The clerk didn’t bother to glance up at it. “Nope. It’s for show, that’s all. Hasn’t worked in months.”
Truth or lie? Jarek wasn’t sure. “I can come back with a warrant if needed.”
“Go ahead.” The clerk didn’t look concerned. “You can ask for video all you want, but that won’t make it suddenly appear. The camera doesn’t work.” The guy’s eyes narrowed. “If you don’t plan on buying anything, please leave.”
He battled back a wave of frustration. He could ask Andrews to get a warrant, but he had a feeling the clerk wasn’t lying about the camera not working. Any store that catered to gang members would be smart to avoid being dragged into court to testify against them.
“Come on, Jarek,” Di said, nudging him with her elbow. “Let’s go.”
He turned away and followed her outside. “I’m sure that’s where Stewey and Gil bought their phones.”
She nodded. “Yep, but did you notice there were three phones left on the rack? If they come in packs of five, that means they’re all accounted for. If they’re in packs of ten, then catching faces on video may not help narrow the suspect pool. Unless we get a glimpse of Pablo Hernandez buying one.”
He was impressed. For someone who preferred working alone, Di had excellent cop instincts. “You should go to the police academy.”
“No way.” She looked truly horrified by that idea.
Oddly, her response hurt. “What’s so bad about being a cop?”
“Nothing.” Her expression turned neutral. “It suits you, Jarek. But it’s not for me.”
He told himself to move on. What did it matter if Di wanted to continue working for Grayson’s Guardians? They had bigger issues to worry about. Like who was gunning for her and why.
“Okay, let’s get in touch with Officer Bond.” He pulled out his phone but then paused. “Actually, that’s a call better coming from you. He might blow me off if he doesn’t recognize my number.”
“Right.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll text him.”
They walked back toward the rental car while waiting for Bond to respond. It didn’t take long. Five minutes later, Di had arranged a meeting with Bond and Schnor on Front Street overlooking the Hudson.
He and Di arrived first. As the hour was now almost ten in the morning, the city was waking up. People were out and about, running, walking, rollerblading, and generally enjoying the warm summer day. A dichotomy from the graffiti-tagged neighborhood they’d left just twenty minutes ago.
The pair of narcotics officers approached from the south. They were dressed casually, the only signs of their police officer status were the guns they wore on their hips and the chains around their neck holdings their badges. Di saw them first and rose to her feet. Jarek stood beside her.
“Hey, Dina.” The taller of the two grinned at her. “Nice to see you again.”
“I wish I could say the same, Ray,” Di said wryly. Then she nodded at the other officer who appeared a few years older than Ray Bond. “Jeff, I’d like you to meet Officer Jarek Brooks. Jarek, Ray Bond and Jeff Schnor.”
The narcotics officers nodded at him. “I’ve seen you around,” Ray said, “but our paths haven’t crossed much.”
“Yeah, well, things have changed.” Jarek was aware of how Ray Bond moved closer to Di. Did the guy have a thing for her? “I don’t know if you’re clued in to what’s been going on, but there have been four separate attempts to shoot and kill Di in the past twenty-four hours. The most recent being an attack inside my house while we were sleeping.” He hadn’t meant to insinuate they were together, but the quick look Ray sent Di indicated that’s how the cop had taken his statement. That wasn’t fair to Di, so he quickly added. “I heard him coming up the stairs and fired at him mere seconds before Di came out of the guest room. We recognized him as Brian Stewert.”
“A.k.a. Stewey,” Di clarified with a nod. “You should know Jarek is officially on administrative leave for shooting and killing Stewey, so we’re working a little outside the lines here. We believe Pablo Hernandez has it out for me.”
“I don’t know anyone named Stewey.” Ray glanced at his partner. “You?”
“Nope.” Jeff shook his head. “I hate to say it, but we don’t really know for sure Hernandez has resurrected the K2 Bloods gang either. I mean, that’s a theory we’ve been looking into, but there’s no hard evidence yet that he’s taken over as the leader.”
“What about a guy by the name of Gilbert Levine?” Jarek asked. “Di noticed he was following her from her apartment. When she confronted him, shots were fired, and he was the one struck down instead of her.”
“That’s not good.” Ray’s expression filled with concern as he turned to Di. “You should have called me. I’d have come to pick you up.”
A flash of jealousy hit hard. Jarek reminded himself that Di had the right to see anyone she chose. Ray Bond or someone else.
“I was fine. What about drugs being transported via the river?” Di asked, seemingly oblivious to Bond’s interest in her. “Have you found concrete evidence of that?”
The two narcotics officers exchanged a glance. Then Ray slowly nodded. “That’s an angle we’ve been looking into. No proof yet, but we’ve been working with a couple of low-level gangbangers to get information on when the next shipment might be coming in.”
Di turned to Jarek. “I think our next plan should be to watch the riverfront.”
