“Not letting that one go, I see. But what we found was way better.”
With the economy he’d learned in briefing his captain on case progress, he quickly caught her up to speed on the cache of weapons they’d discovered and the work underway to bring everything up to the surface.
And with her legal mind and understanding of local crime, Sera caught on quick. “Someone had to know that was the perfect place to make an illegal drop like that. Difficult waters. Active tides.”
“Without question. Add on that we haven’t found a serial number on anything we’ve brought up, and it looks like this was deliberate.”
“There are potential trafficking elements here. The Feds are going to want in.”
“Which is why this is the perfect subject for our task force project. It’s real work, and we can use it to map out a plan of action in real time.”
“I like it for the project, but, Gavin, what about the actual implications? Something that size? And that deliberate disposal? Especially when it wasn’t the reason you were diving that area to begin with.”
He’d turned the case over in his mind, but it wasn’t until she doubled down on the real-world implications that Gavin realized all he’d missed. He’d been so focused on making a success of the task force that he hadn’t fully appreciated the advancement this case would provide all on its own.
“It’s a lucky hit, no doubt.”
“It’s more than luck, Gavin.” Those notes of justice—the ones she was so determined to find—lit up her gaze. “Whoever put that stash of weapons there didn’t think they were going to get caught.”
The day’s news out of the 86th was late in arriving but pertinent all the same, the Organizer thought as he considered the details.
The damned Harbor team had struck again.
The ongoing drop at Hell Gate had been an inspired approach to their problems around weapons disposal. And they’d been getting away with it for some time now.
Until the water cowboys over at the 86th nosed around.
And now that they knew, it was time to not only find a new drop but deal with the fallout of this one. He glanced at the other items spread over his desk. The ones he kept secreted away on his person, pulling them out only in his private moments.
The burner phone he changed out religiously each week.
The single sheet of paper on which he kept a list of rotating passwords, also changed out every seven days.
And the phone number he planned never to use.
Although he’d committed that number to memory, he knew well enough that should he need to use it, he’d have no time to worry if he could recall those digits in their precise order.
So yes, he held on to the number, the paper it was written on faded and thin from where it had worn, rubbing against the inside breast pocket of his suit jackets.
Even as he took great pride that he’d never had need of it.
Pushing aside thoughts of his partner, the Organizer tapped a finger on the burner phone, considering all the angles.
None of the weapons had serial numbers. It was a requirement of the work he’d insisted on from the first, along with a distributed work pattern so that no one person had access to all the information of the operation, and things had been progressing smoothly.
He considered himself the finest puppet master, after all.
And, as such, he understood his other options. Knew where he could push or pull, shift and maneuver the situation to his bidding.
This was a bump in the road.
Those guns were untraceable, after all.
And he’d simply find a new way to dispose of his garbage.
Chapter 6
Gavin stood at parade rest as Captain Dwayne Reed considered all he, Wyatt and Arlo had just shared about their recovery dive up at Hell Gate.
Captain Reed had first listened to their overview, and now his deep brown gaze was engrossed on the report Gavin had come in early to write up.
The man’s attention was laser-focused on the work. It was a style, Gavin knew, that showed both a measure of respect to his team as well as a razor-sharp intellect that was already processing implications with each word he digested.
He listened.
He considered.
And then the man never failed to seamlessly nail the most pertinent questions in a matter of minutes.
Kerrigan and Jayden had already gone out again this morning to direct a second team who was fresh for the work while Gavin took point on the briefing. He’d already been scheduled off the Harbor team today because of his task force work, so Wyatt had given him the opportunity to debrief their captain.
That was Wyatt’s style, too. He was more than comfortable sharing the work of their team, allowing everyone to shine. He might be their de facto dive head, but he ensured the leadership at the 86th always knew harbor work was a full team effort.
“This is good work, Gavin.” Captain Reed looked up from the report, deep lines grooved in his deep brown skin, framing his mouth, forehead and beneath his compassionate gaze. Although he wore the mantle of responsibility incredibly well, the pressure of the work was never-ending. “And this cache is a big deal. Based on what you’ve got here, you’re confident this would have gone undetected for some time?”
“Yes, sir. The dive was a recovery mission, and if the waters hadn’t been so churned up from the storms earlier this week, we’d likely not have moved into the quadrant where the weapons were discovered.”
Gavin kept his comments brief and saw a solid gleam of approval shining from Wyatt’s eyes.
