Rafael by Faith Gibson Read Free Book Online

job and to double-check all reports. She
didn’t trust anyone else to that task, not after the governor had questioned
one that was less than perfect. Never again would her department look
incompetent. If it took her all night, she looked over every report that came
in before they were sent on up the judicial chain of command.
    As she walked
through the lobby past the bullpen, she greeted the few overnight employees by
name. One thing she made sure of was that the office was stocked with decent
coffee. She needed her caffeine fix as much as the next person, and she refused
to drink sludge. Her team didn’t make a lot of money, so she didn’t want them
spending what they did make on expensive, barista drinks. She poured herself a
cup of hot, steamy, wake-me-up and settled in for the day.
    Several cups of
coffee and a couple of hours later, her day team began coming in, grumbling and
complaining as they did most mornings. Being a cop was a rewarding job when the
bad guys were caught, but when they had a case like they did now, it wore on
your soul. Kaya waited until all bodies were feeling the caffeine running
through their system before she wrangled them into the conference room. She had
learned a lot about dealing with a large group of mostly testosterone laden men
over the years; let them know right away your balls are bigger but mother them
at the same time. From the moment she was promoted to chief, she laid down the
law, and her team listened. She proved herself time and again in the field,
garnering the respect of those who didn’t think a woman should be a cop, much
less chief.
    With their early
morning brief over, she stopped Dane and Jorgenson. After she had left the
hotel, the two of them spent the next several hours interviewing all of the
hotel staff before going through the guest rooms. There was no sign of
struggle, no sign of a break-in. Whoever pulled off an abduction of that
magnitude could not have managed it alone. There were a few of employees they
wanted to talk to again as well as all of the managers.
    Jorgenson walked
off to get busy, but Dane held back. “You okay, Boss? You seem tense.” He
usually offered up his dimpled grin that she was positive melted the panties
off certain young women. Hell, if she was honest, that grin made her stop and
take notice in the beginning. Today he was holding back, almost sounding
concerned.
    “No, Abbott, I’m
really not. We have eleven dead, one missing and very few leads. We need
something and soon because Magnus Flanagan’s chances are sliding down the
percentage scale quickly.” She was shocked when he gripped her shoulder with a
small squeeze. “Hang in there. I’m going to check on the lead I got. I’ll let
you know how that goes.”
    He walked away
leaving Kaya speechless. Well hell.
    Kaya was going
over the previous night’s reports when her desk phone rang. “Chief Kane.”
    “I have
information on your murders. I saw Rafael Stone leaving the scene just after
daybreak yesterday.” The line went dead. The voice on the other end had been
distorted by an electronic device.
    She stared at
the receiver a beat before hanging up. First, only those in law enforcement or
higher up knew the number to her office phone. Second, time of death still had
not been released. Dante had called Kaya yesterday while she had been meeting
with Rafael.  She later returned his call when he informed her of the cause as
well as time of death. The bodies were found at approximately ten a.m., and the
ME estimated the murders happened at approximately eight that same morning.
    Since the sun
came up right at eight, the time frame fit. Unless Dante shared TOD with
someone outside of his department, he and Kaya were the only ones with that
information. Well, them and the killer. She picked up her phone and dialed his
department.
    “Morgue. They
dice ‘em, we ice ‘em.”
    Kaya would never
get used to the young assistant. “Trevor, this is Chief Kane. Please put Dante
on