Castoff
part 14

"What do ya' mean, ya' can't arrest Guerra?" Raph asked. "Ya' got the gun that killed Colón and it's got his fingerprints on it. What the hell else do ya' need?"

"It's got his prints but also a lot of others," Casey explained. "Some can be identified, but a couple of them can't. There's no way to put the gun specifically into his hands at the time the trigger was pulled in the killing of Colón."

"That's the trouble with a 'library' gun and one of the reasons gangs use them," April said.

"What can the police do?" Leo asked.

"We can pull Guerra and the other matched print owners in for questioning," Casey answered. "By law we can hold them for up to seventy-two hours without charging them. They won't talk though. The Mala Noche have been well taught on how to listen to questions so they know what evidence the police have and then to say one word. Lawyer."

"Can't the phones prove Guerra was in the park with Colón?" Mikey asked. "The police found her phone and it showed she was in the park at the same time Guerra's phone was in the park."

"You're right, Mikey. The phone records indicate that both their registered phones were in the park," Casey said. "They don't show who was using those phones though. Because Colón used a burner phone, it can't even be proved that she and Guerra ever talked to each other. All the evidence is circumstantial and too easily explained. Without witnesses, we can't even prove a connection between Colón and Guerra."

"Then how do we get him?" Raph asked. "Ya' ain't telling me the asshole is gonna get away with murder are ya'?"

"He might," Casey said. "As bad as that sounds, it happens all too often. It's beginning to look like the only way to get Guerra is if he confesses."

Raph slammed a fist into his open palm. "I'll get him to confess."

Casey shook his head. "Confessions achieved through force aren't admissible," he said. "If only they were."

"You're not giving up, are you?" Don asked. "It will never be safe for Shilo if that man remains free. It won't be safe for anyone who he might think is involved in his baby's disappearance."

"That includes you, Casey," Leo said. "Your confrontation with Guerra told him that you know something about his child."

"It won't matter that you're a police officer," April said, moving closer to Casey. "Monsters like him have no respect for the badge. He'll find out who you are, where you live, which precinct you work out of."

"I can take care of myself," Casey said. "In fact, it would be good if he did come after me. Whatever he says or does, I can testify to. Even if the case is still circumstantial at that point, his utterances can go to prove motive."

"His utterances aren't what worry me," April said. "You can't testify if you're dead."

"Then we'll make sure he don't get dead," Raph said. "We've got your back, Casey."

"Just hold his goons off," Casey said. "Guerra belongs to me."

"In the meantime, I have an assignment and that man is a part of it," April said. "I'm going to try to talk to him alone. Maybe he'll admit something to me or say something incriminating. Almost all of the ones with big egos tend to brag to reporters."

"April . . . ." Casey began.

Holding up her hand, April stopped him. "You have your job and I have mine. He won't do anything to me, I'm too high profile."

"That's an assumption," Casey argued. "People like Guerra will sometimes react without thinking things through."

"I have to go with Casey on this one," Leo said. "From the evidence it appears that he shot Colón in a fit of anger."

"Then I'll just have to make sure he doesn't become angry with me," April said stubbornly. "You guys seem to forget that I faced off with the Shredder."

"And ya' got your ass thrown off a building for your troubles," Raph said.

"I'll interview Guerra on the ground," April retorted. "This is what being a reporter means guys. We go into war torn areas to gather the news. It just so happens that our war torn area is right in the center of the city."

Donatello had been quiet for several minutes. He suddenly asked, "Is the circumstantial evidence you do have enough to get permission to set up surveillance?"

"We could do that ourselves, Donnie," Raph said.

"Not if we want what's recorded to have any legal standing," Don said. "That's the goal isn't it? To put Guerra away for life?"

Casey thought about Don's question for a moment and then slowly nodded. "I can go through Chief Vincent with everything we've obtained so far. Since she'll want to know motive and I can't tell her about Shilo, I can say Guerra lost his temper because he'd found out she was still using. Darla refuses to testify to anything, so I'll have to say I got the information from a confidential informant."

"Do that and let us know what happens," Leo said. "We need to get this situation sorted out because right now we're subdividing our attention and that's dangerous. What remains of the Foot are still out there. We can't give them the opportunity to rebuild."

"Let me see if I can catch Chief Vincent in her office," Casey said. "This is a request that needs to be done in person."

"You can drop me at the news station on the way," April said. "I want to go through our archives and see what we have on the Mala Noche."

"We have Foot soldiers to monitor," Leo said, looking pointedly at Don.

"I have the system set to notify me when any of them start to move," Don said.

"Sounds like our best bet for some action is the Foot," Raph said. "Can't move on Guerra until we've got something to hold him on."

"You can't interview him until he's out of police custody," Casey said, gazing meaningfully at April. "Guess you'll have to settle down to a long wait."

"That's fine by me," April retorted saucily. "It gives me time to gather more ammunition for my questions."

The pair left together, each with a purpose. Once they were gone, the brothers looked at one another.

Leo was the first to speak. "We'll need to keep an eye on both of them."

"We can do that at night, but what about during the day?" Don asked. "We can't follow them wherever they go."

"Can you follow their phones?" Mikey asked.

"I think I'd better," Don said, walking quickly over to his computers.

The tiniest of sounds came from the bassinet. It was similar to the mewling of a kitten and was a good indication that Shilo was beginning to wake up. Don started to detour towards his bassinet, but Mikey beat him to it.

"What's up little guy?" Mikey said, lifting Shilo and cradling him. The next second, Mikey's face scrunched as though assailed by something unpleasant. "Someone needs a fresh diaper. Let's go try out your new changing table."

Don was sitting in front of his computers but his eyes were on Mikey as his brother carried the baby into the bedroom. Leo came over to stand behind him, one hand resting on the back of Don's chair.

"You're very conscious of Shilo, aren't you?" Leo asked.

"I wonder if it's like this for every new parent," Don replied before turning to his keyboard. He paused with his fingers just touching the keys. "The . . . love is unconditional, but it's like the worry is non-stop."

"Allow yourself to share that worry five ways and your portion won't be so difficult to handle," Leo advised.

"Sage advice," Raph said, clapping Leo on his shoulder. "Come spar with me bro'. I'm getting stiff from all this waiting around."

The two left Don to his work. After setting up tracking software on his computer, Don remotely activated the GPS chips in both Casey and April's phones. He made a mental note to tell them later that he'd done that.

A few hours passed with no word from Casey. Darkness had fallen over the city, but the Foot soldiers Don had planted tracking devices on remained stationary.

"How come they ain't moving?" Raph asked, clearly impatient for some action.

"I would say it's because Karai doesn't want to draw attention to her location," Leo said. "The fewer people who come and go, the less likely it will be that someone notices and reports it to the police."

"Then what good did it do to stick trackers on them in the first place?" Raph demanded.

"Because they will start moving as soon as Bebop and Rocksteady's food supply runs low," Leo said. "The only thing the Foot clan seems to be doing is just sustaining themselves and waiting."

"For what?" Mikey asked.

"For the Shredder to return," Leo said. "If Stockman's with them, he may be working on or already found a way to communicate with Saki."

"If he's in communication with Shredder, then it could mean that Stockman is working with Krang to develop a way for the both of them to come back here," Don said. "That would be bad, very, very bad."

"No shit, Sherlock," Raph said. "We need to nip that in the bud."

"As soon as we locate where they're holed up, we will," Leo promised.

"You know what we need," Don said, lifting a finger the way he did when he had an idea. "We need one really nondescript vehicle. The Foot know the turtle van and the garbage truck."

"We've got that truck and car that Casey bought at auction," Mikey said.

Don shook his head. "Those aren't big enough. I'm thinking something along the lines of a plain white cargo van. See, we could order online several of those magnetic signs with different company names and slap them on the van to disguise it."

"Ooh, I get to come up with the names," Mikey said quickly.

"I like that idea," Leo said. "Why don't we work on the two vehicles that Casey already brought us so he that can sell them? That money could be used to buy a van."

"It doesn't look like we're gonna have anything else to do for a while," Raph said, grabbing hold of Mikey's mask tails. "Come on, let's get busy. That car transmission ought to be easy enough to fix."

"Dad's watching Shilo," Leo told Don. "We can tackle the truck while they're working on the car."

"Sounds good," Don said. He typed in a series of commands on his keyboard and got up. "If anyone moves, whether it's the Foot or Casey and April, I'll be notified."

An hour later Casey called to let them know that Guerra and several other members of the Mala Noche had been picked up. Just as he'd predicted, they refused to speak.

Don put him on speaker. "The case detectives did all the questioning," Casey said. "Guerra spotted me and wanted to know who I was. They told him because they thought he might be willing to talk to me. I had a go at him, but all he did was grin and tell me he'd catch me later."

"Now you've got a target on your back," Raph said. "He knows exactly who ya' are."

"It's a matter of pride for him now," Casey said. "He made that promise which means he has to come after me himself or lose his street cred. That's his first big mistake because this means the only one I have to watch out for is Guerra."

"I hope you're right," Raph said, his tone dubious.

"The other thing I wanted to tell you is that the circumstantial evidence was enough to get a judge to sign off on a subpoena allowing twenty-four hour surveillance. Chief Vincent's personal assistant Detective Jade Young is handling it so that we can keep this thing compartmentalized to only the officers who already know about you guys," Casey said.

"Where are you?" Leo asked.

"At the station about to head home and get some shut-eye," Casey said. "Any news on the Bebop and Rocksteady front?"

"There's no movement," Don said, "not even from the Foot soldiers I planted those tracking devices on."

"Not sure I like the sound of that," Casey said. "I'll swing by tomorrow. Yell if anything comes up. I'll have my phone right next to the bed."

Awhile later Donatello left Raph to supervise the work on the two vehicles so that he could spend time with Shilo. The baby turtle began to coo and gurgle as soon as Don picked him up.

"He recognizes you," Master Splinter said. "Shilo knows that you are his primary caregiver."

"I'm Daddy," Don said, sitting down so he could lean in close to Shilo. "Da~ddy."

One tiny hand suddenly darted upwards to snatch Don's glasses off his face. Only a quick movement by Master Splinter kept the eyewear from hitting the floor.

"Did you see that, Dad?" Don asked, retrieving his glasses from his father. "Did you see how fast he was? That coordination?"

"Yes, yes my son, I did see it. You had best take care in the future or your child will render you sightless," Master Splinter said with a great deal of humor.

"Is that normal?" Don asked. "He seems too young to be quite that dexterous."

"The four of you were capable of that and more at his age," Master Splinter said. "I believe the mutagen was designed to promote advanced physical development." He chuckled. "You will have your hands full."

"I am more than okay with that," Don said as he put his glasses back on. Addressing Shilo directly, he added, "No more getting close to those quick hands for Daddy."

"You mean 'Mommy'," Mikey said, popping up behind his brother.

Don shot a dirty look in his direction. "What did I tell you?"

"What's this about quick hands?" Mikey asked, ignoring the warning in Don's voice.

Master Splinter described what had happened and Mikey whistled. "He's gonna be an awesome little ninja. Takes after his favorite uncle."

"You should attempt to get him accustomed to some sort of schedule," Master Splinter said. "I know that you and your brothers no longer have one, but when you were little the only way I could get any rest was to have a set bedtime for the four of you."

"We're usually turning in during the early morning hours," Don said. "I should try to keep him up from about now until around three a.m."

"Do not force it or you will have a cranky baby," Master Splinter advised. "Overstimulating him is not advised."

Shilo's head began turning from side to side, his mouth opening and closing. "He's hungry," Don said. "Mikey, could . . . ."

"I'll get his bottle," Mikey said before Don could complete the request.

They managed to keep Shilo entertained for a couple of hours before he grew too tired to stay awake. By then the brothers had all been working on the vehicle repairs for most of the night and they all agreed to turn in.

It was Shilo's first night in his new crib. Donatello felt a certain amount of anxiety at having the baby beyond his arms' reach, but knew that Shilo needed to get used to the new sleeping arrangement before he outgrew the bassinet.

That anxiety carried over into Don's dreams. In one of them, he had just come from a warm shower, a towel wrapped around him as he stepped out into the lair. Directly in front of him was a slightly larger Shilo, sitting up and playing with blocks.

Standing next to the child was Leonardo, his mask turned to the side to render him sightless. Leo's swords flashed through the air just above little Shilo's head as the turtle leader practiced against imaginary foes.

Don woke with a jerk, sitting up so quickly he almost tumbled out of bed. All was silent as he padded across the room to check on Shilo, who was sleeping soundly.

A quick glance around showed him that his brothers were also sleeping. Double checking Shilo again, he walked back to his bed and sat on the edge.

Once more his eyes turned towards Leo and then drifted up to the sword collection mounted on the wall above his bed.

Don decided he really needed to have a talk with Leo about baby safety.

TBC…..