Chapter 9 #2
“I don’t like it either.” She was about to suggest they might have been followed from the café shooting, when she remembered her conversation with Ray Bond.
Without taking the time to think it through, she dug her phone from her pocket and tossed it out onto the side of the road.
They were going fast enough that she could hear the device shatter under the impact.
“Why did you do that?” Jarek frowned, then understanding dawned. “You believe the narcotics officers are involved?”
“That would explain a few things, don’t you agree?
” She stared out her window, feeling sick.
She didn’t know Ray or Jeff very well. Other than Ray as a flirt.
Jeff had never expressed interest, and maybe that meant he was hiding something.
The two cops had helped her arrest Terance Warren, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t worked out a deal with Pablo Hernandez.
After all, she was the one who’d provided irrefutable evidence of his crimes. They couldn’t very well ignore her.
But they could conspire to get rid of her.
“I don’t know about that,” Jarek protested.
“We can’t afford to make a mistake.” She shifted in her seat to face him. “We need to ditch the rental car and get rid of your phone too.”
Jarek let out a frustrated sigh, but then slowly nodded. “Fine.”
She held out her hand. When he dropped his phone into her palm, she tossed that out of the car window too. Then she raised the window and began looking for an area to leave the car.
Things were going from bad to worse, and she was very much afraid they wouldn’t get better anytime soon.
Jarek had only gotten a glimpse of the gunman in his rearview mirror as he peeled away from the rental property. His impression was a male with tan skin, possible Hispanic, of average height and wearing black.
Not enough to issue a BOLO.
He didn’t want to believe the narcotics officers were involved, yet there was no denying the timing was suspicious. He wove through the city toward the riverfront. There were some public parking places there that would help hide the rental.
“Maybe you should drop me off someplace,” Di said, breaking the silence. “This is escalating out of control. There’s no reason for you to keep risking your life to get to the bottom of this.”
“I risk my life every day for people I don’t know.” He tried not to snap at her, but it wasn’t easy. He was still eating the humble pie from prying into her background earlier, so he managed to hold on to his temper. “We must be getting close to uncovering the truth. It’s better we stick together.”
She sighed loudly but dropped the argument.
He pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine.
“We’ll have to go on foot from here.” A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“You could have waited to smash our phones to smithereens until after we used a rideshare app to get another rental.”
“I don’t mind walking.” She eyed him curiously. “This is nothing. We hiked dozens of miles back in Afghanistan.”
“True.” He wasn’t really complaining. His goal was to lighten things up.
That she hadn’t snapped back was a good sign.
He missed the easy camaraderie they’d shared.
Too late to wish now that he hadn’t dug into her background.
Glancing toward the riverfront, he spotted a small boat rental sign.
“Maybe we try an alternate method of transportation.”
She followed his gaze and grinned. “I like that plan.”
“Let’s take the laptop and our duffel bags, just in case.” He tucked the device into the duffel, then slung it over his shoulder. She did the same. He caught her hand. When she turned to arch a brow, he shrugged. “Two people out on a date looking to take a boat ride.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Her voice sounded a bit uncertain, but she continued holding his hand as they made their way down to the waterfront.
He might have wished the hand-holding was for real but decided to be grateful for the warmth of her palm against his.
Bringing duffel bags was a little unusual, but they could pretend to have swimming gear.
There was only one boat left in a slip from what he could see. It looked decent, not as old as the one Di had jumped into the water to check out earlier that morning.
“Can I help you?” A young man wearing board shorts low on his waist, flip-flops, and a holey T-shirt crossed over to them. He couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old, but he obviously sensed they were potential customers. “Are you interested in renting a boat?”
“Yes, very much.” Di flashed a bright smile. Jarek suppressed a sigh at how the young man nearly melted into a pile of goo at her feet. “How much do you charge for a rental?”
“Ah, well, it’s already going on three in the afternoon, so I can give you a discount.” The kid never took his eyes off Di. “How about fifty bucks?”
“That’s so nice of you,” Di gushed. “Fifty is very reasonable. I can’t wait to get out on the water to enjoy this beautiful day. Does the boat need to be returned at a specific time?”
“Um, yes. By six.” The young man looked flustered when Jarek pushed cash into his hand, as if he was just now noticing him. “Oh, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Jarek’s tone was dry. “Could we get the key?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.” The kid finally tore his gaze from Di long enough to head back to the booth. He grabbed a key attached to a yellow flotation device and held it out for Jarek. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” He was surprised the kid didn’t ask to see a driver’s license. No doubt his brains had been scrambled by Di’s beauty. “We’ll have the boat back in plenty of time.”
“Yes, thanks so much.” Di rested her hand on the young man’s arm. “You’ve been amazing.”
“You’re welcome. I—uh—I’m here every day if you want to take another boat trip tomorrow,” the kid said as they moved toward the boat.
Di simply waved. Jarek could feel the kid watching as they climbed into the boat and tossed their duffels onto the floor. Jarek half expected he’d ask to tag along.
After doing a quick inspection of the vessel, checking the motor, the fuel gauge, and the life jackets, he started the engine. Di smiled and waved at the young man as they idled away.
“Good thing we’re not working undercover, that kid will never forget you,” he said wryly. “We’d better not be late in returning the boat. He’ll provide a detailed description of you to the authorities.”
“It was your idea to act like a couple.” She turned to scan the shoreline. “I was only acting out my part of the charade.”
Since she was right, and he had to admit it would be impossible for any man to ignore her, he didn’t argue. “Find a place to stash our stuff.”
She opened the seat and shoved the lifejackets to the side to make room for their duffels. “Okay, this should work.”
“Thanks.” He nodded, then gestured at their surroundings. “Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”
“Of course.” She stood close enough that her arm brushed against his. Her hair blew away from her face as he increased their speed. “It really is a nice day for a boat ride.”
He let out a low chuckle. “Only you would consider this a nice day after a gunman shows up at our so-called safe house. Not to mention being nearly hit by gunfire at the café.”
She shrugged. “Gotta focus on the bright side.”
Considering how she’d lived on the streets as a teen, and served two tours in Afghanistan, he was amazed she could be so positive.
It was humbling how his annoyed feelings toward the prickly Di had morphed into deep admiration.
That she’d come so far despite the odds stacked against her was amazing.
And he felt guilty for judging her so harshly during their first tour together.
“Hey, isn’t that the boat I climbed into earlier?” Di asked, interrupting his thoughts. She gestured to the pier they were approaching. “I’m surprised it’s still there.”
“Me too.” He drove past the vessel, noticing there was another boat tied up alongside it. He wouldn’t put it past Di to jump out of their boat onto the new one, so he increased their speed. “Hang on for a few minutes, I’ll turn around up ahead.”
“You read my mind,” she joked. “I want to get a closer look.”
Of course she did. He admired everything except her impulsive nature. He bit back a sigh and turned the boat around so they could head back upriver. He brought their speed down a few notches so that he could throttle down to stop at the same pier.
Di moved down to the side of the boat to grab onto the wooden post. Then she put the buoy out along the edge of their rental to keep the side of the boat from brushing up against the wood. He killed the engine and pocketed the key.
In a heartbeat, Di hopped out of their boat to get a closer look at the other two.
His gut clenched, they still had no probable cause to search either boat, but to his relief, she didn’t jump inside to look for drugs.
Instead, she headed up the pier, then climbed the short set of stairs to reach the shore.
Allowing her to take the lead, he followed her up to the street level. The buildings were covered in gang graffiti, and he quickened his pace to keep up with her. “Are you going to the warehouse?”
“Not yet, I thought we’d start with Ignacio’s apartment building.” She gestured to the left. “The second one is down this way.”
“You know this area pretty well.” He stayed at her side as they turned the corner to head farther south. “These buildings all look the same to me.”
“I stayed in an apartment over there for several days.” She stood for a moment, checking the buildings.
Then she crossed the street. “They look the same, but you can tell the difference by the graffiti. This one was tagged recently by the K2 Bloods. Whereas that one over there was once Latin King territory.”
He was impressed when she pointed out the K2 Bloods graffiti. He eyed the windows of the building. Most of the apartments didn’t have air conditioners, and the windows that weren’t broken were left open.
The back of his neck crawled as he realized how many eyes might be watching them approach. He didn’t like the way he and Di were easy targets standing there. “Maybe we should come back after dark.”
“We’re just checking the lay of the land.” She didn’t look concerned, which didn’t make any sense after the relentless attacks against her. “I wouldn’t mind if one of the gang members showed their hand.”
“You’re asking for trouble,” he muttered. “Why not just stand there with a bullhorn and announce your presence?”
“I would”—she abruptly cut herself off and stopped—“that’s Cargo Shorts up ahead. Do you see him?”
“Yeah. He’s with another guy.” They were too far away to see what the two men were doing, but Jarek wouldn’t be surprised if it was a drug deal. Maybe Cargo Shorts had brought drugs in earlier and was working on refilling the boat for the trip back down to New York City.
Was it possible the drugs were going from Newburgh to New York, instead of the other way around? He wanted to pose his theory, but just then Di said, “They’re taking off!”
She broke into a run, giving chase. Jarek did the same, wondering if they’d both be struck by bullets in the back. The gunfire never came, but it didn’t take long for Di to slow her pace, glancing around in frustration.
“We lost them.” She blew out a breath. “I can’t believe we lost them.”
He scanned the streets both ways, too, but didn’t see anything. “We really need to return at night when it’s easier to blend in.”
“Yeah.” Di turned and retraced their steps to the corner where the two men had been standing. She lowered into a crouch and tapped the pockmarked asphalt. “Do you have an evidence bag on you?”
“No. What did you find?” He kept his gaze focused on their surroundings.
The fact that the two men had taken off running was not a good sign.
Cargo Shorts had obviously recognized Di.
He took a small measure of comfort in the fact that Cargo Shorts had taken off rather than pulling a gun and shooting at them.
“A cigarette butt.” She picked up the butt and tucked it into her pocket.
“That could belong to anyone.” He continued looking around. “We need to get out of here for a while.”
“Okay, but let’s go this way.” She nodded to the south. “I think that’s the second warehouse you found that belongs to the coffee and tea company.”
He suppressed a sigh. “Fine, but let’s make it quick.”
“You worry too much.” The words had barely left her mouth when the crack of gunfire rang out. He grabbed Di, hauling her out of the street to the doorway a few feet away.
“Where’s the shooter?” he asked, glancing back at the building tagged with K2 Bloods graffiti.
The gunman had to be either Cargo Shorts or the guy he was hanging with.
He reached for his phone to call for backup, then mentally kicked himself when he realized they hadn’t replaced their phones after Di ditched them.
“Not sure.” Di had her weapon in hand, but he was distracted by the trail of blood running down her arm.
“You’re hit!” He wasn’t sure how bad the injury was but tried to take heart that the wound wasn’t gushing. They were stuck in gang territory without a way to call for help while Di was bleeding.
Jarek’s error in judgment could get them both killed.