The Depth of Darkness (Mitch Tanner #1) (17 page)

“She’s not here,” I said.

“Where is she?”

I shrugged. “If I’m suspended, I probably
shouldn’t help out with the investigation. Don’t want to violate
protocol, you know.”

Vinson took a step inside. I squared up to
block his path. He didn’t back down. We stood inches from one
another.

“We just want to take a look around,” Braden
said.

I didn’t move.

“Please, Detective, move,” Vinson said.

I waited a minute. Tension built between us.
Two versus one. The odds were probably not in my favor in the
confined entryway. Out in the open, that’d be a different story.
More room to maneuver.

So after a few more seconds I stepped aside
and followed the men around the house. They went into her room. I
could have stopped them, but knew they’d find nothing in there. All
they were doing was wasting their time. They opened and closed a
few drawers, and then checked out the closet. After that, they went
to the kitchen. Vinson noted my open beer bottle and shook his
head.

“Suspended,” I said. “Remember?”

I presumed they were satisfied when they made
their way to the front door. Vinson stopped and turned toward me.
“What’s your read on this woman, Tanner? Think she’s involved?”

I said nothing. What the hell kind of
question was that to ask her boyfriend? My smile masked my anger
over the accusation.

“Seems fishy, you know? Teacher watches and
does nothing as two kids are abducted.”

Now, I’d already struck one cop that day. It
wouldn’t bother me to hit another. Vinson got this look on his
face, like he realized he’d gotten to me. He smiled and gave a
quick nod, then he and Braden left. I hooked my finger behind the
curtain and pulled it wide. The two agents got inside their
government issued black sedan, pulled into the driveway and then
backed out. I noted that the chimney repairman’s truck had also
left.

I decided to take another look around the
place. They’d touched some of her personal effects. The conspiracy
nut in me wanted to ensure that they hadn’t planted any evidence.
Of course, that could be what they expected me to do, only to have
them show up and catch me red handed. For that reason, I slid the
dead bolt to the locked position.

Turned out nothing of the sort had occurred,
nothing out of the ordinary. No reason to rouse the ghost of J.
Edgar.

I went back to the kitchen, finished my beer
and said goodbye to Envy the cat. He brushed against my leg, then
went back to the rear sliding glass door for a little more time in
the sun. Before I left, I adjusted the thermostat to seventy-two.
Might as well save Lana a few bucks on her power bill while she was
in the hospital.

I’d left my car windows cracked to allow
airflow. Instead of being one-ten inside, it was a balmy
ninety-five. The air conditioning always blew hot the first few
minutes. I waited outside while it kicked in. At least there was a
breeze out here. I leaned back against a shade tree and stared out
at nothing. The cool breeze was welcomed, and I hoped it meant that
a cold front was on the way. After a long hot summer, we needed
it.

My cell phone rang, dragging me away from my
thoughts concerning the weather. I glanced at the screen. Sam.

“What’s going on, partner?” I said.

“Just checking in to see how you’re holding
up,” he said.

“Doing okay, I suppose. Went by to see Lana,
but they took her down for a CT scan. So I came by her house to
feed Envy the cat. Those two knucklehead Special Agents showed up.
Wanted to take a look around. I presume that was on orders of
Dinapoli.”

“Not that I’m aware of, Mitch. I’ve been with
her since you left. She hasn’t spoken to them.”

“Interesting. They even made a point to say
that they took orders from her. Whose back pocket are they in?”

“I’ll bring it up to Bridget when I see her
again.”

“You’re not with her now?” I asked

“Nah, she had to leave.”

“Well, don’t trust anyone, Sam. Make sure you
keep an eye on all of them.”

“Like I have a choice,” Sam said. “We are one
hundred percent done with this case.”

“You sure about that?”

“Ninety-five percent sure.”

I smiled and let out a half laugh. It sounded
defeated, much like I felt. I’d tell everyone up to the Mayor to
kiss my ass, I’m working on this case. But Sam followed orders
better than I did. Guess the Army taught him that, too. “Hey, you
didn’t happen to get over to Miller’s autopsy did you?”

“Is that still our case?”

“I don’t know. Not mine for sure. Maybe still
yours.”

“I’ll call on it in a few and see if I can
get the report faxed or emailed over.”

“Sounds good. Try and stop by the house
tonight.”

“You got it, Mitch.”

I hung up and walked over to my car. I opened
the door and slipped inside. The cold air found its way through my
clothes. An icy wave washed over me. Quite enjoyable.

I figured I’d stop by my mother’s and check
on her and Ella. The girl had put on her brave face today. By now,
she’d be in need of another dose of daddy reinforcement to help her
get through the night after the terrifying day at school.

I did twenty through the neighborhood, then
turned right onto Marshall. A couple minutes later I noticed the
black sedan following five or six car lengths behind. I made a
random right turn. So did the other car. I made a left. So did the
other car. Finally, I made a u-turn and went back to the main road.
The black vehicle followed along every step of the way.

Turns out the Feds hadn’t gone that far,
after all. They gave the impression they had left, and then they’d
waited for me to leave. Probably parked across the only entrance
and exit to the neighborhood. In a supermarket parking lot, it
would have been impossible for most anyone to notice them. They saw
me, and then pulled out after I did. Why, though? What did they
want from me? Sam had all the information I did. Was this the work
of Bridget Dinapoli? If not her, then who? Couldn’t be the Chief or
the Mayor. They spent their time fighting involvement from the
Feds.

I pulled the zoom back to get a better look
at the big picture. There were a few possible angles. I assumed
that they were aware of my relationship with Lana. It was common
knowledge around the station, after all. Perhaps Sam mentioned it
in passing to Bridget and she decided to follow up on it. If
someone wanted to start connecting dots, it wasn’t all that far to
travel from Roy Miller, a.k.a. Michael Lipsky, to me. Of course,
this all depended on them throwing logic out of the window.

I thought it also might be possible that
there was someone who wanted to meet with me in an off-the-record
kind of way. To do that, they had to involve people who could
operate beyond the department’s legal scope. Then it would make
sense to send a couple of FBI Special Agents to tail me until they
found me in a compromising position, at which time they could take
me into custody. Now, who would want that to happen? The Mayor was
a strong candidate. The Chief, too. But why? Hadn’t I already
determined that there was no way those two groups could
co-exist?

Except in an effort to take me down.

There’s that conspiracy nut again.

I hadn’t left Marshall since my series of
turns to determine whether or not I was being followed. The car
remained seven or eight lengths behind. I led them away from the
city. At this time of day, traffic started to pick up. The closer
one got to the city, the thicker the congestion. The last thing I
wanted was to get stuck in gridlock and provide those two an
opportunity to trap me.

I continued another couple of miles, past the
land of suburbs, to an area where traffic was light. At that point,
I’d had enough. Time to see what these guys really wanted.

Though the traffic light said go, I pulled to
a stop just shy of the intersection. I opened my door to a chorus
of honks and windows rolling down so drivers and passengers could
shout at me or extend a warm greeting with a single finger.
Ignoring them, I walked around to the back of the Chevy and climbed
up on the trunk lid, then onto the roof.

The Feds came to a stop about forty feet
away, behind three other cars. As those vehicles veered to the left
or the right to get by me, the FBI agents pulled up another twenty
feet, and then stopped.

“Come on,” I shouted. “This is what you
wanted, right? Now you got it. Come and get me. I’m sure this is a
crime somewhere.”

The sun glared off their front windshield.
Through the bright burst of light, I saw the men look at each
other, then at me. They spoke, perhaps trying to figure out what to
do. Braden was behind the wheel. His hands animated his side of the
conversation. He eased the vehicle forward a few more feet. Vinson
had his cell phone pressed up to the side of his head. I’d have
paid twenty thousand dollars to find out who was on the other end
of that call.

Their lights started flashing, small and blue
at the corners of the windshield. I figured they were about to come
and place me under arrest. Why? No reason other than I was acting
like a belligerent jackass. They didn’t need a reason, though.

Instead of coming for me, the car lurched
forward then whipped around in a half-circle and took off in the
other direction, headed toward the city. Their lights continued to
flash and they went right through five red lights before they
disappeared from sight.

“Get off your car asshole,” some punk kid
said. He’d stuck his head out the window and had a big smile
plastered on his freckled face. I pulled my jacket to the side,
revealing my pistol. I patted the handle. The kid quickly ducked
back inside the cab of the small pickup and rolled up his window.
No matter how hard I stared, he didn’t look back at me again.

I waited until the little pickup drove off,
then I hopped off my car. I pulled my cell from my pocket and
placed a call as I slipped behind the steering wheel. The phone
rang five times before she answered.

“Where are you?” my mother asked.

“I’m not going to make it over,” I said.

“Ella is going to be disappointed. Are you
sure you can’t come by?”

“It’s not that I can’t. I shouldn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I really can’t get into it, Momma. A lot’s
happened today, most of which I can’t tell you. I’m suspended,
pending appeal.”

“What did you do?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Hope it was worth it.”

“He had it coming.”

She made a disapproving noise, but said
nothing.

“I just spent fifteen minutes with a couple
of Feds following me. Don’t know what it means, but I don’t feel
safe leading them to you and Ella.”

“What if they already know about us?”

“I’m working on that. You can expect Sam to
come by at some point. Worst case, I’ll send Jerry over to get Ella
and bring her to his place. They won’t bother him.”

“And you’d leave me here by myself?”

“Any man crazy enough to mess with you will
get what he deserves.”

She laughed and said, “Damn right.”

“The language,” I said.

She said nothing.

“Okay, look, I’m going to give Sam a call
now. Make sure all the doors and windows are locked, and don’t
leave the house. Not even for a carton of milk. You got it?”

“I know, I know.”

We said our goodbyes and I hung up. The light
turned green. I hit the accelerator and placed a call to Sam after
I’d leveled out my speed.

“What’s going on, Mitch?”

“Crazy day,” I said.

“Tell me about it.”

“Vinson and Braden were following me.”

“Say what?”

“After I left Lana’s place. I’d say it was
maybe ten minutes after they left. Should have been in the city by
then, but apparently they waited across from the neighborhood in
the shopping center parking lot.”

“Sure it was them?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I made a couple crazy turns
and they stuck with me the whole time. Kept a good distance back.
Pros, you know. They followed me for another fifteen minutes or so
until I stopped and got out of the car. Made like the roof of the
Chevy was a stage on Broadway.”

“Intriguing,” Sam said. “I’ll have to check
online for video footage.”

“Isn’t it?” I paused a beat, wondering if
anyone had filmed the encounter. “Anyone there give any indication
that they wanted to have a word with me?”

“Lots of people, but nothing that demanded
immediate attention. You sure it was them?”

“They got close enough I could see the razor
burn on their necks.”

“I’ll feel some people out and call in some
favors.”

“That’s why I’m calling, Sam. I need a favor
from you.”

“Anything.”

“Go by Momma’s and either stay there or bring
Ella and maybe even Momma over to your place. Those Feds got me
spooked. I don’t know what they know about me, and I don’t want
either of the girls to be placed in danger. Maybe it’s my paranoid
side working overtime, but I think that they, someone, thinks that
I’m involved in this mess. Now, if they want to show up at my place
at two in the morning, so be it. As long as Ella isn’t there.”

“Okay, Mitch,” Sam said. “I agree, it’s
probably a bit paranoid, but better to not take chances. I’ll take
care of Ella and let you know.”

“Just let me know when, not where. Probably
best that I don’t know in case this heads in the wrong
direction.”

After I hung up with Sam, I pulled off onto a
side road and took quite possibly the longest way home I could
think of. Lots of turns and back roads. Less traffic back there. It
made it easier to see if someone tailed me. And since I didn’t have
Lana or Ella to get home to, an hour-and-a-half drive didn’t bother
me.