Page 96 of Rules of Engagement

"I should have called his captain regardless of that stuff he said about a promotion and not wanting to look like he was trying to get an unfair advantage."

"Do you think he knew someone was going to hurt his brother?" asked Maddox. He stood by the door, his arms crossed.

"He seemed upset about it when we first met him," I said.

"We didn't just meet him," pointed out Maddox. "He was following us. He never explained why, not properly. If he knew the warning was for him from the start, then he probably wanted to know what we knew before he approached you."

"That might be true but I can't imagine him hanging Solomon out for target practice, no matter what he did. Like Mooch and Mikey both said, shooting Solomon was a warning. One that obviously wasn't heeded or they wouldn't have sent a second hit man." A thought struck me. "Lily and I looked through Solomon's phone and there was a series of text messages between him and Damien. Damien asked for a loan and Solomon said no. What if it was to pay someone off?"

"He must owe someone a lot of money if he stole the hundred grand and it still wasn't enough," said Maddox.

"To risk losing his job, he must be pretty scared of whomever he owes it to," said Garrett.

I paced the small office, walking in between my brother and Maddox. "He must be desperate to get the rest now that a second hit was attempted. And he might not know we have that shooter in custody. Where could he find that much money so quickly to pay them off? Do you think he owes money to the gang?"

"It's connected to the Niners somehow so we should definitely assume that," said Garrett. "Now that we know where to look, I think we'll find the connection."

"I hate to say it," said Maddox, checking his watch, "but Damien should be back by now. I think we need to assume he's not coming back."

"What's he going to do now? He's got a gang on his back who want their money and a brother in hospital. What's his next move?" asked Garrett, but I didn't get the impression he was asking either of us.

"Lieutenant Graves?" This time, a detective I recognized stepped into the room. "Your delivery just opened his mouth. I think you're going to want to hear this."

"Let's go," said Garrett.

"We're coming too," I said. "If he implicates Damien, I want to know."

We followed the detective out of the office. In the squad room, Garrett barked orders to detain Damien if he turned up and focus the whole investigation on the Niners. With every minute that passed, I was sure Damien wouldn't risk returning to the station. If he saw the "parcel" outside MPD, it could have spooked him, or maybe he read what was contained in the packet Lucas gave him. If he read it, and realized there was evidence connecting him, there was no way he would have returned with it. He could have possibly gotten rid of whichever piece implicated him, but that would only have bought him a short time until we discovered that the research he delivered was incomplete.

I wished I could call Anastasia and ask what she knew but I didn't want to worry her more. I was sure she'd been just as blind to Damien as I was. I didn't doubt he cared about Solomon, but now everything he said or done was tainted. Plus, if I called her, what were the chances of her believing me that her older brother had been shot because her younger brother had gotten into the kind of trouble he couldn't extricate himself from? It would only cause more pain and upset.

"We'll find him," said Maddox.

We stepped into the now familiar room to watch Garrett enter the interview room. The man on the other side had regained his color but he still had wisps of tape stuck to his clothing and his short hair was standing at odd angles. He wore a leather jacket over pants and a shirt and looked more like a businessman than a hit man. I wouldn't have noticed him in the street. His face was oddly easily forgettable.

"He can't have gone far." Maddox's phone buzzed and he read the screen. "Lucas said Damien's phone went offline a couple minutes ago but it pinged in the downtown area."

"Why would he be there?"

"Robbing a bank?" Maddox quipped.

"Don't even joke. I'm afraid he will." Another thought occurred to me. "Solomon was looking at a possible bank heist before he was shot. He thought the manager was paranoid, but what if he wasn't?"

"It was a joke, Lexi!"

It did seem far-fetched and I couldn't see Damien pulling off a complex heist. "Where would you go if you caused all this?" I asked.

"If no one else was in any jeopardy, I'd lie low, but that's not the case. I think we need to go through everything Damien touched and try and work out what he might have removed, as well as finding anything he threw in or deliberately omitted."

"That could take weeks!"

We stopped as Garrett's voice filtered through the speakers. "I don't have time for beating around the bush. I have the syringe. I have a gun with your fingerprints on it, and any time now, I'm going to get a ballistics report back that proves you also shot at a PI and an FBI agent. Anything to say for yourself?"

"It was me. I did it. I confess."

"Okay," drawled Garrett. "That was easy. Anything else to confess to?"

The man nodded. "I tried to inject a man named John Solomon with a drug. Not to kill him, however, so you can’t charge me with attempted murder."

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