Page 46 of Targeted at Christmas

“FBI!” Cooper barked at him, with other law enforcement aiming guns squarely at the tall and well-built Hispanic suspect. “Put your hands up!”

Lonnie Saldaña, who had cropped black hair with a mid-fade, glared at him through brown eyes, seeming to size up the situation.

When he started to reach inside the pocket of his denim jacket, someone yelled, “He’s got a gun!”

“Don’t shoot!” Cooper ordered. Instead, he tackled the suspect—slamming him onto the asphalt—catching him off guard, before Saldaña had a chance to remove his weapon. Cooper twisted the suspect’s arms behind his back and cuffed him. Only then did Frank help to drag Saldaña back to his feet, where a firearm was removed from the suspect’s jacket pocket. Cooper recognized it as an EAA Girsan Witness2311 Brat pistol. He narrowed his eyes at the second person suspected in the home invasion and deadly carjackings and told him, “Lonnie Saldaña, you’re under arrest for car theft, a home invasion, and suspicion of armed carjackings and murder—”

THE CSI SEARCH of Eleanor’s vehicle found the ski mask worn by the home invader and car thief suspect Lonnie Saldaña. Similarly, a ski mask used by suspect Darren Fonseca was retrieved from the Ford Explorer getaway vehicle he drove after the home invasion.

A search warrant of Saldaña’s apartment produced stolen items from Eleanor’s residence, along with illegal weapons and illicit drugs. This coincided with comparable evidence removed from Fonseca’s house—all of which had both suspects in hot water.

But, satisfied as Cooper was that the two perps would go down for violently breaking into Eleanor’s house and forever shattering her sense of security, he needed more to make the case for Fonseca and Saldaña as deadly carjackers. Not to mention exposing the mastermind behind the homicides.

A couple of hours later, Cooper accompanied Hallie to the police department’s Crime Lab’s firearms section.

After analyzing the Korth 2.75-inch Carry Special .357 Magnum revolver and ammunition taken from Fonseca’s residence, lab tech Iisha Mínguez declared, “We have ourselves a match!”

“We do?” Cooper regarded her for confirmation.

Iisha grinned at him. “Yes. When tested, the Korth Carry Special and unused ammo proved to be a perfect match for the bullets and spent shell casings that went together and were fired from this gun’s barrel with five lands and grooves and a right-hand twist that was used to shoot and kill Horace Eckhart and Neal Zapponi.”

Hallie nodded. “That pretty much cinches it, in tying those homicides to the suspects.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Iisha said, eyeing them.

“I agree,” Cooper stated, “pretty much.” He wanted just a bit more to seal the deal, as they headed over to the forensic DNA section, where both suspects’ DNA was being analyzed in relation to the investigations.

The DNA interpretation analyst, Yolande Erlick—who was slender and in her late twenties with long blond hair in a V-cut and aquamarine eyes—regarded them and stated confidently, “In analyzing the spent shell casings for DNA from both shootings, we were able to recover a DNA profile that belonged to Darren Fonseca, but not Lonnie Saldaña…”

Cooper reacted to this. “So, Fonseca was the actual shooter?” he ascertained, while considering that Saldaña could have still fired the shots at one or the other victim without having loaded the weapon.

“That’s likely the case,” Yolande said.

Hallie peered at her. “What about other DNA evidence?”

“There’s that, too,” the DNA interpretation analyst replied, perking up. “We found DNA from both suspects in the Ford Explorer and on stolen items believed to belong to the victim of the home invasion—collected from their residences—in addition to Saldaña’s DNA found on and inside Eleanor Palakiko’s stolen vehicle.”

As far as Cooper was concerned, this was more than enough to try to put the squeeze on Darren Fonseca and Lonnie Saldaña in getting them to turn on whomever they were employed by for targeting not only Horace Eckhart and Neal Zapponi—but Lexi as well.

Chapter Sixteen

Lexi was in her studio using CAD software in creating a design for a boutique desert resort for one of her clients. She was excited about the opportunity and delivering on the concept as laid out to her. The fact that she was now in a romantic relationship again to give balance to her life made it all the more fulfilling.

When her cell phone rang, Lexi grabbed it off the desk and smiled as the caller was Cooper. “Hey,” she said in answering.

“Hey. Wanted to let you know that we’ve got the two men who invaded Eleanor’s home in custody and also located her vehicle and other items we believe belong to Eleanor.”

“Really?” Lexi reacted, satisfied. “That’s great to hear—and it’s good that they’re off the streets so Eleanor can feel safe again.”

“Yeah, I concur.” Cooper paused. “I want you to feel safe again, too, Lexi, given that the home invaders—identified as Darren Fonseca and Lonnie Saldaña—are likely the same ones who were stalking you.”

Lexi pondered this before remarking, “About that…if these men—or one of them—was in the SUV that I believed may have been following me, why wasn’t I attacked? Or the victim of a home invasion instead of Eleanor?”

Cooper drew a breath. “Could be that you were simply being surveilled and never intended to be someone they came after,” he suggested. “Eleanor, on the other hand, may have been targeted opportunistically or coincidentally—even before you were followed—which could have happened to anyone who came into view for what most likely were seasoned home invaders.”

“Hmm… I suppose.” That logic notwithstanding, Lexi still couldn’t help but believe that there was a connection between the two incidents. But what? “Why would someone surveil me?”

“That’s what I intend to find out,” Cooper responded matter-of-factly. “We have reason to believe that it’s directly related to the public corruption probe.” He paused. “The gun used to shoot Eckhart and Zapponi was found in the possession of one of the home invaders—and has been linked through DNA directly to him. Or, in other words, we all but certainly have the murder suspects in custody. We now need to determine if they were working for someone else and what it all means for you and the case itself.”