“Not yet.” Jeffrey wasn’t going to send him in alone. He returned to the wall map. He traced his finger along the route. “Park on Hollister. If Nesbitt leaves the house, that’s his only route out of the neighborhood. Keep the line open. You need to hear this.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Marla,” Jeffrey said. “Cell phones only. I need Landry, Cheshire, Dawson, Lam, Hendricks, and Schoeder. Tell them to stage at Matt’s location. Lights but no sirens.”
Marla swung around to her phone.
Jeffrey cleared off the closest desk with a sweep of his arm. Papers and pens scattered onto the floor. Jeffrey laid out the drawings of the house—front elevation, first floor, second floor, plat. He found a pen. “Everybody follow what I’m saying because you’re in charge of your team. Matt?”
“Still here.”
“You’re with Hendricks. I want you both backing me up at the front door, keeping an eye on the windows and hoppers on the side of the house. We need some distance. I don’t want Nesbitt to panic.”
Matt said, “There’s a car parked across the street from his front door. We can take cover behind it.”
“Good,” Jeffrey said. “Lena, you’re knocking on the door.”
She looked stunned.
“I’ll be right behind you.” He took her through it. “You’ll knock on the door. You’ll tell Nesbitt you’re there because of the ticket on the expired license.”
The shock slightly abated. If there was one thing the county knew about Jeffrey Tolliver, it was that he was an asshole about motor vehicle violations. The fines made up half of the department’s budget.
He told Lena, “Keep him calm. Tell him it’s routine, nothing to worry about. You’re there to take him down to the station and he can either pay the fine or bond himself out in an hour. If he comes, great. If he refuses, then let him go.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “Sir?”
“We need probable cause to enter that house.” Jeffrey chose his words carefully. “Felix just confirmed that Daryl sold pot to Caterino and Truong. Could be, you smell weed on Daryl when he opens the door. Or maybe you hear a noise inside. We need to be able to clearly articulate to the district attorney our reason for going into that house.”
Lena slowly nodded. Of everyone in the room, she knew what he was asking.
“Lena, if you believe there’s probable cause to enter the house, then give me the signal and step away. I’m first through the door.” Jeffrey found the drawing of the main floor. He made an X in the center of the hallway. “Lena, this is the chokepoint. If Nesbitt goes down the basement stairs or up the stairs to the second floor, you’ll be able to see them from this spot.”
Lena pressed together her lips. She nodded.
“Coat closet.” He drew a circle. “Don’t put your back to it unless you’ve checked inside. Windows, doors and hands, right?”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Brad,” Jeffrey tapped his pen to the kitchen door. “You’re in charge of the rear of the house. You’ll set up with Landry. Approach from the Valley Ridge side. Keep an eye on the side windows. No one gets out.”
Brad looked terrified, but he said, “Yes, Chief.”
“We’ll put Dawson and Cheshire on either end of Bennett Street. Schoeder and Lam will block off Valley Ridge in case he makes it that far. Frank, I want you to secure the shed.”
Frank’s jaw was set.
Jeffrey gripped Frank’s shoulder to remind him who was in charge. He didn’t have time for bruised egos, and he wasn’t going to lose Daryl Nesbitt because Frank couldn’t run more than twenty steps without losing his breath. “If Rosario Lopez is in that shed, I don’t want anyone else finding her.”
Frank wasn’t buying it. “And what if when Lena knocks, Nesbitt opens the front door, sees what’s up, grabs Lena and takes her hostage?”
“Then I’ll put a bullet in his head before he can shut the door.”
Jeffrey took his keys out of his pocket as he walked toward the armory. He pulled out two shotguns, shells, cartridges, speed loaders, Kevlar vests, and passed them around.
Lena slid off her bulky jacket. She swung the vest around her torso. The front plate was wider than her body. The tail hung down past her ass.
Jeffrey adjusted the plates. He re-aligned the Velcro straps. Lena stood still, her arms out to the side. He’d never dressed a child before, but this was probably what it felt like. He let his gaze meet Lena’s. She looked scared, but so damn eager. This was exactly what she had signed up for. The danger. The action. He saw in her face his own desperate need to prove himself when he’d first put on the uniform. The only other time Jeffrey had seen that man in the mirror was when he was putting on the suit for his wedding.
“Let’s go.”
Jeffrey checked his Glock to make sure there was a bullet in the chamber as they followed Lena outside.
He looked up, wincing in the sunlight. His gaze fell on the children’s clinic, the same way it always did. Sara’s BMW was parked at its usual showroom angle. Jeffrey touched his fingers to his mouth. A trail of blood had dried down from his broken nose.
Lena’s Kevlar vest nearly swallowed her as she sat in the passenger’s seat. Jeffrey had to force himself not to grip the steering wheel. The car stayed silent until they were turning off Main Street.
She asked, “Am I knocking on Nesbitt’s door because you think he won’t be intimidated by a woman?”
“You’re on that door because we need iron-clad probable cause.”
Lena nodded once. She understood that he was counting on her to lie.
She fed his earlier words back to him, “He’s a pot dealer. I smelled weed on him.”
“Good.”
Jeffrey swung the car around the sharp curve that marked the Heartsdale/Avondale line. He felt pain shooting through his jaw from clenching his teeth. Every second that went by gave Nesbitt the opportunity to run. To go out to the shed. To
