Watson Manor Investigations (Watson Manor Mystery Series Book 3)

by Ronald S. Craig

  Chief Walker glanced at Mayor Gayle, "I know you put yourself at risk here, thank you." Then he left the office quickly and ran down the stairs unwilling to wait for the elevator. Central Holding was only five miles away, but he called them to have Black taken to an interrogation room. He was told the FBI had signed out the other man that morning for the double homicide in Atlanta.

  Walker had his pistol in hand to set on the booking sergeant's desk as he entered the holding facility, "Hey Walker, what's with the suit? He's in three," the sergeant said.

  "Thanks, Joe," he said rounding the corner toward the interrogation rooms. He opened the door and saw Jackson Black cuffed to the far side of the table. He sat down. "You have one chance to save your ass here Black. I know you abducted and transported Sandra Jenkins somewhere, I want to know where." He slide the photo in front of him

  "I told you, I got nothing to say," Black said without looking at the picture.

  "Take a look. If we find her alive you're looking at possession and assault, five years with parole, if she dies you'll never step outside of a federal prison."

  "They booked me on attempted murder."

  "That'll go away, but I need answers right now!"

  Black looked down at the photo and pushed it back toward Walker. "I'm no saint, but grabbing her didn't feel right. We took her to some dump trailer park and then later, the day before you popped us, to a dive motel, Sea Side or Sea View, some shit like that."

  "Where is it?"

  "Other side of Santa Cruz, on Hwy 1. Construction fence around the place."

  "North of Santa Cruz, how far? On the right or left?

  "Yeah, at most a mile, on the right. Oh, ask for Max in the front office."

  Walker jumped up and as he was passing through the interrogation room door he heard Black hollering, "What about my deal!"

  Walker stopped at the front desk to retrieve his gun then ran for his SUV. He was heading for Hwy 1 when he called Detective Edwards. "We still have the black Chrysler rental. I need you in it and following me up to Santa Cruz."

  "Are we going to see Steven Ashland?"

  "No, get moving. I'll be running fast, stay on my tail. Got a lead on Sandra."

  "Why the rental, Chief?"

  "You still there? Call me when you're behind me," Walker said disconnecting the phone.

  Edwards grabbed the keys off of Jacque's desk and ran to the rental car parked behind the station. He was relieved the gas gauge showed just over a quarter of a tank because he wouldn't have time to fuel it. He didn't have to wait long on the shoulder of Hwy 1 when he heard the siren of Chief Walkers SUV approaching from behind him. Instinctively he reached for the lights and siren to fall in behind and realized his only option was holding down the horn.

  Traffic was heavy and even with his horn blowing no one wanted to let him in. He continued on the shoulder to keep Walker in sight. Walker saw the problem and with lights and siren blaring slowly brought his SUV to a stop. When Edwards was alongside, the SUV took off and he was able to fall in behind it. Edwards picked his phone, "Thanks Chief, I was out of options there."

  "They took Sandra to a motel, north of Santa Cruz, Sea something. Black told me there is a construction fence around it. I'll stop just beyond Santa Cruz and we'll go in together in the rental."

  "How did you know Black was involved? Or get him to talk?"

  "The DA had a source and Black chose five years over life…if we find her alive."

  "Do we have backup coming from Santa Cruz?"

  "I'm hoping with the rental we can sell ourselves as the second team. So lose the tie and show some chest hair, partner."

  "How are you…that's right, you're still in a suit. It's gotta' work Chief, what are the odds of you being in a suit."

  "Slim to none. I'm thinking a motel under construction is a good cover for prostitution. She's been there only two days, I pray they haven't turned her out yet," Walker said.

  "So we were sent to get her for the boss?"

  "That’s the up side, plan A. We're entering Santa Cruz, stay close, Edwards." Walker disconnected the call and wove through city traffic. To his relief more cars were pulling to the side to let him pass. He pulled into a service station on the north end of town. Walker pulled his shot gun off its rack and joined Edwards in the black Chrysler.

  Edwards watched him lay the shot gun in the back seat. "Plan B?" Walker said. "If she's there, she's leaving with us. Let's go, about a mile out of town on the right. We are asking for Max."

  They found the Sea Cliff Motel under construction three quarters of a mile from where they left Walkers SUV. Edwards drove in slowly through the gate and headed toward the office where a light was on. The rooms facing the Highway were all dark and they scanned the area as they approached the glass office door and went inside. There were two big guys in old sports jackets seated in chairs on the opposite wall from the desk both watching them closely as they stepped toward the counter. The man behind the counter was in jeans with a button down shirt and had one hand below the counter. "We don't have any rooms, we're remodeling," he said.

  "We're here to see Max," Walker said.

  "Well in addition to no rooms, Max is not here either. Looks like you're out of luck," the man said drawing a snicker from one of the big guys seated behind them.

  "Well, funny guy, do what you gotta do. We were sent to get that blond number that was dropped off, couple of days ago."

  "Strike three. Max is looking forward to breaking that one in personally. You aren't the dudes that dropped her off."

  Walker gave Edwards a passing glance and grinned, alerting him to get ready. "Amateur hour slick, they're out of action in county jail. He's thinking they might get loose lipped and wants her to barter with. So cut the bullshit and we'll be on our way." Walker saw the hand below the counter start to move and had his gun to the man's head. Edwards was just as quick, his gun drawn on the two big guys. One of them already had his weapon out and was swinging it through an arc toward Walker. Edwards didn't hesitate or consider a wound shot and put a bullet through the man's forehead. The other man froze.

  "Let's see both hands on the counter, slick," Walker said and the man complied. Keeping his gun pointed at the man's head, he walked behind the counter and retrieved the sawed off shot gun. "I need a room number and key."

  "121, on the rack."

  Walker grabbed the key and pushed the man down next to the big guy lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Edwards already had the other big man cuffed to one of the dead man's wrists and took Walker's cuffs to attach the counter man to the other wrist. Walker looked up from his squatted position and froze when he saw the shotgun. "Look what I found in the back seat of your car. Now I'd be real grateful if you'd remove those cuffs from my associates," the new man said. Walker rolled onto his back; bringing his weapon toward the man. He heard the click from the shotgun an instant before he fired and the man fell back through the front door.

  Edwards stood up slowly catching his breath, "How did you know it wasn’t chambered?"

  "I figured that was Max, the boss here. If he had a pistol or that sawed off we were done. I was betting he didn't know that we don't have a round chambered and he needed to pump it first." Edwards gathered the weapons to put in their car and stopped to check the man outside the door. Walker ran to the back side of the motel looking for room 121. There were six cars on that side of the motel out of view from the highway, two were already moving fast toward the gate and he saw four men running toward the remaining four cars in varying stages of getting dressed.

  The windows were dark on room 121and he listened at the door as he slid the key in the lock. Hearing nothing he crouched down, brought his weapon up, turned the key and pushed the door open. There was no movement in the dark room and as Edwards took position on the other side of the door, Walker reached in to turn on the light. Edwards darted to the bathroom and said, "Clear."

  Walker put his gun away and approached her quickly. It was Sandra. She w
as in a nightgown lying on her back in the middle of the bed as if in a deep sleep. Relieved she was warm he called her name and tried to shake her awake without success. He wrapped Sandra in the bed cover and slid his arms under her. "Edwards check the closet for her clothes. Call Santa Cruz PD and get them out here. We'll fill them in at Santa Cruz General Hospital."

  Edwards was dialing as he checked the closet. "Nothing here Chief," he said. Walker was carrying Sandra to the car as Edwards followed behind on the phone. "This is Detective Edwards and Chief Walker from Marina PD. We are headed to Santa Cruz General Hospital with Sandra Jenkins. You need to get the coroner and a bus out to the Sea Cliff motel, north of town. I don't have a count on the girls, but two dead in the office and two in cuffs." He listened a moment then replied with urgency," No, we'll not wait here! Send a detective to the hospital for our report." He closed his phone then opened the door for Walker.

  When they were inside, he closed the door and ran around to the driver side. "I hope she's in as good of shape as she looks," Edwards said backing the car up then leaving the motel in a hurry.

  "You and I both, Edwards. Thanks for saving my bacon back there," Walker said. A chain of flashing lights and sirens passed them heading to the Sea Cliff Motel when they reached the Santa Cruz city limit sign.

  Santa Cruz PD had alerted the Emergency Room and they were standing by outside with a gurney when they pulled up. "What have we got?" the doctor asked as Walker set Sandra on the gurney.

  "Sandra Jenkins was abducted and seems sedated. I couldn't wake her," Walker said. The doctor was hollering orders as they rolled her through the double doors. He turned back to Edwards, "Let's get my car. It's going to be a long night here with Santa Cruz PD and Sandra's recovery."

  Chapter 17

  Chief Walker parked his SUV in the parking lot at Santa Cruz General Hospital and walked over to Detective Edwards in the Chrysler rental car. "You have a wife and son waiting for you. I got this and I'll call when she wakes up."

  "I already told Julia I'd be late, chief. I can stay, are you sure?" he asked.

  "I've never doubted your dedication, Edwards. Call it a pass for having my back tonight," Walker said. "Now get out of here before Santa Cruz PD arrives."

  "Thanks Chief. I'll put my shooting report together in the morning," he said and then drove off.

  Walker rarely had a good feeling when he walked into a hospital and realizing the ribbon was cut on this one thirty years ago didn't boost his spirits. The linoleum floor was on the other side of its wear warranty, but the strong smell of disinfectant assured him he could eat off of it. The reception desk brightened the area, adding some color long ago lost on the walls surrounding it. He told the young and friendly attendant behind the desk that he was there for Sandra Jenkins and was waiting for any word on her condition and then took a seat in the Emergency Room waiting area. He found himself glancing between the room Sandra was in and the double front doors waiting for the detective seeking his statement on the Sea Cliff Motel. It wasn't looking into Sandra's face that reminded him of Linda. It was the taking of a precious life for a few dollars.

  Nine years prior Major Rodney Walker was engaged to Captain Linda Sanders and they were stationed at Beale Air Force in California. He had volunteered for a thirty day temporary assignment, and Linda was dropping him off at the airport. He had been running to catch his flight and hadn't noticed the man that slid into the passenger seat of Linda's car at the drop off curb. Walker returned to Beale AFB three days later when Linda's body was found, single small caliber gunshot to the side of her head. Her car was never recovered and the apartment they shared was cleaned out of everything worth over twenty dollars.

  He stayed at Beale only long enough to bury her and resign his commission. He knew the only hope he had to find some peace from failing Linda was to actively save others from the fate that had collapsed his world. With his background, San Francisco PD sent him directly into their academy and his new career had begun.

  He saw a nurse stop at the desk opposite Sandra's room reviewing some documents on the counter. She shared a bright smile with another nurse behind the counter. She was in her late thirties, tall and fit like a runner, he thought, but it was the way she carried herself with confidence that pleased him when she walked into Sandra's room. They had found Sandra alive and she was getting good care. He walked down the hall and from the doorway looking in he asked, "How is she?"

  The nurse turned from the monitors. "Are you Chief Walker, the one that brought her in?"

  "Yes, is she going to make it?"

  "Its touch and go, she's in bad shape."

  His smile faded with the news. "Is it the drugs they gave her?"

  "Miss Jenkins is a diabetic and hyperglycemic with ketoacidosis complications," the nurse said and saw the confused expression on his face and continued, "the glucose levels…the sugar levels in her blood are extremely high because she has been without insulin for a long time. The body needs insulin for the cells to convert that sugar into energy. When that can't happen, the body burns fat cells for energy but that produces keytones…toxins in the blood."

  Walker moved into the room from the doorway and looked at Sandra's pale face then scanned the monitors. "Her heart beat seems irregular," he said and noted the worried expression on the nurse's face.

  "We're giving her the insulin she needs, but…," then she turned to face him wanting to provide some hope. "Once she is stable we'll move her to ICU."

  Walker reached for Sandra's hand, "Can I stay here, with her awhile?"

  "She won't be able to talk to you for some time."

  "It's not that, I just feel a little less helpless here I guess."

  "It seems you know her personally," the nurse said.

  "No, actually I've never seen her before tonight," he said, noting her name tag. "Stacy, I don't want her to feel alone as she was when we found her."

  She saw the sincerity in his eyes and even realizing that her patient had no ability to know he was there, but wanted to comfort him, "It's good you're here then, Chief Walker." She checked the monitors and was leaving when she turned and added, "I'm just across the hall if…" She was cut off when the heart monitor beeped loudly and the blips fell into a flat line. Stacy hit a large button on the wall, "Code blue, ER3 stat!" she shouted and hit the power switch on the wall mounted defibrillator.

  "You will not be wasted Sandy," Walker said and without thinking started CPR on Sandra. Stacy grabbed the manual ventilator and went to work. He kept looking at the monitor with a prayer on his lips that the blips would return. The doctor ran into the room two long minutes later and Walker backed up into the wall. The doctor opened Sandra's gown and reached for the defibrillator paddles the nurse was handing him. "Clear!" Sandra's body heaved in response to the jolt.

  Walker's eyes were glued to the heart monitor and he stood frozen and unrewarded with the return of a heartbeat. "Clear!" the doctor shouted again then paused a moment. He pulled a hypodermic needle from the table and injected it directly into Sandra's heart. He applied CPR for a minute and reached for the paddles again. "Clear!"

  When Walker saw him look at the clock handing the paddles back to Stacy, he asked, "Please doctor one more time?"

  The doctor turned to face him and read the pain in Walker's face. "One more time, at one thousand." Stacy handed him the charged paddles. "Clear!"

  Walker watched as Sandra's body came to rest on the bed from the final jolt and the monitor showed him that she was gone. He didn't want to hear the doctor call the time and walked quietly out of the room. His career in law enforcement had yielded a great many more victories than losses, but his mind would never put them on a balance scale and instead he felt a single loss cleared the slate of victories. He stood leaning against the wall between Sandra's room and the emergency room waiting area. He glanced toward the waiting area and raised his hand to signal the detective that was standing up that he would need a minute. Sandra's room cleared of the hospital staff and S
tacy, the original nurse approached him.

  "Chief Walker, I wanted you to know that everything possible was done to save her." Walkers gaze lifted from the floor and she reached out and touched his arm. When he turned to face her she continued, "Would you like a moment with Sandra?"

  His nod was all she needed and she walked with him back into Sandra's room and pulled the door closed when she left. He held her hand in both of his and the warmth still there brought tears to his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sandra. I didn't reach you in time. You've paid the ultimate price to expose them and I promise you, I will follow through…" He hesitated a moment with his hand on the sheet that covered her face. The sight of her blank stare would haunt him so he closed his eyes, pulled the cover back and kissed her cheek. "Good bye Sandra, you made a difference in your short life." He didn't open his eyes until he had turned away from her and left the room.

  "Thank you Stacy," he said finding her outside the room.

  "I'm sorry we couldn't have done more," she said, again touching his arm.

  "If only I'd found her sooner…"

  "No, Chief Walker, if she'd not been abducted."

  "Yeah, there's always an if…" he said.

  Stacy was called to the nurse's desk and was handed the phone. She listened a few moments and handed the back to the nurse at the desk. She walked back to where Walker was still leaning against the wall outside of Sandra's room. "Chief, I don't often see compassion like yours. It may be of some comfort for you to know there are sixteen young women coming in, sixteen living chances because of your actions tonight."

  He met her eyes and her intention to offer a positive side for Sandra's sacrifice was appreciated and felt, but one in sixteen didn't ease the one lost."Thank you, Stacy. I don't know how you can do this every day," he said and headed toward the detective that was waiting for him.

  "Chief Walker, I'm Detective Carmichael, Santa Cruz PD…," he said pulling his hand back from the hand shake and looked at Walkers face. "And… we can do this tomorrow, sir."