Chapter 8 - Break in the case
The next morning a buttoned up Detective Carter appeared in the reception area of Mercer Trucking. The receptionist's eyes opened wide when an NYPD Detective's badge was politely, but firmly shoved under her nose. She reached for the button to call Mr. Mercer with a shaking hand, while the good detective looked on with a rather predatory smile.
"I do love to watch a professional work," Shaw remarked from their vantage point on top of the empty warehouse next door. She and John watched the drama unfold on the laptop in front of them via the cameras John had planted on their prior visit. "That receptionist nearly peed herself. Betcha it will be awhile before she's that rude to anyone again."
John made a non-committal grunt. He was not happy about Joss facing down and goading a killer alone. While he had no doubts about her abilities, his protective Alpha Wolf was never crazy about the idea of his mate coming into contact with dangerous people.
Shaw raised an eyebrow. "Oh chill out, Alpha. She'll be fine. The only two people in the city she can't take down by herself are me and you. And I'm not so sure about you…"
John shot his diminutive partner a dirty look and returned his attention to the screen in front of them. He tapped a couple of buttons and changed the feed from the camera in the reception area to the camera in Mercer's office.
Shaw rolled her eyes and decided to give up. Whenever Joss went into these types of situations John was impossible to deal with until Joss was done and safe.
"So detective, how I can you help you? Amelia says this is about Jack, but I understood the case was closed when the Mafia guy was killed." Mercer was polite but business-like. The jovial man that Reese and Shaw had met earlier was gone.
Joss gave the man her best professional face. "You may remember that Detective Tierney was the detective on the case for your brother's murder. You may also remember that Tierney was later found to be a member of a corrupt group of cops called HR."
Mercer shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "I don't read the papers a lot."
Joss gave him a bland stare. While this man was not Wolf and she could not use her Wolf sense to confirm that he was lying, she'd had plenty of training and experience in reading body language. This man was lying like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Careful to keep her face neutral, Joss continued. "Because Tierney was found to be corrupt, we are reviewing some of his past cases, and your brother's murder caught my eye."
Mercer swallowed. "How so?" he asked with exaggerated innocence.
Joss opened the file and pretended to sift through its contents. "Well, for starters, it says here that your brother was killed by the Mob. Don Moretti's organization to be exact."
Mercer nodded. "They were trying to muscle in on our business. They wanted our trucks to carry stolen goods. Jack told 'em to take a hike."
Joss pursed her lips. "There is one problem with that story, though. This business is in what was Don Zambrano's territory at the time, not Moretti's. Your company is rather small and I strongly doubt Moretti would have risked a Mob war for it." She stared at Mercer, her face composed, patiently waiting for his answer. She let the silence hang in the air between them.
Joss managed to avoid looking pleased when sweat suddenly appeared on Mercer's brow. Mercer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I…I don't know what to say, Detective. I didn't talk to the guy who showed up here, Jack spoke to him. I only heard about it from Jack later, maybe he got confused? Maybe it was a Zambrano guy who threatened Jack?"
Joss raised an eyebrow. "Someone is certainly confused, Mr. Mercer. Your brother's murder doesn't follow the usual pattern of a mob hit." Again Joss stared at Mercer, coolly awaiting a response.
Joss watched in triumph as a bead of sweat made its way down Mercer's temple. There were days when she loved this job. "Do you know anyone who would have wanted to kill your brother? I think we can safely rule out the mob at this point."
Mercer shook his head. "I can't think of anyone. Jack didn't have any enemies that I know of."
"May I speak with your office staff? Perhaps one of them can..."
Mercer cut her off. "None of the staff have been here that long. After Jack died I decided to clean house."
"Interesting," Joss deadpanned. "No matter. I'm sure I can find your old staff without a problem." She passed over a business card. "If you think of anything, please call me."
John and Sam watched while Joss got up to leave. As soon as she turned her back, Mercer tossed her card into the trash and stared daggers at her back as she left the room. John growled deep in his throat was he watched the ugly expression of hate directed at his mate.
Shaw placed a restraining hand on his knee. "Down boy. She shook him up good. Now let's see what he does."
John and Shaw watched as Mercer began to pace his office restlessly, apparently deep in thought. He ran his hand through his hair several times, and at one point slammed his hand down on his desk.
Shaw grinned. "Yup, she shook him up alright."
Finally, Mercer took out his cell phone and rapidly dialed a number. "Come on, pick up," he growled as the phone rang on the other end. After several rings a man with a heavy accent picked up the call.
"Yes?"
Mercer breathed an audible sigh of relief. "We have a problem, the police were just here."
"Why is that a problem?"
"They don't think Jack was killed by the mob anymore."
There was a pause. "Do they suspect you?"
Mercer ran his hands through his hair one more time. "They always suspect the family until proven otherwise."
"That is unfortunate. You'll have to suspend operations for a while."
"No shit," Mercer snarled.
"Now Mr. Mercer, do not panic. If the police had any proof, you would have been arrested already. You just need to, as you say, lay low for a while."
Mercer blew out a breath. "You're probably right. But we should move the goods tonight."
"Agreed. We will meet in the usual place and at the usual time. Take precautions that you are not followed. Then we will not contact each other for six months."
"Alright, see you tonight."
Shaw frowned. "I can't quite place the accent of that other guy. It sounds Asian."
John didn't look up from the laptop to answer. "Vietnamese."
Shaw pursed her lips. "The Born to Kill gang**?"
"They're trying to make a comeback from what I understand. Elias has run into some trouble with them recently."
Shaw grunted. "One mystery solved. Now we just have to figure why Mercer is paling around with BTK and what the 'goods' are. Simple, right?"
John growled deep in his chest.
After she left Mercer Trucking, Joss turned her car towards the airport to pick up Fusco. As she pulled up to the curb, she saw him waiting patiently with his suitcase in all his grumpy glory and she had to smile. He had only been gone around 48 hours, but she had missed him. It just wasn't the 8th precinct anymore unless his ugly mug was sitting across from her in the bullpen. He was the best, most trustworthy partner she had ever had on the force and she considered him part of her family. He was more than just her partner, or her pack mate, he was her brother.
She guided the car to the curb and Fusco pitched his suitcase in the backseat before sliding into the passenger seat. Joss pulled smoothly from the curb and back into the traffic, heading for the precinct.
"How was Kansas?" she asked.
"New York may be dirty, rude, crime-ridden, and smell like piss, but it has Garrick beat," Fusco snapped. "If there were any cliffs in Kansas I woulda thrown myself off one."
Joss laughed. "Easy to see why Lacey was lured away, huh?"
"You have no idea, partner." Fusco sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "She was easy pickings. Hell, I would have thumbed a ride with a human trafficker to get out of there, too."
As Joss drove, Fusco described the town of Garrick and the truck stop where lacey McNair was last seen alive. They reached the precinct and went into a conference room to continue to discuss the case. Fusco described his visit with the sheriff, Lacey's mother, and Agent Norton. Joss, as per her usual manner, thoroughly questioned Fusco on all the details.
Afterwards, they took a break to go for dinner. As they ate, Joss idly flipped through the file that Fusco had brought back from Kansas courtesy of Sheriff Burrell. Suddenly, she froze as she reached the security camera pictures from the truck stop.
"Lionel, I know who this is!" she hissed. "This is Jason Mercer!"
Lionel stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Wait, you mean to tell me that Mr. and Miss Sunshine's number is our perp? He's TigerTrucker?"
Joss nodded. "He has a tattoo of a tiger on his forearm. I saw it when I was questioning him this morning."
Fusco lost no time in hoisting himself out of the booth where they had been sitting. "I'll get the bill, you call Alpha."
At the same time Joss and Lionel were having dinner, John and Sam were breaking into Mercer Trucking to put a GPS locator on the big white truck that sat in the garage. As Shaw planted the locator under the dash in the truck cab, John opened up the only trailer in the yard.
"This doesn't make sense, Shaw," John growled. "It's empty."
"What? Then how is Mercer going to move his whatever-it -is?" Shaw rapidly checked over the cab and sleeper compartment of the truck. "Nothing in here either, unless you count several dozen petrified French fries. Somehow, I don't think that's the merchandise Mercer is moving tonight."
John growled in frustration. "Whatever Mercer is turning over to the BTK tonight, he's not using the truck to do it. We better find him." John tapped his ear piece. "Finch I need you to track Jason Mercer's Lexus for me."
"Of course Mr. Reese," Finch replied. John and Sam waited as they heard typing.
"Thant's odd," Finch said after a few minutes. "Mr. Mercer appears to be heading out of town towards Long Island."
John frowned. "Does he own any property out there?"
John heard the sounds as of typing as Finch checked property records. "Not that I can find…wait, he does own a boat docked at a marina in Montauk."
Joss's voice interrupted him. "John, I know what Mercer has been dealing in. It's people! Mercer is the man who kidnapped Lacey McNair."
John and Shaw stared at each for a few seconds as the sickening realization hit them. Mercer was a human trafficker dealing in Wolves and he was about to transfer a boatload of young woman into the hell of forced prostitution.
John and Shaw ran for their car.
"Joss," John's voice came through the earpiece. "Mercer has a boat in Montauk. We think he's going to turn over some girls to the Born to Kill gang tonight."
Joss spun the wheel and Fusco braced himself as the car squealed around a corner. "We're on our way. Meet you there."
**Born to Kill is a real gang whose heyday was in the 90s. They were considered one of the most violent and notorious gangs ever in New York. Law enforcement dealt them a huge blow when they arrested and convicted their founder and other top men in the organization, but the gang is still active.
