Jamie Hill Triple Threat (53 page)

"Go right ahead. If he can tell you where the good stuff is, it might save us some time and mess, here."

"Saputo,"
she muttered, and turned to walk back into the house.

Brady followed, Costa at his heel.

"She called you a smart ass," Costa translated as they walked.

"That one I know. I've heard it a few times recently."

"I'll bet you have," Teresa muttered, pausing in a large office to pick up a phone and dial.

Brady looked around, eyeing a wall-sized bookshelf, filled to capacity. "We're going to need some help over here," he told Costa. "See if Forrest can spare another unit so we can get this place done quicker.

"Will do." He stepped into the hallway to make his call.

A small child with dark brown eyes peered over a chair in the corner of the room at Brady.

He waved his fingers, keeping one ear on the
Moreno
's conversation.

The little head poked higher and Brady spotted a mass of curls surrounding the child's face. He was instantly reminded of Gina and realized the child must be Tess, her four-year-old niece. Before he could wrap his mind around the idea, the mother ended her call.

"My husband says, '
buona fortuna'.
Good luck with your search." She spotted the child and commanded, "Tess! To your room!"

Tess scampered from the office as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Another flash of guilt struck Brady.
I didn't want to scare the kid.
He glanced at her mother. "Tess is a cute little girl."

Teresa's eyes sparked. "Leave my daughter out of this, Detective. Do what you have to do—take the house apart if you think it's necessary, but leave my children alone."

"Of course, we will," Brady said gently. "We have no need to talk to your kids."

His words seemed to calm her, and she nodded before waving a hand around the room. "This is my husband's office. I'll leave you to your work. If you need me, I'll be upstairs." Teresa followed her daughter out.

"Thanks," Brady replied, and eyed the full room.
We have a lot of work ahead of us.

Costa came back into the room. "Baker and Pelling are on their way to help out."

"Great." Brady sat behind the desk and opened the first drawer.

* * *
*

The work went faster than expected because there wasn't much to be found. Brady searched the desk and file cabinet but left the bookshelves to the other men as he wandered through the house, nosing here and there. Upstairs, he found Teresa reading to her two children and he stood in the doorway listening for a moment.

When she noticed him, Teresa stopped reading and frowned. "Yes?"

"Didn't mean to interrupt." He studied the boy, dark-haired and cute as hell, like his sister.

Unlike Tess, who'd shown innocent curiosity, Max stared at Brady with unfriendly, accusing eyes.

What a world to grow up in
. Brady had never feared the police, but then again, he'd never seen them come to his home and dig through files. Max and Tess were part of a family where that was a commonplace occurrence. He remembered Gina saying she didn't like cops before they'd ever dated. She'd been part of that world, too.
Still is.

Brady shook his head to clear the thoughts of her. Breaking it off had been the right decision. Seeing
Moreno
's family confirmed it. "My partner and I are leaving now. We've got two men finishing up in the office. They'll let you know when they're done."

Teresa nodded but gave him no further acknowledgement. She returned to her book, lifted it, and continued reading.

Brady watched for another moment and when Tess caught his eye, he winked.

The girl smiled at him for a brief second, then nestled closer to her mother and returned her gaze to the book.

He found Costa, they checked in with Pelling and Baker, then headed out the front door.

"That was big waste of time," Costa muttered as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Eh, maybe not. We didn't expect this to be easy. Let's get over to the EAI offices and see if Curtis and Stone came up with anything."

"Sure thing." Costa headed to
Riverside
. "Traffic's picking up."

Brady hadn't noticed. He glanced around and saw lots of cars, but it was a highly-traveled road most times of the day and night. One vehicle caught his eye, and he focused on the blue Chevy coming up fast behind them. "Son-of-a-bitch. I know that guy."

Costa checked his rearview mirror. "Who, the bald guy that seems to be in a big hurry behind us?"

Brady looked over his shoulder at the car which was approaching too fast. "Yeah. Hang on, Costa, this doesn't look good."

The Chevy grazed the bumper of the Explorer then backed off.

"Mother fucker!" Costa gripped the steering wheel. "Get off my ass!"

Brady snapped his seatbelt loose and pulled his gun from its holster. "I don't think that's his plan. He's got a gun aimed right at us. Here he comes again." He leveled his arms into firing position.

"You're not going to shoot out my windows!" Costa yelled.

"What, I should just sit here and let him shove us into the river?" Brady hollered back, glancing down the passenger side of the vehicle to the rushing water below.

"He's not going to do that," Costa mumbled, then braced as the car rammed the back of the Explorer harder. "Shit!"

"Hang on!" Brady aimed his weapon but couldn't get a clear shot.

The car swerved away for a moment, then reappeared in the back on Costa's side. Brady saw the bald man's face as he rammed the front fender of his car against the side of the Explorer.

"Damn it!" Costa growled, trying to control his vehicle.

"Straighten it out!" Brady called to the less experienced driver, but it was too late. The Explorer flipped. The world went mad as the big vehicle spun upside down and left the road, headed for the river.

Chapter Seven

Brady opened his eyes and winced. His head hurt like hell and the rest of him didn't feel so hot, either. He peered around the sterile, white room and realized he was in a hospital.

"Hey, there he is." A tall, blond nurse in light blue scrubs stood next to his bed, checking something on a monitor. "About time you woke up."

"Where am I?" he mumbled. His mouth felt dry.

"You're at Wesley, in the
Trauma
Center
. You were brought in several hours ago."

"
Trauma
Center
?" He tried to remember what had happened, but it was a fuzzy blur.
Something to do with Gina.

"There's a woman waiting out in the lobby to see you. We couldn't let her in because she's not technically family. But if you'd like—"

"Sure." He reached up to wipe his eyes. The other hand didn't seem to want to move.

The nurse stepped out and Brady focused on the door.
Gina?

Melanie Curtis walked in and took the chair next to his bed. "Hey,
Marshall
! Glad you're finally awake. Half the department is downstairs waiting to hear about you two. They let me come up, but didn't want fifty people milling around the small waiting room up here."

Fifty people?
He tried to think but his head ached. "Mel—what happened? Why are there fifty people here? Was there some kind of mass casualty?"

She reached out and took his hand. "You and Costa were in an accident, Brady. Some dumbass changing the CD in his car accidently ran you off into the river. The water wasn't deep, but you were submerged. You managed to get out but Joey's seatbelt stuck. He was trapped."

Flashes of memory came back as Brady remembered what Mel described. The water had been fucking freezing and he'd really wanted to climb out, curl up and sleep. But he spotted the two kid's car seats in the back and knew he had to get Costa out.

Mel went on. "Even with a broken arm, you kept diving back down there after him. The paramedics had to pull you away from the crash."

The expression on his partner's face, under water, with bubbles escaping his lips, was something Brady would
never
forget. "Costa. How is he?"

Her dark eyes clouded. "They're not sure. He was under there for a long time. He's in a coma right now. They don't know…if he comes out of it…"

"If?" Brady groaned and tried to lean forward. "Of course he'll come out of it. He's a tough little son-of-a-bitch."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "He might have brain damage, Brady. The doctors don't know if he's going to be all right or not."

"Brain damage? Oh my God." He collapsed back against the bed.

Mel wiped her eyes and blew her nose into a tissue. "We just have to wait and see. Thank God, you're all right. A fractured bone in your forearm, and a mild concussion. It might not feel like it right now, but you were lucky."

Brady glanced down at the arm he couldn't move, his left, fortunately. It was already in a thick plaster cast. "Lucky, yeah," he mumbled. He remembered Costa and felt a twinge of guilt, but couldn't focus on it. Something Mel said troubled him. "Some dumbass changing a CD?"

"What?" She blinked, and then seemed to understand. "Oh, the guy who caused the accident? Yeah." She pulled a small notebook from her pocket and flipped through it. "Xavier Tesco. He was very cooperative with the police. Felt like hell about the whole thing."

"Bullshit!" Brady snarled. "He purposely ran us off the road. He had a gun pointed at us, for Christ's sake!"

"A gun?" Mel looked skeptical. "Brady, this guy was just driving down the road. There was nothing to indicate—"

He shook his head vehemently. He might be foggy, but the events prior to the accident were crystal clear. "No, ma'am. He was trying to drive us off the road. He bumped us twice from the rear, and I got a good look at his face. When he pulled back the second time, he nudged alongside us and rammed his front fender into the driver's side of the Explorer. Evidence on the vehicles should have shown that."

She looked at her notebook. "He told the officers at the scene he already had front fender damage. And the last I heard, Joey's Explorer hadn't been brought up out of the river, yet."

Brady gazed at her insistently. "He had a gun, Mel. It was pointed right at us. That's why I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I'd removed my weapon in case I had to return fire."

She shook her head. "No weapons recovered from the scene, his or yours. Yours is probably at the bottom of the river."

"His too." Brady narrowed his eyes. "Fucker probably threw it in. Look, Mel. I've seen this guy on a couple occasions in the past few weeks. Two different times when I was out with Gina Morris. I think he was following us—or me."

"Really?" Her interest perked up. "We should take a closer look at Mr. Tesco, then. He might be on the payroll at East Asian Imports. Maybe Moretti had him keeping an eye on his little girl."

"Or
Moreno
, on his sister." Brady realized what Mel said and scowled. "I guess you heard. I suppose everybody knows by now."

She shrugged. "In some ways,
Wichita
is a small town. It doesn't matter, Brady. Nobody thinks anything less of you. Even the best of us gets played every once in a while."

"People think she was playing me?" He hadn't focused on the idea that Gina had been using him for information, but it was always there, in the deep recesses of his mind.

Mel shrugged again.

Brady turned his face away. "Maybe she was. Who knows?"

The door opened and the nurse returned with a sandy-haired, middle-aged man in a white coat. "Detective Marshall, I'm Dr. Stevens. I'm glad to see you're finally awake."

"What about my partner? Is Costa awake yet?"

The doctor's eyes darkened much like Mel's had. "He's not my patient, but no. He's still out of it."

Brady realized that if Costa wasn't this guy's patient yet the doc knew his condition, Joey must really be in bad shape. He tried to shift positions but it was difficult with one hand, and suddenly, his whole body felt achy. "Ugh," he grunted.

"I'm going to examine you real quickly." Stevens pulled out his stethoscope.

Mel rose, reaching out to squeeze Brady's good hand on the way. "I'll shove off for now. You, take it easy. Get some rest. Do what these good people tell you."

He caught her eye. "Mel. Look into this Tesco guy. I'm telling you, this was
not
an accident."

"I will. I'll be in touch. Any message for the masses downstairs?"

He rubbed his forehead. Fifty cops milling around in the lobby, waiting for news. He'd been there, when other cops had been seriously injured or killed. There was nothing to be done, but people needed to feel like they were doing
something
. He gazed back at Mel. "Tell them thanks for coming, but they should go home. Costa and I will be fine."