The Night Shift(18)

“I’m meeting with her tonight,” Keller says. “Hal set it up for me,” she adds.

“Want me to come along?”

“I think, given what happened to her, one-on-one would be best.”

“Makes sense,” he says, trying not to sound disappointed.

“What about all the sightings of Vince Whitaker over the years?” Keller asks. “Anything to all of that?”

Atticus lets out a sigh. “I’ve been trying to track those in my spare time. But most happened outside the country. If you think eyewitness testimony is unreliable, that’s nothing compared to sightings by vacationers who’ve spent the day drinking cocktails.”

Atticus’s phone chimes. “Whoa,” he says.

“What is it?” Keller asks.

“They went to interview the janitor from the school, the one who was fired. Apparently, the guy’s barricaded himself in his home and they’re gonna extract him.”

“How far from us?”

“Just a few minutes.” Atticus looks excited again. “Want me to reach out to the team to get approval for us to come?”

Keller grips the wheel. “Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”



* * *



The street is cordoned off. An officer meets them at the perimeter and lets them pass when Atticus lies and says that Detective Arpeggio is expecting them.

Keller gives him an admiring glance. Atticus is a quick study. He didn’t ask for permission and would definitely be asking for forgiveness later.

They pull up to a bevy of vehicles. Keller hoists herself out of the car and surveys the scene. There are six cars, both marked and unmarked, and an armored van that probably houses a SWAT team. Keller is always surprised by the arsenals of local forces, often bought with money the federal government shares from drug forfeitures.

Arpeggio is stationed at a command center outside the van, talking to a group of men in black tactical gear.

She looks at Atticus, who’s holding his iPad at his side. “You have access to the file on the janitor on that thing?”

“If they’ve uploaded it to the evidence portal.”

“Can you check?” Keller doesn’t have all the intel, but from what she’s seeing, Arpeggio’s team is getting ready to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer.

As Atticus taps on the device, Arpeggio’s gaze snags on Keller. He squints, then breaks away from the group and marches over.

“I thought we agreed that you were sticking to the Blockbuster and Whitaker side of things,” he says, his tone firm. “We’ve got this covered.”

“I can see that,” Keller says, her tenor hinting at the overkill. “What happened?”

Arpeggio shakes his head, like he doesn’t have time for this. “Mintz and a uniform came to interview the janitor. When they climbed the porch, he surprised them, shoved them both down the stairs, and ran inside. Now he’s not responding.”

Keller watches the men in tactical gear, who appear too eager. “The Bureau has some top-flight negotiators,” she says. “I can get one over here who can—”

“No need,” Arpeggio says. “But I do need you to stay over there, where it’s safe.” His eyes drop to her pregnant belly. “I’ve got enough problems today.”

Keller doesn’t fight it. She and Atticus head to an area adjacent to the command center.

“I got the guy’s jacket and probation file,” Atticus says, handing Keller the iPad. It’s short, and she reads quickly. The custodian, Randy Butler, is no serial child molester. His conviction for lewd conduct with a minor was nearly twenty years ago when he was eighteen: he got his sixteen-year-old girlfriend pregnant.

“It says he shares custody of a son with disabilities … autism, apparently. The kid would be about seventeen,” Keller says.

She watches as Arpeggio, followed by men in black, climbs the steps quietly. They’re in stacked formation, headed to the front door.

Keller turns to Atticus. “Do you have Detective Mintz’s number? I need to talk to her.”

“Yeah, but she’s right over there.” Atticus directs his attention to a small group watching the breach team. As the armored officers reach the top of the porch steps, Arpeggio raises a hand, then closes it to a fist, and the team stops. He pounds on the door.

“Police! Open up!”

Keller hurries over to Mintz. The detective’s eyes move from the breach team to Keller. She wears a sling on her arm.

“Detective Mintz, I’m glad you’re all right. Did you get a good look at who shoved you down the steps? Arpeggio said it was a surprise attack. Are you sure it was Randy Butler?”

Mintz’s eyes flash. “It was him. I mean, I think … We were coming up the porch and he just charged. We both lost our footing and he ran inside.”

Keller hears a commotion from behind them. Yelling. A confrontation with the officers maintaining the perimeter. Keller recognizes the civilian from the photo she’s just viewed on the iPad. He looks older than in the mug shot, but it’s him. The custodian. The man who’s supposed to be inside the house.

There’s a loud Boom. The battering ram cracks through the door and the men disappear inside.

Keller runs over toward the custodian. By then, Randy Butler is on the ground being cuffed, two officers restraining him. Keller shouts for the officers to stand down.