Caring for Jarek was a path that would lead nowhere. Somehow, she needed to keep an emotional distance between them.
Before she threw caution to the wind and did something she’d regret.
Jarek had to swallow the urge to pull Di into his arms for a kiss. For one thing, she’d punch him in the face if he dared to make such a move. For another, he had no idea why he found her so attractive. Sure, she was beautiful, but she’d lied to him, had stolen evidence from a crime scene, and was more prickly than a porcupine.
Not to mention being a giant pain in the behind. Yet the way she’d jumped in to defend him was touching. He hadn’t expected that. He’d also been far too aware of her closeness as she’d dressed his wound.
“Look out, your favorite detective has arrived.” Di’s low warning had him turning to see Andrews come up the front porch and into the house. The guy’s expression was a mask of anger and annoyance, as if it was Jarek’s fault that he’d been dragged out of bed at this hour of the morning.
“What happened here?” Andrews demanded, glaring at Jarek. “You shot a man?”
“A gunman who broke into my home and fired at me first.” He nodded toward the stairs. “You’ll find the body of Brian Stewert, a.k.a. Stewey, on the landing.”
Andrews’s face reddened to the point Jarek feared he’d have a heart attack. Wouldn’t that mess up his retirement plan? The detective hitched his belt and lumbered up the stairs, which creaked alarmingly under his bulk. He caught Di’s amused glance and had to look away to keep from laughing out loud.
A dead man lying in his upstairs hallway should not be funny.
Barely five seconds later, the detective returned. “I see he was armed when you shot him, which helps your case. I still need your weapon, Brooks.”
“I gave it to Tyler.” He nodded at the rookie officer. Tyler Parker was only six months through his rookie year. “I know the drill.”
Tyler had his service weapon in an evidence bag and picked it up so Andrews could see it.
“And why do you think this is related to the first dead guy?” Andrews demanded. He glanced at Di and added, “Other than the woman being here for both incidents.”
Di took a step forward, anger flashing in her eyes, but he shot her a warning look. Getting Andrews riled up wasn’t helpful. “We found a witness who claims Brian Stewert is a friend of Gilbert Levine. They shared an apartment together prior to Levine’s gun charge. Shortly after that, Stewert was arrested for possession with intent to sell. He did six months in jail before being released. Now, they’ve both been involved in shooting incidents. It’s logical to consider they were working together.”
Andrews had looked annoyed at the information from their witness, a connection the detective might have discovered on his own if he’d bothered to work the case. But the older man didn’t say anything. He simply turned and glared at the officers. “Make sure we sweep this place for evidence. I want all the slugs and shell casings accounted for.” Then Andrews turned back to him. “You’re on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”
“I understand.” Jarek tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Did you hear about the drive-by shooting last evening? Shots were fired from a beige Chevy nearly hitting us as we were passing by. It just so happens the vehicle listed on Gilbert Levine’s arrest was also a beige Chevy. The plates don’t match, but we have reason to believe Gilbert’s buddy Stewey was using his car. And that he likely swapped the plate out for a stolen one to avoid being caught. I issued a BOLO for the older model Chevy with a plate starting with the letters PK. Has anyone found it yet?”
“I heard about the shooting and the BOLO.” Andrew’s tone was clipped. “Nothing has been reported so far. Anything else you care to share? Like why these guys want to blow you and your girlfriend away?”
Di took another step forward, her fingers curling into fists. As much as he couldn’t blame her for wanting to slug the guy, that wouldn’t help their situation. He frowned and shook his head, then glared at the detective. “Knock it off, Andrews. She’s not my girlfriend; I told you we served together in Afghanistan. She stayed here because, as you so succinctly pointed out, someone is determined to kill her. Unfortunately, we don’t have any evidence to explain the motive behind these attempts against her.”
“Against us,” Di corrected. “It’s clear that whoever is behind this knows Jarek is involved. Almost as if they have some sort of inside information.”
Her meaning wasn’t lost on Andrews, who grew even more red in the face. “What exactly are you accusing us of?”
“Nothing.” Her sweet, innocent tone didn’t fool anyone. “Just voicing my concern about how the gunman showed up here at a cop’s house in the middle of the night.”
She had a point, but Jarek didn’t for one minute believe anyone from inside the Newburgh police department was involved. He flashed her another exasperated look, silently begging her to drop it, then turned back to Andrews. Being the intermediary between the two was getting annoying. “Do you need anything else from me?”
Andrews continued glaring at Di for a long moment, as if he wanted to pursue the issue of an inside leak. Finally, he turned toward Jarek. “No. We can take it from here. I’ll ask the officers to canvass the neighborhood. Maybe they’ll learn something helpful.”
“Okay.” He strove for an amiable tone. “We’re going to find another place to stay since this is now a crime scene. I would appreciate it if you would ask one of the officers to board up the back door before leaving. If you need me, call my cell.”
“Yeah. Fine.” Andrews turned away without saying anything more. Jarek watched him go, wishing he had more confidence in the detective’s ability to get to the bottom of this.
But he didn’t. Which meant he and Di would need to continue working the case on their own. A surefire way to torpedo his promotion, but he couldn’t in good conscience walk away without trying to find out who was behind these attacks.
Pablo Hernandez? Or someone else?
“Do you have a backup piece?” Di asked in a low voice. “Because if not, I have a spare with me you can use.”
Somehow, he wasn’t surprised she carried a spare. He glanced at her duffel wondering what else she carried in there besides protein bars. Hand grenades? Tear gas? A knife for sure, but other weapons? He decided not to ask. “Yeah, I have one upstairs. I’ll grab it when I pack my bag.”
“Okay.” She crossed over to where she’d dropped her duffel. “While you do that, I’ll call Rex to ask him to find a place for us to stay.”
