Arouse Suspicion (19 page)

Nick lifted his hand in farewell, and the elevator doors closed. He started walking toward the main door with Danni beside him.

"I didn't know she was leaving," Danni said thoughtfully.

"I remember Paddy saying something about it. She even talked to him before she actually put in her notice, asked him what he thought she should do," Nick said.

"And Dad told her to move closer to her family?"

Nick heard her lingering bitterness. "No matter what you thought, he always believed family was the most important thing in the world." He took a deep breath, hoping he wasn't overstepping his bounds. "Your father used to tuck you in bed. He took you to baseball games. He brought you to the center until your adolescent hormones got you in trouble. He always kept your latest school picture in his patrol car and talked off anyone's ear if they asked about you. Does that sounds like a man who didn't want anything to do with his daughter?"

Danni stared straight ahead as they walked across the damp asphalt to the Jeep. "No." Her voice was so low Nick had to strain to hear her.

Nick waited until they were in the SUV to speak. He traced her somber profile with his gaze and resisted the impulse to touch her. "I know it's going to take longer than a few days to believe it, but he was damned proud of you, Danni."

She didn't answer, but he thought he noticed a hitch in her breathing when she turned away from him. Stifling a sigh, he started his Jeep. "Where to now?"

She remained silent for so long he began to wonder if she'd heard him. Finally, she faced him again. There was no sign of the earlier anguish in her features, only cool determination. "If Gary ran from us, maybe he had something else going on last night."

Nick didn't need a map to follow her line of thinking. "Maybe steal a car? Who can you trust in the department?"

"Nobody." Her lips curled as she opened her cell phone. "But I happen to have an administrative assistant who can check public records for auto thefts committed last night."

She punched in some numbers, and Nick listened to her ask Cathy for the information.

"She'll have the list printed by the time we get there," Danni said after punching off the phone.

"What're we looking for?"

Danni smiled crookedly. "We'll know it when we see it."

Damned if Nick didn't believe her.

Chapter Eighteen

Danni was disappointed when she and Nick didn't spot Southpaw on their circular route to her office. He must have been catching a nap in a vacant building or on a park bench. Not that she expected him to tie the case up in a pretty bow, but he often surprised her with his extensive but jumbled knowledge of the goings-on in the neighborhood.

As soon as Danni and Nick walked into the office, Cathy—true to her word—handed Danni a printout of the auto thefts reported that morning. There were only fourteen vehicles on the list, which gave Danni a decent shot of finding that arcane something that might solidify their theories.

Danni carried the list into her office, and she and Nick both sat on the client side of the desk to scan the sheet.

"A 2001 Honda Accord, 1996 Ford Expedition, 1998 Toyota Camry," Nick read aloud.

"Probably all stolen for their parts," Danni mused aloud. "There's an amazingly large market for parts for the most common vehicles."

"Chop shops," Nick said absently as he continued to peruse the listing. "A 1999 Ford Taurus." He glanced up with startled comprehension.

Danni gritted her teeth. "The one that hit Marsel." She took over reading aloud. "A 2003 Dodge Ram, 1999 Jeep Wrangler, 2003 BMW 530i." Her breath caught, and the back of her neck tingled. "Matt stole the laptop from a Jaguar, right?"

"That's right." Nick appeared bewildered. "Why?"

She held up a stalling hand and scanned the remaining stolen automobiles. Nothing else came close to the BMW in terms of price and luxury. Her mind racing, Danni stabbed the intercom button.

"Yes?" came Cathy's tinny voice.

"I want a list of all the stolen vehicles over the last six months."

"It's a good thing we ordered extra reams of paper this week."

Even through the speakerphone, Danni could hear her friend's dry tone. "How long will it take?"

"Give me an hour."

Although Danni wanted the information yesterday, she knew better than to snipe at Cathy. Her friend would only snipe back. "You got it. Thanks." She flicked off the intercom.

"What?" Nick asked, his brows drawn downward. Only he could make quizzical look sexy.

"If you were operating an auto theft ring, what kind of cars would you go for?"

He thought for a moment, then his eyebrows lifted in comprehension. "Expensive ones to make the risks worthwhile."

"Bingo." She pointed to the BMW on the list. "A BMW was stolen last night. Maybe that was why Gary ran from us. The laptop was lifted from a Jaguar, which means Matt could've stolen the Jaguar."

Nick slouched in his chair, obviously pondering her words. "If it's an auto theft ring, where does the computer fit in?"

"The kids are probably paid a certain fee for the cars they lift. When Matt saw the laptop, he figured it'd be a nice bonus."

"In other words, Matt got greedy."

Danni leaned forward and placed her elbows on her thighs. "And when the boss found out what Matt had done and that the boy had gone to my dad to save his own skin—"

"The boss ordered Matt killed," Nick finished, straightening excitedly.

"Or the boss did it himself. We don't know how many people are involved. When we get the new list, I want to record the dates each luxury car was stolen and where it was stolen from. Then we'll have to get into a computer at the department to look up each of the case files."

"And how do we intend to do that?"

"Alex Levin."

Nick's eyes widened. "He could be involved."

Danni nodded reluctantly. "I know, but if he isn't, it'd be a good idea to have him on our side."

"And if he is involved?"

"Then maybe he'll get desperate, and we can take him down."

Nick scowled. "Or he'll take
us
down."

"Either way, I think the risk is worth it." Danni reached for the phone, then drew her hand back as her conscience slapped her. This involved Nick, too, and he deserved to have a say in the matter. "What about you, partner? Do
you
think the risk is worth it?"

Nick wrinkled his brow as if it were a trick question. "What if I said it's not?"

She took a deep breath. "Then we don't ask Alex for help." Although she thought Alex was innocent, it wasn't about only her anymore. Nick's life was on the line, too.

He studied her, his features neutral. Danni tried to match his expression, but it was difficult with his intense blue eyes leveled at her. She managed not to fidget as he considered her question.

"You said you went to the Academy with him?" he finally asked.

"That's right."

"And he's never given you a reason not to trust him?"

"Never," she replied honestly.

"All right. Call him."

Danni's throat tightened, although she would've been hard-pressed to explain why. Or maybe the why was as simple as discovering Nick trusted her judgment.

She gave him a quick nod, then called the department and left a message for Alex to call her.

Danni stood. "Would you like a cup of coffee or a soda?"

"Coffee, please."

"Two coffees coming up."

Danni slipped past Cathy, who was on the phone, and retrieved two steaming cups from the break room. She returned to her office and handed Nick one. Her heart quickened as their fingers brushed.

Danni chastised herself as she moved to her chair on the other side of the desk. Sweating hands and a palpitating heart were for hormone-driven adolescents, not a twenty-eight-year-old woman who'd dated enough boys during high school and college to staff a luxury hotel.

"So now we wait?" Nick asked.

"Now we wait."

For an entire five minutes, Nick remained silent, drinking his coffee and keeping his gaze aimed at the toes of his hiking boots. Danni wasn't certain if she wanted him to talk or not. In fact, when it came to Nick, she wasn't certain about much of anything, which was a condition she rarely found in herself.

"So—"

"What—"

Danni and Nick spoke at the same time.

"You first."

"Go ahead."

Their voices overlapped again.

Danni pressed her lips together and saw that Nick did the same thing. They laughed.

"I was just wondering when you need to have your book written," Danni said.

Nick grinned wryly. "Since I haven't sold it yet, never. However, I told my agent I'd have the first few chapters to him by the end of the month."

"That's only two weeks away."

"Yep." He sighed. "But I've decided not to write it."

"Why? Because Dad isn't here to help you?"

Nick rubbed his eyes. "Partly. But mostly because it's the reason Paddy's dead. If I hadn't—"

Danni leaned across the desk. "Your book isn't the reason Dad is dead. He's dead because some son of a bitch killed him. Period."

"But if I hadn't—"

"You
didn't squeeze the trigger. Besides, how could you have known that your idea was more fact than fiction?" Danni gentled her voice. "If Dad were here, you know what he'd say."

Nick quirked a smile. "He'd tell me to quit feeling sorry for myself."

"I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Quit acting like a jackass.'"

Amusement glimmered in his eyes. "That, too."

Their gazes locked, and warmth flowed through Danni. She'd always scoffed at talk show guests who spoke of soul mates, but the connection she felt with Nick made her reexamine her cynicism. They'd spent over seventy-two hours in each other's company and had yet to kill one another. Of course, there had been a few instances...

Just for kicks, she imagined spending more time—a few days, weeks, months... the next fifty or so years— with him. Amazingly, the thought didn't make her want to check herself into a psych ward.

A knock brought Danni back to the present. "Yes?"

Cathy opened the door and stuck her head in. A lecherous smile lit her face. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Nick ducked his head and rubbed his brow. "For crying out loud."

Danni hid a smile behind her hand. "What is it, Cathy?"

The assistant turned serious and crossed to the desk. She held out a sheaf of papers to Danni. "Here's the first month of car thefts. The second month is printing now. I'll bring them in as they come off the printer."

Excitement surged through Danni as she took them. "That'd be great. Thanks."

Cathy's gaze deliberately moved from Danni to Nick and back. "Well, I'd hate for you two to get bored in this little tiny office all by yourselves where no one can see what—"

"I hear a printer calling your name," Danni interrupted deliberately.

The petite blond wrinkled her nose. "No rest for the weary."

"Or the wicked," Nick muttered.

"I didn't realize you'd noticed." Cathy winked at him. "Let me know if you need anything else." She exited like a stripper leaving a stage.

Danni held up a hand. "Don't say it. She's a good friend and the most efficient administrative assistant I've ever seen."

Nick sighed but his eyes twinkled. "I have to admit she does kind of grow on a person."

"Like a fungus," they said simultaneously, then laughed.

Danni grew serious and split the papers into two piles. She handed Nick one. "Look for luxury, high-end vehicles. When you find one, jot down the date and address of where it was stolen." She pushed a pad of paper and a pen at him.

Nick nodded and set his empty coffee cup aside. An hour and a half later, Danni and Nick stacked six months of scrutinized auto theft records in the middle of the desk. Danni had compiled a list of twenty-seven. Glancing at Nick's amazingly neat handwriting, she noticed he had almost as many.

Nick rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I never realized how many cars were stolen each day."

"It's a national pastime," Danni said absently. "Our next step is to figure out if there's any pattern as to when and where they were stolen."

Nick sighed, but bravely began reading off addresses so Danni could enter them in her computer. Forty-five minutes later, two facts became evident.

"Most of them were stolen from their homes, and they were stolen at night," Danni said.

"Isn't that common?"

Danni picked up a paper clip and straightened it. "It's more common for automobiles to be taken from public places, like mall parking lots or parking garages. It's usually too difficult for a thief to sneak into a neighborhood— especially an upscale one—to steal a car from the owner's garage."

"So this tells us what?"

Danni tossed aside the ruined paper clip and picked up a new one. "One, that the thieves knew the addresses of their targets, which means they were either under surveillance or somebody tipped them off. Two, they knew how to bypass the security systems."

"How do we know the victims had security systems?"

"Because anyone who has money for expensive toys also has a security system these days."

Nick grunted. "I'll buy that. Is there a three?"

Danni dropped yet another straightened paper clip on her blotter. "Not yet. I think this is where we need Alex's help." As if on cue, the intercom buzzed. "Yes?"

"Alex Levin on line two," Cathy announced.

Danni arched an eyebrow in Nick's direction, then punched the blinking light on her phone. "Thanks for calling back, Alex."

She went on to explain the favor she needed. Her friend was more than willing to help, and since he was at a terminal, she started feeding him the information.

Half an hour later, her hand was cramped from writing, but from the twelve thefts Alex had called up on his computer, one thing became glaringly obvious. She looked at Nick's anxious expression and gave him a thumbs-up. But before she ended the call with Alex, she had one more question for her friend.

"Last night, I got the first three letters of the license of the person who broke into my truck. Detective Rearden is running the list, but there's one person I'd like to check. Could you punch Paul Gilsen's name into Motor Vehicles and take a look at his plate number?"

Alex grumbled, but she could hear his fingers tapping unevenly on a keyboard.

"What're you doing?" Nick asked quietly. "If he and Gilsen are in this together, you've just tipped them off."

Danni covered the phone and opened her mouth, but closed it abruptly when Alex spoke.

"Looks like he has only one car—a 2002 silver Audi." The policeman spoke in a low voice, like he didn't want anyone to overhear him. "Number is Edward, Charles, Union, three, nine, two."

Danni's heart hammered against her ribs, but she kept her voice even. "Thanks, Alex. I really appreciate this."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Alex asked.

"Sorry. Too soon. Once we've got our ducks in a row, I'll explain. Honest."

"Just don't get your ducks shot off."

Danni smiled. "We'll be careful. Thanks again."

After exchanging farewells, Danni ended the call and gave Nick her undivided attention. "There wasn't enough time to check on all the thefts, but out of the dozen he pulled up, eleven of the cars were taken when the owners were on vacation."

Nick tilted his head. "How did the thieves know they were out of town?"

"Exactly," Danni said as excitement thrummed through her. "Someone involved in the ring must have some connection to a security firm—or firms—which would make sense since at least one of the thieves would have to know how to bypass the system." She paused as another possibility struck her, and her enthusiasm wilted. "Or they have someone within the department feeding them the information."

"How—"

"People often inform the police when they'll be out of town. When I was on patrol, we'd make sure to check on those places at least a couple of times each shift." She brightened as she thought of another possibility. "People stop their mail and newspapers when they go on vacation. What about someone from one of those places passing on information?"

"Not very likely. My money's on a dirty cop," Nick said quietly.

Although she was no longer a police officer, she felt a loyalty toward her former brothers in blue. However, her gut was agreeing with Nick. More than likely, some cop was taking bribes for giving the ringleader the dates and addresses of vacationers.