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

on his head and get on the ground, that’s when I found out he had a bad knee. We’ve been over this. He wore that stupid Halloween mask and gloves. I cuffed him, but he got out of them somehow.”

“And you’re certain he wasn’t armed?”

“I patted him down. I didn’t find a gun. But he had one, after he got the cuffs off. Well, two, but it’s possible he got the second one from Diego.”

“And you’re positive the guy you cuffed and the one who wanted Carter to shoot you is the same man?”

“Same voice. Same build. It has to be the same man.” I glared at Brad’s back. “What? You think there’s four of them now?”

“No, but I think he’s done this before. He knows how it goes. He’s more likely to get shot if he’s holding a gun when you approach him. He knows if you found a weapon on him during the pat down, you’d confiscate it. And he knew damn well you’d restrain him with your cuffs.” Brad glanced at me. “I’m surprised you had them with you. I thought you weren’t expecting trouble.”

“Dad taught me to be prepared.”

“But the unsub didn’t expect to encounter you. He expected to run into officers who just finished working graveyard. They would still have their gear, unless they left it in their lockers.”

“Okay, so?”

“So he knew if he was restrained it would be with actual cuffs, not zip ties. I think he had a handcuff key. Or one of his friends did.” Brad turned back to the board. “This isn’t the unsub’s first rodeo. Based on the store layout and what you said about him studying the shelves, he could have hidden the gun anywhere, waited for the lights to go out and for you to be distracted, and then he retrieved it.”

“Okay, Tex.”

“I’m serious, Liv. Whoever this guy is, he must have a record. The crap he was sputtering, that would explain it. At least some of it.” He reached for his tablet. “The worst part about this is no one we’ve investigated has a record. LockBox, Moonlight, and Star Cleaners refuse to hire felons.”

“The same’s true of the dispensary. So where did this guy come from, and how did these three cross paths and end up deciding on these targets?”

“Those are good questions. We should ask these bastards that as soon as they’re brought in.” Brad checked the time again. “Voletek should have called by now. How long does it take to get an arrest warrant signed?”

“It’s not just the warrant.” But the wait seemed interminable to me too. “They have to find Diego and Carter, bring them in, and book them. That takes time.”

I pulled up everything we had on Carter Moore. His family history didn’t show much. His parents were divorced. No reports of abuse or neglect. He graduated high school, went on to get his associate’s degree from the city college, and then he worked at various retail and fast food places. Currently, he had two jobs. One at a bookstore and the other at a supermarket. He could have crossed paths with the other two men in his crew at any time or place. But I had no idea where or when it might have happened or even why.

“I hate this,” Brad said. “Maybe I should head to the precinct to see what’s going on.” He crossed to the window to make sure the patrol units were stationed outside. But before he could make up his mind, the phone rang.

Thirty-three

“We can’t find them,” Voletek said.

Brad circled, glaring at his phone. He clenched his fists, fighting to control himself. “What do you mean you can’t find them?”

“Diego’s gone. His apartment’s the size of a closet. He cleared it out. We checked at the mattress factory where he works, but no one’s seen him since he finished his shift on Friday. He didn’t call in sick or request time off. He just didn’t show up,” Voletek said.

“What about pinging his phone?” I asked.

“It’s off. We’re monitoring it, in the event he turns it back on.”

“What about the GPS in his car? If he has one of those roadside assistance things, we might be able to track it,” Brad said.

“Sorry, man. Diego doesn’t own a car. We flagged his credit cards, so if he buys something, we’ll be able to swoop in and pick him up. In the meantime, I’ll go through his financials to determine where he hangs out. Then we’ll ask around. Someone has to know something.” Voletek sighed. “Liv, are you listening?”

“Yeah, Jake, I’m here.”

“We’re gonna get them. I promise.”

“What about Carter Moore?” Brad asked. “Any leads on his whereabouts?”

“Michael Tolliver said Carter left before he got up this morning. We went by his work, but he wasn’t there. According to his boss, he wasn’t on the schedule for today.”

“He has two jobs,” I said. “The supermarket and the bookstore.”

“Right, I know. He wasn’t scheduled to work at either one. His boss at the bookstore said Carter was acting weird last week. Sweaty, pale, vomiting, so he sent him home last Thursday and told him to take a few days off to get better.”

“Thursday, that’s the day before Jonathan Gardner was killed.” I looked at Brad. “Carter knew what was going to happen. He must have gone to Star Cleaners that night. If he was that messed up about it, why didn’t he call in a tip?”

“You have an awful lot of faith in someone who left you to bleed out on the floor, who nearly blew your brains all over the place.” Brad stared out the window, his cheek twitching.

“Michael said Carter’s supposed to pick up dinner for them tonight. If he doesn’t show by seven, we’ll have his roommate reach out and leave a voicemail. Until we