Vendetta
Part 9
Harry entered the squad room to find Cassy at her desk, shoulders hunched over, reading a file. "Is that the ballistics report on Brandt?"
Cassy nodded. "Morton confirms that the bullet found in Brandt is from the same gun that killed Fred."
"Okay, so now we just need to find the man who pulled the trigger and his associates."
"You make it sound so easy," Cassy responded sarcastically.
"Any leads on Brandt's associates?" Harry sat at Tom's desk.
Cassy handed him a file. "This just came up from Robbery. They say that Brandt didn't just steal any car that came along. He filled orders."
"Orders?"
"Yeah. If you wanted a specific type of car, let's say a Jag, Brandt would go find it. Then he'd have it painted to your specs." Cassy leaned back in her chair. "However, Robbery thinks that Brandt wasn't in the business alone. They're pretty sure he had an accomplice. . .someone taking the orders."
"That's the person we need to find," Harry said, his voice a little more excited by the news.
"That's my thinking." She handed her boss a second file. "This is who I'm going to try to find." Harry opened the file and saw the mug shot of one, Frank Saunders.
"Word on the street is that he's Brandt's largest order-taker."
"Any ideas on where to look?" Harry questioned.
"I'm going to start at his last known address and work up from there." Cassy shrugged.
"Let's get to it then. I want this case wrapped up. I don't like the feeling that one of my detectives is a moving target." Harry rushed into his office and grabbed his sports jacket from the back of his chair. Cassy grimaced internally.
"You're coming?" Cassy tried to keep her voice even, not showing her frustration at being teamed with the boss.
Harry nodded, "Can't have you working alone."
"Well, I was just going to check his home, then I'm going to head to the hospital and see if they'll let me spring my partner."
Harry nodded, "No problem. I planned on being there when he was released. I spoke to Tom's doctor. She is going to release him this afternoon. I already notified Tate that I want him to handle the guard duty at Tom's house tonight."
"We're not going to take him to a safe-house?" Cassy's blue eyes couldn't mask her concern.
"Are you kidding? I had to grovel to get authorization for a guard. There's no way I could get approval for a safe-house."
"How long do we have until the Commissioner pulls off the guard?" Cassy asked worriedly.
"48 hours at best." Harry shook his head, "Because there have been no threats against Tom, the Commissioner thinks guarding him is an unproductive use of manpower."
"But the guard may be the only reason that there have been no threats. . ." Cassy argued.
Harry nodded in agreement, "I know that. . .you know that. . .Everyone seems to know that except for our esteemed leader."
Cassy sat back in a huff, "Well fine. If that's the way he wants to play it, I'll take care of it myself. Harry, I think I'm going to need a vacation. . .you know, job stress has been getting to me."
"Oh yeah?" Harry's eyebrows lowered over his eyes.
"Yep. I think I could need to take some time off within the next 48 hours or so. Is that a problem?" Cassy grinned slyly.
"No, no problem. You have the days coming to you. Where you going to go?"
"Not sure. I think some time away could do me some good. I'll fill you in on the details when I decide."
"Sounds reasonable," Harry nodded, returning the sly grin.
One way or the other, the two were going to make sure nothing happened to Tom.
Within thirty minutes, Cassy pulled the department issue Crown Victoria in front of the last known address for Frank Saunders. Saunders lived in a condo in one of the nicer neighborhoods of the city. Cassy examined the building carefully, "Apparently the stolen car business pays well," she muttered.
"No kidding." Harry shook his head in disgust. "Let's go find our man." He reached for the door handle and exited the vehicle.
Cassy followed her Captain to the front door of the house. Harry knocked on the door, but made sure to position his body to one side. Since he didn't know the stability of the suspect they were looking for, he didn't want to make himself an easy target. Cassy similarly stood to one side, hand resting on the gun in her purse.
The door opened, but only a crack. A chain prevented it from being opened all the way. A woman in her mid-thirties peeked through the opening. From what could be seen, the woman was dressed in a skimpy silk robe, which covered only a small portion of her body. Harry diverted his eyes and concentrated on the woman's face. It was heavily made up, with thick eyeliner, blush and lipstick.
"What do you want?" The woman growled. As she spoke, smoke from a cigarette billowed out of her mouth.
Harry held his breath, afraid that he would start coughing at the intrusive smell. Cassy used her free hand to politely cover her nose.
Harry held up his badge. "We're looking for Frank Saunders." Harry answered politely.
"He ain't here." The woman started to close the door.
Harry was prepared and slid his foot into the crack. "Then we'd like to know where he is."
A movement from the side of the house caught Cassy's attention. She glanced over and saw a man jumping a row of hedge and running down the street. She leapt off the porch and yelled back to her boss, "Harry! There he goes!" Harry followed Cassy's voice and saw the man running away, with Cassy in pursuit. Harry said nothing more to the woman and instead jumped off the porch and raced after the detective.
The suspect glanced behind and noticed that he had a large lead over the two police officers and neither of his pursuers seemed able to close the gap. He grinned to himself. All he had to do was make it to the next block and then he could get lost in the strip mall that lined the drive. He glanced behind again and saw that he was home free. Neither of the cops was close. He turned to face forwards and was suddenly surprised by a huge mass of man standing in front of him, a beefy arm extended outwards. Saunders ran into the arm, which close-lined him at the chest. The sudden stop of his momentum caused his body to fly backwards and he landed with a thud on his back, the wind knocked out of him.
Gasping for air, he squeezed his eyes closed. When he found he could breath again, he opened his eyes to discover that the large man who had prevented his escape was reaching for his collar. The man lifted Saunders to his feet as if he weighed no more than a rag doll. Large hands encircled his throat, the arms shaking him.
"Did you do it?" The man shouted at him.
Saunders couldn't speak and instead chose to look around, desperately searching for the two cops who had been chasing him, praying for rescue. He was not disappointed. They were only a half-block away. He turned and grinned at the man who was assaulting him, knowing that he would be subdued by the badges.
"DID YOU KILL MY FATHER?!?" Jeremy shouted again, shaking Saunders in anger.
"Jeremy, don't!" Cassy yelled at the distraught son. "Put him down!"
Jeremy froze and turned to Cassy. He looked at the man he held in his hands and then at Cassy. His look of anger suddenly turned to one of guilt. Slowly, he released Saunder's neck and then looked down at his feet.
Saunders looked as if he were ready to run again, but Harry's stern voice stopped his progress, "I wouldn't if I were you."
The man stopped, "I didn't do anything," he moaned.
"Why'd you run, then?" Harry asked.
"You're the cops, ain't ya?"
"Yeah, we're the cops. . .why'd you run? You haven't done something wrong, have you Frank," Harry responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Nothin' you can prove," was the response.
"Well today's your lucky day, Frank.," Cassy interrupted, making sure to give a stern look at Jeremy, just to let the young man know that he wasn't off the hook for having involved himself in the pursuit of Saunders. "Because today we really don't give a damn about arresting you. We just want some information." Cassy noticed the confusion playing in Jeremy's eyes.
"What kinda information?" The man asked suspiciously.
"We want to know if you talked to anybody about where to find a green Jaguar," Cassy could immediately see the answer to her question in the man's eyes.
"What if I did?" The man evaded a verbal response.
"Did you finger Maney Brandt?" Cassy pressed.
The man said nothing, but his eyes shifted guiltily between Harry and Cassy. "So what. They wanted to know my connections. Said they were looking for a green Jag but wanted to cut out the middleman. They paid me a good deal of money to lead them to Maney. What's the big deal?" Saunders shrugged, now trying to look relaxed.
"Well, Maney's dead," Harry answered flatly.
Saunders' nonchalant voice changed to one of fear. "Brandt's dead?"
Harry and Cassy nodded in unison. Frank Saunders looked like he was ready to pass out.
Harry escorted Frank Saunders to the Crown Victoria. The man's sudden fear at being the next target of the drug dealers had suddenly made him very cooperative. He had decided to willingly go to the police station and provide the details on the men who had visited him.
Cassy and Jeremy followed close behind. "What in the hell do you think you were doing?" Cassy's whisper was strained.
Jeremy shrugged, but said nothing.
Cassy stopped and put a hand on the young man's arm. "No. . .not this time. You aren't going to give me the silent treatment. I want an answer from you and I want it now. What in the hell did you think you were doing?"
Jeremy's voice broke as he answered, "Helping."
"Say what?" Cassy was incredulous.
"You looked like you could use help apprehending the guy. I decided to help."
"No, no way. I'm not buying this, Jeremy. What were you doing here in the first place?" Cassy waited for an answer, but there was only silence. "You were following us, weren't you?"
After a few tense seconds, Jeremy nodded. "I thought. . .I thought you could lead me to my father's killers."
Cassy ran her hand over her eyes, "You what?"
"You heard me," Jeremy repeated, sounding more frustrated. "I want them, Cassy. More than anything in this world, I want them. . . for what they did to my dad. . .for what they did to Tom."
Cassy wanted to be angry with the man, but when she looked into his pain-filled eyes, her heart broke. "I know you're hurting, Jeremy, but you have to let us do our job. I promise you, we'll find these men. They'll pay for what they did."
"I don't want payment," Jeremy whispered, "I want them dead."
He turned from the detective and walked away.
End Part 9
To Part 10