Page 26 of Capture My Heart

“How do you think your wife and daughter would feel about this all being drudged up again?”

Silence filled the room. A deep color flooded the man’s neck and rushed up his face.

Trey decided to try a different track. “Okay, so let’s say Finden died of natural causes. You worked for him. Cleaned up after him. How did he find his hired help?”

Sampson ran his wide palms up over his shaved head. “He used the gang members, mostly. I didn’t know he used a cop.”

“Bullshit. It’s already on record that you knew about the corruption. I don’t have time for this.” He started to stand.

“Wait. Okay, Rich did have a cop on his payroll, but I didn’t know that until after he was arrested.”

That was a bold-faced lie, and Trey knew it. No one else would have had opportunity to get to Finden.

“I’m done.” Trey closed his notebook.

“I wasn’t lying about not knowing who it was. Rich was the contact. The number he had was for a burner phone.”

Trey studied him. “Did he say how he got the number?”

Sampson’s lip hitched up in a sick smile. “When I asked him, all he said was he found them on CorruptCop.com.”

Obviously, Finden was joking. The Ashwood PD already checked out his snide remark. Totally bogus.

“And the cash?” Trey leaned in.

He clammed up. “I’m not saying anything else until I talk to my lawyer.”

Trey leaned back and surveyed the man across from him before he picked up his notebook and stood. He wasn’t getting anything else from him. He was in for kidnapping and aiding and abetting. No way he’d openly admit to murder one. “Thank you for your time.”

In less than five minutes, Trey had his personal effects back and was heading out to his SUV.

He threw his notepad and suit coat into the passenger’s seat and scrubbed his hands over his face. Heat rolled off the leather seats. He cranked up the air conditioning and adjusted the vents.

Ah, the cool air soothed his frustration.

He slumped back in the seat. “Well, that was a total bust.”

But was it? Something inside him had him wonder. Cops for hire. Could there be an online service that has a back door or chat room? One that you need to know the questions to ask to get to the cop who’s willing to do any job, not only the legal ones. He was sure Swenson and Whittier would have checked out all the online sites from which someone could hire an off-duty officer. He needed to go through the case notes and talk to Jim and CJ again. He also wanted to talk to them about Larson’s vandalism.

It was still early. Trey sent a text to see if they could meet him for lunch. That would give him enough time to look into off-duty job sites. Corrupt Cop might have been a joke, but he knew there were dozens of sites that were legit.

The gym might need to hire an officer one day very soon.

Trey parked behind the gym in his usual spot, next to his love, a 1970 Barracuda. Lime green and supercharged. He keyed into the storage area and slipped up the backstairs.

The upper level was quiet. He glanced at Amy’s door. No activity today. She must be working.

Once inside his own apartment, he threw his suit jacket aside and grabbed a soda before getting comfy on his couch with his laptop. Stinky climbed up beside him.

“Okay, let's get some work done. I need every word that could mean police. Go.”

Stinky yawned. His pink tongue flashed at Trey before his head dropped to the pillow.

“Some help you are.” Trey scuffed Stinky’s head before turning back to his computer.

He started typing in the search bar. Cops for hire, Off-duty officers, Rent a cop, Fuzz for hire. The last he found was a band. Not bad. His head bounced to the guitar riff as he checked out their social media page. He crossed that one off the list.

His list grew, but the sites he found all checked out as legit. They could have a backdoor, but without the correct phase, he couldn’t enter.