Chapter 8 #2
“I know he acts like a jerk,” Jarek said as he pulled into traffic. “But I can’t see him risking his pension, especially since he’s so close to retirement.”
“Maybe not.” She shrugged. “But it’s strange we were found at the café.”
“Cargo pants could have been driving the car,” Jarek said thoughtfully. “He may have gotten a glimpse of us sitting there and jumped on the opportunity to get rid of us.”
“I guess.” She decided to stop harping on the possibility of an insider leaking information. Jarek wasn’t going to suspect his fellow officers without a really good reason. And deep down, she admired his loyalty.
Jarek drove to the other side of the city.
He parked several blocks away from the warehouse.
It was a little unnerving to walk through known gang territory.
Di couldn’t shake the sensation that she had a large bull’s-eye etched on her back.
Even though it was early afternoon, there weren’t many people out and about.
She’d half expected to see drug deals going down on every corner, but the area was pretty much deserted.
She followed Jarek past the warehouse. Up close, she noticed the paint was peeling and the eves sagged as if the roof might be caving in. The windows were dark and covered in dust, and there was a padlock on the front door. A new shiny lock, which was at odds with the rest of the building.
Darting into the alley between the warehouse and another brick building, she went up to peer into the closest window. The dust was so thick she couldn’t see a thing. She tried all the windows with the same result.
“Anything?” Jarek asked when she returned to the main street.
“No. There was a loading dock, the rubber half missing from the edge where the trucks must get unloaded. But someone is using the place or there wouldn’t be a brand-new lock on the front door.”
“I agree.” Jarek headed down the other side of the building, looking in the windows there the way she had. But they were also too covered in dust. In the back of the building there was another door, but it was also locked with what appeared to be a deadbolt.
“Let’s head back to the safe house,” Jarek said. “We can do some work on the owner of the place. Maybe that will help.”
“Okay.” She couldn’t help feeling dejected. She felt sure cargo shorts guy was involved in the drugs and the shooting attempts. Yet she knew Jarek wasn’t going to budge on his no breaking-and-entering rule.
“Hey, don’t be upset.” To her surprise, he looped his arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick hug. She was far more aware of his musky scent than she should have been. “We’re going to figure this out.”
Would they? She tried to smile. “Yep.”
“I’m here for you, Di. I am not going to let this guy get to you.”
She nodded and reminded herself that Jarek was a cop. That protecting people was in his DNA. His feelings for her weren’t personal. Well, other than friends.
They needed to find the gunmen soon, before she did something foolish. Like telling Jarek what she’d done eighteen years ago. The friend part of him might understand, but she knew there was no way the cop in him would let her crime go unpunished.
Jarek knew that if he hadn’t been there, Di would have broken a window of the warehouse and crawled in to search the place. He was glad she’d agreed to head back to the safe house.
They needed something more to go on, other than an older model boat and a man in cargo shorts walking toward a warehouse. He had to admit he was annoyed with Andrews’s lack of progress on the case. Not surprised, but still disappointed.
It’s possible the detective could have found out some information that he was holding back, but Jarek wasn’t convinced. He’d pulled Kent aside to ask him what the crime scene techs had found, but his partner hadn’t heard of anything useful moving the case forward.
He led the way back to the rental car. After the way they’d been found at the café, he was relieved to be heading back to the rental house. If he had his way, he’d keep Di inside until the shooter was caught, but he knew there was no way she’d allow that to happen.
Inside the rental, he opened the laptop computer and went to work. Di restlessly moved from one window to the next, peering outside as he searched property records. When he found two different buildings owned by Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea LLC, he paused.
“Hey, does Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea sound familiar?” He turned to where Di stood in the center of the living room. “Isn’t that a supplier of coffee and tea products to various restaurants in the city?”
“I’ve seen their trucks,” Di agreed with a nod. “They have a red-and-white logo of a steaming hot cup of coffee or tea with the words Liquid Gold emblazoned above it.”
“Yeah, that sounds familiar to me too.” He tapped the screen. “Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea LLC owns two properties located near the riverfront.”
“Really? No idea who the actual owner is?” Di crossed the room to join him at the small kitchen table. “I mean like the name of a person, not just the company?”
“I’ll check, but the government rule that required LLCs to list the real owners was never put through.
” He went back to the database he used while working as a police officer.
He typed in the name of the LLC, but no additional names of owners popped up on the screen.
He frowned. “Guess the actual owner has chosen to hide his or her identity.”
“That’s suspicious,” Di said.
“Not necessarily.” He didn’t share her concern. “There are legit businesses out there that respective owners would prefer to keep confidential.”
“Maybe. Let’s put that one aside and see if there are any other businesses of interest in the area.” She yawned, then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oops. My lack of sleep is getting to me.”
“Me too.” He eyed his watch. Maybe they should get a little sleep before heading back out to set up their surveillance of the riverfront. “We’ll work for a while, then grab a combat nap.”
He expected her to complain, but she nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. We’re going to need to be at our best later when we’re out watching and waiting for possible drug shipments.”
“You go first.” He gestured to the computer. “I’ll keep going with the property search angle.”
“Okay.” She stood and stretched. Then she took the stairs up to the second-floor bedrooms. He stared after her for a long moment.
She was an enigma. He couldn’t shake the idea she was hiding something, although he truly believed she’d told him everything about her time spent freeing Caden Avery from the K2 Bloods gang.
He forced himself to review the property records. He knew enough about drug trafficking to know that coffee could be used to hide the scent of drugs from K9s. But that alone wouldn’t be enough for a search warrant.
He tried other addresses located in the same neighborhood as the Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea, LLC warehouse.
Ten minutes later, he had another company by the name of Davos Delivery Services, LLC.
That company only owned one property in the city, but it was located four blocks from the coffee company’s warehouse.
Both companies were worth checking out. But as with the coffee and tea company, the owners of the Davos Delivery LLC were not listed in the official records either.
A ruse to hide the truth? Or just a desire for privacy? He wasn’t sure, but his gut was leaning toward the former. He hadn’t wanted Di to jump to conclusions, even though he’d pretty much agreed with her suspicions.
He stood and stretched, fighting off fatigue. Hearing Di’s voice from the bedroom upstairs, he realized she’d been talking to her sister. Or to Ray Bond.
Thinking of Di’s sister made him curious about Di’s past. Even though it felt a bit like prying, he searched on Dina and Michelle living in New York. The initial hits were of famous people with one of those two names, but as he scrolled down farther, he caught a glimpse of an obituary.
Curious, he clicked on the obit to learn more. The deceased man was Edward J. Ross. He’d died eighteen years ago in Brooklyn, New York. And his loved ones mourning his loss were his wife, Carolyn Ross, his son Edward J. Ross Jr., and Carolyn’s daughters, Dina and Michelle Ross.
He sat back in his chair. Dina’s last name was Milbrath, but he believed Di must have changed her name at some point.
Accessing the police records, he found a Dina Ross who was arrested for shoplifting at sixteen.
Diving deeper, he found the marriage certificate for Carolyn Milbrath and Edward J.
Ross. That marriage was nineteen years ago.
Di would have been fourteen, her younger sister Michelle twelve.
There was no doubt in his mind that Di had taken back her mother’s name prior to joining the army. Had she done that partially because of the shoplifting arrest? Or was there something more to it?
He stood and tiptoed up the stairs. The door to Di’s room was closed, and there was no sound from inside. He hoped that meant she was taking her combat nap seriously.
Returning to the main floor, he went back to digging into Di’s family. If she wanted to do the same with him, she was more than welcome. He didn’t have any secrets.
It took a while to find Michelle Milbrath’s marriage to William Trainer. He found it interesting that both Di and her sister Michelle went back to their Milbrath last name. Had their stepfather been abusive in some way? Or had they just wanted to honor their birth father by taking his last name?
Probably the latter. Overkill on his part to read too much into a simple name change.
He found her mother Carolyn Ross was still alive and living in Brooklyn. For some reason, he’d thought her mother was dead.
He shut the computer and rose to his feet.
He took a moment to check their surroundings, going from window to window the way Di had earlier.
He thought about the shooting incident at the café and sent a text to Kent asking about the fingerprint results.
Kent promised to find out and get back to him.
Without a name or anything else to use, Jarek was at a loss as to where to go next. He knew that once Di learned about the two warehouse properties he’d uncovered, she’d want to go back to check them out. And there was the boat angle too.
He stretched out on the sofa and closed his eyes.
He must have fallen asleep because a rough hand shook him awake what seemed like just five minutes later. Seeing Di’s furious face leaning over him, he blinked and quickly sat up. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“You researched me and my sister?” Di’s voice slashed like a knife.
“I—uh.” He ran his fingers though his hair and pushed himself to his feet. “Sorry, I was trying to figure out what happened to your family.”
“Why? What does my family have to do with the gunman trying to kill me?” Di crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. “If you wanted to know about my past, you should have asked.”
“Would you have told me?” He allowed some of his own frustration to come through. “You only mentioned your sister in passing. I figured if I asked about your parents, you’d tell me it’s none of my business.”
“That’s because it is none of your business.
” She turned away, and he got the impression she was hurt by what she saw as a betrayal, and she was angry.
“My dad died when we were young. My mother worked two jobs to support us, then she met and married my stepfather. He died, and a short while later, I took off. I lived on the streets of New York for a couple of years. I noticed you found my old shoplifting record.”
There was no use in denying it. “I did.”
“I stole food.” She shrugged and paced the length of the room.
“Michelle actually helped me a lot, sneaking me some money and food when she could. But the minute I was old enough to join the army, I enlisted. Thankfully, I kept up with my schoolwork, so I was able to graduate high school. I legally changed my name back to Milbrath prior to being sent off to basic training.”
Hearing she lived on the streets bothered him. He sensed there was more to that story about why she’d run away in the first place, but he wasn’t about to ask. She was upset with him enough as it was. “I’m sorry if I invaded your privacy.”
“I doubt that or you wouldn’t have pried into my past in the first place.
” She swung around to face him. “Is there anything else you want to know? I never did drugs or sold myself on the streets to survive. I did, however, steal a lot of stuff. Turns out I was rather good at stealing. The shoplifting charge was early in my days of living on the streets. I got much better at stealing a little here and a little there over time.”
She didn’t sound at all remorseful for her actions, yet he still didn’t like knowing she was even put in that position of living on her own. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” She turned away. “I’m done talking. Let’s get back to work.”
He nodded, feeling as if he’d just been put through a dressing down from his police captain. As much as he felt bad about Di’s past and making her upset, he understood a little better now why she’d entered the army with a chip on her shoulder.
No doubt, there was a lot more to what she’d been through than she’d admitted to. And call him crazy, but he wanted to know everything. Too bad, he didn’t see her entrusting him with her fill story anytime soon.
If ever.