Chapter Twenty-eight
A few days later . . .
“Richmond PD, Detective Bellini speaking.”
“Uh, yes. Hello?”
Neiko Bellini noticed the nervousness in the caller’s tone. He rolled his eyes into the back of his head and sighed. Another freakin’ prank caller. “Hey, buddy, you know you can be charged for playing on the phone,” Neiko Bellini informed the caller.
“Uh, yes, sir, I do.” The caller’s voice came across as leery and reluctant. “But this is not a fake call.” He let his words linger. “This is about the girl you guys are looking for.”
As soon as he heard it, there was no doubt in Neiko Bellini’s mind what girl the caller was referring to. But he had to be sure. “Girl?” he asked in a more inviting manner than previously. He didn’t want to scare the caller off. “What girl are you talking about, sir?”
The caller cleared his throat. “The one with the guy who’s on the paper you guys passed out a couple weeks ago.”
His heart began to pound up against his chest. “Are you sure?” he questioned the caller.
The caller went into his story about what he had witnessed. Neiko Bellini cut him off in midsentence. He grabbed hold of a piece of paper and pencil. “Where are you located, sir?” He jotted down all of the information provided by the caller then read it back to him.
“Okay, sir. Someone will be in touch to do a follow-up. Thank you for your community service.” He hung up on the caller. His mind was racing like an Indy 500 winner. He knew this was the big break he needed. He was in the perfect position because he had information, information that came with a price. For years it had been the perfect arrangement. He had long ago stopped doing what he had been sworn in to do. Instead he made deals with the devil for monetary gain.
Something that was supposed to be a one-time thing had manifested into something bigger. It was a dangerous game but it was something he was willing to gamble on. Money was supposedly the root of all evil but this root had quickly grown into something much bigger. He believed this would be the piece of information that would set him and his family straight for life. He had come through in the past, but on nothing to this magnitude. This was the missing piece of a puzzle a few people had been working on putting together. He knew how valuable the piece of paper in front of him was. He pulled out his phone. The caller picked up on the first ring.
“I have something for you,” he spoke into the receiver. “We can discuss the value later; write this down,” he ended. After he had relayed the information over the phone, he balled up the piece of paper then shoved his phone back into his pocket. He lined up the piece of balled-up paper with the wastebasket. He cocked his wrist back in a basketball shooting position. Just as he was about to take his three-point shot, one of his colleagues popped his head up over his divider and broke his concentration. He spun around in his swivel chair to face the officer.
“The boss wants to see you,” the officer announced.
He grimaced. “Are you effin’ kidding me?”
The officer threw his hands up in a submissive manner. “Don’t shoot the messenger,” he joked before walking off.
“Psh!” He let out a gust of hot air. He could only imagine what his superior wanted with him. Whenever anyone was called into his office, it was never anything good. He glanced at his watch. It was just under ten minutes away from being his lunch break. What the hell does he want? he wondered as he gathered up his things. Whatever it was, he hoped it took less than ten minutes to find out.