Chapter 64
Wednesday noon
DuBois stood beside an unmarked sedan half a block from the restaurant while the traffic crawled along Harbor Drive. He had lined up three vehicles with two detectives and two undercover officers, plus a wild cowboy to catch a man who might have hidden a kidnapped child for eight years.
Patrick Urban, who worked Missing Persons, arrived a few minutes late wearing the irritated expression of a detective pulled into somebody else’s operation. He was tall, lean, and in his early forties. Too neat to be homicide, DuBois thought.
He walked straight toward DuBois. “Where’s Nelson? Shouldn’t he be here if there’s concern that someone else killed Maddox?”
“He’s aware, but the timing didn’t work so he gave us the go-ahead.”
“So, this is officially my nightmare now?”
DuBois nodded. “Looks that way.”
Urban glanced toward the restaurant. “You really think the girl’s alive?”
“We think there’s enough to act.” DuBois knew that wasn’t the same answer.
Urban frowned. “You’ve actually met the reporting witness?”
“Attorney Sabre Brown and her PI have figured it out. Sabre also got information from her client, Bay.”
“Is she credible?”
“She’s terrified, but she’s also a victim of the same perp.”
DuBois introduced the rest of the team.
“Chen and Martinez are running secondary and tertiary.” He motioned toward the undercover officers. “Lopez and Hall are standing by if we need static surveillance.”
Urban looked around the street setup approvingly. “And the civilian?”
DuBois glanced toward JP’s truck parked farther down the block. “JP Torn.”
Urban’s expression tightened immediately. “No.”
DuBois almost smiled. “Not really how this works.”
“I’m serious. If this turns into an active recovery, I’m not running a civilian through surveillance.”
“You’re not.”
Urban crossed his arms. “Then why is he here?”
Because he belongs here, DuBois thought. Instead, he said, “Because he knows the case.”
“That doesn’t make him law enforcement.”
“No,” DuBois agreed. “It makes him stubborn.”
Urban wasn’t amused.
DuBois lowered his voice slightly. “Look, officially he’s not part of the operation.”
“Unofficially?”
“He’s a cowboy.”
Urban blinked once. “What?”
DuBois nodded toward JP’s truck. “He’s going to follow whether we keep him in the loop or not.”
Urban stared at him. “And you’re okay with that?”
“No.” DuBois shrugged. “But I’d rather know where he is than spend the next six hours pretending I can stop him.”
That earned a reluctant hint of a smile from Urban. “Does he have any formal training?”
“He’s former law enforcement, an investigator, and a Marine.” DuBois paused. “And smarter than half the detectives I’ve worked with.”
Urban studied JP’s truck again. “Is he armed?”
DuBois gave him a look. “Everybody’s armed.”
Urban finally exhaled. “Fine. But if this goes sideways—”
“He backs off.”
“You trust that?”
DuBois thought about JP. “No.”
That actually made Urban laugh. “Good. Better honest than overconfident.”
DuBois pulled out a folded street map, spread it across the hood of the sedan, and motioned for the crew to gather.
“Here’s how we run this.” He looked around. “When Sabre and Rourke leave, he will likely walk her to her car. Chen picks up his primary tail. Martinez rotates in every few blocks.”
Urban nodded. “No unit sits directly behind him too long.”
“Exactly.” DuBois pointed farther down the map. “If he loops, we widen immediately.”
“What’s our trigger for contact?” Lopez asked.
“We don’t contact.”
Everybody stared at him. DuBois explained. “The objective is Hannah Caldwell, not Daniel Rourke. If he leads us to her, we move carefully and lock down the location first.”
“Do you think he has any idea?” Urban asked.
“No.” But DuBois wasn’t completely certain, and that bothered him.
A homicide detective learned quickly that the smartest predators rarely looked dangerous. They looked patient, helpful, normal, like Daniel Rourke.
Urban straightened. “If we find the girl alive, Missing Persons takes lead.”
DuBois nodded. “But until then, this stays my operation. The Maddox homicide keeps us tied in.”
Urban considered that briefly. “Fine.”
DuBois’ phone vibrated in his hand. It was Sabre. “Are you wrapping up?”
“I went to the restroom. It should be in about five minutes or so. I’ll signal you when we’re coming out.”
DuBois looked around at the team. “Everybody ready.”
The small cluster of detectives separated naturally, each moving toward assigned vehicles.
Urban lingered a second longer. “Do you trust the attorney?”
“With my life.”
“And the investigator?”
DuBois watched JP sitting motionless down the street. “With hers.”