Page 88 of Rules of Engagement

Chapter Nineteen

"He didn't tell us anything useful," I complained. We were sitting in Garrett's office, each of us nursing a coffee.

"Yes, he did. He told us no one was coming after you," said Garrett.

"Didn't he say that right before he said other people were going to pay?" I reminded him.

"Yeah, but we don't know for certain if that means you. Solomon is caught up in some kind of circle where someone thought that shooting him was a good warning to the unknown person who, they feel, wronged them." Garrett paused, thinking. "This has to be involved with the Niners and the heroin trafficking. We need to look at Solomon's agency files."

"I agree," said Damien. "Lexi, we should turn them over. There has to be something in there."

"Did any of the names my colleagues gave you have a connection to the Niners?" I asked.

"We didn't look into that angle but we'll run the names again." Garrett got up, walking over to the door and beckoning two detectives. He spoke quickly and they took off for their desks.

"I don't think Solomon worked any cases that involved them directly," I said as Garrett sat down again. "We did get a drugs case a while back but everyone involved in that went down."

"Would he have told you about it?" asked Garrett.

"Maybe not," I conceded.

"Damien?" he asked.

Damien shook his head. "He doesn't usually discuss cases with me but I don't ever recall him mentioning this gang."

"Maddox, do you have any intel on the Niners?" asked Garrett.

Maddox nodded. "A little, but not much. The Niners have been around for decades but only recently have they become more unsavory, pretty much ever since a guy called Gerard Copley took over as club president. He's into just about everything nasty and illegal you could think of but he's smart too and always stays a step ahead. Officially, he is employed by his brother, Grant. Grant Copley's business is legitimate, and he always files its taxes, and lives in a nice house in Bedford Hills. So does Gerard. There was some talk a while back that the Copleys were involved somehow with a gang out of Boston. They were using the Niners as their pipeline to move further into the country in order to funnel more drugs, but nothing was ever proven."

"Damien, you said you work for Boston PD. Do you know anyone who works in gangs or narcotics?" asked Garrett.

"Sure. Why don't I take that off your workload and reach out to my contacts? They know me; and I can find out if there's any chatter," agreed Damien. "Lexi, what about the files? I called and spoke to a guy named Lucas but he was dragging his feet."

"I'll talk to my colleagues again. If they agree, Garrett, you'll get access."

"Sounds good," said Garrett. To me, he pointed at Damien and said, "Glad you brought this guy in. He's got some fresh ideas.” Then, to Damien, he said, “Remind me to let your captain know how much we appreciate your assistance in this investigation. It can't be easy for you."

"Please," said Damien. "Don't say another thing. There's a clamor about the lieutenant job opening and I don't want people thinking I'm calling in favors just to get a leg up."

"They'd think that?" asked Garrett.

Damien nodded. "It's getting pretty tense. I'm glad I took some vacation time."

"My wife is bugging me about taking vacation time," smiled Garrett. "There's some quaint, little, mountain town she wants to visit. Apparently, I have to go with her. That said, she mentioned something about not taking the kids with us, so remind me to file my vacation request."

"I don't know why you aren't filing that request now," said Maddox.

"Bigger things, buddy," said Garrett. "Much bigger things."

"If you solve this, I'll pay for your vacation," I said, the thought of Solomon's check pinging in my head. I hadn't cashed it yet, or done anything with it. The idea of cashing it meant Solomon would never wake up. In which case, he was right to leave it to me.

"If I solve this, you two should come too," said Garrett. "You both need a break."

"Then who would solve all the crimes in this city?" I asked. Garrett nodded to Maddox. Maddox laughed.

"I'm gonna step out and make some calls," said Damien.

"Take the office across the room," said Garrett, standing up and walking around his desk to show Damien where to go. "There's a phone in there you can use along with anything else you need."

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