“Excuse me,” Kylie said. She had been casually snooping around the small living room while I kept Meredith busy. “Who’s this?”
She picked up a framed black-and-white photo from an end table and brought it over to where I could see it. It was a cop in uniform. NYPD.
“That’s my dad,” Meredith said. “He was killed in the line of duty.”
“I’m sorry,” Kylie said. “What happened?”
“He was working undercover trying to bring down this gang of Russian gun runners. Somehow his cover got blown, and they killed him.” She paused. “But not before he took two of them out first. They gave him the Medal of Valor.”
I took the picture from Kylie. He was a handsome man in his mid-thirties and a dead ringer for the cop I’d had drinks with last night. I no longer needed coffee. My adrenaline was going haywire.
“What was your dad’s name?” I said.
“David. David Casey.”
I mentally kicked myself. “I know a Detective Dave Casey. He works Anti-Crime.”
She smiled—clearly proud. “That’s my brother. How do you know him?”
“He helped us out. Good guy,” I said. “Do you think you might have possibly mentioned anything to him about Rachael?”
“No. I hardly talked to Dave that night. I went home with my boyfriend.”
“Did you say anything to him?” Kylie asked. She tried to sound casual, but Meredith immediately went back on the defense.
“No,” she said curtly. “I mean, I don’t know. I was miserable. I wound up drinking myself into a blackout.”
Kylie was on the attack now. “So you could have said something, but you don’t remember?”
“You sound more like a lawyer than a cop. I could have said something…but it’s highly unlikely.”
“But it is possible that under the influence, something could have slipped out.” Kylie smiled. “You know—unintentionally.”
Meredith grabbed on to the lifeline. Unintentionally.
“Who knows? Sure, it’s possible I might have said something to him unintentionally. But it’s okay—he’s a cop too. I’ve known him since we were kids. He’s my brother’s partner. If you know Dave, then you probably know him—Detective Bell. Gideon Bell.”
Chapter 74
It was the second sucker punch in less than an hour, only this time it was personal. As soon as we got back into the car, I exploded.
“I’m an idiot,” I said.
“Don’t take all the credit,” Kylie said. “I bought their bullshit too. We’re both idiots.”
“We’ve been chasing the wrong two cops.”
“Zach, I know. I figured it out.”
“I’m thinking back to the carousel. They told me they spent the entire night working undercover in the park, and my first thought was, Lucky me. My partner isn’t here yet, so the homicide gods sent two smart cops to bail me out.”
“They are smart,” Kylie said. “Do you think Meredith is in on it?”
“I doubt it. She gave up too much. If she had any clue what was going on, she’d have clammed up tight. I think our new best friends played her the same way they played us. She told Gideon exactly how to find Rachael O’Keefe, and she was too drunk to even remember that she did it.”
I still hadn’t started the car. I pounded the heel of my hand on the dashboard. “Goddamn Starbucks!” I yelled at the darkened windows across the street. “Don’t they know people need coffee at four thirty in the morning?”
“Get a grip,” Kylie said. “There’s a 7-Eleven on Forty-Second Street across from the post office. Calm down and drive.”
“You know what really kills me?” I said as I headed down Ninth, breezing through one red light after another.
“Yes. You got snookered. I’m not happy about it either, but men really fall apart when another guy gets the best of him.”
“I’m not falling apart. I just feel like such a fucking moron that I invited them into the inner circle and asked them to help us tail Donovan and Boyle. Talk about inviting the fox over to keep an eye on the henhouse.”
“Look on the bright side,” Kylie said.
“Point it out, will you?”
“We’ve been looking for the Hazmat Killer. I think we just figured out who it is.”
I pulled up to the NO PARKING ANYTIME sign in front of the 7-Eleven. “How do we prove it before they find out Rachael O’Keefe is expendable and kill her? We can’t arrest them. On what charges? That they might or might not have known where Rachael was hiding out?”