Heather left the office and headed outside. Her car was parked in the corner of the lot. She headed over to it and frowned when she saw a note on the windshield. Heather reached over to grab it, but then stopped. There was a wire connected to the note and as Heather followed the wire with her finger, it led under the hood. It looked like someone had planted a bomb under the hood, but how did they get into the lot without anyone noticing? Unless they had done it the night before, and why was she being targeted? Heather pulled out her cell phone and dialed the precinct. "Sue, this is Heather, have the bomb squad get their hind ends outside. Someone put a bomb under the hood of my car."
"I will send them now," she said. "Are you in the parking lot?"
"Yes, in the back left corner," Heather said and hung up. She then studied the note while she waited, not worried about setting off the bomb, as long as she didn't pull the wire. The letter read, "Back off now; this is a warning."
"Yes, a warning that would kill me," she said frowning. Who knew that she was working this case? Or had they seen her at the party?
The bomb squad came running out the door then, decked in their gear. Heather stepped far away from the car. "It's wired under the hood to the note," she told one of the men.
He nodded, and he and the other men approached the car.
Grisham walked up to Heather then, shaking his head.
"I didn't think anyone knew you were on this case," he said to her.
"I didn't either. Someone figured it out and knew my car was here. I bet it was those goons who poisoned me."
"Most likely, considering they were gone by the time the cops showed up at that house the other night."
"Very convenient. The men probably put the bomb in my car after it was brought here, and at night. We really need to get parking lot lights and cameras back here, chief," she frowned.
"Yes, I will have to talk to Bruce about helping us out. We are just lucky it didn't explode."
"Yes, we are," Heather agreed, but didn't comment about Grisham asking for help from Bruce. It's not like she could stop him.
One of the bomb squad walked over to them. "Two blocks of C4 that were set to explode as soon as the wire was pulled hard enough."
"Two? That would have blown up half the parking lot," Heather said.
"Most likely amateurs," he told her. "It wasn't done very well."
"Thanks, Dave," Grisham said.
He nodded and headed back to the car.
"I think I am going to talk to the guy who hosted the party the other night," Heather told Grisham. "Mind if I borrow another car?"
"Go ahead, but call if you need help."
"I will," she said and headed to another car. He watched her get in and drive away.
The house was a few miles away, but it didn't take too long to get there.
Heather pulled up in front of the house and got out. She walked to the door and frowned. It was standing ajar, that was never a good sign. She pulled out her phone and redialed the precinct.
"Hey Sue, it's Heather again. I need backup to this address. The door is ajar and I know better than to go in by myself."
"I will send backup now," Sue assured.
Heather hung up and went to wait in the car until a few minutes later, two police cars pulled up behind her. She got out to meet them.
"This is the house where I was poisoned, and as you can see, the door is ajar, which is always a bad sign. I'll lead, you men follow," she told the men.
The four men nodded and followed Heather up the stairs and inside, weapons drawn.
Heather walked into the kitchen first and frowned as she rounded the kitchen counter. She found the host and owner of the house, on the floor, a bullet hole in his head. Heather bent down and touched the man's neck. His body was still warm, which meant his murder had just happened.
"I found the owner!" Heather yelled out.
Two officers headed into the kitchen.
"Someone did not want witnesses to what happened the other night unless he knew what was going on," she stated, "and was murdered anyway."
"He must have been involved," one of the officers said.
"More than likely, Wade. He did have a party where two girls ended up dead. He had to have known something was going on."
"I'll call the coroner," another officer stated and pulled out his phone.
"Let's pull some prints from the kitchen," Heather told Wade, "I know there will be a lot, but we can run them all and see if anyone has a record."
Wade nodded and went to get his kit, and his laptop, so they could test the fingerprints there on the scene.
Wade brought the kit in a moment later, and the two of them got to work, while the other three officers checked out the rest of the house.
Heather knelt by the man and dusted him for fingerprints. She didn't find any on him, much to her disappointment. She then helped Wade, and they loaded the prints into his computer, from a little tray that slid out from the side.
They went through several before two pictures finally showed up.
"Those two are the goons who tried to kill me," Heather stated, noting their names.
"They have long rap sheets," Wade stated, "so no surprise that they would be involved in this mess."
"Detective, I found a body upstairs!" an officer yelled down to them.
Heather let Wade take over dusting for more prints, and she headed up the stairs. The body had been stuffed in a closet in one of the bedrooms. It was a woman, and she had been dead for a couple of days.
"Great," Heather stated, as the officer took pictures.
Heather put gloves on, and leaning into the closet; she lifted one of the eyelids on the victim.
"Another victim of the poison," she said.
"But why would someone stuff her in the closet?" the officer asked. "The others were thrown onto the pier."
"That is a good question. Maybe she was the girlfriend of the man downstairs. He got scared because she ended up dead at his party, so he stuffed her in the closet."
"So no one would get suspicious," the officer nodded, "and then the guy would bury her later, or dump her body on the pier also, but he must have forgotten about her, and now he is dead."
"That sounds about right," Wade said, walking into the room. "Wow, it smells bad in here."
"Sorry Wade, I thought I wore deodorant," Heather teased, making Wade smirk.
"You know what I am talking about Heather. That dead body stinks like she has been here for a while."
"Yes, I know," Heather acknowledged. "Did you find anything else?" she asked.
"Nope, sorry."
Heather shook her head. "This is getting worse, and we have no leads."
"It is ridiculous," Wade agreed.
"Maybe it is time I had a little chat with the mob boss."
Wade frowned. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, but I would. He will know who is poisoning people if it isn't him."
"Heather, listen to me. He is one dangerous man; even Grisham won't mess with him."
"Yes, and that is why this city is overrun with drugs and crime, and slums," she pointed out. "If you get rid of him, you get rid of the poverty, and the crime."
"It's not that simple," Wade protested.
"Oh, but it is Wade. This city and all of you officers call this guy a mob boss, but he is not a mob boss, the man is only a bully. I have dealt with a mob boss, and he terrified me. I was lucky I made it out alive when I dealt with him, but he was the one who ended up dead, not me."
"Heather, no, please tell me you won't go after him."
"No promises," she said and stood. "I need to take a breath of fresh air, that stench is getting to me," she pointed at the body.
The coroners seemed to have heard her because they walked in with a body bag.
Heather let them take over and walked out of the room with Wade and down the stairs. "I want to go check out the closet when they are done," she said, "in case we missed something."
Wade nodded. "That's fine, but let's wear masks this time, so I don't have to smell that stench."
"Fine with me," Heather replied.
"Too bad Batman hasn't been around when this stuff is going on," Wade said, "he could have stopped this."
"Yes, where has he been, Wade? He probably could have stopped several murders, so where is your superhero when you need him most?"
"Maybe he has been busy?" he suggested.
"I doubt it. He's probably been ignoring what has been going on under his nose because he doesn't want to get involved with this mess. Not that I blame him." Heather sighed then when she saw Bruce's car pull up to the curb. He got out of the car and headed to them.
"How come he is here?" she muttered as he approached them.
"What is going on?" Bruce asked her. "I was driving by and saw your cars."
"It's a police investigation Bruce, I can't tell you anything," she reminded him.
"That is my friend's house," he frowned.
"I am sorry, but your friend is dead."
"How?" he frowned.
Wade started to say something, but Heather shook her head.
"Bruce, I can't tell you that, you will have to find out when it is made public record, for now, it is an active investigation, so let us do our work, and stay out of it."
Bruce frowned as he watched the coroners, come out of the house with two body bags, and load them into their van.
"Two bodies?" Bruce asked.
"We think it was his girlfriend," Wade blurted out.
Heather shook her head. "Wade."
"Sorry, but Bruce was probably friends with her too."
"I want to know how they died," Bruce said.
"I can't tell you that Bruce, you are not a cop, so no," Heather said, getting angry.
"I have the right to know," he replied, getting angry also.
"And you will find out later. You do not own this police department, Bruce, even though you might think so."
"I will go over your head and ask Grisham."
"Fine, you do that, but he won't say a word."
"Oh, yes, he will."
Heather shook her head. "Nope, because we aren't telling him anything."
"You have too; he is your boss."
"No, he isn't," Heather said.
"I will find out," he guaranteed.
"Good luck on that," Heather said, "because the officers here are sworn to secrecy, and if they say anything? They can be held liable in court, and the bad guys could get off, but you already know that don't you Bruce," she growled at him.
"Perhaps dinner wasn't such a good idea," he frowned at her.
"I didn't ask to be invited to dinner, Bruce, that was all your doing, and I have no problem not showing up, or giving you a blood sample."
He gritted his teeth in anger.
She turned to Wade, who was watching the two of them with interest. If he didn't know any better, Heather was getting the best of Bruce, and it was entertaining.
"I am going back inside. There is still evidence to gather, and you are coming with me. I don't want you telling Bruce things he shouldn't know."
Wade shrugged at Bruce. "She's my boss while she is here," he shrugged., and followed Heather back inside.
Bruce stood there in stunned silence. He had never had anyone talk to him like that, ever.
He caught up with them before they stepped inside.
"No one ever speaks to me that way," he said, grabbing Heather by the arm and whipping her around.
She glared up at him. "Get used to it, Mr. Wayne. While I am here in town, this is my case. You had better back off, or I will arrest you for police brutality," she stated, looking at his hand that was gripping her arm.
He dropped his hand instantly.
"And I will arrest you for interfering with a police investigation," she added.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, you never dare me, Mr. Wayne," she retorted.
"I would leave if I were you," Wade told him. "You don't want to tick her off anymore. She will arrest you, and there is nothing you can do about it. I have seen her work. She will make every single charge stick to you, even you, Bruce," Wade told him.
Bruce glared at both of them.
"This is not over," he told Heather.
"Is that a threat Bruce? Because I can add that to the list of charges," Heather said, pulling out her cuffs.
"I am leaving," he stated.
"You had better," she told him.
He turned on his heel and walked away. He got into his car, slammed the door, and drove away.
"Wow, you just told off Bruce Wayne," Wade breathed out.
"Yes, and it felt great, the egotistical man. There are some choice words I would like to use right now, but I won't," Heather said, taking a deep breath.
Wade laughed and followed her inside, "Yes, I am sure you would right now."