Storm's Cage by Mary Stone (uplifting novels .TXT) 📕

Joseph’s stomach twisted, and he clenched one hand into a fist. “There are scratches on his stomach.”

“There are.” Portia tapped the keyboard a couple times to zoom closer. “Look. In the same spot as the pictures from the CPD, under his belly button.”

Amelia narrowed her eyes. “A scar. He must’ve used something to cover it up in the videos, kind of like how Matteo Ricci covered his tattoo with a bandage. Do you know if there’s any other recording where this mark shows up?”

Portia tilted her head. “A few, yes. As best as I can tell, these are the early ones. He might’ve gotten better at hiding the scar the longer he did this.”

Amelia’s pensive gaze was glued to the monitor.

“Is there something else?”

“Yeah.” Dropping both hands to her knees, Amelia’s green eyes fell on Joseph. “Detective Allworth’s partner, Ian Strausbaugh, was murdered about a week ago, and the killer hasn’t been caught. Strausbaugh was killed in the middle of the night. One bullet to the head, no witnesses, no reports of a gunshot. Nothing.”

Midway through tapping the armrest, Joseph’s fingers froze. “An execution.”

Amelia nodded. “Strausbaugh was killed late Monday night, and Carlo Enrico was killed around noon on Wednesday.”

“There’s no way that’s a coincidence.” Joseph squared his jaw. “Someone was cleaning house. Allworth’s partner must have known something.”

As Amelia rose to her feet, she extended a hand to Portia. “Thanks again for all your help. I think we’ve got all we need to go pick up Detective Allworth and bring him in for an interview.”

Rolling her chair away from the desk, Portia stood and accepted Amelia’s handshake. “Of course, Agent Storm. I’m glad we could help. I hope this lead pans out. Let me know if there’s anything else you’ll need from me or my team.”

Joseph tried to appear casually unconcerned as he walked back to the elevator, Amelia at his side. He had no intention of alerting Cliff Allworth or Joe Dalessio, but now he had to hope that no one else did, either.

25

A pane of glass rattled as Amelia pulled the wooden door closed behind herself. She’d expected to find Floyd or Natasha on the fourth floor of the police station, but both their desks had been vacant. After she and Joseph had tried in vain to locate Cliff Allworth, they’d hurried to the on-duty captain’s office.

As Amelia moved to stand beside Joseph, she went through the motions of flipping open her badge. “Afternoon, Captain Neuman. I’m Special Agent Amelia Storm, and this is my partner, Special Agent Joseph Larson. We spoke on the phone this morning.”

Recognition lit in the woman’s chocolate-brown eyes as she rose to extend a hand, first to Amelia and then to Joseph. “Of course. Pleasure to put a face to a name, Agent Storm. What can I help you with?”

Amelia grasped the back of a leather chair that faced the captain’s desk, but she had no intention of sitting. “We’re looking for Detective Cliff Allworth. We checked upstairs in homicide, but we didn’t see any sign of him there. It’s important that we locate him as soon as possible.”

The captain lifted an eyebrow. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

“He’s the prime suspect in an ongoing investigation. It’s probably best that we don’t reveal too many details just yet.”

Though Amelia half-expected Captain Neuman to protest, the woman nodded instead. “Sure, I understand. Just give me a second, and I’ll see if there was anything logged by Detective Allworth’s sergeant.” She wiggled the mouse to bring her computer monitor to life.

Amelia straightened to her full height. “Thank you. I really appreciate your understanding.”

Captain Neuman’s mouth twitched as her fingers danced across the keyboard. “It’s no problem, Agents. I understand the need to keep details about a case close to the vest.” She tapped enter before intently scanning the glowing screen. “Okay. Here it is. It looks like Detective Allworth wasn’t feeling well, and he left the station at about noon, according to what his sergeant logged in the system.”

“Noon?” Amelia glanced at Joseph. “That’s right around when I left after meeting with Detectives Yoell and Reyman. What about them? We didn’t see them upstairs, either.”

Captain Neuman shifted her gaze back to the computer and scrolled the mouse wheel. “They’re…” Her brow furrowed as she read the report on screen. “They left twenty minutes ago to talk to Detective Allworth at his apartment.”

Goose bumps prickled the back of Amelia’s neck. “Okay. Thank you, Captain. We’ll be sure to follow up if there are any new developments.”

“All right. Let me know if there’s any more help that the precinct or I can give.”

“Thank you.” Amelia barely stopped herself from flashing Captain Neuman a salute before she turned to the door.

Neither Amelia nor Joseph spoke on their way back to the parking garage, but based on his hurried pace, Joseph was just as eager to get to Cliff Allworth’s apartment as she was.

She took her place behind the wheel and buckled in. In the midst of chasing down a lead, Amelia almost forgot about the previous night. But as Joseph dropped into the passenger seat and pulled the door closed, the memory rushed back, sending Amelia’s stomach rolling.

Joseph reached for his seat belt. “Why do you think Reyman and Yoell went to talk to Allworth? You think they’re onto him?”

Silencing the anxious thoughts, Amelia took a deep cleansing breath, turned the key over in the ignition, and brought the car to life. “It’s hard to say. I don’t think so, though. When Detective Reyman was going over the Strausbaugh case with me earlier today, she barely even mentioned Allworth. Honestly, I don’t think they have a clue. They’ve got no motive for Allworth to kill his partner, and there’s no physical evidence that ties him to the scene.”

Joseph nodded. “That’s true. We didn’t have a motive for him, either, until about forty-five minutes ago. You said they had a suspect before, right? Someone who wound up