Sweet Vengeance (27 page)

That
didn't make Allie feel any better.  "With his pig-headed stubbornness, I
can't have either.  He doesn't want me, but he's making it impossible for me to
have a normal relationship with anyone else."  

"That
is a problem."

Both
women fell into their thoughts.  Carole wandered to a nearby bench and sat. 
"You
could
go to Chicago."  Allie's gaze jumped to Carole's
face.  The woman raised her brows.  "It's one way to get his
attention."

Allie
nodded.  That part was certainly true.  But did she dare? 

Carole
studied Allie.  "I know you had some trouble before you came here.  It's
obvious from the way you showed up on our doorstep with only the clothes on
your back."

"You
seem to have a better grasp at what's going on around here than anyone gives
you credit for." 

Carole
shrugged.  "I don't get paid to scrub the toilets."  She grinned. 
"Okay, maybe I do, but a girl needs to enjoy her job, right?"

"Right." 
Just like Allie enjoyed her job.  Not the paperwork part of it, but the feel of
a weapon in her hand.  The power, the control it gave her.  She wasn't the same
scared little girl who'd run from the big, bad boys in Chicago.  She was a
cop.  No one knew those streets better than her, and she had the element of
surprise.  Going back sounded better and better.  She'd come to Oregon intent
on confronting Jase, and she wasn't about to walk away now. 

Besides,
it wasn't like she'd known the Trasattis personally.  Joey had hung out with
them, but she never had.  Even if she did run into one of them, it would be a
stretch for anyone to recognize her.  Although if someone did, it could be a
costly mistake on her part.

And
what about Jase?  Would he recognize her? 

Going
back might have more repercussions than she realized, but she was stronger now,
prepared, and ready to fight back.  Her future depended on it. 

"Miss
Fox?"  Sergeant Cates of the Chicago Police Department actually seemed
happy to see Allie, unlike the overworked-underpaid people she usually found in
police stations.  His bushy gray brows hung over his blue eyes the same way his
paunchy belly hung over the waistband of his uniform, but his smile was warm
and inviting.  "How may I help you?"

Allie
extended her hand over the reception counter at the precinct and shook his. 
"I was hoping we could talk privately for a few minutes."  Honestly,
she wasn't quite sure why she'd stopped at the police department first.  She'd
come to find Jase and make him quit interfering in her life, but somewhere
between Oregon and Chicago, her curiosity had gotten the best of her.  She had
no idea why the Trasatti family had seemed so intent on murdering her, other
than wanting her because she could have been a potential witness to Joey's
shooting.  Now, she had the chance to find out.  There had to be more to the
story.  Time had given her the emotional distance she needed to confront her
past, and she'd realized solving the puzzle was one more step she needed to
take before she could move forward.  "Do you have an available
office?"

Cates
shrugged.  "Sure, come on back."  He buzzed her through the security
door.  She followed his bulky form down a hall filled with the scent of fresh
paint, past two empty ladders and into a tiny office.  "It's not a
brand-new corner office, but when you work for the government, you happily
accept any upgrades." 

The
small room had been recently painted as well, though the furniture appeared to
be well-used.  Allie took a seat in front of the metal desk and was surprised
when the officer perched on a corner of the desk near her instead of sitting in
his chair.  "Thank you for seeing me, Sergeant Cates."

The
older man smoothed his unruly moustache.  "What can I help you with?"

She
tilted her head up to see him better.  "I'm with the Sacramento Police
Department in California."

"That's
what the receptionist said."  His smile seemed friendly, but she had no
doubt he was sizing her up.  Especially her legs.  The officer's gaze seemed to
have snagged on her thighs that peeked from her tailored skirt.  She wanted to
tell him it was rude to stare, but decided the distraction might work in her
favor.

"I
wanted to ask you about a case from several years ago.  A shooting.  The
victim's name was Joey Pagano."

His
gaze jumped to her face.  "I remember it.  Me and another officer were the
main detectives.  It's a cold case now.  Never solved."  His gaze slid
downward again.  "What's Sacramento P.D.'s interest in it?"

"Actually,
I'm not here as a representative of the department.  It's more a personal
interest.  A friend of a friend knew the vic, and I'm always a sucker for an
unsolved mystery.  I'm here in town on personal business and thought, if you
didn't mind, I'd review the evidence."

Cates'
chuckle rumbled through the room.  "So you think you can waltz in here and
solve a six-year-old case in a few days' time, when some of Chicago's finest
detectives couldn't crack it after trying for years?"  He shook his head. 
"Kind of arrogant, ain't it?"

Allie's
cheeks burned.  "I didn't mean to insult you, Sergeant Cates."  She
shifted in her chair.  "I'm not suggesting I can solve it.  But I would
like the opportunity to review the case."

He
studied her for a moment.  "I can't release any of our files."

"I'm
not asking you to."  He hadn't said no, so that was good, right?

"We
don't have any extra office space for you to use."

"I
could sit in your office.  I wouldn't take up much room.  Then you could keep
an eye on your files."  She glanced around the small room, envisioning
being trapped in there for hours with the old sergeant and his roaming eyes.

"You
going to keep wearing short skirts?"  The man raised his bushy brows.

Allie
couldn't help but laugh at the old man's tactics.  She should have been
offended, but something in his eyes said he was harmless.  "Into sexual
harassment much?"

"I'm
not a pervert if that's what you're thinking.  I won't be hitting on you.  But
after working for the government for twenty-five years, I'll take all the perks
I can get."  He winked.  "And a pretty lady's legs are about all the
décor this office will ever see."

She'd
play his game.  "If that's what it takes then fine." 

"Done." 
Cates stood.  He smiled again, his blue eyes twinkling.

"You
drive a hard bargain."

He
chuckled.  "I knew I liked you from the moment I saw you.  A woman with
spunk.  Come back after lunch, and I should have the files by then.  Let's see
what you and your arrogance can accomplish."

*       
*        *

"This
case has been a real bugger."  Cates shoved two files across the desk
toward Allie. 

She
took them as she did a quick scan of his messy desk.  The room smelled of
hamburgers and fries, but she couldn't see any tell-tell signs of food other
than the super-size soft drink near his computer.

"If
you're able to solve this, it'll make my years of service all the
sweeter."  He nodded toward the files, his bushy brows arching upward. 
"The Trasatti organization cost me a promotion.  Besides the Pagano
murder, we're pretty sure the Trasattis were involved in Representative
Winslow's murder around the same time.  There were plenty of rumors suggesting
the two events were connected, but we never found anything concrete enough to
make an arrest.  But I guess a fresh set of eyes never hurts."

Allie
released a pent-up breath.  It was like somebody had dropped a rock in the
river of her emotions, and all her old fears bubbled to the surface like stirred-up
silt.    

She
was not prepared to like Sergeant Cates as much as she did, nor was she
prepared for the punch to her gut when she opened a file to see pictures of the
crime scene.

The
expert photos captured the crime very well.  Joey on his back, his eyes open
but no longer seeing the world she continued to live in.  The shock of that
horrible night came rushing back, overwhelming her with intense memories. 

She
thought she'd moved beyond that time in her life, but all she'd really done was
bury it.  Time had done nothing to diminish its effect on her.  She swallowed
and turned the page, unable to block out what had happened to her six years
ago.

She
gasped at the autopsy pictures and turned her head.  Nausea rose in her
throat.  The page held photos of Joey's chest among other things.  She'd seen
the hole near his heart.  It had pierced him on the right side of his tattoo. 
The twin of the one she still carried on her body.  Some of his symbols were
missing, but their initials still remained etched into his skin, surrounded by
a heart.

Sergeant
Cates clapped a hand on her back causing her to nearly fall out of her chair. 
"Not much of a cop if you can't look at dead bodies.  How green are you
anyway?"

Allie
tried to catch her breath and calm her stomach.  She hadn't realized he'd
joined her on her side of the desk.  "I graduated from UCLA two years
ago.  Joined the force not long after."

"That's
pretty green." 

She
looked up and caught him rolling his eyes.  "I worked patrol for almost
two years while I finished my Master's degree, and now they've moved me into
the psychological profiling department."

He
shrugged.  "I guess that's something.  Profiler's are useful sometimes,
but nothing beats good, old-fashioned detective work."

"Profiling
is
detective work.  It's the—"

"Yeah,
yeah.  I know what it is."  He pulled out his wallet and nodded toward the
door.  "Why don't you let me buy you a pop out of the machine?  That'll
settle your stomach, and you'll be able to get to work solving that case none
of us old detectives could."

Allie
was grateful for the few-minutes' reprieve.  Walking to the pop machine gave
her a chance to collect herself, and by the time they returned to Cates'
office, she was better prepared for what waited there.  She sat her soda aside
and steeled herself when she re-opened the file.  She tried not to focus on the
photos and skipped to the part where the case had been documented.

"So
your suspects were Tommy Trasatti and...Jase Tyler?"  That shocked her. 
She tried to keep her face an unemotional mask. 

Cates
twisted the lid off his soda and nodded.  "Witnesses put them both in the
area."  He eyed her.  "Know anything about either of them?"

Allie
shrugged.  "Not much about Trasatti.  My friend just said his organization
was suspected in the shooting."

"Your
friend didn't mention anything about Tyler?"

Allie
played innocent.  "No."  She gave him her best interrogation look. 
"How about witnesses to the shooting?  Did you find anyone?"

"None
that came forward, not for the actual shooting, anyway.  There were some who
saw the cars race away.  One vehicle belonged to Trasatti and the other to
Tyler.  But, by the time we caught up to them, there was no evidence
pinpointing either one.  Can't convict just 'cause they were in the area."

Allie's
curiosity got the best of her.  "Tell me what you know about Tyler." 
She glanced at the notes.  "Jase, is it?"

It
was Cates' turn to shrug.  "He's a bit of an enigma.  No criminal record. 
Owns quite a bit of property around the district.  Never anything we can pin on
him, yet his name is constantly connected to the underworld.  Pretty shady
character if you ask me."  He took a drink of soda and sat his bottle on
the desk.  "We'll get something on him eventually."

Allie
nodded.  "Sounds more like it's the Trasatti guy anyway."  Cates
studied her, and she quickly turned her focus back to the file. 

She
worked for a while, trying to create a profile of the murderer, but it seemed
kind of pointless since she already knew who had done it.  From time to time,
she glanced at Cates who seemed to be busy working on his own cases.  She'd
read through the notes several times, but she'd gotten more info from Cates
than from reading the files.  It was the cop's intuitive perspective which
never made it on to the pages of the report that interested her the most.

"So
what do you think the motive was?"

The
cop played with his moustache.  "Drugs, guns.  Deal gone bad, maybe."

Maybe
it was
her
cop's intuition at work, but she could sense he wasn't
telling her everything he knew.  "Seems a little too cut and dry.  Doesn't
it?"

He
shrugged.  "Does it?"

She
widened her eyes in pretended innocence.  "I get the sense you're not
telling me everything."  She flicked at the file.  "This isn't any
better."

He
narrowed his eyes.  "Seems like you're not telling me everything,
either."  He let the unspoken question hang in the air between them.

She
held his gaze, determined to not give away anything further.  "I don't
know what you mean.  If you don't believe my credentials, call my office and
check."