“You also said, unless it was a dire situation. And at this point, I figure it’s a matter of life or death.”
Alia heard the seriousness in his tone. “Whose life?”
“Sara’s. She can identify Roger and Joey. And they’re suspects in a gang war shooting that took place earlier tonight where two people died. The witnesses said that the shooters fled the crime scene in a red Camaro. Remind you of anyone?”
“Friggin’, shi….” She glanced down at the sleeping boy in her arms. “Well, hell!”
“You got that right. We need to get her into custody. And then we need to question her. See if she knows where we can find those two murdering perverts.”
“Tell me.” She knew he understood what she was asking and he gave her a watered down version of what he’d been through earlier. “I’ll tell you more details later, but for now, you need to know how important it is that we get those two behind bars. After tonight, there’s a huge gap on the streets where the Kroller gang had power. No way do we want those slimy badasses to take their place.”
Alia pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Cassie? Sorry to wake you up. It’s Alia. Is Sara there with you?”
“Sure, kid. She was pretty shaken over what went down. I figured it was best to keep her close by.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“You got it.”
“If I arrange to have a service car sent to your address, will you go with her to the FBI office and ask for Assistant Director Jack Harrison? He’ll be waiting for you. He needs to speak with her.”
“She in any trouble I need to know about?”
“Not her. It could be for her protection. She has some information that they need. There’s a couple of murderers out there who’d love to get their dirty hands on her. We need to get her protection. Can you take care of it?”
“You bet, kiddo. I’ll get her up now and we’ll be ready.”
Alia put her cell away and looked toward Sloan. “You want to call Jack, or do you want me to?”
His expression was so full of approval that a warm tenderness overwhelmed her. He pulled out his phone and with a few sentences, he gave the address to his boss that Alia supplied, brought him up to date on his suspicions regarding the red Camaro and breathed a sigh of relief that she found herself seconding.
By this time, they’d arrived at his driveway. The house looked welcoming in the early dawn. The rising sun brightened the red tiles on the roof and made the opening blossoms on the bushes appear as if they searched for warmth.
Don stepped out and came to Sloan’s side of the car. He opened the door. “Thank God you found the boy. I appreciate you asking Nigel to let me know. The guy’s a bit of an idiot but he means well.”
Sloan looked at Alia. “Is that what you said to him?”
She nodded.
Sloan was slow getting out of the SUV. “No problem. I’m glad you were here to take over the stakeout.”
“Yeah, well, about that. Sam wants to see you.”