Page 48 of Targeted at Christmas

Saldaña grumbled and muttered, “What do you want?”

Hallie took the cue from Cooper in their planned attack of interrogating the suspect as she said coolly, “You were caught red-handed in possession of the car you stole during a home invasion. So you’re on the hook for car theft—along with armed robbery, burglary and aggravated assault of the victim, Eleanor Palakiko. And we have your DNA on items—including the stolen Acura Integra—to further make the case. Not to mention we found illicit drugs and unlawful firearms at your apartment for even more charges…”

As Saldaña made a face and indecipherable sounds, Cooper took over, jutting his chin while stating to the suspect, “We know that you and Fonseca latched on to the home invasion plot after discovering that she was the susceptible next-door neighbor to Lexi De La Garza, whom you were caught following around in your SUV—”

Hallie watched as Saldaña’s expression changed from stoic to shock with that revelation. He sputtered tonelessly, “How could you know that?”

She told him, “We have the black Ford Explorer you and Fonseca were driving around in on surveillance video, along with fingerprints and DNA that puts you both inside the SUV.”

“So, what was the stalking of Ms. De La Garza all about?” Cooper pressed the suspect, an edge to his voice. “Obviously, your intention was not to accost her. That tells me you were simply following orders in surveilling her. Those orders had to come from the same person you were working for in the two deadly carjackings that took the lives of building inspector Horace Eckhart and contractor Neal Zapponi—”

As Saldaña’s level of discomfort seemed to rise like the tide with each new disclosure, he offered weakly, “Maybe so…doing what we did…and why—”

Needing more from him, Hallie threw in for additional pressure, “We have the murder weapon—removed from Fonseca’s house—and his full confession.” She was happy to fib about that if the end could justify the means in spooking Saldaña into filling in the blanks as a matter of self-preservation to the extent possible. “Fonseca says you actually fired the shots that took two lives…and basically took the lead in everything the two of you perpetrated—”

“He’s lying!” Saldaña snapped, locking hard eyes with her.

“Is he now?” Hallie held his gaze, not flinching. “So, why don’t you tell us the truth?” And, hopefully, nothing but the truth, she thought.

“All right, I will.” Saldaña sucked in a deep, ragged breath. “First of all, Darren shot both Horace Eckhart and Neal Zapponi,” he insisted. “That’s a fact! He wanted to be the one to do it to make sure neither one lived to ever talk about what happened.”

Cooper set his jaw. “We’ll buy that. So, why go after Eckhart, who was being investigated by the FBI for public corruption? And then Zapponi, who was about to reveal what he knew?”

Saldaña sighed. “We were paid to kill Eckhart—to keep him silent—and later, Zapponi, for the same reason.”

“By whom?” Hallie demanded. “We need a name!”

“Gilbert Jacquin,” Saldaña answered after a long moment.

“Gilbert Jacquin?” Cooper repeated, contemplating the name as if suddenly ringing a bell.

“Yeah—he works for the City of Phoenix as a special projects administrator.” Saldaña’s brows knit. “He had Eckhart in his hip pocket—doing whatever Jacquin asked him to do as a building inspector. But when Eckhart got greedy and threatened to expose Jacquin, he hired us to take him out. When Zapponi got wind of it somehow and brought this to Jacquin’s attention, he paid us to off him, too.”

That’s sick, Hallie told herself, resenting how little value some people placed on human lives other than their own. “What about Lexi De La Garza?” she asked the suspect.

Cooper followed hotly with, “Why did Gilbert Jacquin pay you to follow her around?”

Saldaña rubbed his nose. “He said it was personal. Didn’t ask what he meant by that. Jacquin didn’t pay us to ask too many questions, and he certainly didn’t have many answers. We just followed his orders and went about our business.”

Cooper’s expression hardened. “Your business has become our business. Unfortunately for you and Fonseca, Jacquin has led you down a dark path that you can’t come back from. And if I have anything to do with it—neither will he.”

Hallie was sure he meant this and would want to warn Lexi that she was in imminent danger from someone she might not have expected.

Chapter Seventeen

“Gilbert Jacquin?” The words flew from Lexi’s mouth like hot air as she sized up the man who was currently pointing a handgun with a sound suppressor at her. “What are you doing with that gun?” she questioned, alarm ringing in her voice.

Gilbert’s thick brows drew together. “At the moment, I’m using it to make sure you do exactly as I say, so that I don’t have to shoot you here and now.”

Almost as a reflex, Lexi’s hands raised while trying to come to terms with why the special projects administrator for the City of Phoenix should be gunning for her, literally. Then things began to add up quickly as she thought about the two home invaders now in custody—Lonnie Saldaña and Darren Fonseca—and Cooper implicating them in the carjacking murders of Horace and Neal. All that seemed to be missing was the alleged mastermind behind the plot. Someone who apparently had something to gain by having them killed without dirtying his own hands, per se, while able to fly under the radar.

Gilbert Jacquin.

Lexi peered at him, contemplating this unexpected moment, and demanded as if clueless, “What do you want with me, Gilbert?”

He grinned crookedly. “I’ll explain it all. But for starters, you can hand over your cell phone.”

Lexi hesitated as she pondered being surveilled by the home invaders, presumably at the behest of their employer: Gilbert Jacquin. It was obvious that he hoped to cut off her line of communication. Or to prevent Cooper—or anyone else who could help her out of this predicament—from coming to her rescue. But she was hardly in a position to be defiant. Not with Gilbert holding her at gunpoint.