Chapter 5 - Roman's First LieJude wanted Roman to be wrong.
He wanted fear to have made his brother stupid.
Instead, Roman opened a locked cabinet and removed a folder.
Inside were city tow contracts.
Invoices.
Handwritten notes.
Copies of checks.
Jude recognized Captain Everett Shaw's signature on three authorization forms.
Not enough to prove criminal activity.
But enough to explain Roman's fear.
“What is this?”
Roman poured coffee with a shaking hand.
“Insurance.”
“Against Shaw?”
“Against everybody.”
“Start at the beginning.”
Roman looked older than forty-one.
“When Dad died, Barrett Recovery was drowning.”
Henry Barrett had been a good mechanic and a terrible businessman.
Seven years earlier, after his heart attack, Roman inherited debts Jude never knew existed.
Tax liens.
Equipment loans.
Lawsuit settlement.
Nearly two million dollars.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You were a cop making seventy grand.”
“I was family.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“Exactly why I didn't tell you.”
Jude almost walked out.
More protection through silence.
Roman continued.
Shaw approached him.
City contracts.
Overflow impounds.
Easy money.
Legitimate at first.
Then certain vehicles came with special instructions.
Hold them off books.
Release only with a specific code.
Sometimes parts were removed.
Sometimes VIN plates changed.
Roman claimed he objected.
Shaw reminded him the company depended on municipal contracts.
Then Peter Voss became the middleman.
“Peter worked for us.”
“I know.”
“He knew how to move cars.”
“So you let him.”
Roman stared at Jude.
“Yes.”
The word hurt more because he didn't dodge.
“How long?”
“Five years.”
“Before Mara?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know stolen vehicles were coming through?”
“Eventually.”
“Evidence vehicles?”
“Eventually.”
Jude slammed both hands on the desk.
“Stop saying eventually like chronology is morality.”
Roman flinched.
“You want a cleaner confession?”
“I want truth.”
“I took money.”
“How much?”
“Over five years?”
Roman looked down.
“About nine hundred thousand.”
Jude stepped back.
His brother had been laundering stolen property through the family business.
“Did you kill Mara?”
Roman looked horrified.
“No.”
“Did you know the truck hit her?”
“Not when it arrived.”
“When did you know?”
Silence.
“Roman.”
“The next morning.”
Jude felt physically cold.
“You knew.”
“I recognized damage after news.”
“And?”
“I called Shaw.”
Jude's jaw tightened.
“What did he say?”
“That truck had nothing to do with Mara.”
“You believed him?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Jude stared.
Roman's eyes filled.
“I did nothing.”
Five years.
Jude had mourned.
Investigated.
Asked Roman for help.
And Roman knew a likely suspect vehicle had been in his yard.
“You altered the invoice.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Shaw told me to.”
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
Jude turned away.
Roman's voice broke.
“He said if I gave you anything, he'd make sure you were found with planted evidence.”
Jude turned back.
“What evidence?”
“Cash. Drugs. A seized firearm. Whatever worked.”
“And you believed him?”
“I'd already watched him destroy Noah.”
Silence.
Roman knew Noah survived.
At least briefly.
“What happened when Noah called?”
Roman stared at the desk.
“He called from Carson City.”
“You told him to stay dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Shaw was in my office.”
Jude stopped.
“What?”
“He had come because somebody reported a pay-phone call to one of our lines.”
“How would he know?”
“I don't know.”
“Then?”
“Phone rang. Noah asked for me.”
Roman's eyes filled.
“Shaw put a gun on the desk.”
Jude's breathing changed.
“He told me to tell Noah if he cared about you, he'd disappear.”
“So you did.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever try to tell me later?”
“Every time I thought about it, Shaw had something new.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
Roman looked up.
“I was a coward.”
For the first time, Jude believed him completely.
Not innocent.
Not excused.
A coward.
“What is the Blue Yard?”
Roman took a breath.
“Old paint-storage lot Dad bought outside Fernley.”
“Why blue?”
“Fencing used to be blue.”
“Who owns it?”
“Shell company.”
“Yours?”
“Technically.”
“What happens there?”
“Vehicles that need to disappear.”
Jude swallowed.
“Bodies?”
Roman's face changed.
“I don't know.”
That answer might be true.
“Take me.”
“No.”
“Roman.”
“If Shaw knows Noah is alive, the Yard will be gone by now.”
“Take me anyway.”
Roman stood.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me.”
Roman opened another cabinet.
Removed a photograph.
Mara Ellis standing beside Jude at a department awards dinner.
Jude stared.
On back, a date.
Three days before Mara died.
And handwriting:
SHE IS ASKING ABOUT BLUE. HANDLE.
Jude looked at Roman.
“Where did this come from?”
“My windshield.”
“When?”
“The morning after she died.”
Jude's stomach turned.
A message.
To Roman.
Not proof he killed her.
Proof somebody wanted him silent.
“Shaw?”
“I assumed.”
“Did you see him leave it?”
“No.”
“Then don't give me assumptions.”
Roman nodded.
Jude photographed everything.
Roman grabbed his arm.
“Don't put that on your phone.”
Jude looked at him.
“Why?”
“That is what they wanted last night.”
The roadside robbery.
The phone.
Roman continued.
“Somebody knows you photographed Mara's invoice.”
“How?”
Roman stared.
“I told Shaw.”
Jude went still.
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
His brother had given the enemy exactly what they wanted.
Roman whispered,
“He asked why you were looking at old tow files.”
“And you told him?”
“I thought if I acted normal—”
Jude pulled his arm away.
“You keep thinking compliance buys safety.”
Roman looked destroyed.
“It buys time.”
“No.”
Jude stared at him.
“It rents the illusion.”
Then Jude's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One text.
NOAH IS NOT IN CUSTODY ANYMORE.
Jude's pulse jumped.
He called Amara.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then another message.
ASK WHO SIGNED HIS RELEASE.
Jude opened the department booking system.
Noah Keene—logged under Tanner Beck—had been transferred out forty minutes earlier.
May you like
Authorized by:
CAPTAIN EVERETT SHAW.
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