Chapter 4
Being targeted by gunfire was getting old.
She wasn’t in Afghanistan anymore; this shouldn’t be happening in Newburgh, New York.
Crouched beside Jarek, Di caught a glimpse of the beige sedan before it disappeared around the corner.
Swallowing hard, she rose to her feet. “I didn’t get the license plate, did you? ”
“Only the first two letters, PK.” Jarek grimaced. “I think it must have been Gilbert Levine’s car, don’t you?”
“Makes sense they’d use a dead man’s ride for their dirty work.
” She glanced around the area, wincing when she realized the vehicle they were hiding behind had been struck with bullets.
That meant another wait for the police to arrive, not to mention the need to provide statements.
“I guess this drive-by shooting reinforces that someone from the gang is involved. It’s their typical MO. ”
“Yeah, but the first two shootings weren’t like this.” Jarek scowled and raised his voice to be heard over the police sirens. “Why the changeup to a drive-by attempt?”
She shook her head, having no answer for that question. Di felt better about her sister Michelle’s safety now that it looked as if this was gang related. She raised her voice to be heard as well. “We know there were two people involved. The driver and the shooter.”
Jarek nodded, then turned to approach the oncoming squads.
She stayed back, letting him take the lead with his fellow officers.
While she understood the need to follow protocol, this would delay their investigation into Stewey.
And the beige sedan with the license plate starting with PK.
Sweeping a casual glance around the neighborhood, she wondered who had called in the report of gunfire.
This neighborhood was far outside known gang territory, so it made sense that someone cared enough to make the emergency call.
Not to mention being smart enough not to come outside to see what was going on. A few faces peeked out of windows, though. She couldn’t blame them for watching the action.
It bothered her to know she’d brought danger to the seemingly quiet neighborhood.
And even worse that the gunmen didn’t seem to care if other innocent people were hit in the crossfire.
Thinking of the initial shooting reminded her of the disposable cell phone she’d taken from Levine.
Turning her back to Jarek and the responding officers, she pulled the device from her pocket and glanced at the screen.
No calls or texts except for the outgoing call that Levine had made moments before he’d been shot and killed.
She was tempted to call the same number but figured the shooter had already dumped his phone after firing the shot that killed his buddy.
When Jarek called her name, she slipped the phone back into her pocket and turned to approach the group of officers.
“This is the third shooting attempt against you?” the taller mixed-race man wearing the name tag of Ryland asked with a frown. “In one day?” His tone rose incredulously.
“That’s correct.” She shrugged and added, “I have reason to believe the new leader of the K2 Bloods gang is seeking revenge against me for my assistance in arresting their former leader, Terance Warren.”
Officer Ryland looked from her to Jarek who nodded. “That’s true. It’s all in my report from the earlier shooting. Oh, and you should let Detective Andrews know about this too.”
“Not that he’ll do anything about it,” Di muttered half under her breath. Jarek elbowed her, but thankfully, it seemed Ryland didn’t hear. He’d already turned away to join the other officer who was inspecting the bullet holes in the vehicle they’d used for cover while it was parked on the street.
Bullets that were intended for her.
Ryland and his partner asked a few more questions but surprisingly didn’t force them to come down to the station.
She arched a brow at Jarek who flushed, reading her thoughts. “Yeah, well, I’m one of them, so they’re cutting us some slack.”
No reason to point out that he could have cut her some slack.
As it turned out, it was a good thing he’d driven her back to the apartment.
They stood off to the side, the dark storm clouds moving in overhead.
She didn’t mind the rain but only had one change of clothes in her duffel, so she hoped it would hold off for a bit longer.
Jarek must have thought the same thing because he glanced at his watch, then asked his colleagues if they were free to go. After a moment of conversation between the four responding officers, Ryland nodded.
“We’ll be in touch if we need anything more,” Ryland said. “Andrews might want to talk to you too.”
“Okay, thanks.” He turned toward her. “I guess it’s a good thing we parked farther down the street.”
“Yep.” She fell into step beside him as they walked toward his dark-blue SUV. “Will they run the partial plate to see if it matches Gilbert Levine?”
“Probably, but I also plan to do that when we get home.” Jarek used the key fob to unlock the SUV. “We’ll work on finding Stewey too.”
Relieved, she slid into the passenger seat.
She needed to come clean about the evidence burning a hole in her pocket.
The device was likely a dead end unless the police department had technical resources that could somehow trace the call to a specific location.
That might help narrow down the spot where the shooter had been standing when he’d fired at her and Levine on the street corner.
Maybe they could even pinpoint the store where the device was purchased. Many of those stores had cameras. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t realize Jarek had pulled into his driveway.
“I’ll show you the guest room,” he said as they got out of the car.
She slung her duffel over her shoulder, trying to ignore the sudden awkwardness of the situation. If she were staying with any of her other teammates, this wouldn’t be an issue. But for some reason, bunking in Jarek’s guest room felt weird. “Okay, thanks.”
Inside the house, he led the way up to the second floor.
There were three bedrooms and one bathroom.
The smallest room was clearly used as a home office.
The other two bedrooms were roughly the same size, with Jarek’s being slightly larger.
The house had been built before bathroom en suites were a thing, which meant she and Jarek would share the bathroom.
The guest room was nice. She dropped her duffel on the bed, then crossed over to look out the window. Her bedroom overlooked the front of the property. In the distance, she could see the green trees of Downing Park. Turning her back on the view, she turned and headed downstairs to join Jarek.
He had a laptop computer open on the kitchen table. She dropped into the seat beside him so she could see the screen too. The scent of his aftershave teased her senses. It was the same scent that lingered in the bathroom.
Maybe she was better off sleeping on the sofa. Then she could use the half bath off the laundry room. Being this close to Jarek was proving to be a distraction.
Something she normally didn’t have to worry about.
“The license plate doesn’t match what’s on file for Levine’s car,” Jarek said, interrupting her thoughts. “Either I misread the first two letters or the plate was stolen from another car to throw us off.”
“Probably the latter.” She frowned at the information on the screen.
The first two digits of the license plate on the beige Chevy that Levine had been driving when he was pulled over for his traffic stop was LJ.
Not even close to the PK Jarek had seen.
“I’m sure you saw the first two letters correctly.
Stealing license plates is a common practice by those who break the law. ”
“Yeah, although we don’t know for sure that it’s the same vehicle.
The color, make, and model match, but that might not be enough.
” He exited the screen and opened a new search engine.
She didn’t recognize the software he was using and assumed it was linked to the Newburgh police station. “Time to find Gil’s pal Stewey.”
Di watched as Jarek worked, then stood to give him some room. His scent was driving her bonkers. She tried to think of a way to produce Levine’s disposable cell phone but couldn’t come up with a subtle way to do that.
She and Jarek were working well together at the moment, and she knew full well their easy camaraderie would vanish the moment she showed him the phone.
It wasn’t like her to be wishy-washy. She’d done worse things. She needed to just come clean and take the heat for her actions.
“Hey, I think I found him.” Jarek’s voice was excited. “Does the name Brian Stewert ring a bell?”
“Not even a little.” She quickly returned to her seat to see who he was referring to. There was a police report up on the screen. “He has a criminal record?”
“Oh yeah, drug possession with intent to sell.” Jarek tapped the screen. “Looks like he was arrested four months after Levine’s weapons charge. He did a six-month stint in jail but then was released.”
“Only six months for drug possession with intent to sell?” She frowned. “Seems light.”
“Yeah, well, unfortunately we have more criminals than room to house them all.” Jarek sounded annoyed. “Trust me, as a cop I don’t like this anymore than you do.”
“I can imagine. It’s hard to know that people you’ve worked hard to get off the street are back at it after a few measly months behind bars.
” She hadn’t realized how good cops were fighting what seemed like a losing battle.
Her past experience aside, she felt bad for Jarek.
He was clearly one of the good guys. “Do you have a known address for him?”
“Same one as Levine, which as you know is no longer valid.”