by Lolli Powell
“Sure you were. Where did you get it?”
“It was just layin’ on a shelf at Walmart,” the man said. “By the TVs. It wasn’t in a package or nothin’.”
“Give it to me.”
The man lowered his right arm and started to reach into his jeans pocket. He stopped.
“You ain’t gonna shoot me, are you? Like on the news all the time when those cops say they thought the cell phone was a gun?”
“No, but I might shoot you if you don’t give me that phone. Now!”
“Okay, okay.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He held it out to Al. One look at the phone told Al it was Will’s.
“Get out of here.” Al motioned with his weapon toward the street. “Go to church and say thanks for your good luck.”
“What about my stuff?” the man whined.
“Oh, you want your stuff? Well, maybe if you ask the judge real nice after your trial, he’ll give it back to you. You want to go that route instead of just leaving, it’s okay by me.”
“Hey, hey, forget it.” The man started backing toward the street, hands held in front of him. When he’d gone half the distance between Al and the street, he turned and ran.
Al opened the baggie and dumped the contents, grinding them into the dust and grit with his shoe before heading back to his car. Once inside, he called Lonnie.
“I got the phone,” he said. “It was left on a shelf at Walmart, and some lowlife picked it up.”
He heard Lonnie curse.
“Hey, we expected something like this,” Al said. “Did you find the car?”
“Yeah. Parked and empty over on Crestview. I’ve got unis on the way to canvas the neighborhood to see if anyone saw where Will went.”
“Bet some of those folks have security cameras.”
“I’m sure they do, but it doesn’t look like many of them are home. I’ve got dispatch trying to get info on the ones closest to Will’s car. If we can find out where they work and that they’ve got cameras, we’ll get the feed.”
“So it’s up to the medallion and the insoles,” Al said. “Have you heard from Don?”
“No. He’s been quiet since we left the station,” Lonnie said.
“That’s odd. Do you think he got made?”
“Let’s hope not. He’s got the only tracker for the medallion and insoles.”
“What should we do now?” Al had never felt more helpless. While he’d had the phone to track, he’d been able to avoid thinking about Jen, but now images of her lying beaten and broken like Trish and the others kept forcing their way into his thoughts.
“I dunno.” Lonnie sounded as helpless as he felt. “Just drive around and keep a lookout for Anderson. I’ll call as soon as we get something on the car or I get hold of Don.”
They disconnected. Al slumped back in his seat for a few minutes, trying to think of something else to do. Walmart. The man had said he found the phone at Walmart by the TVs. He’d go there and talk to the clerk. Maybe he’d learn something, maybe he wouldn’t, but at least he’d be doing something. He started the car and pulled away from the curb.
CHAPTER 58
Will grabbed the phone on the first ring, stabbing the green button so hard he nearly knocked the phone from his hand.
“Go out to the car,” the robotic voice said before Will could say anything. “Leave everything but the phone. Don’t hang up.”
He saw them as soon as he opened the driver’s door. Two cheap canvas slip-on shoes sitting on the passenger seat. He managed to stifle a groan. Artie was taking no chances. And Will had no doubt he was enjoying the game as well.
“Put them on,” the robot said, “and leave your other ones in the lot.”
Will laid the phone on the dash, and sitting sideways in the driver’s seat, he did as he was told. Making a guess that Artie’s view was at least somewhat blocked by his body, he quickly slid the insoles out of his shoes and into the canvas ones. He picked up the phone.
“Now what?” he said.
“Now you hold your shoes up in front of the radio,” the robot said.
So the camera is somewhere in the center of the dash, Will thought. He tried to spot something different about the dash but couldn’t. He hesitated, knowing Artie was likely to see that the insoles were missing. They were an intense blue color like those sold in every drugstore, while the inside of his shoes was a dark brown.
“Do it. Now.” The robot sounded irritated.
Will leaned down and picked his shoes off the pavement. He turned back and held them up, toes forward, pasting a puzzled expression on his face. He wasn’t holding out a lot of hope that it would fool Artie, but he had to try.
“Hold them so I can see the inside,” the robot said.
Will did. There was silence from the phone for several seconds, then the sultry female voice laughed.
“Naughty little Willie,” it said. “You think I don’t know about all the toys you federal boys have to play with? Take the insoles out of the nice shoes I bought you before I get mad and do something Officer Dillon will regret.”
Will put the phone on speaker, laid it back on the dash and did as told. He slid them back into his own shoes and held them up, tops facing the dash.
“Satisfied?” He knew the snarl could be heard in his voice as well as seen by the camera wherever he was, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.
“Not yet. But I will be. Now set the shoes back on the pavement.”
He did as told and closed the door. He started to turn the key to start the car, but the voice stopped him.
“Not just yet, Willie boy. Take off the necklace.”
Will cursed to himself. Once the medallion was gone, that was it. Don and the rest of the team would not be able to track him. But he didn’t have a choice. As long as Artie had Jen, he had to do whatever he was told. He slipped the medallion over his head.
“Drop it out the window.”
Will did as told.
“Okay, I think we’re done with foreplay, don’t you, sweetie?” The sultry voice laughed. “Start the car and drive to Benson Park. You know where that is?”
Will remembered passing the park when he’d first driven into town. It was a large municipal park just inside the city limits, heavily wooded from what he’d seen.
“Yeah, I know,” he said.
“See you soon, lover boy.”
The phone went dead.
Will started the car and backed out of the space. He was on his own now. He tried to think of a way to leave a clue to where he had gone, something that Lonnie or Don could find when they tracked him to this motel. But there was nothing he could do because Artie was watching. If he saw Will doing anything…he couldn’t take the thought any further. It was up to him. He’d drive to Benson Park and let Artie take him if that would get him closer to Jen.
As he pulled into the park, the phone rang again.
“Turn left,” the sultry voice said. “And put me on speaker, Willie.”
Will put the phone on speaker and laid it on the passenger seat. The entrance drive split a few yards in, the right side heading toward ball fields and a pool if the sign was to be believed. The drive to the left led toward the trees. Ahead he could see several picnic tables and a building that probably housed restrooms.
“Park by the toilets,” the voice said, “and go inside.”
Will pulled into a spot, noting that the parking area was empty except for his car. Lights were on at a ball field on the other side of the park, and he could see people and cars over there, but it was too late for people to be enjoying picnics, leaving this side of the park in relative darkness. He got out of the car and walked to the door leading to the men’s restroom. The light came on as he stepped inside, and he saw there were two stalls and three urinals lined up along the opposite wall. On the wall to the right of the door were three basins. An envelope with his name on it sat on the nearest one. He grabbed it and tore it open, his hands shaking. He h
ad fully expected to find Artie inside, not another one of his messages.
But it wasn’t a message. It was a pill. A white pill and a phone number.
“Well, look at that! You just never know what you might find in a public john, do you? Good thing some kid didn’t find it first.” The sultry voice chuckled. “Okay, sweetie, be a good boy and take your pill. Leave the phone on the basin and go back to the car with the envelope. When you get there, call me on your last phone.” The voice turned singsong. “I’ll be waiting.”
Will stabbed the red button to end the call, dry-swallowed the pill, and laid the phone on the basin. He strode to the stalls and pushed open the doors, slamming them against the walls. After the envelope he hadn’t really expected Artie to be in one of them, but he had to be sure. He turned in a circle, inspecting the room. Had Artie planted another camera in here? Could he take a chance and leave a note for Lonnie? But what could he say—even if he had a pen to write with, which he didn’t? That he’d been here? He had no idea where he was going to be sent next, so it wouldn’t help much. Would it?
He didn’t know if the city had many traffic cams, but most towns had some. Maybe they’d be able to track the car he was driving if he left them the information. He’d automatically noted the license plate when he’d walked to the car after leaving his own. But if Artie were watching—he had an idea.
He sighed and started for the door, then turned back and headed into a stall. He unzipped his fly and began urinating just as he heard the phone on the basin begin ringing. He used the thumb of his free hand to scratch the license number on the flimsy, wooden wall of the cubicle. He did it quickly, finishing just as he finished urinating and flushed. If Artie’s surveillance equipment came with audio, he thought he might get by with what he’d done. Whether Lonnie or Al or Don would even find it—he wasn’t holding out much hope, but he had to try. He stepped out of the stall and picked up the phone.
“Yeah?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” The voice sounded angry, and this time it sounded like a real person.
“I had to take a leak. Is that a problem?”
Silence. Will felt sweat trickle down his side. Had he pushed his luck too far? He’d been sure Artie wanted him, but what if he just wanted to make him suffer? If he killed Jen in the brutal way he’d killed the others, then disappeared again, Will would suffer. Artie would know that, and that might be enough for him.
“Leave the phone and go to the car. I won’t tell you again.” The line went dead.
Will laid the phone back on the basin with a hand that wouldn’t stop shaking. Then he turned and went out to the car.
CHAPTER 59
Al’s phone rang just as he got back into his car in the Walmart parking lot, the screen showing it was Lonnie.
“Boss?” Al said.
“Hawkins called. He tracked Will to the Holiday Inn. Found out he checked in to Room 103 after a called-in reservation requesting that particular room. He found Will’s clothes inside.”
“What about the shoes and the necklace?”
“They weren’t in the room.” Al heard Lonnie take a deep breath. “But he found them outside the side entrance door—the one closest to 103. On the ground right where a car would have been parked.”
Al cursed. “So that means we’ve got no way to track him.”
“Yeah.” Lonnie was silent for several seconds. “We may not be dead-in-the-water yet. The motel has a security camera pointed at the lot. Don said the clerk is contacting his boss now—refused to let Don see it till he got permission. Where are you now?”
“Just came out of Walmart,” Al said. “The guy who had Will’s phone said he found it on a shelf by the TVs, and sure enough, the clerk remembered Will. Guess he stood out because he bought three burner phones, and he got a call on the Walmart phone while he was there.”
“He took a call on the store phone?”
“He didn’t talk to the guy who called. The clerk said Will had just checked out when the phone rang. The caller asked the clerk to tell Will he wouldn’t be able to pick him up and to give him a number to call. Lucky for us, the clerk has a tendency to remember numbers. At least I hope he remembered right.”
“You got a number?”
“I got four. The number the caller wanted the clerk to give to Will, plus the numbers of the phones Will bought. I was just getting ready to call the station to get them started on tracking them. The one the guy called from is likely a burner, but since we got the number—”
“We might be able to trace it,” Lonnie finished. “It’s a long shot, but right now those numbers and the Holiday’s security camera are the only ones we got.”
They disconnected, and Al called the detective section’s secretary.
“Helen, it’s Al,” he said.
Before he could say more, the woman said, “Did you find her?”
“Not yet.” He heard a groan on the other end. “But I need your help.”
“Anything.”
“I’ve got some phone numbers I need to trace. Anderson bought three at a Walmart, and the fourth is a number he was given to call.” He read off the numbers.
“On it.” Helen said and disconnected.
Al knew if anyone could get the information, Helen could. She had contacts at every telecommunications company in the area. Phone numbers were doled out in blocks by some organization that served the U.S. and Canada. Helen had explained it all to him once, but that was as much as he remembered. Well, that and the fact that Helen could quickly find out which company ended up with the number the detectives were trying to track. Once they knew that, they could work on getting the company to track the phone’s location.
The phones Will bought were easier, since he already knew the identity of the carrier. Al sat in the Walmart lot, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, wanting to move, wanting to do something, but not knowing what. Helen called back in less than five minutes, but it had seemed like an hour.
“Still working on the one number,” she said, “but I’ve got the ones Agent Anderson bought. The last location of one was at the mall, but that one’s gone dead.”
Probably told to chuck it out the window, Al thought, and somebody’s run over it.
“The other two are at Benson Park—on the picnic area side.”
Bingo, Al thought, excitement washing through him. The picnic area would be empty at this time of night. It would be a perfect place for the killer to trap Will. If they could get there in time…
“Get marked units heading that way,” he told Helen. “No red lights and sirens, though. Tell them to park on the ball field side and head in on foot.”
“Will do.”
Before Helen could disconnect, Al added, “Better get a couple units on the other side of the woods, too.”
He disconnected and called Lonnie, quickly filling him in on what Helen had found out and what he’d told her to do.
“I should have checked with you—”
“Don’t worry about it. You did right. I’m headed that way. I’ll let Hawkins know what’s happening.”
“See you there.”
Twenty minutes later Al, Lonnie, Don, and several uniformed officers had swarmed the restrooms. They didn’t need to check to know that the phone on the basin was one of the ones Will had bought, just like they didn’t need to check that the gray Chevy parked in the lot was the one Will had been driving. A sharp-eyed rookie had spotted that the plate matched the number and letters scratched into the wall of one of the stalls. Will had tried to leave them a way to follow him, thinking he’d be driving the car when he left the restroom. Instead, Arthur Kelty had been waiting for him.
A few minutes later, a uniformed officer called out that he had another phone. It was lying under a picnic table twelve feet from the parking area. Al bent double, feeling like he was close to throwing up. Their options had just dwindled. Maybe they’d be able to track the number Kelty had used to call Will at the Walmart, but odds were
he’d already disposed of that phone just like he’d disposed of the ones Will had bought.
He took several deep breaths, until the nausea passed, and then he straightened.
“What now, Sarge?”
Lonnie looked as lost as he felt, but he rallied.
“We need to find out where Adams and Cochran are.” He looked at Al. “Give Helen a call and get her started on tracking them, too.”
“Anybody else?”
“The mailman? Holiday—have her check on him, too. Might as well do Edwards’s ex, too.”
Al walked a few feet away.
“Hey, Helen. Go to my desk and get the files on Edwards and Trish. There’s interview notes in there for Steve Cochran, Larry Adams, Carter Holiday, and the exes of all the victims. We need you to get the locations of their phones, too.”
“Sure thing. I’m still waiting on the one that called Agent Anderson.”
“Okay. Call me as soon as you—”
“Wait,” she interrupted. “Is Agent Hawkins with you?”
“Yeah, he is.” Al turned, but Don was nowhere in sight. Lonnie was standing alone by his unmarked car. Al looked toward the park entrance and saw taillights turning left. Had Hawkins left? And if he had, why?
“Well, he was,” Al said. “What did you need him for?”
“His office called here,” Helen said. “They’d been trying to get hold of him and thought he might be here. They said they found something interesting in one of the background checks.”
“Yeah?” Al came to attention. “Tell me.”
Helen did. This is it, Al thought. He felt it in his bones. They’d find Jen and Will now, but would they be in time?
CHAPTER 60
A painful jolt brought Will back to consciousness and on full alert. The noise of an engine and the sound of tires on rough pavement told him what he’d already guessed—he was in the trunk of a car. His hands were behind his back, and he could feel the metal of handcuffs around his wrists. His legs were restrained as well, and based on the feel, his own belt had been used around his ankles and rope wrapped around his lower legs. Not very tidy, he thought, trying unsuccessfully to move his legs apart, but it works.