A nurse hovered outside the door of Adam’s room. Risa assumed it was because he had two visitors at once. But her boss’s condition had been upgraded to stable, and he was ready to be moved out of CCU. Paulie had told her, once he’d released her from a bone-crushing hug, that he was transferring Adam to George Washington University Hospital, where he had a nationally renowned specialist on hand to treat Adam.
“Give me a rundown.”
Before she could open her mouth, Nate interrupted. “I’ll talk. Save your voice.”
She wasn’t totally sorry. Her throat felt like she had razor blades lodged in it.
“Approximately twenty-five years ago a group of Philadelphia police officers formed a group they called the John Squad. Each member was known by a variation of ‘John’ and all culled a midlevel drug dealer from the mix. They offered protection in exchange for a slice of the profits. Refusal wasn’t an option. Since their group included a high-profile assistant DA at the time, they had a lot to offer.”
Risa raised her brows at him questioningly. “Eggers?” she rasped out the word.
Nate shook his head. “Eggers is still denying everything, much like when we hauled him in for that interview. But after the drive-by last night, we got a visit from a Detective Jim Gorenson. He’s seeking immunity. Didn’t get it but likely he’s hoping his cooperation will count with the jury. He gave us names. Dates. And a history. Tory’s was a hangout for the police group when they met. Apparently Lamont Fredericks was giving them some trouble. Threatened blackmail. Gorenson claims it was Eggers who set fire to the place, after making sure Fredericks was locked in the bedroom upstairs. The idea was to set an example for any of their other associates who might get similar ideas.”
And yet Eggers had been spared a similar death. There was a twisted irony in that, Risa thought.
“A couple others of the original group had retired and moved away, including the assistant DA. Once the members of the group started being victimized, Eggers reached out to the other two. Discovered each of them had been killed months earlier. A house fire and a fiery car accident.”
“Baltes was good at that.” He narrowed her a look and she subsided. Brought the bottled water that he’d bought her to her lips and drank.
For Raiker’s sake he explained, “The owner of the bar that burnt was Tory Baltes. She died a couple years later but her son ended up in foster care. Fredericks had been good to him, and the kid watched the man die from the sidewalk outside the place.”
“And so an obsession was born,” Raiker murmured.
Nate nodded. “Three years ago Baltes must have put his plan in motion. It’s looking like he faked his own death, switching identities with that victim. We’re tracking down the real Darrell Cooper.”
“They were in foster care together,” she managed. Just those few words had her throat raw.
“That would make sense. There was one more kid who saw the fire. Javon Emmons, Lamont’s younger half brother. He and Baltes were close as kids. Now we’re reaching into supposition, but I’m guessing Baltes showed up again, ran his idea for revenge by Emmons, who was only too happy to assist any way he could. It was he who got the car used for Cooper’s accident. And Gorenson claims Emmons also has connections to a chop shop. Big operation. We know from finding the victims’ former vehicles that someone was fairly adept at changing VIN numbers.”
Raiker sent Nate a pointed look. “You should have had someone on Eggers.”
“We did.” His retort was mild. “Maybe Baltes heard somehow what we planned. More likely he just expected it and was ready. The officer was killed in a drive-by shortly before Baltes snatched Eggers. We’ve already got the shooter and the occupants of the car. Chances are one of them will talk and implicate Emmons.” He paused for a moment before adding, almost as an afterthought, “I asked Christiansen about the symbolism of the badges left at the scene. He wasn’t sure, but he did recall the station houses having boxes of them back in the eighties. Officers kept them in their cars or pockets and handed them out to kids they came across while on the job.” He shrugged. “Maybe a member of the John Squad had given one to Baltes when he was a kid.”