Insinuations Read online

  On the bright side, they’d run into Jordan at the school and she’d get to talk to her a bit more later, hopefully spend some time after her second shift. Ellie decided she wouldn’t ask about the conversation with Bethany at the funeral unless Jordan brought it up. She wasn’t surprised Bethany was still the overly present ex-girlfriend, under the circumstances. Ellie couldn’t even blame her much, though she wished that after the failed couples’ therapy, Bethany would get the hint and move on just as Jordan had.

  “Well, first we’ll have a talk with these gentlemen,” Casey said with regard to the scowling teens in the backseat, “and then you can report to Detective Carpenter. Maybe he’ll get the message eventually, if you keep ignoring him.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  “You can’t interrogate me without my parents present,” one of the students, Julian Grant, piped up. It was the first time he had spoken since the arrest. “We have the right to a lawyer.”

  “We’ll call your parents, don’t worry,” Casey said, shaking her head.

  His friend Jess didn’t seem too happy about that prospect. “Can’t you just let us go? We have nothing to do with the drugs. Someone set us up.”

  “Shut your mouth, stupid,” Julian berated him. “Don’t say anything until the lawyer is here. Don’t you ever watch TV?”

  Ellie and Casey shared a bemused look. Ellie assumed her colleague was just as grateful as she was for this little distraction on an otherwise dire day. With Hobbs and Pratt still on the run and the images of this morning still vivid on her mind, it didn’t last long.

  After booking, they took the students to separate rooms. As predicted, Julian’s parents announced they would bring their lawyer. Jess’s mother, on the other hand, sounded terrified over the phone. There wasn’t much of a window.

  Casey sat down with Julian, while Ellie entered the room where Jess was nervously wringing his hands in his lap. His mother hadn’t talked about a lawyer.

  “Julian said I’m not supposed to talk to you,” he said defiantly.

  “Julian’s your friend?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  Ellie shrugged. “Nothing, really.” She paused for a moment. “Your mom will be here in a bit. Julian’s parents talked about a lawyer…Do you think he will represent you too, or do you have one of your own?”

  “Why?” Despite his suspicious stare, she could sense his uncertainty. There was something odd about the pair. A quick check of addresses had told her that both kids lived in very different neighborhoods. “If I can’t afford a lawyer, you have to get me one, you told me so earlier. I won’t need any, because I swear, someone put the drugs in my locker. I sure as hell would like to know who, because the asshole got me expelled.”

  “Yeah, about that.”

  Ellie noticed him perking up briefly before he fell back into his earlier slump. “That’s a lot of heroin. If you have any idea who did this, if you could help us, maybe we could put in a good word with the principal?”

  “I have no idea who did it. Stop trying.”

  “Okay. Let’s wait for your mom, then.”

  There was a knock on the door before it opened, and Casey peered inside. “Officer Harding?”

  “Excuse me,” she told the boy and stepped outside with the senior officer and narcotics detective Brannon.

  “Grant’s parents are here with the lawyer. If we charge him, he’s likely to be out on bail tomorrow. How’s it going in here?”

  “He’s scared,” Ellie said. “I think he knows something.”

  “Mom’s on her way. Scare him a bit more,” Brannon advised.

  Casey nodded in agreement. “No one had access to their lockers but these boys and the school authorities. He has to understand he’s in trouble. When you’re done here, go find Carpenter and see if she needs anything.”

  “Will do,” Ellie said. “So, Jess, looks like you and Julian will be here for a while. When the results for the fingerprints come in, you’ll be charged and…Well, maybe one of you will make bail. I assume Julian will take the easy way out if he can, but I could be wrong. He’s your friend after all. You trust him to have your back.”

  Silence.

  Ellie was beginning to ask herself if her approach would lead to anything, but then he said, “Why would only one of us get bail? Doesn’t matter if the parents are paying for a lawyer.”

  “True, but if one of you is cooperating, they are likely to get a better deal. I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Fuck, this is not how this was supposed to happen! I didn’t want anything to do with this shit.” He raked a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture.

  “I’ll try to help you best I can,” Ellie promised, leaning back in her chair. “Tell me everything you know.”

  “I didn’t know it was drugs, at first. Julian only said he owed someone money, and in return he had to store a package for a few days. He asked for my combination, I gave it to him. Damn it!”

  “Did he say who he owed the money to?”

  “Some guy named Carl. That’s all I know. You have to believe me!”

  “That was the first time Julian asked you to do this?”

  He nodded.

  “If there’s anything else you can remember, you need to tell us. I believe Julian has gotten involved with some dangerous people. They’ll want not only their money back, but those drugs too.”

  The door opened again, and a woman in her early forties came rushing in, Detective Brannon behind her.

  “Jess, what the hell is going on?”

  “Mom! I did nothing. I’m going to get a lawyer, and they’ll get me out of here.”

  “My colleague will just have a few more questions,” Ellie said.

  * * * *

  In the other room, Julian Grant, after conferring with his lawyer, had considered his options, though he was telling a slightly different story to Casey and Brannon.

  “Do I look like I need money? Jess here is the one who always gets into trouble. He said he’d get us some weed for a party. There was never ever talk about heroin, but I saw him talking to a guy at school.”

  “What guy?” Casey Adams was rapidly loosing patience with him switching gears again, her only consolation that this might actually lead to something. “Someone who works at the school?”

  Grant shook his head. “Never seen him before. He was hanging out near the janitor’s office—that was a while ago. Jess later told me that he’s the one selling the stuff. I didn’t ask until Jess turned up with a huge package of heroin he needed to guard for a few days. Hey, I don’t do that kind of stuff, and I believe it’s even a bit too hot for Jess, but man, he was scared shitless. The guy said if he didn’t do it, he was going to send someone to beat him up.”

  “You ever heard a name mentioned?”

  “Carl,” Julian Grant said without hesitation. “I never got a last name. You see, I don’t usually hang out with kids like Jess. They’re bad news, and here I am, looking at possession charges.”

  “I’m sure the officer will take into consideration that you’re coming clean about your mistake and regret it,” the lawyer said.

  Casey had a hard time keeping in the sigh when she imagined how many paychecks of hers the man’s suit would be worth. “I’d really like to know what the game plan is. Since there’s still no DA present, I don’t assume you intend to charge my client? After all, the heroin is not his, and all he did was help a friend in need.”

  Casey was certain that the truth was a little more complicated than that, but unfortunately, one of the boys had more means and opportunity to spin said truth to his advantage.

  “Just one more thing,” she said. “When that guy used to hang around the school, was Ms. Lyman still working there?”

  “The janitor? I think so, but I don’t think she would have gone anywhere near him,” Julian surmised. “She was afraid of her own shadow, that lady.”

  * * * *

  “What do you want to bet the dru
gs in those lockers were related to the ones you found in Lyman’s apartment? It can’t be a coincidence.”

  “I agree,” Jordan said as she and Ellie sat at her desk for the update Casey had promised her. “Looks like neither of them is telling the whole truth either. With this amount of drugs, ‘Carl’ can’t be one of the new kids on the block. Someone’s bound to have heard about it. I think it’s time I reach out to a CI of mine.”

  “I can’t wait until I can say those words,” Ellie said, prompting an indulgent smile from Jordan. “What do you think was Lyman’s role in all this?”

  “I’m so glad you ask.” Jordan sighed. “Waters thinks it was some kind of turf war. Single woman, cautious to the point of paranoid, that tells me another story.”

  “You have the autopsy report yet?”

  “No. It’s a whole lot of waiting,” Jordan said, her frustration showing.

  “It’s been a long day already,” Ellie reminded her gently.

  “No kidding. I thought you were working nights?”

  “Apparently I’m working night and day at the moment.” Not that there was anything funny about it. “With Kate and Libby on leave, we were a bit short-staffed today. From tomorrow, it’ll be nights only for a while.”

  “How about you come by later and I’ll make you breakfast?”

  “I’d love—” Ellie jumped when her cell phone buzzed again. “For Pete’s sake!”

  “You need to get that?”

  “Not really. Some guy with a wrong number. I really need to send him a text back sometime soon. Okay, where were we?”

  “Breakfast.”

  “I would say, ‘get a room,’ but unfortunately I still need Harding for a few more hours,” Casey who had joined them, commented. “How about we get out and grab a bite to eat first?”

  “Sure. You’re paying?”

  “Look at you, dinner and breakfast all taken care of. Sneaky.”

  It was with a strange mix of emotions that Ellie followed her after saying goodbye to Jordan. The fact that they’d been to a funeral this morning seemed far away and unreal, making her feel both relieved and guilty. Everyone working here, no matter how busy, was feeling the shock waves of this brutal event. The high tension wouldn’t recede anytime soon, not until Pratt and Hobbs were arrested.

  The night turned out to be fairly quiet. Ellie wasn’t sure whether she should be grateful about it, when there was so much on her mind, and she was trying hard not to go back to the room in the safe house with the blood-stained carpet, or the morning at the funeral.

  If she had a hard time dealing with this drastically altered reality, how much worse was it for Kate—and Libby and the other detective, who had survived the ambush?

  Inevitably, this line of thought brought her to the fact that she had come close to losing a loved one to a violent crime. Not that she and Jordan had talked about love, because that would have been inappropriate at the time, but there was the potential…She wanted to believe, that after all these traumatic events, they still had the chance to pick up the pieces and move on.

  Truth be told, there wasn’t much else at the moment that kept her going.

  “I know it’s hard to believe that, but it’s not always that way,” Casey said. Ellie assumed it was easy to guess her thoughts these days, the attack, Darby targeting Jordan, and now the hunt for the fugitives…Some of her enthusiasm about being a cop, eventually becoming a detective, had vanished. Ellie wasn’t sure if she’d ever get it back completely.

  “I know,” she said. “It’s been a few horrible months, and I shouldn’t complain when I wasn’t the one…”

  “Everyone understands. Baker was a good kid,” Casey said. “I hope McCarthy will find a way to get over this.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Ellie wiped the corner of her eye. “You’re trying to make me cry?”

  “Not on purpose. I’m just saying that if you find something good, it’s always a good idea to hold on, no matter what anyone else says.”

  “That’s good advice. I think I’ll take it, even it’s unusually philosophical for you.”

  “Night shift. Brings out the best in people. Unfortunately, not all of us,” Casey added when the dispatcher’s voice came over the scanner, alerting them of a man trying to break into a building.

  “14th street, that is the women’s shelter,” Ellie said.

  “Yeah.” Casey’s expression was grim. “I don’t think he just meant to say hello.”

  ****

  They approached the house cautiously, having no information yet as to whether the man, who was banging on doors and windows, threatening his wife, had a weapon or not. Linda Enders, the woman who ran the house, had given them a name: Rowan Walker. When they got out of the car, they could already hear him yelling.

  “You come out right now! They’re brainwashing you here. I won’t let that happen!”

  “How very convincing,” Casey scoffed. “You go in the back in case he decides to run.”

  “He sounds pretty drunk. I don’t think he’ll run far.”

  There was a loud noise, and then the sound of glass breaking, sending them both running in the direction of the sounds.

  “Police! Step away from the window!” Casey yelled. The man turned around obediently, staring at her as if dumbfounded that someone was trying to stop him.

  “The police? I can’t believe the bitch called the cops on me.” He dropped the baseball bat he was holding and raised his hands, came walking towards them. “Hey, don’t shoot, Ma’am. I’m a law-abiding citizen.”

  “I’m sorry, breaking into a house is not in the definition of law-abiding, Mr. Walker. Please come with us.”

  Walker spun around and ran towards the backyard.

  “You’re younger,” Casey said. “Go.” Ellie hadn’t expected anything else. As she’d hoped, the intruder wasn’t too fast, but he still made it over the fence that shielded the yard, thanks to a crate. Ellie followed him, almost safely on the other side when she slipped and fell face-first into a puddle. There was no time to curse or feel sorry for herself, so she gave chase for another block until the man rounded a corner and almost collided with Casey.

  “Stop it right here—and don’t call me Ma’am,” she said, picking up her cuffs and fastening them around his wrists, before giving Ellie the once over. “When it rains it pours, huh?”

  Ellie could only agree.

  Chapter Ten

  They met at the usual coffee shop. Darla had the hood of her red shirt pulled up, her shoulders hunched against the light rain. At this moment, she looked no older than twenty, though Jordan was well aware that this was not the case. Sacrifices, compromises, it was the same for all of them.

  Darla had a sweet tooth, so Jordan knew to put a caramel latte and a brownie in front of her before they’d even started talking.

  “What do you need?” Darla asked, a gleam in her eyes as she took in the sweet treats. “I’m sorry about that cop, by the way.”

  “Thanks. There’s been an awful lot of heroin turning up in strange places lately.”

  “Is there ever a good place for heroin to turn up?” Darla asked sarcastically.

  “Come on.” Even though Jordan agreed with her, she hadn’t come for idle chitchat. “A guy named Carl has been mentioned,” she said. “Hanging around high schools. You hear anything about him?”

  “Carl…I’m not sure.”

  “Darla, I need you on this.”

  “I’m trying, all right? Everyone’s talking about Hobbs and how the police are doing a not so great job finding him.”

  Jordan shook her head. “I already regret this. Maybe we should call it a night.” She still had some grocery shopping to do as well, for the breakfast she’d promised Ellie.

  “Wait. I’ve seen someone—not Carl, his name is…Bud, I think. Yes, that’s it. Big, scary guy, came to town a few months ago. Heroin, guns, he does a bit of everything.”

  “The locals just let him do that on their turf?” Jordan asked, doubtf
ul about this story.

  Darla shrugged. “He’s got relations, I suppose.”

  “Where do I find him?”

  “Whoa, lady, slow down a bit, it doesn’t work that way. I saw him once at the Pit. You have to wait and let me see if I can find out something more. You go in there without a plan, you get me and yourself killed. Let’s try not to do that.”

  “Fair enough,” Jordan agreed. “I need a name, and you get me in there.”

  “Will do. You have to give me some time though.”

  “I don’t have a lot of it. I’ve got a couple of high school kids with their lockers full of heroin, and a dead body in the morgue.”

  Jordan opened her wallet, counted off a few bills, then handed one to Darla. “The rest when you can get me to meet Bud. I’ll come back with a plan, and no one’s going to get killed, okay?”

  “Works for me.” Darla cast another longing glance at the bills that were not yet in her possession.

  “There’s something else. Does the name Mara Lyman ring a bell?”

  “Should it?”

  With a sigh, Jordan produced another bill. “Think. Was there someone else who might have stepped on Bud’s, or anyone else’s turf, that they might want to see go away?”

  Darla shook her head. “Sorry, I never heard of her.”

  “Are you sure? She might go by another name as well, twenty-something…”

  “That’s the lady who got killed today? I saw her picture on TV in the mall. Never seen her before.”

  “All right. Thank you, Darla. I’ll be in touch.”

  “I bet.”

  “Enjoy your coffee,” Jordan said and got up. As she left the coffee shop, she felt lighter than she had all day. Something was finally moving into the right direction. With what Darla had told her, she couldn’t entirely dismiss Waters’s theory, but she didn’t think it would hold in the long run. Mara Lyman was the victim here. With a little luck, she’d be able to prove it soon. Jordan had to grudgingly admit that it served her a lot more not to work on the Hobbs/Pratt case.