Chapter 13
After stopping at the twenty-four-hour drugstore the cops had mentioned, Jarek headed back to their rental house.
Di’s head throbbed from being smacked into the ground, but she knew the outcome of that fight could have been worse.
Thankfully, she’d come out on top. Yet she was still upset the assailant had refused to cooperate.
Not even a little bit. It was maddening to be in the dark about who wanted her dead.
Probably Pablo. But if so, why didn’t the assailant just nod his head?
When Jarek pulled into the driveway, she barely waited for the car to stop before pushing out of the passenger seat.
With the computer tucked under her arm, she turned to open the rear door to grab her duffel.
She had one more shirt inside that was clean.
Not another pair of jeans, though. She probably shouldn’t have taken that swim in the river earlier.
The jeans she wore were stained with the bad guy’s blood.
With a sigh, she headed inside, dropping the computer on the table on her way to her bedroom.
She quickly changed, downed the acetaminophen, then washed up in the bathroom.
She dabbed at the blood stains on her jeans, giving up after a few minutes.
Grimly, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
She needed to stay strong. Confessing her deepest sin to Jarek was not smart. He was a straight-arrow cop who prided himself on upholding the law. He would insist she turn herself in. Or he’d go a step further and arrest her.
It didn’t matter that she had been fifteen at the time. All that mattered was what she’d done.
Somehow, the secret burden she’d carried for the past eighteen years weighed heavy on her conscience. Why now, she had no idea. Maybe it was Jarek’s talk of God and faith.
Or maybe she was just getting tired of holding back. That comment about not being the first time she’d killed someone had slipped out without her realizing it. If that continued, the whole world would know what she’d done.
Giving herself a mental shake, she splashed cold water on her face, then turned away from the mirror. They needed to get back to the warehouse. All this togetherness with Jarek was messing with her head. Especially the memory of their brief but intense kiss.
One she wouldn’t mind repeating, if her circumstances were different.
They weren’t. The sooner she accepted that Jarek was not the guy for her, the better.
Drawing in a deep breath, she headed back to the kitchen.
She dug her peanut butter protein bar from her pocket, peeled the wrapper back, and ate a third before shoving the remainder back into her pocket.
Better to have something in her stomach while downing over-the-counter pain meds.
Jarek was sitting at the kitchen table in front of the computer.
He glanced at her. “How’s the headache?”
“Fine.” She had to stop herself from rubbing the lump on the back of her head. “Did you find anything?”
“Yeah. Davos has a warehouse here but also one in New York City.” He tapped the screen. She leaned in to see the location was in the Bronx. “Makes me wonder if that’s where they’re taking the time to insert the drugs into the boxes of coffee.”
She frowned. “I guess we could head to the Bronx to take a look for ourselves.”
He shook his head. “I think we stick with the plan to look at warehouses we’ve already identified. If we don’t find anything helpful while watching the place, then driving south to the Bronx can be our plan B.”
“It’s always good to have a plan B.” She straightened and took a step back.
She was torn between the two warehouse locations.
The drugs packed in the boxes of coffee were here in Newburgh, on pallet waiting to be taken to the next location.
From that perspective, watching the warehouses in gang territory was more likely to yield something for them to go on.
Yet the idea of the Davos Delivery Services company being involved was intriguing. Maybe they should take some time to learn who owned the trucking company. That might give them more information to work with.
She glanced at the time, surprised to realize the hour was quarter to eleven. Maybe he was right. Rather than spend more time on digging into Davos Delivery, it was best to move forward as planned. “Okay, let’s head out.”
“Sounds good.” He closed the laptop and stood. Then he gestured to her duffel. “You want to take that along or leave it here? I’m leaving the laptop.”
“I’ll throw it in the SUV, just in case.” There was no reason she couldn’t leave her personal things behind, but she had a KA-BAR knife inside along with a few other items. She bent and slung the strap over her shoulder.
Outside, the full moon illuminated the area. She’d have preferred complete darkness, but that was rare in city settings even on nights without a full moon. It wasn’t like Afghanistan where there were no city lights for miles.
After tossing her duffel into the back, she slid into the passenger seat. Now that they were on the move, she was anxious to get into position.
This had to work. They had to find something that would lead them to Pablo Hernandez, or whoever was coordinating the drug trafficking.
Jarek drove toward the southern part of the city. He didn’t cross into known gang turf, though. “Let’s find a place to park.”
She gestured to the neighborhood to the right. “How about over there? I can see several other vehicles parked on the road. Ours should blend right in.”
He nodded and went around the block to approach the neighborhood in question.
The apartment buildings weren’t tagged by graffiti, but they looked worn and in need of repair.
She frowned, hoping that wasn’t a sign the gang might try to expand their territory.
That’s often how these things happened. Neighborhoods slowly deteriorated until they became low-rent districts, which in turn attracted criminals.
A revolving door of poverty and crime that had been happening in big cities for decades.
Jarek parallel parked their SUV between two other vehicles. She pushed out of the car, then made sure to grab the binocs first. She hesitated over the KA-BAR knife. It was large and bulky. She decided her weapon was good enough for now. Their primary focus was to watch and learn.
Well, that was Jarek’s focus. Personally, she was hoping for the opportunity to get inside one of the warehouses. If she happened to see someone suspicious going inside, she had every intention of following. Jarek could stay back and raise the alarm if things didn’t go well.
“Ready?” Jarek eyed her over the hood of the car.
“Yep.” She rounded the front of the car to join him.
On foot, they walked toward the warehouse they’d spotted earlier. There were more cars on the streets, and she felt certain there was a drug deal going down two blocks away as a vehicle pulled up to the curb and a man on the street bent over to speak into the passenger-side window.
“Where are the cops when you need them?” she asked in a low voice, nodding toward the drug deal. “I still think Ray Bond and Jeff Schnor should be out here cruising the streets.”
“Yeah, I agree with you on that.” Jarek frowned, and she could tell he wished he could be out there slapping cuffs around the drug dealer’s wrists. Instead, he turned and made his way down a side street. “The warehouse is a few blocks south of here.”
“I remember.” She was glad they were both wearing black, but even with their dark clothing, their arms and faces gleamed pale in the moonlight. They should have purchased shoe polish to darken their skin.
Jarek stopped at the corner of a building and peered around the brick. Then he gestured for her to follow.
The street that had previously been surrounded by cops after the shooting was completely deserted now. She frowned, hoping the police response hadn’t scared everyone off. It would be a waste of time to set up a watch on the building if there was nobody around to go inside.
She was about to mention her concern to Jarek when he ducked into a doorway, pulling her along with him. “Did you see something?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, there’s someone heading toward the warehouse.” He held out his hand. “Can I use the binocs?”
“Let me check first.” She regretted allowing him to take the lead. “I might be able to recognize Cargo Shorts or someone else from within the K2 Bloods gang.”
Jarek scowled, but he nodded and moved out of the way to switch places with her.
She peeked around the corner to get a frame of reference.
The man Jarek had spotted was several blocks away but seemed to be making his way toward the warehouse from the south.
She brought the binoculars up and brought the man’s face into focus.
He didn’t look familiar, but as she scanned him from head to toe, she had to admit he was dressed like Cargo Shorts. The boat Cargo Shorts had arrived on was gone by the time they returned, so she couldn’t be sure if this was the same guy or if he was just another gang member.
“What do you think?” Jarek whispered in her ear.
Ignoring the sizzle of awareness, she lowered the binocs and glanced at him. “Sorry, I don’t recognize him.”
“He’s dressed in cargo shorts,” Jarek said. “Same guy as earlier?”
“I wish I could say they’re the same guy, but I can’t.
” She turned and lifted the binocs again.
Zeroing in on the man walking toward them.
She wondered if he was bypassing the warehouse when he stopped and turned toward the building.
Then he took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. “He’s going inside.”
“He is?” Jarek pressed close to see for himself. “We need to get on the other side of the street where we have a better view.”