Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
Sandra was still reeling from Eric’s text and some additional ones he’d sent through.
She wanted to bring it up to the team, but she couldn’t do that with Dale Kramer sitting around.
Especially when he was possibly the one who had run Susan off the road.
“Lieutenant,” she said, nudging her head at Neal, “a moment outside, please.”
“Sure.” Neal got up and led the way out.
Sandra made sure the door on the vehicle was fully shut and gestured for Neal to follow her a few feet away. “I received a text from Eric.” She shared all of it, including the involvement of a hit-and-run driver described as being a tall man with brown hair.
“The eyewitness statements were even tampered with. Dear God, how deep does this cover-up go?”
“I suspect as far as it had to in order to make it disappear.”
“Is Eric going to see what the vehicle rental place can tell him?”
“That’s the plan.” Eric told her as much in another text. “But what’s weighing on me is if I were Timothy Hanson and I wanted someone dead, I wouldn’t leave the job to just anyone.” She eyed the command vehicle, thinking about their latest arrival.
“You think that Dale Kramer was behind the wheel.”
“Well, he fits the description of the driver in the cargo van. We already know that he and Timothy Hanson were close. If Timothy was going to trust anyone with this…”
“It would be Kramer,” Neal finished, and Sandra nodded.
“We go back in there, we can’t let on that we suspect him. We’ll need to go at him from a roundabout way, see what we can get out of him.”
“Except Gibson would be prepared to do the questioning, and he’s not privy to what we just discussed?” Neal leaned forward, uncertain.
She shook her head. “I haven’t had a chance to tell anyone else.”
“Okay, we go back in, and I’m going to tell Gibson you’ll be handling the interview with Kramer. He might not like it, but it is what it is.”
Sandra could appreciate he might not be too thrilled. “We are all working on the same team, for the same goal.” She turned to go back into the vehicle when Edward Hanson came walking toward the front gate.
The doors opened just long enough for Edward to stagger through them and collapse to the ground. Paramedics ran toward him. Not long after that, Gibson sprung out of the MCV.
“Gibson,” Neal called out, halting the information officer’s steps.
“Ah, yeah?” Gibson tracked back a few feet.
“I’m not sure what you’re going to get out of the guy right now. Take it easy on him, all right,” Neal told him.
“I will.”
“And there’s something you need to hear.” Neal brought him up to speed on Eric’s findings and their strengthened suspicion about Dale Kramer.
“I will say this. He certainly wants to be involved. It could be from a place of loyalty, but I practically had to cuff the guy to something to get him to stay inside the vehicle.”
“There’s probably more to it than concern about Edward. If we’re right, he’d want to protect his own back,” Neal began. “It would be killing him not knowing what we’re talking about out here.”
“Could be. Listen, I can handle him when I get back from speaking to Edward. Like you said, I’m not even sure if I’ll get anything out of him right now. He looks to be in rough shape.”
Sandra’s fingertips grazed her St. Michael medallion.
“Don’t you worry about speaking with Kramer. Sandra has offered to do so,” Neal told him, and it had the information officer looking at her.
“Sure, that’s fine.”
Sandra felt Gibson’s disapproval but let it wash off her. “I need to go inside and call Ryan. He held up his end; it’s my turn. Only thing is I can’t get on with Ryan while Kramer’s in the vehicle.”
“We’ll get Officer Moore to take him around the back of the vehicle. When you’re finished with Ryan, you can pop out to talk to him, and you won’t be far if Ryan calls you.”
It was a little clumsy. Usually she’d take earbuds with her to talk outside the vehicle, but if she was with Kramer, she didn’t want Ryan patched through. “Got it.”
“I’m good to go then?” Gibson jacked a thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, get outta here.”
Gibson took off, and Neal and Sandra went back into the vehicle.
They entered to find Officer Moore standing next to the table while Kramer was seated with a coffee in front of him.
It appeared untouched, and the man’s shoulders were square and tense.
His eyes jabbed around, busily scanning his surroundings.
It testified to a man whose life had conditioned him to size up threats.
Also to one who was prepared to defend himself.
“Mr. Kramer,” she said. “I just need to ask that you step outside with Officer Moore. She’ll stay with you until I can get there.” Sandra caught Donny and Monica looking at her but didn’t react. They’d find out the reason soon enough.
“Sure, whatever you need. I told Officer Moore that I want to help however I can. What’s wrong with Edward? Was he shot?”
“Paramedics are working on him now,” Neal assured him. “But, yes, he was shot. I suspect they’ll soon be taking him to the hospital.”
“I want to go with him.” Kramer made a move to get up.
“Unfortunately, we need you to stick around here for a bit longer. We have some questions for you,” Neal told him.
Kramer narrowed his eyes at the lieutenant. “I came here under the impression that I was going to help the Hansons, not be interrogated.”
“Mr. Kramer, if you’d please come with me and Officer Moore.” Neal’s tone had the man getting to his feet. “You can bring your coffee if you like.”
Kramer shook his head. “It’s fine.”
After the three of them left the vehicle, Sandra got seated at her workstation. She filled Donny and Monica in on Eric’s texts.
“It’s one thing when we suspected Susan was targeted,” Monica said. “Another now we have eyewitness testimony. It seals things.”
“And Susan Crawford’s killer probably just stepped outside of this vehicle,” Donny put in.
His comment didn’t necessitate a reply. After all, they’d tracked Dale Kramer down because they had suspicions about him in the first place.
Now they had solid reason to question his character.
Her phone beeped with a text from Neal that he and Moore had Kramer out of sight behind the vehicle.
“Okay, I’m going to call Ryan.” She put her headset on, and the others followed her lead.
But the line rang before she punched in the number. She answered, “Ryan?”
“I need something else from you.”
“We’re already doing something for you, Ryan. The reporter and her cameraman are here and ready to go.”
“You’re still going to do this one other thing for me. There are NDAs in Timothy Hanson’s home office. I need you to see if there’s one there for my mother.”
Sandra glanced at Donny. She sure hoped that Ryan wasn’t moving the finish line. “Why would there be one for your mother?” They had considered this earlier, but she was curious what had Ryan making this request.
“Timothy strong-armed her into keeping silent. He must have made her sign one just before he pushed her out the door.”
“Why is that?” Sandra played coy.
“I know why.” A few beats of silence. “I suspect you do too?”
“We might. Did Timothy Hanson rape your mother, Ryan?”
A long span of nothing, followed by, “You get the NDA, see for yourself what a monster Timothy Hanson was.”
She wasn’t entirely sure why he didn’t just admit to knowledge of the rape.
Was it too painful to think of himself as the product of such an assault?
“I’ll see what I can do, Ryan. Do you still want to speak to the reporter?
” While he was trying to alter the deal, to test if he could trust her, she wanted to confirm his faith in her was warranted.
She hadn’t forgotten about his previous request.
“Of course I do.”
“And you’re fine with doing it outside?” She wanted confirmation again just to ensure the terms for moving forward were clear.
“Yes. When is it going to happen?”
“Soon.”
“I want you to talk me through it. If you’re on the line with me, you won’t let them shoot me.”
“I can be with you the entire time.” It was the only thing she could promise out of all he said.
“Thank you.”
Donny glanced over at Sandra. If he was thinking what she was, Ryan’s mental state ping-ponged all over the place.
“You’re welcome, Ryan. You did the right thing letting Edward go. Before I get the reporter and her cameraman in position at the gate, would you be willing to peacefully surrender now? You’re in an excellent position to do so.”
“Not until I’ve said what I need to say to the world, and I want to find out more about those NDAs.”
“I’ll follow up on the ETA for the reporter, but it shouldn’t be long.” She wasn’t rushing ahead to get them out there this minute. Not with Kramer still on the scene.
“Make it within the hour.”
“I’ll do my best.”
She waited for Ryan to hang up, and then set a timer on her phone for sixty minutes.
Next, Sandra texted Kreiger to get the undercover officers up front within the hour.
She took off her headset and left the vehicle.
“I’ve got to talk with Kramer.” She also had to talk to Neal about the NDAs in Timothy’s home office.
Accessing them would require jumping through some legal hoops.
That’s provided they were given approval.
They didn’t exactly have indisputable evidence against Timothy Hanson.
Sandra left and found Neal and Officer Moore with Dale Kramer right where she expected. “Just a minute, Lieutenant,” she said, waving for Neal to follow her around the front of the vehicle. Once there, she filled him in on Ryan’s latest request about the NDAs.
“I’ll see what I can do. But if you can get you-know-who to incriminate his late boss, the warrant to access Timothy’s estate would go smoother.”
How could I guess he’d say that? “I’ll do my best.”
The ambulance pulled away with lights and sirens, and Gibson was walking toward them.
“Not right now, Gibson,” Neal told him. “In a minute.”