Chapter 33
We followed Lenny up to West Beverly. He made a few twists and turns and pulled up to a construction site that was surrounded by a chain-link fence with a green privacy curtain. From the street, you couldn’t see into the lot. A sign advertised new luxury condos coming soon!
At this time of night, there wasn’t any activity.
Jack found a place to park.
Lenny covered his face with a surgical mask and hopped out of the vehicle.
He put on a hard hat, sunglasses, and a neon vest. At first glance, he looked like a construction worker.
Dressed in a work shirt, pants, and heavy boots, no one would think twice about him going into the construction site.
From the bed of his truck, Lenny grabbed a shovel, a black tarp, and a pair of bolt cutters.
With a nervous glance around, he ambled down the sidewalk and approached the gate.
His head on a swivel, he snipped the padlock and slipped inside.
That was our cue.
We hopped out and hustled toward the construction site.
JD and I held up at the gate, peering through the gaps as Lenny marched down to the excavated area. It was all primed and ready to go.
Apparently, we had spooked Lenny enough that he decided it would be in his best interest to move the body before it got dug up.
We waited until he cracked a shovel and started digging.
JD and I finally crept into the lot and hovered at the ridge above the excavation pit while Lenny kept digging.
The pale green of a mercury vapor light nearby spilled over the construction site, just barely providing enough light to make out shapes and silhouettes.
The pit walls had been reinforced with concrete.
The caissons had been drilled and poured, but the pit floor was still mostly dirt.
The rebar hadn’t been placed yet for the foundation slab.
With the recently excavated ground, it was soft and easy to unearth. It didn’t take long before Lenny reached the prize.
It was reasonable cause for a citizen’s arrest, according to California law.
"Freeze! County sheriff!" I said, aiming my pistol at him from the ridge above.
Lenny panicked and contemplated his options.
He didn't have many. I wouldn't call Lenny old, but he was in his mid-50s, and not in the best shape in the world. He had a bit of a belly. He’d been doing this kind of thing for a long time.
But his days of running on foot from the police were likely behind him.
We moved around the pit and walked down the dirt access ramp to surround him.
We had no jurisdiction, and I hoped he didn't do anything stupid. The last thing I needed to do was shoot this scumbag in LA County. I'd have a lot of explaining to do.
Lenny’s hand moved toward the small of his back.
“Don’t even think about it!” I shouted, keeping my weapon aimed at him.
With a frown on his face, he finally tossed the shovel down. Lenny raised his hands in surrender and ate the dirt.
Jack approached and slapped the cuffs around his wrists while I called Detective Mitchell. This was her jurisdiction after all.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked in a sleepy voice.
"I think you’re going to want to get down here.”
"I'm not having a drink with you. Certainly not now. You’re cute and persistent, which is admirable. But sorry. Does this kind of thing usually work for you?”
"I'm not inviting you for a drink. I found Molly Dean. And I have a suspect in custody.”
"Who is Molly Dean?”
"Well, if you come down here, you can find out. Or we can just leave her body here to rot. It's up to you.”
"Where are you?”
I gave her the location.
Jack pulled on a pair of gloves and removed Lenny’s pistol. A suppressor was threaded to the barrel.
Lenny was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
Sharon arrived with her partner, George, 20 minutes later. Neither looked too thrilled about being yanked out of bed at this time of night.
Flashlight beams slashed the darkness as they made their way down to us.
Jack handed Lenny's pistol to Sharon. "Pulled that from the perp."
She snapped on a pair of gloves and took it from him. "Did you touch it without gloves?”
Jack shook his head.
"I’ll need both of your duty weapons," George said to us.
My brow wrinkled with confusion. "What for?”
"Because you're out of your jurisdiction. You’re carrying out law enforcement duties like you own the place. You can get your pistols back when you leave the county.”
Neither JD nor I volunteered our weapons.
"I'm not playing around with you. The courts are going to have a field day with this. We’ll be lucky if anything sticks because of you."
"It was a lawful arrest. We’re just two citizens who witnessed the commission of a felony. We had reasonable cause to arrest.”
"You’re out of state with no authorization to act in a law enforcement capacity. Surrender your firearms, or I’ll place you under arrest for unlawful possession."
I shook my head. "As law-enforcement officers on active duty, we have a right nationally to carry concealed.”
"Look, I want to see this guy go down as much as you do. But what I don't need is you two escalating the situation, whether it's this case or another that you just happen to be working on. I promise, you'll get them back.”
“There is no situation to escalate. It’s over.”
“I’m not going to ask again.”
Against my better judgment, I surrendered my weapon, and so did JD.
Sharon hovered over Molly's grave. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that Nick Shaw killed this girl, then called his agent to help him cover it up. His agent called this guy,” she said, pointing to Lenny, “And the two of them buried her here?”
"That’s the working theory,” I said.
“And you think Nick killed Vivian to shut her up?”
“I do.”
"I've got to hand it to you. I really didn't think you would get this far.” Sharon aimed Lenny's pistol at him and fired two shots into his back. It was a casual move. Two quick snaps. She didn’t flinch.
The report echoed off the muddy walls of the excavated pit. The suppressor dropped the sound levels by 30 dB. Nobody would have heard anything. Even if they did, they would likely dismiss it.
Blood spilled out, oozing around the body, soaking into the dirt.
Sharon aimed the pistol at me.
George aimed his weapon at Jack.
This wasn't looking good for us. At least it confirmed my suspicion about corrupt cops in West Beverly.
"Is Nick Shaw paying you to cover this up, or someone from the studio?" I asked.