Chapter 16
M ichelle might not be here, but Nick’s intuitions said he needed to get to Trudy’s now. Intuition had saved him more than once over his military career, and he wasn’t going to ignore it now.
Irene Swenson had just stopped by with a casserole and some cookies to visit his father. About ten minutes into her visit, his instincts were nagging him to go.
“Nick, dear. If you need to go somewhere, go. I wanted to chat with Russ anyway. It’s been too long.”
“No, it’s…”
“Dear, you’ve been pacing and checking your phone. Go.”
“But, Ava.”
“Really? I have five children and as many grandchildren.” Her hands fisted on her hips.
He bent and kissed her cheek. “Thanks. I shouldn’t be gone too long.”
“Take your time.” She waved him off.
He didn’t break the land speed record getting across town, but close. He slid into an open spot in front of the bar and jammed the shifter into park. With a slam of his door, he hit the lock button just as the door to Trudy’s flew open .
A guy took off down the block. Cliff? His hair was longer, and his beard shorter, but Nick would swear it was him.
A split second later, Mickey burst through the door in hot pursuit.
“Well, shit.” Good thing Nick had on his comfortable boots. He took off.
He was two steps behind her when Cliff cut down an alley.
“I’ll head him off,” he called and turned the block before.
She glanced over her shoulder, and after a moment of recognition, she nodded.
Nick pumped his arms and pushed his body harder. He needed to beat Cliff to the end of the block. His heart pounded in his ears. He was almost there.
A gunshot rang out.
His stride faltered. Mickey? No! His focus locked on her and getting to the alley. He pushed his body harder than ever before. His pulse flooded his ears. Get to her!
Rounding the corner, he skidded to a halt. Cliff lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.
Michelle ran full out. She was still fifty yards back—her gun in her hand. Seeing him, she waved him off. “Get back. I don’t know where the shot came from.”
Ignoring her, he continued to move to Cliff, scanning all possible accesses to the alley. Finding no one, his head jerked back, and he scanned the rooftops. No movement.
“Don’t touch him. Call it in.” Michelle yelled as she reached them.
He pulled out his phone while she dropped to the ground next to Cliff. She checked for a pulse. “Come on, Cliff. Stay with us.”
“He has a pulse.” She blew out a breath. Holstering her gun, she pressed her hands over the wound in his chest.
“The police and ambulance are on the way. What happened? ”
She shook her head. Her eyes scanned the entrances to the alley. “I don’t know where they came from.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. I rounded the corner at the other end of the alley, and a shot rang out. Cliff jerked and crumbled. I didn’t see where it came from.” Her hands were coated in red as she staunched the bleeding.
“You ran into an active shooter situation?” His blood boiled at the thought.
“I didn’t think, just reacted. Cliff was down and I knew you would be coming around the corner. I had to get here.”
Sirens sounded in the distance. With the adrenaline subsiding, a cold chill seeped in. He pushed back the icy weather by canvassing the area. The shooter was gone. He knew it. They accomplished their task. If they wanted us dead, we would be.
***
Michelle stood in the low-lit room watching through the two-way mirror as her brother Jim interviewed Junior. She felt naked without her firearm. She’d turned it in at the scene for tests.
Nick clenched his fist next to her. “That asshole. He had to be in on it.”
“He signaled Garmen when he entered the bar. But being he was still at the bar and the blonde bartender confirmed he hadn’t left that stool when we were catching Cliff, he has a solid alibi.”
“I don’t know how, but he’s involved.” Nick grit his teeth.
“Well, unfortunately, in law enforcement, we can’t just go on your Spidey-senses. ”
“I’m a superhero now?”
“How else could you have beaten me to the end of the alley?” She’d been in track and still ran every day. She had to be in shape to chase perpetrators with twenty-five pounds of gear.
“Longer legs.” He deadpanned.
She snorted, but he had a point. Army packs were heavier than police gear. The door opened to the room and Detective CJ Whittier and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Trey Fenley walked in.
“Michelle. May we have a word?” CJ asked, though it wasn’t really a question.
She knew this was coming. Until the ballistics came back on her gun, she would be questioned as if she was a suspect. She couldn’t blame them. She was in the alley, pursuing the victim, and had a weapon. Not to mention when the only other witness showed up, she had her weapon in her hand.
“Sure.”
“I’ll go.” Nick brushed a hand over her arm as he moved to leave.
When the door closed behind him, Trey spoke. “Officer Swenson. Is this room comfortable, or should we move to an interview room?”
Formal. Crap. “Here is fine. And you can call me Michelle. We are on the APD softball team together.”
They pulled up chairs. Whittier pulled out a notebook, and Fenley set a recorder in front of him. Drawn faces met her across the table.
She waited for the homicide detective and BCA agent to say something. Pricks of apprehension danced down her arms at the mere fact that Fenley was here.
“Do you want counsel present?” CJ asked.
“Why? I didn’t shoot him.” She knew she should. The first rule for questioning was not to say anything without legal counsel.
“Michelle. The witness saw you running with your weapon. ”
“Yes, but ballistics will show, I didn’t fire.”
CJ sighed. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
Michelle folded her hands in front of her and started with her entering the bar.
“And how did Jolley end up in this?”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.” Trey said.
“I don’t know. One minute I was pursuing Garmen, and the next thing I know, Nick was right behind me.”
“I’ll be talking to him next.” Trey slid a piece of paper from his folder—case notes, no doubt.
“I have the report you filed. You said there was no one in the alley except you and Garmen at the time of the shooting?” CJ asked.
Her spine stiffened. Just the facts. “That’s wrong. I was approximately two-hundred feet back. My focus was on the unsub. I didn’t see or hear anyone behind me. Jolley didn’t enter the alley until after the shot had been fired. He was in full run and had no weapon.”
“Were there any windows or doors in the alley?” This from Trey.
“No windows, and six doors. Two were on fire escapes.” She didn’t see them at the time, but later, when she canvassed the alley, she counted.
Trey looked up from his papers. “And the rooftops?”
“No one that I saw.”
“The first officer on scene’s report states that the doors were all locked, and when they questioned the business owners, all their employees were accounted for at the time of the shooting.”
She was the first officer on the scene, she wanted to say, but held her tongue .
“Michelle, is there anything else that comes to mind? Think back to when you heard the shot. Which direction was it?” CJ leaned in, his eyes earnest.
She shook her head. “It was so fast. I heard it, saw Garmen jerk and drop. Instinctively, I ducked and grabbed my gun. I scanned behind me, saw no one, and took off running for Garmen. I knew Nick would be coming around the corner any second.”
“And when he did?” Trey asked.
“I yelled to get down, that I didn’t know where the shooter was. He ignored me and continued to Garmen. I told him not to touch him. I reached him a second later, checked his pulse, and when I found it, started to triage.”
After a few more questions, Fenley slid the rest of his papers in the folder and closed it.
CJ stood. “Has your sergeant talked to you yet?”
“He’s on his way.” She didn’t need to see the man face-to-face to know she’d be on suspension or desk duty until the ballistics came back.
CJ nodded, then placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know it’s procedure. Hang in there.”
“Yeah.” She did know, but she was losing precious time to find the killer, and her best lead was in surgery at the moment.
“Michelle, I’ll see if I can light a fire under the lab guys,” Trey said.
“Thanks.” A faint smile crossed her face. If it were any other agent, she would be held in custody until the lab results came in. Thankfully, it was Trey. Not only was he married to a fellow cop, he was trustworthy. She didn’t get the skeezy internal affairs feel from him.
When they left, she turned back to the interview in the next room. If anyone could get Junior to crack, it was her brother.
** *
Now what would he do? Nick’s thoughts were miles from here as he kissed his sleeping daughter’s head and slipped out of the room. Twenty-six miles, to be exact, in an operating room at the Hennepin County Medical Center. The Ashwood Medical Center had top-notch staff and facilities, but when a patient needed major life-saving surgery, they were rushed downtown to the HCMC or Abbott Medical Center.
God, how he wanted to be pacing the visitor’s lounge, waiting for news on Garmen. First, he had to stop at the police station to give his statement. There was no way he would miss them questioning Junior, not when Michelle said Jim was questioning him. Nope, he tagged along with her like he had every right to be in the observation room.
Now, he was home, but his mind was still looping through his mess of a night. Would Garmen live? What was Junior’s involvement? And would they get it all sorted out in… he glanced at his watch… seven days?
Fat chance of that. He had better odds of being run over by Santa’s reindeer. It was looking more and more like he’d need to find a new job after the holidays. Fine by him, if only he was affected. Unfortunately, all the mall employees would be looking for work.
Then there was Ava. A nagging stab in his chest throbbed at the idea of letting her down. He couldn’t swat that away as easily as finding a new job.
Downstairs, his father dosed in the recliner. Taking a blanket from the back of the couch, Nick covered him up. Another person who would be let down if he didn’t get that sleigh back before the festival.
In a million years, Nick wouldn’t have guessed how hard it would be to find a replacement sleigh. He had tried. That afternoon, he’d called every theatre company, Christmas supply, and even the antique shops to find a different sleigh. Zero, zilch, nada. Not one to be found. Not even Facebook Marketplace had one, and they have everything. As he looked at his father, the question rang in his mind again. Now what would he do?
“You want to tell me what happened?” Russ’s voice was gravelly with sleep.
Mrs. Swenson had been doing a crossword puzzle at the kitchen table when Nick came home. She’d said that his father had dozed off about an hour ago, and Ava had been asleep for hours. He thanked her and walked her to her car.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“You’re avoiding the question.” One blue eye, similar in shade to his, popped open.
“Nothing.” He picked up an empty plate and mug from the coffee table.
“That’s not what I heard. Irene’s son called. I know there was a shooting and you and Mickey were somehow involved.”
Nick froze halfway to the kitchen. “I see the grapevine is still as fast as ever.”
“Law enforcement officers’ families talk. Remember, I was married to a LEO.” His dad shrugged. A wince crossed his face. When Nick moved to help him, Russ waved him off. “It’s a tight community. Sometimes, they’re the only people who understand.”
“Dad.”
“No. I’m not going to rehash history. Your mother loved being a cop, and I loved her. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything.” He scrunched his face and shot a stern look at his son. “Now answer the question. ”
He dropped to the couch. “I had a hunch that Mickey was at Trudy’s Bar, hoping to find Cliff Garmen. He might have information on the sleigh theft.”
“The maintenance fella?”
Nick nodded. He didn’t know how much to tell his old man, so he kept it minimal. “Garmen walked in. She saw him. He took off, and that’s when I showed up. She was chasing him down the street.”
Russ nodded his head as he processed the new information. “Okay, you gave chase, and then what?”
“He cut down an alley. She stayed on his tail and I circled around the building to cut him off. Next thing, I heard a shot. She didn’t shoot him.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know. I came around the corner, and she was still coming at him. Her gun was out, but she didn’t do it.”
His dad rocked as he contemplated the situation. “Well, if she didn’t shoot, they will clear her when they check her weapon, but I want to know who did, and why?”
Nick slumped forward, his elbows on his knees. “So do I.”
“Where does Junior Silver fit into all this?”
Nick jerked his attention to his father. “Junior?”
“What? You don’t think Irene wouldn’t tell me the whole story. Her son was questioning Junior.”
Nick slumped back in his chair. He should have known his dad would be well-informed before he asked the first question. The man might only play Santa, but like the jolly old elf, he knew everything.