Smitten (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hunter-

“So I got everything squared away with my contacts in Vegas.” Ripper hopped into the tow truck as I was getting ready to pull away from the curb. “The cars are all ready to roll. I just need to reserve the van for our return trip and wait for Cami to get out of class on Friday morning. Then we can take off for a weekend of drinking and partying-it-up with our latest cash flow.”

“Are you coming with me on this run?” I asked,
starting the truck. I was surprised to see him here on his day off.

He grinned. “Yeah, I’m bored. Everything
’s done at the shop, and Cami has class all day today. She’s practicing for some music concert.”

Memories of listening to Cami sing on stage washed over me as I pulled onto the road. I missed hearing her perform. Her voice was honestly the most angelic sound I’d ever heard. “Don’t even try to get her to ditch out on her music classes, dude. You’ll lose every time. Singing is like breathing to her—essential.”

“Is she any good at it?”

“The best. I see her performing on stage for a living someday. She’s gifted.”

“Hmmm. I may have to go see this concert after all.”

I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, feeling suddenly possessive of Cami’s voice. I didn’t want him to hear her sing. I knew he’d see how talented she was
, and he’d want her even more. It was stupid, really. People everywhere were going to hear her sing, but somehow, when she opened her mouth, it felt like she was singing just for me. I liked it that way.

Ripper let out a snort. “Maybe I’ll hop on stage and throw down with her a little—get some gangsta rap going on. She can sing the awesome chorus for me—you know, like Eminem and Rhianna or MGK and Ester Dean.” He laughed.

“You sing?” I found it hard to believe.

“Yeah, but only to the stereo in my car.” He slapped his leg as he laughed hilariously. “Cami and I need to come up with a Rapper name.”

I rolled my eyes. “They don’t sing those kinds of songs in college,” I said, seeing an opportunity to deter him.

“What do they sing then?” he asked, leaning to search the radio.

“A bunch of these religious type songs—in Latin. You know—like monks or something.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrows as if he were surprised. “I’m guessing I need to rethink attending this concert. That sounds brutal.”

“It really is,” I lied. Ripper was such a douche. He didn’t give a crap about Cami. She was only a conquest to him—some reserved girl for him to conquer. It made me wonder what he’d do with her if this whole situation were real. Would he wear her defenses down until he got her to sleep with him and then discard her? The very thought made me want to deck him.

“I’ve got to say—I’m surprised you’re so into Cami. She doesn’t seem like your type at all.”

He found a station he liked, and rap music filled the air. He leaned back and rolled the window down, beating out the rhythm of the song against the frame. “She isn’t really. I usually like my women fast and loose.” He laughed. “I mean, yeah, Cami’s gorgeous, but honestly I first acted into her because it seemed to annoy you so badly.”

I looked over at him, wondering where he was headed with this.

“I didn’t know you that well. You were some guy who showed up with my sister one night, and she claimed you were her new fling, so I decided to case things out a bit. I was surprised when I saw you meeting with this beautiful girl, and you seemed all nervous. I thought for a second you were hiding something—cheating on Roberta. It was clear you didn’t want me talking to Cami.”

My knuckles were turning white against the steering wheel. “So you’re dating my sister to piss me off?”

“Hell no! Once I got talking to her, I really liked her. She’s different—special.”

“And she better stay that way,” I warned.

He lifted his hands in a surrendering gesture. “You don’t have to worry about me. You’ve shown me the lengths you’ll go to protect her. So where we headed?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Ironically, one of the hotels called us out. The
y want us to haul off a car that’s been in a tow away zone for the last twenty-four hours.”

Ripper grinned. “Can we keep it?”

I laughed. “I seriously doubt that’s what they have in mind.”

“It would be nice for us
, though, wouldn’t it?” He lightly punched me in the shoulder as he chuckled at his own joke.

“It sure would.”

When we pulled up at the location, we found a nice BMW waiting for us.

“Damn. I really wish we could keep it now. I could make some dough on the resale of this thing.”

“Watching you around cars is like watching a kid in a candy shop. I swear you’d date one if you could,” I joked.

He chuckled. “A car would be the perfect girlfriend, don’t you think?” He made a gesture with his hands. “She’s got the perfect curves, puts out whenever you want, and waits patiently until you
’re ready to use her again. And this beauty?” he added pointing to the vehicle we were picking up. “Let’s just say I’d ride her hard.”

“Wow. Pipe down, bro,” I replied, giving him a concerned look. “I was only kidding.” I liked cars, but he was really taking it to the extreme. “If you want, I can call the mental hospital. Maybe they have a ward for
‘special’ car guys, and you can get the help you need.”

He laughed. “You’re such a pal. Let’s get this thing and go.”

It didn’t take us long to hook the vehicle up and head out again toward the impound yard. My thoughts were wandering aimlessly about how much longer this case was going to drag on when, suddenly, I heard a siren click on behind us. I glanced in the rearview mirror to find a squad car tailing closely behind us.

“Please pull to the right and stay in your vehicle,” a voice came over the loudspeaker.

“What the hell?” Ripper asked as he glanced behind us. “We aren’t doing anything wrong. Are you speeding?”

“No. Just play it cool, dude,” I replied as I pulled over. “Maybe we have a taillight out or something.” My heart was racing. What if it was an officer I knew? He could blow my cover. I dug my phone out of my pocket, quickly checking to see if I’d missed a message from Chris. There was nothing. Surely I’d be informed if something were going down right now.

The door to the squad car opened, and an officer stepped out. “Turn off the vehicle, and step out with your hands up please.”

My eyes widened as I turned to look at Ripper. “Do what he says, man. This is a legit haul. He’s got nothing on us
, so don’t give anything away.”

He nodded
, and we both opened the doors and stepped out with our hands raised. That was when I saw the second officer standing on the passenger side of the squad car. He had his hand on his holster. What was going on? If these two idiots blew my case, I was going to be pissed.

“Walk over
, place your hands against the wall, and spread your legs.”

“Did we do something wrong?” Ripper called out.

The officers pulled their weapons. “Do it now!” The one on the loudspeaker shouted.

“Don’t resist, man, go,” I urged Ripper as I walked around the vehicle. He followed me to the wall
, and we leaned against it.

The cops approached
, and I couldn’t help wanting to laugh. So this was what it felt like to be on the other side of the gun.

“Do either of you have any weapons on you?”

“No,” we replied simultaneously.

“We’re going to pat you both down real quick.” One kept his weapon trained on us while the other patted us down. He recited the Miranda
rights while he handcuffed Ripper before doing the same to me. 

“Can you please tell us what
’s going on?” I asked, trying to remain calm through my irritation.

“The vehicle you’re hauling was reported stolen yesterday. Do you know anything about that?”

I couldn’t help my laugh of irony as I glanced at his badge. “Look, Officer . . . Hartly, all I can tell you is we picked this vehicle up in a tow away zone. We have a legitimate haul order. My papers are in the truck. You’re welcome to contact the hotel that called us out and my boss to verify the order. As far as whatever was going on with the car before that, I have no idea. I’m just following the instructions I was given to pick up the car and take it to an impound yard.”

“Let me see your identification please.”

We clumsily dug our wallets from our pockets, handing them to him. He pulled our driver’s licenses and studied them. “Jack Rivera and Hunter Wilder? Is that correct?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied.

Stay here while we verify your story.” Officer Hartly stepped away, leaving us with other cop—Officer Mayhue, according to his badge. Hartly went to the truck and got out my clipboard, carefully looking over the information before carrying it to the squad car and getting inside. I could hear him talking on the radio as he called in the information he had.

“Dispatch, this is Unit Seven, calling in a vehicle check
—possibly matching a 10-29. License number 9, 8, 7, Henry, Adam, Lincoln. Driver’s license, Adam 00908853 to first name, Hunter, spelling, Henry, Union, Nora, Tom, Edward, Robert, last name, Wilder, spelling, William, Ida, Lincoln, David, Edward, Robert.”

“10-4 Unit Seven, standby,” the radio unit crackled. He was telling dispatch to run
a stolen vehicle check and see if I had any warrants.

“This is so friggin’ bogus,” Ripper mumbled, shaking his head.

“If you haven’t done anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. Do you?” Officer Mayhue stated.

“Look, man, we didn’t try to run, we didn’t resist arrest, and we’ve completely cooperated with you. That should tell you something.” The anger showed on Ripper’s face. “You pigs go around
all the time acting like you own the damn place.”

“Hey, buddy. Take it easy. It’s all going to be okay,” I reminded him. There was no reason for him to be antagonizing this guy.

“Better listen to your friend here,” Officer Mayhue warned. I was thankful when Ripper held his tongue.

“Unit 7,” the radio crackled again. “10-21 dispatch for a Code 1.”

Hartly looked surprised. “10-4. Standby.” He pulled out a cell phone, and I pretended I had no idea dispatch had told him to call them for a confidential message. He was going to feel stupid when he found out who I really was.

Several minutes went by as we stood ther
e waiting. I rocked back and forth on my heels, observing the cars driving by and the people staring at us. This wasn’t going to be very good publicity for our boss, Charlie, at the garage. The name was plastered in large letters down the side of the truck. I hoped people wouldn’t think something shady was going on and spread bad rumors about the business. There were several honest hard workers there.

Finally, Officer Hartly exited the vehicle and came back over. “Let them go, Jeff,” he said to the other cop. “Their story checks out.”

“I told you it would,” Ripper said, giving them both a hard stare. He rubbed his wrists when they released the handcuffs, handing us back our identification.

“The vehicle is stolen,” Officer Hartly said. “It looks like someone took it for a joy ride and abandoned it.”

“So what do I need to do with it?” I asked, rubbing the circulation back into my wrists.

He nodded toward the squad car. “Come over here
, and I’ll give you the address for the police impound yard they want you to take it to.”

“I’ll wait in the truck,” Ripper grumbled,
heading for the cab while I followed Officer Hartly.

“Nice to meet you
, Officer Wilcock,” he said as soon as we were out of earshot. “I hope we didn’t cause any problems with your investigation. Is there anything we can do to assist you?”

I shook my head. “No thanks. I think I’ve got it under control.”

“If you ever need any help, please feel free to give us a call.” He handed me a card. “This is the impound lot where they’d like you to bring the vehicle. They want to dust it before returning it to the owner.”

“All right. Thank you. I’ll get it right over.”

“Good luck with your case. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“No worries. Have a good day.”

I turned and headed back to the tow truck, breathing a sigh of relief. That was a close one.

“I can’t believe I almost got busted for someone else’s job.” Ripper shook his head in disgust.

“We’ll need to lay low for a while,” I said.

“Why’s that?”

“They just found a stolen car on the back of a tow truck—if they put two and two together . . . , ”

“I got it,” Ripper grumbled giving a deep sigh of irritation. “It’s
a good thing we’re getting rid of our stock soon.”

I agreed wholeheartedly, even though it wasn’t for the same reason.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hunter-

There was a knock on my bedroom door, and instantly I was awake, wondering what was going on. Chris never bothered me in the middle of the night. “What is it?” I called out.

He poked his head inside. “Get dressed. We’ve got to go. There’s a break in the case.”

I immediately sat up and reached for the clothes I had on earlier, hurrying to get dressed. “What’s happened?” I asked, feeling suddenly nervous for Cami’s safety.

“They found a body. Chief called and says the
y wonder if it might be our missing person. They want us to talk with the investigator on the scene. There’s something he wants to show us.”

My pulse picked up. This could be what we’ve been waiting for. I hurried and put my shoes on, making sure to grab my real ID and badge from where I kept them hidden in
the room. I slipped the card into my wallet, and headed out the door.

Sabino Canyon was located in the Santa Catalina Mountains outside of Tucson. It was a place many locals and tourists frequented to enjoy hiking, nature, tram rides, and playing in the waterfalls, so I was a little skeptical of this being a body dump. It seemed an odd place to hide someone, given the high traffic of the area.

We pulled into the well-lit parking area bustling with activity. Several police vehicles, forensics trucks, and park ranger units were in the lot.
Brightly glowing flood lamps, on huge stands, pointed down the hill, and yellow police tape marked off a large area and disappeared from view down the path.

“Have there been any missing hikers reported?” I asked. That would be my first guess if I found a body here.

“I haven’t heard of any. I’m thinking there must be something special with this victim, though, if they’re having us come see it.”

“Well, let’s go find out what it is then.”

A young officer came up and asked to see our badges before leading us a significant way down the marked trail. He directed us off the path to a cordoned area.

“Can I help you?” a tall
, thin man with thick, black-rimmed glasses questioned.

“I’m Officer Napier, and this is Officer Wilder,” Chris introduced us. “We were contacted tonight by Chief Robson and told you might have found a missing person who matched the description of a case we’ve been working on.
He said you found something that might help us.” We both flashed our badges again so he could validate them.

“I’m the forensics team leader, Officer Grady. Nice to meet you.
Hikers discovered the body about thirty minutes prior to sunset after they chased their small kids who’d run off the trail and into the brush. It’s mostly skeletal remains at this point, and judging from the marks on the bones, it looks as if more than a few animals have snacked on it.” He pointed to where he’d been working. “There are also fragments of what appear to be a white t-shirt, jeans, and motorcycle boots, which I’m told match the description on your missing persons report.”

Certain areas had been marked off with police tape to keep anyone who wasn’t part of the investigations unit out of the area, but the floodlights lit things up pretty clearly for us, and we could see everything he was describing to us.

“From the position of the body, I’d say it was probably pushed off the edge of the ledge up there by the road,” Officer Grady continued. “There’s no marks disturbing the ground around the area other than those of the hikers, so I’m sure there’s no evidence of the person who disposed of the body left here. If there was, it’s probably long been washed away by the rain. This body’s been here for a while.”

“So you feel fairly confident this was not where
the death occurred?” Chris asked.

“Judging by the fracture on the skull
, my first assumption would be blunt force trauma. We won’t know until we collect everything and run more tests, though.”

“You haven’t found any identification on the body then?” I asked, assuming this was the case since we’d been asked to come have a look.

Officer Grady smiled. “Only the teeth. As soon as we get a match on DNA or dental records, we’ll let you know if this is your guy. This is what I wanted to show you, though. It wasn’t found on the body, however. It was several feet away wedged near the base of a rock. It could be some random trash that’s blown there, but we wanted to see if it meant anything to either of you, first.” He reached for a plastic evidence bag lying on the table and handed it over.

Chris and I both stared at the faded, weathered business card that read Charlie’s Garage and Towing. Goose bumps trailed over me.

“Our missing person worked for this garage,” Chris stated.

The investigator’s eyebrows shot up. “I guess this isn’t trash then, is it?”

“Can we keep this discovery under wraps until we know for sure? If it’s our guy, it could affect an ongoing undercover operation we have in the works. We don’t want anyone alerted to the discovery.”

“We’ll try to see it’s kept quiet for the time being then.”

“Thanks a bunch. We appreciate it.” Chris reached out to shake the man’s hand. “We’ll wait for your call.”

The two of us turned and started back up the steep hill. “So what do you think? Where do we go from here?”

“We wait for a positive ID. If it is Manny, which it certainly looks like it will be, then we should be able to get a warrant that’ll allow you to search for evidence.”

“
I wonder if we have enough probability to get a warrant right now?” I questioned.

“It doesn’t hurt to ask, I suppose. Let’s go see what the chief thinks.”

“I’d start in the garage. The group spends most of their time there. With all the tools they have, I’m sure there’s an object that could cause blunt force trauma. I could easily begin checking for trace amounts of blood with a UV light.

“Actually, maybe you should be the one to check,” I added,
suddenly thinking of an opportunity to do a thorough search. “Ripper wants to take all these cars up to Las Vegas this weekend after Cami is out of school, and I happen to know where he keeps the spare key for the garage. You could take a whole forensics team in if we can score a warrant in time.”

“You may be on to something there.” Chris smiled, seeming pleased
with the idea. “Hopefully we’ll have a positive ID on our John Doe by then too. How long will you be gone?”

“At least Friday and Saturday. Knowing the way these guys like to party, I imagine they wouldn’t come back until Sunday. If not, I bet I could persuade them to stay and play for a little while
longer.”

Chris clapped me on the shoulder. “I think this could work out. If we find anything
, we can have an arrest warrant ready when you come back.”

“And then this stupid case will be wrapped up, Cami will be safe, and the two of us can finally move forward with our lives. It can’t happen soon enough for me.”

“Hang in there for one more weekend, bro. One way or another, we can probably get you your arrest—whether for grand theft auto or murder.”

“I don’t care which one they bring him in on, I just want him put away for a long, long time. I don’t need him getting out on a technicality and coming after Cami and
me.”

“Too bad we can’t falsify records of you being busted too. If he thought you were both in jail somewhere
, maybe it wouldn’t be an option for him. But with Roberta knowing the truth and you being the lead officer on the case, I can’t see how we can protect your true identities.”

I sighed. “Me
neither. That’s why I want this done by the book.” I got into the passenger seat of the car and stared at him when he slid in beside me.

He gave me a puzzled look. “What is it?”

“I’m gonna leave the force.” Surprisingly, the words were much easier to say than I’d imagined.

He turned away
, slipped the key into the ignition, and pulled out of the space. “You love this job,” he stated.

“I do, but I love Cami more. She’s had too many bad things happen to her recently. I won’t be responsible for putting her through more.
Being separated from her and knowing she’s out there worrying is killing me. I can’t live a double life like this anymore. I want to be with her all the time—to know she’s safe and happy.” I hoped I was explaining my feelings adequately.

“You told me in the beginning she was the one for you. You meant for the long haul, didn’t you?” 

“You know that’s what I meant. I love her, Chris. I want to marry her.”

“Have you asked her to?” He glanced at me before turning back to the road.

“Not yet, but I plan to as soon as this case is over.”

“Do you think that’s wise? She’s still really young, Dylan.”

“Have you met her?” I laughed. “She might be young, but she’s a smart girl. She’s always known exactly what she wants, and she goes for it. She makes things happen, and she doesn’t let fear keep her from doing what she thinks is right.”

“I’m not saying you’re wrong to ask her. I
simply want you to make sure now is the best time. You’re operating on high emotions right now. In your relationship with her, you’ve often fallen into the role of protector. You need to make sure that isn’t what’s driving your feelings here.”

I gave a sarcastic chuckle. “You think the danger is heightening the relationship?”

“It’s happened to others before. They’re brought together under traumatic circumstances and get together only to have the relationship fall apart later when all the emotional baggage dissipates.”

“I fell in love with her long before I knew she was in danger. This is real, Chris. I’ve dated plenty of other girls. None of them ever made me feel like this. I want to spend the rest of my life with her
, and I want it to be a long one. That’s why I’m quitting the force. Being in this car accident has made me reconsider a lot of things that are important to me.”

He nodded. “I understand. I totally support you in your decision to leave and to marry Cami. I
only wanted to make sure you were considering everything and not rushing into any decisions you might regret later.”

“I’ll never regret anything that has to do with her. She’s the most important thing to me. As long as I have her, the chips can fall wherever they want. We can deal with anything as long as we
’re together.”

Chris smiled. “That’s exactly how I feel about your sister.”

“I know you do. It’s the kind of relationship I want to have with Cami. She fits in with us, and she has a humble, beautiful, personality.”

“Not to mention she’s gorgeous,” he said with a knowing grin.

“She is, isn’t she?” I shook my head and smiled to myself. “I swear, she can be in a pair of baggy sweats and an old t-shirt—her hair all piled on top of her head in those messy buns of hers—and to me, she still looks like she just stepped off some fashion runway. I can’t stop staring at her. I feel so lucky she chose to be with me.”

Chris laughed. “You’re not so bad yourself. I think she probably feels the same way about you.”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. I’m nothing special.”

“You forget—I’ve known you for a while now. I’ve seen the girls line up around the block to get a piece of you.”

I snorted. “Whatever.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Name one time in the last ten years you didn’t have a girlfriend, had at least one or two girls chasing after you, or you weren’t casually hooking up with someone.”

I paused, quickly thinking back. I’d never really paid attention to it before, but girls had always surrounded me. Maybe that’s why I’d taken them for granted before now. “I didn’t have a girlfriend while I was in the police academy,” I finally stated.

He rolled his eyes. “
It wasn’t because you didn’t have willing women. I personally know of at least three cadets who asked me what your situation was.”

“Really? How come you didn’t tell me?” This was news to me.

“Because you were concentrating on something besides girls and partying. The whole family was excited to see the change happening inside you. You went from being a playboy to a young man who was truly dedicated to something. I didn’t want to distract you from it. That’s why I question your decision to leave the force. It seems like becoming a police officer was what gave you the direction you needed in your life.”

“It did help me grow a lot and
approach things more maturely. I’d like to think I’ve changed enough that I wouldn’t revert to my old lifestyle, though. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have another plan in mind.”

“You do?” He seemed surprised.

“What? Did you think I planned on quitting and living off my trust fund while I flipped burgers part-time?”

“No. I guess I thought maybe you were considering going back to school and playing football or basketball again so you could be near Cami.”

“I’ll be going back to school, but not so I can do that.”

“What then?”

“I’m considering becoming a paramedic. One of the things I really like about police work is helping people. I’d still be able to in a career field like that. I’ve handled emergency medical situations in the past well too. It seems like the natural change for me, and it would still allow me to work in emergency service.”