Page 81 of Spark
After a brief exchange of totally loaded glances, Sinclair took the lead.“About ninety minutes ago, a hacker who goes by the alias Runner came in and asked to speak to someone in Intelligence.Obviously, we weren’t here, but when she said she had sensitive information pertaining to the Navarro case, the night captain called me in.This is Runner, a.k.a., Tatum Gray.”
Sinclair gestured to the woman sitting in the interview room on the other side of the one-way mirror in front of them.She was a tall, rail-thin brunette who couldn’t be older than twenty-five, wearing black winged eyeliner, torn jeans, and a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar pair of running shoes.
“Holy shit,” Tyler said, his jaw dropping.“She’s the hacker who works for Leo Navarro?”
Capelli spoke up.“This is where things get a little complicated.Tatum—Runner—claims that she has direct access to information that will prove Navarro’s guilt, and she hinted that she’s the person who hacked into the lab’s security and containment systems to take them offline on the night of the fire.She also claims Navarro told her to get Esme’s identity from our database.”
“Oh, my God.”Chloe turned pale, and Tyler’s legs didn’t feel entirely steady at the news, either.
“Esme is safe,” Addison promised.“Runner didn’t access the information.We sent Officer Dade to go sit on the house with her patrol unit as an absolute precaution, but we have no reason to believe that the database was breached.”
“Runner is good,” Capelli said, “but I’mverygood.If she’d gotten in, I’d know.”
“So, if you have her as Navarro’s accomplice, why are we all here?”
Addison took back over, her face locked in a frown.“Because she’s refusing to go on the record with any of it until she gets full immunity, in writing.”
“Has she lawyered up?”Tara asked, but only after she’d made a sound that suggested a deal with those terms would never happen.
“No,” Sinclair said.“Right now, she’s here voluntarily, but we have techs working on connecting her to Navarro, trying to find leverage so we can charge her.”
Tara looked at Capelli, then Garza, Maxwell, and Xander.“I’d love to make that happen before I’m done meeting with her, please.I’m going to need anything I can get.”
“We’re on it,” Maxwell said, already headed toward the Intelligence office with the other three men right behind him.
“Okay.”Tara straightened her shoulders and turned toward Sinclair.“Let’s go see what we can find out.”
Tyler’s heart pounded, his pulse pressing against his ears, and he put an arm around Chloe, although whether it was to reassure her or keep himself steady, he honestly couldn’t be sure.She leaned into him, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.“Soon,” he whispered, and she nodded.
Then, Tara and Sinclair were in the interview room.“Ms.Gray,” Tara said, walking into the place like she owned not just it, but the whole damn building, and sitting across from Runner.“I’m A.D.A.Kingston-Matthews, and this is Sergeant Sinclair, with the Intelligence Unit.”
Runner’s brows went up.“You all do not fuck around, do you?”
“We do not,” Tara said, “so let’s get right to it, shall we?You have information on the fire at Dynamics Lab Corporation?”
“Yup,” Runner said without even a blink.Jesus.“The fire.The Sal Brinkman murder.Like, fifty other crimes, including drug running, money laundering, other murders.The possibilities are endless.But it’s going to cost you.”
Addison let out a soft curse, and Tyler agreed.This woman had some stainless steel balls.
“Your information would have to be credible,” Sinclair said, his tone suggesting he thought she couldn’t deliver.“Enough to put Navarro away for more than a lifetime.”
“Done.I know he’s on your radar, because I track you tracking him, and trust me.You don’t know the half of what that guy has done.My terms are simple.I tell you everything I know, and back it up with protected testimony and hard evidence, and I walk.You put his ass away forever, and everyone lives happily ever after.Or”—Runner lifted a too-thin shoulder halfway before letting it drop, but in that instant, Tyler saw it.She’s scared—“you say no and I call my attorney.You charge me, which maybe sticks and maybe doesn’t.But then, you don’t get anything you need to put Navarro away, including the information I have to keep your witness safe.”
Chloe gasped, turning toward Addison.“Can she do that?If Navarro finds out Esme’s identity?—”
“Sinclair won’t let that happen,” Addison said, although she sounded a little like she was convincing herself.
Tyler exhaled slowly.He knew how to keep it together when shit went pear-shaped.He’d do whatever it took to keep Esme safe, and right now, that meant trusting Tara and Sinclair.
Sinclair eyed Runner, his stare subarctic.“We’ve got solid evidence against Navarro without you.I’m not inclined to let you get away with murder.”
“I never murdered anybody,” Runner said, eyes round and wide.“I knew about a lot of stuff, yeah, but it was all after the fact.I deal in information only, and unless you want a dead witness on your hands, you want what I know.He's going to find a way to get to that information, with or without me.Trust me, you need to take him off the street before he gets it.”
“Please,” Chloe whispered, ripping at Tyler’s heart.
Tara sat back.Crossed her arms over her dark blue blouse.Then said, “I can talk to the D.A.about reduced charges in exchange for full cooperation.But it’s going to depend on what you give us, and you’re going to need to start talking.Now.”
Tyler would give her credit.Runner knew when she’d been matched.
