Page 75 of Crosshairs

“Yep.”

Trilling smiled. “That’s smart. And I appreciate it.”

“You’re cleared to come back. If you want to work on our squad again.”

Trilling just looked at me. He didn’t say a word. I was starting to get used to that. I decided I could do the same thing. Then he just nodded and said, “When can I start?”

“Right now, if you’re up to it.”

A woman with short, dark hair walked past us. She gave us a quick look. Something about her seemed familiar to me.

Trilling interrupted my train of thought. “What’s the plan for Tavarez?”

“The best I’ve got right now is that we send a memo or report through the analysts’ room. We make sure it’s forwarded to the FBI as well. In it, we’ll talk about an unnamed cop who’s cooperating so he can skate on a whole slew of charges. Then we’ll see if Tavarez bites.”

“Sounds risky.”

I said, “I like the plan sounding risky rather than sounding crazy.”

“No, it’s crazy too.”

CHAPTER 94

I MADE IT home in time for dinner. I needed a respite from the craziness of this investigation. Rob Trilling and I had discussed the case. His initial anger had given way to understanding. I think his outlook could’ve best been described as “logical.” He understood duty and honor. That meant he understood I had been duty bound to investigate the possibility that he could have been the sniper.

I’d considered asking him to come home with me for dinner again. I knew Juliana would’ve been thrilled. But I didn’t know what the story was with the woman at Trilling’s apartment, and it wasn’t something I wanted to get into with him just yet. He and I both needed to focus on our incredibly dangerous plan to trap the sniper.

It was so nice to listen to the chatter around the table. Trent leaned in from the far end of the table to say to me, “I have some puns for your friend at work.”

“Walter?”

“Is that Mr. Jackson? The great big guy?”

“That’s him. I’m not sure I want to start the precedent ofmetellinghimpuns. But I’d definitely like to hear yours. Whatcha got?” I smiled at my son, who looked about to burst with excitement.

Trent said, “Hear about the butter rumor? Don’t spread it.” He got a couple of chuckles from the older kids, and Mary Catherine gave him a mercy laugh. The lack of a big reaction didn’t dissuade him. “I’ve got another.” He looked around the table to make sure he had everyone’s attention. A true showman. “I had a photographic memory. But I didn’t develop it.” That one got a better response.

Chrissy and Shawna jumped in with some basic riddles. Shawna’s was the best, asking, “Why did the rooster cross the road?” She didn’t wait for any guesses. “To prove he wasn’t a chicken.”

We all had to giggle at that one. I never knew my kids were so talented with jokes. I never really felt this way waiting for a pun to come from Walter Jackson. Then Jane cleared her throat and waited until everyone was looking at her. She glanced over at my grandfather, who nodded his encouragement.

Jane said, “I know I’ve been sort of secretive lately and hiding out at the library a lot. I’ve been getting tutoring and doing research for a speech I’ve been asked to deliver at Columbia because of my performance in Debate Club. It started last month and just sort of snowballed from there. I was jealous of Trent when he spoke at the mayor’s office, and it spurred me to work harder and do well. The speech is going to be this Friday night. I hope everyone can make it.”

My second oldest daughter is not prone to showing off, but shewas clearly quite satisfied with her announcement. She sat with a smile on her face as she glanced around the table. Then, with perfect delivery, she said, “You may all applaud now.”

Mary Catherine was quick to say, “Sounds like we have a great Friday night plan. Dinner, then we hear Jane rock Columbia.” She focused on Jane. “What are you talking about?”

Jane just smiled. “I was told I could talk about anything, so I’ll just tell you it has to do with our family. I’ll let you guys wonder about it until Friday. There has to be some mystery in our lives.”

The laughter and celebration were almost enough to take my mind off the sniper case.

CHAPTER 95

IT WAS AMAZING how much we accomplished with everyone working together. This hodgepodge team of homicide investigators, Internal Affairs investigators, analysts, and even an inspector had created a fake cop with a history and a court schedule.

I hated to admit it, but Dennis Wu had designed a realistic scenario in the fake memo. On the surface, the memo was only meant to warn law enforcement of unusual activity near one of the NYPD off-site buildings in lower Manhattan. The memo had just enough information to tease Joseph Tavarez and make him act. It basically said that a corrupt officer who was cooperating to avoid indictment would be meeting at the off-site building around 2 p.m. The extra cops were supposed to transport the bad cop to a hearing at 4 p.m.

We’d made sure the memo came through Joe Tavarez’s officearound 5 the previous evening. We wanted to also be sure that Tavarez saw the memo that night because his schedule had him listed as off duty today until 4 p.m.

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