Paul Resner threw open the door to Diane Hargrove’s office and Jason Morris stormed through it, slamming a file down on her desk so hard that she nearly jumped out of her seat. “Jace Dawson is off the radar, and the damn nurse who kicked us all out of his room just had her apartment torn to shreds by a bunch of goons looking for him. The man tells me there’s a price on his head, that his own club is trying to kill him, and I hear nothing from you or your people? What kind of bullshit operation are you running here?”
To her credit, the woman’s eyes grew large, but she didn’t appear otherwise ruffled. “I’m sorry, Agent Morris, I didn’t realize we were cooperating on a case that was related to yours. Can you tell me again how Jace Dawson falls under your jurisdiction?”
Morris looked like he was ready to explode, and Resner was willing to bet his blood pressure was through the roof. The man really needed to seek help for his anger management issues. “Don’t play that game with me, Lieutenant. None of us here are rookies. I got a call earlier today from Dawson saying he had information on my case, so I’m busting my balls trying to get him immunity so I can stop these assholes from bringing any more weapons across our border. Meanwhile, you sit here and pretend not to know a damn thing. I have guys who tell me your sergeant’s been sniffing around the hospital, so I’m guessing you knew the woman was involved. Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”
This time, Lieutenant Hargrove looked taken aback. “I assure you, if Sergeant Alvarez was following up on some sort of lead at the hospital, I wasn’t aware of it. Perhaps he came across that lead earlier today and hasn’t had a chance to report in yet. I’ve been swamped with paperwork. In case you haven’t noticed, Agent Morris, Dallas isn’t exactly void of criminal activity, and I have a lot of cases on my desk. If the B&E was reported, it hasn’t come to me because that’s not my department, so I wouldn’t have been able to make that connection, either. However, since you have, I’m quite sure you don’t need my assistance to follow up.”
Morris dropped the side of his fist on the desk hard enough to shake it and Resner winced, knowing that wasn’t going to go over well with the lieutenant. “Where the hell is your sergeant? I want to talk to him.”
Hargrove stood, straightened her suit, and stared Morris down. “You will not take that tone in my office. I don’t know how you run your operation, but we’re doing the best that we can here. My sergeant will return when he’s ready. If he has your number and any information that might be of use to you, I will make sure he contacts you. Now leave my office before I have you thrown out.”
Morris was seething and didn’t move, but Resner wasn’t going to try the woman’s patience any further. With a nod, he tapped his partner on the shoulder and directed him out of the room, through the station, and into the parking lot. Once they were out of earshot, he jerked the man around to face him. “What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to get us thrown out of this precinct?”
“They’re withholding information, Paul, and if that’s what’s going on, I’m taking them down for conspiracy right along with the damn dealers.” Resner could almost swear he saw steam coming out of the man’s ears.
“You’ve got to calm down and be reasonable, Jason. If you noticed, Hargrove was telling the truth about not knowing what Alvarez is up to. And just because he’s following a lead doesn’t mean he’s stepping on our toes or withholding information.” Pulling a slip of paper from his jacket pocket, he presented it to his partner reluctantly. “Tomas Alvarez has been trying to get into the FBI in Quantico. I think he’s trying to find the break in the case that gets us our top dog so that he has a little glory and gets his welcome letter. If you’d taken the time to investigate the people we’re working with instead of bulldogging them, you would have known that already.”
The muscles in Morris’s jaw twitched, but his breathing slowed a bit as he stared at the paper, which detailed Alvarez’s history. Looking back up at his partner, he asked, “So what do you suggest we do now? Sit around and twiddle our thumbs?”
Resner shrugged. “I think we wait to hear back on fingerprints on the B&E, then follow up on that lead to see if we can get a hit on someone involved in the smuggling ring. In the meantime, I can almost guarantee you we’ll hear something from Alvarez. He wants his promotion to federal agent. And if we’re really lucky, we’ll get the go-ahead to offer Dawson immunity and pull him back above ground for questioning.”
Morris grunted. “I hate waiting.”
“I do, too. But let’s make the best of it and get something to eat while we wait. I’m starving, and there seems to be no end to good food in this city.”
* * *
Tapping her fingers against the blue screen of her cell phone, Sterling debated calling Sergeant Alvarez. Taking a deep breath, she quickly punched in his number. She knew her sister was going to be furious, but Sterling was more concerned with Piper’s safety than her anger. This felt like the right thing to do.
He answered on the third ring. “Alvarez.”
“Detective, this is Sterling, Piper’s sister. I just spoke with her and well, she wasn’t even aware that her apartment had been broken into. She said she wasn’t there when it happened and has no idea who did it, but she did say she wanted me to stay out of danger.” Maybe that would be enough to get the detective to share a little information and back off all at the same time.
“I see.” His voice was low, gruff. “I’m glad she’s okay, but do you have any idea where she is? Or if she’s with Jace Dawson?”
Torn between protecting her sister from any kind of legal trouble and saving her from her own crazed behavior, Sterling hesitated. “I don’t know where she is, no. But I’m pretty sure she’s with the guy you’re talking about. She says there’s been a mistake and he hasn’t done anything wrong. But I’m really worried about her. She said there are men after him, and I’m a reporter. I’ve been hearing things from my sources, and I think this is a really dangerous place for her to be even if they’ve found somewhere to hide.”
“Well, that’s probably true. After all, they can’t hide forever.” She heard a heavy sigh. “Is there any way you could get your sister back on the phone so we could trace the call and track her down? I don’t want an innocent person like her caught up in a web of criminal activity, and I certainly wouldn’t want her caught in the crossfire and hurt.”
Sterling appreciated his concern, and she was more than willing to do whatever it took to make sure her sister wasn’t harmed.
“Yeah, I can do that. Should I meet you at the station?”
He gave her an address and told her to meet him there in half an hour. Grabbing her keys and cell phone, she rushed out the door.
* * *
Jason Morris glowered at his plate full of bleeding steak and baked potato, disgusted. This was his favorite meal, and yet, with the bad taste left in his mouth over this whole case and how badly it was going, he couldn’t even enjoy it. Meanwhile, his partner sat across from him, devouring the same and looking like he savored every bite. He didn’t know how Resner could be so calm when everything hinged on getting to this one guy who seemed to elude them no matter what they did.
When his phone rang, he yanked it from his pocket and punched the button to answer the call. “Agent Morris.”
Paul Resner raised an eyebrow at his partner while he chewed on one of the best rib eyes he’d ever had. The exchange was brief, but a little of the tension seemed to drain from his shoulders. When he hung up, his expression had changed and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“We’re authorized to give Dawson immunity, but we need him on the inside to bring down the entire operation.”
“That might be difficult with him being in hiding because they’re hunting him down,” Resner sighed as he cut into the steak, but the bite never made it to his mouth as his phone rang. “Resner.” He didn’t recognize the number.
“Agent Paul Resner? This is Sergeant Tomas Alvarez. We met a few days ago in Parkland Hospital when we were both looking to question Jace Dawson.”
Paul sat up straighter, a sly smile crossing his lips. “Yes, Sergeant, I remember. What can I do for you?”
“Well, that depends. I have a pin on a location for Dawson as well as the nurse who cared for him in the hospital. I’d be perfectly willing to share that information so you can get your questions answered if you can help me out with something.”
Quid pro quo, Resner thought. “I see. What do you feel I might be able to help you with?”
There was a short pause. “You’re a federal agent, maybe with a different agency than where my interest lies, but federal nonetheless. I just want some credit for the assistance I’ve given, something I can put in my portfolio that demonstrates my ambition and ability to track down even a vague lead.”
Resner had been sure the man was going to ask for a full recommendation or a guaranteed job, so he was impressed by how little the guy actually wanted in exchange for his help.
“You got it. So, tell me where we need to go to find our boy.”
* * *
“You do realize we still won’t know exactly where they are, even when we get there,” Sterling warned as Alvarez hung up the phone. “I mean, you said yourself you can only track within two miles. Do you know how large an area that really is?”
Alvarez smiled at her confidently. “That’s true. But we have a slight advantage.” At her confused gaze, he shrugged. “Well, you said your sister’s car was still at her place, which means they took another mode of transportation. I’m willing to bet they took his motorcycle, so all we have to do is look for his Harley and verify the license plate. It’s not that hard to spot that kind of bike.”
Sterling scoffed. “When was the last time you were anywhere near Hillsboro? I mean, it’s a not exactly a biker haven, but you’ll find plenty of Harleys around there.”
“We’re only looking at hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts. It’s a limited search. Besides, with the ATF right there next to us, we’ll have another set of eyes searching. It’ll go twice as fast.” He touched her arm with a reassuring pat. “You’re worrying too much. It’s not like we don’t have a few hours to find them. I’m sure they’re hunkered down for the night, so we probably have all night to find them anyway.”
Unsure that she’d done the right thing, Sterling shrugged. “I guess I’ll trust you on that.” Although at this point, she admitted to herself that she had no idea whether or not she could trust him at all. She almost regretted having called him back, especially now that he was involving federal agents. Sure, she wanted the big story and would have tracked those men down eventually, but she wanted her sister out of danger, wanted her somewhere safe. Hunting them down like this was not what she’d expected.
Still, she didn’t have a choice now, and at least she’d be able to see with her own eyes that Piper was okay. “So are we waiting for them? Or are they going to meet us down there?”
“If you’re ready, let’s get going. I gave them the address of one of the truck stops in the area, so we’ll all meet there in about two hours. We’ll start the search from there.” She started toward the door, but he held up a hand to stop her. “Keep in mind, we’re trying to be discreet so we don’t have to involve the Hillsboro police or the sheriff’s department since we’re outside my jurisdiction. And unless the ATF agents agree to make any statements on the record, nothing that goes down tonight is fair game for a story.”
Sterling crossed her arms and stared him down. “Listen, if this turns into a big break, I’m not making any promises. But I’m not going to endanger anyone, especially my sister, by breaking news that doesn’t need to be broadcast. So stop worrying.”
“Then let’s go.” Alvarez started toward his police-issue unmarked car, Sterling on his tail. He shook his head. He had to count on the recommendation to get into the FBI now because this decision was definitely going to get him fired.