“Just smart is all. And highly capable in hand-to-hand.” Jane wondered how fast she could take Gina down, maybe choke her out in a neck hold. The idea held more and more appeal the longer Gina talked.
Gina eyed her warily. “Look. Just do your job without being a glory hound and you won’t have to worry about me.”
Jane hadn’t looked forward to working with anyone on this task force, but Gina made it difficult to be enthused about even tracking down Fellows. “Great. Perfect. You’re awesome, and I wish I could be you. Happy now?”
Gina’s thunderous expression told Jane they weren’t mending any fences, so Jane added without caring, “Now how about you call the precinct tracking Fellows while I talk to my CIs about him? They might have new info we can use. Unless you’d prefer I not call useful contacts, in case Iactuallyget information that would help us solve the case, and, you know, make your bestie Rapp happy.”
“I really don’t like you.” Gina stormed out of the conference room to her desk.
Planning to spend as little time with Gina as she had to, Jane checked in with her CIs and found out the police were out in force looking for Fellows, who appeared to be on the run.
With any luck, they’d grab him soon. Because spending more time with Gina worried Jane. At this rate, she’d turn into her cousin and punch the woman in the face.
For once, Jane envied her cousin’s ability to say to hell with the rules and go with her gut. But she doubted Rapp would be too happy to come back and find Gina passed out on the floor, her fancy suit all messed up.
As Jane left the conference room, she ignored Gina’s glare. She went back to her notes on the victims, and prayed they got word on Fellows before Gina ended up jumping on her last nerve.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Four hours later,when the call came in that Harding Fellows had been arrested, Gina and Jane flew out of the office and into Gina’s car. Jane wanted to get their mandatory togetherness over with, so she didn’t argue about who drove.
They reached the department in record time and went to interrogate him. On charges of first-degree robbery, a class A felony, Fellows would do hard time once convicted since he’d already been on probation for larceny.
Or rather,ifconvicted. How had Fellows gotten free if not for some grand connections in the first place?
“Let me do this,” Gina said before they went inside the interrogation room. “Let’s see what he’ll tell me without the woman who kicked his butt watching.”
Jane nodded, all about the job. As she’d stated, she only wanted to get answers and return to finding the Code Blue Killer. Who made Fellows talk didn’t matter—so long as he did. She also happened to agree that her presence might not make him chatty.
She stood in the observation room, accompanied by three other people. A moment later, after conferring with the detective accompanying her, Gina entered the interrogation room whereFellows sat, looking sullen and bruised. An additional officer, one made of nothing but grit and muscle, stood inside for security. Intimidation be thy name.
To Jane’s surprise, Gina did a decent job grilling Fellows. The detective with her followed her lead. The two women asking questions finally managed a few pieces of information that told Jane two things.
One, Fellows had no idea how upper management in the Mazzuca family worked. His only tie to the crime organization was a huge debt he’d incurred while gambling, a thing the detective with Gina happily pointed out. Fellows insisted he only knew the Mazzucas from their reputation.
He claimed he’d already paid back his debt, but when Gina accused him of paying it back by trying to shoot Jane, his panicked expression betrayed him. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t confess. And other than his gambling debt, nothing tied him to the crime family.
Frustratingly, this crime appeared to have nothing to do with Code Blue. Fellows had no idea why anyone would care about some stupid car burned up in an abandoned warehouse. Everyone knew about the place. Cars found there were usually torched for insurance purposes. Tons of criminals had used the warehouse prior to Code Blue’s Toyota ending up there.
One of the detectives watching the interrogation next to Jane murmured, “Unfortunately, he’s right.”
Another nail in the coffin of that lead.
“I need to speak to Jane Cannon.” Fellows nodded at the one-way mirror on the wall inside the room. “I bet she’s back there.” He said something else uncomplimentary about Jane, but she’d heard worse.
Gina nodded to the officer in the corner, who left and brought Jane in. The other detective departed, leaving Jane withGina to question Fellows, while the massive officer stood back, watching with narrowed eyes.
“You got lucky with my nose.” Fellows’ eyes had blackened, and his swollen nose, covered in tape, had to hurt.
“I didn’t get lucky. I hit you exactly where I’d intended.” Jane sat back, her arms folded over her chest. At ease but ready to strike back if he made a move. Though the deterrent with massive biceps said he wouldn’t. “Had you hurt any of the people in the store, I’d have broken your trachea, and you likely would have died, unable to breathe.”
He stared at her. “That’s illegal.”
“No, that would be exercising lethal force to prevent innocent deaths by a violent criminal already on probation. No one would have looked twice at my actions.” She could feel Gina glancing at her but didn’t react. She just watched Fellows, needing him to know thatshewas the real threat in the room, not the officer in the corner. “What did you want to see me about?”
“I, ah, well, I just wanted you to know I got nothing to do with any of it. Not really.”
“I was there. I took your gun away. Try again.”
