“Taking him out was self-defense. If he was coming for me, it was him or me,” Davis said.
“Why here? Behind my apartment?” Donna asked.
Davis’s gaze swept over everyone in the room. “I tailed one of Jefferson’s lieutenants here and discovered that one of the units in this complex is a stash house for Jefferson’s products. I’d beenstaking the unit out for over a month before your dead agent saw me. And then he came for me, or at least that’s what I thought he was doing.”
“So why the continued attention on Donna?” Burke asked.
Davis’s eyes went to her. “I was sure you’d seen me through your back window. When you didn’t admit to it, and you knew who I was, you were either okay with a thug being put down by a cop or you knew I worked for Jefferson and you were neutral about that. I had to know which. And quite frankly, I had to have a reason I was hanging around this apartment complex. I suspected I was being watched. Pursuing you was that reason.”
“I’d like to say I’m flattered, but I’m not,” Donna said harshly.
“How’d you get involved in this?” Wilson asked.
“I was approached by a cop I knew to join their ranks several months ago. I went right to IAB.”
“Is there anyone there who can substantiate that claim?” Dupont asked.
“Just my contact at IAB, Lieutenant Chapman,” Davis said.
“Got that Hound dog?” Wilson asked. “We need it verified.”
“Roger that, Taco. I’m on it,” Smith replied through comms.
“We’ll cut you loose for now, but we’re holding onto your weapons until Chapman is contacted, and he verifies you’re his asset,” Wilson said. He clipped the zip ties. “Do me a favor and just stay seated.”
“Who is it? Who’s working for Jefferson?” Laura Lee asked.
“I already gave the cop who approached me to Chapman. He’s only been on the job for three years. I was looking for the other ones, the ones who have been providing cover for longer. I’ve identified a few, but I know there’s more. Unfortunately, it looks like he compromises cops and goes through them like most of us change our underwear. There’s someone high up at the precinct or at District on the take, I’m sure of it. That’s who I want,” Davis said.
“You can go after those cops. We want Jefferson. Something that will stick and put him away for a long time,” Laura Lee said. “He killed my father.”
“He killed both of your fathers,” Davis said.
Laura Lee stared at him in disbelief.
“Yeah, I know who you are, Ruth and Denzell’s kid. You look just like your mother,” Davis said.
By this time, Donna stood beside her sister. She wrapped her arms around Laura Lee. “How do we get him?” Laura Lee asked Davis.
“He has records in a safe. The problem is we can’t go after a warrant. He’s protected,” Davis reminded them.
“Where’s the safe?” Laura Lee asked.
“He has a place in the Shockoe Bottom area, a nightclub where he tries to look respectable. He’s not. His bartenders are dealing anything anyone could want, from drugs to weapons to people. Name your vice. He’s got it for you. He lives above the club. That’s where the safe is. In his penthouse apartment. You’re going to want to go in before the club opens when he has less security on site.”
“Hound dog, get Big Bear on the line,” Wilson said.
***
“Mission approved with two caveats,” Shepherd said, his gaze through the monitor serious. “One, Dorthea and Donna Saxton are to be stashed at a hotel immediately. Dupont, you check them in under your name. You’ll be onsite during the Op. Your role is overwatch.”
Dupont nodded.
“And two, I’ll obtain vests and rifles for you from the DEA. They’ll be on standby as your backup and to take the scene once you’re done. Anything found in the safe is turned over to them after your review of it. Send photos of anything of interest to the Digital Team. Then you get that moving truck packed up and you get the hell out of there.”
“Will the DEA know the target?” Wilson asked. “We can’t be sure there isn’t a point of compromise there too.”
“No, we’ll feed them an alternate target to be on standby for,” Shepherd said. “Anything else?”
