****
“Stop looking for me,” Lieutenant Winters read the note aloud. “It’s addressed to you, Genie.”
“Guess we know who it's from,” Genie said. She plucked the note from her boss’ hands. “The secretary at the front said Diego had called not long ago, insisting on his innocence?”
“He must be in contact with his sister if he knows we’re looking for him.” Rafa crossed his arms, staring intently at the note in Genie’s hand.
“Are you two any closer to finding this Diego Cera?” Winters asked.
Rafa and Genie exchanged hesitant glances. “No, sir,” Genie answered.
“And you’re hanging out here because? You’re not getting out of work that easily. Hit the streets,” Winters said in a gruff tone and started for his office.
Arching a brow at the retreating back of her boss, Genie sat down and woke her computer up. When Rafa didn’t take a seat, she set her questioning gaze on him. “What?” she asked.
“You know we’ll have to assume Diego is a suspect now that he’s made contact with us.”
Genie breathed out, her lips fluttering. “Normally I would agree with you, but something tells me this is more of a warning than an actual threat.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, how did he know to address it to me? Any number of detectives could have been assigned to his girlfriend’s case. But,” she insisted, “I gave his sister my card. Like you said, he’s probably in contact with her.”
Rafa nodded. The explanation made sense, but he wasn’t satisfied. “That doesn’t absolve him.”
Genie crossed her arms over her chest, her pose stubborn. “No, no, it doesn’t.”
He raised a brow. She didn’t argue with him. They were actually collaborating. He couldn’t help but smile.
Her brows bushed. “What are you smiling at?”
Rafa took a seat at his desk, interlocking his fingers behind his head. “I’m glad we’re actually a team on this.”
“A team?”
“You know, not going in opposite directions this time.”
The shy smile was back. A faint touch of pink graced her tawny cheeks. She fingered her hair, which she wore loose quite frequently, a welcome change from the harsh ponytail. Soft waves graced proud shoulders. Even donned head to toe in black for their surveillance, her feminine appeal could not be concealed.
His jaw hardened. Genie may be right. Diego might have zero connection to the Snakes, but if he did… if the note wasn’t a warning. This was one of the reasons he became a cop: to stop the violence.
Rafa glanced down at the stack of papers on his borrowed desk. He spotted a pink message note, indicating he had missed a call. He tweaked it from the top of the pile. Taking a seat and reading the message, he said, “I have a message here. The FBI called while we were out.”
“What do they have for us?” Genie had taken out a box of ballpoint ammunition and began loading a magazine.
“Looks like this investigation is about more than money.”
The space between Genie’s brows bunched. “Did they say drugs were involved?”
“Not exactly.”
Genie’s face scrunched as she expended energy to slide the last bullet into a magazine, tight with other rounds. “Well, what are we looking at?”
Rafa picked up a legal pad and tossed it onto her desk. “Human trafficking.”
Genie snatched up the pad. “Human trafficking?”
“I’m still waiting for the fax on the details, but a basic overview of La Cocina Dulce’s financials reveal a pattern of just under ten grand being transferred into their account at First State Bank over a series of months. The IRS has been notified and will launch an official investigation as soon as the FBI sends over a formal request for a joint operation.”
“How does human trafficking fit into this?”
“Well, I did a little digging into their employee records. For a restaurant barely a few years old, they’ve gone through over one hundred employees in the last year alone.”
Genie’s brows rose. “One hundred? Why is the turnover rate so high?”
“I compared the lengths of employments. There seems to be a core workforce that has been employed at the restaurant for a substantial period of time and then a large percentage of employees are listed as lasting only two weeks at the restaurant.”
“And so, after those two weeks?”
“A couple of name checks later and nothing. Either they’re here under assumed names or every single one of them has disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“Males and females?”
“I had an officer run a check on a few of both. Look, it’s not exactly verified, but…”
“But it’s a theory, and a good one,” she finished.
Her sincerity caused him to pause. She continued to read his notes, her mouth forming a few of the words on the page.
“There’s just one thing I’m not exactly sure about.” Genie looked up.
“What’s that?”
“What do our four victims have to do with either money laundering or human trafficking? I mean, it must have been extremely important to call in two assassins from across the country.”
“Don’t forget Diego Cera.”
“I haven’t,” she sighed, tossing the pad back to him. “Do you have any other theories?”
“Perhaps our vics interfered with the operation at the restaurant in some way. The Snakes would kill for that reason.”
An officer approached their desks. “Green, we have a report here for you.” He handed Genie a short stack of papers. “Long story short, Consuela Cruz used a credit card at the restaurant two nights before she was killed.”
Rafa frowned at the news. “And there’s our connection.”
“Right before closing,” Genie murmured as she continued to read the document. “But that’s it?” Genie looked up from the paper at him, confusion whirling in her eyes. “She orders some takeout and gets killed for it?”
Rafa dragged a hand through his hair. He mouthed a thank-you to the officer who stood uncomfortably by their desks. The officer departed. “At least we can place her at the restaurant. Maybe she saw something, or overheard something she shouldn’t have…”
“About the human trafficking?”
Rafa shrugged his shoulders, asking himself the exact same question. He tapped his pen on the desk, the rhythm of the beat allowing him to channel his energy into deciphering why the Snakes killed Consuela Cruz. It had to be related to the restaurant’s criminal activity.
“We need to re-interview Consuela’s children and associates, see if anyone knew whether she had a habit to order food from the restaurant that late.”
Rafa nodded at the idea Genie vocalized. They'd have to eliminate the option that perhaps she’d been at the wrong place at definitely the wrong time. Rafa shoved a few pages aside and picked up his copy of the case folder. He flipped the pages over the top of the folder until he came to the interviews regarding Consuela Cruz. Just as he remembered, no one mentioned anything about a late-night visit to La Cocina Dulce. Now they knew she had been seen at the restaurant, they’d have to re-interview everyone with that perspective in mind.
Genie looked at her watch. “Well, I think it’s getting late enough. Want to relieve the team watching Flores Cera’s house? I’ll see if I can’t get Franco to start the re-interviews.” Her gaze darted around the office and settled on Franco. Instead of grimacing, she smiled. “You know, I’m loving this new outlook I’m having about my coworkers.”
Rafa cocked an eyebrow in her direction.
Genie rolled her eyes. “It was your idea. Not seeing Franco as the enemy, but working with him — getting him to work with — or for — me.” Her eyes twinkled with satisfaction and perhaps a little bit of impishness.
Rafa laughed, his heart warming. She was taking his advice. Did that mean she trusted him? Or did she still see him as the teenager he’d like to forget, but didn’t hav
e the luxury? Rafa stood, putting on his jacket. Genie followed suit. He wouldn’t overanalyze her behavior. He was just happy to be in her good graces, especially as they had a long night ahead — just the two of them — in a small confined space.
The sway of her hips led him right out of the precinct and to the awaiting surveillance vehicle. He wanted to build on their fragile working relationship. But how far should he go? After they solved the case, he'd leave for Quantico and then…
Genie slammed the trunk and walked around to the passenger side. She opened her door and flashed him a smile. “You ready?”
He wasn’t sure, but he was all in.