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With full resolve, Nick turned to find the captain talking to a tall, muscled man in a tight-fitting black shirt, his badge and gun worn on the belt of his blue jeans. His hands were darkened by soot, streaked with sweat. His tousled black hair told the story of his day.
“Mr. Qui
Nick approached the detective, hoping he finally had an ally who would listen and help him stop Julia’s killer.
“Mr. Qui
Nick turned around and looked straight into Sha
“Bob Sha
Nick’s world spun. For standing before him was the man who had arrested him in the future, who had treated him as something less than a rodent. The man who in the interrogation room had wielded a billy club; who had screamed and accused Nick of murdering Julia; who had held a gun to his head with every intention of pulling the trigger.
The look in Sha
“What’s up?” Sha
Nick’s eyes fell to Sha
Nick didn’t know where to start, finding it hard to shake the fear that the man would somehow recognize him and shoot him for his escaping the interrogation room. Reminding himself that that was yet to happen, he said, “Someone is after my wife.”
“What do you mean ‘after’?” There was a weariness in Sha
“Trying to kill her.”
“Shit,” Sha
“Nick Qui
“And your wife’s?”
“Julia.”
Sha
Nick shook his head as he sat down.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Sha
Nick told him of the robbery, of Julia’s computer’s being swiped from her office. He explained how the thieves were erasing their tracks, each word out of his mouth carefully chosen so as not to indicate anything from the future.
“May I ask where she is now?”
“She’s…” Nick paused. Though Sha
“Alone?”
“She’s with some coworkers at one of their homes in Bedford.”
“Why didn’t she come with you?”
“She’s scared, she didn’t want to leave. And she said she couldn’t bear coming down here.”
“I understand that,” Sha
“Yeah, she was supposed to be on that plane.”
“Whoa.” Sha
“She got off because she got a text message about the robbery in progress.”
Sha
Nick begin to see sympathy in Sha
“I was. My wife couldn’t handle being married to a cop. She didn’t think the pay matched the risk.”
“Sorry.”
“Her loss,” Sha
Nick began to see the world a bit from Sha
“Listen, I know you think your wife is in danger,” Sha
“Even with the information you mentioned on the people who own the security company, you’re asking for us to track down these individuals on a day where minds can’t possibly think straight, and electrical power is haphazard at best. Now, I’ll tell you, I’m good, we’re good, but not that good. From the security you described, these people knew exactly what they were doing, they’re well informed and intelligent, and if they’re that good, the evidence they left behind is minimal. Not to say there isn’t any, but it’s going to take manpower, something we’re sorely lacking in.”
Nick knew Sha
“I printed this out from the security tapes,” Nick said as he handed Sha
“I’d like to see the rest of this tape.” Sha
Nick silently berated himself for his foolishness. He had wanted to keep the information on Julia’s PDA private, as he knew that was her killer’s ultimate goal. “She had the info backed up from her computer,” Nick admitted, knowing that if he appeared secretive suspicions would rise.
“Well, I definitely need to see that. Where is it?”
“In my car,” Nick said. It was actually in his pocket but the walk to his car would give him a few minutes to decide whether he was making the right move.
“There’s also a blue Chevy that drove by my home. A rental car leased by Paul Dreyfus. His company did the security for the building where the robbery took place.”
“Okay, well, between the security video backup you have, the car, and this guy Dreyfus, we’ve got some pieces to work with. I’ll tell you what, let’s take a ride over to Washington House, you never know, we may just get lucky.” Sha
“There’s nothing to find,” Nick said.
“There’s always something to find,” Sha
“Why don’t you take Dance with you as backup?” Delia said, more as a statement than a question.
“I’ll be fine,” Sha
“I don’t recall giving you the option. I’ll have him meet you down by your car.”
“THIS IS JUST the worst nightmare I’ve ever been in. Nothing prepares you for this,” Sha
Nick couldn’t pull his eyes from the blackened ground, from the white sheet-covered bodies that seemed to lie everywhere. “No one should ever have to see something like this.”