Chapter 4 #2
“I guess that young mother was right about Levine and Stewey being pals. They must also have been roommates.” She glanced at Jarek.
“They probably moved to a different place deeper into gang territory after their respective arrests. Especially considering Stewey served six months in jail. I can imagine that forced Levine to find a cheaper place to stay.”
“Strong possibility.” He worked the keyboard for a moment and enlarged Brian Stewert’s mug shot on the screen. “Does he look familiar?”
“I wish.” Stewey had greasy blond hair and light-blue bloodshot eyes. His mug shot didn’t do him any favors. He looked as if he’d spent the entire night drinking prior to being arrested. “I haven’t seen him before.”
“Okay, I have one more thing to check.” Jarek went back to work, pulling up the DMV website. “This is interesting. Stewey doesn’t have a car registered under his name.”
“Do you think that means Stewey and Levine shared the vehicle? If so, it makes sense that he was the one driving the beige Chevy.”
“Seems logical. It’s not as if Levine needs it anymore.
” Jarek stared at the screen for another long moment, then pulled out his phone.
“I’ll call dispatch and request a BOLO be issued for Brian Stewert and for the beige Chevy.
His known association with Levine is enough to bring him in for questioning. ”
“That sounds good.” She hoped the patrol officers found him soon. She sat back in her chair, realizing they’d done what they could with the evidence they had.
Except for the cell phone in her pocket. Bracing herself, she pulled the device out and set it on the table between them. “You’re going to be angry, but this is Gilbert Levine’s cell phone. I took it from the scene of the initial shooting before you got there.”
Jarek’s blue eyes flashed hot. “You tampered with evidence?”
She forced herself to nod. “Yes.”
Jarek jumped up and stalked away, raking his hands over his hair. She bit her lip, knowing she deserved his anger. Yet that didn’t stop her from mourning the loss of their earlier closeness.
And deep down, she knew if Jarek was upset about how she’d broken the law by taking evidence, she could never share the truth about her past with him.
That was a secret she’d take to her grave.
Di had stolen evidence from a crime scene! Jarek felt as if he’d been sideswiped by a semitruck. How could she have done such a thing? And worse, he was now complicit in her crime!
He battled waves of anger, heading outside through the back door where he could stare up at the ominous sky. How could she have done this to him?
Not to him, he forced himself to acknowledge. She’d swiped the phone before he’d arrived on scene. But that would have been a nice time to admit what she’d done. Not after they’d spent the better part of the evening working the case together.
What else had she done? Was there other evidence she’d tampered with?
He forced himself to take several deep breaths to get his anger under control.
The biggest problem he faced was how to get this phone into evidence.
There was no reliable chain of custody for one thing, and he didn’t relish the idea of telling Andrews about how Di had stolen evidence from the crime scene.
He resented her putting him in this position.
Why on earth did she act as if the rules didn’t apply to her?
It was tempting to slap handcuffs around her wrists and walk her into the precinct to face the music.
But even as the image of tossing Di behind bars brought a sense of satisfaction, he knew he couldn’t do it.
Maybe his brain was as warped as hers.
When fat raindrops fell from the sky, he forced himself to back inside. Di was still sitting at the table, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.
She glanced at him, her expression guarded. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not, or you wouldn’t have taken it in the first place.” His tone was sharp. “What in the world were you thinking?”
“I thought the shooting might be connected to the work I’d done infiltrating the gang, a case I’d worked alone. I took the phone without even thinking about it. Well, until you showed up at the scene as the responding officer,” she amended. “But by then, it was a little late to backtrack.”
“You tampered with evidence.” He stared at her. “You could do jail time for that.”
She flinched, and he swallowed against the pang of regret. “I understand. I already apologized for my actions. I didn’t expect to be here working the case with you.”
He bit back the urge to remind her that even when they were in the army, there were rules that had to be followed. She could be a loner all she wanted, but that didn’t mean she could break the law. He stared at her for a long, hard moment. “Is there anything else you’re keeping from me?”
“No.” When he arched a brow, she added, “I am not hiding any other evidence or holding back any other pertinent information related to these attacks against me.”
Jarek honestly wasn’t sure he believed her. Yet what choice did he have? He could boot her out of his house, but he would feel awful if the gunman found her again. No matter how angry he might be, he couldn’t turn his back on attempted murder. Three separate and distinct attempts at murder.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, he nodded. “Fine.”
She looked confused. “What’s fine?”
“I won’t arrest you for interfering with an active investigation or for tampering with evidence.” He held her gaze. “But don’t do this again or I will. Your actions could jam up my career big time.”
“I know, and I’m sorry about that.” To her credit, Di looked chagrined. “I would never intentionally hurt you, Jarek. I swiped the phone without thinking, and when you arrived on the scene, it seemed too late to confess.”
“I suppose I should be grateful you came clean now, huh?” He sighed again, then dropped into the seat beside her. He stared at the cheap disposable phone. Then he picked it up and pressed the button to call the last-known number stored in the device.
It was no shock that the call didn’t go through. He listened to the message saying the phone was no longer in service, then ended the call.
“If we’d tried to call earlier, we may have gotten a response.” He dropped the phone on the table. “It’s too late now.”
“I thought of that, but since the guy on the other end of the line likely did the shooting, I doubt he’d have hung onto the device for long.
” Di’s tone was reasonable, while he felt anything but rational.
“Not once he knew he’d struck his own guy instead of me.
” She grimaced and tucked a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear.
“Our best option is to see if we can find out where the phone was purchased.”
“And how am I going to do that? I can’t very well drop this into the tech department’s lap and ask them to trace the serial number.” He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his tone. “You made sure of that.”
“I’m sorry. I just thought . . .” Her voice trailed off.
She looked upset but then abruptly stood and moved into the living room to stare out the window.
The rain was coming down harder now, and Jarek heard the rumble of thunder rolling in.
Much like he had earlier, she watched the storm without saying anything for a long moment.
After a full five minutes, she finally turned to face him.
“Okay, so the phone is likely another dead end.”
He didn’t want to let her off the hook. But holding on to his anger wasn’t healthy and wouldn’t help their investigation.
He shrugged. “It may not be a complete dead end. Sometimes when these phones come in batches, they have similar phone numbers.” When she frowned, he explained, “Say a store gets a box of ten disposable cell phones. They may all have sequential phone numbers, which can help narrow down the location of where the device was purchased.”
“Really? We can track the phone by the number?” A flash of hope lightened her dark eyes. “The store who sold the phone would also have a camera, right?”
“Maybe. Depends on where it was purchased.” He wasn’t going to get his hopes up, but it was a thread they could pull.
“It’s something we can explore in more detail tomorrow morning.
It’s too late to do that tonight, the stores won’t be open.
All we can do is check the other phones still on the shelf while hoping for the best.”
“Thanks, Jarek. I’m glad to know there’s something more we can do to find the shooter.” She offered a wan smile. “I have to admit that thing has been burning a hole in my pocket all day. I feel better now that you know about it.”
He didn’t feel better but forced a nod. Then he took a step toward her, leveling her with a serious look. “Don’t do this again, Di. I mean it. If there’s anything else you’re hiding from me, you’d best come clean now.”
“I won’t. There’s nothing else to tell you.
” She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, but working for Grayson’s Guardians is different.
I infiltrated the gang on my own. I worked hard to befriend Caden Avery, then found a way to get him out of there.
I didn’t rely on law enforcement until I had enough evidence to put Terance Warren in jail. ”
“Yeah, so you said.” He still wasn’t sure that justified her actions, but there was no point in rehashing it.
He glanced at his watch. The hour was well past ten at night.
Not that late, but the storm outside made it seem so.
“We should get some sleep. We’ll have a lot of ground to cover in the morning. ”
“Sounds good.” She searched his gaze for a moment, then turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor. He followed her up, pausing in the hallway as she moved into the guest room.
“You can have first dibs on the bathroom.” He belatedly realized they’d be sharing the space. “Take your time.”
“Thanks.” She stood near the bed and opened her duffel, presumably to grab her toiletries. He quickly spun away to head into his room, shutting the door behind him.
This wasn’t the first time someone had stayed in his guest room. His siblings had been there over the years. But this was different. And not just because he was still angry with Di.
If he were honest, he’d admit his feelings for her were more than a little confusing. One minute he enjoyed working with her and admired her ability to get answers from people who wouldn’t give him the time of day, the next he wanted to strangle her.
Better that they call for a truce during the rest of this investigation.
He still didn’t like the situation she’d put him in.
He’d have to hide the cell phone she’d found from Andrews, which went against his cop code of conduct.
The only saving grace was that the device hadn’t yielded any information so far.
Yet even if they did find the store where it was purchased, he knew he couldn’t use any of that information against the shooter in a court of law.
He didn’t like it but didn’t see an alternative.
It wasn’t good. He sighed again and decided that his goal would be to keep his relationship with Di courteous and professional from this point forward. No strangling allowed.
Which would be easier said than done.
He waited twenty minutes before opening his door to see if she was finished in the bathroom. Finding it open, he quickly took his turn.
Of course, sleep didn’t come easily. He kept turning the disposable phone evidence over in his mind, trying to come up with a way that he could provide it to Andrews without his career taking a hit.
After what seemed like eons, he must have fallen asleep because a creaking sound on the staircase woke him.
He bolted upright and reached for his gun. His first instinct was that there was an intruder, but then he realized it was possible that Di couldn’t sleep and was making her way down to the kitchen.
Shoving his feet into a pair of shoes, he silently opened his door a crack to peer into the hallway. The bathroom door was open, but the door to Di’s room was shut.
That gave him pause. Would she have closed the door prior to going downstairs?
Even as he decided that wasn’t likely, he heard another creaking sound.
Someone was on the staircase. Then he saw a man dressed in black, wearing a face mask covering the lower half of his face reach the top of the stairs.
The weapon in his hand was held at the ready.
Jarek brought his weapon up. “Stop! Police!”
The intruder opened fire, several shots echoing in the short hallway. Jarek ducked back into his room, feeling the sting along his right bicep from the force of a bullet whizzing by. Ignoring the pain, he quickly peered around the corner again to return fire.
His aim was better. The gunman screamed in pain, then there was a thump as he fell to the carpeted floor. For long moments, there was nothing but silence.
Jarek waited a beat before peering around the corner again. The gunman was splayed on the floor, his dropped weapon near his torso. He noticed Di was looking out into the hall from her room as well. She had her weapon, but he didn’t think she’d fired. He’d been the one to take the guy out.
Their gazes met as the grim reality of the situation hit hard.
He cautiously stepped into the hall to approach the fallen gunman.
He kicked the weapon away and nodded at Di to stay put as he quickly headed down to the main level to clear the house.
The front door remained locked with the dead bolt, but the back door had been forced open.
If the dead man had a partner, he was long gone.
Jarek turned and quickly headed back up to the landing.
Di was crouched beside the fallen man, feeling for a pulse.
She shook her head. “He’s dead.”
Jarek was convinced this was the same man who’d tried to kill Di on those three occurrences yesterday. He reached over and pulled the face mask down for a clear look at his facial features. He instantly recognized him from the mug shot he’d seen earlier.
Brian Stewert, a.k.a. Stewey.