Sweet Dreams Boxed Set

She was watching Tommy closely. He was a cop, good at controlling his emotions, but when she mentioned Hart his jaw twitched.

“Selena thought he might have been the rapist, except this new victim? She was attacked hours after this kid was killed. So we’re thinking the gun may have belonged to whoever he works for.”

Tommy didn’t say anything.

“I saw you talking to this kid many times, Tommy. Give me something to share with Selena, something good enough to catch this bastard, and I won’t use any adjectives when I testify against you.”

If the kid was really the rapist, Tommy would know she was bluffing about the fourth victim. But her former partner seemed to be weighing something in his head. His conscience? Did he even have one? A lie? She waited.

He slid the paper back toward her. “I have no comment.”

She glared at him. “You know who killed those women.”

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t even nod or shake his head. He leaned forward and whispered, “Walk away. Do not look back. They will kill you.”

She whispered, “Who?”

He shook his head and stood.

“Dammit, Tommy!”

He knocked on the door. The guard opened it and Tommy said, “Take me back to my cell, Jerry. I don’t have the answers she wants.”

***

Matt arrived at FBI headquarters at 12:30 and found Dean in his office. “Where’s Alex?”

“She called and said she would be late.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Matt tossed a file on Dean’s desk. “A solid connection.”

Dean opened the file and Matt explained what was in it. “Seven years ago, Hart prosecuted a case against a burglar named Paulson. Paulson was defended by Anthony Monteith, a defense lawyer who takes mostly drug cases—and more than half of his clients are connected to the Russian mob. Jim Perry was the lead detective on the case, and Tommy Cordell was the responding officer. Paulson was accused of breaking into 1160 River Road, a small construction company located right on the Sacramento River. The company was owned by a guy named Clark Wallace. Nothing was taken from the business, though someone made an attempt to access files in Wallace’s computer. The forensics report says Paulson didn’t get into the computer, but it was his third strike and Hart asked for the maximum. Paulson was killed in prison and his attorney did a piss-poor job. Paulson broke in, but nothing was taken—at least nothing that Wallace admitted to.

“A year later, Wallace’s company went under and Travis Hart bought the property on the cheap. He hired a property management company—Goldstar Management. Goldstar is part of Green River Holdings, which is owned by Core One.”

“You’re certain?”

“I’ve been going through this all morning. I have it documented.”

Core One was one of Sergei Rykov’s legitimate businesses—at least, no one had been able to find anything illegal yet.

“Okay,” Dean said, “but that doesn’t give us anything to use against either Hart or Rykov.”

“Star Consulting is also owned by Green River Holdings.”

“The same Star Consulting that Huang gave us this morning?”

“Exactly. And that address is right on the river. It has a dock. Access to freeways. And it’s remote. No houses or businesses with line of sight.”

Matt didn’t need to elaborate further. Rykov trafficked in humans; Dean’s wife worked for ICE. Dean knew how human trafficking worked.

“But we have no proof that building is being used for anything illegal,” Dean said slowly.

“Maybe not. Right now the building is being leased by a boat repair shop, but according to their business filings I don’t see how they can afford the high rent. And the repair shop is owned by yet another business that I haven’t been able to trace.”

“I can do that,” Dean said. “Devil’s advocate here—Hart can claim he turned the property over to the management company and had no idea who rented it or what the going rates were. He has plausible deniability.”

“Yes, but it’s one more connection between Hart and Rykov.”

“It’s not enough.”

Matt wouldn’t be deterred. “If we can connect the property to Tommy Cordell, that’s one more connection to Rykov.”

“We have dozens of thin ties, but nothing that the AUSA is going to go to a judge with. We need solid evidence. A witness. Bank records. It’s going to take months to pour through the financials of all the companies involved and figure out how they were moving their money, whether they were laundering, how they worked together – and how Travis Hart fits in. I can’t bluff a man like Hart. He was a damn prosecutor, he’s going to know if I bluff.”

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