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“Kara, it’s Michael.”
She let him in.
“Two men were killed in the park. One of them is David Chen.”
Kara stared at him in disbelief. “Chen was shot?”
“Dead. Chen and his bodyguard, based on what I could glean. Matt’s down there now, and we’ll get more information soon.”
Kara sat, stunned by the news. “I don’t fucking believe this. He’s dead.”
Craig introduced Peter to Michael, then said, “What else do you know, Agent Harris?”
“Not much. Matt said there are conflicting witness statements, but that’s to be expected. LAPD is all over the scene. One of the deputies in the lobby indicated that the lockdown has been partially lifted—the building is restricted, but people can come and go with an ID and badge through the main entrance.”
Kara said, “He was shot and killed downtown in the middle of the day, there must be dozens of witnesses.”
“The shooter wore a surgical face covering, no one thought twice about it. Most people concurred that he was a male, half said Hispanic, half said white. But two people said a white female in jeans was there and they hadn’t noticed the male in a face mask, and a third witness stated they saw a white female running away from the bodies with something in her hand that may have been a gun.”
“There are security cameras all over the place,” Peter said. “Law enforcement should be able to pull together enough feeds to find out what happened.”
Kara texted Matt and asked for an update. She was going to go stir-crazy if she had to stay in here.
Chen is dead, she thought. I’m free.
“You’re thinking,” Michael said.
“I’m always thinking.”
“Act like there’s still a threat against you until we can confirm that there isn’t.”
As reality sank in, Kara realized that her life was finally her own again. With Chen dead, she was free to go back to her old job. It didn’t make her happy—she’d wanted him in jail for the rest of his miserable life. But death was the next best thing.
Though, Lex had been acting strange. That had bothered her all morning. He could simply have been worried about her, but he’d seemed angry that she’d come by headquarters.
Who wanted Chen dead?
Random violence didn’t make sense—not downtown during the lunch hour. He had enemies, but there would have been a better time to take him down. Why here, with witnesses, on the block that housed the criminal justice center on one side and police headquarters on the other?
She wasn’t sorry that he was dead. She was only sorry that he didn’t expose others who were guilty.
But maybe...maybe with his death they would find the answers.
She texted Matt.
We need to be involved in Chen’s murder investigation. Get access to his house, his files. He may have the names of everyone who helped him run his sweatshops, and I want to take them all down.
10
Matt had been minutes from downtown when he got word of the shooting. It took him nearly thirty minutes to navigate through multiple cops—LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s, US Marshals were all on scene. Government buildings went on lockdown immediately as law enforcement made their initial assessment.
Matt found the woman in charge—Lieutenant Elena Gomez—standing next to a tactical van. She was a short, stocky woman with a command presence calling out orders with calm, stern efficiency.
He approached and introduced himself. “I know you’re used to working with LA FBI, but I have an interest in this case.”
She looked at him a beat too long, then nodded, said, “I know the name. Quinn was assigned to you.”
“Yes, ma’am. Chen’s hearing was this afternoon.”
