Tough Justice: Trapped

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“Still...” Victoria’s eyes turned thoughtful now. “Did you hear anything else?”

“Not really, just that music every night.”

“What music?”

Anna wrinkled her nose. “Old stuff. Your kind of music, actually, like Journey and Survivor. It was coming from below me. It was muffled, but I got the impression I was over a bar. They played the same songs every night...sometimes several times a night. “Eye of the Tiger.”

“Don’t Stop Believin’.” And Michael Jackson. They played him endlessly. I got so sick of “Beat It,” I wanted to hurl.”

Mei’s entire face lit up. “It was probably a karaoke bar. There are lots of them in Chinatown. There’s one, Minnie’s, out by the courthouse, that specializes in 80’s songs. I’ll bet that’s where it was.”

“It’s not much of a lead,” Victoria said. “But it’s definitely worth checking out. You want to do that, Mei, since you seem to know the place?”

“Sure.”

“Good.” Victoria glanced at her daughter, who was stifling a yawn. “Let’s leave it there for now. Anna needs to rest. If she thinks of anything else, I’ll let you know.” She turned to her daughter. “Wait for me in the hall, okay? I’ll walk you out.”

“Okay. I wish I could be more help...”

“You did great,” Lara told her. “Seriously. Every little bit helps. And don’t worry. I promise we’re going to catch these guys.” They had to—because, despite the brave front they’d put on for Anna, they all knew they’d dodged a bullet this time. They’d been damned lucky that she’d survived.

Victoria waited until the door closed, then turned to face them, her tight-lipped expression reflecting Lara’s thoughts. “All right, people. We don’t have time to waste here. What’s our plan?”

Xander stirred. “I’ll check in with the guys investigating Olivia Conner’s death. Maybe they’ve found something else by now.”

“All right.”

“I’m still working on that ransom note,” Cass said. “I’m also trying to trace those anonymous texts.”

“Good. Lara? How about you and Nick?”

Lara looked across the table at her partner, unable to miss the suspicion still lingering in his brown eyes. And she knew his interrogation about the clue would resume the minute he got her alone. “I think we should focus on the sniper and see if we can get some leads.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Nick said, turning his gaze to their boss. “There can’t be that many snipers around, not of that caliber. His shots have been impossible, and he hasn’t missed. I wonder if he was in the military. Most of our SWAT team snipers were.”

“That’s a good thought,” Victoria agreed. “Cass, you can look up ex-military snipers. Xander can help you when he has time. They should have that in a database somewhere. Lara, talk over your plan with Nick and let me know what you decide to do.”

“All right.”

“Ty, you’ll go with Mei to Chinatown.”

“I’d be better off alone,” Mei argued. “Some of those people won’t talk to anyone who’s not Chinese.”

“Tough. We don’t know who you might find around there. Until we know what Moretti’s threat means, I don’t want anyone taking chances. Make sure you carry your weapons. Stick to public places as much as you can. Situational awareness, people. We can’t let him catch us off guard.” She made eye contact with every team member, making sure they understood. “Another thing. I want you all to check in every few hours. Cass can field the calls. We need to know everyone’s whereabouts at all times.”

“Got it.” Cass picked up her tablet and started pecking out notes.

“I’ll send out a memo to everyone at all our bureaus to take extra precautions,” Victoria added. “We can’t minimize the danger on this.” She tapped her papers on the table and rose. “All right. Get to work, everyone. Let’s nail this bastard before he hurts anyone else.” Moving briskly, she left the room.

The rest of the team quickly followed. Lara stayed in her seat, her belly tensing as she waited to talk to Nick.

The door clicked shut. Silence enveloped the room. He instantly shifted toward her, his eyes drilling into hers.

“All right,” he said, the roughness in his voice indicating he’d had enough. “Let’s cut the bullshit. What the hell is really going on?”

Chapter Three (#ulink_02a44285-9252-5513-8264-3edf99a8df60)

“What do you mean?” Lara asked him, trying to sound offhand.

“Come on, Lara. Knock it off. You must know what Moretti means. There’s no place like home? That sounds pretty damned personal to me.”

“I don’t know. I don’t,” she added when he opened his mouth to argue.

“Bullshit. You know this guy. You got near him when you took him down. You must have some kind of clue.”

“Well, I don’t.” Or at least not one that she could divulge. “I’ve been trying to figure it out, and I’m just as confused as you are. I really don’t know what he means.”

Nick didn’t answer, his silence more condemning than any words. But she needed to maintain this deception. She didn’t have any choice. Unfortunately for her, Nick was too astute. Even after the short time they’d spent working together, he could tell when she hadn’t come clean.

“You know you can trust me,” he finally said.

“I know.”

He leaned forward again, his eyes still probing hers. “Lara, whatever you’re hiding—”

“I’m not hiding anything,” she said, a note of desperation creeping into her voice. “I’ve told you everything I can. I don’t know anything else that would help us solve this case. Besides,” she added, praying he’d let the subject drop, “we don’t even know for sure if Moretti’s the one behind all this. I mean, we’re ninety-nine percent sure he is. Nothing else makes any sense. He gave us that clue about Anna, and he has the reach to pull this off.”

As well as the motive. But she couldn’t tell Nick that. She just wished that he’d take her word for it. The rest of the team accepted the logical story—that Moretti was a twisted bastard, bent on retaliation for her role in bringing down his syndicate. Only Nick sensed that his reason went deeper—far deeper, to her everlasting remorse.

“Either way, we need to find that sniper,” she continued. “And we don’t have time to waste. So how do you want to tackle this?”

Nick’s penetrating gaze didn’t waver. He sat back and crossed his arms, and she knew he didn’t want to let this go. But at the moment, they had something more pressing to worry about—trying to find that sniper before another innocent person got killed.

He finally seemed to relent. “All right. Let’s go over what we have.”

“It isn’t much,” Lara admitted. “None of the witnesses in the shootings saw him. We’re still waiting for the ballistics report to come back, so we don’t have any clues there. The only thing we know for sure is that he’s good.”

“Exactly. He’s not your typical hired gun. His MO is different, for one thing. Most killers do their work up close. Even the amateurs—the ones some SOB pays to knock off an unwanted spouse—usually stalk their victim and wait until they get him alone. They don’t do it in public or from a distance like this guy does.”

“So, he’s a pro.”

“More than that, he’s smart, focused, disciplined. He can get into his bubble and stay detached. He pays attention to detail and makes his shots precise. And he isn’t likely to make a mistake.”

Lara swallowed hard, her eyes settling on Nick’s right biceps where he’d been shot. The sniper’s aim had been precise, all right. He’d injured Nick just badly enough to warn him, but without doing lasting harm.

“So, what do you suggest?”

“A guy this good...” Nick shook his head. “We’ll never catch him in the act. He knows how to hide. He knows how to avoid detection, even after the fact. But somebody has to know him—a friend, a relative or neighbor, other killers... He doesn’t live in a vacuum. Even in a city as big as this one, word of an assassin that skilled gets around.”

“But will anyone talk?” That was the question. Anything connected to Moretti struck terror into even the most hardened hearts. And those who did talk wound up dead.

“Eventually, yeah. We just need to find the right person. Someone out there knows what’s going on.”

Sure. Moretti. She bit back another sigh. “So, we need to do some legwork.”

“Right. I’ve got some informants we can ask. But, Lara...” He waited until she met his eyes. “You heard the boss. We’ve got to be careful. This guy’s patient. He blends in to avoid detection. He studies his enemies and knows how to exploit their weaknesses.”

“By enemies, you mean me.”

“I mean us. We’re all his enemies now. So if there’s anything you need to tell me...”

“I’ve already told you everything I can.”

“I hope to hell you’re right. Because when he gets tired of toying with us...” His grim expression caused a chill to lodge deep in her gut. “He won’t hesitate to go for the kill.”