ONE OF THEIR OWN (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 6)

by John C. Dalglish

  “Who was her partner in Missing Persons?”

  “Danny Griggs.”

  Jason rolled the list around in his head. He didn’t know Danny Griggs at all, but he eliminated everybody else, except Menendez.

  Jason had worked the occasional case with Menendez, and though he didn’t like him much, Jason hadn’t seen anything warranting an Internal Affairs investigation.

  “You know anything about Griggs?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Not really.”

  Jason shook his head, as if he was trying to clear something unpleasant from his mind. “This isn’t gonna get us anywhere. Let’s get back to work.”

  “But Jason. . .”

  “Come on, Vanessa. Think about it. We can’t start snooping around on Griggs, or anyone else, without raising red flags.”

  She wouldn’t be easily deterred. “It’s the only lead we’ve got.”

  “Look, we’ll keep this in the back of our minds. If anything suggests a connection to Griggs, or anyone else on the force, I’ll take it to the lieutenant. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  “Now, let’s get back inside and check on the eight hundred number.”

  Chapter 11

  Frank Menendez was in a particularly good mood this morning. Things had worked out just perfectly, and his little venture could continue unhindered.

  He had just come onto the third floor when he heard his name.

  “Frank?”

  “Here!”

  Lieutenant Patton came out of his office.

  “We just got a call. A body’s been found off Rigsby, near Elgin. Grab Diaz from Missing Persons, the two of you work this one. It’ll be like old times.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Michael Diaz had been his partner before being reassigned, in a trade for that nosy Jefferson, and Menendez missed him. Not because they were good buddies, but because he never had any trouble pulling the wool over Diaz’s eyes.

  Actually, Menendez was never sure if he was fooling Diaz, or the guy just knew when to keep his mouth shut. Either way, he’d never had the same problems with Michael he’d had with Nina.

  He took the stairs down one flight to the Missing Persons Bureau, and found Diaz by the coffee machine.

  Michael Diaz was in his middle thirties, wiry, with dark hair, and hazel eyes. He’d made detective in Robbery at twenty-eight, and moved to Homicide at thirty, but Patton had preferred Jefferson. Sent to Missing Persons, Diaz didn’t seem to mind, even though it was considered a demotion.

  Menendez walked over to his old partner. “Michael, you want to do some real police work?”

  Diaz looked up, a little surprised to see his old partner. “Very funny. What brings you down here?”

  “Got a dead body. Lieutenant Patton said to grab you, and we should work it.”

  “Okay. Gimme a few, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  “Good enough.”

  Menendez took the stairs the rest of the way down. Things just got even sweeter. He hadn’t planned to be assigned to Slimy Stan’s case, but it just made things that much easier.

  He began to whistle his favorite tune: Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way.’

  *******

  Jason and Vanessa had watched the noonday news. Nina was the lead story on all three networks. A couple calls came in, which were followed up by uniformed officers, and appeared to have been cases of mistaken identity.

  Jason decided coffee was in order. “Vanessa, you want some coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m gonna make a run to Starbucks. You want the usual?”

  “Yeah, great.”

  Jason knew she wouldn’t want to go with him. They wanted to make sure one of them was by the phone.

  Unusually warm for late September, he left his windows up and turned on the air conditioning. He was just about to pull out when a tapping on his passenger window startled him.

  Looking in his car was Menendez’s old partner, Michael Diaz. After popping the door lock, he waved at Michael to get in. Michael opened the door, looking around the parking lot as he did so, and got in.

  “Jason, you got a couple minutes?”

  “Sure, Mike. I was just going to Starbucks, you want to ride along?”

  “Perfect.”

  They didn’t speak while Jason got into the flow of traffic. Once out of the parking lot, Diaz let out a sigh. “Jason, I had something happen today that doesn’t sit well with me.”

  “Really? What’s that?”

  “I went with Frank to a body on the east side of the city. I guess because of Nina being gone, Patton volunteered me to go. I didn’t mind, but what happened at the scene is bothering me.”

  They had arrived at the Starbucks, and rather than get out, Jason sat back and waited for Diaz to continue.

  “What happened, Mike?”

  “The body was a white male in his twenties, and I recognized him. He’d been shot once in the chest, once in the forehead, and left where he fell.”

  “Who was it?”

  “Well, that’s the part that’s bugging me. It was Slimy Stan.”

  Jason drew a blank. “Sorry, I don’t know the name.”

  “His real name is Stan Magnus and he was an informant. Not only that, he was Frank’s informant.”

  Jason’s mind started to race. “Did you say Stan Magnus?” Jason realized that was the name matching the prints at Nina’s house.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  Jason ignored the question. “What did Frank say?”

  “That’s the part that strikes me as not right. When I asked Frank if he recognized him, he said no.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I didn’t push it. I’ve seen Frank angry, and I didn’t want him turning on me.”

  “Maybe it was the gunshot, maybe he really didn’t recognize him.”

  Diaz shook his head. “Frank knew this guy better than I did. If I could see who it was, Frank certainly could. And that wasn’t the worst of it.” Diaz paused, apparently remembering the scene. “He was in a hurry to leave. I mean, Frank bagged a shell casing, checked for ID, wandered around the area a little, and called it good.”

  “Did he find any ID?”

  “No, and Frank didn’t seem to care. He said to let forensics run his prints. It just wasn’t the way Frank usually works a case.”

  Jason’s gut told him this had to do with Nina’s disappearance, and possibly the meeting Nina had with Internal Affairs. Suddenly, he didn’t need coffee.

  He put the car in reverse and headed back to the precinct.

  *******

  Diane was one of those energetic girls, always up for an adventure, ready to go on a moment’s notice. It’s what attracted Rick to her in the first place. Whenever she was in a room, it was impossible miss her smile, or her giggle.

  They’d met at a college frat party. She was a sorority pledge, and he’d been invited to the party where pledges were the servants. They’d chatted, gone out for pizza, and have been together ever since. That was four years ago.

  This afternoon, he’d asked her if she felt up to a float trip. They often put their kayaks in at one of the local lakes and paddled an afternoon away. As usual, she was first in the truck. Today, they were going to explore the Medina River, southwest of the city.

  “You coming, slow poke?” She was always one step ahead of him.

  “Yes, I’m right on your heels.”

  He walked down to the bank, and instead of already being in the water, Diane was staring at something downstream. He nearly hit her with his boat. “What are you doing?”

  She pointed at a bright color not more than twenty yards downstream. “Do you see that?”

  Rick followed her gaze and spotted the purple fabric, hanging in the water, caught on a branch. “Yeah. What is it?”

  Rick held her boat while Diane moved along the bank, getting closer to the object. After a brief pause to examine it, Diane came hurrying back to where he stood.

  The
re was a look on her face he wasn’t familiar with, fear. “What is it?”

  She was in a hurry. “It looks like a piece of a jogging suit.”

  “You think it could be the suit that missing cop lady was wearing?”

  Diane was already getting her cell phone out of the dry bag. “I think so.”

  While she dialed, Rick scanned the area around them, looking for any sign of the missing detective. He didn’t see anything, and when Diane hung up, she started dragging her kayak back to the truck.

  “The police are coming. We have to meet them at the truck.”

  It looked like their plans for the afternoon had changed.

  *******

  Nina lay in the sun, barely conscious, unable to roll over to get the drink of water she so badly needed. Hallucinating in an almost constant string of imaginary voices and visions, she began a new one.

  “What is it?”

  “It looks like a piece of a jogging suit.”

  “You mean like that missing cop lady was wearing?”

  Nina knew her mind was playing tricks on her. Several times, she’d heard voices, pushed herself up, and tried to signal people who weren’t there. She didn’t have the strength to do it again.

  In fact, she knew it was only a matter of hours, maybe minutes, before she lost her battle to survive. It didn’t seem to matter anymore. She’d said her goodbyes to Nate. She knew the Lord and her parents were waiting on the other side.

  She looked forward to seeing them.

  *******

  Jason parked back at the station, and Michael Diaz got out. Jason was just standing up when the doors to the station flew open.

  “Jason!”

  He looked around to see Vanessa running toward him. She was in full flight, sliding to a stop around the passenger side of his car.

  “They found her shirt!”

  Jason jumped in the car at the same time as Vanessa.

  “Who found it?”

  She was winded from running. “A. . .couple. . .kayaking.”

  Jason had restarted the car. “Where?”

  “Medina. . .River. . .Natural Area.”

  Jason turned the car around and headed for the well-known conservation area south of San Antonio. Vanessa explained what she’d learned as she caught her breath. “The lieutenant has mobilized the marine search and rescue team. They’re bringing boats to search up and down the river. We’re meeting the officers who responded to the initial call.”

  “How do they know it’s her shirt?”

  “The responding officer waded downstream and picked it off a branch, confirming it’s a purple Nike. He said they can’t move upstream at all, nor can they see any sign of her from where they’re standing.”

  “Has anyone called Nate?”

  “Lieutenant Patton called him. He’s picking Nate up and bringing him to the search area.”

  Jason pulled his phone out and gave it to Vanessa. “Call Lieutenant Banks for me. The number is in my contacts.”

  *******

  Jason arrived at the entrance of the park area, and with his window down, he could hear sirens coming from all directions. An officer stationed at the gate directed Jason to where the couple who reported the shirt was waiting.

  Two hundred yards in, Jason parked, and the two detectives got out. The young people, in shorts and t-shirts, were leaning against their vehicle, and appeared to be slightly awestruck by the police response teams. Jason got the basics from the officer on scene, then he and Vanessa went over to speak with the couple.

  “Rick and Diane?”

  Rick answered for both of them. “Yes, Sir.”

  “My name is Detective Strong, and this is my partner, Detective Layne. We wanted to thank you for calling in so quickly.”

  Diane appeared a little scared. “We saw it on the news. The shirt color reminded me of the missing lady. I hope she’s okay.”

  Jason touched her arm. “We all do.”

  While Jason spoke to Rick and Diane, Vanessa went down by the water. A few minutes later, Jason followed her, and they stood together listening to the sound of powerboats coming down the river.

  *******

  Nina lay there, not seeing and not hearing. Her system was shutting down, and she couldn’t feel most of her body. Somewhere from inside her head, a vibration started to make its presence felt. A Low rumble at first, then stronger and louder.

  More hallucinations. Why won’t they stop?

  Then there was pulling on her limbs, fingers on her face, and shade from the afternoon sun. She forced her eyes to open. A man stood over her, his mouth moving, but not saying anything.

  She closed her eyes again, and when she re-opened them, she was in a boat. She couldn’t keep her eyelids open, and they closed once more.

  After a while, she regained the strength to look around again, and this time she was in a vehicle. The wailing siren told her it was an ambulance.

  Finally, she closed her eyes, and didn’t try to re-open them.

  Chapter 12

  Lieutenant Patton had not made it to the scene before Nina was found. Jason called him.

  “Hello?”

  “Lieutenant, it’s Jason. They’ve found her.”

  Patton looked at Nate Jefferson, sitting beside him, and nodded.

  “Thank God. How is she?”

  “Not good.”

  “What does that mean, Jason?”

  “She was semi-conscious, suffering from exposure, dehydration, and multiple injuries.”

  “Where was she?”

  “They found her along the bank of the river, about a hundred yards upstream from where that couple found her shirt.”

  The lieutenant looked over at Nate, covering the phone with his palm. “They found her along the river, but she’s in rough shape.”

  He took his hand off the phone. “Where is she now?”

  “She’s on route to SAG. We’ll meet you there.”

  Patton hung up and pulled into a gas station. Turning around, he headed for San Antonio General. When he looked over at Nate, the young man was staring straight ahead, tears filling his eyes.

  *******

  San Antonio General, or SAG as the locals call it, was a sprawling campus in South San Antonio. The main building was three stories, with Emergency, Trauma, and ambulance bays, taking up the ground floor.

  When Jason and Vanessa arrived, they went directly to the Trauma wing. A young nurse, who seemed to be doing three things at once was the only one at the desk. Jason took out his badge.

  “Miss?” He waited for her to stop long enough to look at him.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Detective Strong. Do you know where Nina Jefferson has been taken?”

  “The female officer they just found?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s in surgery. Go up to the third floor nurse’s station, they can help you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jason and Vanessa were both familiar with the surgical floor. They’d been there with Dave Connor, a fellow officer, after his wife, Vicky, was shot.

  When the two detectives arrived at the third floor nurse’s station, they were directed to the waiting room across the hall. Lieutenant Patton and Nate Jefferson were already there, sitting in silence.

  The room had white walls, which stood in stark contrast to an emerald green carpet. Hanging in one corner, a TV tuned to the Weather Channel, played without sound. A bank of windows ran the length of the opposite wall, sunshine filtering through vertical blinds.

  The lieutenant was sitting next to Nate, over by the windows. When he saw the two detectives, he rose and met them near the door.

  “She’s in surgery. Her leg needs to come off immediately.”

  Jason sat down. He’d seen the leg when they’d brought Nina to the shore. He’d hoped it could be saved, and knew it meant Nina was likely done being a detective. Her recovery would take months, if not years.

  Vanessa sat down next to him, probably thinking the
same thing. Jason looked over at Nate, then at the lieutenant. “How’s he doing?”

  “He’s been pretty quiet since we got here.”

  Jason thought back to how Nina looked when she was found. “Is she strong enough for surgery?”

  The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders. “Apparently, there was no choice. Infection was ravaging her body and needed to be stopped."

  Vanessa got up and went over to Nate. Jason watched her go.

  “Is forensics processing the area she was found?”

  John Patton stood looking at Nate and Vanessa. He answered without looking at Jason. “Yes. Doc Josie is out there herself.”

  Jason took out his phone and called Sandy.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, honey. We found Nina.”

  “That’s great. How is she?”

  “Not good. She’s in surgery to have her leg removed.”

  He heard his wife suck in a breath. “Oh, no. Is she going to make it?”

  “We don’t know. Listen, I’m going to be late getting home. I’ll probably stay here until she’s out of surgery.”

  “Okay. Call me with any news.”

  Jason hung up as Frank Menendez came into the waiting room. Lieutenant Patton still didn’t know about the conversation with Diaz, and Jason figured it was probably a good thing right now. If John suspected anything, it would be hard to keep him from confronting the guy.

  Jason forced himself to stay seated as Menendez came up to where he and the lieutenant were. Patton answered the question before he could ask.

  “She’s in surgery.”

  Menendez looked from the lieutenant to Jason and back again. “Is she gonna make it?”

  “They don’t know.”

  “Why’s she in surgery?”

  “Her leg went gangrene, and the poison has been flooding her body for several days. They’re removing the leg.”

  Menendez sat down one chair over from Jason. “Man, that’s awful.”

  Lieutenant Patton wandered over to Vanessa and Nate, leaving Jason with Menendez. Jason noticed Frank had not asked where Nina was found. He decided to see if he got the same feeling about Nina’s partner as Diaz had.