Fatal Exposure - By Gail Barrett Page 0,63
His eyes turning even grimmer, he worked his bristled jaw. “It turns out my supervisor, Enrique Delgado, was there.”
Brynn’s heart tripped. “The guy who worked in the gang unit? The guy you were talking to when the police showed up?”
“Yeah.”
She turned that over in her mind. “You’re saying he might know Markus Jenkins?”
“It’s possible.”
“You think Delgado got him out of prison?” But that would mean her stepfather wasn’t involved.
“It wouldn’t have been too hard. He could get a court order to have Jenkins released into his custody, claim he needed his help with a case. But I’m not so sure it was him.” He rose from the desk and joined her on the couch, then handed her the list.
“I knew Hoffman was there,” he said as she skimmed the names. “And Vern Collins, the detective who investigated Tommy’s case. But I’d forgotten Collins was Hoffman’s partner.”
She tore her gaze from the list. “Does that matter?”
“It might.” Parker’s mouth turned flat. “Collins left the force a few months after they shelved Tommy’s case. He got caught up in a sexual harassment charge. I don’t remember the details, but a complaint like that kills your career. He probably knew he’d never get promoted, so he left.”
Brynn waited, her eyes glued to Parker’s face. From the intensity of his expression, whatever he’d learned was big.
“I did a little research,” he said. “And guess where Collins works now? The Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Maryland.”
Her heart swooped. “You mean... Wasn’t that the prison where Markus Jenkins was jailed?”
“Yeah. So it looks like Hoffman got him out.”
And sent the gang leader after them.
Chapter 13
His boss was trying to kill him.
Feeling oddly hollow, Parker struggled to process what he’d learned. Hoffman. The man he’d always respected. The man who’d mentored his career. The man who’d taken him under his wing, helping restore his faith in the integrity of the police force after his father’s corruption sting. Hoffman had lied to him, manipulated him. He’d tried to do him in.
But why? And why now when they’d worked together for years? Because he was investigating Erin Walker’s death? Because he’d delayed in turning in Brynn? Or was it because he was finally closing in on Tommy’s killer after all this time?
“You think Hoffman got that gang leader out of jail,” Brynn repeated, sounding just as stunned.
“It wouldn’t be hard. He’d call up his old partner at the prison, tell him he wants Jenkins released. Collins switches up the paperwork and gets him out.”
And then Hoffman feigns outrage when the media howls about the mistake.
“And once he’s out, Jenkins attacks my agent. He kills Jamie, then tries to murder us.”
“Yeah.” After Hoffman fed Parker a story about wanting to get Brynn help.
He inhaled again, not wanting to believe it. Another man he’d looked up to had betrayed his trust. But he couldn’t dwell on that right now. He had to think, plan, figure out how to bring Hoffman down. Because if the Colonel thought he was going to win this fight, he was wrong. Dead wrong. Parker might have been slow to make the connection, but he’d be damned if he’d give up now.
He rose and stalked to the window, then braced his forearm on the glass and scowled out. The hell of it was, he couldn’t prove Hoffman’s involvement. There was no incriminating evidence, nothing to tie him to the gang leader’s release—let alone the attempt on their lives. Even his old partner’s involvement was circumstantial; Collins could claim he’d simply made a mistake.
Brynn joined him at the window a moment later. Her face was drawn, her eyes troubled, reflecting her doubts. “What about your supervisor? Where does he fit into this?”
“Damned if I know. Delgado’s not much older than I am. So he’d just started working in Homicide back then. He was there for a couple of years, then went over to the gang unit.”
“And that’s where he met Markus Jenkins.”
“Maybe.” It certainly looked suspicious. Delgado had tracked Parker’s movements. He could have fed Hoffman the story about the drugs. So was Delgado directing Hoffman, or the reverse?
Not knowing what to think, he blew out a frustrated breath. Both Hoffman and Delgado could have known the gang leader. Either could have arranged his release. And either one could have set the cops on Parker’s trail.
But only one was Tommy’s killer. Only one had a motive to want them dead.
The question was—which one?
The office door swung open, and Brynn’s friend Haley came in. “You got a fax,” Parker