Chapter 17
The surveillance room at Gunderson Security was small, cramped, and hot.
The three computer towers hummed while a large motherboard was plugged with colorful peripherals.
The electronics emitted so much heat that two large fans were needed to keep the room at a bearable temperature, yet Capes felt a sticky band of sweat emerge under his shirt collar and found himself thinking fondly of the snapping cold that awaited him outside.
They sat watching Martin, the shift supervisor, scroll through surveillance footage while sipping from a cola can. He seemed unbothered by the heat and droning computers. It was his domain, and Capes wondered how many hours Martin had had to spend there before he became immune to discomfort.
“He seems fine to me,” Finn said, leaning over the desk of monitors. “I see no signs of distress or serious fatigue.”
Martin toggled through more surveillance footage with his mouse, sliding along the video’s timeline.
“I didn’t talk to Hollis much during his shift, but I greeted him on his way to the locker room,” he said.
“He was in a good mood, with a smile on his face, per usual. You could ask Joey if he noticed anything else. He was the last to talk to him.”
“Joey?” Capes asked. “Joey who?”
“Joey Henderson,” Martin said, pointing to Joey in the black-and-white footage. “His shift starts when Hollis’s ends, so there’s some overlap there, mostly because Joey’s late. They usually spend a few minutes talking. I think Hollis has been a kind of mentor to him.”
Cape’s expression was somewhere between shock and surprise. “When was the last time you heard from Joey?”
“Not since his shift ended early this morning. He’s got the next few days off,” Martin said, spinning around in the office chair to face a befuddled Capes. “Why?”
“Martin, you’ve been a big help.”
“We appreciate you allowing us to view the footage,” Finn said. “I know it goes without saying, but it stays between us.”
“Well, Hollis isn’t just a good employee, he’s a wonderful man. If I’m going to break Gunderson policy, it’s going to be for a good cause, and I can’t think of any better than helping Hollis.”
Capes added, “We’ve got another favor to ask you.”
“Shoot.”
“Joey Henderson’s address…Is there any way we can get that?”
Martin paused, scratching the white stubble along his jawline. “That’s a big ask. I want to help, but I’m afraid divulging employee information is pushing it, gentlemen.”
“Understood,” Capes said. “How about I show you an address, and if it’s Joey’s, all you’ve got to do is nod?”
“I don’t know…” Martin said as Capes wrote Joey’s home address on the back of a business card. He slid the card across the desk. “Just a nod to confirm. That’s all we need.”
Martin studied the address for a moment, then nodded.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Finn shook his head in disbelief. “In all my years, I can’t say I’ve ever seen this kind of thing happen.”
“We might’ve just caught the biggest break of our lives,” Capes said.
“The thing is,” Finn started, “if Joey was working here at the time of the traffic stop, there’s no way he could’ve recorded what happened from his home.”
“The girlfriend,” Capes said. “She had to have been the one recording. Martin, do you mind pulling up the footage of Joey’s vehicle entering the parking lot before his shift?”
Martin hovered the cursor over a thumbnail and clicked, expanding a video across the large monitor. Joey’s Ram truck was parked next to Hollis’s SUV.
“That’s Hollis’s vehicle,” Finn said. “I wish they had a better angle of his license plate. I can’t tell if its defaced or not.”
“I can try to zoom in,” Martin said, clicking until the image of the license plate consumed the screen. “Darn, too pixelated. I’ve been telling corporate we need better cameras.”
“Even so, the plate looks fine to me,” Capes said. “Makes you wonder why they couldn’t see it.”
Finn reached into his pocket and took out a small notepad and pen. He began writing down Joey’s license plate, along with the color, make, and model of his truck.
“You gentlemen got what you need?” Martin asked, appearing skittish with all the legal talk.
Capes understood Martin’s apprehension. Most people want to avoid being subpoenaed and having to testify in court, and while he had no intention of deposing Martin or calling him to the witness stand, he’d involved him far more than he intended, and it was time for them to leave.
“I’m glad to do the little I can for Hollis,” Martin added, wheeling his chair away from the desk. “I know he would’ve done the same for me, but if it’s all right with you, I need to get back to work.”
“We understand. Don’t mean to hold you up,” Finn said, placing the notepad back into his coat pocket. “Again, we appreciate your help.”
Martin stood and opened the door for Capes and Finn, who exited into the hallway. Martin led them to the front entrance and passed the breakroom, lockers, and equipment room.
“I’m really hoping Hollis pulls through,” Martin said before showing them out. “Some of the employees are talking about holding a candlelight vigil for him at the hospital. You think that’d be all right?”
“I can speak for Hollis’s family when I say that it would be a welcomed gesture,” Finn said, turning up his coat’s collar and stepping outside.
Martin smiled through his somber disposition. “You two take care,” he said, closing the door.
The men began walking back to the Crown Vic as snow flurries melted against their faces. All morning, the sky had looked as if it were going to snow, and it was finally making good.
“I better start the search for Joey’s vehicle,” Finn said, digging in his pocket for the car keys.
“You sure you want to go down this road, Doyle?”
“What’dya mean?”
“Pretty sure if a police officer uses resources for reasons outside of an official investigation, it’s a terminable offense.”
“Let me worry about all that,” Finn said, “and if this weather is any indication, traffic ought to keep Joey and his girlfriend in place for a while.”
The snow was starting to come down heavier, collecting on Capes’s shoulders and straight-brimmed Atlanta Falcons cap. Finn looked unaffected by the cold; clearly he was acclimated in a way Capes was not.
He considered Finn’s suggestion.
“No point in worrying about that now. They’re in a gas guzzler and I’m betting they’ve made at least two pit stops to fill up. If they’re bogged down in the weather, we can catch up to them with the lights and sirens,” Finn said, unlocking the car doors with his remote.
The men got in the car. Capes took off his hat and brushed off the snowflakes. He worked his brow and squeezed the skin at the bridge of his nose to relieve the pressure building in his head.
“Cold getting to you?” Finn asked. “I’d suggest a heavier coat.”
“The cold and the fact I’m trying to figure out how exactly you intend to find Joey and his girlfriend.”
“Since 9/11, Metra has shared a surveillance system with all the law enforcement agencies in Illinois. I’ll search his license plate, and any camera that might’ve captured his truck going through a toll or entering the highway will give me the exact time and location.
From there, I can pinpoint where he is and where he might be headed. ”
“Then what?”
“I play nice and get whatever local or state agency to detain them before they cross state lines.”
“On what grounds?”
Finn looked at Capes with exasperation. “They’re witnesses to Hollis’s attempted murder. I’ll be sure to let whatever agency tasked with detaining them know to hold the vehicle until we arrive. They won’t be taken to the station or anything like that.”
“You mean they won’t be treated like criminals?”
Finn struggled to get his words out. “I mean, well…yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying.”
Capes needled Finn with a look of his own.
“Do you not see how reckless that is?” He raised his voice.
Finn had struck a nerve. “They haven’t done anything to justify being stopped, yet you want to put them in a shitty and dangerous situation.
Have you not learned anything from what happened to Hollis? ”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Police encounters often don’t end well for us. All it takes is a cop being on edge, feeling threatened or downright trigger-happy, and things can go from bad to worse real quick. You could be lighting the fuse on something you’ve got no control over.”
“I told you I’d do whatever it takes to help Hollis.”
“But not like this,” Capes said. “We don’t need any more police involvement and risk someone else getting hurt.”
“Then what do you want to do? Wait until they cross state lines, make it into Pennsylvania, and then what? Search all of Philly for them?”
“If we have to, yes, but what we can’t do is put innocent people in harm’s way.”
Capes had a complicated relationship with the law but hadn’t lost faith in it, believing that if applied equally, it was just. He didn’t know Doyle well enough to suggest he was corrupt or amoral, but maybe there were lines Doyle was willing to cross, which made Capes wonder how many times in his career he’d strayed from his sworn oath and duty.
It didn’t matter if his heart was in the right place and he was trying to do whatever he could for Hollis; there was no justification for violating someone’s rights.
“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to us having to resort to anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Finn said, shoving the key into the ignition and starting the car.
“Just know that I respect where you’re coming from, but Hollis is my partner.
It’s a bond most people don’t understand, but know this, like I said before, we aren’t all like those assholes who shot him.
The majority of us wearing badges, working long shifts for shitty pay and more stress than you can imagine, are doing the best we can. ”
“Maybe that’s true, but unfortunately for you, all it takes is cases like what happened to Hollis for people to lose faith.
See, Doyle, Black folks aren’t clairvoyant.
We’ve got no way of knowing the intentions of the cops who stop us.
We can do everything right during a police encounter and still end up shot or dead, all because we looked a cop in the eye, moved too fast, or said the wrong thing.
That’s our reality. We don’t get the luxury of the benefit of the doubt.
Cops judge us before running our plates or checking our driver’s licenses.
We’re deemed high-risk the moment they see the color of our skin. ”
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying, but police stats aren’t made up. And sure, sometimes they cloud the way we do our jobs. Call it stereotyping or profiling, but that’s our reality.”
Capes knew how conversations like theirs could drag on and result in frustration and animosity. “It’s nothing we’ll solve sitting in this car,” he said, watching the snow collect on the windshield. I respect your point of view, but for Hollis’s sake, let’s agree to disagree.”
“All right,” Finn said. “You mind if I ask you one more thing?”
“If you have to…”
“Do you think having a Black man in the White House is really going to change things?”
Capes didn’t have a good answer; he wasn’t sure he had an answer at all. “Do you?” he asked.
“I think it might,” Finn said. He sounded hopeful, which surprised Capes. “It definitely can’t hurt, but then again, he’s just one man.”