“I’m sorry,” he said. “Are you guys okay? Do you need us to go pick Rodrigo Cruz up?” he asked.
Ethan took a step back.
“No, thank you. We handled it. In the process of speaking to him, we also figured out that this isn’t about Voodoo, orSanse, or anything other than dirty deeds done by the first victim. So while we get that you’re all antsy to get your cop justice, we’d like for you to remember that we, too, would like justice for our fallen brother.”
That hung there.
“You’re right,” Adrian admitted. “That was a bad shot, and I know better. I’m sorry I went at you both. You didn’t deserve that. We’re all edgy, and angry. I let that come out, and it shouldn’t have. The competency comment was dirty, and I apologize, agents.”
Gene shrugged.
“We get it. Only, we’re not the agents who work here. We handle back-to-back homicides that are a million times harder than this one. We knew right away that this wasn’t what it seemed.”
The one detective was curious.
Luis Patron went there.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Ethan was just glad the whole bullpen had calmed down. No one wanted a fight with Gene. He could get vicious when poked.
Gene was a‘burn it to the ground’kind of a guy.
“Like I said,” Gene began. “We found out that Jaden Medin was running guns. Samuel Padilla was his money man at the bank. We think that he either double-crossed his partner, or something went foul with a sale, and that’s how he died. The next two victims were killed because they were both good cops,” Gene stated. “This has nothing to do with woo-woo shit like Voodoo or Sanse. It’s a cover to misdirect, and we’re picking apart the storyline.”
The cops there got the hint.
Yandriel went there.
“And you’re going to trust a mob man to tell you that?” he asked.
Ethan took over.
“No, I’m going to trust my gut, and the science I use to profile. I knew immediately that this was bullshit. The arrows are all pointing at one thing, and if this case was that cut-and-dry, you don’t think your cop would have figured it out?”
That hung there.
“Point made, Agent,” Captain Marrero admitted. “What do you know about Rodrigo Cruz?”
Ethan shared.
While they normally wouldn’t, they needed everyone to be on board.
They might need help.
“We know that Rodrigo Cruz owns a portion ofPapi’s,” he stated. “We know that he and Esmeralda Barada are a couple. If it was Rodrigo, he wouldn’t point it at himself or his woman. If he’s being dirty, it’s not killing cops. His bodyguards couldn’t even walk us in without fucking it up.”
Gene took over.
“It’s too much,” he stated. “The symbols are above and beyond, but when we went to Jarod’s home, it was tossed, but the theme wasn’t carried through. If this was a religious fanatic, then he or she would have written on the walls. Instead, they were looking for a laptop—which is still missing. Someone is afraid of what Jarod has on that laptop.”
The men listened.
“Whoever did this is cleaning up any people who might figure out who this is. Aaron was asking questions, and someone didn’t want him to do that. Now, we’re going to ask his family if he said something or mentioned anything.”
The captain had bad news.
“We told them to go.”
