Cloaked in Blood (38 page)

“So do you have more dirty agents at the
FBI?”

David chuckled, “No, Helen took care of the
one responsible for relaying information to Franchetta. 
Seleeby brought Preston into that mess, and he managed to stay on
the inside even after Agent Soule took over the case.  You
see, Franchetta told Agent Preston things he wouldn’t say to anyone
else.  We thought they’d developed some sort of rapport, that
Preston was an asset.”

Johnny groaned.  “And that’s how the
Marcos thing got connected to my human trafficking case. 
Preston was the link.  You think he was threatening Franchetta
on behalf of our puppet master out here.”

“While I had a team investigating
Sanderfield and going through his records with specific attention
to where his campaign funds came from, I was digging into Preston’s
past, Johnny, every record I could lay my hands on.  I was
back in Darkwater Bay already last night because of something I
uncovered.  Preston was in regular contact with Lyle
Henderson.”

Johnny groaned.  “And you went to see
him, to question him about his relationship with a corrupt FBI
agent.  You found him dead already.”

“I was afraid that was exactly what I would
find the moment I got the call from OSI that our likeliest
candidate for the sniper had been found dead across the street from
Henderson’s apartment.  I needed to arrest Henderson,
Johnny.  I raced back here as soon as I had the confirmation
that Preston was in contact with one of the known suspects in this
case.  I was too late.”

“So why the elaborate pretense a little
while ago?  Why get the search warrant?”

“Same reason you did,” David said.  “I
knew what was in that apartment, and it had to be officially
uncovered.  I wanted to maintain the integrity of the entire
case.”

“You might’ve just mentioned this to Chris
and me out at OSI,” Johnny growled.

“Or you could’ve confronted me immediately
with what you saw rather than hiding Helen away from me like I’m
some kind of threat to her.  God knows I don’t blame you for
wanting to keep her out of this and protect her, but I think you’ve
known her long enough by now to know that the best way to keep her
out of trouble is by not letting the woman out of your sight for
even five seconds.  She won’t be forcibly removed from the
investigation, Johnny.”

“I know,” he said.  “Which is why
Crevan’s with her right now.”

“Her brother?  Seriously?  You
think he’ll be able to stop her?”

“Of course not,” Johnny said.  “But I
can at least keep tabs on where he is.  Not only is his car
equipped with GPS, we’ve been pinging his cell phone since I sent
him to the house.  Helen’s too smart for that.  She’s
ditched cell phones in the past to avoid detection, used old cars
that can’t be tracked by satellite.”

David chuckled in disbelief.  “And you
think that Crevan’s naiveté will slow her down?  Johnny,
she’ll teach him ways to avoid detection that he probably never
conceived – if she hasn’t done so already.  This isn’t just
some random case to her.  It’s her life.  Somebody is out
here silencing every possible information leak that exists. 
Do you really think he’s going to leave
any
living
evidence?”

“Sherman,” Johnny said.  “She’s the
only other link left that we know of.”

“And her incarceration is the only thing
that has prevented her death since Helen unwittingly uncovered the
truth,” David said.  “I wouldn’t worry about this puppet
master as you called him getting to her as much as I would
Helen.”

Johnny smacked a hand against his
forehead.  “And she’s waiting for DNA results that could prove
that Sherman’s been part of this mess her whole life.”

He started the car.

“Wait!  We’re leaving?”

“Helen’s gonna go after Sherman,
David.  You’re right.  She’ll use every trick she knows
to get her answers – one way or another.”

Chapter 38

I paced in the kitchen.  Should I share
what  I suspected?  How would Crevan react? 
No.  Best keep this hunch to myself.  At least until it
could be proven.  And how would I go about doing that?

My cell phone rang.

“You gonna get that, Helen?” Crevan
asked.

I glanced at it. 
Johnny.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sorry I haven’t called.  Things
have been intense.”

“Oh, are you making progress?” I tried my
best to tone down the sarcasm, but anger has a way of expressing
itself whether I like it or not.

“Baby, don’t be angry.  I’m sorry I
pushed you out of the crime scene like that.  Something just
didn’t sit right with me, that’s all.”

“Hmm.”  He wasn’t such a stellar liar
himself, at least not to me.  “You never did say why it
bothered you so much that old Lyle might be watching events unfold
on that rooftop.  It was practically a straight shot from his
apartment to where CSD lit up the night sky.  There were
probably a number of people in that building with their eyes glued
to what we were doing.”

“Haven’t you ever just had a really bad
feeling?  That’s all it was, Helen.”

“All right,” I sighed.  Once again, the
rules of the relationship, the foundation that started with a lie,
was so long ago established, I felt particularly resigned to
acceptance that it would never change. 
You get what you
give, Orion
.

“Where are you?”

“In the kitchen.  Crevan’s here. 
Would you like him to confirm that fact?  Or would it mean
more coming from Danny?”

“I wasn’t making an accusation, Helen. 
I just called to let you know that everything is fine, I’m sorry I
didn’t make it home last night, and that nothing has really
happened or changed since I sent you home.  Well, I suppose
Chris and I have a few bumps on our head from banging them against
the wall.”

“No luck on the identity of that shooter
yet?”

“Not so far.  Listen, I’ve got to meet
with David again, see if the bureau has had any success determining
the identity of our victim last night, but I wanted to let you know
that I didn’t send Crevan over because of any other reason than
protection.  I’m worried about you.  Please don’t give
him too much trouble, and just… just stay home, Helen.”

I gritted my teeth and struggled against the
rage pumping like sludge through my veins.  It was a slow
burn, painful, yet heightening awareness to an acuity I’d never
known before.  “We’re perfectly safe.  If anyone should
be careful, it’s you.”

The grandfather clock in the living room
chimed eight.  Johnny’s relaxation at the familiar sound
permeated AT&T’s network.

“Helen, I do love you.  You know that,
right?  You believe it.”

As much as you believe me.
 
“Johnny, I thought we had everything straight again.  Are you
telling me –?”

“No!” he interrupted quickly.  “It’s
just this case.  The whole thing, when it started two months
ago.  I need this to be done.  I need to know you’re
safe.”

“I have an appointment with the obstetrician
this afternoon.  I don’t suppose you’ll be able to tear
yourself away for an hour.”

Johnny muttered under his breath.

“You promised me you’d be there for all of
them, Johnny.  Have you forgotten?”

Crevan’s eyes were round as saucers. 
Datello was grinning.  At least
somebody
under this
roof got me.

“I did forget about the appointment. 
I’ll do everything I can to meet you there, but for now, just make
sure Crevan takes you.  Let’s not forget who we’re both so
desperate to protect, Helen.”

I hadn’t, but it hurt to hear him admit
it.  His main concern wasn’t for me at all, but for the babies
I carried.  “Well, maybe I’ll see you later then,” I
said.  “Good luck with the case.”

The phone call was over before Johnny had
the chance to say anything else that upset me.  Miss my
appointment would he?  I’d make sure there wasn’t an
appointment
to
miss.

“Crevan, call a taxi.  I’m going to
change clothes and make another phone call before we leave.”

“Where are we going?  Helen, if you’re
angry with Johnny about this appointment –”

“There is no appointment.  At least
there won’t be when I get off the phone.  We need to get out
of here.

“Danny, upstairs in your room is an old cell
phone plugged into the outlet in the window seat.  I want you
to get it.  Make sure it’s charged.  Change your
clothes.  Wear something black.

“Crevan, you’re leaving your phone
here.  And your clothes.”

“Excuse me?”

“I wouldn’t put it past Orion to have some
sort of tracking device planted in your shoes.  I’ve got
something you can wear.  I never got rid of a lot of Rick’s
workout gear.”

“I’m not wearing your dead husband’s gym
clothes!”

“Then you’re not coming with us.”

“The hell I’m not.”

I grabbed Crevan roughly and slammed him
against the wall.  “Do you want this to end once and for
all?”

“Yes,” he mouthed on a soft hiss of air.

“Then for God’s sake, do as I ask. 
Johnny is lying to both of us, Crevan.  He thinks he knows
where this case is going, but I promise you, he hasn’t got a
clue.  He’ll go after Henderson and he’s a dead end.”

“Why?  What makes you think he won’t be
so terrified that someone planned to kill him that he won’t leap at
the opportunity for police protection?” Crevan asked.

A bit more of the puzzle clicked together in
my head.  Johnny’s odd behavior, first and foremost, suddenly
made sense.  “Oh good grief.”

“Helen?”

“Jesus, why didn’t I realize what was
happening last night?  Idiot!  Stupid pregnant
brain!”

“Helen, you’re starting to scare me.”

Danny shook his head at Crevan.  “Just
let her process it, man.  She’s about ready to pull it all
together.  I bet it was like this every other time she solved
a case.”

Crevan’s eyes narrowed.  “Yeah, it
was.  So what did you figure out, Helen?”

I looked at Datello first, a smirk crowded
past exasperation, and then to Crevan.  “I don’t know
who
Johnny saw in Lyle Henderson’s apartment, but I’m pretty
sure I know
what
he saw.”

“Which was?”

“Oh my God,” Datello breathed.

I nodded.  “Lyle Henderson is already
dead, Crevan.  Dammit.  Whoever was supposed to kill
Henderson wasn’t alone.  Call to EMS my ass.  I’ll bet it
was this alleged mastermind that called the police.  Exactly
how much of a flash is visible from a weapon that uses a silencer
anyway?”

“I’m assuming not much,” Danny said.

“The way that a suppressor works to
effectively muzzle the flash,” Crevan explained, “is that it
extends the barrel of the gun enough that any remaining powder
burns before the bullet is ejected from the muzzle.”

“Son of a bitch,” I said.  “Johnny has
to know that.  He must’ve figured it out on that rooftop when
he saw that Henderson was already dead.  Question is, if he
saw the man responsible for all of this, why didn’t he lockdown
that neighborhood immediately, rather than waste time sending me
away?”

“Well, he
did
lock it down, at least
according to Tony Briscoe,” Crevan reminded me.

“Hours later?  The perp would’ve been
long gone before we got across the street last night, Crevan. 
That’s why Lyle didn’t answer his door.  He was already
dead.”

“Maybe Tilly saw him,” he suggested.

I shook my head firmly.  “She’d have
told me if she’d seen anything else, if she’d heard anything
else.  That’s what they were fighting about.  Dammit, I
can’t believe I missed this!”

“What exactly did you miss?” Crevan
asked.  “Because I heard exactly the same thing you did,
Helen.”

“She said they were arguing, she couldn’t
quite make out the words.  But she heard Nate’s name. 
Lyle was pissed.  He paid off Nate to insure his
silence.  It wasn’t good enough for his partner, so he killed
him, probably with Nate’s own truck.  She said it was a
Cadillac, brand new.  Maya said the emblem imbedded on Nate
was from a Cadillac.  So they fought about this ultimate
solution to make sure Nate didn’t talk about whatever these extra
errands he did for Lyle were.  Tilly follows this guy down the
hall and shares an elevator.  She hears him grumbling about
the need to use Koehler again.  Hours later, our alleged
Sanderfield assassin is found dead on a rooftop across the street
from the Hanging Gardens, with a direct line of sight into Lyle’s
apartment.  Somebody shoots the shooter.  Nobody hears a
thing, even though we all know damn well that a .50 caliber weapon
isn’t exactly mistakable for anything less than a
sonic
boom
, but then somebody calls nine eleven to report a muzzle
flash?  No way.  Somebody was watching, making sure that
Lyle was out of the way.”

“Probably to make sure that Koehler was out
of the way too,” Crevan said.  “Other than Melissa Sherman,
nobody knows the identity of this guy.”

My eyes widened.  “And that’s what
Johnny’s thinking right now, that this is his golden opportunity to
extract the truth from Sherman.”

“You think it isn’t?”

I grinned.  “She’s not going to talk,
Crevan.  She hasn’t so far.  In fact, she’s had how many
people willing to die to give her an alibi?  No, she won’t
talk.  At least not as long as she thinks Henderson is still
alive and pulling strings to protect her.”

“So what happens if Orion tells her that
Henderson is dead?” Danny asked.

“She’ll kill herself rather than wait for
somebody else to do the job.”  I grabbed my phone and dialed
Maya’s cell.

“I can’t talk to you, Helen.”

“I realize how busy you are this morning,
but if could just tell me if you got the DNA results back yet,
that’s all I need to know.”