Page 103 of Code of Courage

CHAPTER49

Gabe opened the envelope addressed to law enforcement and read the letter inside. After going through all the documents, the letter was what he feared. In neat block printing, D.K. Hill confessed to why he had hidden such explosive evidence away.

Gabe stood up and paced, wondering what his next step should be. The tape caught his eye. He had to know what was on it. He didn’t have a cassette player and he wondered if they were even still sold.

He knocked on his neighbors’ door. They were an older couple, and he knew they were new technology averse. Sure enough, they had an old cassette player. He took it home and plugged the machine in, hard-pressed to remember when he’d last listened to a cassette tape.

He pushed Play, and the introductions of an interview began.

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Danni drove to the Heights, expecting a song and dance at the gate. But the man working today was someone she knew.

“Danni, what a nice surprise!” Al Benton, a retired cop and good friend of her father’s, was security today.

“Al, I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Yeah, had to pick up some hours to help pay my wife’s credit card bills. But it’s an easy gig. Who are you here to see?”

“Mayor White.”

“Something big going on?”

“Why? Has she gotten a lot of visitors?”

“A lot? No. But the city prosecutor is there. And Daddy Hoffman just arrived a little bit ago. He’s been on vacation, cut it short. He rarely visits, so I figure something is up.”

CP Madden was there; this information gave Danni pause. She didn’t know the woman, could only judge her by her actions, and Danni hated her actions. HoffmanSr. was a surprise as well. All they could hope was that White would talk to them.

“We just have a couple of questions for the mayor.”

He opened the gate. “I’ll call and let them know you’re coming.”

“Thanks, Al. Good to see you.”

“You too. Be safe!”

Danni drove through the gate, remembering her visit to see HoffmanJr. Elise White lived maybe two blocks from her brother in a much larger house. Danni was apt to call it a compound. As she approached the residence, she realized this wasthe property in the photographs they’d found in Croft’s rental.

When she pulled up in the driveway, a security guard stood waiting just outside the gate. Like her brother, Mayor White had her security detail resemble Secret Service agents.

“Detective Grace, the mayor is not available at this time,” he said before she had a chance to speak.

“Can I ask when she will be available? We’re in the middle of an investigation, and we need to speak to her.”

“My orders are that she not be disturbed.”

Danni glanced at Marrs, who shrugged.

She was about to try a different argument when movement in the rearview mirror caught her eye. Someone on a bike.

“If there’s nothing else, Detective?” He clearly wanted them to leave.

The cyclist passed behind the car again.

“Look, bud,” Marrs began, but Danni put a hand up, cutting him off.

“Hey, we get it. We’ll get in contact with the mayor by phone and come back when it’s convenient for her.” She threw the car into reverse and backed out.

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