Becoming Quinn

it.”

“What do you mean, ‘did’?”

“Got stolen last night.”

Jake’s mouth went dry. “Are you serious?”

“Officer, I don’t have time to jerk you around.”

“Sorry.” Jake paused. “I might come by…just to take a look around.”

“Sure. What’s one more?”

“Thanks.”

It wasn’t until Jake hung up that the last thing the man said struck him as odd. But when he pulled into the impound parking lot, he saw what the man had meant. Parked up front were three patrol cars. If they had been from the same substation as his, Jake would have pulled right back out of the lot, but they weren’t, so the chances of him knowing any of the officers were slim.

Still, as he walked up to the office, he formulated a story he could use in case he ran into anyone he knew. He kept it simple — a friend’s missing car that he offered to check on. The fact that these lies were coming more and more easily was something he tried not to think about. Thankfully, when he stepped inside, he saw the lie would be unnecessary. Though there were three officers in the room, none were familiar.

He walked over to the counter far from the others. After a few moments, one of the men on the other side came over.

“Help you?”

“I called a little while ago,” Jake said. “About the BMW that’s apparently missing.”

“You with the police?” the man asked.

“I am, but I’m not here about the theft.”

The man gave him a questioning look.

“My interest is in the car itself,” Jake explained. “I wasn’t aware it had been taken until I called.”

“Well…it’s, uh, not here now. Obviously.”

“Of course, not. I’m just wondering if I could take a look at where it was. I’m not going to get in the other officers’ way. It’s a separate case, so I don’t want to disturb them. Would that be possible?”

“How is looking around where it was parked going to help you?”

“I’m sure you understand, I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of the case,” Jake said, quoting countless cop shows he’d seen on TV.

The man nodded. This was an answer he could understand. “Back this way.” He took Jake over to a door at the back of the building and opened it for him. “You want me to show you where?”

“Just point me in the right direction.”

“Third row back. You’ll see it when you get there. It’s the empty spot.”

“Thanks,” Jake said, then walked off.

He had no idea what he hoped to find, but this was where Berit had been planning on coming. Had she actually made it here? His guess was yes. He would even be willing to bet the reason the car was gone had something to do with her.

As he approached the third row, he saw a couple officers stringing police tape around an empty parking space, and knew that was where the BMW had been. Like with the officers in the office, he didn’t recognize them.

Don’t think about it. Just do it, he told himself, then turned down the aisle before he could talk himself out of it.

As he neared the empty spot, the two officers looked at him. Instead of avoiding their gaze, he smiled and walked over.

“I hear someone made off with one of the cars,” he said.

The older of the two took a step forward. “Can I help you?”

“I’m on the force, too.” He held out his hand and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, said, “I’m Davies.”

The older cop shook his hand. “Halen.”

His partner nodded at Jake. “Alvarez.”

Jake shook his hand, too. “I came by to check on a vehicle involved in a hit and run, and the guy inside told me there was a little excitement here last night.”

“Apparently,” Halen said.

“They just take the one car?” Jake asked. It was a rational question, one that any curious cop would ask, but one he thought he already knew the answer, too. He was wrong.

“It was the only one they took. They set another car on fire back there.” Halen looked over his shoulder, further into the lot.

For the first time, Jake noticed several other cops gathered a couple rows back. “Burned? Why would they burn one and take another?”

Halen shrugged. “Who knows? We think it was one of the gangs. Maybe an initiation. They certainly knew what they were doing. Disabled the security cameras and knocked out the guards first. Organized, know what I mean?”

“Gang, for sure,” Alvarez said. “I’ll bet the missing car was stuffed with coke.”

His partner nodded in agreement.

Just then, a voice came over their radio. “Halen, Alvarez. You done?”

Halen glanced at his and Alvarez’s handiwork. Tape not only encircled the slot the BMW had been in, but also one car to either side and the three straight back in the row that butted up against them.

He keyed his mic. “Yes, sir.”

“Then I need one of you over here,” the voice ordered.

Halen and Alvarez exchanged a look, each asking the other what they wanted to do.

“I’ll go,” Halen said.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Alvarez said.

As Halen started to walk off, Jake said, “Take it easy.”

“Yeah, you, too,” Halen replied.

Jake then gave Alvarez a nod goodbye. “Nice meeting you.”

“Good luck with your case,” Alvarez said.

Jake turned and started to amble off the way he’d come.

What the hell had gone on here last night? The BMW stolen and a car fire? He had the sudden urge to find out what kind of car the one that had burned was. Had it been involved in the events out on Goodman Ranch Road, too?

He paused in the aisle, and silently admonished himself. You need to forget about the murder and the fire. You need to forget about all of that. You’re only here to try to find out where Berit is. That’s it.

But it really wasn’t. Berit and the BMW, it all tied back to the murder and the fire. That’s why she was coming out here. He looked back toward the slot now surrounded by yellow tape, but the void it created in the row of cars gave him no new information.

As he started to turn back around, he paused. There was something under a Cadillac parked two spaces away from where the BMW had been. It was lying against the front tire, hidden mostly behind it.

He checked Alvarez. The officer had moved to the back of the empty slot, his attention now on the group at the burnt-out car. Jake stepped over to the Cadillac, then, keeping his movements even and smooth, he lowered himself into a crouch next to the fender. The item by the tire was a rectangular piece of black plastic. His initial thought was that it was something that must have fallen off the engine. But as he pulled it out from the shadows of the car, he realized it was a phone.

Still in a crouch, he pressed one of the phone’s buttons. The screen came to life, the battery gauge showing that it was half full. There was nothing on it to indicate ownership, so Jake accessed the menu to see if there was any information there. He was given a list of choices, and while his inclination was to try and determine the phone’s number, he selected the line for previous calls.

He stared at the new screen in disbelief. There were seven missed calls. Every single one of them was from