Chapter 11

Raelyn swallowed a wave of frustration as she listened to the sounds of approaching sirens. She should have pushed for a search warrant. Should have continued hammering on the door until Donte had answered. Should have found a way to get inside under exigent circumstances.

Now their only lead was gone. Shot dead in his aunt's home.

Because of her. The timing was too much of a coincidence. She had to believe the shooter had recognized the Jeep and had killed Donte because they were sitting outside waiting to talk to him.

Isaiah came over to stand beside her. For not being a cop, he'd been careful not to disturb the crime scene. Other than to make sure Donte didn't need medical care. She drew him toward the door.

"We should wait outside." As they stood on the porch, huddling beneath the overhang to escape the worst of the rain, she could see the red-and-blue flashing lights as two squads approached. "I didn't see any drugs lying around. I believe he was shot to keep him from talking to us."

"I agree. Although he could have drugs in his pockets or stashed in a hidey-hole somewhere." Isaiah smiled grimly. "Most dealers are smart enough not to leave them in plain sight."

He would know. She nodded and drew in a deep breath as the officers emerged from their respective vehicles. The downpour had passed, leaving a light drizzle in its wake. She nearly groaned when she recognized Officer Mark Stern. His eyes narrowed with anger when he recognized her too.

"You again?" he demanded. "Why are you sticking your nose in our business?"

She kept her voice level with an effort. "I came to talk to Donte Wicks about Hugo Morrison, the man who tried to shoot me. Unfortunately, Donte didn't answer the door. We were just sitting in our vehicle deciding our next steps when we heard the gunfire." She arched a brow. "Did you expect me to just sit there and wait for you?"

"You shouldn't be here at all," Stern snapped.

"And you should be happy to have additional help," she shot back. "This is the city's highest crime area after all."

"What are you insinuating?" Stern took a step toward her. "That we're not doing our jobs?"

"If you don't mind, there's a dead man inside," Isaiah said in a calm, yet steely tone. "You may want to focus on him?"

She didn't back down, holding Stern's gaze. His partner seemed annoyed by Stern's attitude and edged past him to head inside.

Stern finally turned to follow. She really had no idea why Stern was being a jerk, then again, their tactical team was called in for situations that took place around the entire city, so she didn't have a home turf so to speak.

Yet she couldn't imagine getting angry over another cop helping out.

"Remember, his fellow officer was killed during the initial shoot-out," Isaiah said in a low voice.

"So he blames the tactical team because we didn't prevent his friend's death?" She scoffed. "That makes no sense. He and the others responded to this area first. We were sent to back them up."

"No one said grief was logical," Isaiah said with a shrug.

He was playing the role of peacemaker, and she irrationally found that annoying. But she supposed that was his nature, while hers was to confront and argue. More proof of how completely opposite they were.

"Whatever. I still think he's being a jerk." She headed inside to hear what was being discussed.

"Two slugs in the back from close range." Stern's partner, Officer Turner, was crouched near Donte's dead body. "We'll have to wait for the detectives to get here, to go through his pockets for drugs."

She wondered if she should mention that her presence here may have caused this. But the moment was lost when Sergeant O'Malley and two detectives arrived on the scene.

"You again?" O'Malley looked more surprised than angry. "I thought you were on administrative duty."

"I am. Sort of." She wondered if Rhy would be upset at her being here too. That bothered her more than Stern's annoyance. She was loyal to Rhy, Joe and the rest of the team. The last thing she wanted was to create issues. "We only came to talk to Donte Wicks, that's all. He never answered the door. We were in the Jeep deciding our next steps when we heard the gunfire. That's when we broke in to enter the premises." She gestured to the busted door frame. "We found him lying on the floor, dead."

"I knew Donte Wicks from the past," Isaiah added helpfully. "I thought he might open up to me."

O'Malley sighed, then nodded. "Fine. You'll have to give your statements to Detective Walling, and then I'd like you both to leave. We'll take it from here."

The female detective stepped closer. "I'm Olivia Walling."

In the spirit of full cooperation, Raelyn started at the beginning, stopping in at the parole office and then coming here. She didn't get the same level of animosity she experienced with Stern. "We heard the gunshots and ran inside."

"I saw a dark shadow leaving, and that person fired at us," Isaiah added. "But with the rain, I didn't get a good look at him. Or her."

Detective Walling smiled at Isaiah. She was attractive, and for the first time, Raelyn felt a tiny spurt of jealousy. Which was ridiculous since she and Isaiah were just friends.

What about that bone-melting kiss? She gave herself a mental shake. Enough already. She had no claim on Isaiah one way or the other. If he wanted to see Detective Walling again, that was his prerogative.

"There's no sign of a forced entry in the back," an officer announced, coming from around the corner. Water dripped from the brim of his hat. "Either the door was left open or the vic knew his killer."

"No one leaves their doors unlocked here," Isaiah said.

"He's probably right," Walling agreed. The detective eyed them both for a moment, then put her small notebook away. "You're both free to go. We'll be in touch if we need anything more."

"Thanks." Raelyn gestured for Isaiah to follow her to the Jeep. She thought it was interesting the detective didn't separate them for the interview, but maybe that had been done out of professional courtesy as she was a fellow cop.

"Back to the City Central Hotel?" Isaiah asked once they were seated. She turned the heat up to help dry their wet clothes.

"Yes." She couldn't hide her depression over the way this trip had turned out. "Unless you have another idea?"

"I wish I did." He looked just as dejected. "I had hoped to convince Donte to work with us on identifying the Chief. I assume that same man hired both Donte's killer and Hugo Morrison."

She thought about that for a moment as she pulled away from the curb and headed downtown. "I wonder why Donte wasn't killed in jail. If the Chief was worried about Donte leaking his true identity, why wait until now?"

He frowned. "I don't have a good answer for that, other than it's not as easy to arrange a jail hit as TV shows make it out to be."

"I've seen it happen." It was only two months ago that several men in custody were killed before they had a chance to cooperate with the authorities. "But that was in the Milwaukee County jail, with help from an insider. Not the state prison."

"Or the house of corrections," Isaiah said.

She lapsed into silence, her thoughts going over what little they knew. Hugo Morrison and Donte's killer must lead back to the Chief. And if that was the case, the security around Hugo Morrison needed to be tightened. Using the hands-free function, she called Rhy. She needed to tell him the latest news anyway.

Steeling herself for his wrath, she braced herself when he answered her call. "What's going on, Rae?"

"I'm sorry to bother you at home." She winced, realizing the hour was past seven o'clock at night. She could hear the sound of baby Colleen babbling in the background. "This can wait until tomorrow if that's better."

"Spill it," Rhy demanded. "I sense you have bad news."

"I do." She glanced briefly at Isaiah, who nodded encouragingly. "We just left the north side of Milwaukee. Unfortunately, Donte Wicks was murdered."

There was a long moment of silence from Rhy, and she feared he'd suspend her.

"We went to the parole office to get the most recent address for Donte Wicks, as he was just let out on parole. We only wanted to talk to him; Isaiah knows him from the past. He never answered the door, so we were going to leave. We were in the Jeep when we heard two gunshots. We kicked in the door and found him dead on the living room floor." The words came out in a rush as if the mere explanation could get her off the hook.

But then she realized how often she used the word we and nearly groaned. Isaiah wasn't a fellow cop. If she'd been thinking straight, she'd have asked Grayson to ride along.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "Isaiah thought he could convince Donte to talk to us. But the more important reason I'm calling is that I'm concerned about Hugo Morrison. He needs to be well protected while he's in the hospital."

"This is your idea of sitting in a hotel room looking at mug shots?" Rhy sounded exasperated. "You shouldn't have tried to talk to Donte Wicks alone, Raelyn. Isaiah doesn't count."

"I know. It's just that they have a history." She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "I will understand if you suspend me from the team."

"I won't do that, but you need to follow orders," Rhy said calmly. "You're on administrative duty, the exemption from that was only for the initial shooting event, not the recent altercation with Morrison. And if you do something like this again, you will be suspended, understand?"

"Yes, sir." She appreciated the way Rhy was cutting her a break. "Thank you. We'll stay at the hotel. But I still think you need to place the officer sitting on Morrison on high alert. I have no doubt that Wicks was shot to keep him from cooperating with us."

"I'll recommend a second officer," Rhy agreed. "Anything else?"

"No, sir." As much as she wanted to be there when they interviewed Morrison, she was in no position to ask for a favor. "Again, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Get some sleep, Rae. You've been through a lot."

"I will. Good night." She ended the call.

"He cares about you," Isaiah said.

"He does, but he won't continue to put up with me breaking the rules." She knew Rhy and Joe were tough but fair. "It doesn't matter since we have nothing more to go on anyway."

"I feel guilty over Donte's death," Isaiah confided. "As if our going there put a target on his back."

"I know. I feel the same way." She sighed, then added, "But someone within law enforcement would have had to talk to him sooner or later. I hate to say this, but I doubt he'd have lived long either way."

"You may be right about that. The initial shooting was just two days ago, so that may have been the catalyst," Isaiah said. "And that road leads back to me too. The Chief must assume that I'm the one who called the cops that day."

"Maybe." She really didn't know what to think. They rode the rest of the way in silence, each lost in their thoughts. The City Central Hotel parking lot was only half full, and she chose a spot near the side entrance.

"This way." She led Isaiah through the side door and to their suite. Their feet made squishing sounds on the tile as they walked. The tray they'd left outside the room had been removed by the hotel staff. She used the key and pushed the door open, waiting a minute and peeking into the room cautiously first, before heading inside.

Everything appeared as they'd left it. Which made sense. There wouldn't be any housekeeping services offered until the morning, and she would make sure to decline them, anyway.

"Would you like me to keep searching mug shots?" Isaiah asked.

"There's no need to do that now." The attacks on Isaiah nagged at her. She was convinced the Chief had killed Donte, and it was only a matter of time until someone tried to get to Isaiah again. She forced a smile. "It's early, but I'm going to call it a night." Her clothes were wet, and his were too. They'd need to dry out before the morning.

"I think that's a good idea." Isaiah smiled wearily. "Rhy is right about the fact that you've been through a lot. I think we both deserve some rest. Good night, Raelyn."

"Good night." She wanted to hug and kiss him but forced herself to turn away. Her emotions were all over the place and living in close quarters with Isaiah wasn't helping.

She hung her damp clothes in the bathroom and crawled into bed. But despite her fatigue, sleep didn't come easily. For the first time ever, she prayed for God to watch over them.

Especially Isaiah.

Isaiah sawDonte's dead body every time he closed his eyes. But after several prayers, sleep claimed him. When he awoke next, early morning sunlight was shining between the curtains.

After getting dressed in his thankfully dry but badly wrinkled clothes, he went in search of coffee. He was surprised Raelyn wasn't already out there, but quickly made a pot for them to share.

As the coffee brewed, he went back to the computer. He logged in, having caught and remembered Raelyn's password, and found Donte's face staring at him from the screen. There was nothing he could do now but move on. Donte had done his time and hadn't deserved to be murdered.

But it wasn't up to Isaiah to question God's plan.

When the coffee was finished, he rose to fill a cup. The door to Raelyn's room opened, so he reached for another cup. "Coffee?"

"Thanks." She looked beautiful as always. He wasn't sure why his senses responded to her like this. He hadn't lived the life of a monk, but he hadn't dated a lot since Shondra either, mostly because he hadn't been very interested.

Not the way he was now. A useless wish, he reminded himself.

"I started back on the mug shots." He carried his coffee to the table. "But we should order breakfast soon too."

"How did you get into the program?" Her amber eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Did you steal my password?"

"Steal is a harsh word," he said with a wry smile. "I—uh, have a good memory."

She shook her head with exasperation but joined him at the computer. She sipped her coffee, then gestured to the screen. "I know this is probably a useless effort, but I don't know what else we can do. Especially now that Rhy ordered me to stand down."

"I think that's best. I really don't want you to lose your job." He tapped on the mouse pad. "And you never know, we could stumble across something in here."

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced as she reached for the room service menu. "Looks like they have typical breakfast choices. What would you like?"

"Eggs, toast, and bacon." He grinned. "I've been living on oatmeal since it's cheap and easy. Rosie's was the first meal out I've had in what seems like forever. I plan to enjoy this while I can."

That made her laugh. "I hear you. I eat a lot of mac and cheese for dinner too. But I warn you, the food here will not even be in the same stratosphere as Rosie's."

"Yeah, that was the best apple turnover ever," he agreed.

He was hyperaware of her sitting beside him as he went through more of the mug shots. Their arms brushed on occasion, and it took all his willpower not to wrap his arm around her shoulders, drawing her in for a hug.

"We don't have access to juvenile records, do we?" He continued scrolling through the photos. "I tend to pay more attention to the kids that come into the church, more so than the adults."

"Because you identify with them?" she asked, her head tilted to one side.

"Yes." He shrugged. "And because they're the ones who need the most help. Not that adults can't change their course, but it's the kids who are more vulnerable."

"Let me see if I can run a search based on age." She nudged the computer away from him to take over at the helm. "The best we can do is to look at those teenagers who were charged as adults."

He winced at that thought. Most likely, any teenager who was charged as an adult would still be in jail. Unless, of course, the charges were lowered as the result of a plea deal. But then he thought about the friends he'd once hung around with. Not Beau, he went to college, but there had been others. Maybe he would find some of them in there.

She worked the keyboard, then nodded. "Okay, here they are. More than I would have expected," she admitted.

He grimaced, knowing it was the never-ending cycle of poverty and violence. Yet his mother had worked hard as a housekeeper, and so had he, at least until she'd gotten sick. That was when he'd taken the wrong path, going for the easy money.

Yet that was the same path that had brought him to God.

A familiar face bloomed on the screen. He stared in shock for a moment, then turned to Raelyn. "This looks exactly like Tiger. Except maybe a couple of years older."

"Tiger?" She frowned, then nodded. "Oh yes, the kid with the orange Afro."

"Exactly." He was mixed race, too, and had used that similarity to get closer to Tiger. But the boy was skittish, sticking around long enough to eat but then had taken off. He looked at the name on the screen. Reggie Vallera. "I guess I didn't realize he had an older brother named Reggie."

"Or a cousin?" she asked.

"Maybe. Either way there is a really strong family resemblance." He continued staring at the screen. Had he seen Reggie at one point? Reggie had been arrested at the age of sixteen. Based on the date of his arrest being over five years ago, he felt certain Reggie was back out on the street by now.

And he wasn't a juvenile anymore.

A knock on the door indicated their breakfast had arrived. He jumped up, but Raelyn beat him to the door.

Cautious as always, she checked the peephole first, then opened the door. She handed him the tray, then tipped the server. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." The server quickly left.

The aroma of bacon and eggs made his mouth water. He pushed the computer aside, still trying to figure out when he may have seen Reggie Vallera.

Once they were seated, Raelyn surprised him by taking his hand. "I appreciate you saying grace," she said lightly.

"Always." His heart swelled with hope as he bowed his head. "Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are blessed to eat. We ask for Your strength and guidance as we search for those who wish us harm. Amen."

"Amen," she echoed. "That was nice."

"Anytime." He took a bite of his bacon. "Mmm. Tastes as good as it smells."

"But still not as good as Rosie's." She laughed and nibbled on hers too.

They ate in companionable silence. He wished they could spend time together like this more often but knew that the moment the danger was over, she'd go back to her life, and he'd return to his church.

When they finished eating, he put their tray out in the hallway, then returned to the computer. He made a note of Reggie's name, before moving onto the next.

Raelyn was scrolling on her phone. "Did you know that Sergeant O'Malley was the same officer who arrested you and Donte Wicks?"

"Really?" He turned to face her. "I didn't recognize him."

"I'm not sure it's significant," she admitted. "I mean, he clearly works out of the third district. It makes sense that he'd be involved in arrests that took place there."

"I wonder why he didn't mention that last night." He thought back to those initial days in the hospital. All he remembered was the pain and being unable to move much because his ankle was cuffed to the bed. "I guess you're right, though. If O'Malley was there the night I was shot, he would have been the one to follow up on Donte Wicks."

"Yeah." She continued scrolling. "Donte was arrested about ten blocks from the church."

"Again, that's not surprising. Especially since it wasn't a church back then." He shrugged. "It was an old pizzeria that was renovated into a church over two years ago with help from Mayor Critten and the city councilmen."

She frowned. "Do you think someone hid something inside the church? Like before it was remodeled?"

"Maybe, but why would that matter now?" He didn't see what she was getting at. "I've been the church pastor for two years. Plenty of time for whoever hid something inside to come back and get it."

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed and set her phone down. "There's nothing else interesting on the arrest reports."

"I'm not finding anything else in these mug shots either." He went back to Reggie Vallera's photo.

Why were the kid's features so familiar? Because he'd been involved in the drug deal going down outside the church? More likely because of his resemblance to Tiger.

"Maybe you should ask an officer to go to Reggie's address to see if Tiger is there." He didn't like turning on one of the kids, but Donte's murder changed things.

She nodded and reached for her phone, just as it rang. She winced and quickly answered. "Hey, Rhy, what's up?"

He wished she'd place the call on speaker so he could hear both sides of the conversation. But as it turned out, the interaction was brief. "Yes, we'll be there in ten minutes. Thanks."

"We're going to the precinct?" he guessed.

"Yes." Her smile was strained. "Sounds like Assistant Chief Michaels wants to chat."

He caught her hand in his. "Are you in trouble?"

"I don't think so." She was clearly downplaying the request from her boss. "Let's go. I don't want to be late."

He rose and followed her out of the hotel suite. They left the building the way they'd come in, through the side door. The Jeep was right where they'd left it.

They were on the road in less than a minute. Traffic was busy, though, especially around the courthouse. There were lots of pedestrians walking around, college kids from the university, he noticed. The same university the three girls he'd driven home a couple of nights ago also attended.

"You might have Grayson for a bodyguard moving forward?—"

Her comment was cut short by gunfire. Their windshield shattered, and he could hear screaming from the students.

"Get down." Raelyn yanked him down so that their heads were below the dashboard. They were sitting ducks out here, and he feared the next burst of gunfire would find its mark.

Killing him once and for all.