The Toybox

by Charly Cox

  Her mom, however, wasn’t quite finished. ‘I may not like it, but I’ll honor your choice. I can tell you’ve already considered what a huge commitment this will be, and your decision to stay here and attend UNM will have lifelong consequences, whether negative, positive, or a combination of both. So, if you’ve truly considered all the options and come to this conclusion as your path in life for now, Dad and I will support that choice and do what we can to help.’

  Holly practically flew into her mom’s arms. ‘Thanks, Mom.’

  ‘You’re welcome. Besides, it’s kind of nice knowing that my very bright, courageous, beautiful, strong-willed daughter is going to follow in her mother’s footsteps.’

  As Holly stepped back, she saw there was no hint of worry in her mom’s face. Instead, it was filled with a glow she hadn’t seen in a long time – or at least not since April when Isaac had been kidnapped.

  Seeing that, Holly was suffused with warmth, like she’d been out in a sub-zero freeze and was now standing in front of a toasty, blazing fire.

  ‘But you tell Grandma,’ her mom and dad said at the same time, laughing when they realized they’d been holding onto the same thought.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Saturday, May 25

  At two-thirty in the morning, Alyssa’s phone woke her. Groggy, she fumbled blindly for it until she groped it with her hand, pulling it to her head which still rested on her pillow. ‘Hello?’ Raspiness made her sound like she was catching a cold.

  ‘Detective Wyatt?’

  All Alyssa could tell from the tremulous voice on the other end of the line was that it was female, and she jerked up, fully awake as she crawled out of bed. ‘Yes, this is she. Who is this?’

  ‘This is Lorna Price from Hotel Camino. I came to see—’

  ‘I remember. Are the men you mentioned there right now?’ Even as she spoke, she tugged off the t-shirt she’d fallen asleep in and replaced it with a fresh one from the closet. With the phone secured between her ear and her shoulder, she dragged on the first pair of jeans her hands touched. From her dresser, she pulled out a pair of socks, not caring what kind or color. She debated waking Brock to let him know she was heading out, but found he was already awake, watching her carefully as she moved quickly around their bedroom. She lifted a hand, mouthed, ‘Gotta run. Love you,’ and then raced down the stairs.

  ‘Not exactly,’ Lorna answered. ‘But there’s another guy here. I forgot about him, but I’m pretty sure he was with that girl who was killed.’ If it was possible for her to speak any lower, she managed. ‘I saw him trying to get into one of the rooms even though he’s not a guest. I pretended I was taking out the trash, and I took a picture in case it helps.’

  Alyssa felt her heart drop to her stomach. ‘Lorna, listen to me. I want you to lock the front door.’ She waited until she heard a click. ‘Now, can you still see him from where you are?’

  ‘Yes, but now he’s just looking around.’

  ‘What’s he’s driving? Can you see that?’ Alyssa climbed into her Tahoe and backed out of the garage.

  ‘No. The only cars in the parking lot are the ones that were here when I got to work. Should I go out—’

  ‘No! No, stay where you are. I want you to stay on the phone with me and tell me what you see but stay where you are. Okay?’

  This time Lorna’s voice was filled with panic. ‘He’s coming to the door. What do I do?’

  Alyssa pressed the accelerator. ‘Get inside the office and lock it. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.’

  ‘He’s rattling the door. What if he gets in?’

  Where was the surveillance team that was supposed to be posted outside? Alyssa’s heart rate tripled, but somehow she managed to keep her voice calm. ‘Lorna, listen to me. You have an office phone, right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Don’t hang up now, but I want you to use that other phone and dial nine-one-one, tell them you’ve got me on the line, but you need a unit sent to Hotel Camino immediately. Tell them I told you to request no lights or sirens. Do that now.’

  She listened as Lorna spoke to Dispatch, and when she said, ‘I don’t see him at the door anymore. I don’t see him anywhere,’ Alyssa didn’t know if Lorna was informing her or the dispatcher. Either way, she had a feeling she was too late.

  Twelve minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot of Hotel Camino and parked next to one of the squad cars, ending the call with Lorna after telling her to stay inside. The lights in the office were blazing, and despite several broken streetlamps, the parking area was well-lit, making it easy to see there was no one there. ‘Damn it.’ She climbed out of the car at the same time as one of the officers, and together they approached a second officer.

  ‘I just checked the perimeter. Saw a couple homeless gals asleep behind that dumpster back there, but that’s it. No sign of anyone else. He must’ve been spooked when he saw our cars.’

  ‘Thanks. I’m going to head inside and talk to the receptionist.’ She dialed Lorna back. ‘This is Detective Wyatt. Can you unlock the door for me?’

  ‘Is he out there? What if he sees me and figures out I’m the one who called the police?’

  Angry not only at the fact that the mystery man had slipped through her fingers, but that the surveillance Hammond had approved was nowhere to be found, Alyssa wanted to snap that the young woman couldn’t hide in the office forever. But not only was it not her fault, she’d called Alyssa immediately when she spotted someone suspicious. She’d done exactly as Alyssa had asked, even though she’d clearly been frightened already. It wasn’t Lorna’s fault someone on the police force had failed in his or her job.

  ‘You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure a couple of officers stay behind until you’re off your shift, okay?’ Even as she said it, Alyssa vowed that someone’s head was going to roll for this blunder.

  A minute later, the same terrified look on her face as the one she’d worn the day she’d shown up at the precinct, Lorna unlocked the door and stepped back for Alyssa to join her. Scurrying back behind the counter as if it provided more safety, the woman retrieved the phone she’d set down, tapped a few buttons, and handed it to Alyssa.

  It was the photo she’d snapped. The image wasn’t as dark as Alyssa had suspected it would be, but it was grainy because Lorna had zoomed in and taken it from a distance. Still, there was enough detail there to show that the man, dressed in gym shorts, was probably thirty-something. Something about him seemed familiar, and it took a second for her to figure out what it was.

  The man in the photograph shared the same height and physique as the one who’d removed Meghan Jessup from the trunk of a sporty 2017 Dodge Viper and tossed her body in an abandoned restaurant. She was getting a better look at Steve Yarmini, and he’d slipped through her fingers for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

  ‘Detective?’ A man’s voice came up from behind her, and Alyssa turned to see a plainclothes officer she’d seen around the precinct from time to time. Though she couldn’t recall his name, she knew immediately who he was.

  Bullets were slower than the anger that erupted from her. Through clenched teeth, she said, ‘Weren’t you supposed to be surveilling this hotel?’

  The smile fell from the officer’s face. ‘Yes, ma’am. But I had to use the restroom, and since nothing was going on…’

  ‘The nothing that was going on,’ she exploded, ‘was that the man we believe is responsible for dumping and possibly murdering a fourteen-year-old girl was not only here, in this parking lot, but doing his best at attempting to break into one of the rooms, not to mention trying to get into the front office. No thanks to you, I was able to convince the receptionist to lock the door and secure herself in the office. And now our suspect is gone. And do you know why he’s gone?’ Each word brought her closer to the officer who somehow managed to stand his ground without backing up. Her finger jabbed at his chest, coming close but not quite making physical contact. ‘He’s gone because you weren’t doi
ng your job!

  ‘And where was your partner? Huh? Why didn’t you have back-up?’

  His face red from the dressing-down he was receiving, he admitted the truth. ‘He called in sick. I didn’t think it was necessary for someone to take his place.’

  ‘Clearly, you thought wrong!’ Alyssa was shouting, and she didn’t care. ‘I expect to see you in Captain Hammond’s office at the end of your shift.’ And then she dismissed him by turning her back on him.

  ‘Lorna, I need to see the room this man was attempting to break into. Can you get me a key?’ She tried to ignore the wide-eyed look of fear on the woman’s face, probably at Alyssa’s loss of temper as much as the events of the early morning hours.

  ‘Sure, sure.’

  A few minutes and a phone call to Cord later, Alyssa was inside the hotel room. Though she didn’t expect to find much, she wondered what Yarmini could’ve possibly been searching for. After checking the shelves and opening both water-stained nightstand drawers, she found nothing but the relics of an old, seedy hotel room. Still, she planned on sealing off this room until she could get a team of technicians in to comb it. Worst case scenario, she found nothing. Best case, there was something here she’d overlooked that would lead them to the missing girls.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Saturday, May 25

  It was almost eight-thirty on Saturday morning before Alyssa and Cord finished at Hotel Camino and strolled into the precinct. Ever since he’d squealed into the parking lot of the hotel shortly after three, Cord’s usual poised self-control had been slowly splintering. Maybe not so much that others would notice, but enough that she definitely did.

  Hal, Tony, and Joe were already in the conference room when she and Cord walked in, all of them more than willing to come in on a Saturday. On the drive over, Hammond had called to inform her that both the officers who were supposed to be surveilling the hotel were being pulled from that particular duty and disciplined, though he declined to say what that punishment entailed. It didn’t matter; she’d hear it through the grapevine eventually, and right now, she had other things to deal with.

  They settled themselves around the table, and Alyssa filled everyone in on last night’s events. When she was finished, she pointed to Joe and Tony. ‘You two canvass the businesses around Hotel Camino, see if any of them have security systems in place that might’ve caught Yarmini, what he’s driving now, which direction he went when he took off – whatever you can find. Hal, I need you to dig into Yarmini’s financials. See if he’s had any big or unusual deposits that stand out. We—’

  Alyssa’s phone rang, and she glanced down, the number familiar, but not one she readily recognized. ‘Detective Wyatt speaking.’

  ‘Detective, this is Bartholomew Rosenfelt. Do you have a few minutes? I have something that might be of interest to you and your investigation.’

  ‘And what is that?’

  ‘You know, I’m sure my attorney would reprimand me for contacting you like this. In fact, I’d wager he’d go so far as to call me a complete idiot. Not to my face, mind you. After all, he gets paid a hefty retainer and he wouldn’t want to risk getting fired.’

  Her patience splintered once again, Alyssa cut him off. ‘Mr. Rosenfelt, I’m a bit embroiled in locating three missing girls and solving a murder, so if you have something to share with me regarding my cases, please just tell me.’

  Immediately, Rosenfelt adopted a more serious demeanor, his voice more matter-of-fact. ‘Forgive me. You’re right. I shouldn’t be making lighthearted conversation in light of what my employee is suspected of. What I’m about to share with you is not something my employees are aware of, nor is it something I generally have need to remember, which is why I didn’t think of it when you and your partner intercepted me at the airfield.’

  She knew it was rude, but the fear in Lorna Price’s eyes last night when Steve Yarmini showed up at the hotel, coupled with the fact that she’d been so close to catching him, forced her tolerance to a new level of low. ‘Are you going to get to your point soon?’

  He took her attitude in stride. ‘All the vehicles purchased by and for Rosenfelt Holdings are equipped with GPS trackers. It’s a system designed and set into place after I discovered certain discrepancies in my ledgers, and it became prudent for me to find a way to keep track of my more distant employees. However, it’s been several years since I’ve last had a reason to track the comings and goings of any of the hundreds of people in my employ.’

  Alyssa went on full alert. ‘Mr. Rosenfelt, are you trying to tell me there was a tracker on the 2017 Dodge Viper Steve Yarmini was driving?’

  ‘I’m not trying; I’m telling you straight out there was a tracker on the car Steve Yarmini was driving. From what I understand, the system only keeps a log of the last thirty days before self-deleting. I’ve taken the liberty of having my receptionist contact the company in charge of retaining that data.’

  ‘How soon do you expect to hear back?’

  ‘I already have. And I’ve asked that the information be emailed directly to you. It should already be in your inbox.’

  Keeping him on the line, she pointed to Hal’s laptop. ‘I need that.’ She waited while he shut down whatever program he’d been in and slid the computer over.

  Alyssa didn’t want to come across as ungrateful, but she was curious – and a bit suspicious – as to why one of the world’s richest men would go out of his way to be so helpful. ‘Mr. Rosenfelt, I appreciate this, but why are you doing it – sharing this information with me?’ There was a brief pause before Rosenfelt spoke. ‘Despite your personal opinion of me, Detective, or what advice my attorney would give, I’m not in the habit of hindering police investigations, especially when they involve one of my employees being a suspect in the rape and murder of a young girl, and who, apparently, has taken off.’

  Alyssa’s head snapped back in surprise. ‘How did you hear that?’

  ‘I have my ways. Suffice it to say that it doesn’t look too good for Mr. Yarmini, does it?’

  Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she logged into her email where she found a new message from Advanced Technology Securities. She opened the message and clicked on the link before pushing the laptop over to Hal. ‘Can you project this onto the wall?’

  A few quick taps later, the information was displayed across the room for everyone to see. And then suddenly GPS coordinates scrolled down the page, dates and times stamped beside each. She pointed to Joe. ‘Start with May 20, and confirm that those coordinates match the location of Hotel Camino.

  ‘Hal, figure out which of these coincide with Yarmini’s residence in the foothills.’ Scanning the screen, she tapped one of the coordinates and said, ‘Start with this one since it seems to show up more frequently than any others. Cord, Tony, go back to the earliest date and start jotting down all the locations. If anything seems “remote,” flag it. That could be where the girls are.’

  She’d forgotten Rosenfelt was still on the phone that was pressed to her ear until he said, ‘Detective, I’m not sure what else I can do, so I’m going to hang up now. If you need me for anything else, you have my number. In the meantime, I’m staying at Hotel Parq Central.’

  Absently, Alyssa thanked the multi-billionaire, trying her best not to let frustration build as she waited for the coordinates to produce anything that might tell her where the girls were. Several minutes after Rosenfelt hung up, Cord said, ‘None of the data from the April dates show that the Dodge Viper made a trip into Santa Fe where Meghan was kidnapped – which could mean that he wasn’t involved with her kidnapping, or simply that he used another car.’

  ‘Or that she wasn’t in Santa Fe when she was taken. Does anything place the Viper near the area around her step-grandfather’s house?’

  Suddenly, Joe piped up, excitement in his voice. ‘Pay dirt! On Monday, May 20, at three minutes before midnight, the Dodge Viper was at Hotel Camino. Ninety-eight minutes later, he stopped at Central and Louisiana where M
eghan Jessup’s body was discarded. Thursday, May 23, at 5:43 p.m., the tracker places the vehicle at the end of Rainbow in Rio Rancho.’ He looked up from his phone. ‘And the tracking ends there.’

  Instead of her frustration and impatience leveling off, Alyssa was more aggravated. ‘That doesn’t tell us where Meghan Jessup has been all this time. It tells us where she was just before her body was dumped…’ She spoke out loud, but she was talking mainly to herself as she tried to work out the puzzle.

  Cord cleared his throat before speaking, and all eyes cut his way. ‘None of this explains why Meghan Jessup would have the Rosenfelt Holdings logo branded on her body – unless Bartholomew Rosenfelt is somehow involved and trying to throw us off by pretending to help?’

  The same thought had crossed Alyssa’s mind. ‘On the other hand, if he is involved, do you really think he’s stupid enough to have Yarmini dump Meghan’s body in the center of town when his logo was branded into her hip? I mean, if I had that much expendable income at my disposal, I’d make sure her body wasn’t discovered at all.’

  ‘Maybe he’s not as smart as you’re clearly giving him credit for,’ Cord bit out, causing Joe, Tony, and Hal to stare at him, mouths gaping open.

  ‘And maybe you’re not thinking clearly, and you’re letting your judgment be clouded by biases,’ Alyssa retorted. She would never embarrass him by revealing what those biases were, but nor would she allow them to derail this investigation.

  When he didn’t respond, she said, ‘Let’s dig into Steve Yarmini’s past. I’d like to find out if he has any connections to Beau Cambridge or his father.’

  When her phone chimed, she glanced down to see a text message from Bartholomew Rosenfelt.

  Just emailed you a link to Steve Yarmini’s cell phone records. And before you ask, that is a business expense that Rosenfelt Holdings reimburses for. As to how I was able to get them so quickly, let’s just say money goes a long way. I hope they help.