Page 12 of Justice for Aleta

“Independent woman, Aleta. Make some decisions here. The night will go exactly as you want it to. I’m not making any decisions regarding the date. It’s all yours to decide.”

Her grin went wider, almost splitting her face in half. “Oh my gosh. Okay. I can do that. And you’ll do whatever I want to do?” Jack laughed and nodded. “You’re sure about that?”

“As long as we’re not robbing a convenience store for cigarettes, I think it’ll be doable.”

“No! Don’t think we want to get arrested on our first date! That wouldn’t be a very good start,” she answered, laughing.

“Okay then. Here.” He handed her his cell. “Call your phone.” He watched as she punched in numbers and he heard a phone ringing elsewhere in the apartment. “Now you have my number and I have yours.” He snickered just a bit?he already had her number on the scrap of paper the manager of the pancake house had given him. “Haven’t you wondered how I knew where you live?”

She shrugged and laughed. “I just figured it was part of your super-duper crack-pot cop skills!”

After what she’d been through, Jack couldn’t believe how easily she smiled and laughed, but he loved it. She seemed happy and content because he was there, and that was something he didn’t see often. Most of the women he saw were begging him not to arrest their boyfriends or husbands. For once, he was somewhere he wanted to be with a woman who wanted to be with him. That was beyond great.

It was awesome.

Chapter 3

“TrooperFletcher! In my office!”Jack wasn’t surprised that Cappy was barking at him, but he was a little concerned that he might not like why.

“Yes, sir.”

“So I understand you found something that forensics missed?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And how did you come about the information that sent you to follow up on their work?”

“Actually, sir, I stopped at the original accident scene to tell the driver of a car that it wasn’t safe to be stopped there. It turned out to be the widow of the deceased van driver, and she told me she saw a gun and heard a gunshot.”

“Uh-huh.” CaptainSeitzer stared at the report on his desk. “Says you basically came in and took over the lab.”

“Captain, that sounds like something Dexter said. He was pissed that I was there, and he was even more pissed when I found that slug they’d missed.” Had Dexter lodged a complaint against him? That was pretty nervy of the bastard.

The captain tossed the folder down on his desk. “Truth is, I was reading a memo from SteveHayes. He was commending you for finding something his guys missed. I think they’re in a lot of trouble right now. For the record, their DNA testing turned up DNA of about two dozen different people. I mean, it’s a rental car, for Christ’s sake, so that’s not surprising. But I suppose you’d like the results of their ballistics testing?” Cappy pointed to the chair in front of his desk and Jack took a seat. “Looks like the slug came from a very, very large revolver.”

“I knew it!” Jack almost sang out. “Dexter pointed out that there was no brass, and I told him it might’ve been a revolver.”

“Based on what they’re seeing, they think it might be?”

“A Ruger?” Jack asked, and Cappy nodded. “Redhawk or Blackhawk?”

“Super Redhawk or Blackhawk. That slug was a .454Casull.”

Jack couldn’t even check himself when he mumbled, “Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Whoever fired that thing knewexactlywhat they were doing. Those revolvers were intended for hunting large game, and so was that cartridge.”

“I interviewed the witness again,” Jack said, thinking back to what Aleta had said. “She said her husband asked the shooter something like, ‘What are those? Why are you wearing them?’”

Cappy leaned back in his chair. “Are you thinking infrared device?”

“How else could he see that car in that fog? But the other question is, how could he know if he had the right car?”

“Unless there was a tracking device on it and he was monitoring it.” Cappy sat up straight with those words and handed Jack the folder. “Looks like this investigation is far from over. Pull it all together. You’re presenting tomorrow during the morning briefing. Be ready.”

“Yes, sir.” Jack stood to go, then stopped with his hand on the knob and spun back to look at Cappy. “Sir, can I speak to you about something else for just a minute?”

“Sure. Sit down.” When the captain pointed at the chair again and Jack sat down, he asked, “So is this a captain and trooper conversation, or a Morgan and Jack conversation?”

---