Read Online Criminal Enterprise by Owen Laukkanen - Free Book Online

his home base than those Minneapolis banks. Someone in Midway might know him.”
    Doughty gave it a beat. “You tell Harris?”
    “No,” she said. “I just thought of it now.”
    “And you’re in the car already. Driving to Saint Paul.” Doughty sucked his teeth. “You should have checked with me first.”
    “I’m telling you now, Bob.”
    Another pause. The baby wailed in the background. “That’s not the point, Carla. Everything on this investigation’s supposed to go through me.”
    Windermere rolled her eyes. “So all right. What do you want me to do?”
    “Come back to the office. We’ll talk this thing over.”
    “I’m halfway to Saint Paul.”
    “So you’ll get to CID about the same time as me. See you there.” Doughty hung up before she could reply. She stared at her phone for a second.
God damn it,
she thought. She let her foot off the accelerator. Then she pressed down again.
I can
see
Saint Paul up ahead. Damned if I’m turning back now.
    She found the E-Z Park entrance beneath a high-rise office complex. It was a garage underground, and she parked in a no-parking zone at the top of the ramp.
    Before she was out of the car, there was an employee bearing down on her. “No parking,” he said. “You have to keep moving.”
    Windermere flashed her badge. “Your boss around?”
    The man stopped like he’d touched an electric fence. Then he turned and hurried toward an office, pausing to look back at her twice. He returned a minute later with another man, slightly older, in a wrinkled brown suit. “Can I help you?”
    Windermere introduced herself. Showed the man the photocopied Midway note. “I’m looking for a man,” she said. “He parked here once. In July.”
    The man examined the photocopy. Shrugged and turned back to the office. “Don’t hold your breath.”
    “I have some pictures, too,” she said. “Maybe they’ll help.”
    The manager beckoned his employee over. “I spend my day in the office,” he said. “Sanjay works in the booth.”
    Sanjay came over slowly, circling Windermere like a wary dog. Windermere held out the stack of security pictures, and the man paused before riffling through them. Then he shook his head and looked sideways at Windermere. “I don’t know.”
    Windermere frowned. “Nothing?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    She wanted to press him, but the manager had returned, holding the photocopy and another scrap of paper. “This account was paid for by a credit card,” he told Windermere. “The credit card belongs to a man named Carter Tomlin.”
    “Carter Tomlin,” said Windermere. “You know who he is?”
    Both men shook their heads.
    “He still park here?”
    The manager shrugged. “Perhaps you could check with the credit card company.” He shoved the photocopy back at Windermere, and the scrap of paper, too. He’d written Tomlin’s name on it in block letters.
    Windermere studied his face. Thought about telling him to go back and check for himself. Then she decided, why not go to the source? “Okay, boys,” she said. “Thanks for your time.”
    The two men watched her climb into the car and drive out of the lot. They didn’t move until she’d turned out onto the street and was pulling away. Windermere watched them in her rearview mirror. Hiding something, no doubt, but they didn’t know squat about the bank robber.
    Her phone rang. Doughty. She let it ring for a minute. Then she sighed and picked it up. “I got a name. Carter Tomlin, he’s—”
    “Where are you?” Doughty’s tone was ice.
    “Did you hear me, Bob? I have a lead.”
    “I asked you to meet me at the office, Agent Windermere.”
    She sighed again. “What’s your point?”
    “My point?” Doughty’s voice lost its chill, replaced with barely throttled anger. “I’m senior agent on this investigation, Agent Windermere. That’s my point. Come back to Minneapolis,
now
, and we’ll talk about what happens next.”
    Windermere mouthed a curse. “I’m