Boston Blues - BLACKBIRD book 2

5. chasing a shadow

Banks strode out of his office, phone to his ear, heading straight to the door. On his way out, he pointed at Taylor and barked, "Taylor! C'mon!"

Aldana waited for them outside a decayed building in the Mattapan area, and guided them up the stairs to the second floor, where a uniform stood guard outside an open door. They bent to walk into the taped-off apartment and found Gillian standing in the middle of the main room, her eyes scanning the scene.

"So this one drank himself to death?" asked Banks, crouching by an empty bottle fallen from the table onto the thin old rug.

"Or was persuaded to, yeah," said Gillian, going up to the open window.

"You mean Gallagher and Smith were persuaded to kill each other?"

"Looks like."

Banks frowned at her absentminded answers and straightened up to go by her side. She leaned in to take a closer look at the scratched wood of the windowpane.

"What is it, Reg?" he asked, lowering his voice. "What's bugging you?"

She turned to him for an instant, then her eyes moved all over the room and she shook her head, grimacing.

"How d'you catch a shadow, Bob?" she replied. "'Cause that's what we've got here. The man comes in and out at will, makes his victims kill themselves, doesn't leave any trace at all. Well, save the missing pictures."

"What?"

She led him across the room to an old collage of fading pictures on the wall. There she pointed at a photograph. One of the corners had more vivid colors.

"There's a missing picture here, and there was that empty frame at Gallagher's apartment, the one broken on the floor," Gillian said. "So he's taking trophies."

Aldana and Taylor stepped closer to them.

"Why trophies?" asked Taylor, curious. "Couldn't it be that he is in those pictures, and took them to keep us from identifying him?"

Gillian shook her head. "Maybe he knew the dealers. But their costumers/friends too? Don't think so."

"The first picture was taken from Gallagher's place, not from Gale Smith's, who we think was the actual target," explained Banks.

"D'you have any lead as to who hired him?" Aldana asked Banks.

When Banks shook his head, she produced her phone.

"Any idea how he gets in and out?" asked Taylor.

Gillian pointed at the window. "Both apartments have direct access to the fire escapes."

Taylor strode across the room to the open window, producing a pair of latex gloves from his pocket. Gillian allowed herself a little smile and followed him. Aldana and Banks stayed behind and she made a call.

"Hey, Kurt, why am I not surprised you took the morning shift?" Aldana said on the phone. "Listen, we need to take a look at Garcia's finances. Pull all of his known associates and see if any of them made some significant transfer or withdrawal—five-figure significant."

"You think their busted boss is behind this," said Banks when Aldana disconnected.

"It'd make more sense than any new player in town, who could use experienced dealers that already know their turf."

"Yeah, that's what I think, too."

They turned to the window and found Gillian and Taylor gone. When they looked out, they saw the other two climbing down the shaky metal steps to the narrow alley between buildings.

Banks flashed a mischievous smirk and called out, "Hey, guys, if you needed the room, you should've just said so!"

He and Aldana scoffed when Taylor looked up at them embarrassed, and even blushing. Gillian smirked back at them.

"Looks like the wedding band killed your imagination, Bob!" she retorted. "Nothing like a wild rush in the alley!"

Taylor was about to jump to the ground, and at her words he almost tripped and fell, making the others laugh out loud.