Chapter 10
Harley woke feeling like a load had been lifted off of her.
She rolled over and smiled when she saw Scottie lying beside her.
It had been wonderful to be able to come back to the brownstone last night together after he finished talking with IA.
They’d never been able to spend the night together before all this happened.
And despite what it meant that they were able to now, she didn’t relish her loss.
They had opened a bottle of wine and celebrated his being officially reinstated to his position next Monday since Commander Burns had given him a few extra days off to spend with her during the funeral preparations.
She groaned softly at the thought of all that was going to entail today when the bereavement coordinator finally reached out to her.
But she would be glad to get it over with.
She had no idea what planning a funeral for a fallen officer would be like, even though she’d planned the funerals for her parents and her grandmother.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Scottie whispered, reaching an arm our for her, his eyes still closed.
“Thinking about what I have to deal with today,” she said.
“Don’t think, go back to sleep,” he said. “Deal with it later.”
She wished she could do as he suggested, but it wasn’t in her nature. Neither her nor Reilly had the wait ‘til later gene. Even though he was he was gone– taken from her far too soon– she knew he would still be always present as her twin had been in life.
Scottie pulled her closer and she closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep for a little while longer.
Brand studied the surveillance information on the computer screen at the task force headquarters until his eyes became blurry. He swiveled in his chair. “Don Juan, you’ve gotten a few new tattoos since we arrived in Chicago.”
“So,” Don Juan said.
“You’ve gotten to know a few of the artists in town in the process,” Brand continued.
“Sure.”
“I was thinking that maybe you could take Monte’s photo around to some of the parlors and see if anyone recognizes him.”
“Ah,” Don Juan said in understanding. “Got it. Good idea.”
“Maybe then we can rule out whether he had gotten one or not?”
“Sounds like a good measuring tool,” Don Juan agreed. “I’ll get right on it once the parlors open up for business today.”
“In the meantime, I was thinking we should call in the bigger guns and reach out to Hank,” Brand continued, “Perhaps Swede might be able to help us out.” Brand said.
“What were you thinking Swede might be able to do for us?” Wyatt asked from the doorway.
“Hey man,” Loverboy said going over to greet him with a palm grip and a quick brotherhood hug. “How’s Colleen and Christopher?”
“Fine.” A mixture of joy and weariness had settled on Wyatt’s face. “Both are doing great. Since we’re home from the hospital, I thought I’d pop down to see if you could use my help.”
“And get out of the house and away from diaper duty?” Jett teased.
“There is that,” Wyatt grinned. “I can only take Ruby out for her walks so often during the day without Colleen getting suspicious.”
“Have a seat,” Brand suggested. “Run through this video surveillance and see if you notice anything we’ve missed. A fresh pair of eyes is always helpful in a situation like this.”
“Is there something I should be looking for?” Wyatt asked.
“You’ll know it when you see it,” Brand said. “And if you don’t, then that tells us we are biased.”
“Ah,” Wyatt said.
The others left him alone while he watched the feed. Brand sent a message to Hank Patterson to set up a conference zoom call with him as soon as possible that day and to loop Swede in for some possible needed assistance.
An hour later, Wyatt stood up from the computer and walked over to where they’d gathered around the conference table to discuss the situation. They looked up at him.
“I’m assuming you wanted me to recognize that the man in the video was Monte Adams and that he was sporting a tattoo on his forearm,” Wyatt said.
“You see it too,” Rookie said.
“Adams claims that isn’t him!” Jett exclaimed.
“But it’s clear as the noses on our faces,” Wyatt said. “I don’t care how baggy the clothes he’s wearing are. His walk is going to be the same, so is his height and stance. Whether he can cover up a tattoo or not is another issue.”
“Are we all agreed on that?” Brand asked, and everyone nodded.
“I’m out of here to go check out those tattoo parlors,” Don Juan said. “Keep me posted on how the meeting with Hank and Swede goes.” He grabbed his parka from the back of his chair as he headed for the door.
Brand’s cellphone pinged and he swiped the screen to view his text messages. “Hanks says he can meet with us in fifteen minutes and to send Swede all the surveillance footage, including the information we have on Monte Adams so he can run background checks on Adams that we can’t get access.”
“I’ll get the conference area set up for the meeting,” Loverboy said.
“Do I have all the files on Adams to send to Swede?” Brand asked.
“I think I still have a zip file that I collected that you’ll need,” Rookie said and he went to his computer and typed a few keystrokes before coming back. “You should have it now.”
“What if after us focusing so hard on Adams it turns out not to be him?” Jett asked. “What if we find out we’re back at square one?”
No one spoke for a few moments, but the looks exchanged were grim.
Finally, Brand spoke up. “Let’s not go there. All the evidence has pointed toward it being Adams. He had motive, Reilly was the one who got him thrown off the force.”
“But why wait so many years before acting on it?” Rookie asked. “Five from the time he was dismissed until Flynn was killed.”
“Opportunity.” The single word came from Jett’s mouth captured their attention.
“Sometimes it takes the right opportunity for someone to act. Maybe if we hadn’t been going to play the exhibition game at the arena where Adams worked as a security guard none of this would have happened.
But we were there two times a week practicing since July, getting our skill set honed for one night’s game. ”
“That was two more times a week than he’d seen Flynn since he was kicked off the force,” Loverboy said, finishing the set up.
“Exactly,” Jett said. “And Adams was always hanging around the rink watching us practice. Or it seemed that way. Maybe he was really fixated on Flynn, coming up with a plan to get rid of him.”
“I hate to play devil’s advocate,” Rookie said. “But what if this is all conjecture?”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Brand broke in as the monitor on the wall lit up and the face of Hank Patterson came into focus. “Good morning, Hank. How are things out in Montana?”
“We’re already digging out from under a foot of snow,” Hank said. “The kids are already out building snowmen this morning with my Pop. What about Chicago?”
“Cold and blistery as usual,” Wyatt replied.”
“Sounds like we’ll both be having white Christmases this year. Now about this homicide you have on your hands. It’s an unusual situation from the information you’ve provided us.”
“That it is,” Brand said. “We thought it was an accident, but within a few hours the situation escalated to suspicious and then when the Medical Examiner called it a homicide, we were floored.”
Swede walked into view, taking a seat at a computer in the background raising his arm and waving at them.
“Hey Swede, great to see you again,” Loverboy called.
Hank adjusted the video camera to allow for him to be seen more easily from their end. “And you are liking this on ex-officer for the murder, yet he claims he’s innocent?”
“That’s pretty much sums it up,” Rookie said. “We saw for ourselves that he didn’t have the tattoo that the guy in the surveillance had, but we also know there could be explanations for this.”
“Of course there can,” Swede said.
“Don Juan is out checking with local tattoo parlors to make sure none of them remember the guy visiting to get one,” Wyatt explained.
“I’m pulling financials and phone records,” Swede said. “It won’t take long. Have you considered make up coverup? They make really good stuff that hides birthmarks and scars these days.”
“We have,” Loverboy said. “Why do you ask?”
“Because he’s been buy that stuff,” Swede said, flashing his familiar grin.
“How do you know?” Rookie asked.
“His credit card statement shows he’s purchased it twice since July,” Swede said. “What other reason could he have for doing that unless he was covering up something like a scar or tattoo?”
They heard the tap, tap, tapping of the keyboard and then Swede chuckled. “Found it.”
Hank walked over to stand behind him and look at the computer screen. “Ah. His job.”
“What about his job?” Brand asked. “He works security.”
“But he didn’t before July,” Swede said. “At least not at the arena where he does now. The security department there has a policy that no members of the team can have tattoos.”
“In this age when body ink is as common as pierced ears?” Brand shook his head in disbelief.
“I hear you,” Swede said. “Good thing all bosses don’t feel that way.”
Brand thought a moment. “What else does his financials show he’s been purchasing.”
“Like what?” Swede said. “It’ll help me to know what I should be searching.”
“Rat poison,” the task force said in unison.
“Reilly Flynn was eating peanut butter laced with rat poison,” Brand explained.
“Got it,” Swede said and began tapping on his keyboard again.
Hank stepped in front of the camera and looked at them.
“While he’s searching let’s talk about Adams. This has to be a touchy situation with you, a former cop who has already been thrown off the force.
And you’re thinking that he may have murdered the guy who found evidence for Internal Affairs in the case against him? ”
“You have summed it up nicely,” Brand said as the office door banged open and Don Juan rushed in.
“I found the tattoo parlor and artist who did Adams work on the first try,” he gasped. “She did my last tat so I trust her to be straight up with me. She also said he came back and talked to her about a good cover up cream to use on it when he took his last job.”
“Well,” Hank said. “That confirms it. Don’t you agree?”
“I got nothing,” Swede called. “He must have paid cash if he purchased it. I can start pulling CTV footage at local stores to see if I can match facial recognition for Adams, but that could take a day or two at the least to get a result for you.”
“What about checking out Clint Rogers,” Jett asked. “He lawyered up right fast for no reason at all. It didn’t make sense to us at the time why he’d do that when he was claiming he was innocent, but what if he weren’t? What if he was helping Adams out?”
“What are you thinking?” Don Juan asked.
“What if he was the one who bought the rat poison?” Jett said. “It wouldn’t have taken more than a box, maybe two depending on the size to do the damage that was done.”
Hank nodded from the monitor on the wall and pointed at them. “I think you might be on to something, Jett.”
The video feed switched to Swede at the computer. “Can you send me any of his particulars like you did Adams, Brand?”
“Sure, give me a moment,” he said.
“Here, I have his address.” Loverboy walked forward. “Will that do? If so, I can text it to you.”
“It’s a starting point,” Swede said. “Send it.”
“Done.”
In fifteen minutes, Swede came back with the necessary information to prove Clint Rogers had purchased the rat poison on two different occasions.
He had dates and times, with store video footage of the transactions and credit card receipts.
The only issue was whether he’d done it on his own or if he’d done it under Adams orders.
Swede was unable to trace any cellphone records between Rogers and Adams to connect the two men around those dates.
That was something the task force was going to have to find out on their own.
“This has been a productive morning,” Hank said. “I need to go warm up my frozen children and unthaw my Pop. I hear them in the kitchen. If I don’t get up there, it will be a huge mess if they try to make hot chocolate without me.”
They all laughed as the conference call ended.
“I need to get back to Colleen and Christopher,” Wyatt said. “I’ve been gone longer than a quick rundown to check on how things are going.”
“I’m sure if she needed you, she would have called,” Rookie said and patted him on the shoulder. “I get it man; it isn’t easy being away from your new family. I worry about Margot when I’m away, but I know she can take care of herself and the baby in my absence.”
Wyatt nodded. “See you.”
When he was gone, the task force grabbed their coats and headed to the door. “I’ll call Hawkeye as we drive to the station,” Brand said. “Swede texted he sent all the information to him.”
“What if Rookie is right and it isn’t Adams who poisoned Flynn but Rogers?” Jett said. “What if Rogers has a tattoo on his forearm that we haven’t noticed?”
“Wouldn’t we have seen it when we were changing in the locker room?” Don Juan said.
“Maybe,” Loverboy said. “But honestly, were any of us looking at Rogers that closely?”
They shook their heads.
“I didn’t think so,” Loverboy said. “I know I wasn’t. He wasn’t even on my radar until he got into the fight with Flynn and Dugan.”
“Maybe that was the problem,” Brand said. “He wasn’t getting the attention he thought he deserved all along. Here he was, this guy suddenly being tapped to step into Adams spot as Dugan’s new partner. And he still wasn’t being noticed.”
“We all know how egos can run rampant on the police force,” Jett said.
They nodded as they climbed into the SUV. Loverboy got behind the wheel, Brand took shotgun, while Jett, Rookie, and Don Juan squeezed in the back seat. Loverboy started the engine and they headed to police headquarters to confer for Hawkeye on their next move.