“We are on our way, Maddy, I can feel it. We’re going to get into Cantoney’s apartment, we’re going to find that gun, we’re going to stop another kid from dying, and stop Ramsey from ending up in prison…”
“Slow down,”she answered. “Let’s get the warrant signed first. Then we’ll see about the rest of your prophecies.” Could he be this good a liar? she wondered dismally, if he had a stake in the outcome? He’d have to be very sure indeed that his link to the suppliers was well hidden. Or that he’d be able to destroy any evidence that would provide that link.
“Wait and see. I’m right on this, I know it…” The phone on his desk rang then and Cruz snatched it up. “Lieutenant Niles,” he said aloud, casting a telling eye to Madeline and holding up crossed fingers. “What did you find out from the lab work from Stover’s room?”
She was aware that she was holding her breath. Watching Cruz’s face was an exercise in frustration. He said little, mostly listened. Toward the end of the conversation he said, “You’re kidding. What was it? No, I’m afraid not.” After a couple more minutes he said, “Yeah, I think we’ll do that. Thanks for the call. You bet.” He hung up the phone.
“Well?” Madeline prompted at his silence.
“Niles’s men have been busy. They tried tracking the woman who put up Stover’s bail. The address on the ID she showed didn’t pan out. She hasn’t lived there in several years. She’s got a record for prostitution, but she hasn’t been seen in her old territory since Stover’s release. They’re still looking.”
“She’s probably long gone,” Madeline said gloomily. “It’s sounding more and more as if she was given the money to get Stover out so that he could be killed. She’d be a fool to risk staying around after the murder. What about Stover’s room?”
“Fingerprinting it was almost a bust,” Cruz said. “They found no trace of Valdez’s prints on any of the surfaces there. But-” he held up a finger “-they did find a ballpoint pen under the bed with prints that matched Valdez’s.”
“That could place Valdez at the scene,” she said hopefully. “Doesn’t make him guilty of murder, though.”
“Three guesses what the lieutenant said the murder weapon was,” Cruz said, “and the first two don’t count.”
“No contest. It was an AK-47.”
Chapter 13
Cruz nodded. “That’s the word from forensics.”
Madeline thought for a moment. “Any lead from the pen with Valdez’s prints?”
“Apparently not. It did have some advertising on the side-Andersen Steel.”
“Pretty big time,” she noted. Andersen Steel was a well-known company in Philadelphia. It had been in the same family for several generations. She remembered some negative publicity they’d received a few years back, when they’d followed the lead of the other huge steel conglomerates and moved much of their manufacturing overseas, to take advantage of cheaper labor. But it was something else that was puzzling her mind about Andersen Steel, and she paused in her typing, thinking hard.
Cruz frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Andersen Steel.” She slapped the top of his desk as the connection with that name finally came to her. “They own Wynn Construction.”
“How do you know?”
She shot him an impatient glance and he held up his hands placatingly. “Forgive me for doubting you. You read it in some obscure article years ago and still happen to remember it. Why am I not surprised?”
“The point is,” she informed him, excitement creeping into her voice, “now that pen
“Later,” Cruz said, indicating the search warrant she was working on. “We’ve got something more pressing to attend to.”
Nodding in agreement, Madeline went back to her typing. Ramsey was their first concern. Valdez would wait.
It was close to noon by the time they’d gotten the warrant signed. But when they reached Cantoney’s apartment it was apparent from his appearance that they’d awakened him. He answered the door in jeans and an open shirt. A flicker of unease crossed his face when he recognized them.
“What do you want now?”
Cruz pushed the door open with one hand and walked through, forcing Dirk to fall back or be run over. With the other he held out the search warrant. “The pleasure’s mutual, Cantoney. We heard you’ve been having some real interesting meetings lately, and that you have something kind of special stashed here.” He turned his head to address Madeline. “Okay, go ahead.”
They had discussed their strategy in the car on the way over and she went immediately to work. Taking some clear rubber gloves from her pocket, she pulled them on. Then she crossed the room, opened a door and entered a bedroom.
“Hey! Get out of there!” Cantoney lunged after her, but Cruz put out an arm at the last moment and stopped him. He stuffed the warrant into the man’s hand. “Better take a look at this. You can read, can’t you? Everything’s in order.” Cruz’s eyebrows rose only slightly when Dirk tore the paper to bits. “Doesn’t matter,” he said mildly. “There are copies, you know.”
“You’ve got no grounds for this, Martinez,” Cantoney snarled.
“Apparently the judge thought otherwise,” Cruz answered. The two men stared at each other for a long moment fraught with tension, then slowly, imperceptibly, Cantoney drew back.
“Go ahead,” he invited insolently. “And while you and the broad are busy, I’ll be calling my lawyer.”
“Good move,” Cruz retorted. “You’ll probably need one before we’re through.”
Sounds drifted from the open doorway Madeline had disappeared into, and both men walked toward the door.
“Take it easy in there, lady,” Cantoney advised. “If there’s any damage, I’ll be reporting it.” After a second he added, “Maybe if you tell me what you’re looking for, sweetheart, I can help you.” He cupped himself lewdly. “Or you can help yourself.”
Fingers curled unconsciously into his palms, Cruz sent the man a look laced with deadly intent. “Seems to me you have enough to worry about, Cantoney. Don’t push it.” His voice was even, but the warning was implicit.
Madeline turned and approached them then. Their gazes caught and Cruz asked a question with his eyes. She answered with an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Cruz stepped back to let her pass, but she had to brush by Cantoney to do so. Cruz’s eyes narrowed as he noted the way the other man positioned himself.
Madeline caught the look and recognized the threat. She stifled a sigh. That would be all she needed this morning, to have to referee a brawl. In an attempt to redirect Cruz’s attention, she suggested, “Why don’t you start in the living room?”
Not waiting for his answer, she opened the next door and began to search that bedroom. Cruz walked into the living room and started checking cushions on the furniture. Cantoney looked from Madeline to Cruz. Apparently deciding that she was less of a threat, he followed Cruz into the living room, objecting strenuously as he went through drawers and cupboards of the entertainment center. Cruz turned on the TV and Blu-Ray player to check that they indeed worked, and were not being used as dummy storage compartments.
“Watch it, Martinez,” Cantoney growled. “That’s state-of-the- art stuff. I don’t got no Disney movies, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Ignoring him, Cruz moved through the room, carefully checking any area large enough to store the gun.
“What happens when you and the broad don’t find whatever it is you’re looking for, huh, cop? Then will you get the hell out of here?”
Cruz spared him hardly a glance. “Then we’ll start all over.” The man’s curse was interrupted when Madeline came out of the bathroom.
“Looks like you’ll be going downtown with us, Dirk,” she said. She was holding an AK-47 in her gloved
