It was eight fifteen by the time Matt walked into the First Contact office. He’d sent Michael to Kara’s condo to check on the status of her firearms and any sign of break-in, then talk to the neighbor who had the key. They needed to get in front of this.
Lex, Elena, Peter and Will were there. Colton was not.
“I told you to have him here,” Matt said.
Elena stared him down. “I don’t answer to you, Agent Costa.”
“He’ll be here,” Will said. “Please, sit.”
Matt glanced at Peter. “You were in on this, too? You told Detective McPherson that you had no idea why Craig was killed.”
“I’m his investigator for the DA’s office. I do background checks and interviews. It wasn’t until I met with Elena and Lex on Monday night that we started thinking the grand jury investigation might have been the trigger. He hadn’t even planned to impanel them until late last week.”
“It’s water under the bridge,” Lex said. “Let’s focus on the now. I hope you told Kara to stay away.”
“Kara is on her way here,” Matt said. “I have proof she was nowhere near the dog park where Thornton was killed. I will submit it to Granderson once Violet is safe.” He and Kara realized that if there was a mole in the FBI—or more than one—and they shared the receipt, Violet could be tracked to Big Bear.
“How solid?” Peter asked.
“Receipts and witnesses.”
“Why was her phone at the park?” Peter asked, curious. “It seems odd that her phone would end up at the same place where Thornton was killed.”
“Violet believes that someone tracked her through her phone, and since Kara had an FBI-issued phone, GPS is always on.” Matt remembered how hard it had been to get Kara to switch over to the FBI phone, but she’d finally agreed.
But someone would have to have her FBI phone number to track it, and they would have to either be a really good hacker, or in law enforcement.
A cop killed Chen. He could have tracked her, set her up, killed Thornton.
Matt turned to Elena. “Did you know Monday that a cop killed Chen? Did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t know until Tuesday morning.”
“You had plenty of time to tell me.”
“We’ve been through this, Costa,” Elena said. “All I had was Violet’s statement to Colton that she thought it was Colangelo. He was wearing a mask. I need her official statement, and we were going to do that today, once Colton finished putting together evidence. This was a seven-month-long undercover investigation—we couldn’t shut it down in five minutes.”
“That cop could have killed a federal agent. And that’s on you.”
She bristled. “He didn’t,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m not reckless, Agent Costa. Colangelo and Officer Perez—who saw Violet running from the scene and is on the same shift as Colangelo—have been under twenty-four-hour surveillance since Violet reported to Colton. They were transferred to jail duty for the week, pulling twelve-hour shifts, on camera the entire time. When they leave, I know, and they are both tailed.”
Colton Fox sauntered in through the rear of the building.
Matt stared at the man who had once been an important part of Kara’s life, professionally and personally. He was average height and build, lean and muscular. His unshaven face was darkly tanned from being outdoors, his brown hair sun-bleached. He had a small scar on his face. He wasn’t handsome, at least Matt didn’t think so, but he did have the dangerous good looks that attracted some women. Rough and confident.
Matt hated this man. Did he hate him because he had faked his death and caused Kara pain? Or did he hate him because Kara had once been involved with him?
Maybe both.
Matt suppressed his emotions and said, “Everything on the table. Now.”
“You must be Special Agent in Charge Mathias Costa,” Colton said with a cocky half grin as he pulled a chair out. He wasn’t dressed like a homeless man, but was clean and in jeans and a black T-shirt, his gun and badge on his belt. Clearly, the undercover operation was over.
He sat, leaned back, casual.
Matt sat across from him. “I need to know what you know. All of you. Whatever is going on here, it’s over. We have a dead prosecutor and a dead FBI agent. We all want answers.”
No one spoke at first, then Will threw up his hands. “For shit’s sake,” he said. “This guy is right. No one was supposed to die—you were investigating graft and corruption, fraud, white-collar crimes where people aren’t killed. Now Craig, who we all liked and respected, is dead. Violet is in danger. I told her I would watch out for her. She’s been through hell. She lost her mom not two months ago. She has done everything we’ve asked, things we didn’t ask but she knew we wanted. She found the truth and now she’s in hiding, terrified. So no more bullshit.”
When no one said anything, Will turned to Colton. “Colt, everything. For Violet, and for Craig.”
Colton gave an almost imperceptible nod, then Will turned to Matt and said, “I was the catalyst for this investigation.”
Matt turned his attention to Will. “Because of Chen’s building.”
“Yes. I didn’t know at the time he owned it, but I had been tracking a group of nonprofits used as pass-throughs for grant money. It’s a legal scam. However, if Chen was a criminal—and if he used this grant program to profit off human trafficking—then maybe we could expose the system and effect change. Craig agreed. Once we had enough evidence, he could take it to the grand jury. At the same time, Violet came to me about a suspicious computer crash in city hall. She’s been instrumental from the beginning, first working with me, then working with Craig.”
Lex said, “While Kara was on leave—when you first met her—she and Colton were outed by someone to the media. We believe it came from the FBI, so you can see why we were skeptical of everyone in the LA office. Kara was out of town in Washington, as you know, but Colton was shot by a gangbanger while he was undercover in another operation.
“It was while he was in the hospital that Elena, Colton and I decided a deep cover operation into the housing grant scandal was warranted. We took it to our boss, he agreed. There were too many facilities, too many people potentially involved, and the issues are complex. We needed solid evidence to build a case of massive government fraud and corruption. Without layers of proof, we’d never get it through the DA’s office. Letting everyone think that Colton died gave us the time and freedom to work the case as long as it took.”
“The homeless are invisible,” Will said. “Most people walk by and either intentionally ignore them or just don’t see them. Colton was able to get physically close to every facility that is operated by these nonprofits. He has thousands of pictures of how the money is spent—or not spent. He has gone through the shelter process and documented what they do and don’t do. Craig intended to launch a grand jury investigation into the finances of the nonprofits under an obscure law related to public monies. While on the surface there is nothing illegal about how these nonprofits are set up, they are ultimately pass-through accounts that enrich the people running them. Craig believed he found a loophole by which the grand jury could issue indictments for fraud.”
“He said it was threading a needle,” Elena said. “But he was the master.”
“It is clear to me that this grand jury investigation that was supposed to start today is the reason he was killed,” Matt said. “And you kept that information from me from the very beginning.”
“Not intentionally,” Elena said.
“Yes, intentionally. You should have come clean Monday night when you came by the hotel. Instead, you sent me on a wild-goose chase pointing fingers at the FBI for alerting Chen to the LAPD raid.”
“They did!” Elena snapped. “It came from the FBI, just like leaking Colton and Kara’s identities to the press back in March.”
“We have no proof. Neither do you.”
“I wasn’t going to risk Colton. Not when we were so close.”
Matt turned his attention to Colton. These people were getting on his last nerves. “Where is the evidence that Violet uncovered?” he asked.
“Safe.”
“I want it.”
“This isn’t your investigation, Costa.”
Matt wanted to punch the smirk off Colton’s face.
“What did she find?”
“Evidence that Theodore Duncan, the chief of staff to the mayor, intentionally installed the virus that crashed city hall.”
“He could argue that he wasn’t aware of the virus,” Matt said.
“He could,” Colton said. “Yet his sister is married to the head of the housing commission overseeing all grant writing for homeless, transitional and permanent housing. His sister is married to Jonathan Avila, the son of FBI agent Rebecca Chavez.”
He was grinning, as if he had won some unknown game. Matt didn’t care. Let him take the win on this.
Matt remembered what Elena said to Rebecca last night. She was asking about her family, and it had seemed out of place. “You knew last night.”
“I knew as soon as Colton found out. He reports regularly. I wanted her to know that we were closing in. That I knew about her family. But we have to tread carefully.”
“You tipped your hand.”
“I needed her to make a mistake,” Elena said.
“That mistake may have been what got Thornton killed.”
“You have no evidence of that,” Lex said. “Let’s not start casting blame for every little thing. We had legitimate reasons to keep Colton’s involvement secret. We have a lot of little pieces, but no smoking gun. That’s what the grand jury was for—to put all these pieces into one clear indictment.”
Matt understood that—white-collar crimes were a bitch to prosecute—but that ended when Craig Dyson was killed.
He said, “We have cause to bring Duncan and Avila in for questioning.”
“Duncan’s mother is Dorothy Duncan.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Matt snapped.
“A criminal defense lawyer for the top firm in Los Angeles,” Elena said. “She’ll eat us alive if we don’t have impeccable evidence of wrongdoing. Jonathan may be the son of an FBI agent, but he’s also the son-in-law of a powerful attorney.”
Matt had a headache. He switched gears.
“Colangelo, according to Violet, killed Chen. He didn’t kill Dyson, but the two murders must have been coordinated. Someone had to have planted the rope and grappling hook on the roof. It was top-grade equipment. Someone had the skill. Dyson’s murder was professional and well executed. Chen’s murder was quick and bold. But they were orchestrated by the same person.” Or people. Considering how many people profited from the grant program, it wouldn’t surprise Matt that a criminal cabal was running the entire operation while he and the LAPD were chasing the wind.
“Who?” Peter asked. “Because proving it is going to be next to impossible. You’re not going to get warrants for a fishing expedition.”
“Who loses the most if the grand jury investigation begins?” Matt asked.
The others considered. “Numerous nonprofits may lose their funding. Some of the directors make a million, more, a year. Travel is paid for, cars, perks,” Peter said.
“Contractors,” Lex offered. “The Venice Beach project, which is costing the city over two hundred million dollars, might be halted. That would rack up costs, contractors would lose money, financing. Potentially go bankrupt. The Sunflower Group Homes is also on the list—they might be shut down or audited.”
“Exposure,” Will said.
“Excuse me?” Matt said.
“Violet has been leaking information about our investigation to a podcast, LA with A&I. They don’t have a huge audience, it’s mostly tech people and gamers. But when the press wouldn’t pick up when I leaked information about Supervisor Lydia Zarian’s sister, Muriel Coplin, profiting off Angel Homes, Violet gave the documents to the podcast. It’s all public record, but not only do you have to look deep for it, the connections aren’t at first obvious. Violet and I drew the lines to make the connection easier to see.”
“That was when?”
“It aired Monday morning.”
Matt shook his head. “Not enough time to orchestrate Craig’s murder.”
“It was enough time to target Chen,” Elena said. “Chen had information—maybe information that would hurt Zarian or people close to her. And he’d only recently been making noise about cutting a deal. If he lost the motion in court on Monday, he could have immediately talked to Craig. Craig felt that Chen had potentially explosive information that could prove criminal intent to defraud the taxpayers of Los Angeles.”
“We need to pull in Colangelo and Perez separately,” Lex said. “We don’t know if Perez is involved. They’ll call their union reps, but if we can turn one or both of them, we’ll have some answers.”
“Violet is the only witness to Chen’s murder,” Will said. “That’s why they went after her.”
“They,” Matt said. “Who are they? Are you talking about some vast conspiracy with the Zarians and Duncans and an FBI agent and a cop? That’s a lot of people and I haven’t heard any proof, just theories.”
“Well, I have one more theory,” Elena said, clearly angry with either him or with the entire situation. “When Dyson started the process to impanel the grand jury last week, someone panicked and had Chen and Dyson killed.”
“They went after Violet,” Colton said, “because she’s a computer genius and can prove the data was intentionally wiped from city hall. Better, she knows how to get it back. They’ve been running this scam for years, making millions. They got cocky and greedy, and when they were faced with losing their gravy train? They resorted to murder. And,” he said with a smirk, “I have the proof that Zarian’s brother, Ben Kaprielian, runs Sunflower Group Homes.”
He pulled a flash drive from his pocket and slid it across the table. It landed right in front of Matt. “Consider it a gift for keeping an eye on Kara for us.”
He snatched it up. “Elena, the cops. I need to talk to them.”
“I’ll arrange it, but you’re not doing it alone. I’ll be there.”
“Pick them up separately, take them to your headquarters, we’ll interview them. I’m also going to inform Granderson that Chavez may be compromised.” He got up to step out and make the call, but before he could leave, Kara walked in.
Cheeks flushed from her ride down the mountains on the motorcycle, Kara was windswept and vibrant.
Her eyes settled on Colton.
Matt followed her gaze.
Colton smiled sheepishly, his eyes lighting up.
Colton was in love with her.
Matt stepped out and called Granderson, then he called Tony and told him the plan.
Kara knew that Colton was alive, but seeing him rattled her.
“What did I miss, other than a resurrection?” Kara walked over to the coffeepot and poured herself a cup mostly because she needed something to do with her hands. She willed them to stop shaking and wished Matt hadn’t left.
They had all lied to her. She felt hollow inside, so she focused on murder. Craig’s murder.
“How’s Violet?” Will asked, breaking the awkward silence.
“Good,” Kara said. “Safe.”
“Where?” Peter asked. “If we need her statement, can she be here quickly?”
“Sure,” she said, noncommittal. “I recorded her statement, just in case. She can do it all official once I know she’s no longer a target.”
“Peter,” Elena said, “can you check with McPherson and see if he has any new information about Dyson’s murder? Lex and I are going to bring in Colangelo and Perez and set up the interviews. Kara, tell Costa I’ll text him the time and location.”
“Can’t wait,” Kara said. She stared at Elena. She had trusted her, believed in her, admired her.
Elena had lied to her about Colton’s death.
Lex’s deception hurt just as much, if not more. He’d been like a father, a mentor, more than a boss...and he let her believe that her partner, her friend, had been murdered. Let her believe that it was because of Bryce Thornton’s obsession with her that Colton was dead.
She would never forgive them.
Elena averted her gaze first, but Kara felt no pleasure. She was too raw, too sad. They left with a mumbled goodbye. Will noticed the tension, went to his office and closed the door.
Kara was alone with Colton.
Damn, the emotions threatened to tear her apart. Betrayal, guilt, relief, regret, grief, but she settled on the anger because she and anger had always been on good terms.
“Hit me,” he said.
She wanted to. She wanted to pound his chest for making her hurt, for making her grieve.
She didn’t move. He sat at the table looking all cocky and confident, as if all he had to say was I’m sorry and she would forgive him.
“With the hit Chen put out on you, it was safer for you to be three thousand miles away, and we all knew you would have wanted to back me up.”
He was right, in part. She was safer three thousand miles away. But she didn’t have a death wish. She wouldn’t have been happy about it, but she would have stayed away. Maybe she didn’t know it at the time, but now as she thought on it, she realized she was a good cop; she would have protected herself—and the integrity of the case.
And not ended up hating the man she had so many conflicting and complex feelings for.
“I get it,” he said. “I’d be mad if the situation was reversed.”
“You think I’m mad.” Her voice was calm. She didn’t expect the calm, but right now it soothed her.
Now he looked confused. “You should be. It was fucked, but someone really tried to kill me. I was shot in the back—I can show you the scar. It could have happened again. It was safer for me and you if everyone thought I was dead.”
“Huh.” She shook her head. “Whatever.” She tossed him his keys. “Take your bike. Do your job.”
He caught his keys in one hand. “Come over tonight. We’ll talk, work everything out.”
“Talk? Is that what we do?”
Now he smiled, got up and walked over to her. “I’ve missed you, Kara.” He reached out for her, touched her arm, leaned in toward her, his head tilted just a bit, his lips crooked, his dimple barely visible under his three-day growth of beard. He was so sexy and she’d always been hot for him. They’d had something...she thought. Once. It seemed like a million years ago.
She punched him in the gut and turned to leave.
“See, you feel better now, K. Come over tonight. I’ll make it up to you.”
Slowly, she faced him. She was surprised she could speak. “I don’t feel better, Colton.”
“You want to do it again?”
But his tone had shifted a bit. Wary. Worried.
“No.”
“Kara, forgive me. Please. We had something good, let’s find it again.”
“We had something,” she said. “Good? I don’t know. Maybe sometimes it was. It’s lost now, and I don’t want to find it.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Then you don’t know me at all.”
She walked out.