Pursuit of Justice

It was after midnight when Sam pulled into the precinct’s parking lot. He brushed a hand through hair dusted with soot. The need for sleep had disappeared along with Rosa’s roof. He would look into the Lucy Straus, Sandra Hill—and the need for those fake ID’s—angle later. Right now he wanted to figure out who Rosa’s real enemies were and what she was doing in Gila City.

Sam snagged a bottled water from the machine before heading downstairs. Sitting at his desk, he logged on to the computer and typed in his code. The scent of neglected cigarette smoke settled around him like a lonely cloud looking for a home. The desks outside his office were accusing in their isolation. Daytime at the precinct was a pulsating, heartbeat of energetic activity. Between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. was a morgue of oppressive silence.

A picture of a much younger Rosa froze on the screen. She was one good-looking woman. Sam hit Enter a couple of times and finally the next file opened. Rosa’s background was sketchy at best. She apparently had bypassed any youthful acting out. Although, Sam would call hanging out with the Santellises a crime. There were no reports of shoplifting, cruising violations or truancy. Now, her older brother was a different story. His name was cross-referenced with Rosa’s, and Sam would need weeks to sort through Frank’s file. Still, after what went down with Jimmy Handley, her fingerprints should have been on file.

Intrigued, Sam printed a few files and put them in a folder with a copy of the rest of Rosa’s information. Her personal data had tripled since the feds arrived. They wasted no time. The fax machine had belched at about five, and Rosa’s life story, as the feds knew it, was seared on paper for all to see by seven.

Sam separated the papers into three piles: personal information, newspaper clippings and FBI reports. The first pile chronicled birth through legal age. She’d broken an arm in third grade; she’d won a district spelling bee in sixth; and her wisdom teeth had been removed in eighth. This information was worthless. How could an arm broken in third grade be pertinent to Rosa’s crime? The feds must be desperate for information about the woman. Sam had been right—she was older than twenty-two.

Sam scanned the newspaper clippings next. Her career as a news item started with Jimmy’s death. One of the tabloids had a picture of Eric Santellis and her on the cover. The inside story said that she dated the drug dealer just for excitement. Hmm, interesting concept. The press had been hard up for photos of Rosa. Most seemed to be from a distant observer’s sketchy photo album. Sam studied Rosa’s high school graduation photo, and another of Rosa and Eric standing at the helm of a boat.

They looked happy, and for some reason that bothered him. The last few photos were of the “Have you seen…” type.

Sam started at the top of the FBI’s current file. Her GPA from high school earned her a scholarship. She’d taken a tour of Europe instead of going straight to college. This didn’t sound like a girl who would date a drug dealer for excitement. A glossy photograph fell at his feet. He picked it up and turned it over.

“Wow.” He whistled appreciatively and shook his head. Too bad the baggage she carried had organized crime stamped on it. Sam guessed this was what she looked like about two or three years ago: a bit skinnier, her hair somewhat curly and with that deep reddish shade so many women seemed to covet. Her eyes maintained a glimmer of innocence.

How could the woman have innocence in her eyes? It must be a trick of the camera.

Resolutely, he put the photo down, took a paper out of his desk and began charting a time line for Rosa. He figured out that up until age twenty-one, Rosa’s only flaws had been a wild big brother and her connection to the Santellises.

Her family had moved during junior high school, right after her older brother died of an overdose, and that seemed to have been enough to sever her and Eric’s adolescent romance. Chalk one up for Papa Cagnalia.

A snitch reported seeing her with Eric Santellis a month after her twenty-fifth birthday. Jimmy had been shot right after Rosa’s twenty-sixth birthday.

This scenario wasn’t making a whole lot of sense.

What happened after Rosa turned twenty-five? Why had she hooked back up with Eric?

He brought up Jimmy Handley’s file. Grabbing a pencil, he jotted down the names of the people present at the shooting. Sam didn’t bring up Eric’s file. He knew it by heart.

Eric was doing twenty to life in the state prison in Florence. The Santellises were, for the most part, well-known in the Gila City area—their father legitimately owned a used car lot there. Illegitimately, the man laundered money in his establishments, operated a chop shop, was a known associate of drug dealers—probably more, and was so slick nothing could be pinned on him. The file on Eric wasn’t as extensive as his big brothers. Both Tony and Sardi were more than well-known, and theirs rated as epics. Little brother Kenny’s file indicated a desire to catch up but nothing major, yet. There was a sister, too, Sam remembered. Most of her file could be blamed not on her brothers, but on her husband.

Until Jimmy Handley’s murder, Eric had been the least-known Santellis. Of course, he just might have been better at hiding his sins. Sam could attribute the same skill to Rosa.

Sam punched in the name of Terrance Jackle, Tony Santellis’s newly paroled best friend. It had been Jackle’s apartment where all had gone wrong. The photo whirled onto the computer screen. A sentence blinked on, and off, bright green, before freezing. Jackle had bought it a few weeks ago, in the back of his head.

Strange.

Frowning, Sam punched in another name. This one wasn’t a Santellis, just a hanger-on. Jason Hughes hadn’t done hard time for being present at Jimmy’s death. But that didn’t matter, hard time might be preferable. The man had been dead for sixteen months, drug overdose. A suspicion hovered and then took over Sam’s thoughts.

Two corpses.

Okay, time to try another name. Sam chose Mitchell Trent, a small-time dealer who’d never chosen friends wisely.

Three corpses.

Trent had been dead for almost a year. Trent apparently drove a vehicle with a brake problem. The report mentioned Trent’s girlfriend, Lindsey, had also died in the crash.

Four corpses.

The news didn’t surprise Sam. She’d been present at Jackle’s the day of Jimmy’s death, too, the only female besides Rosa.

No, no way.

Eric Santellis was the only one still serving time. It took Sam twenty minutes to ascertain that besides Rosa, Eric was also the only one still alive.

And now, thanks to Sam, Rosa had a known address, albeit currently the Gila City County Jail.

And her previous address had blown up a few hours ago.

Pushing his chair back, Sam stood up and stuck the files in a drawer. It was almost three-thirty. Time to head home. After a few hours of sleep, all this might make some sense, although he doubted it.

The brown sedan would have to suffice as transportation since one of the memos on his desk reminded him that the Exxon station had called at noon saying his truck was ready. A lot of good that did him now.

He flipped the light switch and headed toward the stairs. This time of morning in the Gila City precinct meant solitude and paperwork. Sam glanced out the window. Cliff’s car was now parked between a paloverde tree and a trash receptacle. Suddenly, Sam doubted that sleep was anywhere in his near future. Rosa and Eric the only ones alive?

Cliff was behaving strangely.

What were the odds?

The women’s area occupied the left corner of the station. It had one cell that opened into a type of foyer. They’d turned it into a women’s holding area back in the sixties. A few female picketers had gotten carried away at a peace march and suddenly the town needed a separate cell for women. Sam didn’t know, or care, what it had been used for before that.

The duty officer’s radio played to a nonexistent audience. Sam curled his fingers around the handle of his gun. This was his station, his home, his turf. Why was he feeling that some outside force had violated his space?

He heard Henry’s voice, a low mumble even in a quiet night. Okay, that meant at least one person was where he was supposed to be.

Supposed to be?

That’s what had been bothering him.

Cliff’s showing up this morning.

Cliff had only been back in Gila City a few weeks. He’d told Sam that haunting his old precinct wasn’t something he intended to do. Something about out with the old and in with the new. And this morning had been the first time he’d entered the doors. This morning, of all mornings, the morning Lucy Straus, Rosa Cagnalia, was apprehended.

And now he was back.

More than coincidence?

Cliff had said, back when he and Sam were partners, not to believe in coincidence.

For the first time, Sam truly understood what his ex-partner had been trying to teach him.

FOUR

The police station represented family to Sam, but, right at this moment, he felt out of place. Something—make that someone—he’d believed in was proving to be a crumbling cornerstone. Cops weren’t supposed to take things personally. Cliff was, and who could blame him? But he seemed to be trying to get revenge on Rosa at any cost.

Sam decided to walk around a bit, try to shake off the disturbing feeling. Three women were in the dispatch room. Two detectives were on the second floor, staring at a wall of photos and arguing. Each photo was marked with large, red, chronological numbers. The number of cars stolen in Gila City had increased from fifteen a month to more than thirty. The mayor promised action; the police worked longer hours. The car thieves probably laughed.

He settled back at his desk and picked up her file. No way should he feel obligated to keep an eye out for her. He had arrested her, but he’d arrested lots of people and figured most—if not all—of them were guilty. Maybe that was the problem. The more he investigated, the more he heard about the interrogation the feds had conducted yesterday, the more he wondered about what else she was guilty of, besides making off with drug money. There had to be something else involved here. The number of corpses certainly supported that theory.

And maybe there’d be one less corpse if she adhered to the Good Samaritan law by sticking around and helping Jimmy. She was a registered nurse. A few minutes of her time might have meant the difference between life and death for Jimmy.

What made her turn her back on a young man dying, literally, at her feet? She could have saved Jimmy, copped a plea and continued life as she knew it. She had no priors and almost every deposition taken after the bust painted Rosa as one of the good guys. She was well liked at work and by her neighbors. Her family supported her. Something was very wrong with the whole picture. If she was such a nice girl, why did so many people want her dead?

“Sam.”

If he were inclined to give credit, he just might thank God for sending him the accomplice he needed. But he’d stopped asking God for anything a long time ago, so there was no need for thanks.

Ruth had dark circles under her eyes and looked as tightly wound as Sam felt.

“What are you doing here at this hour?” he asked.

“I can’t sleep. We arrested someone connected to the Santellises,” she said softly. “I don’t think we asked her enough questions before the feds took over.”

Sam nodded. “Not only did we not ask her enough questions, but we didn’t ask her the right questions.”

“Do you think she knows what happened to Dustin?”

“No.” Sam gathered his notes and a few printouts. “I don’t think she knows anything about your husband’s disappearance. And I think I can convince you that she’s a pawn in somebody else’s game.”

Ruth hadn’t been on the Gila City force during Cliff’s tenure. She’d still been in high school. She might be able to stay unbiased. Especially if she thought it would bring down the family she blamed for her husband’s death. She took the seat that Rosa had occupied, and just like Rosa, she picked up a pen and started fidgeting. Finally, she asked, “So, what’s going on?”

“I’m putting two and two together and I’m not getting four. Someone’s out to kill her.”

“She’s connected to the Santellises. That’s why I’m here. And, someone’s always going to be out to kill her.” Ruth set the pen down and for a moment Sam thought she might leave, might turn her back on what she didn’t want to hear.

Swallowing, he voiced the words that might begin to hammer the nails of his onetime friend’s virtual coffin. “I don’t think Cliff showed up by accident this morning. I think he knew she was there.”

“What?”

“Whoever was shooting at Rosa, probably the Santellis brothers, I think they somehow got a hold of Cliff and told him she’d been arrested.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions. He’s feeling raw. It’s to be expect—”

“He knew we had her before we knew we had her.”

Atkins shifted. “I don’t think I buy that.”

“Stay with me for one more thing, then tell me what you think. I’ve been going through the files. Everyone who was present at the shooting of Jimmy is dead except for Rosa and Eric Santellis. Three of the people present at Jimmy’s death have been killed in drive-by shootings. What are the odds?”

“How many dead in all?”

“Twelve.”

“Twelve.” Ruth sounded incredulous.

Sam continued, “Five went down within the first three months after Jimmy’s death. All in the Phoenix area. The rest were spread out a bit. Think about it. Eric’s alive but in prison, and Rosa dropped out of sight. Now, Rosa’s back in the picture, and Cliff immediately tries to kill her. That’s a pretty bleak picture even without her mobile home blowing up.”

“What Cliff did was purely an emotional reaction. I can’t believe you’re implicating him.”

Sam watched her chin come up. He knew this woman. He’d been friends with her and her family since before she’d joined the force. Her late husband had caught Sam’s pitches way back when Gila City High only had two hundred students and a baseball team with no uniforms. Ruth had changed his mind about the abilities of female cops.

And although she was protesting, he knew she was starting to believe.

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