Devoted in Death (In Death #41)(82)

When her time was up, Eve went back into the bull pen.

“I’m open.”

“Two minutes, Lieutenant.” Jenkinson pushed away from his desk, went to her. Today’s neckwear sported long-eared white rabbits with orange carrots on a purple background.

“Where are you getting those?” she demanded.

“You’d be surprised how easy it is. We caught one this morning.” He ran it through briefly. A bludgeoning, the lead from a CI they only half trusted and a seedy pool hall in Chinatown.

“Snitch says the guy we want frequents that establishment, but we go in asking about him, they’re going to clam it or cover him. And we get a feeling the snitch is maybe playing both ends on this. We figure we’ll go in, soft clothes, play some pool, see what’s what.”

“Do it, but don’t wear that tie. Do you know where to find the CI?”

“Oh yeah, he’s easy to find.”

“Send a couple uniforms out, have him picked up on anything they can make stick for a few hours. Keep him inside while you play pool.”

“Nice. On it. Santiago and Carmichael still fishing in Oklahoma?”

“They’ve caught a few. They should be on their way back in a few hours.”

“We could use them. Got two new and open right now.”

She glanced at the main board, shoved her hand through her hair. So many. There were always so many.

“I can pull Baxter back.”

“Ah hell, Dallas, that man’s like an expectant father with his boy in exam. He’s better off where he is. We got it here. I figure the kid’s good for it. You?”

“We’ll know soon enough. Go play some pool. Peabody, I’m going to work the maps again. Jenkinson and Reineke are working a bludgeoning. Take a look at what else is new and open, see what you can put together, then pass it off to Baxter when he and Banner get back.”

“You want me to pull off our investigation?”

“Juggle, Peabody. And throw these new balls in the air. The APB on the van’s out, we’ve got detectives looking into backgrounds and timelines out west, Baxter and our guest cop wearing out shoe leather here. We’ve got names, faces. I’m going to try to narrow the location. Unless you start going door-to-door in that sector, and it damn well may come to it, there’s nothing we can do for Campbell and Mulligan until the next crack widens.”

She pointed to the banner over the break-room door.

NO MATTER YOUR RACE, CREED, SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR POLITICAL AFFILIATION, WE PROTECT AND SERVE. BECAUSE YOU COULD GET DEAD.

“That goes for everybody, all the time. Do what you can, pass to Baxter, and maybe he puts a bad guy away before the day’s over.”

She went back to her office, scrubbed her hands over her face. Then brought the map on screen.

And began to calculate.

A half hour later, she’d refined the area of interest, considered focusing the APB there. But if she was wrong, off by even a block, it could cost lives.

Instead she boosted the search to parking garages. Maybe they kept the van off the street, at least when they weren’t hunting. Having cops cruise through garages, parking lots, undergrounds might net them the vehicle.

And that was one step closer to Parsens and James.

She flipped to the ’link when it signaled incoming from Santiago.

“Give me something good.”

“How about a bouncing baby girl?”

“She dumped the kid on her mother.”

“Oh yeah. Mother hadn’t seen or heard from her in nearly a year, and she shows up, baby in tow, last June. Spun a story about falling for some guy, thinking they were going to get married, then he took off when she got knocked up, left her flat and with two black eyes. Lots of drama.”

“Yeah, she’s the smart one,” Eve mused.

“Claimed she realized how she needed family, how little Darra deserved a good start. Maybe she’d go back to school, get a good job, if they’d let them stay – that’s the mother and stepfather.”

“She knows what tune to play.”

“Played it like a virtuoso. Less than two weeks in, she’s gone, so are valuables and cash, and the baby’s still here. Not a word since, and they’re not covering, Dallas. They’re both scared we’re going to take the baby from them. They talked to a lawyer just last week, trying to see if they could legally adopt so the daughter can’t come back and take the kid. They’re nice people, doing the best they know how.

“And FYI? Ella-Loo was driving the Bobcat.”

“Did she have any friends there, anybody she might’ve told the truth to?”

“Carmichael’s getting that data. The mother doesn’t think there’s anyone Ella-Loo hadn’t pissed off before she left the first time around, but we’ll make some contacts before we head out to the next stop.”

“Who’s driving?”

His face went grim. “Just let me warn you. Don’t do bets with Carmichael. You might as well draw to an inside straight.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Just to play it safe, talk to the locals, see about getting access to their ’links in case the daughter’s contacted them.”

“They already offered, but we’ll breeze by the local badges, see what we can suss out.”