Borderline (17 page)

Losing himself in the different crime scene photos, Tanner marked similarities and differences between the drug killings and the Houston victims. Several he marked for further examination, and he decided to call the lieutenant who had written the note. The lieutenant wasn’t in, so he left a message, asking the man to call him back when he could.

“What was so important you had to rush out of the briefing?”

Tanner glanced up to see Mac bracing a shoulder against the door frame.

“These.” He gestured to the photos scattered over his desk.

Mac strolled over to him and picked up one of the photos. “You asked for the drug killing photos. Why?”

“I wanted to definitely cross them off as possibly being connected. Even if the women had no connection to drugs that we know of, we have to make sure we don’t overlook any lead.” Tanner met Mac’s narrowed gaze. “I didn’t go behind your back or anything. I just decided that this stuff would help me work up a better profile.”

His lover frowned, but Tanner got the feeling Mac’s issue wasn’t with Tanner looking at the drug photos. He studied Mac as the other man wandered around Tanner’s office, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“What’s wrong?” He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk.

“Why do you think something’s wrong?” Mac swung around but didn’t look at him.

“You don’t strike me as the type of guy who paces very often, yet you’ve been circling my office like an expectant father.”

Mac rolled his eyes. “Mr. Leviston left me a message. Marissa’s funeral is the day after tomorrow. I’m trying to decide whether I should go or not.”

Tanner dropped his feet to the floor and stood. He shut and locked the door before approaching Mac. After reaching out, he cupped the back of Mac’s head to bring their mouths together. Tension stiffened Mac for a second, but Tanner didn’t let him move away.

He swiped his tongue into Mac’s mouth, teasing and daring his lover to participate. He smiled mentally when Mac threaded his fingers through Tanner’s hair and took the kiss deeper. Tanner didn’t let it go too far because they couldn’t do anything while at the office.

After a minute or two, Tanner stepped back, breaking the kiss. He rubbed his thumb over Mac’s bottom lip. “You do what you feel is right. If you want to go to her funeral, I’ll go with you.”

“You would?”

Tanner nodded. “Sure. We’re dating, sort of, aren’t we? And even if we weren’t sleeping together, I’d still go with you because you’re my friend, Mac.”

Mac blinked and seemed a little surprised, making Tanner wonder if the other man had many close friends. Tanner walked over to his desk and rested a hip on the edge.

“Don’t you have any friends outside of work? You play poker with a bunch of guys, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t tell them personal things. None of the guys I play cards with are what I’d consider close friends. Well, except maybe Snap. Certainly I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking any of them to come to a funeral with me.” Mac paced. “Do you have any close friends?”

Tanner shook his head. “Not really. Like I said, it was always just my mama and I.”

Plus if any hint of his past got out, he would have been in big trouble. A stray thought entered his mind, and Tanner found himself wondering for the first time how he’d managed to get his job at the bureau with his background. Something should have red flagged him. When he asked his mother before applying to the bureau, she’d said not to worry and he hadn’t, but now he started to think about it. What would happen if Mac ever found out about Tanner’s family?

“Well, it must have been lonely,” Mac murmured as he wandered around the room.

“Yeah. It was, but I accepted it and tried not to think about how lonely I was. Now that she’s gone, I think about it a lot.” Tanner shrugged when Mac looked at him. “Of course, it could be simply that I’m getting older and don’t want to be alone all my life.”

“We’re not that old.” Mac grimaced and shook himself like he wanted to get rid of the bad thoughts. “I have to get back to the office and grab Sorensterm. We’re heading out to interview some more people. Maybe we’ll get something. I wish I could send the bastard out to do other shit. He’s driving me crazy. He told me he wants to be lead on the case because it would mean a sure promotion. He said I need to recuse myself and he won’t tell Billingsley I’m gay.”

“He’s not serious. You’re not considering it, are you?” Tanner couldn’t believe an officer of the law would do something like that.

“Yes, he’s serious, but I won’t do it. I won’t be blackmailed. Once this case is over, I’m going to talk to Billingsley about it. They can’t fire me because I’m gay.”

“No. They can’t, and if you ended up leaving, you could get a job at just about any police department,” Tanner pointed out.

Mac nodded, but Tanner saw the thought of leaving the rangers didn’t sit well with Mac.

Tanner looked at his watch. “You have to go.”

“Yes. Hopefully it’ll be a successful day.”

“I have faith you’ll find something important to the case while you’re out.” Tanner shifted and glanced at his watch. “I’m gathering all this shit up and heading home for the night. I’ll just work from there.”

He hesitated for a moment before gathering his courage. “When you get done with your interviews, if you want to, why don’t you stop by?”

“If I can, I will. I’ll probably pull an all-nighter. Cap is on my ass, and I can’t blame him for it.” Mac stalked over to Tanner and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. “How about another kiss before I leave?”

A little surprised Mac initiated the kiss, Tanner let him have control from the beginning. He wrapped his arms around Mac’s broad shoulders and moaned softly into the man’s mouth as Mac massaged Tanner’s ass with his strong fingers. His erection pressed against his zipper, and he longed for Mac to bend him over his desk and fuck him until he screamed. Of course, that wouldn’t happen. At least not at the office.

When he couldn’t take any more without begging Mac to fuck him, Tanner stepped back, his chest heaving. “Well, that makes me hope you’ll be able to get free tonight.”

Mac smiled and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Tanner walked around his desk and sat in his chair. He watched Mac head toward the door. “Take care of yourself out there, Mac.”

“You too.” Mac waved and left.

“Like I ever get into situations where I have to worry,” Tanner muttered as he started gathering up the photos and files.

“Heading out?” Sam peered around the door frame.

“Yeah. I’ll work from home for now. I should be getting the newest crime scene photos, and I think better away from here.” Tanner shoved all the files into his briefcase along with his laptop.

“Okay. Keep me posted if you get anything.”

“You should have an updated profile in your in-box and on your desk.”

Sam nodded. “Good. You getting along with Guzman?”

Tanner slid on his jacket and hooked his gun to his belt. “Sure. We’re working fine together. He doesn’t see me as the enemy. He knows I’m not going to grab the praise when we catch this guy.”

“So you think we’ll get him, huh?” Sam escorted him through the bull pen.

“Sure. He can’t go on for much longer without making mistakes. Hell, he’s already made some. We know how he takes them, and that’s more than we knew before.” Tanner pushed the button for the elevator. “It’s only a matter of time now. He’ll screw up, and we’ll take him down.”

Sam chuckled. “The one thing I like about you, Tanner, is your optimism. Nothing really gets you down for long.”

Tanner eyed his boss. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve been around me long enough to know I’m teetering on the brink of insanity because of all the cases I’ve worked on. It isn’t optimism making me think we’ll catch him. It’s facts and statistics. It’s a very rare killer who can keep from being caught. The longer and more often he kills, the more likely he is to mess up and leave us clues to work with.”

“True.” Sam slapped him on the back. “Go home and get to work on those new photos. I’ll talk to you first thing tomorrow.”

“Good night, sir.”

Tanner rode the elevator down, and he got to his car without anyone else stopping to talk to him. He grabbed takeout and went home, not feeling like cooking dinner just for himself. When he got home, he changed into jeans and a T-shirt, ate, and cleaned up before pulling out his laptop and the files.

The latest crime scene photos were in his in-box, and he downloaded them, sending them to his printer. While he waited for those to print out, he sorted through the others. The drug killings were definitely done by the same person with probably the same knife for each one. That was one connection between the Houston killings and the drug ones, but it was a flimsy one at best.

His work cell rang, and he grabbed it.

“Hello.”

“Agent Wallace?”

He didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes?”

“This is Lieutenant Chad Thompson, Phoenix PD. You left a message for me to call you in regards to the cartel killings.”

“Right.” Tanner shuffled through the pictures until he got to the pile containing the Phoenix crime scene photos. “You wrote a note when you sent the photos I requested. I wanted to know why you thought Juan Mencia killed these men.”

“Well, those men were known associates or workers for the Delarosa cartel. We never did figure out why they were killed, though they were probably dipping into the profits or the product. The one thing Delarosa doesn’t tolerate is someone stealing from him.” The sound of papers rustling came over the phone. “Mencia works the southwestern quadrant of Delarosa’s area, though he’s ranged up into California from time to time.”

“Works? In what way?” Tanner scribbled notes as Thompson talked.

“He’s the muscle. I’ve met the man when we brought him in, in connection with the first murder. Mencia’s smart, but his arrogance gets in the way. I think he believed he was untouchable because he worked for Delarosa.” Thompson snorted.

“He isn’t untouchable?” Tanner stood and paced.

“The only person working for Delarosa who’s untouchable is Perez, his right-hand man. Everyone else has always been expendable for Victor Delarosa. He purged the entire hierarchy when he came into power after his father died. Coldhearted son of a bitch.”

Tanner silently agreed but returned the focus to Mencia. “Was there anything else to lead you to look at Mencia?”

“Sure. There should be two photos of the deceased’s back. In both murders, he etched a
J
between their shoulder blades. More than likely, he used the tip of his knife to do it. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough evidence for us to throw his ass in jail. Just because his first name starts with a
J
and his weapon of choice is a KA-BAR doesn’t mean he committed these killings. Could have been a copycat for all we know.”

“Yeah right. How many killers are going to risk using the same MO as a drug enforcer? That would take balls, considering what would happen if the enforcer found out about it.” Tanner tugged on his bottom lip while thinking. “Have there been any killings with Mencia’s MO in your area lately?”

“No.” Thompson paused for a second before continuing. “And the weird thing is no one’s seen Mencia in a while.”

Tanner froze. “What?”

“Seems none of the narcotic divisions or even the DEA have seen him in at least six months. There hasn’t been any mention of him on the street, plus the one informant the DEA has in the Delarosa cartel hasn’t been able to find out anything about him.” Thompson exhaled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say Delarosa got rid of him and dumped the body in Mexico or someplace like that.”

“We all know Delarosa wouldn’t have a problem doing something like that. He’s done it before.”

Tanner remembered hearing about the execution of a motorcycle gang that had skimmed some of the product for their own consumption and Delarosa sent his men in to make an example of them. Those killings and getting rid of his father’s top men had helped solidify Victor Delarosa’s reputation as a monster beyond anyone’s reckoning.

“True, but nothing’s coming up on the street or through any of the DEA’s informants. If Delarosa had killed Mencia, he’d want everyone to know as a warning not to get too arrogant about their place in the cartel.” Thompson pointed out.

“Shit, do you think Mencia went back to Mexico?” Tanner stopped in front of the photos laid out on his dining room table. He studied them while he waited for Thompson to answer.

“No. There’s no evidence supporting that. Personally, after hearing about the killings taking place in your city, I’m thinking he’s moved on from drug killings to outright murdering innocents.”

“I’m afraid you might be right.” Tanner narrowed his gaze as he peered at one of the enlarged copies of the carving. “Thanks for calling, Lieutenant Thompson.”

“Always glad to help out fellow law enforcement. Hope you catch this guy soon.”

“So do I.”

Tanner hung up and set the phone on the table before reaching for the photo. Holding it up, he squinted at it, letting his gaze trace the swirls and twists. Could that be a
J
inserted into the background of the carving? Could the killer have etched the letter into the flesh first, then tried to disguise it with the intricate design over the top of it? It was possible, and Tanner knew whom he had to talk to about it and where he could find Mencia. All his instincts told him the enforcer had something to do with the killings.

Grimacing, he took his time digging out his personal phone. He didn’t want to ask, but there wasn’t anyone else he could talk to about it. In addition to that, if he was right, any information they could give him might help with Mencia’s capture, and Tanner would make a deal with the devil to get that man off the streets.

His phone was tucked in the pocket of his jacket. He pulled it out and sat on the couch, holding it in his hand. Should he do it? For the first time in his life, could he use his family connections to solve a case? If word of it got out, he’d lose his job for sure and might even come under investigation himself. Isolating himself from the only other living member of his family had been hard, but Tanner had done it to keep his promise to his mother, yet innocent women would continue to die if he didn’t figure out the truth.