“Thank you. That would be wonderful.” She handed the woman her debit card, which the cashier swiped and handed back to her.
“No worries. Pull up to the next window.” The woman shut her drive-through window and lowered her mic, taking the next order.
Brie collected her order and a large cup of ice. She’d eat at the hospital with Ryker instead of on the way. In the meantime, she pressed the thin cardboard against her cheek and prayed the ice held the swelling at bay.
“Hey, Cap.” At Brody’s greeting, Ryker opened his eyes. Damn, he’d fallen asleep again, hadn’t he?
“Hey.” He cleared his throat and glanced at the clock on the wall in his room. “Shit, those pain pills really kick my ass.”
“Well, yeah. That and, you know, major blood loss and surgery.” Brody grabbed one of the plastic chairs, spun it, and straddled it, his arms folded across the top of the chair. “I went to visit Mrs. Thorn this morning. She’s quite the character. Makes damn good cookies.” Brody smiled at him. “I had a bag full.” He reached in his pocket and produced a baggie with crumbs in it. “Didn’t quite make it here.”
“You’re an ass.” Ryker chuckled and hit the button on his bed to sit up higher.
“Yeah, but I’m a damn good detective.” Brody arched an eyebrow.
Ryker stilled. “What did you find?”
“That SUV parked down the street. Three days in a row. It was on the far side of her camera, parked down by the row of townhomes. They watched you come home. After you went into the house, they drove forward. Two men. The footage is too grainy to get an ID without tech enhancing it. They parked directly in front of Mrs. Thorn’s home and watched your house for about a half-hour, then they left.”
“You watched the entire feed? They didn’t come back later?”
Brody drew a breath. “You’re worried they saw Brie come to your house after closing the restaurant?”
He nodded. Worried? Damn it, it terrified him. Protecting the woman he loved was the only thing that mattered.
“So was I. I watched that video three times. They showed up about the time you left the precinct and headed home.” Brody rubbed his face. “Which means they were watching you and knew when you left work.”
“I’m assuming you’re pulling the feed for the precinct cameras?” Fucking hell, how had he not seen someone observing him?
“That’s where the lieutenant is right now. Oh, and by the way, the commissioner’s office announced the realignment of the JDET team during the morning media call. Seems we are out from under Fenton for good. And that is a good thing because after Brianna called him a dickless wonder, I don’t think I could keep a straight face while talking to him.”
Ryker chuckled. “She’s a firecracker.”
“Always has been.” Brody cleared his throat. “She’s my sister, Cap. Don’t hurt her.”
Ryker stared at his sergeant, and yes, his friend. “I’d kill myself before I purposely hurt her.”
Brody stared at him for a second before he dipped his chin.
Ryker blinked back his emotion and searched for a less emotional topic. “Did you get a plate from the video?”
“I did. You’d be proud of me. I gave the video and the plate number to Callaway and Forsythe.” Brody shrugged. “After I ran the plate, of course.”
“Of course.” Ryker shifted his arm to ease the tension in his shoulder. “Stolen?”
“Yep. Reported stolen last month,” Brody confirmed his suspicion.
“Dead end.” Ryker sighed. “It all comes back to Mouse, doesn’t it?”
“I think so. We need to talk to Mouse.”
Ryker shook his head. “She’ll only talk to me, and she’s in lockdown right now. Rehab.”
“Well, that gives us some time. Forsythe told me they found Alice face down in the Cascade River. According to the report, she’d been floating for a couple days. It wasn’t pretty. Even after being fish food, he said the coroner could tell they did a hell of a job on the poor girl.” Brody shuddered. “I don’t see how Brock can do that shit.”
“You learn to separate yourself from it.” Working for the living, not the dead. There was literally nothing he could do for a decedent, but he’d worked damn hard to find a murderer, and in doing so find closure for the family.
“Damn, that’s right. You worked Homicide for a couple years, right?” Brody rubbed his chin.
“Seven years, until I promoted myself out of it. I called in favors to get Mouse to a rehab center in New York. I’ll call and set up an appointment to go see her.”
“You going to be up for that?” Brody nodded at his shoulder.
“I’ll let someone else drive. I don’t want to wait any longer. Mouse knows something, even if she doesn’t know she knows it.” He stared out the window at the brilliant blue sky.
Brody nodded. “Why would Peña act against a high ranking HCPD officer? He has to believe you have something of his.”
Ryker swung his eyes toward Brody. “Mouse.”
“What?”
“What if he thinks Mouse is his?”
“Cap, Mouse was a pro, right?”
He nodded. “But she said something. She said she and others were party favors, that’s how she knew Peña and Rubio. What if Peña or Rubio decided Mouse was the flavor of the year?”
Brody nodded his head. “That would do it. If either of them is looking for what they consider their property and they thought you had Mouse, they’d steamroll you to make a point.”
“Don’t mess with cartel property.” Fuck, Mouse was terrified. If she’d been claimed as property, there was no telling the shit she’d endured. It was a miracle she’d escaped.
“She’s probably heard and seen a lot more than what she admitted.” Brody rubbed the back of his neck.
He nodded. “Yeah.” He unlocked his phone and scrolled down through his call log until he found the New York number he needed and called it.
“Springside Rehabilitation Clinic, this is Andie.”
“This is Captain Ryker Terrell,
