Best Laid Plans(89)

“And did she?”

“She said she turned over the photos. She met her contact to get the rest of her payment, and he shot her, twice. She ran into a busy street at midnight and the shooter disappeared.”

“Poor kid.”

“I hate playing the bad cop.”

Sean leaned back and frowned. “Where’d that come from?”

“Tia. She’s the one who knows the programs, how to help Elise, halfway houses, school, whatever. I was forced to be the hard-nosed cop who is pushing for a murder charge. I really felt uncomfortable doing that.”

He rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. But you got the information, right?”

“Some, not everything. We don’t know who hired her, and she’s scared of him.”

“He shot her—I’d be scared, too, if I were in her shoes.”

“She wants to run, doesn’t trust us to protect her. We have a cop sitting on her door—to keep her in as well as the shooter out. But tomorrow—I don’t know what we’re going to do. Juvie, I suppose, if she doesn’t give us his name.”

“If anyone can convince her to do the right thing, it’s you and Tia.”

“Aw, thanks.”

“I’m serious.” Sean kissed her. “Are you done for tonight?”

“Yes. I’ll clean up.”

“Later. Now, I want to take you to bed. I’ve missed you, Lucy. It’s been a long day without you.” He kissed her again.

She raised her eyebrow. “So can I see what else you have in your pants?”

He grinned. “Be my guest.”

*



Brad didn’t get home until late Tuesday night, but he had nothing to complain about. His doctor had officially cleared him for duty.

He’d grabbed takeout and for a split second considered calling Sam and seeing if he could come over. He missed her. Seeing Sean and Lucy last night reminded him how alone he was. Nicole was wrong; he wasn’t attracted to Lucy. She was pretty and smart, but it was clear that she had something special going with Sean. He liked her, though. Not only because she’d saved his life, but because she was a good cop who bent the rules when necessary.

Instead of calling Sam, he went home alone. Trying to rekindle anything with his ex-girlfriend would be a mistake. She was his boss now. When they were equals it was frowned on but not forbidden, and they had been discreet. Now as his supervisor, she’d get in serious trouble. One of them would be transferred. Sam was dedicated to her job. Brad liked San Antonio and had built a network here stronger than the networks in the two other offices he’d worked in.

Some people were born to lead, like Sam. Others, like him, were born to act.

He grabbed a beer and sat down in front of the television with his food. He flipped through until he found a baseball game, but didn’t pay much attention to it. He had the forensics report from the shooting, and a follow-up report from Jerry Fielding. He’d read through it earlier, but wanted to give it more attention.

His cell phone rang. The number was unlisted. “Donnelly.”

“It’s Kane. Do you have time?”

“Sure.”

“Open your door.”

The call disconnected. Brad walked to his front door and looked through the security hole. Kane Rogan stood there, slightly to the side as if watching both the entrance and the street. Brad unbolted and opened the door. “How did you know where I live?”

Kane didn’t answer. He walked in and closed the door. “I heard you found one of the shooters. Dead.”

“How the hell did you hear that? We didn’t release the information.”

Kane gave him a half smile that didn’t reach his dark blue eyes. “Marquez? This isn’t Marquez’s style.”

“Then his gangbangers are going rogue.”

“Or someone else is giving them orders.”

“That sounds like bad news.”

“We need more information. The balance of power is shifting, and that’s bad for this city and for my unit. I have multiple ops in play right now, and if we don’t know who’s making a power play, my people will be in danger.”

“The weapons they used are M4s. The same type of weapon stolen from the Marines that you recovered. We verified the ammo was military issue.”

“We only recovered some of the guns. Two-thirds of them disappeared before I could make it back to Mexico after the rescue.”

“So who got the guns?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. From what I could piece together, Trejo is the one who sold them to Tobias. Except … I’ve gone over Lucy’s report multiple times, and there could be another scenario. Tobias could have funded the operation in the first place. He’s been this elusive ghost for years. He wasn’t on my radar because his name never came up in connection with one of my operations, and he isn’t involved in human trafficking. Yet … I’ve learned more during the last two months. I think he’s far more powerful than we gave him credit for.”

“With Trejo and Sanchez dead, Tobias was the only one in a position to take possession of the weapons.”

“That’s what my intel suggests.”

“Would he have sold them to Marquez?”