Chapter 11
Angela stared at Corey. “It couldn’t have been him, could it?”
“What’s his life like? What’s he like?”
“It’s hard to know. He’s always buttoned-down, obeys orders, does everything as he’s told. He always had a smile for me though. Never spoke out of turn. He was always very respectful.”
“But then your husband wouldn’t have allowed anything less, would he?”
She shook her head. “No. You’re right. He demanded obedience from both of us.”
The two men nodded.
She sat back. “Reginald had a son. … Something happened … about a year ago.” She cast her mind back. “It’s so hard to remember even that far back.” She ran through the scenarios in her head. “It was the first year Joshua started school. We had lots of meetings over that. Often Reginald drove us back and forth. He spent a fair bit of time talking to Joshua. They were quite good buddies.”
She stopped and frowned. “For a while Reginald got very, very, very quiet.” Her gaze widened. “I think something might have happened to his son.” She tried hard to pull up the memories. “Can we do a search of his name, check to see if he has a child?”
“Sure. Any idea what his last name is?”
She thought about it for a moment and then said triumphantly, “Warring. W-A-R-R-I-N-G. Warring.”
She hadn’t even finished talking before both men were clicking away.
“What did we ever do before the internet?”
“A lot more running around on foot, that’s for sure.”
“Reginald Warring. Married in 2004, had a son in 2010. Son deceased in 2016.”
“What happened?”
“He was hit by a drunk driver while walking on the sidewalk.”
Everyone winced. “Ouch. That’s got to be rough,” Corey said.
“I remember that now. I didn’t see much of him after that, so I don’t know if he took longer off than I thought, or whether he was just working part-time, or whether my husband was keeping him away, off on business.”
“But he’s very loyal to your husband?”
She nodded. “Very loyal. I think he is also extremely well-paid for that loyalty.”
“That would be very typical of the business world,” Warrick said.
“So, in other words, you don’t think he would talk to us?” Corey asked Angela.
“I doubt it. That would be breaking his word. And I’m pretty sure that’s something he cares about. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think my husband cares one damn bit about Reginald. But I think, for Reginald, its part and parcel of his makeup.”
“Anybody else in the household who’s not quite so well-paid?” Warrick smiled at her.
She shook her head. “When I split with my husband, he was in the process of getting rid of the staff. I felt bad because I figured he was doing it solely for that reason—to make sure nobody knew anything about what went on previously.”
“He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?” Corey asked. But he wasn’t looking at her. He studied the laptop in front of him.
So she figured he wasn’t really expecting an answer. “Yeah, apparently I suck at picking men.”
At that Warrick snickered.
Corey gave her a horrified look. “Let’s just say your judgment went downhill over time.”
She realized what she’d said and chuckled. “Okay, so you weren’t a mistake.”
Warrick said, “Aha, I knew I was right.”
She blushed. “And I figured he’d told you.”
Corey shot her a look. “Men don’t kiss and tell.”
She rolled her eyes. “Which puts me in a bad spot. Apparently I’m the one who let it out of the bag.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Warrick crowed. “I already figured that’s the way of it.”
She shook her head. “It was a long time ago.”
“That’s what they all say.” His smile was cheeky, his eyes full of laughter.
“As long as you don’t make too big a deal out of it, I’ll let you get away with that.”
He just grinned. “It’s really not a big deal. I know it was a long time ago because I’ve been working with Corey for a long time, and you weren’t part of that world.”
She smiled. “No, I was too busy finding a controlling husband to make my life miserable.”
“That’s okay. You have Joshua,” Corey reminded her. “And, as we well know, that’s worth a lot.”
“What you don’t know, Warrick, is I lost Corey’s baby a long time ago. An event that caused the breakup, mass depression, and a lot of self-evaluation.” She saw the surprise in Warrick’s eyes.
He glanced over at Corey and nodded. “I’m also a big believer in things happening for a reason,” he said gently. “So maybe it just wasn’t the right time.”
She nodded. “I went through quite a period of figuring all that out back then. I know miscarriages are common, way too common, but nobody really talks about them. It was certainly an early pregnancy that I lost, and, in the ensuing years, I’ve met lots of women who have miscarried. We all have one thing in common, at least the women I met. It is hard to deal with.”
“But you managed to have Joshua, so that’s a blessing in many ways.”
She chuckled. “You should see him. He’s such an angel. He’s one of those kids who can take your words, twist them around backward and make you question what you might have said in the first place.”
Warrick chuckled. “Kids are great. I will enjoy getting to know him when this nightmare is over.”
She studied his face. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
He glanced up. “I rarely say something I don’t mean.”
She chuckled. “And that’s a really nice thing about you too. You speak from the heart. And that’s worth a lot.”
“We are good people.” Warrick nodded at Corey. “You should give him another chance.”
A stunned silence filled the room, and she sputtered, “What are you talking about? There’s nothing between us.”
Warrick looked at her, his gaze deep and dark and mysterious. “Isn’t there?”
*
Corey raised his head at Warrick’s words. But it was Angela’s face that caught his attention. There was shock, confusion and a whisper of something else. It was that something else he wanted to lock on to. Did she see they still had something between them? Or rather the reasons they were together back then were even better reasons now?
She stared at Warrick, her jaw open.
It wasn’t exactly the heartwarming response Corey had hoped for, but, as the color rose up her neck and cheeks, he realized maybe it was after all. He patted her hand. “He’s just trying to bug you.”
She switched her gaze to him, and he could see her shocked awareness.
He smiled. “Don’t let him scare you off.”
“Scare me off what?”
He gave her a slow drawling smile. “Me.”
She shook her head. “Wow. You two are deadly.” She was slowly regaining her equilibrium.
“And you two are easy to read. Both of you are doing this dance. Interested but scared. Lots of things to come between you but no real reason to keep you apart.” Warrick gave a nod of satisfaction. “I’d be quite happy to end this mess with the two of you together again.”
She shook her head. “It’s not happening. Not that fast, that’s for sure.”
“It is happening,” Warrick teased. “You just haven’t come to accept it.”
She glared at him. “Can we get back to business now? This is a little too embarrassing.” And deliberately she dropped her gaze to the images in front of them. Almost instantly she gasped.
They both leaned forward to see what she was looking at.
“Is that a gun?”
Corey leaned closer and studied the photo. “It is a gun.” He turned to Warrick. “Can you bring that up in the photo program? Let’s see what that is behind the car he’s standing by.”
With Corey and Angela crowded around Warrick, he made a few adjustments and focused in on the back of the vehicle. Corey stepped away slightly, his face grim as he stared at the image. “That’s a foot.”
Warrick did a few more manipulations. “It looks like a man is lying there. It’s a little hard to see.”
“It’s not that hard,” Angela said in a shocked voice. “It looks like the man with the gun shot the man on the ground. There’s something almost familiar about him, but I …” She shook her head and then tilted it. “It’s hard to see clearly.”
“But why didn’t we see that at the beginning?” Warrick murmured. He leaned closer. “A lot of people are in that photo. Were they all part of it?”
“Or did nobody know about it? Looks like they’re all having this animated conversation.” Corey stared at the faces.
And, indeed, everybody appeared to be either laughing or talking, drinks in many hands. Also a vehicle appeared to move away from where the shooting occurred.
“That gun has a silencer. The shooter could have just walked up, popped him, helped him collapse out of the way and rejoined the group, and nobody would have known the difference.” Warrick reached over and tapped the top of the truck. “Someone set down his drink glass. Either that’s the killer’s or the victim’s.”
“So what do we do with this photo?”
“The detective already has it,” Warrick said slowly. “I don’t know any of these men. Do you guys?” Slowly he moved the photo around on the screen, highlighting each of the faces. When he got to the shooter’s face again, Angela leaned forward. “I feel like I know that profile, but I can’t place it.”
“Meaning, it could have been somebody you’ve seen?”
“Sure. It could be one of the people who came to the house or one of Greg’s many associates. Or …” she said slowly, scrunching up her face, “It could be Reginald, but it’s not a good picture of him, if it is.”
“It’s grainy but we can look into that possibility. It gives us something to go on. We can’t identify the body from here though.”
“Or it’s a much younger photo of Reginald,” she added suddenly. “That’s possible.”
“We need a satellite hookup,” Corey said.
Warrick turned to look at him. Together they said, “Tesla.”
Angela stared at them. “The car?”
They chuckled. “No, Mason’s partner.” Corey frowned and looked at Warrick. “Or maybe Levi.”
“The trouble is, we don’t have a time or date stamp, do we?” He searched the bottom of the photograph, but nothing was there.
“Let me call Mason,” Corey said. “He might want us to get Ice involved in this. If Tesla hasn’t got authorization for the satellite system, we don’t want to get her in trouble.”
“Just call Levi anyway.”
“Then I need to go through Mason,” Corey responded. “I don’t really know Levi.”
Warrick held out his hand. “I know him.”
“Then you call him.” Corey picked up Warrick’s phone and handed it to him. Together he and Angela listened in as Warrick called Levi. With a quick explanation he said, “I found a photo here that appears to show a man having just shot somebody. But we can’t get any details on the victim. Or ID any of the men in the photo.” Warrick nodded. “I just sent it to you. You should get it in a few minutes.”
He hung up the phone. “They will take a look to see if they can do anything with it. He did ask if the police were involved, and of course I had to say yes.”
“Why is it the police appear to be a problem?” Angela asked.
“When we’re on a military mission, we can and do have access to everything we need. But we’re not officially on a military mission, so we don’t have access. And, by rights, it’s law enforcement’s case. They don’t like it when we step into their cases. And we don’t like it when they step into ours. So it’s a matter of respecting boundaries.”
“Isn’t it supposed to be a matter of making sure Greg gets stopped, and I get my son safely back?”
“Those are the end results we’re both gunning for—both the navy and the SDPD. Obviously we need to work together to make that happen.” Corey could feel her frustration. He felt the same.
Angela got up and walked to the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”
“You mean, for more than chips?”
She pointed at the bowl. “It’s empty.”
“Are you sure you want to eat? Will it stop you from sleeping tonight?”
She glanced at her watch. “It’s eleven o’clock?”
He nodded. “Considering the late hour, I would say bed, not food.” He caught sight of Warrick’s face. “What?”
“I just realized I didn’t even consider the time when I called Levi. It’s got to be one o’clock where they are.”
“Did it sound like you disturbed him?”
“No. But he’s Levi. If anybody needs the least amount of sleep, it’s him. And he’s on top of everything, so this is up his alley.”
“I don’t know any of these people. But the circle of those involved just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” She flung out her hands. “And yet nothing’s getting resolved.”
“How about a cup of tea or maybe a hot bath and then bed?”
She stared at him.
He could see the fatigue pulling at her eyes. Even though she’d napped in the vehicle, it hadn’t been enough. She hadn’t had enough sleep in a long time. “Come on. Let’s get you set up in a bedroom. You can crash whenever you want to then.” He turned, grabbed her bags and headed up the stairs without giving her any option but to follow him. He stopped at the top and looked at the bedroom layout. He put her in the bedroom at the far end of the hall.
Behind him she asked, “Why that one?”
“Because it’s not at the top of the stairs,” he said succinctly. He turned to see her reaction, only to catch the whisper of fear and understanding as she got what he meant.
She stepped inside the bedroom and smiled. “This is very nice. Thank you.”
“There are two bathrooms up here. This one has a Hollywood bathroom. It’s here.” He walked through and showed her that it opened up to the other bedroom as well. “I’ll be on this side. Do not lock the door. I don’t care what the reason, don’t lock it. I’ll be sure to knock if I’m coming into the bathroom, okay?”
She frowned at him. “Okay. I’m just tired. I want to go to bed.”
He nodded. He walked back into her bedroom, checked outside the window and said, “There’s nobody and nothing that can see in here, so, if you want, you can have your curtain open.”
“No, I’d like it closed.”
He closed it, walked to the bed and flipped back the bedding. “Do you have everything you need?”
“Towels?”
He walked into the bathroom, checked the linen closet, but none were there. He headed back to the hall, opened a closet, grabbed several towels and washcloths, and brought them in for her. “This should get you started. If you need more, they’re in the hall closet.” He opened his arms and gave her a hug. “Now get some rest.” He kissed her gently on her temple, turned and walked out. If he didn’t leave right away, he would drag it out for as long as he could. He just found something so addictive about being back in her space, having her once more in his life. He hadn’t wanted to let her go in the first place.
And now to find she was even more attractive to him over a decade later, well, that was an incredible turn-on.
As he stepped through the door, she called out, “Good night.”
He refused to turn and look back because he knew what he’d see. He tossed back, “Good night,” in a carefree voice and quickly raced down the stairs.
As he walked into the kitchen, Warrick said, “I didn’t expect you to come back down.”
“She’s not ready for that.”
“But I figured you couldn’t leave her alone for the night.”
“She needs sleep, not to mention being married.”
“She’s been separated for months so that’s hardly relevant at this point. Do you think she’ll actually sleep with all this going on?”
“No idea. But she didn’t ask me to stay so …”
Warrick nodded and half smirked.
Corey walked to the fridge and pulled out a beer that Warrick had bought at the liquor store. “Do you want one?”
Warrick held out a hand behind him, and Corey placed one in his palm. He walked around, sat down at the table and took a deep drink. He loved the cold chill as it chased down his throat. “It’s a nice beer.”
“Any beer is a nice beer when you need one.”
At that Corey chuckled. “Isn’t that the truth?” He studied his friend. “What the hell are we supposed to look for now? None of this makes any sense yet.”
“Focus on the spreadsheets. The answers have got to be there.” Warrick reached around to a stack of papers. “I’ve printed off several copies. Here. Go ahead and mark them up. See if you can figure out what the hell’s going on.”
Corey closed the laptop and spread the sheets out in front of him. “I’ll start with Elizabeth and her five grand payments.”
He looked at the list of names, found four that had regular five thousand dollar payments and quickly realized Elizabeth’s last name was the first three letters in one of the codes. He marked that, then grabbed a scratch pad. He wrote down the other names they knew. The sums were all about the same: five or seven or four thousand dollars. Several were much more. He circled them on the first column, wondering what somebody would have to do to be charged that kind of money.
“We need more names, so we have a better understanding of his code. I still think this is a list of his payments received.” He glanced at his vibrating phone. A text from Mason. Corey spread the sheets out so they were top to bottom. Then he picked up his phone and called Mason. “What did you find out?”
“Jackson was being blackmailed. He stopped making payments a few weeks ago at the same time he put in for early retirement. He doesn’t know what the blackmailer will do now but no longer cares, as he’s getting out.”
“Any idea what his payments were every month?”
“Three grand.”
In the background Corey could hear someone calling out to Mason, “Thanks for meeting him. Let’s hope the captain sees a happy end to all this.”
Corey hung up the phone and told Warrick the details. Corey motioned to the spreadsheets on the table. “All these payments add up to more than a hundred and fifty grand. Several here are ten thousand, and some are fifteen.”
Warrick whistled. “Murder being the fifteen?”
“I think so. But God only knows how Greg determined that figure. I’m surprised it wasn’t a big payout first. Fifteen thousand is not very much.”
“No, but, like you said earlier, it’s enough to keep his marks paying. It’s as if the blackmailer knew what the victim could afford. I bet he’s taking just enough that they can make the monthly payment without leaving them dry. I don’t think this is a short-term process. And I doubt he went after money with everyone. It was all about using the opportunity for gain—one way or another.”
“That also explains why some of these payments start at different months. Depends when he managed to get the information, presumably to target these men.”
“And we can’t assume it’s just men either,” Warrick said. “Don’t forget Elizabeth.”
“No, that’s true. Most of the photos though appear to be of men.”
Just as he sorted out some of the other names, Angela raced down the stairs in her pajamas. He looked up as she burst through, holding out her phone on Speaker. “Joshua, talk to me.”
“Mommy” came a tearful voice from her phone. “Can you come get me?”
“Where are you, sweetie?” she asked, standing at the men’s sides. She placed the phone on the table and danced backward.
“I’m in the trunk of the car. Daddy put me in the trunk.”
Both of the men bolted to their feet.
“Is he driving the car right now?” Angela asked Joshua.
“Yes. He’s driving.”
Warrick sat back down and opened a different program.
Corey walked around behind him and said in a low tone to Angela, “Keep him talking. Warrick’s trying to track the phone.”
“Honey, keep talking to me, okay? I’m so sorry Daddy did that. Was he really angry at you?”
“He was really scary. He didn’t say much. He just picked me up. I was wrapped up in blankets, and he grabbed all of it and tossed me into the trunk. I asked him not to.” The boy’s voice was terrified, exhausted from crying.
“Does he know you have your phone?”
“No. I had it tucked into the blankets with me. I wanted to call you later.”
“Well, you hang on to that phone. We’re tracking where you are by your cell phone. So you leave it on, okay?”
“Does that mean you’re coming to get me?” Joshua’s voice perked up with hope.
“You bet, kiddo. Mommy’s on her way.” She glared at Corey as if daring him to argue.
“Good, I’m really sleepy now.”
“Honey, how come you’re so sleepy?”
“Daddy gave me a needle,” he said, his voice going faint.
“Leave the phone tucked in the bedding against you. And you leave your phone on. Do you hear me? Don’t shut this call off.”
No answer.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Can we find him?”
Corey already had his phone out and called the detective.
“Now what?” he said in irritation.
“We have an emergency.” He told the detective what was happening with Joshua in the trunk.
“We need the number so we can track it.”
Corey pulled the number off the phone. “Warrick is also trying to track it right now. According to Joshua, he was given a shot to make him sleepy. Now he’s asleep.”
The detective swore under his breath. “Does he know if it’s his father driving?”
“No. He said it was his father who put him in the trunk, but that doesn’t mean it’s his father driving. We have to track down that vehicle.”
Corey wrapped an arm around Angela and helped her sit in the kitchen chair. He raced into the living room, grabbed a blanket, came back and wrapped it around her. He placed a hand on her shoulder as the detective continued to bark orders.
Warrick yelped, “I got it.”
“Warrick just found the vehicle.”
Warrick relayed the street it was on and where it was heading.
Corey asked, “Do you have officers nearby? Because otherwise, we’re heading out, and I’ll pull as many men as I need from our units to get this child picked up safely.”
“I have men on it. We’re tracking it now too.”
“It’s only about ten minutes away from here.”
“I’m getting satellite on it.”
“I can get that too.” Warrick phoned Levi again. “The little boy has been shoved in the trunk of a car and is on the move. Do you have satellite access?”
Corey half listened to both phone conversations as he watched Angela. She looked completely grief stricken. He shook his head. “Stay positive. This isn’t over.”