Invocations: A Lesbian Detective Novel (Carpenter/Harding Book 13), page 13
“No, it’s good. It’s in here somewhere.”
“You want to talk to him again?”
“It’s an idea. I’m just waiting for Wu.”
“Okay. Let me know what you find.”
* * * *
They started the drive in silence, until Wu surprised her.
“I think the supervisors, and most of us will be happy to never hear that name again, but if we’re going to work together every day, it should be clear. We had no idea about Shriver.”
“I never thought you did. Why are you bringing this up now?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Apparently he’s been spreading rumors, about Major Crimes, and Daniels…She doesn’t deserve that.”
Jordan understood a bit more about where he was coming from.
“Don’t sweat it. People like him hide in plain sight.”
“Sure, but we of all people should be able to see through them, don’t you think?”
“It’s not always that easy.” She wondered if that was a cop-out. Regarding Waters whose antics had turned into sexual assault. And Atwood who had crossed the line more than once, but still came to work every day.
Noah Shriver. Wu didn’t dispute her statement, but it was fairly obvious that they’d asked themselves some of the same questions. “We try to do better. That’s all we can do.”
He nodded. They had arrived at their location which put an end to the exchange. Jordan couldn’t help wondering what Shriver was gaining from still pushing those rumors, and if he cared about the damage he’d done to the reputation of his unit.
Cliff Waters still thought he was the victim.
Mr. Clarkson emerged from his office while they were still talking to the secretary who had tried her best to stall them.
“That’s okay, Elaine,” he said. “I have a few minutes. The police you said…oh, it’s you. Detective. I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”
“It’s Carpenter. Mr. Clarkson, this won’t take long. We just have a few questions.”
“If it’s about the project, all is in motion now. We’re good.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You were informed about the incident at your daughter’s pre-school?”
He looked haunted for a few seconds. “Those stupid clowns again? Yes, of course. Are you any closer to arresting them?”
“I’m sorry I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,” she said. “Have you received any more threats? Anyone trying to extort or blackmail you?”
“That’s oddly specific.” He cast a look at his secretary who was now on the phone. “Let’s go into my office.”
They followed him into a spacious room where he gestured for them to sit down. “I was going to file a police report, but…then the incident at Emma’s kindergarten happened, and we wanted to make sure she was okay.” He took a photo from a folder that showed a placard for the apartment building. Scrawled across it in black paint were the words, It Will Burn.
“We’ve had stuff like this before, but with what happened at the park…I guess now that you’re here, you could take care of it?”
* * * *
“I can’t believe he didn’t contact us over this,” Jordan said when they were on the way back to the station.
“He was worried about this daughter,” Wu, who was driving, reminded her.
“I understand that, but…That’s a direct threat. It could put his workers at risk.”
“Yeah, and owners of corporations always think of their workers first,” he deadpanned.
Jordan couldn’t help but laugh. “You have a point there. All right. We’ll add it to the never-ending list.”
“Good catch on Clarkson though. We’ll definitely have to do more digging on that connection.”
Clarkson, another name to add to the board. It should have been there to begin with, Jordan thought. As if on cue, her cell phone rang.
“Hey,” Derek said. “Ellie told us you were seeing the owner of the construction company? Anything from that?”
“A few more pieces of the puzzle, nothing earth-shattering yet. You didn’t call just to ask about that, did you?”
“No. Fisher was spotted at a gas station on the corner of Twelfth and Maple. Squad cars are on the way, and we’ll be there in a few minutes. We have road blocks in place too. He’s not going to get out of the city.”
“That’s what I like to hear. There’s a chance we could wrap this up before trick-or-treating?”
“I thought you weren’t going to take Meri.”
“It’s mostly going to be a stroll around the neighborhood, and it’s pretty quiet there. We haven’t exactly been the most social of neighbors, so this might be an opportunity. You and Kate want to come around later?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask her,” he said. “It all depends on how long this takes.”
“Yeah…look, I know that gas station. We’re not far away. How about we meet you there?”
To Detective Wu, she said, “Fisher has to have money, to pull off all those shenanigans. He is at the center of all this. What if he is Jeffrey Morgan?”
* * * *
“Wait a second,” Derek told her as they were walking along the back of the gas station where a camera had captured Carl Fisher. “Fowler played a prank on him that nearly cost him the car. He threatened to sue, then…he orchestrated the game using mostly Fowler’s colleagues?”
“Is it really so far off? They went after Todd and Lisa too because of the whole triangle—I wouldn’t call it love. What if Fisher is simply a jealous possessive asshole who can’t stand to lose?”
“He gets Jenkins killed because the poor guy is taking too much of Judy’s time, Randy Fowler because of the car, and Todd and Lisa…what’s the difference here? And where is the connection to Clarkson?”
“The latter, I don’t know yet. But perhaps they meant to kill Todd, and Lisa too.”
“You have the sunniest outlook on things as always,” he commented dryly. “Let’s say that it’s true—and it’s Fisher behind all of this?”
“We’ve dealt with criminals who escaped arrest for a long time.” Like TJ Pratt? “The clown masks, involving others, it just makes it more flashy.”
“He goes around killing people, and they stand by.”
Jordan shrugged. “I didn’t say I have everything figured out, but having Fisher in custody would go a long way to put pressure on the others.”
“Truer words…”
“Hey guys.” Officer Casey Lyons came running towards them. “Guess what we found in the restroom.”
They didn’t have to guess hard, as she was holding the mask in a plastic bag.
Jordan cursed. “How many of those does he have?”
“One thing is for sure,” Casey said. “None of my kids is getting one.”
“Perhaps you’d like to bring them to a quiet residential neighborhood?” Jordan suggested. “If this is ever over.”
* * * *
On the bright side, Hastings and Bryan hadn’t made bail. Less of a bright side, Fisher had slipped off the radar again, despite everyone’s best efforts. Casey and her husband were going to bring over their two younger kids—the older teenager had declared she was too old for trick-or-treating. Derek and Kate would spend the evening with them as well, and they could all do the envisioned stroll in the neighborhood.
They had exchanged a few niceties with their next door neighbors before. Ellie wasn’t sure if they knew their names, or professions…Well, perhaps the latter, because they’d been in the paper a time or two.
The plan was to go to a few houses, then come back home and heat up the lasagna Kathryn had cooked for them the other day when Ellie was on sick leave.
Kate and Derek had just come in when Casey’s husband Jeff parked their car. The couple, and a young Supergirl and Harley Quinn emerged.
“How cute is that?” Kate commented from the window. “I used to love dressing up, but this year I don’t have the energy. Maybe next year, what do you say, Meri?”
Meri seemed in agreement, and, fortunately comfortable in her soft, warm kitten costume.
“We could do a party,” Ellie suggested. “I was going to get my wife a Wonder Woman costume, but she declined.”
“That’s too bad,” Kate and Derek said nearly in unison. Jordan rolled her eyes and went to open the door to their other guests. They all came to the living area a moment later.
“Hey,” Casey greeted them. “These two could barely contain their excitement. I think you can tell who they are?”
“Of course. Supergirl and Harley Quinn. You look great.” The girls beamed at Jordan’s praise. “Anna, Madison, this is Meri.”
Ellie suppressed a smile. They sure were polite, and they hadn’t seen her before, but she thought the prospect of candy was a lot more appealing to them than meeting someone else’s baby.
“All right,” she said. “We’re complete. Who’s ready to hunt for some candy?”
* * * *
Ellie and Kate fell a bit behind as they walked along the decorated houses.
“You must be looking forward to the time after your exams,” she said. “Maybe you two could get on the boat for a bit—or go to the cabin?” They had once taken a weekend at the cabins Derek’s uncle owned, though a murder had cut that vacation short. “Someone needs to make better memories in that place.”
“Sure, but it’s not us anytime soon,” Kate said wryly. “Do you have any idea how many bookings Jackson got since the murder up there? The perfect setting for a Christmas vacation, I guess. But no, we haven’t thought of anything yet. We’ve both been busy, and we won’t take the boat out until spring.”
Ellie noticed that she looked pale. “Is everything okay?”
“Look who’s asking. You’ve just recovered from a concussion. But yeah, I’m okay. Still pissed that Pratt even entertains the idea of getting himself out of prison.”
“I can imagine,” Ellie said carefully.
“Yeah. Derek has been great in all of this, trying to take my mind off it, It’s been a lot. I’m really tired, and I’m only chasing legal precedents, not killer clowns.”
“There is that. We’re making progress, but it’s slower than we would like. Bizarre stuff. At least, at the end of the day we get to go home to the little one.”
“Meri is the best,” Kate agreed, smiling as they watched the next door neighbors fussing over her.
“She really is. And every moment goes by so fast.” Perhaps she was really overreacting, and Kate would be fine once her exams were over and she could get a reasonable amount of sleep. Pratt’s last ditch effort had rattled all of them, a reminder to focus on what really counted.
Anna and Madison got their buckets filled. Meri looked happy, too, taking it all in with a wide-eyed expression. No urgent text or call—it looked like the city could have a peaceful Halloween celebration after all.
* * * *
Jordan had seen the family in their driveway a time or two, and said hello. The teenage daughter drove her bike past their house on most days in the morning. She didn’t recognize the van parked in their driveway. Maybe they were having a dinner party.
Seeing that Meri was starting to get tired, she was ready to call it a night. They’d pretty much made the rounds in their small community, and she was surprised how many of the neighbors were aware of them. The couple two houses away had even extended a dinner invitation, something she found oddly touching.
Perhaps they had a tendency to huddle within their own bubble, and given the sometimes strange things they saw on the job, who could blame them?
She had to smile at the idea of her and Ellie having dinner with their neighbors in their other, suburban living, bubble. She’d never imagined it.
Jordan rang the doorbell. After a few heartbeats, a man in his forties answered. Now she wished she remembered the names of the couple.
“Trick-or-treat,” Anna and Madison sing-songed.
He smiled. “We didn’t have a lot of visitors tonight, so we have lots of candy left over. Could you wait here a second?”
He turned around and went back in, closing the door without locking, but not before Jordan caught a glimpse at the reflection in a hallway mirror. It jolted her into action.
“Get the kids out of here right away,” she whispered to Ellie. “They’re at least two, with guns, and they’re holding them hostage.”
Chapter Twenty
Of the adults, Casey’s husband Jeff was the only one who had never worked in law enforcement, but he understood that there was no time to question or argue. He and Kate hurried to usher the children back to Jordan and Ellie’s home, where they would use Kate’s key to get inside, and wait for further instructions.
Everyone had stepped away from the door. Derek was on the phone, requesting back-up.
Daniels’ warnings flashed in Jordan’s mind, and she had to admit the woman was right.
“Ellie, I need you to go home with them. We’ll wait here until back-up arrives.”
“What? Jeff and Kate will be fine.”
Jordan took her aside, her grip a bit tighter than necessary. She let go when Ellie winced. “I won’t be. Please, trust me on this.”
Ellie gave her a long, quizzical look.
“I need you to go home and be with Meri, handle things from there.”
To her relief, Ellie simply nodded and turned to sprint into the direction where they’d come from. Halloween wouldn’t be so quiet in their neighborhood after all, after their neighbors had the bad luck of being chosen for the game. Either way, it would be the final one for the players. Enough.
* * * *
The tactical team arrived within minutes, and Jordan and Derek met them at a small intersection down the block where the hostage takers wouldn’t have eyes on them. They got Mrs. Dennison’s number from her provider.
“I can call her phone and see what the situation looks like inside. I got a glimpse of two intruders. There might be more.”
While she was talking to the captain of the squad team, the neighborhood was being secured.
“Okay,” he said. “Go ahead, but be careful.”
Jordan called the number, aware of the tension, everyone’s eyes on her. After six rings, the phone was answered. All she could hear was rustling and white noise for a few seconds, then Mrs. Dennison answered.
“Hello?” She had the voice of someone trying hard to mask the fact she’d been crying. It also sounded like the intruders had put her on speakerphone. Jordan knew she had to think fast.
“Hey, it’s Jordan Carpenter, your neighbor. I know this is strange, but…In the last group of kids that came to your door tonight, how many were there? We were wondering if we could turn off the lights.”
At first, she feared her tactic wouldn’t work, but then Mrs. Dennison answered,
“Oh, less than four kids. Those were the last ones in a while. So yes, you probably could turn it off.”
“Great, thank you. We’ll just watch a bit of TV in the living room. You too, maybe?”
“Yes, but I still have to cook dinner.”
Despite the tense situation, she barely suppressed a smile. The woman was thinking quick too.
“We’ll check the front to see if more children show up,” Mrs. Dennison added.
“You do that. And let’s get together soon, okay?”
“I’d love that,” the woman said before the call was interrupted.
Jordan turned to the captain, and Lieutenant Daniels, who had arrived while she was on the phone.
“There’s three of them. She said yes to the living room, and cooking dinner means there’s someone in the kitchen too,” she translated. “They’re watching the front of the house. If we can create a diversion…”
“Still tricky,” Daniels said. “What if they move them?”
“They have them in the living room. I caught a glimpse earlier, but I don’t think they realize we’re here yet. I could go to the front door—”
“And do what? Are you out of your mind?” That tone, especially in front of a supervisor, was unusual for Derek. She could feel her jaw drop.
“You have a better idea, let’s hear it. But don’t wait too long, because I’ll bet you that this part of the game involves killing my neighbors. There’s a fifteen-year-old girl in there.”
“Your point being? You have a girl at home that’s barely a year old.”
“Detectives,” Daniels said sharply. “Not the time.” In the resulting tense silence she added, “Are you absolutely sure that this is related?”
“The email Jimmy Bryan lied about. In the original version, they envisioned something like this. Yes, I’m sure it’s related.”
Daniels hesitated for a split-second, before she turned to the leader of the SWAT team. “I’m for a diversion out front, but it can’t be Detective Carpenter. They’ll know something is up. What do you think?”
He nodded.
“All right,” she said.
Jordan followed Derek to the back of the house where men and women in SWAT gear were already in position, waiting for the signal. She was going to talk to him later. No matter how many close calls had happened lately, now was not the time to get over-protective. Each of them had to do their jobs.
* * * *
“Why did we have to go?” Madison asked once more after Meri was ready for bed. Ellie had come downstairs to check on Casey’s family while Kate stayed with Meri. “When is Mom coming back?”
“Soon,” her father tried to assure her.
“I’m hungry,” Anna chimed in.
Ellie exchanged a look with Casey’s husband, certain that he felt the same. Her stomach was in knots, food the last thing on her mind. However, the longer they could make the girls believe that nothing much was wrong, the better.
“We wanted to order in when everyone’s back, but would you like some applesauce? Or chips?” The girl’s face brightened. “Can I have some candy too?”
Jeff Lyons sighed. “You’re going to spoil your appetite, but I guess we can make an exception for one day. Just don’t eat everything all at once.”
“I’ll prepare something. I’ll be right back,” Ellie promised. In the kitchen, she leaned her head against the fridge, startled when she sensed someone behind her.
