High Risk by G.K. Parks (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

Voletek laughed. “And I didn’t even get a chance to yell ‘surprise’.”

“Now’s not the time, Jake.” I glared at him.

“Tell me about it,” Detective Lisco said. She stepped into the alley. “I just finished up with the 9-1-1 caller. But he didn’t get a look at the shooter. When he heard car doors slam, he looked out his window. He saw a security guard drag this guy,” she jerked her head down at the body, “out of the back of the car, pull off his pants and shirt, and then carry him to the dumpster. A few minutes later, he heard a loud bang. He thought the car backfired, and they were leaving, but the car hadn’t moved. That’s when he realized it had been a gunshot and called us.”

“What else did he see?” I asked.

“Nothing. He gave us a vague description of the two men he saw near the dumpster. Both had dark hair, were fairly tall, and athletic looking.” She gazed at Fennel’s pants. “Hey, Jake, do you have a pair of those on under your slacks?”

Voletek snickered. “I didn’t know you were interested in what’s under my slacks.” He grabbed the edge of the dumpster and swung one leg out and then the other.

“How’d the game end?” Fennel asked, though I could tell he was focused on the case.

“We called it a tie. Too many calls coming in for us to figure it out.” Voletek looked at me. “It’s not every day two top detectives abandon not one, but two crime scenes. Tell me you had a good reason. I’m sure Lt. Winston’s dying to hear it.”

“The 9-1-1 caller said the men headed into the subway station. We thought we might have had a chance to stop them. But we didn’t.”

“Shit,” Voletek swore. “Any idea who they are?”

“I think we’re tracking the same men from yesterday,” I said. “First they broke into Star Cleaners to steal a LockBox uniform. I verified that with Mr. Lee on our way back here. And then they hit the truck.”

“Okay, so why’d they take this guy hostage, strip him, and dump him if they already finished their armored truck heist?” Voletek asked. Fennel looked at me. Neither of us had figured that out yet. “Do you think Rook could have been an inside man and this was a double cross?”

“Could be,” Fennel said.

Voletek nodded, but a thought gnawed at him. “What do you think, princess?”

“I think if you call me that again, I’ll toss you back inside that dumpster and shut the lid.”

Lisco stifled a laugh.

“Seriously,” Voletek stared at me, all joking aside, “is that what you think happened?” He held out his phone. “I ran our DB through the database. No outstanding debts. No record. The guys who work for LockBox are squeaky and not in a wheel’s falling off kind of way. They get good benefits, a pension plan, retirement, vacation. It’s one of the better companies. Apparently, they realized it’d be wise to keep their employees happy so they don’t get robbed blind.”

I scanned the details. Lindsey Rook appeared to be just as clean and wholesome as Jonathan Gardner. “The killings aren’t personal. These were good men who were just doing their jobs.” I handed Voletek back his phone and crouched down beside the dumpster, hoping a different position would give me a new perspective.

“Who do they have in common?” Fennel asked.

But no one had an answer. The name Lindsey Rook hadn’t come up yesterday. And from what I recalled from Moonlight Security’s records, he had never been one of theirs. As far as I knew, Gardner and Rook never crossed paths. But that didn’t mean anything. They might have traveled in the same circles or concentric circles. Something like that.

“I guess we better find out.” But something told me that wasn’t our connection. I just didn’t know what was.

Seventeen

As soon as we returned to the precinct, I tore through everything we had. But I didn’t find a connection. I had Mac and every available tech and uniformed officer reviewing the data, searching social media, and analyzing the surveillance footage we had gathered. But we still hadn’t come up with anything solid.

“Ballistics said the same gun that killed Jonathan Gardner also killed Case Jeffers and Alan Croft.” Fennel rubbed a hand over his mouth.

“What about Lindsey Rook?”

“Different gun.”

“And the slugs they found in the subway station?”

“Those were too badly damaged, but they matched the caliber used to shoot Rook.” He rocked back in his chair and rubbed his palms on his pants, probably glad to be out of the softball uniform and back in business attire. “We’re dealing with two shooters.”

“We knew that already.”

“But now we have proof.” He leaned forward, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “I’m guessing they’re working together.” He squinted at the screen. “Have you found any overlap with LockBox and Moonlight?”

“Aside from Gardner working as night watchman at the pot shop, I haven’t found anything else. They never shared any employees. No one we investigated from Gardner’s past has anything to do with the armored truck company or vice versa.”

“DeMarco, you need to see this.” Lt. Winston stood in the doorway to the conference room where most of the geek squad had set up. “You too, Fennel.”

We exchanged a glance and crossed the bullpen. “What is it, sir?” I asked.

He pointed to the screen. “It turns out LockBox didn’t make their pickup today.”

“You mean the truck that broke down?” Fennel asked.

Winston didn’t even bother answering my partner. He pointed to one of the techs. “Johnson, play the traffic cam footage.”

A moment later, the large monitor flipped to a shot of the LockBox truck arriving and parking at the end of the block. Jeffers opened the passenger door and climbed out. He went