Chapter 43:
"SID didn't find any evidence of forced entry. It's obvious that the victim knew his attackers," Sykes reported to Sharon when she came in the murder room, after visiting the morgue with Tao.
"Really, Sykes, what an insight," Provenza said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. Flynn and Sanchez smiled tiredly.
"Thank you, Detective. Could you please get DDA Hobbs here?" Sharon said nicely, ignoring Provenza's words. Sykes nodded and picked up the phone to do as asked.
"Captain, what did Morales say?" Flynn asked.
"Uh…" Sharon stared at him. It suddenly hit her that it could have been him who got shot outside that coffee shop, and her heart started beating fast. "I…"
"He extracted three bullets from the victim's chest and stomach," Tao said. "There were no defensive wounds on the body, so the shooter probably took him by surprise."
Sharon nodded absent-mindedly, since she was only half-listening.
"Captain…" Provenza approached her. "Are you sure you can do this? We can take it," he asked quietly, and his voice sounded strangely gentle.
"I'm fine, thank you," she frowned.
"Uh, Captain, we questioned all the tenants on the fifth floor. No one heard gunshots," Sanchez said in his usual quiet voice.
Sharon nodded again. "Okay, so the attackers were let in the apartment, suddenly pulled a gun out -"
"With a silencer," Sanchez interrupted her.
"Yes. They shot him three times and apparently took nothing, leaving no evidence behind," she continued to summarize.
"Definitely sounds like a hit," Tao said from his desk. "But why? Why kill one of their own?"
"Maybe another crime boss didn't like the cartel taking over his streets?" Provenza suggested.
"Maybe…" Sharon muttered. "But I think it's an inside war. Hernandez said that they got a call ordering them to kill Richard."
"So maybe Charlie double crossed his bosses and worked for someone else," Flynn said, hoping that this time Sharon could speak to him like a normal human being, without losing her line of thought.
"We can try and get him to talk by telling him we got a deal for his brother, but from what Lionel said, I think Charlie is planning a long career in the cartel, so I wouldn't go for a double cross," Sharon said without looking directly at him and he rolled his eyes.
The phone on Tao's desk rang and he answered quickly, just as Sykes finished her call and announced that Hobbs will be there shortly. Tao got on his feet and froze when Sharon turned her head to him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"No, uh… Dr. Morales is waiting for the tox screen results, and once he confirms the victim didn't have any drugs in his system…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "He'll release the... body."
The faces of everyone in the room turned to look at Sharon with interest.
"Oh…" she straightened her jacket and tried to smile, "Thank you. I will let his mother know." Everyone exchanged wondering looks, as they all thought that Sharon will be the one organizing the funeral. She looked around the room and examined their faces. "What?"
They all looked away quickly, some muttering the word 'nothing', but she knew that they were wondering what happened between Richard and her.
(***)
An hour later, Sharon was back in the interview room, this time with Hobbs. Across the table sat Lionel Hernandez and his public defender, Paul Stern, who arrived a few minutes earlier. The whole squad was watching from electronics with agents Howard and Blackburn.
"What do you have to offer?" Stern asked, looking at Hobbs.
"Depends on the information he gives us. I can get him immunity if it's good enough to bring the cartel down," she answered.
Stern leaned towards Lionel and whispered something in his ear. They whispered back and forth for a few seconds, and Sharon looked at Hobbs, rolling her eyes. Hobbs smiled for a moment and turned her head to look again at Stern and Lionel.
"Well?" she asked impatiently, tapping her fingers quietly on the edge of the table.
"Fine, he'll tell you everything he knows in exchange for immunity," Stern said and they all looked at Lionel, who looked hesitantly at Stern and saw he was nodding at him to start talking.
