NYPD Red 6 - James Patterson Page 0,25
long, happy future with her. But I’ve never fallen out of love with Kylie. I keep it under control most of the time, but when I look down the road in the opposite direction, I see a brief, blissful past that I can’t let go.
There are times, like this very moment, when I wish that Kylie and I could somehow be friends with benefits.
But I know I have to settle for friends with baggage.
CHAPTER 21
KYLIE AND I couldn’t possibly tackle the Easton case on our own, so the borough chief had drafted a small battalion of detectives to back us up. Within hours of the abduction, they descended on the third floor of the precinct and commandeered every inch of workspace that is normally assigned to Community Affairs.
They saved us a lot of legwork, phone work, and grunt work, but they also generated a ton of paperwork. In a criminal investigation, anything and everything connected to the case has to be preserved, cataloged, and available to the court. There was a basket on my desk where they deposited all those reports.
By the time I ate my breakfast and settled in, the basket was buried under a mountain of DD-5s with ripped-out notepad pages stapled to them; computer printouts of background checks of the hundreds of wedding guests, venue employees, and other witnesses; CDs of surveillance videos; and the usual slew of phone messages.
“I hope you brought a broom,” Kylie said. “Your desk looks like a subway track after New Year’s Eve.”
We recruited Danny Corcoran to help us organize it all while we focused on Bobby Dodd.
He didn’t own a car, which meant whatever vehicle he’d used to transport Erin after he ditched the box truck could have been stolen. We assigned a team to wade through the stolen-vehicle database, check out any that had been recovered, and see if there were any prints or DNA left behind that could connect it to Erin or Dodd.
Our crime scene team found the wireless cameras Dodd had planted that allowed him to know exactly what was going on during the wedding. It meant that McMaster had been wrong– Dodd hadn’t tracked Erin through her tweets.
TARU confirmed that the cameras had been taping everything and that Dodd could have watched it all remotely from around the corner or from halfway around the world.
McMaster had told us that Dodd was more street smart than book smart, but he had stalked Erin Easton with all the cunning and proficiency of a criminal mastermind who knew how to stay ahead of his prey, her security team, and, now, the cops.
The case was still shrouded in secrecy, but by midmorning we knew we had to put Dodd’s name into the national criminal database. We also knew we couldn’t do it without clearing it with our boss.
We went to her office.
“Captain, we want to put Bobby Dodd’s name into the NCIC database,” I said. “We won’t connect him to the Easton kidnapping. We just want to register him as a criminal wanted for a major felony who should be apprehended on sight.”
We watched her consider the suggestion.
“Boss,” Kylie said, “don’t think about the upside. We don’t expect anything to come of it. Think about the downside. If we don’t do it and he gets stopped for a traffic violation in Jersey and let go, all our careers are going to take a sharp nosedive.”
She nodded. “Cover Your Ass 101,” she said. “Do it.”
Her phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID. “Chief of Ds. Don’t go away,” she told us. “I’m sure he’s got questions about the kidnapping.” She picked up. “This is Captain Cates. Good morning, Chief.” A long pause, then she said, “Yes, sir, they’re right here in my office now.” She picked up a pen and started writing. Thirty seconds later, she said, “Yes, sir, they’re on their way.” She hung up. “The chief wants the two of you uptown at a home invasion,” she said.
“You’re kidding,” Kylie said. “Why didn’t you tell him that we’re neck-deep in this kidnapping, and we’re running on fumes as it is?”
“Because I don’t question every order that comes down from my commanding officer, MacDonald. You should try it some time.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you have a ransom demand?” Cates asked.
“Not yet.”
“Then your team can muddle along without you for a few hours.”
“Did the chief happen to say why he picked us?”
“He didn’t pick you. The order came down from a higher authority.”
“The PC?”
“Elected official,” Cates said.
“Captain,” Kylie said, “I realize