“Hi, Billy. I did what you suggested. Momma is buried behind the garage. She’ll not be alone there, and I can visit whenever I want. We watched the sunset together tonight.”
Donnie smiled. “I’d like that, too. Maybe when we’re done, I can have you moved next to Momma. I’m sure she would be happy to have you near.”
The rose his mother had left several days before had blown into the grass. Wilted as it was, Donnie picked it up and put it back on Billy’s gravestone.
“Okay, Billy. I understand. The rooms are the priority, and I’ll work to have them done as quickly as possible. What should I put in each cell?”
Donnie nodded his head up and down several times.
“Got it. We’ll have this done soon, and then you can rest. I can feel everything is going to be fine.”
Donnie laughed aloud.
“Hey! This is different, and that was a long time ago. I won’t make the same mistake again, not this time. I won’t let the wrong person know what’s going on.”
Donnie glanced at his watch.
“I gotta go, Billy. There’s a lot to do, and I need to pick up supplies. Love you. I’ll be back soon.”
Donnie turned and walked back to the van. He pushed the usual sadness away by focusing on the things he needed at the store. If he got them all tonight, he could start building first thing in the morning.
*******
Donnie arrived at the Lowe’s store on Goliad Street in Southeast San Antonio about 9:30. The store closed in half an hour, but he knew what he needed. With help from an employee, he managed to collect everything before the store closed.
He put his cartload on the checkout table.
Four padlocks, keyed the same. A large box of screws. Twelve pieces of one-foot-long steel rebar. Four pieces of chain, each three feet long. Four heavy eyebolts. Another package of four padlocks, also keyed the same. Five-gallon buckets with their lids, four of them. Four latches that accepted padlocks, and four thick moving blankets.
“Whatcha makin’?”
Donnie looked up, surprised by the question.
“Oh, it’s a 4-H project for my son.”
The cashier smiled at him while she rang him up.
“Cool. I was in 4-H. Loved it, but I don’t remember any projects like this.”
Donnie tried to remain calm. He didn’t want to be noticed, never mind questioned.
“Well, you know how it is. Things change.”
The cashier let it go, and gave Donnie his total. He was relieved to pay and get out the door.
There was an H-E-B Foods on his way home, where he stopped for some groceries, before heading back to the house. He eagerly anticipated the next morning, when he would be able begin the final steps of his mission.
His mind raced with the possibilities of the next step in the plan. Billy still hadn’t shared what it was, but each time Donnie completed a new project, it brought him closer to the ultimate final step. Donnie couldn’t wait to know what that step was.
*******
Six straight days of hard work had brought Donnie to the end of his construction project. He had visited Billy about halfway through to make sure he was getting everything right. Billy had been pleased and told Donnie so.
It always meant a lot when his big brother was proud of him. Four solid cells were complete, and the final preparations were underway.
Donnie placed one of the five-gallon buckets in each cell. They would serve as toilets for the people inside. Each cell was made of wood from the pile in the barn. Solid oak frames with steel bars in the window of each door. A blanket on the floor of each room covered a chain coiled beneath it. The chains led to a large eyebolt, which Donnie had secured to the walls. Each door sat open with a padlock resting on the handle.
Donnie went to his computer, running down the names on his list. Four in all, each burned into his memory since that awful day.
Ed Garland, his brother’s best friend. Suzanne Cooper, his brother’s girlfriend. Dexter Hughes and Chelsea Burt. Two people Donnie had never seen before that day.
It was time to choose the first name, and Billy had left it up to him. His brother didn’t care who was first, and Donnie had debated for a couple days before making up his mind. And now it was time.
Chapter 5
Detective Jason Strong was just leaving his Terrill Hills neighborhood when his cell phone rang. He turned onto the highway leading to the station before answering.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Jason. How’s it going?”
It was Jason’s partner, Vanessa Layne. She was on maternity leave, but was having a hard time not being involved with his investigations.
“Hey, Vanessa! Long time, no hear.”
“Very funny. Just wanted to remind you I come back in a couple weeks. Are you on a case now?”
“Nope. Nina and I are just putting the final touches on the murder case from the nightclub. You remember the one I told you about yesterday.”
Jason smiled into the phone. Nina Jefferson had been his temporary partner since Vanessa’s maternity leave started three months ago. She’s a good cop, but Jason missed Vanessa as much as she missed working.
“Okay, okay. I get it. Just trying to stay in the loop.”
Jason understood. “How’s Kasen?”
The mention of her son perked her up. “Good! You and Sandy need to come visit him.”
The thought of his partner’s son always made Jason smile, as did the mention of Sandy.
Sandy was Jason’s wife. They met in college at the University of Texas at Austin. She was finishing her teaching degree, and he was there attending the police academy. They had no kids of their own, but Jason could tell little Kasen has Sandy thinking about what color to put in a nursery. Jason heard a baby cry in the background.
“You bet. I’ll get in touch with Sandy and we’ll plan on coming over.”
“Gotta run. Talk to you later.” Vanessa hung up without waiting for an answer.
Jason laughed.
“I’m sure.”
A few minutes later, he wheeled his car into the station parking lot. The day was typical for late summer, hot with very little breeze, so the air conditioning was welcome relief as he came through the station doors. His long-time friend Dave Connor was at the sergeant’s desk.
“Hi, Dave. How’s Vicky?”
“Mean as ever! And Sandy?”
“Great. Thinking a little too much about babies. Nina in yet?”
Dave let out his big laugh. “Yeah, saw her a few minutes ago.”
“Okay, thanks. See ya later.”
Jason got on the elevator and pushed the third-floor button, making it glow. A few moments later, the elevator doors slid open with a ding. The entire third floor is Homicide.
His desk sat facing Vanessa’s, the two pushed up against each other. Nina was sitting in Vanessa’s spot when he walked up.
Black, short, stocky, with curly hair, she was the consummate officer. Jason had come to appreciate her calmness and professional demeanor when things got tense. Still, even after three months, he hadn’t got used to seeing her in Vanessa’s chair.
Jason had just pulled out his own chair when Lieutenant Patton stuck his head out of his office.
“You two, in here!”
The two detectives exchanged glances and headed into the office. Nina took a chair while Jason stayed standing, leaning on the doorframe. “What’s up?”
Lieutenant John Patton was a big man; he works out even on his days off. Balding, but with bushy eyebrows and an unruly moustache, he claimed his hair was moving from his head to his face. When he was under stress, his eyebrows would knit together to form a hedge, which was apparently the case this morning.
He handed Nina a piece of paper.
“I don’t like to do it, but the captain didn’t give me any choice. I have to loan you two out.”
“Where?”
“Downstairs.”
Jason groaned.
�
��Why? What did we do to deserve this punishment?”
“It’s not a punishment! You two are next up on the board, and so you get to help out our brothers.”
Nina appeared less than thrilled as well.
“It’s not a narcotics case, is it?”
“No. A simple missing persons case. They’re covered up and need an extra set of detectives. You’re it. Go see Lieutenant Banks.”
Jason and Nina headed to the elevator. On the way down to second floor, Nina asked what Jason knew about Lieutenant Banks.
“Well, I’ve never met her personally, but there are stories.”
“Oh. What kinda stories?”
“Horror mostly.”
Jason laughed, but Nina didn’t seem amused. “Great!”
The elevator doors opened and they walked up to an officer at the front desk.
“Lieutenant Banks?”
A thumb jerked over a shoulder served as directions.
They found Lieutenant Sarah Banks standing behind her desk. Tall with close-cropped, dark brown hair and green eyes, she was an imposing figure. Jason had heard getting on her bad side was not a good idea.
They knocked on the door of her office, and she looked up. “Yes?”
Jason put on a bright smile. “Lieutenant Banks?”
“Yes?” She did not return his smile.
“Lieutenant Patton asked us to come down and see if we can help out. I’m Detective Strong and this is Detective Jefferson.”
“Perfect. I appreciate the help.”
Still no smile as she rummaged around on her desk. Eventually, she found a file folder, and held it out to Jason.
“Missing person. Twenty-eight-year-old male. Address is on the second sheet. Golfing buddy reported him missing this morning. Uniforms are there and have the location secured.”
Jason flipped the file open as Nina took notes on what the lieutenant was saying. Lieutenant Banks went back to what she was doing before they’d come in. After a few moments, the lieutenant looked up again.
“Is there something else?”
Jason looked at Nina. They shook their heads.
“Well, I don’t know how it is in Homicide. Down here, when you’re handed a file, you get going.”
Nina and Jason exchanged glances, then beat a hasty retreat out the door. Back in the elevator, Nina did her best imitation.
“Well, I don’t know how it is in Homicide…”
Jason laughed.
“She’s all business, that’s for sure.”
“She’s all something.”
The elevator doors opened and they went to their desks. Nina got on her computer while Jason read through the file.
Ed Garland was a factory worker, had been at the same job for eight years, and lived on the west side. A uniformed officer had responded to the initial call for a missing person. Apparently, Mr. Garland didn’t show for a golf date yesterday, and his friend hadn’t been able to reach him in two days.
Nina looked up from the computer screen.
“No record. Valid driver’s license.”
“Okay. Let’s go out to the house.”
*******
Donnie looked through the bars at his first ‘guest.’ Ed Garland sat on the blanket, one end of a padlocked chain wrapped around his leg and the other bolted to the far wall. He couldn’t move more than about two feet in either direction.
Donnie unlocked the door. He carried a glass and a granola bar into the room.
“Here. Drink this protein shake and eat the granola bar.”
Ed ignored the food.
“Why are you doing this? Why am I here?”
“Can’t tell you yet. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Donnie could see the fear and confusion in Ed’s face, and he felt for him, but there was no choice. Ed was just one of the necessary pieces for Billy’s plan.
Donnie had to focus on the mission, not emotions. Especially now that he’d taken his first captive. He had to see it through.
“Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone. Please.”
Donnie left the food on the floor and exited the room. He closed the door behind him without saying anything more.
Padlock in place, he went over to his desk and turned on the computer. A file popped up of the next person he was to go after. Chelsea Burt, now Chelsea Morris.
The face on the screen looked back at him with a carefree smile. She had no way of knowing Donnie was coming, and he liked it that way.
The women are the hardest for Donnie—his momma had always taught him respect—but he would do what he had to. He closed the computer and headed up the stairs.
*******
Jason and Nina pulled up at the address on the west side of the city. The neighborhood was run-down and tired-looking, the kind of area where people don’t have the garbage cans by the house, but instead bring the garbage to the curb. More than one can had been knocked over, its contents scattered by hungry dogs.
Ed Garland lived in a small duplex with peeling, yellow paint and virtually no landscaping. The responding officer was still there, standing in front of Ed Garland’s door. A man stood next to the officer, who Jason assumed was the golfing buddy.
“Nina, you want to see if you can learn anything from the neighbors?”
“Sure.”
Jason walked up to the officer.
“Have we got access to the house?”
“Yes, sir. His friend here, Jerry Baker, had a key. When he found Mr. Garland wasn’t home, he called us. Mr. Baker stayed outside until I got here.”
“Okay, good. Anybody else live with him?”
“No. An ex-wife lives here in town, and I spoke with her, but she claims to have had no contact with Mr. Garland in a couple months. Also, she apparently wasn’t surprised to hear her ex was missing, but she wouldn’t say why.”
“Really? Okay, stay here while I take a look around.”
Jason went up the walk and pushed the door open. In the living room, he found a half-eaten hot dog, and a partial glass of something that looked like milk.
He continued through to the kitchen and down a small hallway, glancing into the bathroom as he passed it. Everything seemed to be in order until he got to the back bedroom.
Jason noticed the window was cracked slightly open and the screen was missing. He went to the back door and found it unlocked. Outside, the screen lay on the ground below the window, next to a set of shoe prints in the soft soil below the ledge. He went back through the house and found the uniformed officer.
“Get on your radio and call for a forensic team. Tell them Detective Strong made the request.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jason turned to the friend.
“Jerry Baker, is it?”
“Yeah.”
“When was the first time you noticed your friend wasn’t around?”
“Two days ago. I called him to confirm our golf date, but got no answer. I left a message, but he didn’t call back. Yesterday, I showed up to play golf and he wasn’t there. I played with the two other guys in our group.”
“I’d like you to give their names to the officer.”
“Sure.”
“So when did you decide to come over to the house?”
“I called him at work this morning, but they said he didn’t show. So I left my job to come over and see what was up.”
“And being out of contact for a couple days is unusual for you two?”
“Yeah. We’ve been friends for years, and he never misses work or golf without calling.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Jason saw Nina coming back down the sidewalk and went to meet her.
“Anything?”
She shook her head.
“Hear no evil, see no evil. Nobody admits to noticing anything.”
“To be expected. Folks in this area tend to keep to themselves, at least officially.”
She put her notebook away and looked at him.
“How ’bout you? You find any
thing?”
“Actually, I do want to show you something. Come take a look.”
Nina followed him through the living room and into the bedroom, where he pointed at the windowsill.
“I think we may have a point of entry here. I called for a forensic team.”
The uniformed officer stuck his head in the bedroom door. “Forensics is here.”
“Okay, thanks.”
A few minutes later, the tech came into the back of the house.
“I need you guys to dust the house, and in particular, this window ledge. Also, I need a casting of a set of footprints.”
The tech followed Jason to where the detective had seen the shoe prints. Jason pointed at them.
The tech nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Looking from the back door, the small yard behind the duplex opened onto an alley. Jason and Nina walked back to where they could see for two blocks in either direction. The alley eventually hit a street at both ends.
Nina summed it up.
“This might explain why no one heard or saw anything. Easy to come and go without being noticed.”
Jason was nodding.
“Almost perfect cover.”
They walked back to the front of the house. Nina grabbed the file out of the car.
“The address for the ex-wife is in here. Do you want to go talk to her?”
“Yeah, we’re done here.”
Chapter 6
Chelsea Morris took a quick look at the clock. Fifteen minutes more, and her shift was over. She grabbed the coffee pot for the hundredth time today, and went over to Mr. Perkins. Ever since Chelsea started at Daylight Donuts, the elderly man had sat in her station. In all that time, he’d never ordered food. Just coffee, black and hot, a half-cup at a time.
“Here you go, Mr. Perkins.”
“Just a half-cup.”
Chelsea smiled, and obediently stopped at the halfway point in his cup. They played out this dance all the time.
“You want a donut?”
“No thank you, young lady. I think I’ll just have coffee today.”
Mr. Perkins had lost his wife ten years ago. He had told Chelsea about his beloved Dolly many times, and Chelsea always listened patiently. She didn’t know how old Mr. Perkins was, but she guessed him in his seventies.
FOR MY BROTHER (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 3) Page 3