Upside Down

69

Winter knew Faith Ann would beat Nicky to Algiers Point by a good ten minutes, but since the girl was on foot there was a chance he might spot her on the sidewalks.

As long as the cops didn't know she was on the ferry, Nicky had an advantage.

Winter and Adams returned to find Gale waiting with his dog.

“She exit?” Gale asked.

“She didn't go that way,” Adams said with certainty.

Winter nodded his agreement. “Guy who's been there for the last fifteen minutes said nobody came through the lobby from here.”

“Nobody saw her?” Gale asked. “She went into the hotel, right? I'm sure Beaux-Beaux can track her.”

“I said she didn't go that way,” Adams snapped.

The K-9 officer didn't protest when Winter suggested that they go back the way they'd come, to see where she'd pulled the last double-back on them.

Before they got to the parking deck, however, Adams stopped.

“Officer Gale,” he said. “You did a great job. I'm going to see that you get an FBI commendation for your effort. A nice letter from my director won't hurt your career.”

“She got away,” Gale said. “I'm sure she went into the hotel.”

“I am going to ask you to do me a favor,” Adams said.

“What's that?”

“Unless your superiors ask you directly, don't go into specific detail about the tracking.”

“Sir?”

“For your and Beaux-Beaux's sake.”

“I'm sorry?”

“It's just that if it comes down to a question of whether we screwed up, or if Beaux-Beaux here isn't up to the job, or whether your handling was questionable… you know what we're going to put in our reports. And if we do, the Director won't be sending any letters or issuing any glowing commendations.”

“But it was the bleach,” Gale said defensively. “It killed the trail for a few seconds.”

“I smelled it before we opened that last door,” Adams said.

“Me too,” Winter agreed. “We thought you'd pull the dog back to save his nose, but you went straight through the door.” He knelt to pat the dog's head. “Tell you what, Gale. Let's just agree that the trail looped back in on itself, which isn't a lie. We'll forget your mistakes, or whatever.”

Gale stared down at Winter.

“She just outfoxed us,” Winter said.

Gale stood listening, his eyes unreadable.

“You can keep tracking. Start over and follow the trail from scratch. Try and pick up her scent around the building, while we do a search on our own. Maybe she went back through the atrium and through some shops or something. Radio when you find her. You can be the hero. It's fine with us. That way our asses will all be covered.”

“But…”

“Go on. We'll buy you and Beaux-Beaux some time. We'll tell Suggs you're still looking.”

“You sure?” Gale asked suspiciously.

Adams and Winter nodded.

“I'll just take that swing through and see if we can scare her up.”

Winter and Adams watched as K-9 Officer Gale and Beaux-Beaux strode back up the ramp.

“That should buy us some time,” Adams said.

“I'm glad you're on my side,” Winter said. “Let's see how fast we can get across the bridge.”

Even though they had taken Suggs by surprise and bluffed their way into holding back twenty itchy-fingered cops, there was no real proof that Suggs was intending to harm Faith Ann and nothing to tie Suggs into Bennett other than Bennett's words. Suggs knew he was under suspicion, but for the moment Winter needed to keep him and his Tin Man team guessing. Whoever the couple was, they were only tied into Tinnerino and Doyle and Bennett. Until he knew who they were, there was nothing to be gained in mentioning them.

When Winter and Adams came out, Manseur was standing near Suggs's car, between Suggs and Tinnerino. He didn't smile when he saw Winter and Adams.

“Well?” Suggs said. Winter thought he saw something akin to relief in his eyes.

“We lost her trail. Officer Gale is trying to find it,” Adams said.

“So she's still in there?”

“If she is, she didn't hear me calling.”

“Or maybe she isn't as innocent as you think,” Suggs said.

“I believe she is innocent,” Winter said. He turned to Manseur, whose face remained unreadable. “Detective, I'm sorry I didn't level with you and tell you Trammel and Porter were related.”

“So am I,” Manseur said sourly. He was a good actor, but all good cops are.

“Well, I'm going to remedy that. Since you are here,” Winter said as he handed Manseur his card, “she'll be in good hands. I need to check on Hank and talk to some people. The K-9 officer will find her. When you find her I expect a call, and Commander Suggs has her lawyer's name. Call him too.”

Manseur turned his eyes to Suggs. Suggs nodded.

“I suppose I can do that,” Manseur said. “I'm sorry you don't trust us to do the right thing.”

“We'll see what happens. You're alerted to our presence and we are going to be watching you.”

Adams looked into Suggs's eyes and straightened the knot of his tie as though Suggs's round face was a mirror. “Captain, are you familiar with a man named Jerry Bennett?”

Suggs flashed a pained grin. “Mr. Bennett is very well-known in the community. Why?”

Adams smiled. “No reason in particular. Massey and I visited with him earlier. I'd be willing to bet you he's not half as well-known as he's going to be in the near future. He mentioned that you advised him to file charges against Amber Lee for embezzlement, and it happens that she was murdered, and you are in charge of investigating her murder. Faith Ann told my son that she did not call 911 because a policeman killed her mother and Amber Lee, and that the police are trying to kill her.” There. It was all out on the table.

Manseur dropped the indignant look and adopted a perplexed one.

“That about all?” Suggs's grin was erased, his skin tone a bleached cotton white, which made his reddening ears stand out.

“Bennett told us you are very close friends,” Adams said.

“I'd hardly call us friends, and I don't recall advising him to file charges against Amber Lee. Perhaps he was mistaken.”

“I'm not telling you how to run your detective bureau, but I assume you'll want to bring Manseur here up to speed on the Porter/Lee case, since they are intertwined. I'd think someone like him should be in charge of both cases. Since he hasn't been mentioned by a person of interest in this.”

Manseur fought back a smile.

“I had already decided that very thing,” Suggs blustered. “I was just about to discuss that with him.”

Winter and Adams left Suggs standing on the sidewalk and walked briskly toward their waiting car.

“You know, this is exactly how I felt back in high school while I was walking away from the boys' bathroom knowing that the cherry bomb I just flushed was about to go off,” Adams said.