LIES OF THE PHOENIX (A Lieutenant Cassidy Mystery Book 1) (23 page)

T
HE TWO OFFICERS
escorted Ben into the district station and guided him upstairs to a familiar conference room.

After Ben took a seat, one of the officers said, “We’ll tell Lieutenant Cassidy you’re here. Just keep the door closed. Everyone will appreciate it if you don’t share your dumpster cologne with the rest of the squad.”

Almost immediately Alec Cassidy appeared in the doorway followed close behind by Nora Castle. As soon as Nora entered the room the overpowering reek of decomposing garbage filled her head. She looked at Cassidy, but he seemed to be unfazed and was all business.

“Glad to see you’re alright, Ben.”

By now Ben had figured out that the alley incident was not a mugging and it was connected to Sarah.

“Where is Sarah? Is she alright?” he asked anxiously.

“We were hoping you could tell us that,” Cassidy said.

Ben’s worst fears were realized. Someone had put him out of commission to get to Sarah. He filled Cassidy in on everything that had happened that morning including the voicemail from Sarah and his call to Eric Abbot.

Cassidy produce his cell phone and pushed it across the table to Ben. “I received this message from Sarah’s phone. Does it mean anything to you?”

Ben looked at the message:
With Jordan. Taking me to Wis—.
He knew exactly what it meant. “He’s taking her to a place in southern Wisconsin.” He quickly explained finding the property tax information at the townhouse and then Sarah’s on-line research. He scrolled through the photos on his phone and found the image he had saved of the County Recorder’s property document. He showed it to Cassidy.

“We need to go there now.” Ben said anxiously. “Call the Wisconsin State Police and have them set up road blocks and a perimeter around the property.”

“Slow down. You aren’t going anywhere. We’ll take care of this. You are a civilian, remember? I am going to have some uniforms take you to your apartment and you are to stay there until you hear from me. Do you understand?”

“I should be there, I can help. You know I can handle myself.”

“Absolutely not! This is a police matter.”

Cassidy leaned over to his desk phone and made a call. Two uniformed officers appeared almost immediately in the doorway. “Please escort Mr. Taggert to his apartment. Take him to his door so that he arrives safely.” He then turned to Ben and added, “And once you get there, stay there!” The two uniformed officers ushered Ben out of the office. Cassidy then made another call.

A few minutes later Mark, the office assistant, appeared in the doorway. “I located a map of the area like you asked.” He handed Lieutenant Cassidy a large fan folded paper map.

“Thank you, Mark. Could you get the Wisconsin State Police on the line for me?”

Mark took off like a flash.

Alec Cassidy opened the large map on his desk and Nora took up a position at his side. She traced a route to the property with her finger and then looked at the area surrounding it. There was a maze of unimproved dirt roads crisscrossing the rural properties in that area.

“A roadblock is not going to work. There’s too many alternatives. Someone could go off the main road and thread their way through this network of unimproved back roads and never be seen,” she concluded.

“I’m afraid you’re right. If we are going to capture Jordan Lawrence, it is going to be at the cottage on that property,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy’s phone buzzed. It was the Wisconsin State Police. Cassidy explained the situation to the officer on the other end of the call and requested state police assistance. The state police were to set up a perimeter around the property. Cassidy made sure that they were aware of a potential hostage situation involving Sarah Lawrence and that Jordan Lawrence may be armed. They were not to advance onto the property or engage the suspect until Cassidy arrived on the scene. He also warned that an armed and dangerous hired killer targeting the Lawrences may be in pursuit and to stay vigilant.

Cassidy completed the call and turned to Nora Castle with a worried look. “Jordan is a white collar criminal, not prone to violence, but Bazarov is another story. He’s a lethal killer and Sarah Lawrence could get caught in a firestorm. We need to find her before Bazarov finds them.”

T
HE OFFICERS RIBBED
Ben unmercifully on the way to his apartment suggesting that an escort was a waste of time since he smelled so bad no one would dare bother him. Ben took their good natured abuse without offense. He was sure that the worst of smell must have dissipated by now. When they arrived at his apartment they walked him into the lobby and Ben was ready for them to leave.

“Thanks. You guys can take off. I can find my way upstairs by myself,” he said with a wave.

“Nope, Cassidy said you get an escort to your door,” answered one of the officers.

Ben nodded a hello to the doorman, Edmond, and the trio headed to the elevator.

“Mr. Taggert! Wait. I have a message for you from Ms. Lawrence,” Edmond said.

Ben stopped and rushed back to the lobby desk hoping for good news about Sarah. Edmond took a step back and the expression on his face left no question. Ben still reeked from his swim in the dumpster. Edmond relayed the same message that Ben had already heard on his voicemail. Hearing it again made Ben even more determined to find her. He needed to ditch his police escort and get started!

One of the officers pointed to the elevator to remind Ben that they were in route to his apartment and to get moving in that direction. Ben put his key into the elevator lock and the car rocketed to the penthouse suite in seconds. The door slid open to reveal the plush vestibule outside the entry to his apartment.

“Nice! So this is what we can look forward to when we retire from the force!” said one of the officers approvingly as they exited the elevator and walked across the entry hall to the double doors of Ben’s apartment.

“Yeah, right,” responded the second officer as he scoped out the plush décor.

Ben wanted them to leave. He needed to find Sarah. There was no time to waste with a syndicate assassin on Jordan Lawrence’s trail. He knew Cassidy would be playing by the book with a potential hostage situation on his hands. By the time Cassidy worked out all the logistics with the Wisconsin State Police it could be too late. He could move much faster than Cassidy and the state police and he intended to do just that.

“Thanks for the escort. You can go. I can find my way from here,” Ben said urging them to leave.

“You know we can’t leave until we see you secured behind that door. You’re supposed to stay put. You might as well go in,” one officer said while the other nodded in agreement.

Ben entered the apartment and closed the door. It was the only way to get them to leave. He listened for the elevator to close signaling the departure of his escorts. He wanted to bolt out as soon as they were gone, but he knew he couldn’t leave yet. The officers would hang around the lobby for a while just to make sure he didn’t come back down.

The text tone sounded on his cell phone. Ben checked it immediately. It was a text from Eric saying Ruth hadn’t seen or heard from Sarah this morning. Ben knew immediately Ruth’s missing phone wasn’t lost, it had been stolen. Jordan had used it to lure Sarah under the pretense that Ruth was in distress.

He went to the bedroom and undressed. His clothes still smelled, although now he didn’t trust his own senses. His nose was becoming acclimated to the presence of the bad odor. He emptied his pockets and put the contents on the dresser. The pile was somewhat smaller than usual since most of his change was now lying somewhere in the bottom of a dumpster.

He located a plastic bag and put all his clothes in it to contain the odor, then he headed straight for the shower. He scrubbed vigorously trying to remove the overpowering smell. When he was done, he thought there was still a lingering odor, but he wasn’t sure. He decided it was just in his head.

He dressed quickly and refiled his pockets from the dresser top. When he was done he donned his gun and holster and headed out the door. He was hoping that the two uniformed officers had satisfied their assignment and were not hanging around downstairs in the lobby.

* * * * *

Lieutenant Alec Cassidy and Detective Nora Castle were on a highway approaching the area where the cottage property was located. Cassidy was on the phone talking to the Wisconsin State Police working out an approach strategy. The property was large, twenty acres, and the state police were already thinly deployed along the perimeter waiting for Cassidy to arrive. From their vantage point they had seen no activity, but they did not have a direct sightline to the house.

“I want you to hold your positions until we get there.” Cassidy told the State Police official on the phone. “There is likely one female hostage and we don’t want to jeopardize her safety. Our suspect is intelligent. We may be successful in talking him out if we keep a lid on any full force police advance. We—”

Just then the crack of a gunshot sliced through the air. The car swerved back and forth across the road as Cassidy tried to regain control. The tires hit the gravel on the side of the road and the vehicle careened into a shallow gully rolling over twice before coming to rest upright in a grassy area. It lay well below the level of the highway and out of sight of any passersby on the roadway above.

Bazarov had hit his mark. He replaced the rifle in the trunk of his car and drove away unseen from a wooded area across from the accident site. All he needed was a little bit of time. This orchestrated delay would serve his purposes. He didn’t need a couple of Chicago police detectives interfering right now and disrupting his plan. He had no idea, however, that the Wisconsin State Police were now also involved.

Cassidy tried to open the driver’s side door of the unmarked police vehicle, but it was jammed. He crawled out the widow and got to his feet. He was unsteady at first. He stumbled to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the door to check on Nora.

She had a gash on the right side of her forehead and she was moaning.

“Nora, can you hear me? Tell me if you can hear me.”

She nodded her head slightly, but kept her eyes close.

“Nora, move your arms and legs for me.”

She lifted each arm and then let them fall limply to her side. Then she moved her legs. Her eyes remained closed and she was not talking.

“Does anything hurt?” he asked.

“My head,” she said as she leaned forward and put her hand to her head.

Cassidy thought she may have a concussion. He carefully lifted her from the wreck and carried her a safe distance away from the vehicle. He then ran back and searched for his cell phone. He finally found it under the front seat.

He dialed 911, “This is Lieutenant Alec Cassidy of the Chicago P.D. A police vehicle has been involved in a rollover accident. I have a detective with a head injury. I need EMS and a police response team . . .

* * * * *

As Lieutenant Cassidy stood in the gully below comforting Nora and waiting for emergency services to arrive, Ben Taggert sped past on the highway above, oblivious to the accident scene just yards away.

* * * * *

A tow truck was in the process of winching their unmarked police vehicle up from the gully. Nora was alert and complaining of a headache. The EMT’s had dressed her head wound and she was arguing that she was fine and didn’t need to go to the hospital.

Cassidy examined the tire on their vehicle. He knew the crash had been no accident. A bullet had ripped through the sidewall of the front driver’s side tire. The shot had probably come from a wooded area on the left side of the road just before the road crossed the gully. The area provided good cover for a shooter and his vehicle.

He had no time to investigate. His police sense told him Bazarov did this to buy himself some time. Bazarov would be on his way to the cottage, probably even there by now. Sarah’s life was in mortal danger. Bazarov would not leave any witnesses alive to protect his L.A. syndicate employers. Time was running out and he needed to find Sarah before Bazarov did.

Cassidy had been waiting for the EMTs’ assessment of Nora and now stepped in to end the discussion. “Nora, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out. That’s an order. They think you have a concussion. I can handle this.”

Nora acquiesced and the EMTs loaded her into the van. Cassidy didn’t tell her that the EMTs had wanted him to go to the hospital for a complete exam as well, but he had refused.

He motioned to a uniformed officer standing by a cruiser. They spoke for a moment and then Cassidy and the officer got into the cruiser and they left the scene. Cassidy gave directions to the officer and then called the Wisconsin State Police. He hoped he would be in time.

J
ORDAN DROVE DOWN
the private dirt access road and pulled into a gravel driveway. A small cottage style house came into view. He drove around the rear of the house and parked their vehicle in an old free standing garage.

“O.K. this is it.” He helped her out of the car.

Sarah looked at the house. It was very quaint. Something that would definitely appeal to her. For a brief moment she felt herself ready to praise Jordan for his selection and then she jerked back to reality. He chose this house for his own purposes; it had nothing to do with her. She continued to survey her surrounding, but this time with a critical eye in case she needed to make a run for it.

“You must like what you see. Here, you forgot this.” Jordan picked up her purse from the seat of the car and handed it to her.

“Oh, right. Thank you.”

They walked towards the house and circled around to the front entrance. Sarah tried to take in everything that she could. There was an open grassy area circling the house and garage, and that open area was then completely surrounded by woods—a place that might provide a hiding place if needed. Through the trees behind the house she could just make out the reflection of a pond. From the property records on the internet she knew there were several other outbuildings on the property, but they were not in her view. The house was painted white with three steps up to a small covered porch. A porch swing hung off to one side.

Jordan led the way up the front steps. He opened the door and they stepped in. Sarah was impressed. There was a large open sitting room decorated tastefully with comfortable American Craftsman style furniture in warm earth tones. The furniture was oriented towards the focal point of the room, an impressive fieldstone fireplace hearth that looked original to the house. The main sitting room was divided from the kitchen by an inviting breakfast bar which then opened into a generous modern kitchen. The age of the house would have mandated an enclosed kitchen with an all-purpose country style kitchen table. The house had obviously undergone significant renovations. She doubted that Jordan had had any hand in the renovations, these changes had been done a while ago.

She walked through the first floor. She could see a set of steps at the rear of the kitchen. She assumed they led to an attic or maybe a finished second floor space. There was a renovated bath on the first floor and two moderate size bedrooms. One of the bedrooms connected directly to the bathroom.

A second entrance to the house was at the rear of the kitchen, near the steps that led to the second floor. She walked through the kitchen to the rear door and opened it. She wanted to know if the door was locked and whether it would serve as a possible escape route if needed. In the grassy area between the house and woods she saw a wooden trough with a hand operated well pump at one end. In the past it was probably used for clean-up after working on the property. There were also two upright wooden poles imbedded in the ground with cross pieces at the top. Three clothes lines were strung between the cross pieces for hanging laundry.

“What a lovely view,” she said turning to Jordan. She wanted him to believe she was buying all of his lies. Flattering his ego by praising his choices was one way to do it. “This is really nice. I can see why you bought this place. You really know my taste.” She gave him an appreciative smile and she noted the look of satisfaction on his face.

Her eyes scanned the living room again. A new looking computer and printer were set up in the corner with a pile of wires snaking around the floor and attaching to the back of the computer. Even though this was a rural area, Jordan had made sure the property he bought had high speed internet.

“I thought you would like this place. It has all the comforts of home.” Jordan watched her as if waiting for a reaction. “Why don’t you come over here and sit down so we can talk?” he motioned her toward the couch.

She sensed he was leading up to something. All of his talk about being together was nothing more than pretense. Once Jordan laid his hands on the flash drive, he would make the data transfer and disappear—alone!
Why would he want to complicate things by bringing me here?
she wondered.
And where was that flash drive?

Then her mind shifted to more practical matters; had Lieutenant Cassidy figured out her text?
He and Ben will figure it out. They’ll come,
she convinced herself.
I just have to keep Jordan here to give them some time.

“You know, that was kind of a long ride to get here. I think I’m going to freshen up if you don’t mind.” She picked up her purse and walked down the short hallway to the bathroom. She slipped inside and closed the door.

She stood there for a minute and looked in the mirror wondering if she was being convincing. What would happen if he saw through her charade? Would he get violent? She didn’t think so, but then, did she really know him?

Trying to waste some time, she slipped into the attached bedroom and peeked into the closet. Several pair of woman’s slacks and tops were hanging there. She looked closer and was surprised to see they were all in her size. She opened a drawer of a dresser and found panties and bras also in her size.
Does he think I am going to stay here with him?
she wondered.

She tiptoed back into the bathroom and looked in the mirror again. The face looking back at her was the Sarah she knew herself to be. She took a deep breath and said to herself,
I can lie as well as he can!

She flushed the toilet and then ran water in the sink. She splashed some water on her face and ran a comb through her hair. Then she returned to the living room where Jordan was waiting.

“The kitchen is fully equipped and the fridge is full of food,” he said.

“Are you planning on staying here for a while?” she said probing for more information.

“No, not
me,
you are,” Jordan corrected her.

“Me? What are you talking about?” She couldn’t fathom why he would want her to remain at the house alone.

“Come over here and sit with me so we can talk. I’ll explain everything.”

She found his paternalistic tone annoying, but she complied. She took a seat on the couch beside him. As she did, his arm reached across her in one swift motion and he removed her purse from her shoulder. He set the purse at his side farthest away from her. His behavior was odd and it made her uncomfortable. She couldn’t fathom what his plan was for her.

He put his arm around her shoulder. Sarah wasn’t sure if it was to convince her of his concern or to make sure she couldn’t bolt away.

He modulated his voice and it now became soft and dripping with sincerity. The change in his voice struck her. She had heard him do that before when he was trying to convince her of something or get her to change her mind. He had done it after the break-in when he tried to convince her that she was too upset to remember what she had heard.

“I told you that there are some bad people after me,” he said. “You could get caught in the middle and get hurt. That’s why you’re going to stay here for a few days while I disappear. It’s for your own safety. Once I’m out of the picture, they won’t have any interest in you anymore. I’ll arrange for a car service to pick you up when I think it’s safe for you to leave. Meanwhile, you should be comfortable here. ”

He had acquired the cottage property as a hideout. His original intent was to have a secure place where he could set up his computer and troll the dark web for a highly discrete international buyer willing to pay top price for the stolen account data he possessed. He had planned to wait six months before making the sale—just to put some time between the theft and the market chaos that would ensue after accounts started to be drained. The cottage was to be his private office and allow him to select just the right buyer and to conduct his business without interruptions.

The break-in at the townhouse and the death of Vladimir Zykov’s changed all that. It forced him to speed up the timeline and resort to an international deep web auction of the stolen data. Jordan knew that an auction could produce even higher financial returns, but the risks were greater since there was little control over who may be bidding and how the data may be used. He had been concerned about that, but in the end the auction had proved to be a good choice. Now, he was just minutes away from finalizing everything he had work for over the last two years. Sarah was his last problem and then he would be ready to move on.

He wasn’t particularly attached to Sarah, but he didn’t want to see her hurt. She had been a pleasant companion and served her purpose during the time that they were together. He rationalized that removing her from the conflict would be remuneration enough for her unknowing contribution to his cover during the last several months. Once he acquired the data drive, his only interest was to make sure she didn’t contact anyone until he made his escape. Keeping her isolated here would serve that purpose. He would, of course, make sure that she would be unable to contact anyone by disabling the phone and internet under the pretense that it was for her protection. There was food in the house and some clothes for her. She would be comfortable enough. After a couple of days she would realize that no one was coming for her and she could walk to a neighboring property in a couple of hours.

“So you plan to leave me here by myself?”

“It’s for your protection. You only have to stay a couple of days. You’ll be comfortable.” He was confident her loyalty was unfailing and that she would willingly do whatever he said.

“No, I don’t think so. I was fine in the city. Why did you bring me out here?”

Her counter took him by surprise. He expected her to comply without question as she had always done. His influence on her must have waned in his absence. It didn’t matter, she was here now and that was all he needed. He would pull her back into line.

“I wanted a chance to explain everything to you.”

“You could have picked up the phone anytime and done that, but you didn’t. So why am I here?”

Jordan sighed, “Well, I was trying to keep you out of the line of fire, which you obviously don’t appreciate. But you also have something that I need.”

He pulled her purse into his lap and began dumping the contents out on the couch. When the purse was empty he reached into the center pocket and pulled the lining inside out. He then pulled at the lining seam with both hands until the seam tore along the stitching. He reached into the gutted purse compartment and felt around. Seconds later his hand emerged holding an electronic flash drive.

“You’ve been keeping this safe for me. Your obsessive attachment to this monstrosity of a purse turned out to be the perfect hiding place.” He held the flash drive up for her to see almost expecting her to share in his excitement, but then said, “Oh, right. You don’t know what this is.”

She knew exactly what he held in his hand, but she continued to feign ignorance. She felt like an idiot. She had had the flash drive all the time! He had used her again. Only this time, he had put her right in the middle of his despicable scheme. She wondered how he was going to spin this to his advantage. “What is it?” she asked innocently.

“It’s, ah, what I told you about. It is some of the evidence I need to stop the syndicate in their tracks. It’s proof of their criminal activity—at least some of it. I’m going to send it to the FBI. I’ll do it right now so you can see me do it.” He motioned toward the elaborate computer set-up in the corner of the room. “I need just a little more time get the rest of it.”

That was indeed a creative twist,
she thought. Lies mixed with truths, Jordan’s forte. She couldn’t believe how blind she had been to his manipulation of the facts.

Jordan walked over to the computer and turned it on. He took the flash drive and inserted it into the port at the side of the computer. He looked in Sarah’s direction with a smile expecting to see an expression of approval on her face.

A board squeaked on the front porch and Jordan froze. He reached under his shirt and pulled a gun from his waistband. As he edged his way closer to the door, panic washed over Sarah. Was it the police? Was it the syndicate’s killer? She wasn’t going to wait to find out.

Jordan’s attention was focused on the front door. His back was towards her. She stood up silently and crept over to the computer. She pulled the flash drive from the side port and ran to the back of the house as fast as her legs would carry her. Behind her she heard the crash of the front door giving way and then sounds of a violent struggle.