It wasn’t good. He sighed again and decided that his goal would be to keep his relationship with Di courteous and professional from this point forward. No strangling allowed.
Which would be easier said than done.
He waited twenty minutes before opening his door to see if she was finished in the bathroom. Finding it open, he quickly took his turn.
Of course, sleep didn’t come easily. He kept turning the disposable phone evidence over in his mind, trying to come up with a way that he could provide it to Andrews without his career taking a hit. After what seemed like eons, he must have fallen asleep because a creaking sound on the staircase woke him.
He bolted upright and reached for his gun. His first instinct was that there was an intruder, but then he realized it was possible that Di couldn’t sleep and was making her way down to the kitchen.
Shoving his feet into a pair of shoes, he silently opened his door a crack to peer into the hallway. The bathroom door was open, but the door to Di’s room was shut.
That gave him pause. Would she have closed the door prior to going downstairs? Even as he decided that wasn’t likely, he heard another creaking sound. Someone was on the staircase. Then he saw a man dressed in black, wearing a face mask covering the lower half of his face reach the top of the stairs. The weapon in his hand was held at the ready.
Jarek brought his weapon up. “Stop! Police!”
The intruder opened fire, several shots echoing in the short hallway. Jarek ducked back into his room, feeling the sting along his right bicep from the force of a bullet whizzing by. Ignoring the pain, he quickly peered around the corner again to return fire.
His aim was better. The gunman screamed in pain, then there was a thump as he fell to the carpeted floor. For long moments, there was nothing but silence.
Jarek waited a beat before peering around the corner again. The gunman was splayed on the floor, his dropped weapon near his torso. He noticed Di was looking out into the hall from her room as well. She had her weapon, but he didn’t think she’d fired. He’d been the one to take the guy out.
Their gazes met as the grim reality of the situation hit hard. He cautiously stepped into the hall to approach the fallen gunman. He kicked the weapon away and nodded at Di to stay put as he quickly headed down to the main level to clear the house. The front door remained locked with the dead bolt, but the back door had been forced open. If the dead man had a partner, he was long gone. Jarek turned and quickly headed back up to the landing. Di was crouched beside the fallen man, feeling for a pulse.
She shook her head. “He’s dead.”
Jarek was convinced this was the same man who’d tried to kill Di on those three occurrences yesterday. He reached over and pulled the face mask down for a clear look at his facial features. He instantly recognized him from the mug shot he’d seen earlier.
Brian Stewert, a.k.a. Stewey.
5
Di rose to her feet and stepped back, deeply disturbed by the fact that the gunman had gotten inside Jarek’s house. And that he’d even found his home in the first place. Not too smart to breach a cop’s private residence. Look how that had turned out? Peering down at the dead man’s face, she recognized Stewey. “Well, this proves Levine and Stewey were working together.”
“Yeah, along with who knows how many others.” Jarek patted the dead man’s pockets. He carefully pulled out a cell phone that looked exactly like the one she’d taken from Levine. “Check this out, the number is similar to the one you found.”
“I see that.” She took a moment to memorize the number as he slipped the phone back into place. Of course, Jarek wouldn’t steal evidence from a crime scene.
“I need to call this in.” He rose to his feet, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, much like she did. She frowned when she saw blood dripping down his right arm. One of Stewey’s bullets had gotten way too close.
She couldn’t blame him for calling his colleagues. There was no way they could simply disappear and leave a dead guy on the floor. “You’re hit. Let me bind that wound for you.”
He glanced at his arm and sighed. “I can do it.”
“Easier for me.” She moved past him to duck into the bathroom. Rummaging through his cupboards, she found dressings and tape. When Jarek still remained in the hallway, she shot him an exasperated glance. “Come in and sit down. This won’t take long. Then we’ll call your fellow cops.”
“Fine.” He stepped into the bathroom and sank onto the commode. The space was small with the two of them inside, but she focused on the task at hand. The gouge wasn’t deep, and she tried not to ignore his attractive scent as she cleaned the wound and pressed gauze over it. Then she taped the dressing in place. “I’m not Doc, but this should do.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “Would be nice to have Doc here. Thanks. You did fine.”
She nodded, then sighed and stepped back. “You’re set. But we can’t stay here. We’ll need a safe house.”
“Yeah, I know.” He stood and brushed past her. Then he glanced at her over his shoulder. “You’d better get dressed. I’ll call this in, but the police are likely already on the way. Gunfire is not a common thing in my neighborhood. I’m sure Mr. Otterson from next door has already dialed 911 to alert the authorities.”
“Okay.” She retreated into the guest room and shut the door. Changing didn’t take long. She was troubled at how Stewey had found Jarek’s place. If he was the one shooting at them from the beige Chevy, she didn’t see how he could have followed them. Unless he’d bailed from the vehicle at some point and walked back to hide somewhere close by? He could have gotten a glimpse of Jarek’s SUV while he was on foot. She’d never heard of gangs having the access needed to track license plates. Unless they were working with someone who did?
A cop?
The image of Detective Andrews flashed in her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. The guy didn’t come across as a criminal mastermind. Or motivated enough to do anything other than skate by until he could retire. Then again, it didn’t take much to perform a DMV search in exchange for cash. It could be that Andrews was padding his retirement portfolio until he could walk away with his full pension.
