Zach paced impatiently behind the computer, and the tech, Casey, glared at him for at least the hundredth time. “This isn’t going to go any faster with you pacing,” Casey said. “Don’t you have someone to arrest…a doughnut to eat?”
Zach stopped pacing and shot Casey a dirty look. “I’m trying to avoid pro cessed carbs, and I might have someone to arrest, if I had the results from that fingerprint trace.”
“It’s a national database, Detective, not internal.”
“Damn it, I know what it is. Do you think I don’t know? This is important, is all, and there’s a lot of pressure right now.”
Casey’s expression changed to one of sympathy. “You working the kidnapping?”
Zach sank into a chair next to Casey, watching data whirl by on the monitor in front of them. “Yeah.”
“I think the captain’s got the whole department on overtime.” Casey shook his head. “That case sucks all the way around. Little kid missing. Mayor’s granddaughter. Makes me glad I’m a technogeek. If I did your job, I might just shoot someone who kidnaps little girls.”
Zach nodded. “Don’t think it doesn’t cross our minds, especially on the kid cases. But if we did, then we’d be no better than the criminals.”
Casey didn’t look convinced. “I got a five-year-old, and I’ll tell you here and now, someone hurts her, and the judge won’t even be able to give me bail.”
“I hear ya,” Zach agreed, and rose from his chair. “I guess I’ll get some coffee. You want anything?”
“Nah, I drink coffee after seven p.m., and I’ve got a night of no sleep ahead.”
“That’s the point,” Zach said, but just as he was about to leave, there was an audible click, and the data on the monitor stopped moving. In the center of the screen was a link with the words 100% match.
“Hey,” Casey said, “we got something here.” He reached for the mouse and clicked on the link. The screen flashed for a couple of seconds, then brought up a picture of a woman that resembled Raissa, except that wasn’t the name on the screen. There was only one other line of text on the screen: Wanted for questioning by the FBI.
Zach bit the inside of his lip. As if he needed any more trouble, and he’d likely just brought the feds down on the department by running that print. Damn it to hell. Casey looked up at Zach, the look on his face mirroring the way Zach felt.
“FBI?” Casey said. “The captain’s going to shit.”
“You think?” Zach ran one hand through his hair and paced the tiny office a couple of times. “Send me that link,” he said finally. “I better get upstairs. I’m sure it won’t be long before the bureau is knocking on the captain’s door.”
Zach hurried out of the office and down the stairs to his department. Of all the things he’d been expecting to find, this one hadn’t been on the list. What in the world was Raissa mixed up in? He knew little more about her now than he did before he’d run the print, and the last people he expected a straight answer from were the feds. He fought the urge to drive over to her apartment and question her immediately, but he knew better. Department policy was clear. When the feds wanted someone, they had to be contacted first. Local PD could not get involved with a federal case unless asked.
And the chances of the feds asking for favors was slim to none.
Which meant Zach was back to zero on Raissa Bordeaux and her magical, mystical visions. He sat down at his desk and opened his e-mail. Casey had already sent the link, so he clicked on it and opened the page again. It was definitely her, he decided as he studied the picture more closely. Her hair was different, and she’d obviously had some surgery done, because the nose and cheekbones were different. But he had no doubt it was the same woman. He leaned back in his chair, remembering the scene at the bar.
There was something about the man Raissa had talked to that was familiar, but he couldn’t place it exactly. He leaned forward and accessed recent arrest records. Maybe the guy was someone he’d seen being processed in the precinct. Thirty minutes later, his eyes were watering and he still hadn’t located the man from the bar. He was just about to try another tactic when his captain stuck his head out of his office and yelled at him, his angry voice booming across the office.
“Blanchard, get your ass in here now!”
Detective Morrow looked over at him, eyebrows raised. “Uh-oh. Looks like someone’s in trouble.”
Zach clenched his jaw and managed to walk past Morrow without saying a word. He stepped into the captain’s office, expecting a spectacular reaming, but was surprised to find that the captain wasn’t alone. One look at the man and Zach knew exactly what he was—the dark suit, starched white shirt, perfectly knotted tie, sunglasses (worn inside), and the fact that he stood in front of the captain’s desk rather than sitting in one of the chairs. Definitely a fed.
“That was fast,” Zach said. “What did she do, steal your personality?”
“Zip it, Blanchard.” The captain shot him a warning look. “This is Special Agent Fields with the local office of the FBI. He wants to know where you got the print you ran. And so do I.”
Zach hesitated for a moment, not wanting to give away his information, but he couldn’t think of a single way around it that didn’t involve his going to jail. Which wouldn’t exactly help his quest for a promotion. “I got it off a suspect.”
“What suspect?” the captain asked. “The only case you better be working is the kidnapping, and I haven’t been made aware of any suspects.”
“Maybe suspect is too strong a word. Person of interest is probably better.”
“And just how did you come up with this person of interest, and why haven’t I been informed?”
“She came into the station yesterday and claimed to have psychically received information on the kidnapping.”
“And you believed her?” The captain stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Of course not. But when I ran the case through the national database, I realized that she was right. She’d given me information on all the previous kidnappings with a similar MO. Things that were never released to the papers.”
The captain’s face turned red. “Jesus H. Christ, Blanchard! And you didn’t think that was something the rest of us should know? That woman either took those kids or knows who did.” The captain looked over at Agent Fields. “Someone better start explaining. Why does the FBI want this woman?”
“That information is confidential,” Agent Fields replied.
“Confidential, my ass!” The captain rose from his chair and glared at Fields. “If that woman was involved with kidnapping the mayor’s granddaughter, I want to know why.”
“She wasn’t involved with the kidnapping,” Agent Fields said.
“Says who?” the captain asked.
“Says the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Agent Fields replied, a bored look on his face. “Now, if Detective Blanchard would provide me with this woman’s alias and her address, you’ll be free to go about your business.”
“And if I don’t?” Zach challenged.
Agent Fields smiled. “It wouldn’t be very good for your career to refuse. Federal prison is generally not a pleasant place for cops.”
Zach clenched his fists and fought the urge to clock the condescending butthole. “Her alias is Raissa Bordeaux. She owns a shop on Landry Street.”
Agent Fields removed a BlackBerry from his front pocket and tapped the keys. “Address?”
“I don’t have it memorized, but you can’t miss it. It’s the only shop on the street with tarot cards and a crystal ball painted on the window.”
“Great,” Agent Fields said. “This department is under orders not to contact Ms. Bordeaux in any way. Is that clear?”
“Now, hold it one minute,” the captain argued. “This woman is the only lead we have in a kidnapping, and you’re telling us to step off but giving us no good reason why?”
“Exactly,” Agent Fields said. “I’m so glad you understand.” He slipped the BlackBerry back in his pocket and walked out of the office without another word.
Zach stared at the captain. “He can just leave like that?”
The captain stared after Fields and muttered something that sounded like “worthless motherfucker,” but since Zach wasn’t completely sure whether the captain was referring to Agent Fields or himself, he didn’t comment.
“Yeah,” the captain said, “he can leave just like that.” He pointed at Zach. “You are going to sit down and tell me everything you know about this Bordeaux woman.”
Zach sighed. “I could tell you everything I know before I even finished sitting.”
Five minutes later, the captain was convinced that whatever Raissa was into, it probably wasn’t going to help their case. Or he just didn’t want to admit that they would be in deep shit if they talked to her again. Either way, Zach had his walking orders from the FBI and his captain: no contact with Raissa Bordeaux.
It was a shame he had no intention of listening to either of them.