by Nolan Thomas
Scrolling through the contacts on his phone, it didn’t take Jeremiah long to find the number of an old DC cop friend, MPD Captain Carlos Diaz.
Jeremiah placed the call.
12
BILLY CLUTCHED HIS PHONE, PACING back and forth—waiting for Jeremiah’s call. Casey didn’t try to comfort or calm him. She knew how Billy dealt with difficult situations.
His phone finally rang.
“Got anything for me?”
“I talked with an old friend of mine, Captain Carlos Diaz. He runs the precinct in the neighborhood you gave me, and he did some checking for me.”
“Great.”
“Maybe not so great. He found the report of the mom’s death. The beat cop at the scene took the girl to DCFS. Here’s where it gets murky. Captain Diaz makes a call to DCFS and they can’t find any record of a Riley Sinclair.”
“No record? What kind of bullshit is that? Where in the hell is she?”
“Look, I know it sounds bad. But at this point it could just be a paperwork snafu.”
“Are they serious? For God’s sake, Jeremiah, she’s only ten years old. Her mom’s dead. They can’t dismiss this as a paperwork snafu.”
“Nobody’s dismissing anything. Captain Diaz wants to get to the bottom of this too. Get over to the precinct and ask for Detective Vince Amato. Captain Diaz filled him in, and Amato’s expecting you.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything. Not for this at least. You just find that Riley, and keep me posted on your progress.”
“Will do,” Billy said, but Jeremiah had already ended the call.
“Did I understand your side of the conversation correctly?” Casey asked. “The police don’t know where Riley is?”
“No. I’m heading over now to talk with the detective assigned to find her.” Billy reached to open the door. “I’ll update you as soon as I know something.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Casey said, grabbing her keys. “I’m going with you.”
THE PRECINCT BUZZED with activity . . . like the inside of a hive filled with navy-blue uniformed worker bees. Billy approached the Desk Sergeant, and explained that Detective Vince Amato expected him. The Sergeant made a call. It didn’t take long for Vince to appear.
“Hi. Are you Billy Daniels?” he said, offering his hand.
Vince looked to be in his early to mid-thirties, tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Curly dark hair framed his brown eyes and broad, friendly grin. Vince had that little something extra, a kind of self-assured aura.
“Yes,” Billy said, shaking his hand. “This is Casey Callahan.”
“Hello. My name is Detective Vince Amato, but please call me Vince. It’s Miss Callahan, yes?”
“No need for the Miss. Please call me Casey.”
They looked at each other for an extra moment. Casey blushed and looked away.
Billy was surprised. Is Casey actually flirting with this guy? He’s good-looking, but not that good-looking. Well maybe he’s great-looking, but I bet he’s shallow. Casey would never fall for a shallow guy.
Billy filled Vince in on how he knew Riley and her mother, and provided all the information he had on them from the interviews. It wasn’t much, but every bit helped at this point.
“I understand you have a photo of Riley,” Vince said.
“Yes.” Billy pulled it up on his phone.
“That’s a great shot. Send it to me and I’ll get this out to all city and county workers who might have had contact with her. Here’s my number.”
Billy sent Riley’s picture, and Vince immediately sent it out as a broadcast to all pertinent agencies.
“We know Riley got to DCFS. I spoke with the beat cop who took her there. He left Riley and the paperwork with the desk clerk,” Vince said. “DCFS is closed now. I’m going to head over there myself first thing in the morning and start some digging of my own. I’ll keep you guys updated.”
“Tomorrow? Riley is missing.” Incredulous, Billy insisted, “We have to find her now.”
“Look, I know you’re worried. Every beat cop and social worker has her picture and will be looking for her. The most likely scenario is that she got placed in a temporary foster home, and only the paperwork is missing. I give you my word we won’t stop looking for Riley until we find her.”
13
ARMED WITH RILEY’S PICTURE, VINCE made his way from desk to desk at DCFS, showing the picture to each social worker. Regina noticed the easy-on-the-eye cop, but didn’t pay too much attention to him. It wasn’t unusual to see police officers in and out of the office all day long. He eventually reached her desk.
“Hi. I’m Detective Amato.”
“Hi. My name is Regina. What can I do for you Detective?” she yellow-smiled at him.
Vince held out a print of Riley’s picture. “I’m trying to track down a missing child. The police brought her here early Monday morning. Have you seen her?”
“Monday? Are you serious? That was two days ago. I see kids here all the time. Besides, if she’d passed through here she wouldn’t be missing, now would she?” Regina chuckled.
Vince stared at Regina. She didn’t seem to be the least bit interested or give a rat’s ass about trying to help find a missing child. He could understand if she was busy, or cranky, but being so flippant about the situation bugged him.
“This isn’t funny. Please take a look. It will only take a second.”
Regina rolled her eyes and gave him an only-one-more-cookie-for-you-little-boy look.
“Oh, all right. Give it to me.”
It was only an instant, but Vince saw recognition register on Regina’s face. She’d seen Riley. He’d bet a week’s salary on it.
“Who reported her missing?” she demanded.
Ignoring her question, Vince asked, “Have you seen her?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? Why don’t you take another look?”
“I don’t need to take another look,” she snapped, spraying spittle across her desk.
Why so agitated? Vince was convinced she knew something.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Regina said, unable to keep her growing annoyance out of the tone of her voice. “Who reported her missing?”
“I can’t release any names. Let’s just say it was a Good Samaritan.”
Fear flickered across her face. Recognition and fear. Vince was certain of it. He didn’t like that combination.
“Well, thanks anyway for your time.” He pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Keep the picture. I’ve been distributing them to others in your office. Memories are funny things. Sometimes one will jump into our heads later. Give me a call if there’s any light you can shed on the situation.”
Vince turned to leave.
Regina dropped the card in the trash can next to her desk.
When Vince got just outside the main entryway he turned to look at Regina. Just as he suspected, she was already on the phone.
14
RILEY MISSED HER MOTHER TERRIBLY, but Aunt Dixie treated Riley almost like a daughter. Aunt Dixie had given her daily chores. Riley made her bed, cleared the table after meals, and fed and walked Rocky. Riley chuckled at the idea of calling these chores. She had her very own room, and she walked and played with her new best friend every day. Aunt Dixie praised her for doing such a good job.
Rocky followed Riley everywhere. If Riley watched TV, Rocky curled up next to her and put his head in her lap. When Riley did her non-Rocky chores, he sat and patiently waited for her. Every night Rocky hopped into bed and snuggled up next to her. Riley, who spent so many nights alone, never felt safer.
Aunt Dixie worked a lot, but she recognized Riley was mature for her age, so no need for a babysitter. She wasn’t strict about TV shows. Some adults got all hyper over what kids watched, but not Aunt Dixie. Riley flipped through the channels to her heart’s content most days. Not a big fa
n of kids’ shows, Riley preferred talk shows because it felt like friends were around. She also liked HGTV and all those old shows on cable.
Even in the evening she pretty much had free rein because Aunt Dixie often had business meetings late into the night. But Riley didn’t mind at all. Actually, she liked it. When Aunt Dixie wasn’t around, Riley and Rocky ate in the living room in front of the TV. Although Aunt Dixie had never said they could eat in the living room, Riley reasoned Aunt Dixie had never actually said they couldn’t eat there. Rocky never begged for food when Aunt Dixie was around. But when Riley ate on the sofa, Rocky sat right next to her and fully expected some tasty morsels after every few bites she took.
Riley thought that Aunt Dixie must be getting a little attached to her. The other day she made a video of Riley playing with Rocky out in the yard. Later that night, after she had donned her pink pajamas, Aunt Dixie videoed them again, this time playing on the bed. Once the playing stopped, and Rocky snuggled next to her, Aunt Dixie handed Riley her phone so she could watch the video. It was fun. Riley had never seen a recording of herself before.
Aunt Dixie tucked her in, bent down, and kissed Riley’s forehead.
DIXON WAS IN no mood to play games with Regina. “I thought we had an understanding. You only call this number if you have something for me.”
“I do. Something just happened you need to know about.”
Dixon barely heard Regina. She talked softly, and it sounded like her hand or something muffled her voice.
“Regina, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“A cop was just in here looking for Riley!”
Dixon didn’t panic. She was too well trained and experienced for that.
“Regina, how could that be? You assured me she had absolutely no family or friends to come looking for her.”
“I know. She didn’t. I swear she didn’t. When the cop showed me a picture of her, and said she was a missing person, I even asked the cop who was looking for her.”
“What did he say?”
“He said they didn’t disclose that information, but it was a Good Samaritan.”
Dixon asked, “Who do you think reported her missing?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that. I checked her background thoroughly, so I’m sure there’s no family. She and her mom were living out of a car. So I’m thinking the Good Samaritan might be a shopkeeper or someone like that. The cop knew her name too.”
“Tell me about this cop. Why did he come to you?”
“He said his name, but I didn’t catch it. I was doing paperwork when he walked up to my desk. He didn’t specifically come to me. He made the rounds at all the social workers’ desks.”
“That’s good. He’s not associating her with you. What did you tell him?”
“I didn’t tell him anything. I said I’d never seen her before.”
“Did he seem to accept that?”
“Yeah, that’s what everyone here told him.”
“So you’re telling me that even though Riley had been in your office, no one recognized her?”
“No one. This is a big office and we get hundreds of kids through here every week. Trust me. Everyone is too busy to notice these kids. Half of them wouldn’t recognize kids they had case files on.”
“What about Riley’s files?”
“There are no files. The cops can look as much as they want. I always shred everything before I deliver any child to you.”
“That’s good work. Do you have the picture?”
“Sure, the cop gave copies to everyone. Most are in the circular files already.” Regina laughed.
Amazing, Dixon thought. This idiot just got a visit from a cop who’s papering desks with pictures of a missing child that Regina had spirited out of DCFS just a couple of days ago, yet she’s cackling because her coworkers are throwing the pictures away.
“I’d like to talk about this situation more and take a look at that picture. How soon can you meet me at our bench in the park?”
Regina knew this was a business meeting, not a social one, but she suspected Dixon enjoyed her company. Even though she was old enough to be Dixon’s mother, they shared a sense of style. Regina decided to also bring the latest issue of New Style magazine. It had six pages of shoes, and she needed a new pair for work. Surely her friend would enjoy helping her decide which ones would be the most flattering, yet still comfortable.
“That would be great. I’ll be there in an hour.”
15
CASEY OPENED HER FRONT DOOR to find the attractive detective standing there.
“Do you have time for an update?” Vince asked.
“Definitely. Come on in.”
Billy looked up from his computer at the kitchen table.
“Hey, Vince. How’d it go?”
Casey and Vince walked over to the table and joined Billy.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re dealing with a paperwork snafu,” Vince began.
“Shit!” Billy said. “I’ve had a bad feeling about this from the beginning. Tell me what you know.”
“I just went to the DCFS office to circulate the picture, and ask if anyone had seen her. I got an interesting reaction from one of the social workers.”
“Define interesting,” Billy said.
“When I showed her Riley’s picture, I saw just a momentary flicker of recognition, or maybe even fear. She denied having seen her, but my cop-gut told me she had.”
“I know what you mean about your cop-gut and that flicker of recognition,” Billy said. “My gut instinct talks to me all the time in the reporter gig, too. I’ve found it’s best to not ignore it.”
Vince nodded his agreement and continued, “Then she demanded to know who filed the missing-person report. That’s a pretty unusual question to ask if you don’t know anything about the girl’s background.”
“I agree,” Billy said.
“Yes,” Casey said. “But if I thought no one would ever be looking for her, I’d definitely want to know who was.”
“Bingo,” Vince said, pointing at Casey and flashing her one of his sexiest smiles. “You’re good at this stuff.”
“And?” Billy asked, rolling his hand in a gesture to keep going because there had to be more, and he didn’t want Vince getting sidetracked flirting with Casey, although she did look great today.
“The social worker’s name is Regina Cox. As soon as she thought I left, she picked up her phone and made a call.”
“Could you hear what she said?” Casey asked.
“No. But fortunately she used the office phone on her desk so we were able to quickly get the number she called.”
“Good work,” Billy said. He had to admit he did like Vince. He seemed like a decent guy. Apparently Casey liked him too.
“The number she called is a cell phone belonging to a Kathryn Dixon. Now here’s where it starts to get interesting. The address the phone company has is a post office box. So I did some checking on our Kathryn Dixon. I found her social security and driver’s license numbers. Then I drove by the address on her license. Guess what? It’s a vacant lot.”
“Holy shit!” Billy said.
Casey said, “Ditto.”
“I did a deeper background check on this Dixon woman, and found nothing on her before five years ago. Then suddenly—boom—credit cards, a driver’s license, and a social security number.”
“So right after you talk to this DCFS lady who reacted to Riley’s photo, she calls another person who didn’t even exist five years ago. What do you make of that?” Casey asked.
“I think we’ve got us a bona fide lead,” Vince said.
Billy added, “I think we’ve got us one hell of a lead.”
“What about the social worker?” Casey asked. “What’s the connection?”
“I’m not sure about that. I ran a background check on her. Nothing significant. She came to DCFS right out of college. She hasn’t done anything to distinguish herself in thirty years. Only o
ne promotion, no awards. On the other hand, she hasn’t had any problems either. No criminal record. Not even a traffic violation.”
“There’s got to be more,” Billy said.
“Maybe. I did run a check of her banking records. In the last six months she made three cash deposits just under ten thousand dollars each. There’s nothing to indicate that kind of money could have come from a family member.”
“You know as well as I do it has to be connected,” Billy said.
“Of course that’s what I think, but I’ve got nothing to tie it to, let alone our mystery woman, Kathryn Dixon.”
Casey asked, “Where do we go from here?”
“The way I see it, there are two things to do. Follow Regina Cox, and stake out Kathryn Dixon’s post office box,” Billy said. “What do you think, Vince?”
“I agree. There’s just too much here for it not to be connected. I’m going to head back to the precinct. I gave Captain Diaz a heads-up, but I’ve got to get back and give him a full update, and get more resources assigned. The Captain made Riley’s disappearance our top priority.”
16
REGINA LUMBERED TOWARDS THE PARK bench, a New Style magazine sticking out of that ugly purse of hers. Dixon cringed. Wearing a jogging outfit, her light hair tucked up in a baseball cap, Dixon had arrived early to position herself to observe key locations. No one had followed Regina.
When Regina caught sight of Dixon, she began to wave.
Unbelievable, Dixon thought. Regina kidnapped a child, covered up all evidence of the crime, yet acted like it was girlfriend day at the park.
As she approached, Regina asked, “Have you been jogging?”
“No. This is just what I had on around the house. I didn’t have time to change.”
Regina’s eyes lit up when she caught sight of the two Burger King bags next to Dixon. The burgers were a little cold by now, but Dixon knew that wouldn’t slow Regina down. Dixon had learned Regina liked one thing better than food—free food.