Part 31 (1/2)
She smiled-clearly proud. ”That's my brother. How do you know him?”
”He helped us out. Good guy,” I said. ”Do you think you might have possibly mentioned anything to him about Rachael?”
”No. I hardly talked to Dave that night. I went home with my boyfriend.”
”Did you say anything to him?” Kylie asked. She tried to sound casual, but Meredith immediately went back on the defense.
”No,” she said curtly. ”I mean, I don't know. I was miserable. I wound up drinking myself into a blackout.”
Kylie was on the attack now. ”So you could have said something, but you don't remember?”
”You sound more like a lawyer than a cop. I could have said something...but it's highly unlikely.”
”But it is possible that under the influence, something could have slipped out.” Kylie smiled. ”You know-unintentionally.”
Meredith grabbed on to the lifeline. Unintentionally.
”Who knows? Sure, it's possible I might have said something to him unintentionally. But it's okay-he's a cop too. I've known him since we were kids. He's my brother's partner. If you know Dave, then you probably know him-Detective Bell. Gideon Bell.”
Chapter 74.
It was the second sucker punch in less than an hour, only this time it was personal. As soon as we got back into the car, I exploded.
”I'm an idiot,” I said.
”Don't take all the credit,” Kylie said. ”I bought their bulls.h.i.+t too. We're both idiots.”
”We've been chasing the wrong two cops.”
”Zach, I know. I figured it out.”
”I'm thinking back to the carousel. They told me they spent the entire night working undercover in the park, and my first thought was, Lucky me. My partner isn't here yet, so the homicide G.o.ds sent two smart cops to bail me out.”
”They are smart,” Kylie said. ”Do you think Meredith is in on it?”
”I doubt it. She gave up too much. If she had any clue what was going on, she'd have clammed up tight. I think our new best friends played her the same way they played us. She told Gideon exactly how to find Rachael O'Keefe, and she was too drunk to even remember that she did it.”
I still hadn't started the car. I pounded the heel of my hand on the dashboard. ”G.o.dd.a.m.n Starbucks!” I yelled at the darkened windows across the street. ”Don't they know people need coffee at four thirty in the morning?”
”Get a grip,” Kylie said. ”There's a 7-Eleven on Forty-Second Street across from the post office. Calm down and drive.”
”You know what really kills me?” I said as I headed down Ninth, breezing through one red light after another.
”Yes. You got snookered. I'm not happy about it either, but men really fall apart when another guy gets the best of him.”
”I'm not falling apart. I just feel like such a f.u.c.king moron that I invited them into the inner circle and asked them to help us tail Donovan and Boyle. Talk about inviting the fox over to keep an eye on the henhouse.”
”Look on the bright side,” Kylie said.
”Point it out, will you?”
”We've been looking for the Hazmat Killer. I think we just figured out who it is.”
I pulled up to the NO PARKING ANYTIME sign in front of the 7-Eleven. ”How do we prove it before they find out Rachael O'Keefe is expendable and kill her? We can't arrest them. On what charges? That they might or might not have known where Rachael was hiding out?”
”What if we ask Matt Smith to trace the GPS on their cell phones? Wouldn't that tell us they were somewhere close to Rachael's house when she was kidnapped?”
”These guys are too smart to leave digital bread crumbs. Even if they did, the fact that they were in New Jersey that night wouldn't be enough to nail them.”
”Maybe we could convince Alma Hooks to have Shawn look at some mug shots,” Kylie said.
”A thirteen-year-old black drug runner fingering two white cops. That ought to stand up nicely in court.”
”I have an idea that I know you can't shoot down,” Kylie said. ”Let me get you some coffee.”
”Good idea,” I said. ”That's one in a row.”
She got out, and I tried to focus.
Unlike a lot of cop cars, the Ford Interceptor has an adjustable driver's seat, so I tilted it back and closed my eyes. All along, I had painted a picture in my head of Donovan and Boyle convincing Alex Kang, Antoine Tinsdale, and Evelyn Parker-Steele to get into their car. Now I had to go back and put Casey and Bell in their place.
Casey would have been the one driving down Second Avenue. Bell was better looking and would be the one in the backseat, calling out to Evelyn. She got in the car, they drove to Queens, and then...and then the picture went blank.
Strike one.
I tried the same scenario with Kang and Tinsdale. Bell's approach would have been different with those two, but all he had to do was play the NYPD card, and in the car they'd go.
But it didn't matter. Playing the situation in my mind's eye with Casey and Bell instead of Donovan and Boyle didn't help. Strike two. Strike three.
And then it hit me. I should be getting four strikes. I'd forgotten about Sebastian Catt.
The car door opened, and I sat up.
”Sleeping on the job?” Kylie said, getting into the front seat and handing me a cardboard cup.
”Mulling on the job.” I popped the lid and let the smell of fresh coffee work its way into my brain.
”Did you mull anything worth repeating?”
”Yeah, I think I've got something.” I took my first sip. ”No, I know I've got something.”
I put the lid back on the coffee and started the car.