MV story part 8
I really need to think of a title. I usually don't have such a hard time with titles.
Part 8: Trace
"What do we know?"
Gina shivered at the lieutenant's low growl. Around the table the other members of the squad fidgeted, tense and strained under the glare of the fluorescents. Zito wiped his forehead with the back of one hand, leaving a grey smudge. Trudy's limp curls stuck to her temples and she fanned herself with a manila envelope. Gina was already regretting the quick shower she'd managed to grab when they'd returned to OCB. It hadn't done anything to relieve the heat and an hour later the tee she'd fished out of her locker still stuck to her back. At least she'd washed off the damn makeup. The conference room's AC had given out a week ago, right in time for the muggy season. Even Castillo's face shone, damp at the edges.
Stan barreled through the doorway before anyone could speak up. He stopped short, searching out his partner, then his attention veered to the lieutenant.
"Sorry," Stan fumbled with a folder and edged into the room to sit next to Trudy. "Okay. Um, I got the brief from the crime scene guys."
Stan opened the folder and shuffled some papers around. He could take apart and reassemble anything with wires in a matter of minutes, but he wasn't blessed with the gift of organization when it came to presentations. Another man would have lost patience with him by now, but Castillo just waited.
"De Soto and his guys were killed with rounds from an M16, all three by the same gun. Very neat-like. Military issue ammo. By the angles the ME thinks the shooter was at least a hundred yards away."
"A sniper." Trudy put down her improvised fan. "Bit advanced for a rip-off."
"Wasn't anything to steal," Gina said, "It was just supposed to be a get-to-know-you session."
"There were traces of a scuffle near the caddie. Tire tracks that don't match either of the vehicles left on the scene. Lab's working on them, but they think it was a van."
"Why take out de Soto and not Sonny and Rico?" Zito shifted in his chair. None of them had said it yet, but the more details they heard, the more they were led to one conclusion.
"Because de Soto was in the way." Castillo said. "Switek, is there anything else in the report?"
Jesus. They didn't have much to go on, but Castillo seemed sure that Rico and Sonny were the real targets of the ambush. And Castillo's instincts were rarely wrong.
"Yeah. They found some blood that didn't match the stiffs. AB neg." Stan scratched at his patchy beard. "Same type as Sonny. They also found one of his shoes."
No.
Silence settled over the table. The air was too thick.
"And Sonny's gun?" Trudy was always the most level-headed of junior members of the squad. Nearly as unmovable as Castillo, in her own way.
Stan shook his head. "Full clip."
"Trudy, Gina, find out who de Soto was in contact with over the last week," Castillo said from the head of the table. "Get phone records, see if there are any DEA files. Someone besides de Soto had to know where and when the meet was going down."
"You think there was another agency trailing de Soto?" Gina asked.
Castillo rose from the table. His hard gaze swept the room, settling on the empty chairs.
"Switek, get ready to trace any incoming calls. And Zito..." For a moment the lieutenant actually looked uncomfortable. "Take a look at Sonny's boat and Rico's apartment, at their phone records. I want to know who they talked to and where they went over the last week as well."
He hadn't answered her question.
It's been twelve hours.
"I know."
A mug of coffee and a white paper bag materialized in front of Gina and she glanced up, startled. She hadn't realized Trudy had returned to the squad room. And she must have spoken aloud just now. Either that or Trudy had developed some new skills. Partners were supposed to be close enough to read each other with a glance, but actual mind reading would be taking it a bit too literally.
"It's a bagel," Trudy said, dropping into her seat across from Gina.
"Oh," Gina moved the bag off of the endless printout of phone calls she'd been staring at for the past hour. "Thank you."
Trudy sighed. "Gina, we've all been up for two days. You keep downing coffee on an empty stomach and it'll burn straight through you. Eat the bagel."
She really couldn't argue with that, even if the last thing she felt was hungry.
"Find anything?" she asked. The bagel was warm and slathered with a thick layer of cream cheese. Her stomach turned.
"DEA's got nothing on de Soto. Too low-level for them to bother with."
Gina pried the two halves of the bagel apart and scraped off most of the soft cheese. "Castillo seems pretty sure there's some sort of outside involvement. That someone used de Soto to get at Sonny and Rico."
Trudy watched her pick the bagel to pieces and turned to her own pile of paperwork. "He say why?"
"Castillo? No. He doesn't explain anything until he's ready."
"If then."
"He's been on the phone since you left. With his door closed."
Trudy lifted her head. The lieutenant was just visible through the slatted blinds of his office window.
"What about IAD?" she asked.
Gina shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if they try to pin this on Sonny somehow, but the evidence is hard to spin that way." Sonny and Internal Affairs had a long, complicated history of mutual distrust. So far none of IAD's Sonny Crockett Fan Club had ventured down to OCB. How much of that was Castillo's doing?
"Anything else?" Trudy sipped her own coffee and winced. Yeah. It was pretty bad. Someone had let Larry make the last batch.
Gina took a breath and let it out. "Got a call from forensics. They found a slug on the scene that didn't match the gun that killed de Soto. 9mm. It showed traces of Sonny's blood type."
The door to Castillo's office swung open. Their lieutenant stood framed in the doorway, staring out at the nearly empty room for a moment before his attention flickered to them.
"De Soto's lawyer is down in interrogation. We won't be able to keep him in custody but I want you to see what he knows."
"You think he'll talk to us?" Gina asked.
"He'll talk."
With that Castillo slipped back inside his office, the door closing behind him.
Part 8: Trace
"What do we know?"
Gina shivered at the lieutenant's low growl. Around the table the other members of the squad fidgeted, tense and strained under the glare of the fluorescents. Zito wiped his forehead with the back of one hand, leaving a grey smudge. Trudy's limp curls stuck to her temples and she fanned herself with a manila envelope. Gina was already regretting the quick shower she'd managed to grab when they'd returned to OCB. It hadn't done anything to relieve the heat and an hour later the tee she'd fished out of her locker still stuck to her back. At least she'd washed off the damn makeup. The conference room's AC had given out a week ago, right in time for the muggy season. Even Castillo's face shone, damp at the edges.
Stan barreled through the doorway before anyone could speak up. He stopped short, searching out his partner, then his attention veered to the lieutenant.
"Sorry," Stan fumbled with a folder and edged into the room to sit next to Trudy. "Okay. Um, I got the brief from the crime scene guys."
Stan opened the folder and shuffled some papers around. He could take apart and reassemble anything with wires in a matter of minutes, but he wasn't blessed with the gift of organization when it came to presentations. Another man would have lost patience with him by now, but Castillo just waited.
"De Soto and his guys were killed with rounds from an M16, all three by the same gun. Very neat-like. Military issue ammo. By the angles the ME thinks the shooter was at least a hundred yards away."
"A sniper." Trudy put down her improvised fan. "Bit advanced for a rip-off."
"Wasn't anything to steal," Gina said, "It was just supposed to be a get-to-know-you session."
"There were traces of a scuffle near the caddie. Tire tracks that don't match either of the vehicles left on the scene. Lab's working on them, but they think it was a van."
"Why take out de Soto and not Sonny and Rico?" Zito shifted in his chair. None of them had said it yet, but the more details they heard, the more they were led to one conclusion.
"Because de Soto was in the way." Castillo said. "Switek, is there anything else in the report?"
Jesus. They didn't have much to go on, but Castillo seemed sure that Rico and Sonny were the real targets of the ambush. And Castillo's instincts were rarely wrong.
"Yeah. They found some blood that didn't match the stiffs. AB neg." Stan scratched at his patchy beard. "Same type as Sonny. They also found one of his shoes."
No.
Silence settled over the table. The air was too thick.
"And Sonny's gun?" Trudy was always the most level-headed of junior members of the squad. Nearly as unmovable as Castillo, in her own way.
Stan shook his head. "Full clip."
"Trudy, Gina, find out who de Soto was in contact with over the last week," Castillo said from the head of the table. "Get phone records, see if there are any DEA files. Someone besides de Soto had to know where and when the meet was going down."
"You think there was another agency trailing de Soto?" Gina asked.
Castillo rose from the table. His hard gaze swept the room, settling on the empty chairs.
"Switek, get ready to trace any incoming calls. And Zito..." For a moment the lieutenant actually looked uncomfortable. "Take a look at Sonny's boat and Rico's apartment, at their phone records. I want to know who they talked to and where they went over the last week as well."
He hadn't answered her question.
It's been twelve hours.
"I know."
A mug of coffee and a white paper bag materialized in front of Gina and she glanced up, startled. She hadn't realized Trudy had returned to the squad room. And she must have spoken aloud just now. Either that or Trudy had developed some new skills. Partners were supposed to be close enough to read each other with a glance, but actual mind reading would be taking it a bit too literally.
"It's a bagel," Trudy said, dropping into her seat across from Gina.
"Oh," Gina moved the bag off of the endless printout of phone calls she'd been staring at for the past hour. "Thank you."
Trudy sighed. "Gina, we've all been up for two days. You keep downing coffee on an empty stomach and it'll burn straight through you. Eat the bagel."
She really couldn't argue with that, even if the last thing she felt was hungry.
"Find anything?" she asked. The bagel was warm and slathered with a thick layer of cream cheese. Her stomach turned.
"DEA's got nothing on de Soto. Too low-level for them to bother with."
Gina pried the two halves of the bagel apart and scraped off most of the soft cheese. "Castillo seems pretty sure there's some sort of outside involvement. That someone used de Soto to get at Sonny and Rico."
Trudy watched her pick the bagel to pieces and turned to her own pile of paperwork. "He say why?"
"Castillo? No. He doesn't explain anything until he's ready."
"If then."
"He's been on the phone since you left. With his door closed."
Trudy lifted her head. The lieutenant was just visible through the slatted blinds of his office window.
"What about IAD?" she asked.
Gina shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if they try to pin this on Sonny somehow, but the evidence is hard to spin that way." Sonny and Internal Affairs had a long, complicated history of mutual distrust. So far none of IAD's Sonny Crockett Fan Club had ventured down to OCB. How much of that was Castillo's doing?
"Anything else?" Trudy sipped her own coffee and winced. Yeah. It was pretty bad. Someone had let Larry make the last batch.
Gina took a breath and let it out. "Got a call from forensics. They found a slug on the scene that didn't match the gun that killed de Soto. 9mm. It showed traces of Sonny's blood type."
The door to Castillo's office swung open. Their lieutenant stood framed in the doorway, staring out at the nearly empty room for a moment before his attention flickered to them.
"De Soto's lawyer is down in interrogation. We won't be able to keep him in custody but I want you to see what he knows."
"You think he'll talk to us?" Gina asked.
"He'll talk."
With that Castillo slipped back inside his office, the door closing behind him.