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CHAPTER52
“What have you decided?” Gabe asked when he got back to the chief’s office.
Raven stood. “I’m reopening the investigation into the Pope accident. I’ve just phoned Detective Heflin. I’m not certain we have enough to file charges, but who knows what we might shake out if we start poking around.”
“Have you been able to get in touch with the mayor or Prosecutor Madden?”
“We don’t need their approval to reopen this investigation.”
“I have other information. I just talked to Danni.” Gabe told them what she’d said about Leonard White.
This information alarmed both Gomez and Raven.
Raven picked up the phone and dialed a number. “This is Chief Raven. I need to speak to Mayor White.”
She must have gotten the standard “She can’t be disturbed,” but Raven didn’t give up.
“I don’t want to hear that. If I can’t speak to her by phone, I’ll be over in a squad car. I need to speak to the mayor.”
She looked up as if to say, “I think it worked.”
“Ah, Elise, it’s Vivian. I’m concerned about you. Is everything okay?” She nodded a few times, said a couple of yeses and a couple of nos, and then said goodbye and hung up the phone. “According to the mayor, her father is visiting. If we don’t have an emergency, she does not want to be disturbed.”
“You buy that?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t know. She sounded upset, on edge. I didn’t know how to come out and ask, ‘Has your son been kidnapped?’”
“Why wouldn’t she want the police involved if her son was kidnapped?” Gomez asked.
Why indeed?Gabe thought to himself.
+++
Danni had Yen radio the unit in the back to be prepared for an emergency entry.
“We have a reporting party who says there was a fight in unit four. We might have a minor victim still in jeopardy,” Danni explained to dispatch. She asked for a code red to keep radio traffic clear for the entry.
“Close in. We’re kicking in the door,” she told the backup unit.
Hearing about the fight changed the dynamic for Danni and Marrs. There was an element of exigency now. Danni could argue that the time it took to get a warrant would further endanger whoever was in the residence.
“Acknowledged.”
Danni retrieved the universal key from the trunk of their car and gave it to Mel. “You good with taking point?”
“You betcha.”
The four fast-walked to the unit, the steady beep of the code red sounding rhythmically on the radio.
Danni counted to three.
Crash!Mel demolished the door with one blow. The debris splattered back toward him, leaving an opening for Danni.
Gun up on target, Danni stepped inside. “LaRosa PD,” she yelled.
Movement on the right caught her attention. In a split second she saw a hand reach, saw the gun, heard the shot when he fired. And as she squeezed her own trigger twice, she saw him go down.
