Chapter Forty-Seven

Margo Angelhart

Jack was double-checking my new security system and deeming it as good as I could get without an alarm company when Rick drove up. He wasn't in uniform.

"Jack," Rick said with a nod. He glanced at me as if gauging why my brother was here so late.

"He knows," I said. "Carillo went after Uncle Rafe at the church."

"Is he okay?"

"Yes." I motioned for Rick to come in, offered him a beer.

"No, thanks," Rick said. "What happened? I didn't see a dispatch to the church."

"No crime. He intimidated Rafe, wanted to know where his wife was. He didn't leave when Rafe asked him to, but when the other priest came in, he walked out."

Jack said, "I asked a buddy of mine to keep an eye on the church for the next couple of days. And I checked out the property. Margo and I are trying to figure out what to do about Carillo. She said you were asking around."

"That's why I'm here. Otto called in favors and I got this."

He dropped a file on the counter.

"What is it?"

"A copy of his personnel file. Every complaint against him. Normally, I'd say most of it is bullshit—a guy gets pulled over for a DUI and files a complaint that the cop who pulled him over was a prick. Nothing that's going to make me look twice. He doesn't have an unusual pattern of excessive force—no more complaints than average. He's never discharged his firearm in the line of duty. But...there are two complaints that were settled but I think warrant a second look."

Now I opened the file, started to look through as Rick continued.

"They were both complaints by fellow cops," Rick said. "One was a deputy who Otto knows. He filed a complaint that Carillo didn't go to a call he'd been assigned. He wouldn't have filed the complaint, but it was the third time another trooper had to cover for him, and it was a particularly difficult situation, so he brought it to their command. Carillo was reprimanded, but nothing else came from it."

"We've all known cops who keyed in to a call but never followed through," Jack said.

Rick shrugged and nodded at the same time. "The other complaint was from a female trooper."

"Sexual harassment?" Jack asked.

"No—general harassment. Most female cops take ribbings like anyone. Sometimes it's gender-based, but they let it roll off."

I'd gone through it as an MP. No one—man or woman—was safe from being teased, but once you established that you had a thick skin, the teasing pretty much ended or became playful jabs, much of it to blow off steam in high-stress situations. But some people were assholes and didn't know when to stop.

"This time, the trooper felt that he had singled her out. Made inappropriate—not sexual—comments, such as now that she was married, maybe she should find a less dangerous job."

"That's...odd," Jack said.

"Her husband is also a cop, a deputy with Maricopa. They met on the job. And that's what stands out to me—Carillo worked with this woman for two years with no issues, but after she got married, Carillo started singling her out for harassment. But the kicker—the cause for the complaint—was when she called for backup in a DUI situation and he was first on scene. He let her take lead, and as she approached the driver, he became belligerent and hit her. She ended up taking him down, but Carillo didn't step in to help. She had a split lip and black eye. Carillo stood there and watched, told her that she looked like she could handle it."

"Bastard," I muttered.

"Her husband nearly went after Carillo—a couple cops had to hold him back—and in the end, the trooper transferred to Glendale PD. Carillo got a mark on his record and a one-week suspension."

"Does he have problems with other female officers or troopers?" Jack asked. "I thought that bullshit was mostly gone."

"You'll always have a few numbnuts who don't like female cops, but the training process is rigorous and most cops who have gone through the academy together don't have issues because everyone has to pass the same tests."

"Considering how he treated his wife," I said, "he probably has this warped worldview that once a woman gets married, her life should focus completely on her husband."

"That's my take," Rick said, "especially after I talked to Officer Nunez. He's been helping Sullivan with the investigation into Annie's disappearance. He didn't put this in his report, but told me off-the-record that Carillo appeared to have separated Annie from friends, that he frowned on her doing anything without him. No one has seen physical abuse. The common theme is that Carillo worshipped Annie...but Annie was quiet, introverted, and generally skittish."

"How does this help keep Carillo away from Rafe and Margo?" Jack asked.

"He's losing it," I said. "Breaking in here, confronting Rafe, threatening him—" I stopped when I saw the expression on Rick's face. Shit.

Slowly, he said, "He broke into your house?"

"I can't prove it." Damn, damn, damn.

"Is that why you put cameras up?" His voice was too calm.

"I want to set him up," I said. "He's going to cross the line."

"He's already crossed the line," Rick exclaimed. "Why didn't you file a police report? Get it on record?"

"Because he didn't take anything and I had no proof that it was him."

"CSI could have printed the place. Talked to neighbors."

"I talked to my neighbors. They didn't see anyone or anything. He's not stupid, Rick—he likely wore gloves. I have nothing here that can lead him to Annie, and I can't prove he broke in. Drop it."

Rick glanced at Jack, but didn't say anything else.

"I've been thinking about how to get him to trip up," I said. "Going after Rafe was a mistake—a big one. I don't know that he'll do that again."

"He could go after you," Rick said.

"He's doesn't want to jeopardize his job or risk being arrested, so whatever he does, he's going to be subtle. If I can get him to escalate—in a controlled environment—that would be the best of all worlds. I'm thinking on it. Jack and I already talked, and he'll back me up." I glanced at my brother. Always, he mouthed.

Out loud, Jack said, "The more we can learn about the investigation into Annie, the better."

"Sullivan doesn't know you're involved—yet," Rick said. "He and Nunez are going through security cameras in the neighborhood, but Sullivan thinks the best option for Carillo is to file in family court."

"He'll do it, go through the motions," I said, "but it won't be enough for him. Too slow, too bureaucratic, and since he doesn't know where Annie is, it's going to take months—years—to find her, if they do. I need to be visible, in his face."

"What do you mean by that?" Rick asked.

"Be someplace he can see me to channel his anger and frustration."

Rick shook his head. "There has to be a better way."

"I don't know exactly what I'm going to do," I said, "but if you have ideas, I'm all ears."

No one had an idea. Rick said, "Just don't do anything tonight, okay? Give me a day or two to dig around, and between the three of us, we should be able to come up with something that doesn't put your head on the chopping block."

"Not tonight," I agreed.

Rick got up to leave.

"Hold on," I said and ran into my bedroom.

I retrieved a small, wrapped present I'd had for months. I was going to mail it to Sam for her graduation, but kept going back and forth on that, and now her graduation was in two days. Here, I had Jack as a buffer. I wasn't usually timid about anything in my life, but the situation with Rick and his daughter and our fight three months ago had shifted things.

I handed Rick the purple-wrapped package—purple was Sam's favorite color. He stared at it quizzically.

"For Sam. Her graduation. I got it a long time ago. It's been in my closet."

He put it down. "Why don't you bring it to her? Graduation is Friday morning. We're having a party Sunday afternoon at the house."

"I don't know," I mumbled. Damn, I hated feeling this way.

"Sam wants you to come."

But did Rick? That was the million-dollar question. "We'll see—just take the present, okay? And if I can come, I'll be there."

"Fair enough," Rick said. He turned to Jack. "You'll be there?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Great."

The whole conversation was awkward and weird, and I just wanted Jack and Rick to leave.

"Jack, I'll see you at Mom's in the morning, okay? Wrap up your case with a pretty bow." I smiled, though I couldn't help but think if Jack hadn't been here, where would Rick and I be right now? In bed? Or fighting?

Fifty-fifty.

Jack walked out with Rick, and I could breathe again.