Driving to the police department, Ben called Plate Boyd at home but got no answer. He remembered he had turned in the detective sergeant cell phone. He called the number. McKenzie picked up after the first ring.
“McKenzie, this is Ben Sawyer. Are you working?”
A long hesitation and static on the line indicated distance in Ben’s mind.
“Yeah. I’m working, but you’re not. What the hell do you want? You’ve been given some time off, remember?” Even now McKenzie couldn’t resist a cheap shot. Ben ignored it.
“I heard about Tia Suarez getting shot. Is it true?”
“Yeah. It’s true. About six hours ago in Illinois. Boyd and I are on our way down there right now.”
“Boyd’s with you? Put him on.”
“This is none of your concern,” McKenzie snapped. “We got it handled.”
Ben heard Plate Boyd’s voice in the background, demanding the phone.
“Yeah, Ben. It’s Plate.”
“Plate, what the hell is going on?”
Boyd sounded overwhelmed. “We don’t know anything yet. I was going to call you, but can you at least give me time to drive down there?”
Ben shot back. “She worked for me, Plate. She’s a friend of mine. I want to know how she is.” There was a silence on the other end, and Ben wondered if he had lost the connection. “Plate?”
“It’s not good, Ben. They say she’s pretty shot up. They got to her quick; she’s in surgery. I don’t know any more than that. Shot down in Danville, southwest of Chicago. She was in a local diner with a detective from the PD down there. The detective is dead on scene.”
Ben’s hands were shaking. He forced his car to the side of the road. Damn, Tia. What did you get into?
“You still there?” Plate asked. “Sawyer? You there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m … I’m just a little blown away.”
“Now you know as much as I do. McKenzie and I will be in Danville in about an hour.” Ben could sense a softening in Boyd’s tone as the crackling of the line eased for a moment.
“Look,” Plate said, “I know you two are tight. I know she respects the hell out of you. You should’ve got a call.” Boyd paused. “When I find out more, I’ll get a hold of you.”
Ben held a short debate on whether or not to tell Boyd about the angle Tia was working. He decided against it, his gut telling him he could trust Boyd but no way was he giving the info to McKenzie.
“Okay. Thanks, Plate. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
The conversation over, Ben sat in his car and gave some thought to what he’d heard.
“What the hell happened, Tia?” Ben asked out loud. He remembered Tia talking about the nine one one call, saying something about a way to track down the caller. Now she was hundreds of miles from home, shot, and another cop was dead.
Ben put the car in Drive and headed for the Newberg Police Department. A cop on his department had been shot in the line of duty, and suspension or no suspension, he needed to be with other cops.