas, and I imagine that’s where Norman Flek and Lonny Mares were headed when they were killed. Damn it, every one of them is connected to Tina’s murder somehow.”

  Frank picked up the receiver on his desk phone.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “Lutz, who do you think?”

  I was ready to bolt out the door and go to our jail wing, but I couldn’t talk to Maria without her attorney present. I was sure he would show up sooner or later to have a word with Mark Conway. I’d wait.

  Frank talked for only a minute before hanging up. “Okay, everyone. Lutz wants all of us in the conference room in five. Bring your notepads and thinking caps along. He just heard something on the news that he wants to share with us.”

  I took that five minutes to call Dean. “Hey, buddy, how’s the neighborhood looking?”

  “My favorite way—quiet. Want me to check on Bandit for you? It’s nearing five o’clock and almost his dinnertime.”

  “Would you mind?”

  “Not in the least. I’ll take Jackson along, and they can have a little snuggle time.”

  “I’d appreciate it, Dean. Thanks a lot.”

  He chuckled into the phone. “No sweat. What are neighbors for?”

  Frank and I walked the hallway to the third door on the left. “What do you think Lutz wants to tell us?”

  Frank shrugged. “No clue, unless Henry called with news of the grocery store footage.” With a swipe across the screen, Frank checked the time on his phone. “They’ve been gone a few hours, so they should be heading back by now.”

  We took our usual seats, but without Henry and Potter present, there were only five of us, including Lutz.

  “Have some breaking news, Boss?” I positioned my notepad in front of me and poured a glass of water.

  “Yeah, and it sounds like Todd gave you quite the earful too. I’m thinking the cast of characters we’re dealing with will implode on each other very soon. There’s far too many people involved.”

  I huffed. “You can say that again.”

  Lutz pulled the easel and whiteboard from the closet and set them up in the corner. Dry-erase markers sat on the counter at his back. “What I want to do is create a timeline of events and which people are likely involved in each event. I believe there’s more going on than we originally thought.”

  I wrinkled my brows with confusion. “More, as in what?”

  “I was listening to the Illinois state news broadcast on my computer, and something caught my attention. It wouldn’t have been breaking news in the Chicagoland area, but on the western side of the state? That’s a different story. Last night, two guards at the arsenal on Rock Island were shot dead at their gatepost. No vehicle was picked up on security cameras, but two large men, covered from head to toe in dark clothing and masks, were seen running from the area.”

  “Hmm. Mauricio and Antonio are both large men and wore masks when they attacked me.”

  Lutz pointed my way. “That’s correct, Jesse, but this is where the plot thickens. Apparently, during weapons inventory a few days back, which is conducted monthly, a crate containing a grenade launcher, a dozen grenades, and several M24 rifles was unaccounted for.”

  Frank ran his hands over his head. “That sounds like the ammo needed to take down John Vance’s bus, but of course the FBI has all of that under wraps.”

  I looked at Lutz. “So what’s the connection?”

  “John Vance could be behind the attack on you and Bandit and had lowlife goons like the Vasquez brothers handling the dirty work.”

  “But we know it was Conway that poisoned Bandit. The evidence was left in his truck. If John Vance wanted me dead, I’d be dead. Speaking of Conway, have you heard from Henry and Potter yet?”

  Lutz opened his mouth just as both detectives walked through the conference room door.

  Henry held a flash drive. “We’ve got him in the parking lot, exiting that Tacoma and going inside the store to the meat department and aisle seven, where the rat poison was located. It was definitely Mark Conway that poisoned Bandit.”

  “And Mark Conway that called Luca Vasquez in Brownsville,” I said.

  Lutz began jotting everything down on the whiteboard. “We’ll organize the sequence of events later, but for now, we need every name that’s connected to this case.”

  “Two guards were killed at the Rock Island arsenal. There were also two dead men in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Their names were on Maria’s list, and one can easily go from Chicago to Brownsville by way of Poplar Bluff,” Frank said.

  Lutz added Nubby and Lon’s names, an Odyssey stolen from Chicago, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Brownsville, Texas. “The two dead men inside that stolen vehicle could have been taking somebody”—he cleared his throat—“John Vance, probably, to a town like Brownsville because it borders Mexico.”

  “I thought Curt’s passport was found in his house when it was initially searched after John’s escape,” I said.

  Lutz nodded. “It was, but then the information we could access went dark after the FBI got involved.”

  “So he can’t pass into Mexico, and John’s passport was confiscated when he was captured.”

  The commander raised his right brow. “Anyone can get what they want if they have enough money, Jesse.”

  It all began to make sense except for Tina’s murder. “But how does Tina fit into John’s plan?” I asked.

  Lutz wrinkled his face. “She probably didn’t. The Vasquez brothers are the only connection. Jealousy and opportunity on Maria’s part. She wanted Tina dead because Hal wouldn’t divorce her. We don’t know if Hal was complicit or not, and that much, we’ll find out, but having Tina dead would be much better for him
financially than a divorce.” Lutz took a drink of water, reviewed the whiteboard, then continued. “As far as I’m concerned, the Vasquez brothers, even though they’re on John’s payroll, decided to give their sister and her boyfriend a fifteen-thousand-dollar helping hand. What I need to do right now is send patrol units to Luca Vasquez’s house. For all we know, John and Curt could be camped out there. Brownsville is a border town and the perfect gateway into Mexico. Unless the FBI already has the Vance brothers in custody, which I doubt, we’ll follow the Vasquez leads and take all of them down one at a time.”

  Chapter 34

  Lutz made the call, and while we waited for word from the Brownsville Police Department, I did a search on the criminal database for Luca Vasquez and found that he’d served four years in prison, from 2008 to 2012, for forging wills, insurance, and travel documents. The travel documents part caught my attention. I checked the time, and it was getting late. I’d need to pass some of these tasks off to the night shift guys.

  “Henry?”

  “Yep.”

  “Can you see if Jared Bell is in the building? I’m sure Conway has called him by now. He and Maria Vasquez need to be spoken to again, but of course, we can’t talk to them without Bell present. I want Maria to know we’ve just added obstruction and lying to police to her list of charges.” I waited as Henry wrote down the additional charges, then continued. “There are plenty to go around for Conway too. We need him to tell us who this Cruz character is and where to find him, along with the Vasquez boys. We have to instill the fear of God into that asshole’s mind. He and Maria are going down, that’s for sure, and Hal might be right behind them. As soon as the Vasquez brothers are located, they’ll be locked up for life. Make sure Conway knows if he talks, he gets a deal, but it expires a minute after you offer it.”

  Henry pushed back his chair and pocketed the slip of paper. “Sounds good. Anything else?”

  “Nope, the night crew can take care of the rest. I want to go over Luca’s past crimes with Lutz before I head home.”