Buried (Detective Ellie MacIntosh) Read Free Page B

one solid reason why someone with the metro MPD would want to kill off random officers. Or better yet, give me something to connect the cases.”
    Metzger placed his hands on the blotter in front of him, his chair creaking as he leaned forward. “Honestly, I know all the officers under my command pretty well and some of them better than pretty well, and I can’t see this is inside. That means it is outside, and we need to stop it right now. Cop killers are like suicide bombers—they just don’t care or they wouldn’t do it. If we catch them, they are going down, and they know it. When you have nothing to lose, you don’t care who you hurt. But it is well-known Fielding and Brown were friends. So we have two officers taken out under similar, albeit not identical, circumstances, and they are closely connected to each other. It makes me nervous. Do you know why? Because I don’t think the usual criminals concern themselves with the social habits of their targets. It just seems likely to me one of two things happened, and I don’t like either option. Care to hear them?”
    Ellie would have pointed out that suicide bombers killed random people and perhaps this particular person was targeting cops, but she didn’t open her mouth. Grasso could be right.
    There were times when it was better to sit back and stay quiet. “Yes, Sir.”
    “Our first casualty was killed at home and off-duty. Whoever broke in shot him execution style and did not kill his wife or his son.” Grasso looked thoughtful. “He was undoubtedly the target, and whoever pulled off the hit did it smoothly and with a professional edge. The shooting last night was just as clean. Fast, probably planned, and they were out of there before we could as much as blink. Organized crime?”
    They were still getting a measure of each other, but Ellie had learned Carl wasn’t shy about his opinions. Maybe she liked that, and maybe she didn’t.
    Chief Metzger didn’t seem to agree. “Carl, it doesn’t feel right. This is my concern. They were both involved in something, and it got them killed.”
    “I never got that from either of them,” Grasso objected.
    “Neither did I. That brings up my second concern.”
    They spoke like two longtime friends and she wasn’t in the club.
    “Which is?”
    “One of them got the other one killed in some way. What if the information came from one of us?”
    “A police officer?” she interjected.
    Metzger rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. Carl is right on both counts about Fielding and Brown. I’d prefer if you proved me right about it being outside, but most of all, just come up with something we can work with, okay? I don’t want to hear on the national news that Milwaukee has a cop killer on the loose.”
    Ellie couldn’t help it, she had to ask. “Is there some reason we are being given this case?”
    And the private briefing?
    “You aren’t being given this case. I assigned Hamish and Rays.”
    She had to admit, she was a little confused and it must have showed.
    The chief blew out a frustrated breath. “Here it is in a nutshell, MacIntosh. You haven’t been with the department long enough to have a personal vendetta, and Carl knows exactly how to investigate something like this.” His smile was thin. “Let me put it this way; I trust you to make sure he toes the line, and I trust him to babysit you through the process of an unofficial internal affairs investigation. No one gets a whisper of what was just said in this room, and I want it settled fast and quiet. You report only to me, and you work your other cases as usual. This is extra duty; I am not going to deny it. You’ll have to operate under the radar of everyone else in this precinct.”
    Grasso stood. “I’m more than fine with it.”
    Well, shit. No pressure .
    “Me too.” She nodded. What else was she supposed to say?
    “Okay,” Metzger said, his expression strained. “Just do me a favor and catch these sons of bitches quietly and