Pike hadn’t been looking for files and documents, but now he wanted to see what Straw had. He took the camera and envelope, and drove to a quiet residential street three blocks away.

Pike checked the video first. He spent a few minutes figuring out how to work the camera, then watched several seconds of Straw’s recording. He fast-forwarded, then skipped between tracks to watch more. A hard knot between his shoulder blades grew larger with each scene he watched, and soon it spread down his back.

Straw’s surveillance team had not recorded Azzara or the members of Azzara’s gang. They had recorded Rainey and Dru. Entering and leaving the shop. Entering and leaving the house on the canal. Dru in the backyard. Rainey in the kayak. Driving their Tercel.

The video confirmed what Pike suspected the moment he saw the worn envelope bearing Wilson Smith’s true name.

Special Agent Jack Straw had lied. Straw and his team never cared about Miguel Azzara. They had known who Wilson and Dru were since the beginning. They were chasing Rainey and Platt.

Chapter 40

40

Pike put the camera aside, then skimmed the reports. Most of the documents were case notes recounting meetings or conversations with Rainey by a DEA agent named Norman Lister, who appeared to be Rainey’s handler. Most of the reports were written while Rainey was still functioning as an informant, though many were dated when the agents were investigating his disappearance. Pike skipped these parts as he did not care about Rainey. He wanted to read about Dru.

He searched the pages until he found the picture of Rose Marie Platt, and discovered a collection of documents stapled together. The first was a compilation of Lister’s notes condensing statements made by Rainey’s associates, describing how they knew Rose Platt, and what they knew, if anything, about her relationship to Rainey. Their names were highlighted in yellow, and their addresses were handwritten in the margins.

Most of those interviewed were identified as co-workers, and most knew nothing incriminating. One of those interviewed was Rose Platt’s mother and two were identified as her brothers. These condensations were as short as the others, and contained no information useful to Lister’s investigation. The brothers claimed they had not seen their sister for six years, and the mother complained she had not seen nor heard from Rose in almost ten years. Rose was alternately described as rebellious, fucked up, selfish, and a tramp.

Pike flipped past the remaining statements, but paused again when he found a copy of the warrant issued for Rose Marie Platt’s arrest. The warrant contained an information sheet with a second picture of Dru, her physical description, and background information that might prove useful to investigators. The names of friends and relatives, prior addresses, schools attended, and past employers were all neatly typed into the appropriate boxes.