Chasing Secrets

Karenna hunched over as the cold water from the sprinklers pelted the top of her head.

Ray bolted for Sarah’s room and returned with a New York Mets cap and jacket. “Throw this on. We can’t stay here, but we can try to disguise you.”

She didn’t hesitate, even though she would normally never betray the Yankees. Ray’s radio burst with voice after voice giving out updates. Ray pressed the side button and asked for officers to meet them at the apartment door. Two seconds later, a knock sounded.

Ray reached for the doorknob but it wouldn’t budge. He tugged harder, almost flying backward from the effort.

A male voice shouted from the other side of the door. “A key was put in the door and broken off. The lock is completely frozen. Stay back. We’ll need to break the door.”

The doorknob had been sabotaged?

Abby barked again. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ray muttered.

Karenna followed his gaze, squinting through the water dripping from the bill of her cap, to the blistering kitchen wall. Flames began to flicker between the stovetop and oven hood. The sprinklers didn’t seem to have an effect on the fire.

Abby shook her fur wildly, pelting Karenna’s feet with an added deluge.

A thud hit the front door and the bottom half vibrated but didn’t budge from the frame.

“Step back. They’re trying to kick the door down. It’s faster than waiting for a battering ram. But…” He gestured for Karenna to keep stepping back. She followed him inside Sarah’s room.

He flattened his back against the wall and peeked out the window. “Fire escape starts here. If they aren’t able to get us out in the next minute, we need to consider taking our chances out there. Though I fear that’s what he wants.”

Her mouth dropped and the scent of charred wood assaulted her. She cringed. “You think we’d be easy targets?”

His eyes met hers. “You’d stay behind me the whole time. I wouldn’t let him get you.”

Her breath caught at his intensity. Unlike the patrol officers she sometimes saw, she didn’t see a bulletproof vest over Ray’s shirt. “No.” Her heart pounded at the implications, at his willingness to sacrifice his safety for hers. She couldn’t let him do that when it had been her idea in the first place to come to Sarah’s apartment.

A snap and deafening crack filled the apartment. She spun toward the noise as the front door splintered apart from the frame at the hinges. An involuntary scream escaped her as she flinched.

Rivulets of water fell from the hats of the two officers who ran into the apartment.

Ray placed a hand on her back. “Let’s get you out of here.”

The officers flanked all sides of her and rushed her down the hallway to the stairs.

“So far, all clear,” the officer to her right said. “Property manager said the fire next door to you was an empty apartment, in the process of a remodel.”

“Good to know. Stay on guard,” Ray answered on her left, with Abby at his heel.

They reached the front door and Ray made a signal to wait. He took a step outside, tentatively. Three radios sounded at the same time on their shoulders.

“Possible arson suspect spotted running from the scene,” the radio voice crackled. “Lost visual at crowd letting out of a movie theater.”

Ray groaned. “So while I waited for backup we gave him time to start the fire and leave. Great.”

Karenna whipped her head around to look at him. His eyes widened, as if he hadn’t meant to say it aloud. Was his comment a dig about when they were dating? He had a tendency to rush into situations without waiting for backup as protocol dictated. It had been a sticking point between them that his supervisors happened to agree with her on.

In fact, the way he’d run into danger unnecessarily had been her biggest struggle when they were dating. He couldn’t stand to wait for backup if he thought his actions would pull another drug dealer off the streets. It had begun to seem like his entire career was solely based on revenge, and that he was unconcerned whether he lived or died in the process.

She’d told him her concerns a few weeks before the end of their relationship. Surely, that wasn’t why he’d broken up with her. She’d wondered about it back then, as well, but it hadn’t made sense. Their conversation had never become heated and she’d felt heard by him. He’d said he would consider her thoughts.

The topic hadn’t come up at all in the couple weeks preceding the break-up. So that couldn’t have been why’d he called it quits.

Not that it mattered anymore.

A fire truck honked nearby. Ray leaned over so he could speak above the noise into her ear. “We need to get to the car and give the firemen room to do their job. Are you okay? Do you need a medic?”

“I’m fine,” she hollered over the clatter, unwilling to turn her face any closer to him.

The officers didn’t give her a spare inch of space to move until she was inside the police vehicle again while Ray secured Abby in the back. Smoke billowed out of a window on the left side of the building. Residents gathered in a cluster on the sidewalk half a block down, looking up.

She couldn’t stop staring at them, even as she coughed the remainder of the foul smoke from her lungs. If she hadn’t gone to look for that man’s photo, would all those people still have had to leave their homes tonight?

Ray hopped in and glanced behind him, checking on Abby before he faced forward. “Can I have your address?”

Her cheeks heated. “What will happen to the residents?” The attacker had endangered all their lives.

“The responders will give them contact information for some organizations that might be able to help them, but if they didn’t have renter’s insurance, it’s going to be expensive.” Ray’s voice had a silky quality whenever he spoke in low tones. “Let me take you home, Karenna.”

She closed her eyes and gave him her address. A few minutes later they were parked in front of her brownstone.

Ray hesitated at the wheel after he shut off the vehicle. “Our shift has been over for a while, and Abby doesn’t eat while she works. Do you mind if I feed her while I make sure your place is secure?”

“Of course not.”

Something had shifted in Ray’s demeanor. He seemed more like the charming man she’d met at the police ball all those years ago when her father had asked her to go in his stead for the fund-raiser event. Ray had asked her to dance and they’d ended up being the last ones to leave. She blinked away the memories.

Ray followed her through the gate with Abby and a backpack that she assumed held the dog supplies.

Instead of going up the building’s front stairs, she sidestepped around. Ray froze for a minute. “You live in the basement?”

“I believe they refer to it as the garden level.” On the left side of the stairs, the door was hidden from street view. “With a private entrance.”

He laughed. “Garden level does sound more sophisticated. I have one of those, as well.”

“A garden level?” She inserted the key to unlock the dead bolt before moving to the doorknob. “Does that mean you’re not living with your mom anymore?” Keeping the surprise from her question was harder than it should’ve been. Ray had been taking care of his mom since high school, after his father had died. Any money he’d made from that point on went to help his mom pay the rent so she and his little sister wouldn’t have to move.

“My mom decided to move in with my aunt a few years ago. My sister is actually staying with me right now while she tries to find her own place.”

That had to be a relief for him, but they weren’t friends who shared feelings anymore so she let his comment go.

Ray wanted to be the first inside the apartment again.

His silence felt heavy as he examined her humble studio apartment with its miniature fridge and stove, the love seat that doubled as her bed, and end tables that worked as both dining room tables and nightstands. Thankfully, she had put away her laundry from last night.

“You…” He turned around to face her. His eyes had never been wider all night, not even when they’d run out of a burning building. “You live here?” The positive lilt to his question was obviously forced.

Her neck burned with the scrutiny. This was exactly the conversation she’d wanted to avoid. “Yes.” The place was small, but it was all she could afford while still being in the neighborhood she wanted.

He strode into the bathroom, peeked behind the shower curtain and came back into the living room. “I’ll just check the windows and locks.”

The towels were in the armoire, so she grabbed a few. “It might not help at this stage, but here.”

He smiled and their hands brushed as she handed him one. The hairs on her arm seemed to stand on their ends from the electricity.

She spun away, quickly pulling out a T-shirt and jeans from her drawer and pointing to the bathroom. “I’ll just be a second. Feel free to help yourself to whatever you need for Abby.”

As she feared, the bathroom mirror didn’t pull any punches. She looked like a raccoon wearing a bad wig. Her professional attire of black-knit shirt and wide-leg trousers was wrinkled and appeared more like a bad set of pajamas.

She glanced at the bathtub and an involuntary shiver went down her spine at the thought of lying in water again. The man’s sunglasses and sneer came to mind once more.

Nope. No more baths, no more sinking her head underneath the water. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs repeatedly while reminding herself it was over. She could breathe normally. In fact, showers only from now on…speed showers. Would dry shampoo get the job done?

After removing the two remaining bobby pins, the few strands of hair left in the twist dropped to her shoulders. She combed it as best as she could, wiped a washrag underneath her eyes, and applied some lip balm. In dry, soft clothes, she felt ready to face Ray with a little more of her dignity intact. She also felt more like herself. At work, she stuck to a minimalist professional wardrobe of whites and blacks, but at home she preferred pastel colors even though they probably made her pale skin look washed out.

She stepped into the room and Ray turned to face her, two dog bowls in his hands, one filled with kibble, the other with water. He set them down and Abby ate, then lapped up the water.

Ray crossed the room and held his hands out. “Look. I know we have a complicated history, but I’m determined to see this case through. So we’re going to be seeing each other until I get the guy behind bars. Maybe we should clear the air and discuss our breakup.”

Her stomach clenched so tightly she fought against nausea. While she desperately wanted to know what exactly had caused him to call it quits in the first place, the day’s drama made her bones feel heavy. She wasn’t sure she could handle reliving all the feelings of getting dumped and rejected all over again. “It’s been a really long day, Ray,” she said instead. “Do you mind if we table this for now?” Or maybe forever. The bottom line was he’d dumped her and she’d moved on.

“Fair enough. I guess I just wanted you to know that when I look back…” He sighed and placed his hands on his waist. “I realize I could’ve handled, or communicated, things better. I still had a lot of growing up to do back then.” He turned to see Abby was done with her bowls. “We’re good?”

She wouldn’t go that far, but she nodded to prevent further discussion.

He gathered Abby’s things but stopped abruptly at Karenna’s desk and fingered something on the top of her stack of papers. “You’re working for a nonprofit?”

She fought against the weariness. Might as well put everything on the table. “I work in donor development for a marketing agency specializing in nonprofits.”

His eyebrows rose up and down as if processing the new information. “You don’t work for your father anymore?”

“I’ve been on my own for the past five years.”

“Because of what happened with us?” He looked shaken. “I didn’t want—”

“I wanted a job I earned on my own merit.” Her throat was so tight with raw emotion she was on the verge of crying. “If you don’t mind, I really am tired.”

“Of course.” He grabbed the doorknob and looked over his shoulder at her. “I’ll make sure there’s a patrol car making the rounds by here tonight. You should be safe. Lock up after me.”

“Do you think the fire was his way of trying to finish the job tonight?”

He worried his lip as if debating how to answer. “The important thing is no one was hurt. While you were freshening up, they let me know the fire was started with a flare and a container of grease right against the adjoining wall to Sarah’s apartment. I guess it’s a type of fire that’s a challenge to put out. Maybe he hoped the fire would ruin any possible evidence he might’ve left behind in that apartment. Whatever his motive, don’t worry. Oh, and, Karenna? Did Sarah have a spare key for your apartment?”

Karenna shook her head. “No.” She didn’t feel the need to explain her apartment wasn’t worth having a key for.

“Try to get some sleep. We’ll find him before he gets another chance…”

He didn’t need to finish the statement. Her lungs tightened at the thought, remembering all too well what that man was capable of.

Ray filled his fourth cup of coffee for the morning, having hardly slept. The paperwork alone had kept him at the station for hours before he could call it a night. But then thinking about Karenna… Well, he needed more coffee than usual.

He relayed the previous night’s events to a few of the other officers who’d just arrived at the limestone building in Bay Ridge dedicated to the Brooklyn K-9 Unit. “And the witness, a victim herself, happens to be my ex-girlfriend.”

Henry Roarke, a fellow K-9 handler with biceps that seemed to get bigger if the guy even thought about going to the gym, quirked an eyebrow. “You had a girlfriend once?”

Ray’s spine straightened, even though he’d noted the teasing tone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not, like, a couple of dates?” Henry held both hands out as if physically examining his statement. “This was a person that you actually referred to as your girlfriend and she reciprocated by calling you a boyfriend?”

K-9 detectives Nate Slater and Bradley McGregor both chuckled at the interrogation as they filled their own coffee mugs. Their canine partners were currently waiting at the training center next door while the officers attended the shift briefing.

“Yes, a girlfriend.” Ray looked around as if someone would appear to back him up. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

Henry crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips for half a second. “I’ve known you for the past few years, and you, my friend, are married to the job. I’ve never seen someone so determined to get the most collars—”

“Not just any collars—” Ray held up a finger, ready to argue his point. His dad’s old army challenge coin rested in his shirt pocket at all times, a reminder of who and what he was fighting for.

“Yeah, I don’t think the kind of collar matters when you miss every dinner,” Nate interjected. “Henry might have a point. I’ve never seen someone try to get overtime as much as you…and not for the pay.”

“Before calling me out maybe you should look in the mirror yourself—”

“I’m about to be a family man now. I’ve seen the light.” Nate smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. Nate was engaged to marry Willow Emery and together they were adopting her three-year-old niece, Lucy Emery. Lucy’s parents had been the victims of what might be the copycat murder of the twenty-year-old McGregor double homicide.

If the unit could find a lead on the cold case then maybe they’d finally get somewhere on the recent Emery murder, too. His brain still teased him that there was something about the true crime shows he’d watched that could help. If only he could remember what.

He shook his head at Nate. “So I’m driven. Everyone on this team is. It’s the nature of the job.”

“Yeah, we are.” Henry lifted his chin as if pointing at him. “But you take it to a whole other level. I’m just pleased you used to have a life.”

Nate and Bradley laughed and walked ahead of them toward the meeting room, following their unit commander, Sergeant Gavin Sutherland, and the other K-9 officers for their morning briefing. Giving each other grief was par for the course, and Ray gave as good as he got, so he shook the teasing off and took his last sip of coffee.

“You ever think about getting her back?” Henry asked.

“It was five years ago, Henry. Ancient history.”

“Ah, I get it.” He sighed with compassion. Henry was known for speaking his mind, even if it wasn’t his business. He’d recently been placed on modified desk duty for claims of excessive force, even though he insisted he’d followed protocol when the suspect went for Henry’s gun. Internal Affairs was investigating, and the wait was tough on everyone.

They walked together into the room. “I ended the relationship,” Ray said. “But now I’m the lead officer on her case.”

He had ended it—and questioned the wisdom of that decision multiple times. Last night’s conversation with Karenna had played on a loop, the main reason he couldn’t sleep. Everything looked less clear in the morning light, but he wasn’t about to start analyzing his feelings now. The past was the past.

“Good luck with that,” Henry teased.

Ray mock rolled his eyes then looked across the table. “Are we getting started, Sarge?”

Gavin glanced at the clock in the room over Eden Chang’s shoulder. As their resident tech guru, she wasn’t normally part of the meeting, but she was explaining something about a fix to the sergeant’s tablet. Gavin nodded and excused her with a thumbs-up. “Thanks. Glad we hired an expert who’s a true tech genius in all regards.”

“Hired an expert.” Ray repeated the words aloud. Something clicked in his mind and he slapped his thigh in vindication. “We need to hire an expert, a genealogy expert, a geneticist. Something from a true crime TV show I saw a while back has been driving me crazy. Remember that serial killer in Wisconsin, back in the eighties?”

Officer Belle Montera’s eyebrow rose. “Hate to break it to you, but someone already solved that case.”

He ignored the laughter that followed. “It’s how they got him that’s been driving me crazy.” He glanced at Bradley, feeling a little awkward about sharing his unorthodox idea on how they might catch the man who murdered his fellow officer’s parents. At least Bradley’s sister wasn’t in the room. He didn’t want to raise false hope that they might bring their parents’ killer to justice.

Gavin turned to face him. “It was DNA, wasn’t it? We’ve already checked the databases dozens of times, Morrow. It’s a dead end.”

“No.” He shook his head. “We haven’t checked genealogy. You know how people send DNA in to find out their ancestry?”

“After a decade, my cousin finally found her birth father using one of those sites,” Henry said with a frown. “But those are private companies that aren’t open for us to use.”

“I know that. Hear me out. People can upload their encrypted findings to a public database to help them find other relatives.”

“That way people don’t all have to use the same service to locate relatives,” Eden, still standing next to Gavin, said with a nod.

“Law enforcement can access CODIS, the FBI’s combined DNA index system database,” Ray added. “And, if they find a match, they can issue a warrant to the private DNA sequencing firm that comes up. In the Wisconsin case, they contacted a geneticist that helped fill in the gaps of their collected DNA sample to help them find the closest relative in the database. Once they narrowed down the family group, they were able to pinpoint the suspect.”

“So you need a sleuthing geneticist willing to look at the DNA from the McGregor case and examine the public database.”

“Basically.” Ray nodded.

Eden crossed her arms. “I’ve got a connection to a geneticist we’ve been using in the NYPD off and on. She’s got a stack of cases ahead of us, but I think she might be willing to do us a favor and bump this up. I can contact her to come work with our forensics team, but I think she would tell you not to get your hopes up.”

Gavin nodded. “Nevertheless, this case is personal to the team, and I would think, with the media attention to the two murders, the higher-ups would have no problem bumping this up the forensic ladder. No stone unturned. Contact her.”

Ray blew out a breath. Maybe God would finally listen to his prayers now and at least bring one murderer to justice. His phone vibrated. He normally had his phone muted during a meeting but contacts underneath his favorites tab still got through. Other than his mom and his sister, he only had one other person in that category, the one he’d added last night. A quick glance at the screen showed Karenna’s name.

I have news. Can we talk soon?

The text made his heart race even though there was nothing there to cause alarm. Still, he stood. “New development on the case I told you about, Sarge.”

Gavin nodded and Ray walked out the door to call her.

Penny McGregor, their records clerk and Bradley’s sister, waved him down. Penny was only twenty-three and, like everyone in the unit, Ray always felt protective toward her. “We got the results on those pills you wanted tested.”

Ray studied the report she handed him. He hadn’t wanted to be right. The results confirmed his suspicions, though. This was now a drug-related case, which meant there was a dealer he needed to hunt down before anyone else got hurt. Especially Karenna.

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