Nor did the Kaminskis tie to other countries. Homegrown American criminals. Not like the Mazzucas, who’d recently made a name for themselves, especially in the drug trade.
She looked through information on August Kaminski. Apparently, he’d been moving around the country for years, shaking things up before settling with family in Seattle. He’d been arrested a few times on misdemeanors in New York and New Jersey before he’d left the northeast to venture west.
From the data Diego had pooled, August had created small businesses in St. Louis, Oakland, and Las Vegas before heading to Seattle to open several restaurants and strip clubs around town. She had a helpful CI within his organization. Although calling it an organization seemed overkill.
August’s people didn’t seem very structured. Mouthy, loud, and chaotic, more like. He made a decent living but wasn’trolling in money. Or he didn’t seem to be. And he didn’t show himself to many people, working behind the curtain.
The more Jane compared his family to the Mazzucas, the more she detected a pattern of a puppet master content to pull the strings and never be seen.
How had no one ever looked deeper into them? Or had they, maybe?
Though Code Blue seemed to have no ties to the Mazzucas, he had a definite tie to the Kaminskis. So she followed her nose and set up an interview with the lead detective on Anton Kaminski’s DUI arrest in the Keiser accident, along with the ADA on the case. Who just happened to be the retired detective’s current wife.
Wednesday morning,she met with Rick Flynn and his wife Amelia. Amelia continued to practice law but now worked in private practice.
The coffee shop in Queen Anne defined the culture of the city with a diverse selection of quirky décor in bright colors and textures, a jazzy, eclectic mix of music playing low in the background, and a casual yet comforting interior, both warm and welcoming.
The small, independent business provided all that as a backdrop to a delicious product Jane didn’t mind paying an extra dollar for. The coffee was rich and bold with notes of brown sugar and vanilla, and the pastry had been cooked perfectly, both flaky and delicate with a warm custard inside.
She was definitely adding this to her list of favorite coffee shops.
Jane worked at taking dainty bites instead of falling on her food like a starving woman. “Thank you for suggesting this place to meet,” she told Rick and Amelia. “I’m making a note to come back soon.”
Amelia grinned, her eyes bright, her white hair making her look sophisticated, rather than older. Her funky blue glasses added to her air of competent chic. “I’m addicted to the scones, which aren’t nearly as dry and crumbly as the ones they sell in the grocery store. When Rick said you wanted to talk about Anton Kaminski, I figured we’d need some sweet to go with the bitter.”
Rick grunted. “I’m not at all sorry to be retired from police work, to tell the truth.”
“Tell me about the case.”
He sighed. “What a nightmare. The kid was sixteen going on forty. Mouthy as hell, and he proudly failed a breathalyzer. He was lit off his ass.”
“Rick.”
Her husband flushed, and Amelia said, “We’re working on not swearing so much.”
“Hard habit to break.” Rick guzzled his coffee. “Anyway, so the kid doesn’t care that he’s just killed two people and is bleeding from a gash in his forehead. His buddies in the car thought it was hilarious. They were high on something, not drunk, and worked for Anton’s dad.”
“The Kaminskis.”
Rick nodded. “We’d been looking into the family for years but could never pin anything on them. They own restaurants. They’re a little shady but far from criminals. Just ask them.” He scoffed.
“No one can’t pin anything on them, from what I hear,” Amelia said. “Everyone thinks they’re small time, but I think they’re just really, really smart.”
“I’m beginning to see that.” Jane took another bite of heaven before pushing her plate to the side. “So Anton kills Dr. Adam and Lena Keiser. Their son, Phillip, was twenty-four at the time. He took it hard.”
“I remember him,” Amelia said. “The poor kid was lost. So angry. His parents had been wonderful people, and then they were gone.”
“So the hit and run killed them?”
Amelia paused and looked at her husband.
Jane frowned. “What am I missing?”
Rick answered after a pause, “You know what? I don’t care anymore. I can tell you this, Jane. I was on scene, and those folks were still alive when the EMTs picked them up and transported them to the hospital. Barely, but still, alive. They somehow got rerouted a few times and landed at a hospital a half hour farther away than Harborview.”
Harborview, not Swedish Medical Center, Jane thought. So Phillip hadn’t been lying about the dead being symbols. If he carried a grudge, why not target Harborview?
“Did the EMTs botch the rescue?”
