The Negotiator (27 page)

Twenty-three

D
ave stopped at the bottom of the stairs and frowned, then headed down the hall toward the dining room and the smell of coffee. Kate was there, a stack of empty candy wrappers beside her, sipping a cup of coffee, studying the notes on the wall.

“I didn’t hear you get up. How long have you been down here?”

She looked over and smiled. “Since about 2
A.M.
, I guess. I’ve got something to show you.”

She looked…pleased. He pulled out a chair, intrigued.

“Devlon did it.”

Where has she gone this time?

She laughed at his skeptical look. “It’s all there.” She gestured to the wall. “I was almost right yesterday. Ashcroft is the one who started it all. But it was Devlon that helped him, not Tony.”

Dave settled down in the chair, willing to give her room to explore ideas. She’d been up most of the night again. She probably had found something. Not what she hoped for but something. “Explain what you’ve found.”

“Ashcroft wanted to kill Nathan because he turned him in and sent him to prison for ten years. He wanted to go after the man who turned evidence against him, Tony Sr., but since he was dead, Ashcroft had to settle for framing Tony Jr. and dragging me down instead. But Ashcroft also wanted to rebuild his drug operation, and that meant the one person he didn’t go after was his inside man at the bank.” The look that entered her eyes was one Dave had never seen before: fierce, cold, calculating. “Devlon.”

She tapped the audit book beside her. “Ashcroft was blackmailing Tony, but Devlon moved that blackmail money to Nathan’s account so Nathan would look less than lily-white.”

“That makes him a bomber?”

“Yes. Because it means he was doing Ashcroft’s bidding. And the evidence suggests he had been doing it for years. With the attempt to convince Nathan to take the banks public, Devlon couldn’t afford a whiff of that becoming public.”

She tapped the top Post-it note. She had taped up a new easel sheet and done her own Post-it notes. Dave noted her handwriting was atrocious and wondered if she had been filling them out while they were stuck on his wall. He buried a grin; he didn’t think he’d win points for asking.

“Are you paying attention?”

“Yes.”

She frowned at him. “Pay close attention, buddy; I’ve been up for hours to figure this out.”

“I could use some coffee if this is going to be a long explanation.”

She handed him hers without even a comeback, and Dave started paying serious attention. She didn’t relinquish coffee easily.

“Nathan turned Ashcroft in, got him sent to jail because of a suspicious account. Guess who brought that account to Nathan’s attention?” She tapped a note. “Devlon. He’d probably been handling Ashcroft’s drug money for years. When the auditors got too close, he covered his own back.”

She tapped the second note. “Ashcroft gets out of jail a decade later and starts blackmailing Tony Jr., squeezing him hard enough he’s running out of money. Tony Jr. needs to get the bank to ease up, give him time, but there’s Devlon, insuring it’s going to play by the book. Tony’s looking at bankruptcy, and he can’t make the next payment. Ashcroft then moves to pressure Tony Jr. into planting the bomb.”

“Which the evidence suggests Tony Jr. did.”

Kate shook her head, and Dave was startled at her confidence. “Tony Jr. said no; I’m certain of it.

She walked him through what she thought had happened. “That left Ashcroft with everything arranged, the money moved, Tony Jr. set up to take the fall, the calls made, his alibi established, the perfect opportunity to act, and no one to plant the bomb. But he’s got a card with Devlon. So he uses it. Think about it. Ashcroft had enough evidence to push Devlon into moving money around. One step further is planting the bomb in Nathan’s laptop. We know Devlon had access; he was the one using it that morning.

“And in the end we get a classic double cross,” she continued. “Devlon doesn’t like the fact Ashcroft has him over a barrel. But it’s pretty easy for Devlon to take care of Ashcroft, he just does some fast talking and puts Nathan on the MetroAir flight as a last minute walk-on. Good-bye Ashcroft. Good-bye Nathan. Devlon has a nice alibi; he was supposed to fly to New York with Nathan until the last second change in plans. Tony Jr. looks guilty; Ashcroft who could implicate him is dead; and he walks away running First Union Group, with the prospect of the banks going public now that Nathan is no longer there to resist the idea.”

“So he gets everything but the girl.”

Kate smiled. “He could be seeing Nathan’s wife, Emily, on the side for all I know.”

She looked at the board, then back at him. “Do you see any holes? Because I don’t.”

“The phone calls.”

“We still need to track down the voice on the tape, but I now think it’s going to prove to be Ashcroft’s. And the location the bomb threat call originated from—I’ll lay money when they did the tests, they didn’t check the power levels from inside a plane parked at the gate. They’ll match the footprint we have.”

“And the calls to your apartment? The black rose?”

“Both were Ashcroft. If Ashcroft was smart, and I’m willing to bet he was, the calls would have been made from a pay phone somewhere. We might find a florist who remembers him buying the rose.”

“How do we prove this?”

Kate began to pace. “Devlon strikes me as arrogant. What do you want to bet he’s already moving some of Ashcroft’s secret accounts to his own?”

“We go after Devlon’s financial records?”

“I would. And what do you want to bet he’s already tried to get his hands on the evidence Ashcroft was using to blackmail Tony with? He’s going to have problems if Tony starts to talk.”

Dave leaned forward and slowly set down the coffee mug. “Kate, if you’re right, Devlon is vulnerable to Tony talking—214 deaths vulnerable. He’s not going to hesitate to make it 215.”

He watched her literally pale in a heartbeat.

“Call Jim. We’ve
got
to find Tony.”

Dave shook his head, dialing Marcus instead. “We’ve got to pick up Devlon first.”

“Call Marla, too. If she knows what’s going on, she may be able to convince Tony to turn himself in if he calls her.”

He nodded, agreeing, even as he gently pushed her back into a chair.

He had always admired Marcus’s ability to absorb information. His questions were brief, pointed, and he went to the bottom line much faster than Dave. Marcus would take care of getting Devlon brought in for questioning.

Closing the cellular phone, Dave called Jim next. The cops were already looking hard for Tony, but at least they would know now he was as much at risk of being a victim as he was a possible bomb suspect. The calls made, Dave closed the cellular phone, set it back on the table, and took a hard look at Kate. He crouched down to get at eye level with her. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find Tony.”

“I’m scared to death something will happen to him before we find him.” Their gazes met. “He’s innocent. I’ve got a brother, and he didn’t do any of this.”

He wrapped his arms firmly around her. “Sometimes there is something wonderful besides mercy and justice.”

“What’s that?”

“The truth.”

Her smile wobbled a bit. She hugged him, hard. “Could we go to church?”

“Really?”

She nodded against his shirt.

“Why?” He didn’t want to push too hard, but it desperately mattered.

Her hand settled over his. “Call it curiosity.” Her hand tightened at the look of disappointment he quickly tried to mask. “I’m cautious, Dave, despite all that you see in my job. I’m not going to risk my heart without understanding much better who I am giving it to. That direction in Luke of ‘follow me’ requires a lot of blind faith in who you follow. Give me some credit for wanting to go forward with my eyes open and not half closed.”

“I keep hoping faith will be easy.”

She smiled. “Give me time. I make it hard because I have a hard time trusting.”

“He’s trustworthy.”

“Yes, I am beginning to think so.” She released his hands and got up. “Let me go check on Jennifer.”

Kate was glad she had Dave on one side and Jennifer on the other as they walked through the lobby of the church toward the sanctuary. Ben was trailing them half a step back. Dave diverted them to the balcony where fewer people could approach and start a conversation. Kate wondered if it was to make it easier on her or for security reasons. When Ben took up a position at the stairway exit, she figured it was probably some of both. Dave had been edgy this morning as they left the house. As he had quietly reminded her, the only time Devlon had met her, she had been with him.

The music started, and Kate set aside the problem to focus on the service. She had been truthful with Dave; it was curiosity that made her ask to come. Jesus had heard her first prayer and helped her figure out a way for there to be both mercy and justice. She was curious why He had done that. She owed Him something in return, and if it couldn’t as yet be an agreement to follow, she could at least say thank you.

Dave settled his hand comfortably around her waist, sharing his bulletin with the words for the songs. Kate knew how important this was to him, how proud he was to at least have her with him. It was Independence Day weekend, and the choruses were about freedom. Freedom in Christ. Was that what Dave and Jennifer had found? Freedom?

She was beginning to understand the distinction between “follow me” and “follow these rules.” Jesus was the person who made it all fit together. Mercy, justice, loving others. Jesus had shown her love when He answered that first prayer. There was no reason to do that on His part. Except maybe the desire for her to notice and say thanks.

One of the stories from Luke came back to mind; it had been on the lower left-hand side of a page, toward the back of the book. A story of ten lepers. They had all asked for mercy, and Jesus had healed them all. Only one had returned to say thanks.

Thank You, Jesus.

You’re welcome.
The soft reassurance was gentle; it felt warm inside like a smile. She let out a soft sigh of relief; at least one instinctive step toward Jesus had mirrored that of another fellow searcher long ago.

The songs ended, and they took their seats again.

Was she ready to take the step she knew was next? She had reached the point it no longer felt like stepping over a cliff to trust God with her future. But was she really ready to answer “follow me” no matter where it might lead? She had been wrestling with it since reading Luke. Some of the pages were now worn with her notes. Knowledge was no longer the issue. Trust was.

Dave had shown her in his life a peace that came from inside, and she knew after weeks of observation that the peace came because of his faith. She wanted to enjoy that peace, but it was a very big step.

She had never been one to step back out of timidity. Her life, certainly her job, would be easier with that resurrection promise to cling to, a guarantee of eternal life. Even a possible future with Dave rested on this decision.

Kate shut out all the pluses and minuses, closed her eyes, and took a slow breath, retreating as she did when in a crisis to the quiet place inside where she could listen to her own heart. Trust. It was there.

Jesus, I’ll follow. It’s a choice I make, knowing what that means. I will follow where You lead, and do what You teach. I do believe Your love explains Your mercy. I choose to believe it will never waver or burn low, that Your love will be there for me for an eternity. Forgive me for a lifetime of saying not now. Forgive my doubts, my sins, and my stubborn heart. And please, make me a better cop when You place me at the crossroads of another person’s life.

If there had been a sparkle of warmth before, now the joy was so intense it felt almost hard to breathe.

“…for there is joy before the angels of heaven when one sinner repents.…”

She wanted to laugh as she realized the Scriptures had already recorded her journey. She had heard the Bible referred to as a living book, and now she understood. Her journey was one others had taken, yet also uniquely hers, and uniquely understood. The book had been written in preparation not only for others, but also for her.

She felt Dave’s arm tighten around her waist, realized there were tears on her cheeks, and reached blindly into her pocket for a tissue.

Lord, I need to find Tony. He’s my brother. I would like to say hello. Will You help me?

“Kate, what’s wrong?” Jennifer asked softly.

She shook her head, not wanting to disturb the service with a whisper that might travel given they were seated in the balcony.

Dave’s arm slid around her and turned her gently into his shoulder. His strength felt so good. She rested her head into that hollow he offered and let the last few moments of emotions be absorbed into the comfort of his embrace.

Was this, too, what it meant to be in love? An embrace that didn’t need words to explain the commitment? She knew, in the same way she knew with the O’Malleys, that she could ask Dave for anything she needed, and if it was in his power to do it, he would.

She could do the same with Jesus. He wasn’t going to let her down. She took a deep breath, for the realization touched deep.

Thank You, Jesus. I’m going to enjoy meeting my brother.
She felt the humor come back as the stress dropped away, and she smiled slightly.
But, Jesus, please, we’re going to have to do something about that name. Tony brings back too many memories, and going with simply J r. is not much better.

As the sermon drew to an end, she began to pull back from Dave, mop up her eyes. She hoped her face had the same peace she had seen on Jennifer’s but was afraid her eyes only looked red. There was more to do. She wanted to talk to Jennifer to be sure she understood what baptism meant. The reason for the urgency Jennifer felt to share what she had discovered was plain. The rest of the O’Malleys had to believe; they couldn’t afford the delay.

She turned to Dave as the service concluded and saw the worry on his face. She squeezed his hand. She didn’t want to explain until she had a few moments to regain her composure. The crowd in the balcony began to disperse.