Cuffed and Briefed Read online

  “Sit down, Ranger,” Captain Mouler said and I frowned and looked at Briggs. The man was big, and he wore a perpetual frown on his face whenever I saw him. When I finally sat Briggs didn’t, instead he moved to the other side of the office where I had just walked in from, effectively cutting me off from leaving. Well shit, I thought, this was not going to be good.

  “Cap’n?” I asked.

  “Special Agent Briggs is here to talk to us about his investigation, which completely blew wide open last night when your friend, Falon O’Malley, was shot.”

  I nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about that anyway.”

  Captain Mouler narrowed his eyes and then said, “I assume you were going to ask to be assigned to the case? Normally, I would back you one hundred percent on this and you know it. But there are circumstances you don’t know of that’s going to prevent it.”

  I frowned and stared at my captain and when I got no clues from him, my gaze turned to Briggs who had a blank expression on his face and he said, “Ranger, I am just gonna lay this out quick. The ballistics came back on the gun used to shoot your friend. It became my case when it tied to two different cases together, ones until now, hadn’t even been in the same ballpark, let alone tagged as related. We suspect there is a reason it had not been tied together, we suspect someone in the police department didn’t want them tied together, deliberately. Before you ask, no we do not know who, and yes, I have been investigating the departments involved in order to find out, but so far, whoever it is has eluded detection.”

  I briskly nodded and then said, “This has what to do with me?”

  “One of the cases was a Juan Lopez,” Briggs said and I frowned, I had just said that name last night, when talking to Maria, so the case was fresh.

  I nodded and said, “I have the file still. So what other case is it linked to?”

  Briggs said grimly, “The other case, was Noel Marie Marshall.”

  I froze, hearing my wife’s name seemed to knock the air right out of my lungs. I looked at the captain who was watching me closely, and I struggled to get air, his words kept repeating in my head. ‘Two different cases’. ‘Ballistic match’. ‘Noel Marie Marshall’. That was when I exploded out of my seat and both men were ready, I had no idea how the captain moved that fast in order to get to me before I swung at the Fed, but he did. His hand hit my chest and pushed me back down into the seat firmly, and my gaze did not leave Briggs’s. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I roared and the captain’s hand pushed a little hard as I strained to get up.

  “Dammit, Ranger, calm down for a sec. I know this is a surprise, and I would have told you differently if I could, but I just found out too. Now, stay the fuck down and let Briggs explain. Afterward, we will deal with this shit, but listen first.”

  My head snapped to him and my eyes narrowed, he had to be kidding, like straight up, fucking kidding me right now. We were talking about my wife’s murderer, something I had yet to even get one fucking crumb of evidence on. Briggs walks in here, drops that shit on my lap, and the captain wants me to calm down, hell the fuck no.

  I opened my mouth and the captain shook his head. “Boy, do not make me call someone to come in here and lock your ass down. Right now, I need you, and I know you need this, so listen. I cannot officially put you on this case, you are the husband of the victim and my ass will be in a sling if you are even remotely officially on the case. Briggs and I, well we think different, you can handle this because you can look at the big picture, do not make me a liar or Briggs, I can guarantee you do not want to do that.”

  His words penetrated, slightly, my eyes were blurred and I could feel the vein pulsing in my neck all the way up to my forehead. Fuck, I took a few deep breaths, I tried, honest to fuck I was trying, but it was impossible, fuck me. I looked at the captain and I said grimly, “Let me go, Cap’n,” and my boss shook his head.

  “Not until I know you’re not going to go off half-cocked and do something stupid,” my captain said and then looked at Briggs. “Finish it, do it fast, let him absorb it all at once.”

  My eyes shot to Briggs, fuck there was more? The Special Agent nodded and put a hand behind his neck and rubbed. “The cases are tied to a one Dekcaris Drake, who was arrested on a warrant when doused with fuel by a Petal Denold. Dekcaris is currently residing in Rikers awaiting a pre-trial hearing about his murder case. That case, in addition to being tied to the other three cases, points solely to the gang called 8-3-0 out of the Bronx, their leader is one Miguel Martinez, currently wanted in the questioning of several other cases dealing with theft, kidnapping, and drugs. He has yet to be apprehended as every time we get a tip on the fucker, he is gone by the time we get there. Which has led us to believe we have something bigger going on in the New York Police Department. We believe someone in the department is either on the payroll of the 8-3-0’s or is calling the shots.”

  I took a deep breath and let his words sink in. I closed my eyes and then looked up at my captain and said, “Are you seriously fucking telling me one of my own had my wife killed? One of the men or women I work with every single fucking day, someone I may know, someone I may trust. Is that what you are telling me?”

  I knew I was deceptively calm, the words sounded foreign to me and I knew it would not take much right now to push me over the edge. How in the fuck did this fucking happen? How? I thought about everyone I worked with over the last few years and couldn’t think of one person I didn’t trust to have my back, not one. What the hell did that say about me? What the fuck did that say about my ability to read criminals? I couldn’t even see someone who was dirty that worked with me every day.

  “Ranger,” the captain said and he let his hand drop from my chest, it was the only thing keeping me in my seat, but I held onto the sides of the chair with a death grip. I was not going to get up yet. “Like I said, I know this is gonna sting.”

  “Sting?” I snapped and glared at him. “Sting? No, finding out my sister was pregnant stung, telling my son he had to leave his house to go into protective custody stung. This, this doesn’t sting, it fucking burns a hole right fucking through me. Because you are sitting there telling me someone who I could have been riding in a car with, even had at my fucking house, ordered the murder of my wife? Why? Because I was assigned a case for a dead kid?”

  The captain looked at me closely and then nodded. “You are right, but right now it doesn’t matter, we need to do this right, we need to catch this fucker.”

  I stared at him with a dead expression, I knew it was dead, because that was exactly what I felt like. “Oh, I will catch this fucker, wherever and whoever it leads to, I will catch them, and then, they will get the same thing they gave my wife.”

  “Look,” Briggs said and held out a hand to me and I glared at him. “We gotta do this right, man, you know it. Do not let this shit get into your head. I know exactly how you feel, I do.”

  “Really?” I snapped and stood so fast the captain couldn’t stop me from barreling into the FBI agent and grabbing him by his lapels and shoving him against the glass wall. “You know how this fucking feels? Seriously? You know how it feels to tell your son his mom isn’t coming home because someone blew her head off. You know how it feels to sleep in the same bed you shared with your wife night after night, trying to fucking figure out why the hell she was taken from you. You know what it is like to call family and friends, tell them your wife is gone because some motherfucker took her life and you were helpless to do a damn thing. That is what you feel like, tell me, is it?” I yelled at him and then yelled “We serve to protect and I didn’t even protect my own fucking wife,” I flung him to the side, which said a lot because the man wasn’t small, but right then, I had to get the fuck outta there. I had to, or I was gonna do something I fucking never thought I would do. I was gonna turn in my badge and sidearm, and I was gonna seek vengeance on my own.

  I didn’t hear the captain yelling at me, I didn’t hear Briggs calling my name, I stalked out of the of
fice, into the bullpen, through it, and out of the fucking building. I had no idea where I was going, but I was so gone.

  Chapter Two

  Maria

  My parents ran into the waiting room of the hospital and looked around. Tony and I moved toward them and Tony held up his hand. “He is fine, they patched him up and he is drugged, but the doctors said he would be fine.”

  My mother looked at me for confirmation and I nodded. My parents, the O’Malleys, and the Macoroys had been tied together for a long time. They had been friends even before they paired off as couples, they had raised their children together, had Sunday meals together, gone to concerts, weddings, funerals, everything together. So when Falon O’Malley was shot, it was like one of their own kids. I wasn’t surprised they had gotten here so quickly, especially considering my sister, Georgie, had just been rescued after being kidnapped.

  Then I heard Rucker yell “Nonna and Nonno” and I turned and smiled. The young boy ran to my mother and father and flung his arms around them and hugged them like they were his real grandparents, which they kinda were since they had adopted both Ranger and Rucker into the family.

  “Oh my God, look how big you are,” my mother, Sonia Roark, said and hugged him. “I think you have grown a good two or three inches since we left!”

  Rucker leaned back and smiled up at her and said, “Probably, Maria has been making sure I eat my vegetables.”

  My father, Anthony Roark Sr., smiled and patted the boy’s head and said, “Soon, I will need to see about getting you a driver’s license.”

  “Really?” Rucker said hopefully and my father laughed.

  “Nope, I am putting a book on his head so he doesn’t get bigger,” I said happily and pulled the young man back against me as my brother stepped up and hugged our parents. When they were done, I hugged them as well, keeping Rucker at my side the whole time.

  “Sonia!” Olivia cried loudly and we all turned. My mother’s best friend was standing in the hallway, obviously coming out of the ICU after being allowed to see her son, Reilly O’Malley was next to her and I could have sworn in the time they had entered to now, they had aged a little more, which to me seemed impossible because they had looked the same since I was young, young and vital, like my parents. Now both looked ragged and tired.

  My mother brushed by me and ran to her friend, grabbed her in a hug, and both women burst into tears, Ms. Maddie joined them and they were three-way hugging, which would have been weird if not for the women involved. My father walked to Reilly and hugged him as well. As I turned I saw the whole clan, the O’Malleys, the Roarks, and the Macoroys with all of the guys from the gym, and my brother’s agency, as well as other close friends. The place was brimming with people and they all cared about each other.

  My phone rang. I paused, pulled it out of my pocket, and frowned at the screen, work? Why was work calling, I had already called and told them I would not be in today, last night had been a long night.

  “Hello?” I said into the phone as I pushed Rucker closer to the people in the waiting room and then nodded to Mrs. Honeychil who was waving at Rucker to come to her.

  “Maria, I am sorry to call you while you are on a personal day,” my boss said quickly. “However, I need you to come down to the office now, it is important.”

  I worked for the New York Bronx District Attorney’s Office, I was their lead DA and I knew my boss wouldn’t have called me unless something important was going on.

  “Sir?” I said, walking to where my purse was, intending on telling him I would be right in when he said.

  “I need someone to go out to Rikers Island and question Dekcaris Drake about the murder of a police officer’s wife, I would have sent someone else, but they don’t think he is responsible, but he could know who is so if a deal needs to be cut, I need you there.”

  My feet stopped and I could barely breathe, the only police officer’s wife I knew of was Ranger’s but he couldn’t be talking about her, oh my God, please don’t let him be talking about her. My eyes swing to Rucker who was smiling up at Mrs. Honeychil and I winced. They deserved closure, but after speaking to Ranger earlier, I hated like hell to be the one who would open old wounds.

  “Who?” I said and waited. I knew what I was going to hear, I knew it and still when it came it almost took the breath right on outta me. Not because I had known her, I hadn’t, only in a passing way, but because I was secretly in love with her husband and even though I knew this would bring him a lot of heartache, I also hoped maybe, it would finally put things to rest.

  “Noel Marshall,” my boss said.

  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, “I will be right there.”

  After being fully briefed by the FBI agent who reported that after telling Detective Ranger Marshall about the connection to his wife’s murder, the detective left the police station and as of yet, hadn’t been located. This didn’t bode well for me, I was torn, and I was distracted, mostly because I wanted to be the one who consoled the detective, but I couldn’t. I needed to find out where the gun was, and who had used it. The only one who they thought had the information, was currently sitting in a hell hole I had no desire being in, but that didn’t matter, what did was answers. I was going to get them.

  I checked in at the desk, explaining who I wanted to see, and where I wanted to see him at, which essentially was in private where others couldn’t overhear. The agent had also explained how they thought someone from the police force was in on it. That being the case, it meant that shit was about to get real, and I needed to make sure I kept not only the prisoner safe, but me as well.

  Doing this meant I needed to be in the same room with this scumbag, and not have an officer present. I didn’t know who I could trust, and the only man I knew of was currently MIA. So I was going this alone, and trust me, it wasn’t something I really wanted to do.

  When the clang of the door behind me sounded, I almost jumped, but I refused to do so. I looked at the man who was sitting at the table, chained to it with cuffs, and leg irons. This was common practice when a prisoner was being charged with murder, and they were alone with anyone, including an attorney.

  The man glared at me, and I returned the look, not giving two shits what he was trying to do, which was intimidate me. It wouldn’t work, fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you asked, I had my mother’s strong will, thank God. She always taught if I was afraid it was fine, but to never let the person who scared me know what effect they had.

  I walked to the table, pulled out the chair, and sat down then I finally said, “Well, Mr. Drake, it seems you have a problem.”

  The man snorted then leaned back and said, “Fuck you.”

  I nodded and then laid out the folder from my briefcase and said, “I assumed you would say something of the sort, but I figured I still needed to try. So you can answer my questions, or I can have you thrown back into your cell.”

  The man shrugged and said, “You are here, bitch, which means you want something. I’m not thinking it is my cock, which by the way, is seriously fucking hard right now.”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “What can you tell me about the men you were with the day Ms. Denold pumped gasoline all over you?”

  The man shrugged and said, “Don’t know who you’re talking about, I was alone when that cunt went nuts.”

  Maria sighed and shook her head. “See, you are not playing this smart right now, and Mr. Drake, you definitely want to play this smart. Right here, in this folder, is evidence, and it will not go away, no matter what. So, let me be straight with you right off the bat. A man was shot in the Bronx last night, he wasn’t the target, Ms. Denold was, and no one other than the men you were with had a reason to take a shot at her. Which is interesting, since the gun used in that drive-by is also the same gun to kill a teenager a year and a half ago, and the wife of a cop a year ago. So, we began to dig a little. You belong to a gang called 8-3-0, so I assume the men you were with, are members of the gang. W
hich we have deduced the young man named, Juan Lopez, had in the past been seen in the company of the 8-3-0 and was either looking to join, or his mother who was an addict owed money to them. Either way, the connection is there. The gun that was used to kill Juan, was used to shoot the man last night, and finally the same gun was used to gun down an innocent woman, who happened to be married to the policeman assigned to Juan’s case. Coincidence? Possibly. However, I would guess not. Now, since you are sitting in here on charges of murder, I am pretty sure you know something.”

  The man frowned at me and shook his head then said, “Lady, I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.”

  I smirked and shook my head. “Really? You want to play it that way. Okay, how about if I told you that right now, a judge is signing a search warrant for not only your place, but that of your mother, your grandmother, and of course, anyone else we deem to be involved in covering up this case.”

  The man growled and said, “Leave my ma outta this.”

  “I would love to, but right now, it is more important for me to find the gun, and the man who used it, than it is to keep your mother and grandmother out of jail. Which is where they are going if we find the gun in either of their houses; if we find anything else as well that you may have left there like say drugs, or another weapon, they will also go to jail. Unless of course you would like to make a statement about the whereabouts of the gun, or if you don’t know that, who was in possession of the gun the last time you saw it,” I said smoothly and looked at the very large, very frightening, very pissed off man who looked like he wanted to kill me with his bare hands.

  “Lady, you have no fucking clue who you are dealing with, none,” Dekcaris said and I nodded.

  “You are right of course, but still, you do know who I am dealing with, and because you know, you will also know that you’re meeting in a private room with a District Attorney who said rather loudly when she was checking in with the guards, that being called into work on my day off by a lowlife scum like you, really chapped my ass. You also know, the guards laughed again when I added it had better be worth the information you wanted to share with me to come in here. You also know, that if one of those guards happened to be on the payroll of said person, then about right now, I am certain a price has already been put on your head. I would also assume, that because you know this man, you know for a fact one of the guards is on his payroll and you know exactly who it is. So when I tell you I do as well, and Mr. Thompson was standing there when I made the statements, you will believe me when I say, really, you wanna talk with me. Because if not, I will call back the guards and tell them to place you in protective custody, then I will walk out of here with a smile on my face, bigger than the Statue of Liberty, looking oh so eager to share my information with someone important. If that happens, you will be dead by sundown,” I said slowly and deliberately so he wasn’t confused by the words I was saying.