Driving Heat by Castle Richard

Author:Castle, Richard [Castle, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Video Game Adaptations, TV, Movie, Thriller & Suspense, United States, Movie Tie-Ins, Thrillers & Suspense, Thrillers, Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Kingswell
Published: 2015-09-15T05:00:00+00:00

The not-unexpected bad news in the Homicide Squad Room back at the Two-Oh was that Tangier Swift’s fixer had gotten sprung. “Eric Vreeland was not only released,” reported Ochoa. “No bail, no charges.”

“What happened with your lineup?” asked Heat. “Couldn’t Stallings ID Vreeland?”

Raley said, “Oh, he picked him out. Right away. But the PI’s bulldog of a lawyer gets to Stallings on the side and plants uncertainty in him about whether Vreeland was out in the public hallway or inside the apartment itself.”

Nikki said, “But Stallings told us he ran into the guy inside, in his foyer.”

“You know how it goes,” said Ochoa. “Fog of war, heat of the moment, seeds of doubt. Take your pick.” In fact, Nikki had seen it often, as every cop had. Otherwise-reliable eyewitnesses conflate or confuse details that seem indelible to those not caught up in the trauma of the incident. Criminal defense lawyers have seen it, too, and Helen Miksit jumped at the opportunity she had created.

“Also, with the backlog of craziness from the cyber attack, the DA’s office didn’t want to spend the effort on an uncertain complainant.” Detective Raley spoke for them all by adding, “Sucks big-time.”

“Always does,” said Heat.

But Rhymer was taking it almost personally. “Doesn’t seem right. I pull an all-nighter, nosing through mug books, and the dude’s out of here before I get back to even see what he looks like.”

“About like this.” Ochoa held up the sketch Rhymer had been working from, and they all got a laugh.

When Heat filled the squad in on her encounter in Tribeca, the roomful of born skeptics didn’t buy the national-security no-fly zone any more than Nikki did. “If there’s a security threat, it’s from a doucher with a politician in his pocket,” commented Rhymer. “I mean, I can’t say one way or the other whether Kent Duer is crooked, but at the very least, with what campaigns cost now, I’d lay odds the congressman’s getting some major fund-raising done at a one-stop shop.”

“And what does Tangier Swift get?” asked Raley.

“Exactly what he got today,” said Ochoa. “Bigfoot comes to call.”

Heat stepped up to the Murder Board. While she printed Congressman Duer’s name in her neat block letters, she said, “Well, whether we buy national security or not, we have to keep it open until we can get better information.”

Behind her, Rook said, “I might be able to help with that.”

Nikki, who hadn’t seen him since she had left for her meeting at The Greenwich, continued her writing and asked, “Let me guess. One of your sources from Area Fifty-one?” She turned to the room with a playful smile that froze when she saw who Rook was standing a little too close to in the doorway.

“I’m not sure,” he said, turning to the woman in the business suit. “Which black ops agency are you with now? CIA, NSA, NRO, GDIP?”

“Let’s go with Area Fifty-one,” said Yardley Bell, holding a shush finger up over her perfect grin. Then Rook’s old girlfriend stepped forward with a manicured hand extended to shake.

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