Silent Justice by John C. Dalglish

think they might be targets?”
    “It makes sense, doesn’t it? The note to Devin James said The Hunter wouldn’t miss again. That means more shootings.”
    Vanessa looked at the reports, slowly sifting through them and reading each new name as she found them. Two EMTs were listed, several other responding officers and a handful of forensic people, but two names jumped off the page.
    Detective John Patton and Lieutenant Jesse Garza.
    Jason wrote them down as Vanessa read them, and stopped when Vanessa said John’s name.
    “If we’re right, Vanessa, these people all have to be warned. We have no way of knowing the next target.”
    Jason stood.
    “Let’s start with the lieutenant , and get his okay to tell everyone else. He has to agree with our theory before he’ll let us start calling these people out of the blue.”
    They gathered up the file and went to see their boss.

 

     
    Chapter 12
     
    John Patton sat behind his desk. The memory of the Circle K case nearly took his breath away. He’d locked it away long ago, but now it came rushing back. It had been such a difficult time in his career, as well as in his marriage to Lindsey, and he’d almost quit the force.
    He wasn’t responsible for any of the deaths, but he and Peters had to flesh out all the facts, and ultimately put the blame where it belonged.
    Neither officer deemed responsible for the two civilian deaths was found to have done anything wrong . Nor were they reprimanded.
    It was the news reports that had done the most damage. They painted the scene like a wild -west shootout: guns fired erratically, officers panicking. It’d taken weeks to calm the outrage in the city and get the real story out.
    The lieutenant rubbed his hands across his face. Just the thought of it all made him tired. He chastised himself for not thinking of the case sooner . It fit the timeline and the officers involved, but he’d likely not allowed himself to go there.
    A knock came at the door and Jason’s head peered in.
    “Got a minute, Lieutenant?”
    He sat back in his chair and gestured for the detectives to come in.
    “What have you got?”
    Jason and Vanessa both took seats in front of the lieutenant’ s desk. Jason gave the list of names to his boss.
    “What’s this?”
    “We feel pretty certain our shooter is connected to the Circle K case. The other files don’t have the same type of circumstances. The list in your hand is the names of all the SAPD employees involved in the case.”
    John Patton studied the list before looking up at his detectives.
    “You think this is a target list?”
    “So far, it fits.”
    “Okay, let’s say for a minute you’re right; where did the shooter get all the names? They’re not going to have access to the police report, unless they’re in law enforcement.”
    Vanessa shook her head.
    “We’re not saying the shooter is a cop. The names targeted up to this point are ones that easily could have been found in news reports.”
    The lieutenant didn’t want to hear any suggestion a member of the department could be responsible.
    “I don’t want any notion of an SAPD connection to leave this room. Am I clear?”
    The lieutenant watched as both detectives nodded.
    “Okay, what next?”
    “We want to warn the people on the list, including you, that they could be a target.”
    John looked at the list again. The captain’s name was on the list , and that posed a different set of problems. Jesse Garza would want to protect his back in more ways than one.
    “I’ll take it to the captain, he’s gonna have to make the call on this. In the meantime, you two begin doing background on the civilian names you found in the file.”
    Vanessa led the way out.
    “Shut the door, Jason.”
    “Yes, sir. And John, be careful.”
    The lieutenant let a smile come to his face.
    “I will. Don’t forget, I won’t even be in town this weekend.”
    With the door shut, he picked up the phone.
    “Captain Garza, please.”
    “Who’s