Dead Man's Hand (22 page)

“
Well, S
a
rge, we haven
’
t
been able to track him down
.
”

The sergeant was smoking, nail chewing
and
almost ready to explode.

“
It seems that Watters has friends on the street willing to protect him. For all we know, he may have already
left town.
He could be anywhere on the map
.
What are you doing about it?
”

Dale updated his boss on everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours—a citywide APB on Watters, as well as photos sent out to local, state
and
federal officials with nothing in return.

“
Just get it done, Dayton.
”
The sergean
t said.

“
Yes, sir. But he may not be our guy.
”

The se
rgeant e
yed his detective
.
“
What do you mean? I talked to Jimmy and he said that we have all we need on this guy.
”

Dale th
ought about turning and leaving, b
ut
instead told him about the prenup,
the will
and
his interview with Pitt. He explained
why he thought Ace Sanders, Linda Grant, or
Shawn Grant
could be involved. He
had already questioned Sanders
’
employe
es
under caution
,
careful
not to
make waves.

The sergeant
nodded as Dale spoke
and
then said,
“
I don
’
t w
ant
theories or conspiracies. I like Watters as our guy. The
m
ayor
—
th
at
little puke
—
has been breathing down my neck on this one. Grant was an important man.
”

“
Yes, sir.
”

“
Don
’
t
‘
yes sir
’
me,
j
ust do it! I want this guy
’
s ugly mug
on every channel and newspaper in the U.S.
The more we broaden the investigation and get the word out to local, state and federal law enforcement authorities and the public, the greater the possibility of good information coming in.
Let
’
s smoke him out.
”

Dale
was not against
searching
for tips, but most cases were solved when someone directly involved ratted out a partner in crime. A national publicity campaign would not catch this killer. Dale counted on
Jimmy
’
s
snitches coming through.

“
Yes, sir.
”

He
blew air from his cheeks
when he left the office
. His partner was waiting with a wide grin.

Dale slumped into his seat.
“
Please tell me that you have some good news. Any luck at all?
”

“
Yeah, lots of luck, only it
’
s the bad kind. Sorry, buddy. I used every link. Nothing. My contacts said that W
atters was private and cautious
. He
’
s been seen at Cruiser
’
s Bar from time to time, but no one knows where he conducted his business and no one
dares cross him anyway.
He could be out of the country by now.
”

“
Great
. Send someone over to Cruiser
’
s Bar just in case
.
”

As a public service to a fellow cop,
Dale
called
Joshua Watters
at the LAPD
.

“
Detective Watters
,
this
is
D
etective Dayton, LVMPD.
”

“
What can I do for you,
D
etective?
”

“
I
’
m calling about your brother.
”

“
Yeah, I
’
ve heard. Have you brought him in?
”

“
I don
’
t like to admit it, but we hoped you had some idea
of
how we might find him.
”

“
Under different circumstances I would
laugh at a group of detectives who can
’
t find a tall African American built like a truck in a town your size. But
Calvin is not dumb
and
I
’
m not surprised you haven
’
t flushed him.
Sorry,
D
etective. My brother and I haven
’
t seen or spoken to each other in years
.
N
ot since he took that job with Pitt.
”

“
Well
, I believe your brother is innocent. I think he
’
s b
een set
up.
”

“
Real
ly?
”

Dale hear
d
the shock i
n the LAPD detective
’
s voice.

“
Yes, I do. If you talk to Calvin, tell him that. Te
ll him to contact me
.
”

“
That changes things. I
’
ll see if I can help you find him. Not that I wouldn
’
t have done my job anyway, brother or not. But now I
’
m going to get creative.
But I believe TV is to blame.
”

“
What do you mean?
”
Dale asked.

“
Detective, we both know that in real life, the police treat
a suspect who comes forward
with respect and assume that only an innocent
man would voluntarily
turn himself in. TV cop shows indicate that cops try to twist a suspect
’
s story. My brother is probably thinking that.
”

“
Anything you got will help.
”

“
Calvin is a survivor, detective.
He doesn
’
t trust too many people.
He was only thirteen when our mother died of pancreatic cancer.
We didn
’
t have a father. Calvin
bounced around the
f
oster
c
are
s
ystem, moving from house to house, parents to parents.
I was more fortunate
. I was twenty-one
and already enrolled in the Academy.
Even though I was legally an adult, I was in no way capable of taking care of Calvin. I did the best I could, but I wasn
’
t the brother I should have been.
Calvin used football as his salvation and a way out.
As a boy, he overcame all of these obstacles
to succeed when most
men
would have quit.
So I
’
ll do anything I can to help my brother
now.
”

“
No leads?
”

“
It won
’
t be easy, detective Dayton.
Calvin is a U
.
S
.
m
ilitary history buff. He would read up on it any chance he got. I know that he used this knowledge in football to
break
down
team defenses.
He showed a special in
terest in past wars, studying
line of defenses, as well as actions taken on the offensive. He had learned every possible tactic used by the military and how the armed forces
involved made their decisions. But I
’
ll do my best to help.
”

“
Thanks, Detectiv
e Watters. Call me anytime,
”
Dale said over the lump in his throat.

Chapter 2
2

“
Jimmy, I
’
m going downstairs to retrieve the stuff from Pitt
’
s office. We can review it now while I decide in which direction we want the team to run.
”

Dale skipped down the concrete stairs
and into the basement
evidence
room
.
“
Mornin
’
,
Joseph. I need the Pitt stuff
.
”

“
You got it, Dale.
”

The swarthy
officer
jumped off his stool,
droppe
d the logbook on the counter in front of Dale and walked to the ba
ck of the cage. Dale could hear
lockers being opened and closed as he signed
in. The man returned with two
large-sized garbage bags.

Dale eyed him
.
“
That
’
s it?
”

The man shrugged.
“
That
’
s all that was signed in last night.
”

Dale grabbed the bags and sprinted up the steps. He threw them on his desk
.
“
How many bags did we confiscate from Pitt
’
s office?
”

Jimmy shrugged.
“
I didn
’
t stay all night, but there were
at least four
when I left
.
”

Dale sizzled with rage and felt a shiver form. Goose
bumps sprung on his arms. He marched into his
s
ergeant
’
s office without knocking.
“
What the fuck is going on here?
”

The sergeant
wa
s on the phone
. A cigar
droop
ed
from his lips.
“
I gotta go,
”
he said into the phone and hung up.

“
Excuse me, Dayton? Do you know who I was on the phone with?
”

“
I don
’
t give a fuck right now. What happened to the
Pitt evidence?
”

“
What
Pitt evidence?
”
His boss
seemed
genuinely puzzled.

“
The evidence we took from the office last night.
”

“
What are you saying
?
”

“
A
t least
two
bags are missing. I want to know what
’
s happened to them.
”

“
Dayton,
are you accusing me
?
”
The boss
did not sound as angry as he should have.

“
I
t
’
s a mighty big fuckin
’
coinci
dence that bags of evidence
with names of important people
vanish
ed
overnight.
”

“
Get out of my office! I
’
ll find out what happened to your fuckin
’
evidence.
”

“
You do that.
”

Dale
slammed his way out of the office and rushed to dump the bags out on his desk
. Jimmy didn
’
t say a word.

He and Jimmy
skimmed the contents of
Pitt
’
s safe
,
but
all the good stuff was gone.
What was he going to do about whoever was messing with him from inside the department? He had no clue who it was.

He wanted to make some calls, do some complaining, but
he
knew
his
superiors would ignore him and he
’
d be wasting needed time that they didn
’
t have.

He reviewed the suspects
.

Ace Sa
nders
’
alibi was confirmed
by the scared employees from his casino. The household staff confirmed
that Linda Grant
was at home at the time in question.
Shawn Grant was also at his casino.
But
all three of them
could have hired a killer.

The only suspect
without an alibi
was Calvin Watters
and they
couldn
’
t even f
i
nd
him
to question.

“
Anything?
”
Jimmy asked.

“
No!
”
His voice was raised.
“
Sorry, Jimmy. I
’
m still too
pissed
to think straight right now. Just give me a few minutes to put my thoughts in order.
”

He
tried to forget about the missing evidence and corrupt cops. He
jotted down
assignments
and
grabbed the file
s
on P
itt and the prostitute
. As he opened the file,
he heard
his name called.

“
Dale, conclusion on the tread marks. Perfect matches to Grant
’
s vehicle.
”

“
Thanks, Ian.
”

Confirmed: smart killer.
One set of tire tracks.

Dale got up and approached
his
team
.
“
Neil, you and Tim interview Pitt
’
s family
, because your natural sleaziness will win them over
.
”

The men grinned
as
Dale moved on.

“
Amy, you and Smitty talk to Pitt
’
s employees
and business associates
.
”

Dale
moved to less experienced detectives.

“
Lucas and Sanchez
, you have the hookers.
Actually, scratch that. Amy,
you can get more out of the hookers than those fine young men.
”

He
threw a black leather
book onto the desk.

He gave Lucas and Sanchez a new task.
“
That
’
s Pitt
’
s client list. Go through every name.
Pay particular attention to those with outstanding debts. That
’
s potential motive.
Maybe Pitt was killed by a friend, but it also could have been a client back for revenge for what Pitt had Watters do to collect.
”

Before Dale turned to go, Lucas asked,
“
What about Sanders?
Derek and I still haven
’
t talked to him.
”

“
Leave him. Jimmy and I
will handle that
.
”

Dale went to his last team.
“
Charles, you and Eddy
see if Pitt
’
s business was failing according to other bookies.
”

Dale and Jimmy returned to the lead detective
’
s desk. Dale
punched a number.
“
Stan, it
’
s Dale. Anything on Linda Grant yet?
”

“
No, nothing
. She spent yesterday
expressing her grief by shopping.
You want us to shut down surveillance?
”

“
No, I still don
’
t trust her.
Watch her around the clock for at least today.
I
’
ll call Harper and Elliot and have them replace you.
”

“
Yes, sir.
”

Dal
e hung up
.

Jimmy looked at his partner.
“
What about Sanders? We gonna go see him?
”

“
Not just
yet.
”

“
Dale,
”
someone called out.

He
turned
and saw
Craig
, t
he young
est
officer in the department
.

“
Since her first call to Sanders after your departure, nothing else has been recovered on Linda Grant
’
s taps
.
What else can I do?
”

Dale
liked his initiative.
“
Okay…
”
He reached
into his desk drawer.
“
Here
’
s the search warrant for Calvin Watters
’
apartment. Secure the area
and
wait inside for us to arrive for the full search.
Be very careful, Craig. This guy could have already killed three people. Call for backup if you see him.
”

The young man grabbed the paper and
hurried
away.

Dale and Jimmy shared a laugh as they watched the excited officer exit the building.

Another folder was then thrown onto Dale
’
s desk.
Tommy had been up late
going over the phone records.

“
Doug Grant
’
s only long
-
distance calls were to Atlantic City casinos and his daughter in Boston. Locally, he only made a few calls home, to Shawn
’
s house and his ex-wife.
Ace Sanders and Linda
Grant call each other all the time
,
”
Tommy said.

Dale had been sure they had a thing going and maybe a plan too.

“
Another interesting thing,
”
Tommy said
.
“
That number you highlighted and wanted me to check into from Sanders
’
phone
?
I track
ed the
out
-
of
-
state calls to a public phone booth in a remote area down by the docks in New Orleans.
”

Dale blinked.
“
New Orleans? Why would Sanders be calling New Orleans?
”

The officer shrugged.

Jimmy
had a
clueless expression.

“
Tommy
, c
all the New Orleans Police Department
and see if they
’
ll dust the booth
and see if they can place surveillance on it
.
Don
’
t expect much
.
”

After
Tommy
left, Dale shook his head and glanced at Jimmy.
“
We don
’
t have the manpower to deal with this.
”