Chapter 10

Two nights later, Dante again sat in his mother's car and watched Hailey's apartment. It was almost midnight. The day had been long and frustrating for the team. All the leads on their murder-smuggling case turned out to be dead ends. Even as they trooped down the stairs and out to the parking lot, they continued to debate the case and toss out ideas for their next steps.

There were two lights on in the apartment. He'd never been in Jay and Hailey's apartment, but assumed it was the living room and bedroom lights. One light was suddenly extinguished, followed five minutes later by the other one.

Okay, she's gone to bed.

He was about to crank the engine when his cell rang. Hailey's name popped up on the screen. Dante jerked in surprise. Don't be stupid, man. She doesn't know you're sitting here.

He answered after the fourth ring. "Torres."

"Dante, have you checked your rearview?"

He sucked in a breath and glanced up. Hailey advanced from the shadows and approached the driver's side. He lowered the window and prepared to get chewed out by the senior detective.

Hailey put her phone back in her pocket. "I see we need to work on your nighttime surveillance skills."

Dante got out of the car and quietly closed the door. "Are you pissed?"

"Pissed? No. Definitely surprised though."

"How did you catch me?"

"One of my neighbors said a strange guy had been watching our building recently. There have been some break-ins on the street behind us in the last month. I did what any good detective would do. I reviewed pod footage and spotted this car a couple times. I got enough of the plate to run it." She gave him a pointed look. "Guess who the registered owner is?"

Dante shuffled his feet. "Juanita Salazar Torres."

"Your mother. So, what are you doing out here?"

He didn't expect to be discovered; he thought he could pull this off. There was no point in throwing out some bullshit explanation. Hailey would see right through it. He blew out a breath.

"I'm worried about you, Hailey. Something is eating at you. I have no idea what. But I don't think it's just Jay being away." He paused. Upton could be hard to read at times. The last thing he wanted to do was get on her bad side. However, he sensed a slight deflation in her attitude.

"I'm not trying to get in your business. But if you need help . . ." The rest of the sentence trailed off as Dante waited for her response.

Hailey pursed her lips and studied him for a moment. "Did Voight put you up to this?"

"No. No, I swear he didn't." May as well plow ahead, he thought. "Is your problem with Voight? You two don't always see eye-to-eye." It was a statement, not a question.

Hailey chuckled. "You noticed? No, for once it's not him. We, well, we've come to an understanding recently."

Dante gave a brief nod. He had not forgotten her blowup at the District that morning. "Okay." He waited, but Hailey did not elaborate. "Look, I know I don't have Jay's years of experience, but I can still be here for you. Just tell me how I can help."

Hailey looked around at the various apartments. Yellow squares of light still shone is several windows. She wondered if her observant and insomniac neighbor, Mrs. Comescu, was peeping out from her darkened living room right now.

A dull headache had sprung up and Hailey rubbed her forehead. She hated to admit it, but she did need help. In her gut, she feared the situation was only going to escalate. Stalkers, internet trolls, weirdos, however you wanted to label them, they rarely backed down.

"You're right. There is a problem." She inclined her head toward her building. "Come upstairs and I'll explain. I don't want to discuss it outside." She drew her weapon and scanned the area for threats. Dante did the same and followed her.

"Want a beer?" asked Hailey.

"No, thanks. What if I got stopped by a cop on the way home?" said Dante, cracking a smile.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Glad to know you're a responsible driver."

Over her shoulder, he saw the calendar with big red x's. That was a little . . . strange.

They sat on the bar stools and Hailey opened her laptop. She pulled up the folder where she'd saved the ominous emails and turned the computer toward Dante. "Read these."

As he read, his expression changed from merely curious to concerned. He looked up with furrowed brow. "You have to get Voight and team involved."

"I have one of the IT guys looking into it. And there's more." She then related what happened two nights ago with the white van.

To his credit, Dante listened quietly until she finished. "What the hell, Hailey. You could have been killed. You don't know what kind of loco person is sending these."

Hailey sighed and pulled at her hair. "I know. Usually, I can fend for myself. Now I'm not so sure."

"That's my point. You don't have to deal with this alone. You have a whole team."

The sudden ringing of her cell on the kitchen island seemed abnormally loud at this hour. Dante noted the relief that washed over Hailey's face when she saw Jay's name. He slid off the bar stool.

"If you get spooked during the night or need anything, promise you'll call me," said Dante.

She looked at her fellow cop and felt a wave of gratitude. "I will. And . . . thank you." She smiled, but it was a tired smile.

"Now as your training officer, I'm ordering you to go home."

"Copy that."

Hailey grabbed the still ringing phone as Dante left. He lingered in the hall and pretended to check his own phone. Only when he heard both locks click into place did he walk away. Suddenly, he understood about the calendar.

She's counting the days until Jay comes home.

Instead of following Hailey's order, Dante pulled the car to a different section of the parking lot and parked behind the dumpsters. He could still see the apartment and this time no one was going to sneak up on him.

Twenty minutes later, the apartment went dark. Dante drove away.