| |
Two hours after Quinn picked her up and a couple cups of coffee to wake her up, Dela began asking questions. She’d been glad Quinn hadn’t been talkative to this point either.
“What do you think you’ll learn from Van or Verna?” she asked.
“Maybe nothing. But Verna had the sense to make sure the cameras were capturing what went on. There had to be a reason. And you saw Van’s face when he held that corkscrew. He’d seen it before.”
“You know they didn’t kill Tristan. The evidence against Paula and Ronald is pretty damaging.” While getting ready for bed the night before, she’d thought about the video they’d watched. There wasn’t a jury in the world who wouldn’t be able to figure out what had happened in that room if they saw the footage.
“But they may shed some light on the things we don’t have answers to. They could also give us more evidence that will enable us to get Paula and Edmond both extradited to the U.S.”
“Do you really think you need more? I mean...what we watched last night can’t be denied by either of them.” She shivered at how playful Paula had looked luring her husband to his death.
“When it comes to convicting murderers, you can never have enough evidence.” Quinn picked up his paper cup and wiggled it. “Empty. I’m ready for a pit stop, how about you?”
“Sure. All these coffee stops you’re taking are going to make us late.” Even as she gave him a hard time, Dela needed to get out and move around. The knee above her stub easily became enflamed and stiff if she sat too much.
Quinn pulled off the freeway and down into Yakima, Washington. He found a small coffee shop and parked.
Dela eased out onto her feet, waiting for Quinn to enter the building. She held onto the vehicle and swung her prosthetic leg back and forth, working the knee. After about ten swings, she backed up, closed the door, and headed into the coffee shop.
Quinn was exiting the restroom when she walked in the door. He veered her direction. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, just stretching. I’ll take a large black coffee.” She scanned the bakery case. “And a blueberry scone.” Without another word or glance his direction, she headed to the restroom.
When she returned, Dela was surprised to see Quinn sitting at a small table eating what looked like a quiche.
“Don’t we need to hit the road?” she said, lowering onto the chair opposite him.
“We have time to relax a few minutes. Van and Verna aren’t going anywhere.”
She sipped the coffee. Dark and robust, just the way she liked it. The brew was also very hot. She set the cup down and picked at the scone.
“How’s Mugshot doing?” he asked.
She would have groaned out loud except she didn’t want him to know this was exactly what she had feared. Small talk wasn’t something she wanted to do with this man. “He’s good. He walked outside yesterday. Molly said he is healing quickly and will be the perfect dog for me.” She smiled and warmth hummed through her body. While she could have had a dog while growing up, she’d always played with Grandfather Thunder’s dogs. He’d been the best neighbor, allowing her to spend time in his yard and listening to her complaints about her mom and life in general. He’d become her surrogate grandfather. That was probably why he was so helpful in learning about the dog’s owner. He knew she needed a dog.
“I’d think the best dog would be one that can sit on your lap and not eat more than you do.” The frown on Quinn’s forehead made her chuckle.
“Haven’t you ever had a dog?” she asked. Better to turn the attention on him than her.
“I’ve thought about it. But I’m not home enough to give a dog a good life.” He glanced up from the quiche he was pushing around with the plastic fork. “Guess I’ll have to stop by once in a while and pet Mugshot.”
The intensity in his eyes shook her. What was he really asking? She swallowed and said, “Yeah, I don’t see why you can’t stop by if you feel the need to pet Mugshot. But you need to call first to make sure I’m home.” She shoved the rest of the scone in her mouth, picked up her coffee, and stood. After chewing and swallowing the sweet bread down with coffee, she said, “Let’s go.”
Quinn grinned, tossed his paper plate and fork in the trash, and picked up his coffee.
The next awkward thirty minutes, Dela tried to close her eyes and pretend sleep but every bump and sway of the vehicle her eyes popped open. She was wired from all the coffee and didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to talk about her or him and they’d talked the case to death.
“We have another two hours to go. How about you tell me why you have a medical discharge?” Quinn’s soft tone drew her gaze to him. He sat with his face pointed forward. But she could see by the white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, he wanted her to tell him.
She sighed. He’d been right when he’d mentioned he could look it all up. Better to tell him and not let him make his own assumptions.
“As you know, my team was hit by an IED. We lost two members and the rest of us came out with something missing. I was one of the lucky ones. I’m just missing half a leg.” She said it sarcastically but did know how lucky she was. “Mick can’t remember who he is from one day to the next. Gary lost an arm and half of his face. Amy is missing her left arm and part of a leg. Tex is paralyzed from the waist down.”
Quinn’s hands squeezed the steering wheel. He slowly turned his head and stared at her. “That is what I was trying to avoid when I took your prisoner. He was the person who told us when insurgents were going to attack our patrols.”
“I guess saving one guilty man didn’t save everyone.” She snapped her mouth shut and stared forward the rest of the ride.
♠ ♣ ♥ ♦
Dela didn’t see any signage that said what business was in the building they were parking under. “This is the FBI building?”
“Not really. But it is for now. All the rioters in large cities along the west coast have targeted federal buildings. To get our work done and not have to deal with them, we’ve moved our headquarters to unmarked buildings.”
Dela stepped out of the SUV noticing there were a dozen similar vehicles in the parking area. “They don’t figure it out when they see all of these vehicles?”
“We make enough of a presence at the real FBI headquarters that they don’t know we’ve moved.” He walked over to an elevator.
She followed and stepped in beside him. His allowing her to be a part of his questioning of Van and Verna was not protocol. She knew that and appreciated his letting her tag along.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The bustle that met her shocked Dela. The noise and bodies moving about as if their work had urgency was almost too much for her senses. It brought back getting ready for missions in the army.
Quinn took hold of her arm when she didn’t move. “Come on.”
She allowed him to lead her through the chaos and over to an office.
He knocked on the door and walked in.
“Special Agent Pierce, about time you showed up. We can’t keep fugitives and their family tied up in this facility for too long.” The woman sitting behind the desk appeared too petite and fashionable to be an FBI agent. Her narrowed eyes betrayed the tiniest bit of a smile on her lips.
“I know. We arrived as quickly as we could.” Quinn motioned to Dela. “Dela Alvaro this is HQ Supervisor Jin Prescott.”
“Ms. Alvaro are you with law enforcement?” The woman’s small Asian face shifted to her, while the woman’s gaze scrutinized her.
“I’m Head of Security at the Spotted Pony Casino on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla reservation.” While she wasn’t considered “real” law enforcement, she had the training and the knowledge to be if not for her leg.
The woman smiled but her eyes didn’t convey any warmth. “I’d like to have a word with Special Agent Pierce. In private.”
Dela glanced at Quinn, he nodded toward the door. She walked over to the door and let herself out. Unsure what to do while she waited, she wandered over to a low wall/room divider and leaned against it.
“Whoa! Don’t put too much weight on that or you’ll end up on my desk.”
Dela glanced down at the woman sitting at the desk behind the barrier. “Sorry! I’m waiting and didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Hey, I’m just working on some analytics, a break now and then is good.” She stood and held out her hand. “Special Agent Talia Bernstein. What division do you work in?” Her gray gaze flashed to Dela’s chest where she was void of ID.
“I’m a guest here with Special Agent Pierce. We’ve been working a case together and two witnesses were brought in here last night.” She wanted the woman to not have someone throw her out while Quinn and HQ Supervisor Prescott were arguing over whether she could stay or even watch the questioning.
At that moment, Quinn strode out of the HQ Supervisor’s office and scanned the room. He zeroed in on her and walked that direction.
“Gotta go. Good meeting you,” she barely managed to say before Quinn motioned for her to follow him.
“That meeting didn’t go too well?” she asked, when they were striding down a hallway. She worked hard to keep up with him, given his legs were longer and they both worked normally.
“She didn’t like that I brought you along. I told her I thought the young woman would confide in you better than me.” He slowed down as they approached an elevator. “They’re in holding two floors down.”
“I’m actually going to sit in when you question the two?” This was one of her favorite parts when she was an M.P. There was nothing more exhilarating to her as getting the truth out of a person.
“You will question Verna. She’s not a fugitive and other than being with Van when he was picked up, the FBI has no reason to hold her. I’ll question Van, but you’ll be able to watch. As I will watch you talk with Verna.”
The doors opened, and they stepped out into a reception area much like a lobby of a police station.
Quinn flashed his ID at the man behind a desk. “We’re here to question Vladimer Chernoff. But first my associate would like to visit with the woman that was brought in with him.”
The agent looked her up and down. “Where’s her ID?”
“She’s not FBI, but HQ Supervisor Prescott okayed her participation.” Quinn nodded toward the phone at the man’s elbow. “You can call her if you like. We’ll wait.”
The man stared at the phone for less than a second. “No. No sense disturbing her. The woman is in room six. When you’re finished, I’ll have them bring Chernoff into the interview room at the end of the hall.”
Quinn nodded and walked down the hall to a room with the number six on the door.
He eased the door open. Inside, a woman sat on a chair by the door.
Verna watched them with wary eyes.
“Hi. I’m here to see if I can help everyone understand what your involvement is and to get some answers about what happened at the casino.” Dela walked up to the table and took the seat across from the woman.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Quinn asked.
“I’ll take coffee. Verna, do want anything?” Dela felt for the woman. She didn’t believe she had committed murder but she had been a party to the cover up.
The woman nodded. “Water please.”
Quinn nodded and left the room.
Dela wished the woman at the door would leave, but figured it was FBI rules or something.
“Verna, we found the video you took under the blackout Robin had placed on the cameras.”
Sad brown eyes gazed at her across the table. “I couldn’t let them get away with killing that man even if he planned to turn my father in to the FBI.”
“I know. You are law-abiding. I don’t understand why you didn’t tell someone if you knew about it far enough beforehand to override the camera’s blackout.”
The young woman glanced toward the woman at the door before leaning forward and whispering. “I only heard them talking soon enough to code the camera. I didn’t realize it wasn’t them actually doing the killing until I saw Jeff at his table the whole time. Then I knew they were working with someone else. Afterwards, when I talked with father, he said the man who killed Tristan was blackmailing him. He wanted the money missing from the bank robbery to keep his mouth shut about who Father really was.” She sat up. “Father never saw a cent of that money. He believes the other man involved in the robbery, the one who did the killing, took all of the money. Father never saw any of it. He went into hiding, knowing the cops would be looking for all of them. Without money it was harder for him to hide. He’s pretty sure that the man with the money and who killed people is in another country. He has been trying to find the man to prove his innocence.”
“Why did the two of you run?” Dela asked, believing the woman spoke the truth. She could see Van being pulled into a scheme to make money but she didn’t see the man killing anyone.
“Father’s identity had been compromised. Tristan had discovered who he was and the man who killed him also knew. And Tristan’s wife. She knew. She made a comment to him when they passed on the stairs that night.”
Ah-ha! Van had run into someone on the stairs. Someone who knew he was a fugitive.
“Can you tell me more about Jeff and Robin’s part in the murder? Did they have anything to do with Mattie’s murder?”
Verna shrugged. “I don’t know what their part was other than blacking out the cameras. They must have had a reason to help.”
It was obvious the woman didn’t know the victim had been blackmailing Jeff and Robin. “If what you say is true, maybe your father can work out a deal with the FBI to help find the other men who robbed the bank.” She wanted to give the woman hope. If, as she said, her father didn’t kill anyone, then he would only have armed robbery charges that may or may not be dropped if they caught the man who actually killed the employees.
Verna sat up straighter. “Do you think they will believe him?”
“He can try. I’ll suggest it to Special Agent Pierce. Is there anything else you can tell me that might help?”
The young woman sat back in the chair. “The only thing I can think of is Robin was more into Jeff than he was into her. She would have done anything for him.”
Dela thought about that. Could Jeff have dragged Robin into the whole scheme? He’d already talked her into helping him skim money from the casino. It wouldn’t have been that much of a stretch to have him ask her for a little favor. But why? Why would Paula drag Jeff into her scheme to kill her husband?
“Thank you, Verna. I’m pretty sure you are free to go, but I’ll ask to make sure.”
The woman picked at her hands. “It doesn’t matter. As long as Father is here, I’ll be here.”
Dela pulled a piece of paper out of her small cross-body purse and wrote her phone number on it. “If you need anything, even just to talk, call.”
“Thank you.” Tears rolled down Verna’s cheeks.
Dela left the room. She stood in the hall breathing deep and wondering what was going to happen to the talented woman.
Quinn joined her. “Nice job. Sincerity gets more answers than bullying.”
She stared at the special agent. “There isn’t any other way to talk to a person whose only crime is loving their father.”
The skin of his neck and face grew redder. “You’re correct. I’m sorry. Do you want to listen to my interview with Vladimer?”
“Yeah. You heard what his daughter said? He didn’t kill anyone at the robbery. If you can offer him a lesser sentence, I bet he’d help you find the real killer.”
“I have to run that by legal first.”
She crossed her arms and stared at him.
“Ah, you mean right now before I question him.”
“You would probably get better results. And let him know his daughter is fine. I’m sure he is worried about her.” Dela knew if it was her mother in Van’s place, she’d be more likely to cooperate if she knew her daughter was fine.
“I’ll go down to legal and talk to them.” He walked along the hall and found an empty room. “You wait here.”
She walked through the door and faced him. “You never brought me that coffee. And I could use some lunch.”