Chapter 8 - Detective Walsh Knew More Than He Admitted
Aaron Walsh lived in a brick bungalow in Edison Park.
It was nearly four in the morning when Gabriel knocked on his door.
Walsh answered holding a pistol.
He was fifty-eight.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
Chicago Police sweatshirt.
He recognized Chloe immediately.
Then he saw Gabriel.
His face lost all color.
“Chloe.”
She held up Leo's letter.
“Why did my brother tell me to find you?”
Walsh lowered the gun slowly.
“Come inside.”
Gabriel did not move.
“Search him.”
Walsh gave him a tired look.
“This is my house.”
Gabriel stared.
Walsh sighed.
“Fine.”
Anthony checked him.
No second weapon.
They entered.
Beatrice sat at the kitchen table.
Walsh looked at her for several seconds.
“You must be Mrs. Costello.”
Beatrice nodded.
Chloe sat across from Walsh.
“Start talking.”
Walsh looked at the letter.
“I hoped you would never see that.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Leo came to me eight days before he died.”
Chloe's throat tightened.
“Why?”
“He said someone had followed him from St. Matthew's.”
“Victor?”
“He didn't know.”
Walsh opened a drawer.
He removed an old file.
“I ran the plate.”
Chloe handed him Leo's letter.
Walsh compared the number.
“Same one.”
“Who owned it?”
Walsh looked at Gabriel.
“A shell company.”
“Name.”
“North Shore Logistics.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
Victor's company.
Chloe closed her eyes.
Walsh continued.
“I started looking into it.”
“And?”
“Two days later, my captain told me to stop.”
“Why?”
“He said Leo had misunderstood something.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Walsh looked ashamed.
“I didn't stop.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“What did you find?”
Walsh opened the file.
“North Shore Logistics had paid Dean Mercer for eleven years.”
Chloe gripped the edge of the table.
“Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“The man who killed Leo.”
“Yes.”
“Was he drunk?”
Walsh hesitated.
Chloe's voice rose.
“Was he drunk?”
“He had alcohol in his system.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Walsh rubbed his face.
“His blood alcohol level was high.”
Chloe stared.
“Then why are we here?”
“Because the impact pattern bothered me.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
Walsh spread photographs across the table.
Chloe looked away instinctively.
She did not want to see Leo's car.
Gabriel studied them.
Walsh pointed.
“Mercer's truck hit Leo from behind.”
“Okay.”
“No braking.”
Chloe looked back.
Walsh continued.
“None.”
Gabriel understood first.
“He wanted the collision.”
Walsh nodded.
“Maybe.”
Chloe whispered.
“Maybe?”
“I couldn't prove intent.”
“Did Mercer talk?”
“He claimed he remembered nothing.”
“Then he got three years.”
Walsh looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Who was his lawyer?”
Walsh did not answer.
Gabriel did.
“Victor's firm.”
Walsh nodded.
Chloe stood.
She walked to the window.
Her brother had not died because some stranger drank too much.
Not only that.
He may have died because he helped a lonely old woman hide a document.
Beatrice approached her.
Chloe signed without looking up.
Did you know?
No.
Did you suspect?
After Leo died.
Why didn't you tell me?
Beatrice's hands trembled.
Because I had no proof and I was afraid you would do exactly what you are doing now.
What am I doing?
Standing inside a dangerous man's house at four in morning chasing people who kill witnesses.
Despite everything, Chloe nearly smiled.
Then her anger returned.
“He was my brother.”
Beatrice nodded.
I loved him too.
Chloe looked at her.
Beatrice's eyes were wet.
That stopped the anger.
Across the room, Gabriel and Walsh were examining records.
Gabriel asked.
“Where is Mercer now?”
Walsh looked at Chloe.
“He was released nine months ago.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Gabriel stared.
“You're a detective.”
“Retired detective.”
“Find him.”
Walsh almost laughed.
“You don't give me orders.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
“You covered a murder for two years.”
Walsh stood.
“I did not cover it.”
“You let a three-year sentence stand.”
“I brought evidence to my captain.”
“And then?”
“The evidence disappeared.”
Gabriel stopped.
“What evidence?”
Walsh looked toward Chloe.
“A traffic camera.”
Her heart kicked.
“There was video?”
“Partial.”
“Of what?”
Walsh went to a locked cabinet.
He removed an external hard drive.
“I made a copy.”
Chloe stared.
“You had this for two years?”
“I was protecting it.”
“From who?”
Walsh plugged the drive into a laptop.
The footage appeared.
A street.
Rain.
Leo's small car moved through an intersection.
A truck entered behind him.
Chloe stopped breathing.
The truck accelerated.
It struck Leo's car.
The image blurred.
Chloe covered her mouth.
Walsh froze the frame.
“Watch the passenger side.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
Another vehicle followed the truck.
A black sedan.
Walsh enlarged the image.
The license plate was unreadable.
But the driver was visible through the windshield.
Nico.
Gabriel said nothing.
Chloe looked at him.
“Nico was there.”
Gabriel's face became unreadable.
Beatrice watched.
Walsh continued.
“I couldn't identify him then.”
Gabriel stepped backward.
“I can.”
Anthony swore.
Chloe's stomach turned.
Everything Nico had said at the maintenance building suddenly sounded different.
Building evidence.
Protecting Gabriel.
Pretending to work with Victor.
Maybe none of it was true.
Gabriel took out his phone.
Signal had returned.
Twenty missed calls.
Most from Nico.
Then one new message arrived.
Gabriel opened it.
A photograph filled the screen.
Victor lay in a hospital bed.
Alive.
Beside him stood Nico.
Under the image was one sentence.
YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO US.
Gabriel's phone rang.
Nico.
Gabriel answered.
Nobody spoke at first.
Then Nico's voice came through.
“Gabriel.”
“You were there when Leo died.”
Silence.
Chloe's blood ran cold.
Nico finally answered.
“Yes.”
Gabriel's expression did not change.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you know Mercer was going to hit his car?”
Another silence.
“Nico.”
“Yes.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
Gabriel looked like something inside him had died.
“Why?”
“Because Victor told me Leo had stolen from the family.”
“You believed him?”
“I was twenty-nine and stupid.”
“You were thirty-six.”
Nico did not respond.
Gabriel continued.
“You watched a kid die.”
“I didn't know Victor meant to kill him.”
“But you followed.”
“Yes.”
“And then you said nothing for two years.”
“Yes.”
Chloe stepped away.
Nico's voice changed.
“That is why I started collecting evidence.”
Gabriel laughed quietly.
“You want absolution.”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?”
“To stop Victor.”
Gabriel looked at the trust case.
Nico continued.
“And you need me.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor already filed the competency petition against your mother.”
Beatrice watched Gabriel's face.
Nico continued.
“The hearing is tomorrow morning.”
Gabriel went still.
“What?”
“If Beatrice is declared incompetent, Victor controls her voting rights until the court sorts out the trust.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“Who is the judge?”
Nico hesitated.
That hesitation said enough.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Bought?”
“Victor believes so.”
“What time?”
“Ten.”
Gabriel ended the call.
Chloe looked at the clock.
May you like
5:12 a.m.
Less than five hours remained.
