Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“You want me to go in to work with you?” Marty asked as they got dressed.
Eddie wondered if Marty had forgotten. “You wanted to look through our books to see if you recognize the guy you saw, and I want to keep you close.” After last night, even though the person in the yard had nothing to do with the case, it brought home that Marty was vulnerable.
“But what if someone is looking for me?” Marty asked as he shrugged into his shirt.
Eddie wanted to slide his hands around Marty’s waist and press him back down on the bed to help him forget all about last night, His smooth skin was so damn tempting.
He stared and almost forgot what he was going to say.
“If they see you, they’ll see you with the police,” Eddie told him.
“There’s coffee in the kitchen.” He finished with his uniform and left the room, putting temptation behind him, at least for now.
He poured two mugs and handed one to Marty when he joined him.
“What happens once you have this case buttoned up and everything is done?” Marty asked before taking a sip. “You always made the best coffee.”
“I get it from that roaster downtown, next to the chocolate shop.” The two of them used to shop there all the time. It was where Eddie got his coffee while Marty would dream over the chocolates.
“Yeah… I remember,” Marty said, still watching him.
“To answer your question, I don’t know. You’ll need to get a better job one way or another, and from there I suppose things will go back to how they were.
” Eddie didn’t want to push Marty into anything, even though the urge was growing to pick Marty up, throw him over his shoulder, carry him back to his cave, and never let him go.
But he wasn’t sure what Marty wanted. There was a lot of water under the bridge for both of them.
“Oh, okay….” He turned away and set the mug on the counter. “We can go whenever you’re ready.” A cold front had just moved in, and Eddie felt the chill from across the room.
“Hey. I don’t know what you want. Asking me questions like I’m supposed to have all the answers isn’t fair.”
Marty whipped around. “Okay. But what if I don’t want things to go back to the way they were? And I hope we’re talking about the same thing, rather than in circles.”
“No, I understand what you’re saying. And we’re not talking in circles. I just don’t want to push you into anything.”
Marty rolled his eyes. “You know something? You are a real doofus. I know how you feel—you showed me the other night—and if you think I go to bed with just anyone…. I’m not that kind of boy.” The mock put-upon attitude made Eddie chuckle as he drew closer.
“Yet, maybe you are, and I could prove it to you tonight,” Eddie whispered. “But right now, we need to get to the station before I’m late. We both have a lot to do.”
Marty sat at an empty desk off to the side with a computer, going through pictures, while Eddie and Brian reviewed the evidence once more.
“I want to go back to the crime scene,” Brian declared after a while. “There’s something we’re missing, and we need to figure out what it is.”
Eddie looked to where Marty went through image after image. “Okay.”
“I’ll ask Davis to keep an eye on Marty while we’re gone.” He hurried to make arrangements while Eddie got his things, and soon they were in the car heading to the now-quiet building where Marty had once worked.
The office was still taped off, and they moved it to the side to enter. “He was shot at relatively close range from right in front. Ballsy,” Eddie said.
“Stone-cold,” Brian added. “So why would they have had a falling-out? If Bryce brought him in… and now he’s dead. What made our killer cross the line?”
“We’re assuming that they’re the same person. But the easy answer is money. Either Bryce skimped and didn’t pay, or our guy wanted more, and Bryce balked at the wrong time.”
“Have we been able to get into Bryce’s computer?”
Eddie shrugged. “The tech guys are working on it, but we had to get in line. There are a number of cases that need their help.”
“Call back and see when they expect to get to it. It’s very possible that there is information on that machine that could help us solve a murder.”
Eddie nodded and left the office to make the call, leaving Brian alone in the space. He talked to the head of the department, who promised to get someone on it right away. Eddie thanked her and ended the call, then rejoined Brian, who hadn’t moved. “They’re starting on it now.”
“Good,” Brian said. “I keep wondering if there isn’t something I should be seeing, and yet the more I look…. It’s obvious that the guy wore gloves and stuff.”
“Why?” Eddie asked.
“If you’re going to kill someone,” he began, and then turned to Eddie.
“The bastard came here to kill Bryce. There was nothing else. He covered up as much as possible to leave little evidence because he was going to kill the guy.” He smiled at Eddie.
“And there’s one person I can think of who would want Bryce out of the way—his boss. ”
“Yeah… but Haver copped to the money-laundering, not the killing.”
“Yeah… so? He has an airtight alibi because he paid to have Bryce killed. It’s that simple.
Proving it is going to be more difficult, but I can see it.
Sure, Haver admits to the money-laundering.
He’ll get out in a few years, and he’d live off his hidden ill-gotten gains. But murder is another issue entirely.”
“Yeah. But someone died as part of the scheme, so it doesn’t really matter.
He confessed to being part of the criminal enterprise, so we charge him with being an accessory to murder and see how much howling he does.
” Brian paused. “Either that or we let him get out on bail, which I’m sure his wife is arranging right now.
Then we follow him and monitor his phones and electronic communications.
Our guy is going to get in touch with him…
or Haver will be in touch. Either way, we get out suspect. ”
“Okay. It’s a step forward. But what if he decides to run?”
“We’ll request an ankle bracelet. It’s pretty standard on cases like these.
That will restrict him to his home, so our suspect will have to come to him.
” Brian grinned and got on the phone with the captain, explaining what they suspected and the plan.
“The captain agrees, and he got the DA on the phone. He’s on board with the plan as well.
So, we’re good to go.” Brian strode out of the building, with Eddie hurrying behind him.
“Your friend might have found something,” Officer Davis said once they returned to the station.
“Thanks,” Eddie told him, and hurried over to Marty. “What’s going on? Did you find him?”
Marty shook his head. “No. I knew this was a long shot. But….” He pulled up the picture of a man. “This guy looks a lot like him, I think.”
Eddie turned to Davis. “Did you look into this?”
“Don’t snap at him. I just found it a few minutes ago. He’s trying to find pictures of the guy’s relatives,” Marty said, while David worked and then turned his screen around.
“This is Larry’s brother, Kevin Reynolds.”
Marty gasped. “That’s him. That’s the guy I saw in the office and the guy who followed me.” He sat back, and Eddie smiled.
“Good job. Davis, send that to Brian and everyone else. We have an image of our possible killer. Now we have to find him.”
The captain strode into the squad room. “Go pick him up. Take plenty of backup in case he gives you any trouble.” He left the room as everyone got set to head out. Davis agreed to stay behind with Marty while the rest of the guys headed to their cars.
“No sirens. We don’t want this guy to run if we can help it.
” Brian led the way to the address that they had from the DMV—right into a dead end.
The address they had on file was an empty lot.
The officers fanned out, but no one knew anything about the man they’d identified.
This case was one thing after another. At least they had a name and a face now.
And the empty lot told them they were most likely on the right track.
After all, who needed a fake address unless you were someone with plenty to hide.
Eddie returned to the station in a bad mood.
Just when they might have gotten a break, he came up with nothing.
“Do we know where the brother lives? His parents?” Eddie asked as they walked inside, answering his own question.
“Let me see if I can get addresses for them. The entire family can’t have disappeared.
” He hurried inside and started looking.
It took a while, but he was able to get an address for the brother from the parents, who also mentioned his parole officer.
Eddie contacted the parole officer and found out that he was supposed to meet with Larry Reynolds in less than an hour.
“I’ll be there as quickly as I can,” Eddie said, and explained to Brian where he was headed. “I’ll call you if I find anything.”
“And I’m going to speak to his parents as well. Put the fear of God in them. Maybe they know where Kevin is. Someone sure as hell has to.”
It was less than ten minutes to the parole office. Eddie gave the huge man at the desk his name and who he wanted to see. He was directed up to the office and went inside. The place was stacked with files and papers, the classic look of someone vastly overworked.
“You must be Detective Harper.” He held out his hand. “Jake Childs.”
“Good to meet you. Do you know if he’ll show?” Eddie asked.
Jake nodded. “He’d better. He only has an additional month of probation and then he’ll be out of the system. If he doesn’t show, I call the police, and you all will hunt him down.” He sat. “What’s this all about?”
“We’re trying to find Larry’s brother, Kevin, in connection with a murder, money-laundering, and a ton of other things.”