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

two locations, and then he grabbed a different colored pen and marked Star Cleaners and 24/7 Spirits. “Looks like they could have gone anywhere.”

“That doesn’t help us.”

“No, so we need to find something that can.”

The original truck’s guards had come to the station to answer our questions about the breakdown and delay, but after running their names and cross-referencing them to the limited amount of intel we had, nothing pinged. Fennel and I interviewed everyone from Star Cleaners, Moonlight Security, and LockBox, but as far as we could tell, none of them had been involved.

“God, I’m so sick of dead ends.” I sat up straight, my neck cracking in the process. “We’re looking at this wrong. We have to be. This isn’t a disgruntled employee, an inside job, or a double cross. I don’t know how the killers knew to disarm Star Cleaners’ security system, but at this point, I’m willing to say it was a lucky guess.”

“It’s a professional crew,” Fennel said. “I spoke to a few of the other units, but they haven’t heard much. I put a call in to the Feds, but so far, no dice. But you said it, Liv. The grouping on the shots was done by a pro. They avoid the cameras. At every location they’ve hit, it’s been the same thing. They didn’t get lucky. They know where the blind spots are. They must plan meticulously, including contingencies. This isn’t their first rodeo. They probably did some research or staked out the dry cleaner’s until they spotted someone entering the code. That’s how they disarmed it. They couldn’t afford for us to respond to a triggered alarm. They needed the extra time to search for the LockBox uniforms.”

“Then why kill Gardner?” I asked. “Couldn’t they have just slipped in the back and slipped out?”

“I don’t know. But killing him probably made it easier. No witnesses.”

“Except the woman who tried to save the station agent,” I said. “Any idea what happened to her?”

“Hospital released her. We have no reason to believe the shooters know her name or where she lives. And quite frankly, she never got a good look at them. I don’t think they’ll waste their time worrying about her.”

“You’re probably right.” But that did little to assuage my fears. “I’m going to check with the watch commander and see if anything turned up on the canvass or the search of the subway tunnels.” Remaining behind my desk and staring at a limited number of facts wouldn’t solve this. I just didn’t know what would.

“Yeah, okay. In the meantime, I’ll work on coming up with their next possible targets.”

“Next targets?” I practically choked.

“Yeah.” Fennel gave me a worried look, like I’d missed a key point that should have been obvious. “Our two unsubs got up this morning thinking they’d be one hundred million dollars richer. I doubt a few grand is enough for them to walk away, especially when we have no leads.”

“They don’t know that.”

“Don’t they?” Fennel pointed to the TV in the corner of the room. “If we knew something, we wouldn’t be asking anyone who had been at the train station to call the tip line. As far as these bastards know, they’re still in the clear.” He sighed. “Which, unfortunately, they are.”

I went in search of the watch commander. Sgt. Chambliss had reported to both scenes. That’s what happened when patrol called for a supervisor. Frankly, this was as much his show as it was mine. Except, I was expected to piece together the intel.

Knocking on his office door, I took a breath and waited. He looked up and gestured that I enter. “I take it you heard.”

My stomach dropped, as if I’d just plummeted from a cliff. “Heard what?”

“Guess not.” He scratched the back of his head and got up from behind his desk. “I just got word back from the search of the subway system and stations. One of ours got the living daylights knocked out of him.”

“Who?”

“Officer Cruz. Do you know him?”

“His name doesn’t ring any bells.”

“He works out of a different precinct. He and several other officers had been rerouted to connecting stations. When the 11:15 train arrived, he spotted a man in a LockBox uniform exit the train. Cruz followed him from the platform into the public restrooms. The suspect had a crowbar and attacked Cruz the moment he entered. The asshole knocked the gun from his hand, broke his leg, and several of his ribs. Before backup arrived, he stole Cruz’s badge and escaped. We didn’t spot him on any of the camera feeds.”

“They split up before we could intervene.” I thought about the train schedule. Between the woman screaming, the single gunshot, and tracking down the shooter, I hadn’t noticed any other trains departing from that platform, but since there were so many different ones in the vicinity, he could have been on the other side and left before I even noticed. “I should have gotten there faster.”

“We all should have. But we can’t change what’s already happened.”

“No, sir. But I’d like to.”

“Me too.”

We stood in silence for a moment. “Cruz should be okay. The doctors want to keep him overnight as a precaution, but he doesn’t need surgery.”

“Did he get a look at his attacker?”

“LockBox uniform, blond hair, tall, athletic, his pants were too short. Other than that, the restroom was too dimly lit, and the guy had the LockBox cap on. He didn’t get a look at his face. Just the back of him.”

“But he noticed that the offender was blond? Are you sure?”

“That’s what Cruz said.”

“Any identifying marks?”

“Nothing. The guy even wore gloves. He left the crowbar behind, but we didn’t find anything on it except Cruz’s DNA. But I will tell you one thing, DeMarco. These bastards are attacking cops now. That means