“Cousin, murders everyone because he’s a nutbag.”
“Yes, yes, and yes. What does it all mean?”
“It means I need more coffee.” He got up to pour himself a fresh cup then sat down with her once more. “I don’t know, Jane. You ask me, this reads like a gang war. From the beginning, we have Kaminski in charge of the Collective. They have an agenda we don’t know about. But we don’t have to know it. We just know members are dying.”
“Cue the home invasions.”
“Then we have Rook, Kaminski’s number one guy, deciding he doesn’t like what Kaminski is selling and gets mad.”
“Or gets even. Let’s say he kills some of Kaminski’s Collective. Because let’s be honest. August is a quiet criminal. Victor Bednarek can’t control himself. He steals crypto, but he murders violently and loudly.”
“Right. So August is pissed.”
“And so is Rook, who for some reason turns against his boss. He’s been working for the guy for years, is super smart, even infiltrated the FBI and only got caught because he wanted me to know.”
“After selling out his boss. He gave you files linking August to Castle Capital.”
“Okay. Which one killed Senator Scott’s aide?”
Ray tapped his notebook again. “I say Rook did it because he pinned it on August. Remember, that notebook had August’s name in Louis Miller’s blood.”
“Right. But then Matthew was found holding a rook chess piece. Does that mean Rook was making a statement?”
“Or did August fight back by framinghim?”
Jane sat for a moment, sipping the last of her water.
Ray got up and returned to pour her a new cup of coffee.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime. Thoughts?”
“The home invasions,” she said, focused. “That’s our case. We know Victor is murdering families. He’s doing it for August, or he was. We just need to find him to arresthim.”
“Then we pull him in to tell us all about August. I doubt he’ll turn on his cousin.”
Jane nodded. “Right. But I bet it won’t take much pressure to get Victor to turn on August. Especially if we make sure he knows we don’t care about Casimir, who we consider a pawn in August’s game.”
Ray brightened. “Ah, pawn. I see what you did there. Well? Let’s find this guy, Jane.”
“We’re trying. He’s on every watchlist there is right now. And I guarantee you he’s not hiding anywhere but in the city.”
“How do we shake him free?”
“I wish I knew.” Jane sipped her coffee, an idea forming. “But maybe we don’t have to. Maybe, with the right motivation, he’ll come to us.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Something a little birdie once told me.”
“Birdie?”
She smiled. “More like a rook.”
Chapter 49
Since Hal was unavailable,Jane turned to Diego. That included some substantial bribery. When he returned to Seattle, as he eventually would, he promised, she owed the guy a case of Monster energy drinks.
