Chapter 111

Chapter 111
Chapter Title: Benny's Last Orders
Kathy

I pushed through the doorway and stepped outside.

"Kathy, where are you going?" Reynolds called after me.

"You follow her," Tate said. "I'll wait for CSU."

Outside T&A, SWAT had lined the arrested men against a wall.

I scanned their faces.

I was looking for one man in particular.

Dark hair. Tattoos covering both arms—dark swirls, skulls mixed with roses, and faded words that looked like they'd been inked years ago.

Gray. Benny's Bagman.

The undercover FBI agent from Baltimore's Organized Crime Task Force.

I had met him at Chick-N'Go, where he'd been playing the part of one of Benny Reed's errand boys. He'd been careful, convincing, and very good at disappearing into Benny's organization.

He was also the one who'd told me about his suspicions regarding Senator Williamson—and the possible connection between the senator and the women in Reynolds' serial murder investigation.

If anyone could shed light on Benny's murder, it would be him. I just needed to make it look like he was a witness rather than a rat.

I studied the men SWAT had arrested as they stood in a line against the wall.

One by one.

None of them were him. Gray wasn't among them.

"Kathy, who are you looking for?" Reynolds had followed me outside.

I turned toward him. "Which one of these men is closest to Benny?"

He looked at the line of suspects.

One of the SWAT officers pointed toward a short, thin man with a long nose and a narrow mustache. His dark hair was slicked back, and he wore a black tank top, jeans, and boots.

"That one," the officer said. "Marcial. We call him the Rat."

I looked at him. "And why are you called the Rat?"

The man grinned. "Because I hoard and smuggle, sweetheart." He lifted his cuffed hands. "Money. Precious goods. Valuable intel. You name it, I got it."

Reynolds stepped forward. "Benny's dead."

The grin disappeared.

"And we didn't kill him."

The men standing in line exchanged uneasy looks.

"So it's either one of you or someone you know who shot him."

Rat stared at Reynolds. "You lie," he spat. "None of us would kill Papa Benny. We're loyal. Right, guys?" His fellow crew members nodded in agreement. "You killed him."

Reynolds pulled out his phone. "Does he look like a fresh corpse to you?" He showed Rat the photograph he'd taken of Benny. "The blood is practically dry. We weren't even inside when he was killed."

Rat's eyes flicked toward the screen. Then Reynolds stepped in front of the men and showed them the photograph of Benny's dead body.

"So if it wasn't any of you and it wasn't us, then someone Benny met with earlier today might have done it," Reynolds said. "If you're loyal to Benny, you'll talk. Help us find his killer."

Reynolds walked back and stopped directly in front of Rat. "So, who came to see Benny?"

Rat said nothing. Then he glanced at the large man standing beside him. "Big."

The burly man turned toward him.

"No one sees Papa Benny without going through you. Who came to see Papa? You see anyone?"

Big shook his head. "Nobody came to see Papa. He just sent the team out to find Al's killer."

I frowned. "Al?"

"Allison, his baby girl," he clarified. "Because the po-po—" He turned toward us. "...haven't found shit."

I ignored the insult.

"Team?" I asked.

"Four of 'em," Big said.

"And who's leading this team?"

Rat answered. "Gray, The Bagman."

My heart began to race, but I kept my expression neutral.

"The Bagman?"

"Yeah."

Reynolds looked at Rat. "Where is he?"

Rat shrugged. "Don't know."

"Think."

"I already told you, I don't know," Rat said, raising his voice. "All I know is that Papa Benny sent him to the diner to deliver something. Then he gave him instructions to head to D.C. Why? I don't know."

D.C.

I forced myself to remain calm.

"Do you know what he found?" I asked.

Rat shook his head. "No. Benny kept that shit to himself."

Reynolds studied him. "Anything else?"

"That's all I know."

I nodded, pretending the information meant nothing to me.

Inside, my thoughts were racing. Gray was still undercover. I couldn't blow his cover now. But we needed to get him back to Crisfield.

“You have his number?” I asked.

“Sure,” Rat said. “So does Big. But SWAT took our phones.”

“The phones are bagged and tagged, waiting for CSU,” the SWAT officer confirmed.

Reynolds took Rat by the arm. "Get him into a cruiser. Take him to the precinct and put him in an interrogation room."

The SWAT officer nodded.

"He's a potential witness," Reynolds added. "We'll follow you."

Rat was escorted toward the waiting cruiser. I watched him disappear inside.

A familiar voice came from behind me.

“Father will soon be joining his daughter in the morgue.”

I turned.

Dr. Healy stood near the entrance, his expression unusually grim. He glanced toward the building. “This is irony.”

“You're here just in time,” Reynolds said. “Tate's inside. She's lead on this.” He glanced at me. “We're heading back to the precinct.”

Dr. Healy smiled at me. “Shame. I enjoy talking to Agent Hastings.”

“Don't worry,” Reynolds said. “Hastings and I will be visiting you tonight.”

“Oooh, company. How wonderful.” He smirked. “Do bring snacks.”

“Will do,” Reynolds said. “I got a box of pastries with your name on it.”

As we drove back, I couldn't stop thinking about Gray.

If Benny had sent him to the diner and then to D.C., what had he found?

And more importantly... Did he know Benny was dead?

The precinct was louder than usual when we walked through the doors.

Someone was yelling.

"You need to find whoever killed my father and took my boy!"

I froze. The voice came from the hallway.

"Or you'll be finished in Crisfield! You hear me?"

Reynolds heaved a sigh and inclined his head. We followed the shouting.

Chief Morgan stood outside his office, facing a tall man whose expensive suit looked completely out of place in the middle of the precinct.

"The FBI and CPD are all over this, Calvin," Morgan said. "We'll get your son back."

"Alive! I want my son returned to me... alive!" The man's voice echoed through the hallway. "I don't know what you and Divine have been doing, and neither does my son! Keep us out of this!"

He turned, stopped when he saw us, then stormed toward the exit. I watched him disappear through the doors.

Reynolds stared after him. "Calvin Jones."

I lifted my brows. "Cole's father?"

He nodded. "One and only."

Chief Morgan ran a hand through his hair, his expression a mixture of frustration and guilt. Then he gestured toward us.

"You two. In my office."

I exchanged a glance with Reynolds.

Whatever was happening in Crisfield had just become much bigger than Benny Reed.

And apparently, Chief Morgan knew more than he'd been telling us.

Reynolds nodded once and entered. I followed him inside.

Chief Morgan closed the door behind us.

For a moment, none of us spoke.

Then he leaned against his desk. "Tell me what happened at Benny Reed's."

Reynolds gave him the short version. "We had a warrant. SWAT went in. Benny was already dead. But we brought in one of Benny's men. Marcial, known as the Rat. He said Benny sent a team to find Allison's killer, headed by Gray, the Bagman. Before heading to D.C., they stopped at Archer's Diner."

I cleared my throat. They both looked at me.

"You have something you want to say, Agent Hastings?" Morgan asked.

"Gray is one of ours."

Reynolds' eyebrows shot up. "He's undercover?"

"Yeah. He was sent by Baltimore's Organized Crime Task Force." I folded my arms. "We need to get him back here and find out why Benny sent him to D.C. And we need Rat to help us do it."

"Why Rat?"

"Because he's the only one who can reach him without blowing Gray's cover." I paused. "And if Benny's men discover Gray is working with the FBI, they'll kill him."

Reynolds nodded slowly. "At least we have one person on our side." He turned toward Morgan. "Chief, is there anything else you need to tell us before we head to the interrogation room?"

Morgan walked behind his desk and lowered himself into his chair. "Our old sins have come to haunt us." His voice was quieter now. "Despite whatever Calvin Jones said, he played his part too. He wouldn't have gotten control of the entire marina otherwise."

Reynolds frowned. "What do you mean?"

Morgan rubbed a hand over his face. "All I want is my daughter back." His voice cracked. "My wife is sick. It will kill her if anything happens to Emma." He swallowed. "It'll kill me too."

I studied him. "Do you know anything about their disappearances?"

"No." His answer came quickly. "But I do know the call center Allison—or Al, as Benny's crew called her—was overseeing belongs to Divine."

Reynolds cursed under his breath. "Go on."

"Mayor Wilcox knows about it too." Morgan looked between us. "This is why Divine funds his campaign. Most of the scam hubs on the East Coast are connected to her."

It was my turn to mutter a curse. "And do you know who Calderón is?"

Morgan looked genuinely baffled. "Excuse me?"

"Before I came here, I was working on finding the elusive Calderón—the alleged head of all these scam hubs." I took a breath. "I went deep undercover, working my way through the network that scams widows and retirees out of their money. I'd already made it to New York. I was supposed to meet one of the big fish the Saturday I arrived here." I paused. "The same Saturday Allison was reported missing."

Morgan's face tightened.

"From the supervisor's laptop..."

"Steve's laptop," Reynolds corrected quietly.

I nodded. "From Steve's laptop. I was the woman Allison Reed was scheduled to meet. My alias, Kathy Navarro, was explicitly on that list."

Reynolds shook his head. "Does this mean Divine is Calderón?"

"No." I shook my head. "Something on this scale doesn't come from one woman alone. Divine may be running part of it, but she has to have help. Maybe she's connected to Benny's syndicate."

"The Order of the Twin Blades?" Reynolds asked.

Morgan immediately shook his head. "No. She's not connected to the syndicate."

"Then how does she operate at that scale?"

"She's a very wealthy woman," Morgan said. "She can hire almost anyone."

The room fell silent.

Reynolds stared at him. "How long have you known about this?"

"A year."

"A year?" Reynolds' voice hardened. "And you did nothing?"

Morgan looked down at his desk. "I couldn't do much. My hands were tied."

I couldn't help myself. "Or her money kept you quiet."

"Hastings." Reynolds' voice stopped me. "This isn't the time." He turned back toward Morgan. "Missing persons first." He rose from his chair. "We find your daughter. Then we'll deal with everything else."

Morgan nodded.

Reynolds walked toward the door, then stopped. "Chief?"

Morgan met his eyes.

"When this is over, you're going to have to vacate that chair."

Morgan drew in a breath, then nodded quietly, looking defeated.

Reynolds opened the door. "Hastings, come on. Let's have Rat get Gray back to Crisfield."

I followed him out.

We had to reach the man who might know what Benny knew about all of this.

Now we just had to get him home alive.