Chapter 7
Walking the riverfront was a good idea. Di fell into step beside Jarek, silently admitting she preferred working with him over Ray Bond and his partner, Jeff Schnor.
Nothing against either of the narcotics officers personally, but somehow, she’d managed to establish a rapport with Jarek.
Maybe because they’d served overseas together.
Although she hadn’t much liked him back then.
Especially when he’d nicknamed her Di, as in a diamond with rough edges.
How she’d gone from seeing him as an adversary to accepting him as a friend and co-investigator, she had no idea.
Part of their connection was the way Jarek had put his career on the line for her.
She’d truly felt bad about swiping the cell phone from the scene of the initial shooting.
Thankfully, he’d gotten over his anger about that.
Now they just needed to figure out the truth without risking his promotion to detective.
Jarek certainly deserved his gold shield.
Now that she thought it through, it may have been better for Jarek if she’d agreed to work with Ray Bond.
That way Jarek would be in the clear no matter what went down.
The problem there was that Ray had made it clear he wanted to see her on a personal level, despite the fact that she had absolutely no interest in him.
To be fair, she shouldn’t be interested in Jarek either. Cops were cops no matter what types of cases they worked.
It was too late to call Ray Bond back, so she decided to stay the course with Jarek. If things got dicey, she could always slip away to work on her own. After all, she was the one in the line of fire.
She scanned the riverfront, noticing that more people were out on the water now.
“What do you think of that boat?” She nodded toward an obviously older model vessel with a badly faded decal on the port side. “Could be the gangs are using older boats to move their product.”
“That would be less noticeable than using newer flashier ones,” Jarek agreed. “I’d expect them to stay in gang territory, though.”
“Me too.” She watched as the boat cut through the water. But instead of slowing and turning toward one of the many piers, the boat continued heading up the river. Maybe she was wrong about it being used for drugs.
Maybe the gangs weren’t using boats at all.
“What did you learn when you infiltrated the gang to rescue Caden Avery?” Jarek asked. “You mentioned getting evidence against the leader, Terance Warren. Seems like that would have been difficult to do unless Caden was considered one of their leaders too.”
“Caden wasn’t that high up the food chain.
He sold drugs for the gang, but he also worked at one of the cafés part time.
I managed to get a job there, too, so I could befriend him.
He was happy to hang with me and even confessed about how he wanted to go back home.
I told him I could help make that happen, then pushed for him to allow me to meet his supplier.
He balked at the idea, then eventually agreed.
” She thought back to those tense few weeks she’d walked the line within the K2 Bloods gang.
“The supplier was Rico Neuhauser, and he was very interested in me working for him, until I insisted on meeting with Terance.”
Jarek reached out to grasp her arm, his brow furrowed with concern. “I can’t believe you didn’t get hurt or worse. Insisting on a meeting with the leader of the gang was pushing it.”
“It was.” She had taken the risk with her eyes open but knew the situation could have ended very differently.
Maybe it was her scar, but she’d been able to come across as a tough chick determined to make her way up in the organization.
“I just needed enough intel to get the guy arrested so that he couldn’t come after Caden once I got him out of there. ”
“When did you first meet with Bond and Schnor?”
“Not until after my meeting with Terance.” She glanced at him, then shrugged.
“Terance wasn’t happy about our face-to-face and was cagey about what he said.
I had to meet with him twice to get him to admit to his role within the organization.
I reached out to narcotics after the first meeting, and they managed to get a wire placed outside the warehouse where we met during the second meeting.
That’s when I was able to get solid intel on Terance’s crimes. ”
“Two meetings leading to an arrest,” Jarek muttered, his expression dark. “No wonder Pablo Hernandez wants you dead.”
“He has revenge as a motive, but keep in mind, I never met Pablo.” She glanced at Jarek. “I knew Terance had his second-in-command, and Caden had mentioned the name Pablo, but I never worked with him directly.”
“That’s interesting.” Jarek’s expression turned thoughtful. “We need a picture of Pablo so that we can identify him when we see him.”
“Hang on.” She used her phone to text Ray with the request. A moment later, a picture popped up on her screen.
The image was grainy and from a distance, but she turned the phone toward Jarek so he could see it too.
“This is Pablo Hernandez. See the tattoo on his neck? That will help us identify him if we run across him at some point.”
“I see it,” Jarek agreed. “Send that to me, will you?” She did so, and he stared at the photo for a long second. “I wonder if Warren has been in communication with Pablo, despite being in jail? Pablo could be operating on his former boss’s orders.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be easy for them to communicate unless Terance has gotten his hands on a disposable phone. Jail calls are all recorded, and a threat to kill someone would only add more time to Terance’s fifteen-year sentence.”
“Fifteen years for being a drug lord.” Jarek looked annoyed. “That’s nothing. If he gets out, he’ll just go back to his life of crime, intimidating those who choose not to cater to the gang.”
Surprised at his vehemence, she glanced at him. “You really care about keeping the city safe.”
“Of course I do.” He gestured to the people who were enjoying the day. “Serving the citizens who live and work here isn’t much different from serving our country. I like knowing my patrolling the city helps put the bad guys behind bars. Although it would be nice if they stayed there.”
She smiled. He was such a Dudley Do Right, which was sweet. Then her smile faded. A man with Jarek’s convictions about right and wrong would not understand what she’d done. She turned to check out more of the boats out on the water.
“Ready to grab lunch?” Jarek asked.
“Soon.” She was hungry but wanted to check in with her sister to make sure everything was fine. “Excuse me for a moment, okay? I need to make a call.”
“Sure.” He took several steps down the river walk, then stood gazing out at the boats passing by with his back to her.
With a sigh, she called Michelle. Her sister didn’t answer for several rings, but when she finally did, there was laughter in her tone. “Hi, Dina, I was just telling Will that your idea to get away was awesome. We’re having a great time!”
“I’m glad to hear it!” Di was truly thrilled to know her sister and her family were safe and having fun. “The kids are doing well too?”
“Yep, they’re having fun, and we’re enjoying some adult time together when they’re worn out enough to sleep.” Michelle giggled again, and she heard Will’s voice asking if she was ready to head to the pool. “Do you need something? We’re about to hit the pool again.”
“No, I don’t need anything. Just checking in.” She forced a cheerful tone. “Go have fun. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, Dina! Later.” More giggling before Michelle ended the call.
For the first time ever, Di felt a twinge of envy. There was a gaping hole in the life she’d made for herself. No husband, no kids. No family, other than Michelle and the army vets she’d served with.
Settling down with a wife and kids was absolutely something Jarek would do at some point. She knew that as well as she knew that would never happen for her.
Enough wallowing in self-pity. She’d made her decision a long time ago, when she was fifteen. It was the only way she could think of to protect Michelle, and despite everything, she didn’t regret her actions.
The older model boat was back. Shaking off her personal feelings, Di tracked the boat with the faded decal as it went past. Tucking her phone away, she hurried over to Jarek. “Do you see it?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at her. “Let’s keep heading south, see if the boat pulls into one of the piers in gang territory.”
“I’m in.” She lengthened her stride, keeping up with him easily. “There are likely legitimate businesses on the water despite being surrounded by gang turf.”
“I know. That’s what makes it hard.” He quickened his pace. “The boat is pulling in.”
“I see it.” She scanned the shoreline. There were several other boats around, so she made a split-second decision. “I’m going to check it out.” She handed Jarek her phone and weapon. Then she kicked off her shoes and ran lightly down to the rocky shore.
“Di, don’t!” Jarek’s hissed warning was lost as she he slipped into the water, catching her breath at the cold temperature. People didn’t normally swim in the Hudson, so she kept her head low as she cut through the water toward the older boat.
The guy who’d driven the boat was already standing on the pier, walking away from the vessel.
He wasn’t carrying a bag or anything suspicious, but that didn’t stop her from quickly pulling herself up and over the side of the boat until she was inside.
She crouched low and checked beneath the cushions for drugs.
But she found nothing other than some mice-chewed life jackets. She quickly moved to the front of the boat to check those compartments. They were empty too. Stunned to realize her suspicions were way off base, she returned to the side of the boat and slipped back into the water.