Delta Stevens 1: Taken by Storm (16 page)

Connie tossed a folder over to Delta. “Think they warned Miles?”

“Hard to say. It’s possible they threatened Jennifer and his kids. That would explain why he didn’t say anything to me.”

“Yes, it would. And if he felt his family was in danger, it would account for his dramatic change in attitude the last two weeks.”

Delta’s eyes narrowed. “You know there’s no turning back.”

Connie reached out and touched Delta’s arm. “I never expected to.”

“What did you and Eddie find out?”

“Well, there were eleven numbers to each series. Eddie divided them up in every possible way. This, of course, led us to one thousand, two hundred, and ten possibilities.”

“Of course.” Delta grinned. She couldn’t balance her checkbook, let alone follow Connie’s calculator-mind.

“Then, I punched in every possible number grouping relating to us -file numbers, car numbers, and, after you called, badge numbers. Once we did that, Eddie deleted your badge number from all the series.”

“Give me an example. I’m not sure I follow.” Connie pointed to a number. “This number 73187875240. Does it look familiar?” Delta stared at it. There was something distinctively familiar, but she couldn’t place what it was.

Walking over to the computer at her desk, Connie motioned to the screen. “Now, Eddie takes out a badge number, which is a three digit number, and look what we end up with.“ Connie pressed return, sending the printer zipping back and forth. Tearing the paper out, Connie handed the results to Delta.

“See if you can’t find a number on this list that means something to you.”

Delta examined the list until her finger stopped at a number. The number was 73877540.

“That’s the serial number of my gun.”

“Exactly. The code combines serial numbers with badge numbers. Every third number is a badge number. Once Eddie deleted your badge number from all the numbers, we were left with a list of numbers eight numbers in length.”

“But there’s one digit too many. There is no zero in mine.”

Connie exhaled loudly and took the paper from Delta. “My guess is that digit is the key to who is on the take, and who isn’t. Take a look”

Taking the paper back, Delta studied all the numbers. The paper had two columns; one column had a list of serial numbers, and the other had the badge numbers opposite it. Looking at the serial numbers, Delta noticed that the final digit was either a one or a zero.

“Eddie also lifted the computed list of everyone’s serial numbers. Gina and I cross-referenced it with badge numbers, and then it was a matter of me writing in who belonged to the badge numbers.”

“You’re amazing.” Delta read the line of numbers.

“Look at your number, Miles’s, and Hammond’s numbers.”

Delta looked at them. They all ended in zero. “Zeros are for the good guys, eh?”

Connie shrugged. “Or vice versa.” Typing something into Eddie, Connie watched as the Printer zipped back and forth once more. “There’s more. Now let’s take a look at the list of names on the evidence list.” Connie tore the paper out of the printer and looked at it with Delta. “The week prior to Miles’s death, it shows he went to the evidence room five times. Five. That’s more times than you go in a month. And he wasn’t admitting evidence either. I cross-referenced the dates to major busts and none of them match. What did match, was that Miles allegedly went every day right after a major drug bust. The pattern they’ve created is too obvious.”

Delta nodded. “They’ve made it look as if he visits the evidence room after the admission of a lot of dope.” Delta clenched her teeth together. “What about Hammond?”

“Notice that, while his name doesn’t appear as frequently as Miles’s does, it too, shows up at times other than when checking evidence.”

“They’ve created the perfect scapegoat.”

Connie nodded. “Yes, they have. If they do get caught, how easy it will be for them to blame it on the dead men.”

Connie reached her arms around Delta’s neck and pulled her closer. “I’m afraid for you, Storm.”

Holding Connie tightly, Delta rocked a little. “It’s not so bad, now that we know who’s on our side.”

Connie shook her head. “That’s not why I’m scared. Look at the way the badge numbers line up.”

Releasing Connie, Delta looked at the list and saw that the first badge number belonged to Miles, the second to Hammond and the third. . .

“What’s this? A hit list?”

Connie nodded slowly. “I think so.”

Delta looked down at the paper, up at Connie, and back to the paper. “What do you make of it?”

Connie reached over and laid her hand on top of Delta’s. “I think we were wrong about the notebook. We’ve been assuming that these were Miles’s codes. I’m betting they’re not. Somehow, he must have discovered them during his initial investigation and was trying to decipher them himself.”

Delta studied the numbers. A chilling numbness crept over her as she stared at the cold, inhuman numbers. “Where did Eddie have to go to get the serial numbers of our sidearms?”

Connie’s eyes darkened. “We checked the Personnel files first, but they weren’t there. Someone had erased them from Personnel’s memory.”

“Then what did you do?”

“What else? We busted into the system of our main suspect, and voila, there they were.”

“So . . .” Delta turned the paper over in her hand. “This is our Captain’s own personal hit list?”

Connie nodded. “I’m afraid so. And if it is, you’re next.”

Pushing open the hospital door, Delta held a single red rose to Megan. “How you feeling?”

“You’re so sweet,” Megan replied, taking the flower and smelling it. “I’ve felt better. How about you? You were pretty shaken up when you left.”

“Seeing you like this isn’t easy.”

Megan patted the bed. “That’s the first time anyone has ever told me I was hard to look at. Come here and tell me what we’ve got going so far.”

Delta sat on the bed’s edge and gently kissed Megan’s cheeks and lips before explaining everything Connie and Eddie discovered.

“So your name is next on this list?” Megan reached for Delta hand.

“It looks that way.”

“It’s not worth it, Del. There are probably hundreds more just like the ones in your crooked department. And even if you do catch them, there will be others after them.”

Delta bowed her head. “Maybe so, but these particular ones killed Miles and beat you up. You just don’t walk away from someone who does that to people you love, Meg. At least, I can’t.”

Megan’s eyebrows joined in a frown. “No. You want to be like Miles and be carried away instead. You can’t win, Delta. There’s too many of them and not enough of you.”

Delta sighed. “What would you have me do?”

Taking Delta’s hand, Megan squeezed it between hers. “I just want to know that you’re doing this for all the right reasons, and not for a bloodthirsty retribution or lofty law enforcement idealism.”

Delta did not move her eyes from Megan’s face. Didn’t she understand it was that idealism that drew her to law in the first place. It was the idea of the satisfaction that came from helping people move more freely in a world filled with increasing lawless chaos.

Slowly pulling her hands from Megan’s, Delta rose and went to the window. “I don’t think you understand—”

“Why not? Because I come from the other side of the tracks? You’re right. How can I possibly understand why you would continue to risk your life for a system that so obviously failed you?”

“Damn it, Megan, what do you want from me? Everything I believe in, everything I’ve loved and held dear, has been stripped away from me. I can’t just pick up my things and walk out.”

“What about your own life?”

Delta shook her head angrily. “My life wouldn’t be worth much to me without my ideals or principles.”

“Why not? Even if you succeed, where will that get you and your principles? You can’t beat the system, Del.”

Feeling the pain of anger and frustration well up inside her, Delta wheeled around. “Look, don’t talk to me about a system you bailed out on long ago.” The next hurtful word stuck deep in Delta’s throat. “Oh God, Megan,” Delta said quietly, moving back over to the bed and taking her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Megan held up her hand. “No, you’re right. We live by two completely different set of rules. In your law-abiding world, everything is black or white, right or wrong, good or bad. My world is filled with a multitude of grays. We do what we have to do to survive, laws be damned. There’s a world of difference between the two.”

Sitting back on the bed, Delta still held Megan’s hands.

“So how is it we forged a bridge between the two?”

Megan smiled a crooked smile. “Would it sound too corny if I said love?”

Delta grinned. “Yes, but say it anyway.” Leaning over, Delta gently kissed Megan.

Wrapping her arms around Delta, Megan held her close.

“Just help me understand why you’re so willing to put your life on the line for a system that has already turned its back on you and me both.”

Stroking Megan’s hair, Delta brushed her lips across Megan’s bumpy forehead. “It has nothing to do with the fucked up system, I should be so gallant. It has to do with loyalty, with friendship.”

Megan pulled slightly away. “Look, honey, don’t get yourself blown off your white charger for this. Revenge has its price.”

“A price you’ve already started paying for.”

Megan lightly touched her bruised eye. “I’ve had worse, believe me.”

Placing her hand on top of Megan’s, Delta’s finger ran over a bluing bump on the crest of her eyebrow. “When this is over, will you do something for me?”

“Name it.”

“Will you come to Hawaii with me? Just the two of us?

Let’s take some time to enjoy what’s happening between us?”

Megan’s eyes danced. “I would love to. But only on one condition.”

Delta nodded. “And that is?”

“You make love to me on the beach. I’ve always wanted to make love on the beach.” Nuzzling Megan’s neck, Delta inhaled the fresh scent of her body. “You drive a hard bargain, but I think I can manage.”

Pulling Delta closer, Megan squeezed her as tight as her aching body would allow. “There’s one more thing I have to ask.”

The serious tone of Megan’s voice made Delta pull her head away from Megan’s neck so they could face each other.

“You come back to me in one piece, Delta Stevens, because I did-n’t find you now, only to lose you because of some grand sense of loyalty. You understand?”

Looking into Megan’s puffy face, Delta nodded. And, for the first time, she questioned her own motives.

Miles had been buried in the family plot next to his father, Captain David Brookman of the thirty-third precinct. Miles adored his father and had known ever since he was a child that he would follow in his footsteps. At twenty-one, Miles entered the Academy to take over where his father left off. And he did just that. Delta had often heard favorable comparisons of the two. If Miles Brookman followed the book, David Brookman wrote it.

Sitting next to Miles’s headstone, Delta watched as the last light from the sun faded behind threatening clouds. Pulling her jacket snugly around her, Delta leaned closer to he headstone.

“I’ve always wondered if the dead could hear the living. Death just seems too final, and I don’t think God is into such drastic endings. Maybe your spirit can hear me, Miles. I’d like to think that you can.”

Pulling a tissue out from her pocket, Delta dabbed her eyes. “I miss you, big guy. So much has happened since you've been gone that sometimes I think I’ll go mad.” Delta inhaled jerkily. The air was cold and crisp, biting at the end of her nose.

“Maybe I have, and that’s why I’m in a cemetery talking to a headstone. You were right when you said it was big. But I need to know. . . is it too big for me?” Delta paused, listening to her own question; feeling the sound of it inside her. “And I’ve come to a fork in the road where I have to make the decision to go on or get out of the department. I know which one you chose, but is that the best decision for me? We’re two different people with two different needs. You lived for police work. Your badge was as vital to you as your heart. But I’m not like that. I’m a woman who’s a cop, not a cop who’s a woman. There’s a big difference.”

“I guess I need to know that I’m doing this for all the right reasons. As much as I desperately long to put Williams and his minions behind bars, getting myself killed in the process won’t bring you back to life. If I’m going to ride this bucking bronco until it collapses, I need to know exactly why I’m doing it. Without that, I’m sure to get myself killed. I love you Miles, but I don’t wish to join you, wherever that is.”

Looking out across the street, Delta saw children swinging on swings in a tiny park as a woman watched over them.

Standing by her truck, Delta peered out at the children as they squirmed and chattered to each other like magpies. The three of them couldn’t have been more than four years old, and the smallest clutched onto a ragged brown teddy bear.