Chapter 7.

Mac nodded to the young cop stationed outside Patrick Sandoval's apartment.

He stepped inside, pulling on latex gloves.

The apartment was tiny, consisting of a small living room which was divided from an equally small kitchen by a scuffed-up counter top. He noticed a futon on the floor in the corner. One door led to a small bathroom. Don Flack appeared in the other doorway.

'Hey, Mac. Looks like he hasn't been here in at least two days. This place is more a base of operations than a home.I had Jaime get warrants for his bank account, and the last few days since the bastard killed Lindsay, various small withdrawals have been made every evening at different ATMs, ranging from $40 to $100 - I'm guessing they're payments for motel rooms.'

'It would make sense for him to move around, not stay in one place immediately after committing a crime. Even if he doesn't think we've found the connection to him yet, he probably figures anonymous motels are safer. So what did you find?'

Don's eyes darkened with anger.

'Come and see,' he said, gesturing into the room behind him.

Mac entered the room. He guessed it had originally been the apartment's single bedroom, but Sandoval had converted it into a very basic office. A Formica table and kitchen chair were pushed up against one wall. On the table there was an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. There were various bits of paper on the table as well, but that wasn't what made Mac step closer, nor what caused a feeling of fury and disbelief to swell in his chest and rise like bile up his throat. The tatty wallpaper on the wall against which the table had been placed could barely be seen. It was covered in photographs, newspaper articles, and scribbled notes. Centered above the table was a picture of Patrick Sandoval with Rikki and Ruben. Ruben looked to be about three years old in the picture.

The rest of the wall seemed to be divided into rough sections. One area was covered with articles about Ruben's death. Some were original cut-outs which Sandoval must have collected in prison, others were computer print outs obviously dredged from online archives. Stepping closer, Mac noticed that where Ollie Barnes, Danny, and Lucy Scott had been mentioned, their names were underlined. Another area of the wall had shots of Ollie Barnes, which had obviously been taken when he was completely unaware he was being watched. Mac noticed several different pictures showed Barnes entering or leaving a particular bodega

'I've confirmed with New Jersey that the store in those photos is the one where Barnes was shot last year,' Don said, coming to stand beside Mac, 'The detective who caught the case said the owner and Ollie knew each other well, and Ollie came in at least once a week, always around the same time.'

Mac nodded. His eyes moved to another area of the wall. His entire body tensed. This one was filled with photographs of Danny and Lindsay, alone and together, and, worse of all, some of one or both of them with Lucy. Along with these shots, which Patrick had obviously taken himself,were newspaper articles, from recent weeks to as far back as shortly after Ruben had been killed, which mentioned Danny and Lindsay's involvement in cases. There were even articles from Montana newspapers' websites on Lindsay's involvement in the Daniel Katums case. One particular article caught Mac's eye - 'Young Boy Shot During Bodega Robbery'. The article told the story of Ruben's death and mentioned that "Detective Danny Messer, of the New York Crime Lab, was in the vicinity at the time of the robbery. Despite being off duty, Detective Messer responded to the incident and assisted bodega owners Justin and Lucy Scott. Sources report that a ten year old boy, Ruben Sandoval, who was the son of Messer's neighbour, Rikki Sandoval, was with him at the time, and that Messer took action to get the child to safety by ordering him to immediately leave the vicinity of the crime scene and return home. Unfortunately, Messer's actions were too late to save the child, who unbeknownst to the detective, had already been fatally wounded.' This section of the article had been heavily underlined. The article hadn't been implying Danny was responsible for what happened to Ruben, but that was obviously how Patrick Sandoval had read it.

'Goddamn it, Don, these photographs of Sandoval's go back at least to December last year, and the articles even further. Not only was he stalking Danny and Lindsay these last few months, but he evidently had Danny marked for revenge from the minute he was mentioned in relation to Ruben's death. We'd guessed that already but seeing it here in black and white...'

Don nodded.

'And he's definitely going after Justin Scott next,' he said, pointing to the last area of the wall. This one contained photographs of Lucy and Justin Scott. mostly Justin. Mac looked at several photos showing the young man in what seemed to be an alleyway, carrying trash bags and putting them in Dumpsters. He tapped one with his gloved finger.

'Don, how often do you take out your trash?'

Don shrugged.

'Once a week, maybe? Usually the same day. Why?'

'I do the same,' Mac said, 'most people do. I'm betting Justin Scott does as well. These pictures are him taking his trash from either his apartment or his bodega - and I'd guess the bodega - see how he's carrying flattened cardboard boxes, from packages of wholesale goods? He probably does it once a week, on the same day. All these photos look to be the same time of day as well - early evening, probably just after he closed up. I'm guessing Patrick plans to wait for Justin and take him out the next time he does his trash run.'

'So he's been planning where to go after Scott the same way he planned for Barnes and Lindsay,' Don said.

Mac nodded.

'Barnes and Scott are easy, he could plan to take them out in a place they go regularly. But with Lindsay, apart from her and Danny's apartment block, the most regular places they both go to are the lab and the precinct, and sometimes the courthouse.'

'Not good places for a nice, clean, hit,' Don said, his voice coldly furious, 'So the bastard had to work a little harder when he was looking for a place to go after them.'

Mac nodded.

'He follows them, waits. Sees Danny go into the restaurant, finds out he's made a booking...'

'And gets the perfect time and place to murder Lindsay when he damn well knows Danny will be there as well, and where he actually has a chance of getting away before we come along in response to a hit and run.' Don finished, his eyes flashing with pure loathing.

Mac nodded.

'So what now? How do we get this douchebag?' Don asked.

'As far as he knows,' Mac said, 'We don't know who he is, and Justin Scott has no idea he's in danger. He thinks he's all clear for his last sick little revenge mission - killing Justin to get at his sister. So we find out when Justin does his trash run, and we set a neat little trap for our 'douchebag' as you so aptly describe him. Let him think he's going after Justin, and then take him down.'

Don grinned savagely.

'Hmmm, it's both sneaky and plays on our douchebag's arrogance. I like it a lot.'

'Good, because I plan to have you right there with me when we take him down, Don.' Mac said, grinning back.

'Wouldn't be anywhere else in the world.' Don said.

xxxx

That's the end of this chapter. More soon. Thanks for reading, guys! :)