Page 61 of Jina

“Come in. Gabe, do you have something for us?” Rhy asked.

“Yes.” Gabe pushed his glasses up on his nose in a nervous gesture. “I’ve been digging into that guy who assaulted Jina in college, Rory Glick. I just heard back from the Tulsa cop who agreed to go over to Glick’s last-known address to speak with him. He just let me know that Rory’s parents haven’t seen him in a few days.”

“You’re saying he could be here in Milwaukee.” Rhy drummed his fingers on the table. “That’s interesting.”

“They don’t know where he is, but yes, it’s possible,” Gabe said. “I’ve requested a search warrant to look at his recent debit and credit card purchases.”

“Do you have enough evidence for that?” Cole asked.

“I think so. The guy hasn’t shown up for his warehouse job and has a clear reason to hate Jina.” Gabe shrugged. “I think we’ll get it.”

“Good work, Gabe,” Rhy said. “Stay focused on Glick, we’re relying on your expertise to tease out key information from his credit and debit reports. We can start digging into Jeff Klapper. His middle name is Thomas, and I think he lives in West Angelo.”

As Rhy spoke, Cole used his computer to access Jeff Thomas Klapper’s DMV records. “He does live in a small house in West Angelo. But he doesn’t drive a black Honda.”

“Why don’t we head to the gym to see if he’s there?” Cassidy asked.

“I’d rather call Mike, the owner first. He knows his members better than anyone.” He pulled out his phone to make the call.

“This is Mike,” the owner answered on the second ring.

“Hey, Mike, it’s Cole. Do you know a guy named Jeff Klapper?”

“Sure, I know him, why?”

“Is he there, now?” Cole asked.

“Not that I noticed, he tends to come only on his days off work, but I can check.” There was a brief pause. “Why are you asking? I thought you and Jina didn’t think any of my members were responsible for the shooting?”

“To be honest, we’re running out of leads. We just need to cover all bases.” There was a long moment of silence, indicating Mike wasn’t buying that story. “Honestly, Mike, this is a guy we’d like to cross off our suspect list. Nothing for you to worry about.” He hoped.

Mike let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Lemme put you on hold for a moment.” There was nothing but silence for a full sixty seconds. “Cole? You’re in luck. Jeff is here.”

“He is?” He pinned Jina with a hopeful look. “Can you keep him there until we arrive?”

“I’ll try. But Jeff isn’t one for small talk. Get here soon.” Mike quickly ended the call.

“Let’s go.” Jina was already on her feet. “I’m sure a brief chat about where he’s been over the past twenty-four hours will clear him.”

“I’m coming with you,” Grayson said. She didn’t argue but tossed him the keys.

“Do you want more backup?” Zeke asked.

“I think three cops can handle it,” Rhy said. “But before you go, Cole, send us that list of gym members. We’ll keep looking at things from our end.”

As Rhy rattled off his email address, Cole typed it in and hit send. Then shut the computer, leaving it on the table. He doubted the conversation with Klapper would take long, and they’d be back here within the hour.

As they drove to the MMA gym, he thought about the possibility of Rory Glick coming to Milwaukee to confront Jina. While he had the biggest reason to resent Jina, it seemed unlikely that he’d be smart enough to set a bomb, a fire, track her phone, and shoot at her.

If not Glick, then who? Klapper? Or someone else?

“Take the next exit,” Jina told Grayson. The guy had pushed the speed limit so they wouldn’t miss him. “Then head south.”

“I’ve heard of the gym but never been inside,” Grayson said.

“I like it.” Jina frowned, then added, “At least I used to. Not sure after all of this.”

When Grayson pulled into the parking lot, there were only a handful of vehicles scattered around. The hour was closing in on eleven in the morning, which wasn’t peak gym hours for those who worked.

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