CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 85: DETECTIVE

I was invited by the Boss to a nightclub where we would discuss my mission. I knew this was my chance to connect him to the mafia. I finally had his trust and I would be working closely with him. I needed a good plan so as to not get caught, but still get the proof I needed to put him in jail, hopefully for good. There was only one flaw in my plan to expose him: I would have to expose myself and everyone would know I, a police officer, was working for the mafia without permission from the department. I couldn't let them put me behind bars. Birdie needed me and I needed Birdie.

I decided I would try to get proof that Spiney, the well-respected judge, was involved in the mafia, but I wasn't going to do anything with the evidence until I was sure I would be safe from both the mafia and the justice system. For now, I just needed to find a way to record Spiney without getting caught.

In no time, I had a plan. I would get him a gift, an expensive gift that he wouldn't throw out, something that he would keep on him, or at least on his desk. I would put a small mic inside to record the audio. Now all I needed to do was find a good gift for him.

I remembered he had a puzzle on his desk so he probably liked puzzles, but I couldn't put a mic inside of a puzzle piece, and puzzles didn't last that long anyway. A necklace would be best but I doubted Spiney would wear a necklace. I thought longer about it and came up with a pen. A pen would be perfect if I could find one big enough to fit a mic inside. Spiney would probably prefer a bigger pen anyway and who would expect a mic to fit inside? The only problem was, pens weren't expensive. They easily get lost or thrown out. I would have to find a really fancy pen that he would really like.

I searched online and found the perfect one. It was nice and thick, had a little bit of gold on it, and the middle resembled the stain-glass windows at the Catholic church Spiney attended. I was sure he would love it and I could easily take it apart and slip a mic inside so I bought it. Now I just needed to get a tiny mic that would work for days without having to be plugged in, but there was only one place I could get one: from the detectives.

I went to work early to talk to the detectives. They were in the briefing room talking to some other officers. I quietly stepped in, holding my morning coffee. One of the detectives was standing at the front, writing names on the whiteboard. I recognized some of the names as guys who worked for the mafia. Rockie's name wasn't up there though.

"But the biggest threat is a guy we don't know the name of," the detective said. "He's a black dog, looks like some kind of German Shepherd mix. Unfortunately, we don't have any good pictures of him. This is the best one we have." He stuck a dark, blurry picture onto the whiteboard. It was too dark and blurry to make out anything.

The detective turned around to face the crowd and I caught his eye. "Officer Federici," he said. "This briefing isn't for you. I'm gonna need to kindly ask you to step out."

The other detective walked over to me. "I've actually been meaning to talk to you," he said. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," I said.

We stepped out of the room.

"Charlie Hayes," he said. "In case you forgot."

I shook his paw. "Crypto Federici. I wanted to talk to you as well."

"I'll go first," Charlie said. "How did you find out Nitro's license plate number?"

"It was actually by accident," I told him. "I just saw a car parked in a parking lot for too long. I thought it was suspicious so I wrote the license plate number down to check out later. I didn't know the car belonged to Nitro."

"Which parking lot?"

"The one in front of Sebastian's Kitchen."

"I wonder what he was doing there for so long. We'll have to check it out."

"Make sure you check the back," I said. "I didn't see him in the dining area."

The detective seemed to think deeply about something for a few seconds and then he asked me, "Did you happen to recognize any of the names on the board in there?"

"No. I don't think so. I didn't get a good look at them," I lied. What am I doing? I thought. This detective can help me. He's on my side. Why am I lying to him? I could trust him... right? "But," I told him, "the dog in the picture might actually be a Belgian Malinois."

"Belgian Malinois you say?" he asked.

"Yeah. They're smaller and slimmer than German Shepherds."

"Anything else?"

I thought for a moment. Should I really give him more information than that? I don't want to give myself away. What I'm doing is illegal. I decided to take the chance. "Maybe he can turn invisible," I said. "Maybe that's why you're having a hard time catching him."

"Maybe..." he said, giving me a skeptical look. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, I...." I couldn't ask for an audio recorder now. He was already onto me. "Nevermind. It wasn't important."

"No. What is it?" he asked.

"I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about the explosion from last year. The one that killed all those animals."

"I can't say that I do," Charlie said.

"Okay. Well, that's all."

"Would you like to come back in and take a look at those names?"

"No, thanks. I should get to work. My partner's probably waiting for me. Maybe another time."

The detective went back into the room and I went down the hall. With both detectives in that room, their offices would be empty.

I came to Detective Hayes' office but it was locked so I tried the office next to his which belonged to detective Clark and the door opened. I walked in and checked for cameras first and once I was sure I wasn't being recorded, I started opening drawers, searching for a small recording device. My heart pounded as I hoped nobody would come by and see me snooping around.

Finally, I found it among a bunch of other spy gear. There was even a pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera. I decided to leave it since the detective would probably notice if they were gone, and the mafia was probably too smart to fall for it anyway. I put the tiny audio recorder, which was in a small clear case, into my police uniform breast pocket. I walked out of the office and headed back down the hall just in time for roll call.