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“How did you lose him?” Carlos demanded, his arm returning to Xavier’s shoulders protectively.
“You had him surrounded,” Manny added. “By four effin’ SUVs.”
After making a sound of fear, Xavier bowed his head. “He’s going to try again.”
“Maybe,” André said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Xavier. It’s not good. But we can put you all in a safe house until we find him.”
“How did he get away?” Burke asked, jaw tensed.
“We were taking him to Central Booking. Right as the officer was putting him into a patrol car, he twisted out of the officer’s hold, grabbed the officer’s gun, and shot him before disappearing into the crowd. It happened about a half hour ago. I wanted to let you know myself rather than having you hear it on the news. I’m... sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Carlos asked loudly. “You’re sorry? He’s going to try to—” He cut his fury short when he saw Xavier’s terrified face.
“He knows who we are,” Xavier said, almost inaudibly. “He knows who came with me. He’ll go after my family, Captain Holmes.”
“He’s not going to find you,” Burke stated. “We’re going to hide you. No offense, André, but we’ll take care of our visitors ourselves.”
André sighed. “I figured you’d say that. But the offer is open.”
“Is the officer all right?” Molly asked, relieved when André nodded.
“He was wearing a vest, but the impact knocked him down. By the time his partner got around the car, the suspect had run around the corner where there was a tour group congregating. They couldn’t shoot without hurting bystanders.”
“No,” Cicely agreed, her voice faint. “We understand.”
“What are you doing to find him?” Gabe asked.
“We’ve sent his description to all precincts and the media and obtained security footage from the local businesses. We’re asking for anyone in the public who was taking video at the moment to contact us. Of course, a number of those videos are already online, but none of them capture his face clearly enough. He hadn’t made it to booking, so we didn’t yet have a photo.”
Carlos straightened. “I have one. I took a picture of his photo ID when he met us this morning. His picture matched his face, but the ID said Paul Lott. He must’ve faked it.”
Both André and Burke gave Carlos nods of respect. “Send it to me,” Burke said. “I’ll send it to André.”
“That’ll be a huge help,” André said, visibly relieved. “Thank you.”
“All those crime shows you watch came in handy for once,” Manny said, knocking his shoulder into Carlos’s.
Molly studied André’s face. “How did he ‘get away’? He was cuffed, wasn’t he?”
André looked at his hands for a moment before meeting her gaze. There was deep concern in his eyes along with a grim acceptance. “When we took him into custody, the cuffs were tight. I was there and I checked them myself. When he was being transported, they were loose enough for him to slip free. I’m investigating who had access to him during that time.”
“So you’ve got a rat in your department,” Carlos said flatly.
André exhaled. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Now, if it’s okay, I have some questions for you.”
“That depends on what you want to know,” Willa Mae said calmly. “I’ve seen enough of these interviews bastardized into blaming the victim. Be advised that Mr. Morrow has legal representation. Me.”
André’s nod was respectful. “I understand. At this point, I’m asking questions of the victim of a home invasion, so he shouldn’t need your services.”
“Then you may proceed,” Willa Mae said. “Be aware that if you stray, I will shut you down.”
“So noted.” André turned to Xavier. “Burke said you were running from a home intruder. Do you know who he was?”
“No,” Xavier said. “I thought someone was following me yesterday. When they tried to break in, we ran. Jumped out the window.”
“Following you how?” André asked. “On foot or by car?”
Willa Mae got up from her seat to stand behind Xavier. With a hand on his shoulder, she said, “You can answer that, hon.”
