“And connected,” Harper said.
“That, too.”
“We don’t have to worry about Myrick,” Cain said. “Chief Crowe took him off the board. Less than an hour ago.”
“The world won’t miss him I’m sure. So, one down and three to go.” She gave a soft laugh. “I’ll send the files to you.”
“Can you loop in Chief Crowe?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll give you my email address,” Cassie said.
“I have it,” Mama B said.
“You do?”
“It’s what I do.”
“Good work,” Harper said. “As usual.”
“Not done yet. Just starting to dig into that attorney you asked about.”
“What attorney?” Cassie asked.
“Simon Greene,” Cain said.
Cassie looked confused. “What does Simon have to do with this?”
Cain shrugged. “Maybe nothing, but he did defend Tommy Finley.”
“That’s what attorneys do.”
“Maybe that’s all it is,” Harper said. “Him simply doing his job.”
Cassie sighed. “First we need to find Jason and Marla.”
“Marla Jackson?” Buck asked.
“She’s the one that witnessed your abduction,” Cassie said. “Started this whole thing rolling.”
“Where? How?”
“She hooked up with her new supplier—dude named Jason Epps—in the park. Used some heroin and probably meth and saw the whole thing from there. She managed to keep it together long enough to cross the street and get back to the ER.”
Disappointment fell over Buck’s face. Apparently, Cassie saw it, too.
“Don’t get all caught up in Marla’s world,” Cassie said. “She’s a drug addict, maybe she always will be. Lord knows she’s had multiple chances to climb out of the pit but so far nothing’s worked out.”
“I hate to hear that,” Buck said. “She seemed so nice. Bright. I suspect she was a beauty before the monkey caught her.”
“She was, and a good student.” Cassie looked down, kicked at a loose pebble, sending it skittering across the pavement. “We were friends back then. Lately, more butting heads.”
“Sorry,” Buck said.
“Well, right now I’m concerned about her for other reasons.”
“Dalton?”
“Yep.”
“He did say he had some things to take care of. That’s why he didn’t simply leave and why he brought in more guys.”
“We have to assume he’ll target you. I also assume he knows about Marla and will deal with her and her new supplier Jason.”
“So this isn’t over?” Buck asked.
Cain smiled. “We’re just getting to the fun part.”
“Amen,” Harper said.
CHAPTER 58
The first stop for Cain and Harper was Buck’s apartment. They stood vigil while Buck gathered fresh clothing and necessities. He tossed his bag in the backseat of The Rig and climbed in.
“I can’t believe I’m going to jail,” he said.
Harper laughed. “Not as an inmate though. So that’s good.”
“I hope they have a shower. I feel like a swamp rat.”
Harper twisted in the passenger seat and looked back at him. Hair matted with dirt, face drawn and pale. “You sort of look like one, too.”
“It’s my new image. Do you think the girls will like it?”
“No doubt. Makes you a man of mystery, or at least chaos.”
“I’m beginning to feel it might be more the latter. I never figured I’d get into something as crazy as this. The truth is, my life is pretty vanilla.”
“I’ve got to tell you,” Cain said, eyeing him in the rearview mirror. “You did a hell of a job on Dennie Southwell. He looked like any other post-op patient.”
“I gave it my best shot.”
“By yourself?”
“I recruited Jessie and Dalton.”
“They helped?”
“Well, he is Dalton’s brother. But, they were both scared to death.” He chuckled. “It was actually funny. Here I was the hostage, they had the guns, but I was in charge. For that hour or so it took to do the procedure, anyway. They were afraid not to do what I said.”
“An interesting dynamic,” Harper said.
“It was. But brief. Once Dennie was out of the woods, at least mostly, Dalton took control. Complete control.” He caught Cain’s eye in the mirror. “There were times I honestly thought he’d kill me.”
“He would have,” Cain said. “As soon as you got Dennie safely to Memphis.”
“I know. He’s a very dangerous person.”
“We’ve seen worse,” Cain said.
“I can’t imagine.”
“Afghanistan’s full of them,” Harper said. “Guys who’ll kill entire families, sometimes entire villages, if it suits their needs.”
“I’ve read accounts of that.”
“We’ve seen it,” Harper said. “More than a few times.”
“You guys were in the military?”
“Sort of,” Cain said.
“Let’s say we were involved in things that aren’t recorded and no one talks about,” Harper added.
“That sounds sinister.”
“It was.”
“Are you talking about black ops stuff?”
“Dark black,” Harper said.
“That’s why Dalton and his crew aren’t all that scary,” Cain said. “Dangerous. Very dangerous. But, like I said, we’ve seen worse.”
At the PD, Cain and Harper met JT Doyle and Liz Evans, the two officers who would hold down the fort while Cassie and Hack hit the streets. Buck headed to the shower. Cain, Harper, Hack, and Cassie settled in Cassie’s office. She booted her computer and checked her emails, finding several files from Mama B.
They gathered behind her as she opened the info and images. As usual, Mama B proved to be thorough.
First was Dale Harris. A more or less normal looking guy. He wore a smirk in an old booking photo but it seemed more contrived than real. Trying to play tough for the cops. He was twenty-nine, five-ten, 160 with short, cropped, brown hair, almost sleepy eyes, and thin lips that turned down at the corners. His sheet showed the single assault arrest Mama B had alluded to. Dismissed when the victim refused to cooperate. Wonder why?
Chris Navarro, age thirty-two, six-feet, 190, and an angry face. Dark eyes, set hard, challenging. Square jaw, a fuck you attitude. This from a three-year-old mug shot. Short, spiky hair, a webbed neck, and the hint of thick, muscular shoulders. No doubt a gym rat. No doubt a handful if it came to a mano a mano match. Little doubt he committed the murders he walked on.
Lastly, a picture of Dalton Southwell. Also thirty-two, six-two, 190, lean, hard, dark hair pulled back into
