Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (19 page)

Finding nothing but asphalt and grass, I continued between the buildings to the back and followed the path through the dirt to the fence. As I got closer, an advertisement across the bottom of the fence came into view. Because of the tall grass, it couldn’t be seen from my crime scene vantage point. It looked like the wind had blown it against the fence some time ago, since the photo and words were faded.

As I made out the words, my breath caught, and a chill ran up my spine. The poster said, “A Vote for Grayson Sharp is a Vote for You,” with an image of a confident, smiling Grayson Sharp in the background. Holy crap! Was this just a coincidence, or did it mean he had something to do with Tom’s death? Was this the clue?

I continued to the fence and noticed the chain links had been cut apart just high enough for a person to crawl through, with the tall grass on the other side covering it up. It made a quick escape from the crime scene across the street. Maybe I should crawl under the fence to the pillar and look back this way. Maybe I’d see something I’d missed.

“Hey! You! What do you think you’re doing?”

My heart thumped, and I jerked around. A man came toward me from the buildings with an angry frown. I debated crawling under the fence to the other side before I picked up that he was trying to scare me off his property.

He was tired of people passing through here, mostly because of the drug deals that went on under the freeway. Just last night, his building alarm had gone off, and he’d had to come down to re-set it and make sure the building hadn’t been broken into. So what the hell was I doing there?

I waited for him to stop a few feet away and put on my nicest smile. “Hello. I’m Shelby Nichols and I’m with the police.” Luckily, I still had on my badge, so I waved it in front of his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t check with you before I came out here, but it didn’t look like you were open yet.”

“Hmph,” he grunted.

“I’m investigating a murder that happened sometime last night. A police officer was killed just down there, under the freeway. I was checking out the surrounding buildings and wanted to see if anyone could have come this way. Did you know there’s a gap in this fence?”

“Uh...no,” he said, all the fight gone out of him. “Where?”

“Right there.” I pointed it out. “Have you seen many people use this to come through your property?”

“I thought they just climbed the fence. I didn’t know the wires were clipped. But...yeah, when I saw you, I came out here to see what you were doing. I’ll have to get it fixed.”

“That might help with your problem,” I agreed. “So what time did your alarm go off during the night?”

His startled gaze flew to mine. “How did you know...?”

“Just answer the question, please,” I said, channeling my best detective voice.

“I got the call at about one-thirty in the morning.”

“When did you get here?” I asked.

“Fifteen minutes later. I checked the building and everything was secure, so I re-set the alarm and called the security company. Then I went home.”

“Was there anything out of place? Why do you think your alarm went off?”

“I don’t know, sometimes a door doesn’t get shut right. Or the sensors get tripped. I’ve only had one real break-in, and that was about a year ago.”

“A year? Do you remember the date?” Tom’s murder was a year ago. It was a long shot, but maybe there was a connection.

“Uh...not off the top of my head,” he said. “But I could look it up for you.”

“That would be helpful. Thanks.”

We walked back to the buildings, and I realized I didn’t even know which shop was his. He strode to the back entrance of the plumbing supply store and pulled the door open, holding it for me to go ahead of him. He went into a side office and sat behind a desk, motioning me to sit on a chair.

“I should have it on my insurance claims file here.” He opened his filing cabinet and pulled out a manila folder. “Yeah...here it is...November fourth.”

From what I could remember, the date seemed about right, and my heart raced. “Did they catch the guy who broke in?”

“No. The police thought the thief was looking for drug money, but I don’t keep cash here, so they were in and out pretty fast. They broke a few windows, but that was the only damage.”

“Okay. Well, thanks. You’ve been a huge help.”

“Sure.”

“I might be back. And I hope you’ll call if you remember anything else.” I handed him one of my business cards and left.

I got home, unsure if I’d made progress or not. The fence looked like a way for the killer to escape, but I wasn’t sure that helped much. The poster of Grayson Sharp could mean something, but I had no clue how drug-dealing cops and innocent bystanders had anything to do with an attorney general who took bribes.

While I cooked an egg for breakfast, I made a quick call to Holly. “Did you hear the news about the cop?”

“Yeah, Scott called me a few hours ago. What a crazy way for this to end. Why was he killed?”

“I think he might have wanted out of the whole business.”

“Yeah, and maybe his partner killed him because Chloe could identify him. Rather than kill Chloe, who really didn’t know much anyway, he must have decided to get rid of the cop she saw and not worry about the cop telling anyone who he was.”

“Exactly,” I agreed.

“So how do you find his partner now?”

“I don’t know, but we’re working on it. Do you think I should call Scott and tell him what I know?”

“Yes, that’s a good idea. I’m not sure the police will fill him in on everything. Besides, he’s your client, so it makes sense that you’d call him.”

“Okay. Thanks, Holly. I’ll call him right now.” Scott answered right away and I told him what I knew. “With him gone, Chloe’s probably safe now.”

“Maybe,” Scott agreed. “But I’m not sure I can let her out of the house yet. I mean, what if the dead cop told his partner, or a bunch of other people about her?”

“Yes, but even if he did, they have no reason to come after her. Pete was the only one she could identify, and he’s gone. That’s probably why he was killed.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

“So now Chloe can get back to school and not have to look over her shoulder or be scared.” He didn’t respond right away. “You still don’t seem real happy about that.”

“Oh...I’m relieved...it’s just that it’s been kind of nice to know where she is and who she’s with all the time. I felt so helpless to find out she was with some older kid at a drug house. I mean...I had no idea, and look what happened to her. She almost got killed. How can I let her out of my sight now?”

“I totally understand,” I agreed. “But you have to remember that what happened to her was very traumatic. She witnessed someone’s death and could have died herself. That’s going to take time to get over and she’ll need you now more than ever.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Thanks, Shelby. How much do I owe you?”

“Oh...nothing...just consider it a favor for a friend. I was glad to help Chloe, so we’re even.”

“Huh,” Scott replied. “I don’t think so, but maybe Chloe and I can have your family over for dinner sometime. If you won’t let me pay you, at least I can feed you.”

“Now that sounds great. We’ll look forward to it. Uh...one more thing,” I paused. “Would you like me to call Kira and let her know?”

“No...that won’t be necessary. I’ll give her a call right after I tell Chloe the news.”

“Okay...listen...tell Chloe she can call me if she needs to talk. She’ll know what I mean, all right?” I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about one more person getting killed because of this mess, but at least it was over for her.

“Sure,” he agreed, thanking me again before we disconnected.

I showered and put on some make-up, then did my hair. Besides going to the precinct, I needed to figure out if there was anything else I needed to do. With so much going on, I couldn’t keep it all straight in my head, so I got out a legal notepad and sat down at the desk in the office.

First, I wrote down Chloe’s name then, under it, Pete’s and Tom’s with an arrow to drugs. The only clue I had was the buildings and the fence, and that was only because of that freaky incident at the crime scene. I could tell Dimples about my meeting with the plumbing guy, and we could talk to the other people who worked there, but it seemed like a waste of time to involve him. Maybe I should just go back with the pictures and question them on my own.

Next I wrote down Billie’s name and, under it, Grayson Sharp and Anthony Kerby. If I could talk to Anthony Kerby, I might pick up something about Billie and whether he’d hired someone to ransack her place for the thumb-drive, or did it himself. At least I could make some progress there.

I couldn’t see how these cases were connected, but I also couldn’t explain the poster of Grayson Sharp on the fence, so I added a question mark and a link to Tom and Pete. Which also linked them to Chloe? Dang! This was nuts. They couldn’t be related, especially if the only clue I had came from a dead man and was probably just a figment of my imagination.

I sighed and shook my head to clear it. There was one more thing on my mind that I was worried about, and that was Uncle Joey and the assassin. I figured I might as well add him to my list. I wrote down his name and put Blake Beauchaine and the assassin underneath. At least this was totally separate from Billie and Chloe. Plus, I didn’t think I had to worry that Uncle Joey and Ramos would take care of the problem, although Blake worried me. What was his other reason for being here?

I hoped it had nothing to do with me, but I couldn’t get over the fact that he had retrieved a file about me from the FBI. It was enough to make my stomach clench with dread. Now that he knew I had ‘premonitions’ and helped Uncle Joey, he might get it into his mind that I needed to help him. That would be a disaster. Maybe I’d better get a diet soda out of the fridge and try and forget that part. No use borrowing trouble, right?

As I poured my soda into a glass with crushed ice, my cell phone rang, and I was seriously tempted not to answer it. Writing down everything I had on my plate overwhelmed me, and I wasn’t sure I could handle one more thing.

I sighed and checked the caller ID. It was Dimples, so I answered, hoping he had something good to tell me.

“Hi Shelby,” he began. “Good news. The chief wants you back on the case. Can you come down to the precinct? Oh...and bring that other file with you?”

Hmm...not exactly what I wanted to hear. And I wasn’t so sure I liked the chief anymore either, but what could I say? “All right, I’ll come, but there’s something else I’d like to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Talk to Anthony Kerby. Could we fit that in today?”

Dimples let out a breath. “Uh...yeah...sure. That will probably work.”

“Okay...see you soon.”

I got out my to-go mug and poured in another can of Diet Coke to take with me, knowing I needed all the fortification I could get. While I was at it, I grabbed a couple of cookies and stuffed them in my purse along with a granola bar. Now that I was fully prepared, I could leave.

With my ID badge around my neck, I entered the precinct, fully expecting Bates to harass me. He sat at his desk and quickly stood after spotting me. I braced for the onslaught, but he surprised me with a smile.

“Hey Nichols, glad you’re back.” He actually meant it, but I also picked up that he liked having me around since it gave him someone to blame when things didn’t go right.

“Yeah...sure,” I said. Some people never changed. Dimples waved me over to his desk, so I hurried in that direction, hoping Bates wouldn’t follow.

“Glad you’re here,” Dimples said, ushering me into the seat beside his desk. Bates stayed where he was, and Dimples sighed with relief, thinking he wanted this to stay between the two of us.

“This is what we’ve got so far. Pete’s phone is missing, along with his gun, ID, and wallet. The chief thinks he was involved with some kind of drug ring. It makes sense...he worked narcotics and got to know some of the major drug dealers. The worst of it is, he also had access to the drugs locked up in evidence. The chief thinks the books may have been doctored and Pete took some of them.”

“If he was involved, then why was he killed?” I asked.

“Maybe he wanted out.” Dimples shrugged.

“Yeah...and the fact that Chloe saw him changed everything. Maybe they wanted him to kill Chloe and he couldn’t do it, so they killed him instead. But I hate to think of him as a bad cop.”

“Yeah...tell me about it.” Dimples was thinking that the whole thing could be connected to organized crime. Maybe Pete was working with Joe “The Knife” Manetto, and feeding him information. His concerned gaze caught mine. Did I still work for Manetto? Did I know what was going on? His breath caught, and his eyes clenched shut.

“You just heard all that, right?” he asked.

“Uh-huh,” I nodded. “But don’t worry, it’s not that. I’m sure I would know.” I was lying through my teeth, since I knew Uncle Joey had an inside cop and I knew exactly who it was, but I also knew Uncle Joey didn’t have anything to do with Pete, so I tried not to feel too guilty about it.

“Uh...good, good,” he said, but he was thinking,
does she still work for him?