Page 104 of The Fourth Option
“Waiting on the ballistics.”
“The dealers in that area tend to move around those houses a lot, staying nomadic. Does NOPD have a line on them?”
“That’s the question,” Stanton said. “For now, we are keeping Bureau interest as quiet as we can.”
“Who’s read in?” Mendez asked.
“Agent Jennifer Jimenez.”
“J.J. She’s solid,” Mendez said, going back to his fries.
“The investigating detective, Gormley, hasn’t shared much. Agent Jimenez tracked down the CSI techs who worked the scene. They told her something noteworthy.”
“What’s that?”
“They think the scene had been cleaned up.”
“Cleaned up?”
“Yeah, either two wounded individuals left the scene, or someone removed two dead bodies; one from outside and another from the base of the stairs inside.”
“Now, why would someone remove two bodies but leave two dead cops?”
“That’s what I’m asking you.”
Mendez set the burger down.
“Weird shit happens around here all the time, Jarrett. You know that.”
“Yeah, I do. But this time, that ‘weird shit’ is being manipulated to fall back on the Bureau and DEA.”
Mendez pushed his plate to the side and leaned back. He might play the burned-out fed, but his mind was razor sharp.
“So, the story’s going to be that the drug war’s escalating,” he said. “The media will make it sound like New Orleans is the new Medellín because the feds aren’t doing their job. That’s Isaacson’s play.”
“It seems so,” Stanton said. “But here’s the thing: though it’s a convenient narrative for her, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
“At the Staub house, the four Latinos working on the mother get iced by someone with sharp pistol skills,” Mendez said, walking it through in his mind. “Similar MO to what goes down a few nights later in the Ninth. Dealers, users, cops, and an unknown party crasher who doesn’t leave witnesses.”
“That’s the thing, we do have a witness.”
“Yeah?”
“No one saw anything the night of the murders.”
“Let me guess: J.J. presses.”
“She pounded the pavement, knocked on doors, and tracked down a junkie who claims to have been in the trap house. Girl. Seventeen. High as a kite.”
“Strong witness,” Mendez said, his tone thick with sarcasm.
“She’s not credible enough for a jury, but she saw something. She was crashing when Jimenez found her and called EMS. Paramedics gave her naloxone in the ambulance. Probably saved her life. J.J. interviewed her in the hospital.”
“Does NOPD know about her yet?”
“Not yet. It looks like she wandered into a neighboring house and collapsed in a drug-induced haze until Agent Jimenez found her.”
“If this girl is telling the truth.”
