Recker and Haley started getting ready. Isengard’s address was their next stop. They all had their doubts about what they’d find there, but it was the next logical progression. Even if Isengard himself was a dead end, perhaps there was something else that would lead them to the real person behind all of this. Assuming that Isengard was not that guy.
They were over at the gun cabinet when Jones’ computers started beeping. Someone was near the office. Recker and Haley quickly rushed over to the desk to check the cameras, while Jones hurriedly pulled up the video feeds. They instantly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it was Mia.
“False alarm,” Jones said.
Recker went over to the door and opened it just as his girlfriend reached it.
“Well thank you,” Mia said. “Very kind of you. Almost like you were expecting me.”
Recker closed the door, though he had a confused expression on his face. “You didn’t tell me you were coming. What are you doing here?”
The smile quickly evaporated on Mia’s face. She held up the bags that she was carrying. “I brought dinner for everyone. You know, I like to do nice things like that from time to time. You said you’d probably be working late, so I thought I’d do a kind deed and bring you food. You guys sometimes seem to miss that part. Plus, I thought we could just be around each other for a little bit since you said you might not be home much over the next week or so.”
“Oh.” Recker let out a little grin. “I’m sorry. I hope that didn’t come across like I wasn’t happy to see you or anything.”
“A little bit.” Recker went over to her and kissed her. “That’s a little better.” Recker kissed her again. “OK. All’s forgiven.”
Haley came over to take a bag out of Mia’s hand. “Here, I’ll take that.”
Recker then looked at his girlfriend, concerned about her appearance there. “You really shouldn’t have come, though.”
“Fine, I guess I’ll just leave,” Mia replied.
Jones reached over and gently grabbed Mia’s forearm. “Mia, as often is the case, he’s speaking in his usual nonsense way. What he’s trying to tell you, in his own loving way, is that he doesn’t think it’s safe for you to be here right now.”
“Oh.” A look of worry quickly swept across her face. She’d heard those warnings often enough over the years to know what they meant. “Oh no. Don’t tell me someone’s after me, is there? Is that why you’ve been unusually quiet about what’s going on here? Someone’s after me again?”
“Not you,” Jones said.
“You’re being targeted again,” Mia said, looking at her boyfriend.
Recker shook his head. “Not me.”
Mia glanced over at Haley. “You?”
Haley shook his head. “Not me either.”
Mia looked confused, not sure what was happening. Jones being targeted was the furthest thing from her mind. But if all the other choices had been eliminated, it had to be him. “It’s you?”
Jones let out a half-smile. “Yes.”
“Who would wanna target you?” She thought she sounded a little cold, and quickly tried to change her tone. “I mean, obviously you’re… you. But, I mean, I didn’t think many people knew about you.”
“They don’t. Well, not supposed to, anyway. Apparently somebody does.”
Mia turned back toward her boyfriend. “So this is why you’ve seemed distracted the past few days?”
Recker shrugged. “I guess? In any case, if someone’s out there watching, now they know about you.”
“Someone watching? Who would be out there watching? Nobody knows about this place, do they?”
Nobody responded. Mia’s eyes widened, completely surprised by the lack of response, which obviously answered her own question.
“You’re serious?” Mia said. “Someone knows about this place? What are you guys doing about it?”
“Trying to find out who it is,” Recker replied.
“Oh. Wow. Um. Wow. I… don’t even know what to say now.”
“You should go now.”
“No. I want to stay and help.”
“Chris and I are about to leave, so you should leave too.”
“Well, is David leaving?” Mia asked.
“No, he’s staying to work.”
“Then I’ll stay with him.”
“No. No, not a good idea,” Recker said.
“Why not? If someone’s after him, he shouldn’t be left alone.”
Jones smiled. “I appreciate the sentiment, Mia, but I’m good. Thank you, though.”
“I’m still staying. I can help.”
Recker’s shoulders slumped as he looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He could already tell he was losing this battle. “Great. Now there are two people I gotta worry about while I’m gone.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jones said. “Just go out and focus on what you need to do.”
Recker and Haley left, this time traveling to Isengard’s place in the same vehicle. It was a forty-minute drive to the apartment complex. Each building had two floors, with every unit having their own entrance. That worked out fine for Recker. He hated shared hallways. Too much of a chance of running into other people who weren’t involved. Or people who tried to involve themselves into something that wasn’t their business.
This complex was in a rough part of the city. That could sometimes be better or worse, depending on the circumstances. The good part was that people there were used to bad things happening. It was an everyday occurrence. They would see shootings, and stabbings, and drug deals, and every other type of criminal activity one could think of.
In a place like this, that usually meant that Recker and Haley could walk around pretty freely, without fear of being spotted. They didn’t have to cling to the shadows or hide behind things as much. People that lived there pretty much expected things to happen. It was just how it was.
But it also meant that Recker and Haley had to be on their guard. Just not from the police. It was a rough area. And sometimes that meant other people might try something against them. Thankfully, that usually didn’t happen.
Recker parked his car in a spot, with Isengard’s apartment directly in front of them across the lot. They sat there for a little bit, wanting to see if anyone was in the apartment first before they went and barged in. But they weren’t going to sit there for too long. They’d give it an hour or so.
“I’m not getting the warm and fuzzies that this guy’s the guy either,” Haley said. “There’s nothing that indicates he’s capable of pulling this off.”
“Yeah, me neither. But, even if he’s not, if we can just get one thing that puts us in the right direction, it’ll be worth it.”
“You get the feeling that these two guys are just patsies? That maybe we were meant to find them and just chase our own tails for a while?”
Recker nodded. “All the time.”
“I keep thinking about Arden.”
“What about him?”
“Why was he even necessary, unless it was because they wanted us to find him? I mean, I can’t think of a single reason they would’ve needed the guy.”
“I haven’t thought of anything either. It’s probably like we’re thinking. These guys are just supposed to keep us busy for a while.”
“Let’s not bother waiting, then,” Haley said. “If we both think it’s most likely a waste of time, let’s not waste more than we need to.”
Recker looked at his partner, agreeing with the sentiment. “Yeah, let’s go.”
They got out of the car and started walking toward Isengard’s apartment. Recker went straight ahead, going to the front door, while Haley veered to the right to cover the back door in case whoever was in there decided to bolt. Recker slowed up a little to give his partner enough time to get back there before Recker announced his presence.
Recker stopped and knelt down, pretending to tie his shoe again to make sure Haley was in position before he made his approach.
“I’ve got the back door in sight,” Haley said
Recker touched his earpiece. “All right. Be ready.”
“Let’s not take too long, huh? Looks like a drug deal going down not too far from me. Don’t want them to get any funny ideas.”
“Knocking now.”
Recker reached the door and started knocking. It was forceful, but not so hard that it sounded like he was trying to break the door down. Nobody answered. He put his ear up to the door to see if he could hear any sounds from inside the apartment. He couldn’t. He tried knocking again.
“Anything back there?” Recker asked.
“Not a thing. Other than I’m starting to get an eye from my druggie friends back here.”
“He’s not answering. Maybe he’s not home. Don’t hear anything either.”
“Well, considering there are eyes on me back here, I don’t think trying to break in is a great option at the moment.”
Recker sighed as he looked around. He then noticed a car to his left. It was parked in a regular spot. And there appeared to be someone sitting in the driver’s seat. It was a good distance away, so Recker wasn’t able to make out the face of the person behind the wheel. But the person didn’t appear to be moving. And Recker got the feeling he was being stared at.
“I might have something out here,” Recker said.
Haley started moving, though the three guys in their early twenties also started moving his way.
“Hey, whatcha doing out here?!”
“Beat it,” Haley replied.
“Hey, what are you, a tough guy or something? A lot of tough guys out here get put in their place real quick.”
Haley didn’t have time for these kinds of games. He recognized the type of people that these guys were. They were the all-talk kind. They thrived on people being fearful and backing down from them. Haley was obviously not one of those. But he also didn’t have time to talk his way out of it. He had to be quick and decisive.
Haley pulled out his gun and brought it down to his side. He didn’t need to point it at anyone. He just needed the message to be sent. And it was.
“Anything else you guys wanna say?” Haley asked.
The three guys put their hands up in various positions.
“Nah, man, we’re good.”
“Take off,” Haley said.
Thankfully, the guys turned and ran off without incident. Haley then started making his way back to the front.
Recker started walking towards the car. He didn’t get very far, though. Maybe five steps. Almost immediately, the car suddenly turned on, and sped out of the spot. Instinctively, Recker got into a defensive posture, and started reaching for his gun. A car screeching out like that was usually a sign that gunfire was not far behind. But not this time.
The car sped off through the parking lot. Recker stared at it as it left the premises. He continued looking around, just in case there was something else to follow up on. There wasn’t, though. At least, not that he could see at the moment.
A few seconds later, Recker noticed Haley jogging towards him. Recker put his hand out to let his partner know he didn’t need to rush.
“What’s going on?” Haley asked.
“There was a car out here.” Recker pointed to the spot. “Right over there. Noticed someone in it. As soon as I started walking, it just took off.”
“Get a good look at them?”
Recker shook his head. “Nah, not really. Looked like it was a guy, but even then, I wouldn’t a hundred percent swear to it.”
“What do you think he wanted?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t look like he wanted anything. Maybe he was just watching.”
“Watching what?”
Recker shrugged. “Maybe Isengard. Maybe us.”
“Well the only way he’d be watching us is if he knew we were coming.”
“Or maybe they were just watching to see who showed up.”
“But where’s Isengard?” Haley asked.
“I don’t know. Unless that was him.”
“Staking out his own place?”
“Been done before.”
Haley noticed another car, a few spots away from where Recker spotted the other one. There wasn’t anyone in this one, though. Not that they could tell.
“Wait a minute, isn’t that Isengard’s car over there?” Haley pointed to a blue car, nestled in between two other ones.
Recker pulled out his phone and looked at his notes. “Yeah. Blue Ford.”
“What was the car that left?”
“White.”
“Maybe we should go take a look,” Haley said.
The two of them walked over in the direction of the blue car. Their heads were constantly spinning, making sure nothing else caught them by surprise, whether it was another car, people walking, or someone setting up an ambush.
Once they got to the vehicle, Recker put his hand on the hood of the car.
“Cold.”
They each went to one side of the car and started looking through the windows. It didn’t take long before they spotted it. Lying on the back seat. Josh Isengard. Recker and Haley looked at each other over the car. They each pulled out a pair of gloves that they always carried with them. With Isengard dead, so they assumed, police would be dusting the car for prints. They didn’t want theirs to be among them.
With their gloves on, they both pulled on the handles of the car on their respective sides. To their surprise, the doors weren’t locked. They leaned in, first checking on Isengard’s pulse.
“Dead,” Recker said.
Haley pointed to the man’s arm, which had a needle sticking out of it. “Looks like that’s the cause of it right there.”
“His body’s still warm. He hasn’t been dead very long.”
“Wonder if this is the doing of our friend in the car.”
“What, you don’t think it’s a coincidence that he shoots up and kills himself the second we get here? With another car speeding off, to boot?”
“No. You don’t believe in coincidences, and neither do I. At least not when it comes to finding dead bodies.”
They started looking through the car, hoping to find something else that would catch their eye, though they weren’t sure what that might be. The car was pretty clean for the most part, except for a few fast food wrappers on the floor. There wasn’t anything in the glove compartment either.
After quickly searching for a few minutes, including the trunk, which was empty, Recker and Haley closed the car doors and went back to their own vehicle.
“Check the apartment?” Haley asked.
Recker looked around, almost as if he were still expecting another surprise somewhere. “I dunno. Assuming someone killed this guy, I’m also assuming they wouldn’t have left anything behind that would incriminate them.”
“Still might be worth a look.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
After deciding to take a look inside Isengard’s apartment, they stopped walking towards it after hearing a couple of police sirens. They were close.
“No time now,” Recker said.
They knew it likely meant that a dead body had been reported. Most likely anonymously. Probably by whoever was in the white car. Recker and Haley jogged back to their car and got in. A patrol unit just pulled into the parking lot as Recker started the engine. There was no need to speed out of there and cause suspicion, though. They drove out casually, just like they belonged there, and there wasn’t a dead body in sight.
“Well that didn’t tell us much.”
“I don’t know,” Recker said. “Told us that there’s someone else pulling the strings.”
“Yeah, but we already kind of knew that.”
“Before we just suspected it. Now we know it.”
“Still doesn’t bring us any closer to finding out who that person is, though.”
“No, but there’s gotta be a reason for his death.”
“What do you mean?”
“Arden wasn’t killed,” Recker replied. “But this guy was. Why? Why kill one and not the other?”
“Maybe because we found Arden first?”
Recker shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Isengard was killed for a reason.”
“Maybe he had something that would link him to the guy that’s behind this?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. Whoever did this, they didn’t want Isengard talking to us. Now we just gotta figure out what that reason is.”