Chapter 20
Highway traffic was near a standstill as the Crown Vic followed behind a snowplow.
Finn had turned off the lights and sirens, having estimated that using the emergency equipment helped them shave off nearly an hour of travel.
Motorists had parted for them as Finn reached speeds of sixty and seventy miles an hour, careful to keep in the lanes that had been plowed and salted.
But once the snow piled to over a foot, he slowed down and took caution, as some vehicles had stalled on the shoulder. Beau Lee sat in the front passenger seat while Capes was in the back, much to his chagrin.
“How much longer?” Beau Lee asked while texting Gigi. “It’s looking treacherous out here.”
“GPS says ten minutes,” Finn said, gassing the car enough to move a few inches before having to brake again. “You texting your wife?”
“How’d you know?”
“Men get a particular look when they text their wives. Have you been married long?”
“Happily for twenty years,” Beau Lee said.
“Commendable.”
“Can’t take all the credit. I’m blessed to have found a good woman who doesn’t mind putting up with a man like me.”
“Man like you?”
“I’m away more than I’m home. Sometimes, when I’m home, I’m too tired to be much good around the house. And I snore.”
Finn laughed. “We got that in common,” he said. “I take it you married young?”
“By today’s standards, it seems that way.” Beau Lee sent the text to Gigi and slipped the phone back into his suit pocket. “We had our rough patches but always made it through.”
“Same here,” Finn said. “We haven’t hit the twenty-year mark, but we’ve got eighteen years under our belts. There was a time when working put a real strain on things for us. It took me a while to find a good balance.”
“What was it about the work that did it?” Beau Lee asked.
“Long hours, mostly, and I can’t say I was the most attentive husband.”
“How did you two get back on track?”
“Funny,” Finn said, “I took Hollis’s advice.
He told me if I could spend twelve hours a day working, I could spare at least two hours for my wife.
Two hours turned into three, then four, and I realized that time is currency.
Maybe a case or two took longer for me to close, but what I got in return was a better relationship with my wife. ”
Capes piped up: “Sounds like Hollis gave you some game. Brother sounds wise.”
“Far wiser than me,” Finn said. “I’ve always looked up to him, you know? Like a big brother.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Capes looked out the window. “Man, look at this snow. Is this normally how much comes down this time of year?”
“Pretty much,” Finn said. “You get used to it after a while.”
“Nah, man, I don’t think I’d ever get used to this.”
The plow exited an off-ramp. Finn picked up speed, taking advantage of the freshly salted roadway. “Now we’re talking,” he said. “We should make up time.”
Beau Lee could see a gas station sign in the distance, along with neon fast-food signs and what looked to be a billboard for an all-night diner located at a truck stop.
Finn accelerated, and the car felt as if it was losing traction.
“Easy,” Beau Lee said. “Let’s make it there in one piece.”
“My bad, counselor.”
As they neared the off-ramp, Finn turned on the car’s emergency equipment, blue lights without sirens, and proceeded through intersections.
They pulled into the diner’s parking lot, parked, and quickly exited the vehicle.
Finn took the lead as he canvassed the parking lot for the vehicle, boldly walking into the restaurant with his familiar scowl as Beau Lee and Capes stayed a few steps behind.
Beau Lee looked to a rear booth, where a young man and woman sat across from each other munching on a basket of onion rings and nuggets. He nudged Finn and pointed: “We should talk to them.”
“I’m on it,” Finn uttered, and they walked toward the hapless couple. “Excuse me,” he said, showing his badge. “Mind if we sit?” He didn’t wait for an answer and squeezed in beside the woman in the booth.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” The young man postured with his hands up. “I don’t know you.”
“Relax,” Finn said. “We just want to have a conversation.”
Beau Lee looked at the woman. “Room for two more?” he asked, removing his hat.
She looked at him for approval, then nodded.
“As my associate here said, we just want to talk,” Beau Lee said, sliding into the booth and calmly placing his hands on the table. “We believe you can help us.”
“Joey Henderson, right?” Capes asked, sitting at the end of the booth. “You kind of look like a Joey.”
“How do you know my name?” Joey asked. “Who the hell are you guys?”
“You work with Hollis Montrose at Gunderson Security, right?”
“Who’s asking?”
“We know you do,” Finn said. “Just like we know you filmed that traffic stop and posted it online.”
“Man, I don’t know anything about that. How’d you find me, anyway?”
“All it took was a call to locate your license plate; surveillance has come a long way. Cameras are everywhere. Especially at tolls, and with the snow coming down like it was, it made sense for you to stop over for a bite until things cleared up.”
“You FBI?”
“No,” Finn said. “We aren’t here in any law enforcement capacity.”
“So, who are you, then?”
“Good Samaritans.”
“Bullshit.”
“You aren’t in trouble, Joey,” Beau Lee said. “We’re hoping you could help us. Hollis Montrose is your friend, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, Mr. Montrose is good to me.”
“And you want to help him, don’t you? That’s why you uploaded the video.”
“It’s not illegal to post a video.”
“We’re not saying it is,” Finn said. “We just need to know what you know.”
“All I know is what’s on that video. Nothing more than that.”
“Look, we want to help Hollis, too. I’m his attorney, Beau Lee Cooper.”
Beau Lee made introductions around the table, and when he got to Finn, Joey’s eyes lit up.
“Hold up, you’re Mr. Montrose’s partner?” Joey asked, eyeing Finn like he was a celebrity. “He talks about you all the time.”
“Does he now?”
“Yeah, but the way he talked about you, I just thought…”
“What?”
“He made you sound…you know, cool.” Joey waffled. “I guess I just thought—”
“Thought what?”
“Uh, that you were a brother.”
“A brother?”
“Yeah, man. I thought you were Black.”
Finn’s laugh was an unexpected bellow. “What, an Irish guy can’t be cool?”
Joey smiled. “I guess you got some swagger. I saw the way you came in here, looking like you owned the place.”
“Oh, you noticed that?”
“Made me think of that bald actor on The Shield.”
Finn looked at the perforated ceiling, picturing the bald white actor decked out in a black tee and matching leather jacket. The name was on the tip of his tongue—“Chiklis,” he said. “Michael Chiklis.”
Beau Lee’s attention was on the woman sitting next to Joey, who looked to be suffering. “Miss, are you okay?”
“This is Darian, my girlfriend,” Joey said. “She’s got migraines. They tend to get worse when she’s stressed.”
“Is there anything we can do for you, Darian?” Beau Lee asked. “Something for the pain?”
She was bone tired, with bloodshot eyes. “No, sir. It’ll pass.”
“You sure?” Capes asked. “You’re not looking too good.”
“It’s the lights. They tend to make things worse.”
“We should probably go,” Joey said.
Darian took hold of Joey’s arm as she struggled to focus under the fluorescent lighting. “Not before you tell them,” she said.
“Tell us what?” Finn asked.
Joey cast a quick, nervous glance at Darian, before looking over at Finn. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “Something you guys should know,” Joey said. “I didn’t shoot the video. Darian did. All I did was upload it.”
“Figured as much,” Finn said. “Unless you were Superman, there was no way you would’ve gotten home from Gunderson in time to record Hollis’s traffic stop.”
“Darian, can you tell us anything else about that night?” Beau Lee asked. “Maybe something you heard the officers say when they stopped him?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, massaging her temple. “I can’t think straight when I’m like this.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You sure there’s nothing we can get you?”
“She usually keeps her migraine medication handy, but she’s all out,” Joey said.
“Just aspirin every two hours,” Darian said. “It’s the only thing that’s been working.”
“I told her she needs something stronger,” Joey said. “We tried getting to a drugstore, but the snow was coming down too hard. The only place we could stop was this diner.”
“I think we can help you out,” Finn said. “How about we go back to Chicago? We can get you set up someplace and see about getting Darian’s medication.”
“Why would you do all that?” Darian asked.
“I’ll be straight with you. We need your statement about what you saw happen to Mr. Montrose.”
“But what about the video…?” Joey sounded bewildered. “The whole world can see what those cops did. Isn’t that enough?”
Beau Lee spoke softly: “I’m afraid not,” he said. “If we can depose you and get you on record, you might not have to testify in court.”
“Might not?”
“I can’t give you any assurance at this time, but I’ll try my best to keep you off the stand.”
“I know what happens to people who record the police,” Darian said. “They get harassed by cops and end up in jail on bullshit charges.”
“That’s right,” Joey added. “Cops don’t forget shit. They’ll hound us. That’s why we’re going to Philly, just until things cool down.”
“I get it. Trust me, I do. But this isn’t something you can outrun,” Finn said. “We need you to think about Hollis—”
“Look, man, Hollis is my friend,” Joey said loudly, drawing attention from other diners. “I want to help, but we don’t need any more trouble.”