Chapter 15

"Thanks again for everything," Kate Fitz called. I gave her a wave. Then she followed the officer through the door into the bowels of the cop shop. Off to get rebooked.

Robin raised an eyebrow at me while she wrote out my body receipt. Yeah, tell me about it. If only all the skips I brought in were that pleasant.

With my fresh body receipt in hand, I exited the building with Tank hot on my heels. Ever the vigilant watchdog. We climbed up into his SUV and he turned over the engine while I dug out my cell phone and called Connie.

"I know, I know," she answered. "I got held up, but I'm on my way."

"They're booking Kate now," I said. "You've got about twenty more minutes before she'll be ready to rebonded anyway."

"My last interviewee today just would not. Stop. Talking," Connie griped. "Are you sure you need to leave? Because trying to replace you is becoming a real pain in my ass."

I hesitated, and Connie pounced.

"Ohmigod. You're not, are you? Are you having second thoughts? Ohmigod, please say you are. I'll buy extra Boston Cremes from here on out, I swear. Just please say that you'll stay. Put me out of my misery."

"What else has come in?" I asked. It wasn't like I was making any commitments, I told myself. I was just curious. That was all.

"We've got a couple new assaults, a DUI, and a shoplifter. If you want some extra fun money, I can bring you the DUI. Should be an easy $100."

Some extra fun money did sound pretty nice. Especially since I was planning on buying that new pair of jeans at Dougie's flash sale, and that would set me back a bit in my grocery and donut budget. Plus, it might make me feel better about the lack of progress on the new job front.

Connie pushed forward, sensing that I was cracking. "$100 is a pretty damn nice pair of shoes."

I sighed. "Fine. Bring me the DUI."

Connie's response was muffled, but I could imagine she was pumping her fist in the air. "I'll be there in ten."

I hung up and looked at Tank. "We're going to wait for Connie."

He nodded, put the car back in park, and left the engine running. It wasn't that we didn't care about the ozone, but sitting in a parked car without AC at this time of year was just not done in Jersey.

The ten minutes passed in mind-numbing silence. I was almost becoming used to it. The first half of the day had been spent bumming around the Newark house while Ranger was holed up in his office, working his professional networks. Occasionally I heard the low murmur of his voice through the walls while he was on secure calls. Tank had arrived to pick me up in the early afternoon, as planned.

I used to think that Ranger was quiet while he was driving. That just goes to prove that I hadn't spent much time in a car with Tank. The 68 minutes between Ranger's Newark house and Kate Fitz's place were a whole new level of boredom. Made me wish I'd brought one of the military training manuals to keep my mind occupied. There was one on freefall parachuting that I was looking forward to.

Jeez. Probably I should've picked up a magazine or something when we were at the bookstore yesterday.

True to her word, Connie pulled in to the police station lot eleven minutes later. I rolled down my window and she handed me a stack of files.

She responded to my raised eyebrows with a palms up gesture. "Hey, no pressure. I just figured, you know, it couldn't hurt to have the files on you in case you run into one of the assault guys at Giovichinni's or something."

"I'm not committing to anything."

"Of course not." Her tone was placating, but I decided to ignore it.

Connie went into the station to start working on rebonding Kate Fitz. Tank and I motored off to our next stop, which was to pick up Lula. We were going to be fashionably late to the flash sale. That was fine. I'd already texted Dougie and asked him to set that pair of jeans aside for me, so I wasn't too worried.

We pulled up in front of Lula's house, and within five seconds she was out the door and hustling toward us. The hustling part couldn't have been easy in her strappy, three-inch-stiletto Via Spigas, but Lula made it work. She hoisted herself up into the backseat of the SUV, simultaneously tugging down on the hot pink mini skirt that had ridden up in the process.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," she huffed. "Let's get outta here. Step on it."

I peered over the back of my seat to look at her. "What's up?"

"Some good-for-nothings been driving past my house for the past couple hours," Lula said. "At first I thought, okay, so I picked up some admirers. It happens. But after like the third time, it was starting to get annoying. You're either gonna come chat me up, or you're not, right? I don't got all day to wait around. And then on the last pass a few minutes ago, one of 'em leans out his window and eyes me all menacing like, and he does the finger gun thing, like he's sighting on me. And that's about when I decided, enough is enough, and I pull out my gun."

I squinched my eyes shut and banged my forehead against the back of my seat.

"But I just had a manicure, and I didn't want to ruin it, so I was being careful. I guess I was too slow, because he got a shot off before I did. He freaking shot my window! So now I'm real mad, right, and I storm down the stairs and am about to tell him he needs to pay for that window, but before I'm even out the door I hear tires squealing, and he's gone."

"Which direction?" Tank demanded. "How long ago was this?"

"This all happened about a minute before you pulled up. I didn't see where they went, on account of I was inside on the stairs."

"Who were they?" I asked. "Did you recognize them?"

"Nu-uh. No clue."

"Were they wearing colors?" Tank asked.

I looked at him and then back to Lula, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah, they were gangers," Lula said. "One of 'em was wearing a ugly red bandana."

Red meant Los Reyes. Shit.

"Probably followed her from the bonds office," Tank muttered. He was choking the steering wheel so hard that I actually lay a hand on his forearm, encouraging him to let up. I worried he'd break something.

"Had you noticed anyone following you before today?" I asked.

"Nope. Didn't notice anyone this morning, either. Just this afternoon when I came home and was gettin' ready for you to come pick me up."

Tank and I exchanged glances, and Lula gave a huff from the backseat.

"What's with the look? You know something? You know who they are?"

"Maybe," I hedged.

"This have anything to do with why you've been laying low and not coming into the office, staying holed up with Batman someplace?"

"Maybe," I said again.

"So you gonna tell me, or what?"

I sighed. "Suffice it to say, they're not good guys, and neither are their intentions."

"Does this also have anything to do with last week when we were prowlin' around upper Stark?" she asked. "I think I remember some ugly red bandana-wearing dudes when we were asking around about that chick who didn't know a cop from a dealer."

"Yep. They're looking for her, too. And they think I'll lead them to her. And now, apparently, they think you'll lead them to her."

"Or at least to you," Lula guessed.

What a mess. "It might be a good idea for you to lay low for a few days. They obviously know where you live now, too. Do you have anywhere else you can stay?"

"She'll stay with me," Tank announced.

Lula looked surprised, but pleasantly so. "Sure. I guess I could do that."

He met her eyes briefly in the rearview mirror, and I swear I caught a ghost of a smile.

With that settled, I dug out my phone again and called Connie. I cautioned that she may notice some guys taking an interest in her, and if that happened, she should maybe get her cousin Arnie the Asshole to escort her to and from the office for the next few days. I also suggested that she make sure her Beretta was loaded and easily accessible.

"Being stalked is sort of exciting, but also sort of stressful," Lula said when I'd hung up. "I'm glad we're on our way to a sale, because I feel a need to shop. I need a new purse. And maybe some new shoes."

"You just bought a new purse when we saw Dougie last week," I pointed out.

"Yeah, and I had my eye on a couple more, and I'm still thinking about them. That's how I know if I really want something. If I don't buy it, but I still want it a couple days later, then that must mean I really want it."

There were at least a dozen cars parked at the Store-N-Save, which was about a dozen more than their parking lot usually saw on a Saturday afternoon. We all piled out of the SUV and followed a trail of handmade signs pointing us in the direction of the flash sale.

We turned a corner and found it. The doors were wide open on two storage garages, and both were packed with merchandise. Pallets sat like islands in the middle of the asphalt. Dougie and Lenny had also brought in a couple of rolling clothes racks to better display some of their wares.

I spotted Lenny manning a card table that served as a makeshift cash register. He had a line of three customers waiting to pay for their armfuls of merchandise. Dougie was chatting up a young guy who seemed to be considering one of the gaming systems. Other customers milled about, mulling various purchases.

"Oooh, I see rhinestones," Lula breathed. And she was off.

"Which one is your skip?" Tank asked.

I pointed toward Lenny. He looked up from his work and paled a bit when his gaze met mine. His eyes went wide. To his credit, he didn't let that stop him from ringing up Mr. Brand, whom I'd had for ninth grade history, for his toaster oven and frozen chicken breasts.

Dougie spotted me at the same time and waved. He spoke a few more words to the young guy, and then ambled over. "You made it! That's so rad."

"Yep. It looks like you've got a decent crowd so far."

"It's all thanks to Lenny's marketing, man. The guy's really been a lifesaver."

"What time do you think you'll close up shop for today?"

"If things keep going like this, about another hour," Dougie said. "We might be able to clear out the storage units. And that would be totally awesome, because the rent here has been cutting into our profit."

"Maybe next time you should keep your available inventory space in mind when you're acquiring new merchandise."

"For real. But what can I say, it was a windfall. It was, like, a gift from God."

I rolled my eyes. A gift from Roger Klueger, more like. Dougie was flagged down by another customer who had a question about a blender.

"Let me guess," Tank said. "All this shit 'fell off the back of a truck' someplace, right?"

"There was a hold-up of a Walmart shipment," I said. "Ranger and I brought in the culprit a couple days ago. I'm not sure how Dougie happened upon the merchandise, but I'm glad that he'll be rid of it soon, because apparently the guy who orchestrated the hold-up in the first place is a knife-wielding psycho. I'd hate to see Dougie gutted like a fish, or given a scar to match…"

Uh-oh. The scary dude with the scar. Who had a penchant for knives.

I'd heard about him twice over the past couple of days. I'd gotten a brief niggling feeling when Gabriella mentioned one of the guys who'd been stalking her. I'd dismissed it at the time, and given everything else she'd told us, I'd forgotten to revisit whatever had triggered my Spidey sense.

"Oh, shit."

Tank tensed and looked around, on high alert. "What?"

"I'm worried that there might be $20 million worth of cocaine hiding somewhere in all this." I gestured at the sale.

Tank's brow rose. "The same $20 million worth of cocaine that everybody and their cousin in Trenton is pissing their pants over?"

I walked a few paces away, so we wouldn't be overheard. I still kept my voice low. "The guy who held up the truck was hired by a 'scary dude with a scar'. Apparently he has a penchant for knives and likes gutting people. Yesterday, Gabriella told us that someone from Par de Balos has been tracking her. A guy with a scar who carries a knife."

He pieced it together quickly. "You think the truck was carrying Los Reyes's coke shipment, and that Par de Balos orchestrated the hold-up to steal the drugs."

"But someone slipped up, and they lost the coke. Everyone's been busy chasing after Gabriella, hoping that she had it or knew who did, and no one has bothered looking anywhere else. The timing of Gabriella showing up was so convenient, no one stopped to think it could possibly be a coincidence."

"If all signs point to horse, it takes you awhile to think of a zebra."

A couple of customers had departed and a few more had arrived during the few minutes we'd been there. Were each of these people walking away with a stash of cocaine hidden somewhere in their purchases? What did $20 million worth of coke look like, anyway? How much was that?

"If you were trying to disguise cocaine in a shipment of consumer goods, where would you put it?" I asked.

Tank rubbed his forehead. "I've seen all kinds of sneaky shit. Could be packaged as sugar or flour. It could be hidden in fabric linings - coats, purses. I've even seen it disguised in bags of frozen soybeans."

My gaze fell on one of the pallets, stacked tall with purses. Lula looked like a coat rack, with multiple purses hanging off each arm. She held one out to me when I approached. "This one would go great with that slinky red dress you've got," she said.

"Can I see the bag you bought from Dougie last week when we were at his house?"

She thrust a bunch of bags into my arms so she could get at the one highest up on her shoulder. "I don't see any more of this one. It's a good thing I bought it when I did, seeing as I guess it was a hot seller."

"I'm sorry to say this, but I need to take a close look at it. I need to cut the lining a little and peek inside. Do you mind?"

She shrugged. "I've got some skills with a sewing machine. So long as you're careful and only cut at the seam, then I can fix it up pretty easy."

I handed the purse to Tank and he produced a knife from his cargo pants. It was only visible for a couple seconds before it disappeared again. He peeked inside and felt up the purse a little, then looked back up at me and shook his head. "It's clean."

"What are we looking for?" Lula accepted her bag back from Tank and peered inside.

"The gang guys who've started following us are looking for some missing cocaine," I told her quietly. "And I think it might be here somewhere in Dougie's inventory."

"Say what?" Her eyes bugged out a little. "Damn. That would've been an even better deal that I thought for this purse, if it came with a side of drugs."

I shushed her and gave her a pointed look.

"Not that I'm in the market for that," she clarified.

Half a dozen pallets surrounded us on the blacktop, and that wasn't including dozens more stacked up in U-shapes around the walls of the two storage units. They contained everything from clothes to electronics to appliances. Bags of chips. Candy. Everything my eyes landed on was a conceivable opportunity to conceal drugs. Who knew there were so many options?

I had an idea to cut right to the heart of the matter and slid my phone out of my pocket. Ranger answered on the first ring. "Everything okay?"

"We're good. We're at Dougie's flash sale," I told him. I had found a secluded corner for my conversation, but I still kept my voice low. "Had a quick question for you. If you were Los Reyes and you were trying to sneak $20 million worth of cocaine into a Walmart truck, where do you suppose you'd hide it?"

Ranger processed that for a minute. "I assume your Spidey senses are telling you something about Dougie's merchandise?"

"Yep. I was wondering if our mutual friend might have any ideas, or if she could point us in the right direction."

"I'll call Santos and get him to ask her. I'll be in touch soon." He disconnected.

By the time he called back fifteen minutes later, I'd found a new pair of sneakers at a good price. I'd also chatted for a couple minutes with Eddie Garza, my good friend who also happened to be a uniform cop with the Trenton PD. He'd heard about the sale and stopped by to pick up a Playstation for his kids. Historically some of Dougie's best customers were off-duty cops. I really hoped that Eddie and the others weren't going to have to explain how they came to be in possession of Colombian cocaine.

"Gabriella had an answer for us," Ranger said. "She says that Valdez hides his drugs in wooden pallets. He apparently thought he was pretty clever for it. The thick boards that run along the sides of the pallet are hollow, and that's where you'll find the stash."

"Hold for processing," I told him. I meandered into the garage that had the fewest people in it and made my way over to a stack of pallets. Trying to look casual, I ran my hands along the pallet at eye level under the guise of inspecting the kitchen appliances in front of me. I rapped my knuckles against one of the pallets. Yep - confirmed. Hollow.

"What's your plan?" Ranger asked.

"Anonymous tip, I guess."

"Sounds good. Be careful." And he disconnected again.

Lula ended up purchasing four more bags and two pairs of shoes. Tank bought a few bags of frozen spinach and mixed berries. He made smoothies sometimes, he told us. I got the jeans, the sneakers, and a freaking toaster. Look at me, I'm practically a domestic goddess. Between the accidental drug bust and the toaster, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

When Dougie and Lenny finally closed up shop for the day, I suggested that they save themselves more space by donating all of the wooden pallets to me for a DIY project I had in mind. We hauled all of the pallets a few doors down to the end of the row of garages and stacked them in a shadowy corner. Tank helped them load up the rest of their inventory into Dougie's car, and when they were wrapping up, I approached Lenny.

"You know that I'm here to bring you to the station, right?"

"Yeah, I figured." He sighed. "Anyway, it was real cool of you to let me finish up the sale. Can I have a few more minutes to divvy up the proceeds with Dougie? Then you can take me in."

"I hate to break it to you, but court is closed for the day. We can get you bonded back out in the morning, but they're going to keep you at the station overnight."

"It's all good. It turns out that my brother's coworker's sister is a cop. My brother told her that we thought I'd be heading in tonight, and she said she'd do her best to get me a private holding cell. So I don't have to worry about being anybody's bitch."

"Oh. That's… good." I was at a loss for words. I supposed I should just be glad that he'd come to terms with what was going to happen. I'd get my $200, and everybody would be happy.

As I watched Dougie and Lenny split up the money from their cash box, it became abundantly clear that Lenny would have enough to bail himself back out. When they were done, I snapped my jaw closed and we all piled back into Tank's SUV for the drive to the station.

Tank kept a watchful eye on his mirrors the whole way there, and was confident that we hadn't yet picked up a tail. Still, he wouldn't let me walk Lenny into the station by myself - despite the fact that it was literally a building full of law enforcement - so we strolled in en masse. Once Lenny was processed and I had my body receipt, we trekked back out to the car. I let Lula take the front seat this time.

"I need to drive Stephanie back to Newark," Tank told her. "Do you want to come with, or want me to drop you at my house first?"

"I don't mind riding along. We gonna stop for some dinner someplace, right?"

Thankfully we were right on the tail end of rush hour, so it was a little over an hour later when we pulled into the driveway of the Newark house. The car ride had been a revelation. As it turned out, Tank could hold up his end of the conversation when Lula was on the other end.

His watchful eyes burned into my back while I made my way up the driveway, and he waited until I'd closed the front door behind me.

The house was dark except for a sliver of light emanating from under the door to the office. I flipped on the living room and kitchen lights, and set the bag with Ranger's sandwich on the kitchen island. I'd already eaten mine.

Within seconds, Ranger entered the kitchen. He was stretching his right arm across his chest, and he rolled his neck. His gaze swept over me, making sure I was in one piece, as was his habit. Then he honed in on the paper bag on the counter. "Dinner?"

"Roast beef on whole wheat."

He was looking at the bag with a certain longing that was usually reserved for more intimate moments. "Thanks."

"Long day?" I guessed.

"And not a ton to show for it." He didn't bother with a plate, just unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. He eyed me while he chewed. "You made a lot more progress than I did today. Nice job with the drug bust. How did it go?"

"I used the phone at the deli to call it in. Then Tank used the police scanner to confirm that the PD made it out there and that they found what we needed them to. Neither Los Reyes or Par de Balos will be getting their hands on the drugs, and I don't think they'll be able to trace anything to Dougie."

Ranger nodded while he chewed, already halfway through his sandwich. "And you took care of your skips?"

"Yep."

"Rent is taken care of?" he confirmed. "There's nothing else that you urgently need to do in Trenton?"

I shook my head. "I'm okay hanging out here for a couple more days, if that's what we need to do."

"The team I had assigned to your GPS tracker has finally been burned by Los Reyes. They know it's not you they've been following these past few days, so they'll be back on the hunt."

That made sense. That must be why they were trying other avenues now, including Lula. "Any chance that they'll back off once they get wind that the drugs have been found, and there's no chance of getting them back?"

"I expect that Par de Balos will pull back. It was all about the drugs for them - it was just another attack on a rival cartel. They've thoroughly fucked up that plan, so they'll likely move on. They don't have a whole lot of stake in Gabriella. Los Reyes, on the other hand, still want her found. They won't be quitting anytime soon."

And as it turned out, all of that was actually small potatoes compared to the larger issue Gabriella had presented us with. Ranger had spent the day working on untangling the knot of potential spies and traitors within his team, and apparently he didn't feel that much headway had been made. I sighed and plopped down onto a bar stool.

"I need to know if you're up for a field trip."

I raised my face from my hands to look at him. "I thought I'd still be under house arrest."

"I need to have a chat with the commander of Bravo team. He has access to the confidential personnel files of the other team members. Odds are, one of them is the traitor. I requested to look them over, see if anything jumps out. I could have Silvio hack into the necessary databases, but it would take longer than if I just go pick them up."

"So where are we going?"

He tossed his sandwich wrapper in the trash and then leaned back against the counter. "I'd really rather not drag you into this. But I'm not comfortable leaving you right now. And honestly, I could use your help. You have a tendency to see things that I don't."

"Are we going somewhere dangerous?"

He raised an eyebrow. "We're in the middle of an investigation involving one of Colombia's top drug kingpins, and a traitor on our own team. It's all dangerous."

"So where? Will we be in a third world jungle of some kind?" I was afraid that I hadn't packed the right clothes for that.

"More like a first world jungle."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're going to DC."