Heart Of The Crime (Curious Series Book 2) Read online

  Heart Of The

  Crime

  Book 2 in the Curious Series

  BY: B.P Stevens

  Copyright © [2022] [B.P Stevens] – All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  Description

  After continuing the investigation without permission, Ashley, a detective at Belton, gets reprimanded by the Chief. As punishment for disobeying orders, she gets paired with a new female police detective who is a lot more than meets the eye.

  Ian and Lincoln make up, and with Badrah tagging along, they head out to continue the search. But as they move through Dennis’ house, they stumble into more than they expected… someone is willing to kill them, just to make sure they don't find anything.

  Tables of Content

  Roll Call

  Ashley rushed out of Dennis Walker’s house and headed for her car, a wave of emotions flowing through her. They were so close to a breakthrough at the scene, and now her boss, Jim Doyle, was asking her to stand down. Under normal circumstances, there was no way she was going to do that, but the man had threatened her job, her means of livelihood, and as much as she was willing to take on the case, Ashley was not going to risk her job.

  “Shoot!” She yelled as she slammed the door shut, sitting in her car.

  The detective looked up to see a young man on rollerblades staring at her. She lifted her badge to show the man through the windshield, and he instantly got the idea and zoomed off. She scoffed and looked out at the house as the Crime Scene Unit began clearing out of the building under the chief’s orders. They were not going to be searching any further, and the only piece of evidence that they had found would be canned.

  She turned to stare at the neighbors who were looking on, wondering what had happened and why Dennis Walker had Belton’s police at his home. According to Jim Doyle, Dennis had skipped town to go help out with one of the few family members the man had, and the only person Dennis had spoken to about this just happened to be Jim.

  But Ashley had gone into his home, and while everything seemed fine the first time, her second visit changed her idea of the entire event. The house, a bumbling mess, had been tidied up, and the smell of bleach and other cleaning agents hung loosely in the air.

  “Why can’t you see someone’s trying to cover something up?” Ashley said to herself, staring at Jim’s vehicle through the rearview as it drove off.

  Someone had seen that she had come snooping around, and in a bid to hide evidence, they cleaned up the place. But she found blood in the sink, and by the time she could get the Crime Unit on the scene, the sink itself had been changed out, and the smells of cleaning agents had been dulled out somehow. Jim Doyle wasn’t willing to listen to anything she had to say, which made the detective furious.

  Her phone rang in her jacket, snapping her out of her thoughts. She pulled it out and stared at the name through the small home screen, seeing it was the chief. She flipped open the phone and brought it to her ear, steeling her nerves. “Detective DeVos.”

  “Oh, don’t gimme that crap. What the heck did you think you’d be able to accomplish with this stunt? Where are you?” Jim chided, breathing heavily through the phone.

  “Still at the Walker house,” Ashley began, stopping her own rage from seething through her lips as she spoke.

  “At the Walker…What the heck? Are you deaf? Did I not ask that all of you clear out?” Jim snapped.

  Ashley took a breath calmly, looking to control herself, “I’m outside the house, in my car. Waiting for Caleb and everyone to finish packing up so we can all head down together.”

  “No need,” Jim cut in, “I want you back at the precinct. Now. Get here as fast as you can and come straight to my office. They can do fine packing up on their own.”

  The line cut off, and Ashley threw her head back into the car seat. She realized she had been squeezing the armrests and let out the breath she held. Jim Doyle was an ass, one which she thought she could deal with, but apparently, he was a lot more than she was ready to handle.

  The detective put the car in gear and joined the light traffic flow through the suburban neighborhood as she made her way back to the precinct. As Ashley drove, she recalled the reason she had been transferred from the city down to rural Belton.

  Ashley had a knack for picking out small crimes and solving them. Since she had become a detective, she was known for uncovering the small crimes and gangs which led up to the reveal of a whole network of operations, and one by one, she would unravel things and finally expose whoever was at the top.

  Her biggest case, when she still worked in Salt Lake City, was finding an illegal gambling scheme that had been going on for over five years. It had started as a small bet that she made with someone in the area, looking for clues, and for three weeks, she had worked her way through the rankings of the people involved, and soon she had all of the names.

  Ashley presented the report, led the small team of officers who busted in on the den, and arrested most of the men involved in the crime. A small lead had gotten her far, but since then, she had been resigned to smaller cases. She thought her seniors at the Salt Lake precinct were scared of her skills, so she was given the lowest jobs to scan through. But now, out there in the middle of nowhere, Jim Doyle made everything worse.

  After weeks of complaining, looking to get a better gig, looking to be put on a cleaner case, she had been transferred to Belton in the hopes that she would have an entire town to herself and would be able to have all of the fun she wanted. Ashley was grateful for the opportunity at first, not knowing that Belton would just be more of the same thing, except with an angry, ugly man telling her what she could or could not do.

  Ashley slammed on the brakes as the car pulled into the precinct’s parking lot, startling a few people walking around it. She got out of the car and saw Renee, the clerk who worked the front desk smiling at her. As soon as she walked in, Renee instantly noticed the frown on her face and raised an eyebrow.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Chief,” Ashley replied as she walked towards the service door in a fury.

  “What happened?”

  “He’s not letting me do my job,” Ashley retorted as she walked in.

  The detective quickly looked up at Jim’s office and saw the blinds on the window slightly open. Shaking her head, she walked over to the dispenser and took a cup of cold water, drinking slowly as she tried to calm herself. As upset as she was, he was still her boss, and she had to do what he asked.

  “Hey,” a voice came from beside her. Ashely turned to see a woman standing next to her with a cheeky smile. She had deep black hair and a smug grin, as though she expected something of Ashley. The detective raised an eyebrow, staring at the woman.

  “Excuse me?” Ashley asked.

  “Just wanted to say hi.” She extended a well-manicured hand. “I’m Max.”

  “Ashley,” she replied, taking the hand hesitantly.

  “Nice to meet you,” Max replied, smiling even more. “You’re heading up to go see the Chief, yeah?”

  “Yeah, how did you…?” Ashley asked, puzzled.

  “Yup, word travels fast here. You should know. Anyway, I’ll be waiting for you by the desk. Go see him before he gets any more upset,” Max said with a laugh and walked away.

  Ashley stared at the woman, watching as she walked over to her desk and got in her seat, crossing her legs and placing them over the table. A small part of Ashley wanted to head over there and knock the woman off her table. Ashley hoped the woman was not a new transfer to the force.

  “DeVos,” came the stern voice of Jim from upstairs. “My office, now.”

  Ashley sighed and turned back to Max, seeing the woman laugh and then mime shooting at her. She would have to deal with Max later. The detective turned and headed up the stairs, going straight for the chief’s office. As she pushed open the door, Jim was about to take his seat. The phone on his desk rang, and he quickly picked it up.

  “Yeah? Hello, sir,” Jim said in a bubbly tone, one which Ashley hadn’t seen the man use on anyone else. “Oh, yeah. You left it here, and I got it in my drawer.”

  Jim chuckled and then motioned for Ashley to take a seat. The detective dropped into the chair opposite him and did her best to hide her sulk. She listened on as the man laughed over the phone, pretending he was unaware that there was a life on the line, one which he should have been actively trying to find.

  “Yeah, no, the funds were able to go a long way, and as for Maxwell, I know she’ll fit right in,” Jim laughed some more, “No, of course. I’ll bring it down to you myself. Maybe we can have a few beers tonight? Alright, thanks.”

  He put the phone down, and the smile vanished from his face. He looked up at her with a scowl, wiping the bridge of his nose with the back of his hand. Jim Doyle was not a pretty face to look at. The man had not aged well, and the signs also lingered in his demeanor.

  Jim’s hair was a sore sight,
making the already unpleasant man look even worse. The entire center of his head was a smooth hairless area, while the rest was streaks of greys, black, and a dirty blond from when the man had tried to pull off a combover. He had multiple wrinkles and small scars across the left side of his cheek and a dull grey eye that made it hard for anyone to keep eye contact with the man. Ashley was irked and did her best to remain professional either way.

  “Ashley, I thought we already had this conversation,” Jim began in a tone that reminded Ashley of her mother’s when she was just about to get a scolding.

  “Yeah, but something came up. They saw the blood I told you about. They saw it. What if there’s some truth to my hunch? What if something has happened to this man? Isn’t it our job to ensure he’s safe and hasn’t been hurt?”

  Jim smacked his lips, cocking his head to the side, “Okay, Ashley, indulge me. What could have possibly happened to him? What’s your theory?”

  “My theory?” Ashley asked, a little shaken.

  “Yeah, what do you think happened to Dennis Walker?”

  “I…The kid was looking for him, and I thought I’d help out. When I got to the house, it was all tidied up, and by the time I returned, it was a mess. I don’t know what could have happened, but it’s obvious that someone is trying to hide something. Even the sink was changed out by the time we got back!” Ashley exclaimed.

  “And none of the neighbors saw or heard when a construction crew came into the house and cleaned out the sink or completely cleaned up the house?”

  “They trashed it,” Ashley added.

  “Oh, you mean after they cleaned it up? Ashley, I need you to listen to me. You’re the new kid on the block, but you know your stuff. I won’t lie; I’ve read your file and seen your work; you are good at what you do, but this is my town. I have been the chief of this place longer than you’ve been a detective, and when I tell you that this is a dead end, you should listen to me,” Jim finished.

  “What about the blood?”

  “Hell! What about it? Say the man cut himself and washed his hands in his sink before leaving town. Does that mean he’s been abducted by aliens who want to harvest his organs? Think, Ashley, think!”

  “Sir, I need you to do the same thing, just try to have a bit of a heart and consider that this man is in trouble for a moment. Say I’m crazy, but on the slim chance that I am right, shouldn’t we at least be doing something?” Ashley pushed.

  Jim nodded, relaxing in his chair, “I called ahead to Utah and asked them to send someone down to the hospital and check on him and his relative. Once they confirm he’s fine, I’ll let you know.”

  “How long is that going to take? Maybe we could get somewhere from this…”

  Jim slammed his hands on the table, staring out the window. “DeVos, listen to me. You are not to dig any further into this. That is a direct order from your chief. This isn’t the big city where that maverick cop thing is praised. If you keep pushing, I’ll have you cooped up behind a desk, doing more paperwork than an elementary teacher at a public school. Do you understand me?”

  Ashley got to her feet quickly, “Yes, sir.”

  “Good, I’m not done. Sit down,” Jim replied and got to his feet, walking out of the office.

  Ashley fought the urge to throw things off his desk with rage burning in her chest. The man had just ridiculed her and made her feel like she was worthless. The sound of the door opening behind her caused her to turn around to see who had come in along with the chief. Max, the woman who had sat at her desk, walked in with a big smile across her face, her eyes locked on Ashley.

  “Detective Ashley DeVos, this is Detective Maxwell Hatfield. She’s joining us and will be your new partner, working hand in hand with you on all of your cases going forward. I hope you two women will do an outstanding job together,” Jim finished, staring at Ashley.

  She turned to Max, seeing the woman smirking. “I was waiting for you, but the chief decided to come get me. You can call me Max. Looking forward to working with you.”

  “Thank you,” Ashley replied. She didn’t need a partner. There were barely any cases in all of Belton. What would she need a partner for? She turned to Jim. “Sir, as much as I appreciate this, I don’t think this is necessary. I think her skills would be better put to use elsewhere. I mean, nothing happens in Belton. You said it yourself. So I don’t think I need a partner. I think you should reconsider.”

  Max grabbed Jim’s arm with a smile, stopping the man mid-sentence, “Allow me? Uh, Ashley, see, I’m not just your partner. I was sent to keep an eye on you. To make sure you don’t cause too much trouble, do you understand? I have experience with Belton and how things work around here, so I’m here with Jim’s backing, of course, to make sure everything goes according to plan.”

  Ashley watched in disgust as the smile stayed on the woman’s face. She turned to Jim, who nodded and then stretched her hand back at Ashley, holding it open. The detective wanted to smack the woman’s hand out of her face and tell Jim to shove it. But she knew her job was on the line, and the man had brought the woman in to keep her in check.

  “It’ll be nice working with you,” Ashley remarked. “I hope I can learn a thing or two from you.”

  “Oh, I hope I can learn from you as well,” Max said excitedly. “It’s not every day you get to work with a big city detective with so much skill and knowledge under her belt. We are going to have so much fun together.”

  “I’m sure we will,” Ashley replied in an equally sarcastic tone before nodding to Jim and walking out of the office.

  ***

  “Mr. Lambert would like that you report anything you get on the Dennis Walker case to him. If you see her doing anything that looks like she’s trying to gain intel about it, follow her and see what you can find out, see if you can learn what she knows, and then report back to him,” Jim said as he watched Ashley disappear through the window.

  “Wouldn’t I have to report to you too?” Max asked in her naturally cheerful voice.

  “Obviously, yes. I doubt she would be dumb enough to make any moves in front of you. But if she isn’t and decides to, then let me know. I’ll make sure she can’t do anything about it.”

  Max nodded and walked towards the door, humming happily to herself as she had gotten her new mission. Mr. Lambert had promised he would give her a new job, but she had never suspected she would become an officer and be put on the job with someone who was a real detective.

  Mr. Lambert had given her instructions, telling her what to do when she had intel to report and the best way to steer the woman away from the investigations. But if all failed, and Ashley DeVos continued her search for Dennis Walker, then Max had been given the go-ahead to do something she hadn’t done since she had gotten to Belton.

  She would be allowed to put a bullet in the back of Ashley’s head and stop the investigation dead in its tracks. She knew Ashley would be feisty, and Max couldn’t hide her excitement, hoping it would come to that. She shut the door to Jim’s office and stared at the man through the blinds for a moment, wondering if Mr. Lambert would allow him to do the same to the man if he decided to be uncooperative.

  She’d put a bullet in anyone for Mr. Lambert. After all, what better way to gain a father’s approval than to follow his instructions to the letter?

  The Start Of The Tunnel

  Dennis woke with a start, quickly jerking his head to the side and opening his eyes. He had fallen in and out of consciousness, and every part of his body ached. After they put a black bag over his head, Dennis woke up surrounded by nothing but darkness.

  The walls were made of a soft insulating material that he figured would trap all the noise he could make and keep it from leaving the confines of the room. They also aided in sucking out all of the light, making it impossible for Dennis to see anything. He had no idea how long it had been since he was kidnapped or who had taken him. All he knew was that he was half naked and forced to sleep on the floor in a room that was completely devoid of light.