They needed answers and fast.
“Did you get him?” Jarek asked.
“Yeah.” She glanced at him, half expecting him to admonish her actions. “I saw him fire at us. I only returned fire in self-defense.”
“I understand.” Jarek grimaced. “The only problem now is that the police will want your weapon.”
She swallowed a groan, belatedly realizing he was right. Good thing she had a backup piece in her duffel. A duffel that was hopefully still on the boat when they returned. She hadn’t intended to be away from the boat for any length of time. “I hope this doesn’t cause trouble for you with your fellow officers.”
“I’m not worried about me.” Jarek shot her an exasperated glance. “I don’t want you to get arrested.”
“I must admit I’m not fond of that idea either.” The thought of sitting in jail with no way to open a window sent a cold chill down her spine. She pushed the image away. That wouldn’t happen if she kept her mouth shut.
The seconds ticked by slowly. After what seemed like forever, the wail of sirens indicated police backup was on the way. Di didn’t relax her guard, though; she continued standing near the edge of the doorway, watching the streets and the windows of the apartment building for another shooter.
By the time the police arrived, she was more than ready to get out of there. Every instinct in her body wanted to head back to the boat to zoom away, but of course, that wasn’t an option. Jarek quickly approached the responding officers. Swallowing a sigh, she forced herself to join him.
“One shooter was in that second-story window, third from the corner,” she said. “I returned fire after he shot at us. I may have nicked him.”
The officers glanced at each other, then spoke into their radios. When a second squad arrived, the first officers on scene headed into the apartment building. Di glanced at Jarek, who stood staring at the open window. One officer poked his head out a few minutes later. “Man down, gun on the floor beside him. He’s still alive but needs a bus.”
Di relaxed knowing that the shooter had survived. When one of the officers approached, she grimaced and handed over her weapon. “You’ll find a bullet embedded in the brick near the doorway.” She gestured to the area she and Jarek had sought shelter.
“As you can see, Di’s been wounded by the shooter,” Jarek added. “We need to borrow your first aid kit.”
She turned her arm to see the gash. It wasn’t too deep. Not as bad as the scar on her face. “It’s fine. Could be worse. We can worry about that later. I’m more interested in getting an ID on the gunman. If he’s still alive, you need to question him about why he fired at us. It seems logical someone hired him.” Another thought hit hard. “Hernandez may have put a bounty on my head. A big fat bonus to whoever takes me out of the picture.”
Jarek frowned but then nodded and glanced at an officer by the name of Kennedy. “She’s right. We need answers. But let’s start with testing this guy’s hands and clothes for gunpowder residue. That’s the first step in proving we fired in self-defense.”
The way Jarek used the term we, as if he was a part of her decision to return fire, knocked her off balance. She’d anticipated being raked over the coals for what she’d done. Instead, Jarek had chosen to stand firmly beside her.
She hadn’t experienced that level of camaraderie since leaving the army. And while she appreciated his support, she was concerned his helping her would not bode well for him. It was only a matter of time before she did something that put him in hot water.
“Happy to do that.” Kennedy stepped back and spoke into his radio. One of the officers came back outside to grab supplies from the squad. She was impressed they had the testing kit available without having to wait for the crime scene techs.
A few moments later, he poked his head out the window again. “Hands are positive for GSW. We’ve bagged his weapon. I’m sure the ballistics will be a match.”
Again, she was struck by a wave of relief. Her instincts had served her well. But she knew she needed to be careful moving forward. The Newburgh cops would not hesitate to arrest her if they deemed her actions to be reckless and not in alignment with defending herself or others.
And it bothered her to know Jarek’s career would take a hit if that happened.
The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Two EMTs headed inside with the gurney. She watched closely as the medical staff returned a few minutes later with the gunman strapped to the gurney. There was an IV connected to his arm, but other than that, the guy didn’t look too badly injured. She craned her neck to get a good look at his face.
He didn’t look familiar. She wished she had recognized him from the undercover stint she’d done to get Caden Avery out of there. He wasn’t Pablo Hernandez either. The good news was that he sported a neck tattoo. It was hard to make out the crude design, but the ink was black and dull, which made her wonder if he’d been inked while in prison.
“I recognize him,” Kennedy said as the EMTs lifted the gurney into the back of the ambulance. “Kyle Dimetri, a.k.a. Kiko.”
“Doesn’t sound familiar.” She glanced at Jarek who shook his head.
“Doesn’t ring a bell to me,” he agreed. “But if you know him, I’m assuming he’s done time.”
“Oh yeah. He’s been at Rikers. If we can link his weapon to this shooting attempt through ballistics, he’ll go back into the joint for a longer stint this time.” Kennedy’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “One less gangbanger on the street.”
“We need to know if he’s part of the K2 Bloods gang,” Di said. She wondered what Ray Bond and his partner, Jeff Schnor, were doing. Shouldn’t they be working here in gang territory? “Specifically, if he’s running drugs for Pablo Hernandez.”
“We’ll ask, although there’s no guarantee he’ll cooperate with us.” Kennedy frowned. “You think he was under orders to kill you?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what we think,” Jarek said. “It might be worth offering him a deal to get intel against Hernandez.”
