“Yep. Prints popped in the system from a two-year-old weapons charge.” Jarek arched a brow. “Do you want a soft drink with dinner?”
“Just water for me.” She didn’t sleep well on a good day and avoided caffeine this late. She dropped into one of the chairs, turning the name over in her mind. “No known gang affiliations, huh?”
“No. But the weapons charge is interesting. Could be he’s a newer recruit.” Jarek filled two glasses with water and set one in front of her. Then he sat and linked his hands in his lap. It took her a moment to realize he was praying.
She was a little surprised, even though she knew many of her teammates were believers. She personally didn’t get it, but out of respect, she bowed her head and waited until he’d finished his prayer before digging into the pizza heavily loaded with toppings.
“Looks good. Just the way I like it.” She grinned and took a big bite.
Jarek returned her smile, and her stomach did a weird little flip. She did her best to ignore it. A cop was the last person she’d be interested in seeing on a personal level. Besides, she and Jarek rubbed each other the wrong way. Always had. Always would.
“What kind of weapon did Gilbert have on him when he was arrested?” She strove to stay focused on the case. She wasn’t going to show Jarek the disposable cell phone until after dinner. She wanted to have a full stomach before he tossed her out on her butt. “Was it the same make and model he had on him when he was shot and killed by his own guy?”
“Not sure.” Jarek took a bite of his pizza, then pulled a folded paper from his pocket. He opened it with one hand, then scanned the page. Leaning forward, she noticed he’d brought home a copy of the police report. “Says here he had a Smith and Wesson 9 mm on him during the arrest. Do you remember what weapon he had earlier?”
She nodded. “Same make and model. Doubtful it was the same gun since I assume the police confiscated the illegal weapon.”
“Yeah, according to the report, it was taken.” Jarek took another bite of his pizza scanning the report. Her fingers itched to snatch it away so she could read it for herself, but she strove to be patient. After another long moment, he pushed the report toward her. “It mentions he was driving an older model beige Chevy sedan. Does that sound familiar? Do you remember seeing one around recently?”
“No.” She normally paid attention to that kind of thing but had to admit that seeing an old Chevy wouldn’t raise her suspicions. She reviewed the information related to Gilbert Levine’s traffic stop. He’d blown past a stop sign without noticing the cop who was watching the area. The location where he’d been caught was on the fringe of gang territory, on the corner of Clark and Ann streets. “Kinda stupid of him to run a stop sign.”
“Nobody claimed criminals were smart.” Jarek shrugged. “No doubt the close proximity to the gang neighborhood was part of the reason he was pulled over.”
“I see he had the gun tucked under his thigh.” She shook her head. “If he’d had it in the glove box, the cop probably wouldn’t have found it.”
“Again, if the bad guys were smart, we wouldn’t have so many of them cluttering up our jail cells.” Jarek held her gaze. “I stopped at his last-known address on my way home. He lived in a two-story apartment building on Tempest Street. The current occupant of the apartment is a guy in his mid-fifties who answered the door despite me asking for Levine. He’s been there for a year and claims to have never heard of Gilbert Levine.”
“That’s a lot older than our dead guy, so that seems legit.” She wondered if that meant Gilbert had moved deeper into gang territory after the arrest. If he was in fact a newer recruit, that made the most sense. She knew drug money paid for those apartments where the owners didn’t ask too many questions as long as the monthly rent was paid on time. “We should still talk to the rest of the people living in the apartment building. Someone must know or remember Levine.”
“If we can convince them to talk,” he agreed with a nod. “If that’s the goal, we should do that sooner than later. I doubt Andrews will get there tonight, but he might head over to follow up eventually.”
“What’s his deal?” She eyed Jarek over the rim of her water glass. “He acts as if people are getting killed just to ruin his day.”
Jarek chuckled. “He’s counting the days until he can retire. As of tomorrow morning, he has forty-two left to go. His current partner is on a paternity leave, so he’s working solo for the next two weeks.”
She rolled her eyes and took another bite of her pizza. She’d known some army officers who were similar. Just biding their time until they could get out and coast on their pension.
“I’m next in line for his job,” Jarek said.
“That’s great.” She forced a smile, even though in her mind, being a detective was even worse than being a street cop. If Jarek knew the truth about what she’d done, she’d be tossed behind bars quicker than she could blink. “Congrats.”
“Thanks.” He frowned and nodded at the police report. “We can ask questions, but I don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize my career.”
She nodded slowly. Obviously, he cared about his job. And normally, she’d admire that in a man.
The pizza she’d eaten sat like a lump in her gut. Jarek had been a good soldier and was no doubt an even better cop. Working with him on this case had seemed like a good idea at the time. But that was before she realized how much he had to lose.
Now she understood it would be better for both of them if she took off and worked the case on her own.
Jarek sensed Di’s withdrawal as they finished their meal. As he stood to carry their dirty dishes to the sink, he glanced back in time to catch her taking a picture of the police report with her phone.
“You’re not going to question the apartment residents without me.” His tone was sharp as he battled back a flash of anger. “We agreed to work together.”
“We did agree to that.” She looked him square in the eye. “But it’s better for you if I take off. You have a life here, a career. There’s no reason to risk it for this.”
“You have a life and a career too,” he said, annoyed. “Why is mine different?”
“Because I can live and work anywhere. And you can’t.” She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “I mean, sure, you can be a cop anywhere, but you’ve already been working here for what, at least ten years, right?”
