“I told you it was a green truck and it looked like a military truck, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, so why don’t we go over your story again just to make sure that you didn’t leave anything out?”
* * *
Taking her time, she’d put Tyrone’s statement under a microscope, sucking him dry. She never gave him an inch. When she was satisfied that he’d told her everything he could tell her, she made him write it down. She wasn’t convinced it was everything.
She was jazzed as she proceeded to her desk. Yet, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for A.J. Tyrone had identified David’s picture and her next step was to search David’s apartment. The first thing she did when she got to her desk was dial up the assistant district attorney, Jericho St. James.
When he answered the phone, Sienna said, “Jericho, I need a search warrant for the premises of David Buckner…”
“That won’t be necessary,” A.J. said, standing next to her desk, holding a white paper bag.
“Jericho, never mind. Looks like I’m going to get consent.”
The bleak look in A.J.’s eyes made her crazy. Before she thought about what she was doing, she grabbed his hand.
“I still can’t believe David is voluntarily involved in this, Sienna,” he whispered, his voice rough with strain.
“Right now, all we have is a lowlife saying yes to David’s picture. It’s only the beginning of the investigation. I still think Tyrone’s holding back on me.”
He released her hand and stepped back. “Don’t sugarcoat it. I know that David’s a suspect.”
“A.J., I’ll be honest with you. It doesn’t look good, that’s true, but I never jump to conclusions, and you shouldn’t, either.”
A.J. ran his hand through his hair and her heart squeezed with sympathy for him.
“You’ll give me consent to search David’s apartment?”
“Yes, but I think you should eat first. I brought you some lunch.”
“I’ve got to find the rest of these guns.”
“I agree, but you need nourishment. You didn’t even have a doughnut this morning.”
“Hmm, looks like I have a funny guy on my hands. Not all cops eat doughnuts. They don’t count as nourishment.”
“I can see that you keep yourself in great shape.”
“Do you think you need to look after me, Camacho?”
“Someone has to. It sounds like you haven’t taken a day off in a while.”
Sienna shrugged. “I have a job to do, and it takes up a lot of my time. Let’s check out your brother’s apartment.”
A.J. opened the bag and the aroma of pastrami and rye hit her hard.
“Okay, we’ll take the food with us and eat in the car.”
* * *
When they reached the top of the stairs of David’s apartment building, his door was ajar. Sienna reached back and pulled out her gun and with the muzzle pointed to the ceiling, motioned to A.J. that she was going in.
A.J. followed her, his body on high alert. She darted a quick look around the corner of the doorjamb. With the flat of her hand, she pushed the door open. Leading in with her gun, she went through the ransacked apartment, checking every possible spot a man could hide. A.J. was close behind her.
“There’s no one here,” A.J. said as he looked around at the destruction. The couch had been ripped up with what looked like a knife. The pictures on the walls had been ripped from their supports, smashed against furniture, and hurled across the room.
In David’s bedroom, his clothes and uniforms were scattered around the floor, the bed linens dislodged, and the mattress ripped to shreds.