Page 47 of Targeted at Christmas

Lexi took this all in, feeling both relieved and ill at ease while wondering if she had an unknown enemy out to get her. Or had the threat been contained with the arrest of the two assailants who forced their way into Eleanor’s home?

IN THE INTERROGATION ROOM, Cooper sat beside Hallie and across from Darren Fonseca while staring at him contemplatively. The handcuffed suspect, appearing smug, held his gaze.

This is one time you won’t get the upper hand, Cooper thought, determined to get the full story out. He took a breath and said, “So, we know that you and Lonnie Saldaña targeted Eleanor Palakiko’s residence for a home invasion. We have a latent print that belongs to you taken from a dresser drawer in the victim’s bedroom—sloppy.” He watched the suspect leer back at him. “There’s also your and Saldaña’s DNA found on items you took from the victim’s house.”

Fonseca sat back and said in a cocky tone, “Okay, so we broke into the old woman’s house and stole some things. What’s the big deal?”

“It’s a very big deal,” Hallie begged to differ, giving him the weight of her stare. “You physically attacked her in the process and stole the victim’s white Acura Integra—and are now facing charges of aggravated assault, armed robbery and burglary…”

Cooper jumped in, telling him, “But that’s the least of what you’re looking at.” He waited a beat, thoughtful about the criminality the suspect was thought to have committed—while thankful that Eleanor had survived her ordeal—before continuing to interrogate the suspect. “How did you pick that house, in particular, to rob?”

Fonseca hunched a shoulder. “We just passed by the house and decided to go for it,” he asserted.

Cooper leaned forward. “Could it be that you only targeted the victim in the course of following around her next-door neighbor, Lexi De La Garza?”

Fonseca cocked a brow, clearly taken aback by the question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do,” Cooper countered, an edge to his voice as he sensed that he had struck a nerve with the suspect.

Hallie backed him up on that. “We believe that you basically stalked Ms. De La Garza—who knows what you had planned for her?—and then shifted your attention to Eleanor Palakiko as someone easier to victimize…”

Cooper kept the pressure on, leveling his gaze at Fonseca. “I’ll try to further refresh your memory… Ms. De La Garza is an architect, which I suspect you already know. You’ve likely known ever since you and Saldaña murdered and carjacked Horace Eckhart and Neal Zapponi.” Cooper watched the guilt written all over his face as surely as with an architect’s pen. “The Korth 2.75-inch Carry Special .357 Magnum revolver and ammo we confiscated from your house not only matched the bullets and their shell casings used to shoot to death Eckhart and Zapponi, but we even have your DNA on the spent shell casings. So, we know you killed the two men and Saldaña, at the very least, is guilty of aiding and abetting in the crimes—if not having directly participated in the shootings.

“The only real question is why did you do it—masking them as straightforward carjackings—and under whose authority?” Cooper’s eyes narrowed at the suspect. “Who hired you to execute a building inspector and contractor?” he asked. “I need a name, and more!”

Fonseca pursed his lips defiantly. “I think this is where I’m supposed to ask for a lawyer.”

Cooper exchanged glances with Hallie. Both knew that this was his right and the request might come. They had to respect the system, for better or worse. But they also needed more info from one of the suspects—if not both—to fill in a crucial blank on whoever was behind the cold-blooded murders of Eckhart and Zapponi.

LEXI PHONED ELEANOR with the news of the home invaders’ arrest and that she would soon be reunited with her stolen items, and heard a huge sigh of relief from her neighbor.

“I’m so glad to know they won’t get away with breaking into my home,” Eleanor said happily. She was still in the hospital while getting her high blood pressure under control and further observation.

“Me, too,” Lexi told her, not mentioning that the perpetrators were suspected of committing other violent crimes as well that they would need to be held accountable for.

“Imagine what we will have to talk about at our next support group meeting,” Eleanor said with a laugh. “The lively stories we’ll be able to tell about heroism, including your own, Lexi—and Cooper’s, too.”

Lexi chuckled. “Not sure either of us would qualify as heroes, but you certainly are one in my book, and I’m sure that Cooper would agree. In any event, I look forward to all of us getting together again at the support group meeting,” she told her, knowing Cooper felt the same way and would undoubtedly have something to say about the entire unsettling scenario—though it was in a different lane from being widowed, as everyone in the group all shared in.

Eleanor promised to return home from the hospital soon as a survivor with even more to live for. Lexi agreed with those sentiments, knowing they both had much more to offer and embrace in their normally convivial environment.

Afterward, Lexi grabbed her laptop and got together her parents, sister and brother for a conference video chat—feeling the need to talk to them—while promising to visit home early in the new year. She also brought up the new man in her life and how she looked forward to Cooper speaking with them for Christmas and meeting the family in person as soon as possible. Everyone was amenable to this and excited that she was giving romance a try again, believing that she still had so much left to offer to the right man.

In her mind, Lexi truly believed that Cooper was that person. She just needed to wait until they gave themselves a bit more time to allow everything to fall into place perfectly like the stars aligning.

Her fantasizing was broken when Lexi heard someone enter the studio. She left her desk and stepped out into the foyer. A tall, well-dressed man was standing there, facing in the opposite direction so that she couldn’t see his face.

“Season’s greetings,” she told him to get his attention, while wondering if he might become a future client.

“Same to you, Lexi,” he said, turning her way. “Unfortunately, I’m not here to celebrate the season, per se. I have something else in mind—”

Lexi raised a brow. She recognized the man and was about to ask him what he meant by his cryptic words, when she took note of the firearm he had removed from the pocket of his dark blue wool blazer. He aimed it directly at her, to show that he meant business.

HALLIE SUSPECTED THAT they had probably gotten as much out of Darren Fonseca as they could for the time being. Unfortunately for him, lawyering up wouldn’t save him from having to face justice for a number of serious offenses with very serious consequences.

She hoped they could get more out of his cohort, Lonnie Saldaña, as they sat before him in another interrogation room.

Cooper eyed the suspect sharply and said cleverly, “Darren Fonseca was smart enough to look out for number one in spilling the beans about everything you two have been up to. Let’s hope you do the same and make it easier for yourself from this point on.”