Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Fine,” he agrees, and we both turn away from the screens to face the men in the other room. “I need you to name as many of these guys as you can. They are all refusing to talk, and I need everything I can to close this case nice and tight.”
“That’s Joe Stemponelli and Carl Grover on the left. They handled arms distribution on the west side. That’s Joe’s brother Arnold.” I point to the guy on the right and take a second to try and remember the rest of them. “Wasn’t Barbra able to help you with this?”
“No, witness protection has stepped in. She’ll need to go underground until the trial is over.” Johnson sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. “This case has been a clusterfuck, and you leaving bodies behind didn’t help.”
“I got the bad guy. That’s literally my entire job.” I glance back at the monitors and see Rue still sitting where I left her. When I face the lineup again, I nod to two more in the middle. “Those guys are Jimmy and Jimmy Ployza.”
“Don’t tell me. Brothers with the same name?”
“No, they’re cousins.” I shrug when Johnson smirks at me and writes it all down. “They are known for running girls.”
“Barbra has them in her report, but we needed a positive ID.”
“Yeah, that’s them all right.”
There’s one guy left, and I don’t recognize him. When I tell Johnson, he hands me the report.
“He was brought in as a suspicious person but he’s not talking. He was outside the building at the time of the arrest, and when officers approached him, he said he was meeting someone.”
“This guy was just hanging around while federal officers were arresting people?”
“We think maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we wanted to bring you in and be sure you didn’t know him.”
“Did you run his prints?” I ask, and Johnson nods.
“Nothing. No ID either.”
“Odd,” I say and flip through the file again.
“You’re telling me. The kid hasn’t said a word. Nothing.”
“Not even to say he’s being wrongfully detained?” I raise a brow, and Johnson waves me off.
“Nah, but he’s hiding something. Maybe it doesn’t have to do with this case, but he’s not afraid of being around the rest of these guys.”
“Hmm,” I say and look at him again. I’ve never seen his face before, but there’s something prickling at the back of my neck.
Johnson uses the intercom next to the two-way glass to tell the officers on the other side to take the detainees away. Once they’re gone, I take a seat and spend another few minutes filling out my statement before there’s a knock on the door. When I look up, an agent I don’t recognize comes into the room.
“We’ve had to move the unidentified subject to the infirmary,” the agent says, and Johnson looks puzzled.
“Why?” he asks, and I’m thinking the same thing.
“He had a seizure. We don’t know why. One second he was fine, and the next second, he was on the ground. He’s with the doctor now. I just wanted to keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” Johnson nods. “Keep me posted.”
That prickle on the back of my neck happens again, and I turn around from where I’m sitting and look at the monitor. That’s when I notice the flashing light on the screen where Rue should be. I blink and then I rush over to the monitor to get a better look. That’s where she should be, only the room is empty.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath and look at another monitor marked Infirmary. There’s a light blinking on that screen too, and I see someone in a lab coat on the floor with a pool of blood around them.
“Goddamn it,” Johnson says from behind me, and then he’s yelling into his handset. It’s connected to the other people here in the warehouse, and as soon as he gives the Code Red, the alarm starts blaring. “I want all exits sealed. Now!”
I’m already halfway out the door by the time he gives the order, but I have a terrible feeling in my stomach.
Rue could have left. She could have gotten scared and run out on her own. She’s smart enough that she could have found a way or watched me key in my passcodes and memorized them. Or it could be so much worse than that. She told me about her ex-boyfriend Gavin and what he was capable of.
What if he was the one standing outside the building and that’s why he wasn’t talking? He wasn’t there because he was involved in the guns or drugs but because he followed the people that kidnapped Rue, and that’s where she was being held. He could have heard me talking to Barbra at the scene or when I called Johnson. He could have known that going with Johnson would get him closer to me. I made a big show of taking Rue and telling everyone she was staying with me.