AN: Special thanks to the lovely lady who edited this chapter, for her assistance. Thanks to all who read my story so far :)
Chapter 11
Residence of Johnny Barker, Pine Street
The same thought passed between the three men as they stood, taking in the view before them. "Looks like a shrine of some of kind. Do you know who that is, detective?" Although Stone's gut had already told him the answer, he wanted to hear what McGarrett had to say about the picture depicting a man of arrogance and an obvious idol of Johnny Barker.
"Sean Tate." McGarrett's two worded reply did not surprise Stone or Keller who both turned to face him on either side.
"Maybe we should pay our friend, Mr Tate, a visit." Keller suggested in all seriousness.
"In a minute. First, let's check the rest of the apartment. It may yield more clues as to how Tate is connected with Barker's murder. If Tate is less than co-operative, we need more on him to get a search warrant than just a picture of him in some kid's living room." Stone replied.
"He's right. We need solid evidence before we can even go near Tate; a mistake I made five years ago and one I intend not to make again!" McGarrett fervently added.
"Okay. What if we don't find anything we could use?" Keller chimed in, feeling slightly under estimated.
"Then we find something, buddy boy. Check the bedroom and bathroom, will you? We'll check the rest of the apartment." Stone instructed his young colleague who nodded and made his way down the short hall to Barker's bedroom.
"How long has Keller been on the force?" McGarrett asked quietly as soon as the Inspector was out of ear-shot.
"He's been a cop for four years. Two in black and whites and two as my partner. Don't let his short term wearing a badge fool you, detective. He's had as much experience and training as someone who may have been on the force for ten years. " Stone looked McGarrett in the eye as he gave his answer, keeping his voice low.
The detective nodded then looked away and headed for the kitchen without another word. Stone returned his attention to the task at hand and began searching the living room, over-turning cushions for any hidden clues. As he patted down the sofa, the Lieutenant's gaze fell on the edge of what looked like a note pad by the telephone. Sitting on top of a coffee table, it was partially buried under martial arts magazines. Pushing aside the magazines, Stone lifted the pocket sized note book and tilted it to one side. Sure enough, he could just make out a phone number and two words etched into the surface of the front page. Fingering the perforated edge jutting out of the spine, he deduced that a telephone number and either a person's name or a meeting place had been jotted down on a page that had been torn out, leaving an impression on the page beneath it. Retrieving a pencil from his top coat pocket, Stone applied the blunt tip on the page and began to lightly shade over the indentations, taking great care not to over shade the imprint. Stowing the pencil back into his pocket, Stone drew out his reading glasses. As his eyes adjusted behind his spectacles, he could make out the markings on the top half of the page resembled that of a local telephone number, followed by, Wilcox = Williams, etched near the bottom of the page.
Stone looked up just as Keller and McGarrett re-entered the living room. "Nothing." Keller announced, shaking his head.
"What have you got there, Lieutenant?" McGarrett queried as his eyes zeroed in on the note book in Stone's hand.
"Let's find out." Stone replied, picking up the telephone and signalling for both McGarrett and Keller to keep silent.
"Hello? Hello?" A masculine voice answered through the ear piece after the fifth ring. A dog barked in the background and the man's voice became muffled as he covered the mouth piece and called out, "Hey, Rasputin, quiet!" then the voice returned to the phone impatiently, "hello?" before the line disconnected.
Stone's face paled as he replaced the receiver. "He's one of us." The words left his lips the moment the thought entered his mind.
"What? What do you mean, Mike?" Keller responded, puzzled.
"Who was on the other line?" McGarrett joined in.
Stone swallowed before answering in a tone that spoke of doubt and shock, "That was Cardenas. Officer Cardenas from our department!"
"Are you sure?" Keller asked, wondering if his senior partner may have been mistaken.
"Do you remember his dog he took with us on patrol one time? I heard him in the back ground and I also heard Cardenas call out to him."
"The one with the funny name. Ras…" Keller clicked his fingers trying to remember the name.
"Rasputin. It's not a K-9 name you would easily forget." Stone interposed.
"Are you saying that this Cardenas is a crooked cop?" McGarrett demanded.
"Cardenas is a cop. I'd hate to think he was a shady one. All I can say right now is, he has a lot of explaining to do." Stone informed the men who were both feeling just as uneasy as he was, that they were dealing with something far more sinister than an open-shut case.