AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hold up a picture of Lazaro. “Any chance it was this man?”
She studies the picture. “Maybe.”
Maybe isn’t good enough, but it’s not a no, either. “How about the men who took him? Anything you can tell me about them?”
While she talks, my eyes scan the shop. In the corner, I spot a security camera, and another by the door.
"Those cameras," I interrupt, pointing. "Were they here when the incident occurred?"
The shop owner nods. "Sure were. Been here since I opened the place."
My heart rate picks up. "Would they have caught anything?"
“No, not those. But I have a camera at the opening of the alley. It caught some of that night.”
“It did?” I feel a surge of excitement at the shop owner's mention of an alley camera. This could be the break I've been looking for in this case.
“Yeah. It has the man entering the alley with someone else, and then a van pulls in. A bunch of guys… I don’t know, three, maybe. Maybe five. They wore masks, so I can’t tell you about them.”
“Do you still have the footage?” I don’t hold my breath. Most surveillance video is gone, taped over within a few days of being created.
The woman frowns at me. “You already have it.”
“What?”
“Yeah, the police came by not long after it happened and took it. That's why I wonder why you're here.”
I blink, stunned. "The police? Are you sure?"
She nods emphatically. "Yes. Two officers came by, said they were investigating the incident. They took all the tapes from that day and the day before."
This doesn't make any sense. I've been through the case file multiple times, and there isn’t any mention of security footage. Nor is there a surveillance tape.
"Did they give you any paperwork? A receipt for the tapes?" I ask, grasping at straws.
The shop owner shakes her head. "No, nothing like that. They just took the tapes and left."
Something is off here. There are no reports of surveillance tapes in the file.
"Can you describe the officers who took the tapes?" I ask, pulling out my notebook.
Like the man she described being abducted, the woman’s description of the cops is vague. They could be anyone.
I thank her for her help and head back to my car. Someone deliberately kept this evidence out of the official channels. Who? And why?
As I slide into my car, I consider the two most likely scenarios. Either the attackers who took Lazaro were clever enough to pose as police officers and got the tapes to cover their tracks, or actual police were involved in his disappearance. My initial instinct is to believe the former. But given the recentbehavior of those officers with Lana, it’s quite possible that it’s the latter. A chill runs down my spine at the thought.
I sit for a moment, sifting through all I know to try and make meaning out of it. Why kidnap Lazaro at all? Why not just kill him there? I answer myself by noting how organized crime doesn’t kill in the open like it used to. And as for why, Lazaro’s life of crime would have made him a target for many.
I think about Peter’s assertion that the D’Amatos were responsible for his father’s death. It’s become an obsession with him. But if Peter had exacted his revenge on Lazaro, why would he still be obsessed with his father’s murder? Maybe because it would look weird if he wasn’t eager to solve his father’s murder. But he could have easily pinned the murder on Lazaro since he’s missing and can’t defend himself.
So, not Peter, but maybe some other cops. I wonder how long Frick and Frack from this morning have been on the force. I should look into them since they appear to have a vendetta against the D’Amatos.
I grip the steering wheel tightly, feeling the weight of these revelations. An unsettling feeling comes over me as I realize that I can't trust anyone now. External threats are one thing, but the possibility of internal betrayal within the force is far more insidious.
23
LANA
