Cache 72 (A Jaxon Jennings' Detective Mystery Thriller Series, Book 2)

by Richard C. Hale

  “Well, this one,” Ray pointed to Gil, “has a suspended license. He isn’t driving is he?”

  Jaxon shook his head. “No, I’m driving. Or I was. I’m Jaxon.” He stuck his hand out to shake but the man ignored it.

  “What I want to know is what in the hell were you three doing in the zoo this morning and what was it that you took from the alligator display?”

  Gil hung his head and Melanie looked away. Shit. They were no longer under the radar.

  “It’s like a scavenger hunt,” Jaxon said, and the officer looked at him like he was crazy.

  “I take it she’s not really dying of cancer.”

  “No.”

  “You threatened a woman and her young son.”

  “She was being a total bitch.”

  The officer actually grinned at this, but then grew serious. “She wants your head.”

  “I’m sure she does.”

  “What kind of treasure hunt? It doesn’t sound like something a DC cop and private investigator would do.”

  “A lot is at stake.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “It’s for a lot of money.”

  The officer looked them over again and turned back to Jaxon.

  “I don’t believe you. I think you better come down and answer a few questions.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “You’ll make time.”

  Jaxon sighed. “All right. This is what’s going on.” And he told Ray Maningham the story.

  * * *

  Ray was tired.

  It was the end of his shift and the last couple hours had been exhausting. He had felt lucky when he came upon the broken down Mustang, the same Mustang that he was looking for, and when he decided to handle it without backup, he was wondering if he had made a mistake. Now, the story coming from the mouth of this ex-cop was bizarre. Probably some truth to it, but still bizarre. He wasn’t sure if he could believe him. He had a few questions of his own.

  “Who is this guy? The one sending you across the state in this so called game?”

  “I don’t know,” Jaxon said.

  “Who is the guy at the zoo? The one that planted the box?”

  “Probably the same guy. Or girl. We don’t know yet.”

  “I’ve got him on tape.”

  Jaxon came up off the car he was leaning on and said, “His face?”

  Ray shook his head. “No. It’s covered.”

  Jaxon leaned back against the car. “Still, I’d like to see it.”

  Ray tapped his notepad with his pen and looked at all three individually. The ex-cop seemed sincere. The young guy hadn’t said a word and the girl looked nervous. Normal responses as far as he could tell. This really wasn’t his field of expertise, he normally dealt with fisherman, hunters, and smugglers, yet he believed them. He made a decision.

  “I should take you in, but I can’t seem to find anything to charge you with since you really didn’t steal anything that wasn’t meant for you, and you didn’t harm any animals. You did scare a lady and her kid but it’s not a crime that I know of.” He paused. “Finish the tire. We’ll go back to the zoo and you can look at the tape.”

  Jaxon nodded at him and turned for the jack. They had the tire changed in record time.

  “I’ll follow you. Stay in front of me,” Ray said and he watched the kid get in the driver’s side. “Hey! He can’t drive. You know that.”

  The kid got out and Jaxon took his place behind the wheel. As they drove, Ray called dispatch and asked Sally if she’d search for anything on a DC detective named Jaxon Jennings. She got back with him in five minutes.

  “Jaxon Jennings, forty-eight years old. Retired early last year. Married. 1 child. Deceased. Oh wow. Apparently the child was murdered. Oh I remember this! He was the lead in the swimming pool killer who was stalking young teenagers up in Virginia two years ago. Do you remember that?”

  Ray remembered hearing something about it but hadn’t really paid attention. “Not really.”

  “His partner was killed in an explosion in Indiana related to the case and a couple of young kids were killed too. The killer would put the bodies in a neighborhood pool. Jaxon and his ex-wife, an FBI agent at that, were wounded. It was on the news for a few days.”

  “Sounds like a movie.”

  “Yeah. He’s famous.”

  “Or infamous.”

  She agreed and signed off.

  Some hotshot detective from DC was on a hunt for some missing girl. Sounded too convenient for it to be random. Ray wondered if he realized that.

  At the zoo, the manager was reluctant to let Jaxon and the kids back in, but Ray assured them he had it under control. Pete was not too happy, but Ted was more than helpful. He seemed ecstatic that Ray was back. They all crammed into the security room and Ted played the video.

  “This is good stuff,” Jaxon said and Ray nodded.

  “That’s what I said.”

  The screen displayed the recorded video again and Ray watched as Jaxon studied the monitor. Jaxon asked to pause it and he looked closely at the head. The face was in shadows. He told Ted to continue, but when he clicked the mouse, the picture stuttered, grew grainy looking and then went to snow. Ted stopped it and backed it up. When he hit play, only snow was displayed.

  “That’s weird,” Ted said.

  “It’s gone,” Jaxon said and turned away.

  “No. It’s just locked up,” Ted said manipulating the system with the mouse.

  “It’s gone,” Jaxon repeated and he gave Gil and Melanie a look. Ray was surprised.

  “How can it be gone?” Ray asked.

  “They’ve hacked into the system. Just now. I’d be surprised if any of the recordings were left.”

  “That can’t be,” Ted said. “This system is secure.”

  “Check it, if you want,” Jaxon said. “But I’ll bet it’s all gone.”

  Ted worked the mouse and as display after display showed only brief glimpses of the park through various cameras, they all eventually turned to snow.

  Ted looked at Jaxon and said, “Just what are you into here?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  Jaxon pointed to Ray and motioned outside. Gil and Melanie stayed inside.

  “They know we’re here and they know I’ve been talking to you.”

  “You keep referring to him as ‘they.’ Do you think it’s more than one guy?” Ray asked.

  “I don’t know. We think it’s mob related, but we’re not sure.”

  “We?”

  “My wife and I. She’s back in Jax working the details for me while I’m in the field. She’s ex-FBI.”

  “I know.”

  Jaxon grinned. “Checking up on me?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  Jaxon nodded. “We have only a few leads, like the name of the girl and an IP address of a small internet café where he accessed a remote web cam. Now I’ve seen him, but it’s not much to go on.”

  “Is your wife working the girl’s name?”

  “Yes. What she found only confuses the issue and that’s why we’re not sure of the whole mob connection. The girl works for a law firm whose sole clientele is the Florida connection for the mob.”

  Ray thought that sounded just too farfetched.

  “That doesn’t make sense. Why not just knock her off if she’s a problem?”

  “That was our thought too. The mob thing is pretty flimsy.”

  “Have you considered that you’ve been singled out for this?”

  Jaxon looked at him. “The wife brought that up too. Am I too close to this to see?”

  “When I look at it from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t feel like just some random act. Who’ve you pissed off lately?”

  “Who haven’t I pissed off? The list is a long one.”

  “You better start narrowing it down. That girl isn’t going to survive for the whole 72 hours. I can guarantee it.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” J
axon grew silent for a minute. “These two that are with me, I feel like I’m dragging around extra luggage. They’ve been helpful, but they aren’t law enforcement.”

  “What are you getting at?” Ray wasn’t sure he liked where this was heading.

  “I could use some help.”

  “Why did I know you were going to say that?”

  “This perp knows everything. He uses anything and everything he can get access to, to track my movement and stay on top of the game. He warned me not to involve others, but I had to take the kids on because they fell into the game. I felt responsible for their safety. If I had someone in the system, someone with access, without the perp knowing, it sure would give me a hand up and maybe I could get ahead of this game.”

  “I’m not your guy.”

  “You’re all I’ve got at the moment.”

  “I’m not your guy.”

  Jaxon nodded. He seemed to understand. “Look the other way then. We were never here.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that. Dispatch is the only one that knows what I’ve been doing. Sally will do anything I ask.”

  Jaxon stuck out his hand. “I owe you.”

  Ray took it and shook it. He felt like he was letting the man down. “Be safe.”

  “I don’t think I’ll get it done being safe, but thanks.”

  Jaxon turned, signaled Gil and Melanie, got in the Mustang, and drove off. Gil was driving. Ray couldn’t help but think Jaxon did that on purpose.

  CHAPTER 11

  Bethany woke to find a little more light making its way inside.

  Along with the light came heat. She was sweating and the box she was in was getting hotter by the minute. The sun must be up and she was definitely somewhere tropical. Looking around, she could see some bottles of water a few feet away and paper and trash scattered around. She was so thirsty. She stared at the water and couldn’t believe she would be tortured like this, the water just a few feet away and her unable to reach it.

  She struggled against her bindings and they felt a little looser. Maybe it was her imagination. The sweat was dripping in her eyes as she worked her hands back and forth, and she hoped she wasn’t imagining things, but it felt like she was making progress.

  Her hand with the missing finger ached, and the other hand felt raw, but she ignored it and pulled harder. An audible pop found her hands free and she held them up in front of her, shocked. She cried. Her hands and wrists were a wreck and the sight of her missing finger sickened her, but the relief at being free was overwhelming. The tears flowed freely and she sobbed at her good fortune.

  She got herself under control after a minute and stood.

  Immediately, her world spun and she found herself on the ground again, banging her head painfully on the metal floor. She was so weak. Dirk filled her head, and she found some strength from him and sat up. Vertigo took hold again, subsiding slowly. As the room stopped spinning, she felt liquid in her right eye and reached up to touch her head. Her fingers came away red. She sagged against the wall and cried more. It would be just her luck to finally get free and then bleed to death before getting out of here.

  She eyed the water again, just sitting there a few feet away. Her thirst came raging back and she leaned forward until she was on her hands and knees. Only a little spinning accompanied this and it passed quickly. Crawling across the dirty floor, she focused on the water and willed herself to move. Her arms gave out once and she found herself face down on the gritty surface of the rusted metal floor, but she pushed herself up again and continued to the water.

  She grabbed the first bottle, struggled with the twist top, sobbing in frustration, and then finally switched to her good hand and the top came free. She drank in giant gulps, choking as the water ran down her throat and overflowed to spill down her neck and chest. She finished the bottle in a matter of seconds.

  Her stomach revolted and she threw it all back up.

  Collapsing on the ground, she felt as if the whole world were against her. She just wanted a drink. Her throat burning and her head throbbing, she sat up again and opened another bottle. She sipped it slowly, the cool, clean, liquid soothing her raw throat and mouth. It stayed down. The bleeding had stopped on her head and even though the heat continued to build within the little room, she felt better.

  She leaned up against the wall and soon drifted off. She awoke with a start, unsure of her surroundings and when she realized where she was, the tears started again. She cried for a few minutes, and then she tried to stand. She felt stronger, but the heat was suffocating up near the ceiling. She reached up with her hand, touched the surface of the ceiling, and pulled her fingers away quickly. It was scorching.

  Shuffling along slowly, she maneuvered along the wall, looking for a way out. She found the doors at the other end of the box that she estimated at ten feet by twenty feet. It was darker at this end and she had to feel along the doors for a way out.

  She searched for what seemed like an eternity, but she could find no way to open the doors. She could feel the seams, but the latch and hinges must be on the outside. She banged repeatedly on the doors and walls, a hollow metallic ring to them, shouting until her voice gave out, but no one responded. She fell into despair again, and the elation she felt at being free of her bindings became a deep, lonely ache that she believed would be the end of her. She could not get out.

  She shuffled back toward the water, kicking trash and debris beneath her bare feet, the light getting a little brighter as she moved closer to the small crack in the corner of the ceiling near the water. She kicked something slick and it stuck to the bottom of her foot. She reached down to grab it. It was a picture. She went to the light and stared at the photo.

  It took a moment to register, and she was confused that she would find something familiar in this isolated and unfamiliar place. As recognition spread through her, she sagged to the floor and moaned. She knew the girl framed against the backdrop of the ocean. She mouthed her name slowly as the world started to spin again. The dead girl’s face followed her into the darkness and the nightmare she was in deepened.

  CHAPTER 12

  As they headed East, Jaxon got on his cell phone and called Victoria.

  “I was just about to call you,” she said.

  “You won’t believe what we’ve been through.”

  He filled her in on the morning’s events and told her where they were headed and what Ray had suggested.

  “I think it’s something we should consider. Has anybody popped into that head of yours that might be capable of something like this?”

  “There’s a shit load of people who would want me suffering, but nobody who’s this sick. At least who’s not in jail.”

  “Maybe I should check and see if anybody you put away is out on early release.”

  “Good idea. Nobody told us we’d have to watch our backs for the rest of our lives as a result of being cops. Nice perk.”

  “I messed up,” Vick said then, and he heard her own disappointment.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The Bethany Hope we were investigating is not the Bethany who’s missing.”

  “I take it you’ve found the one who’s missing.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then how is that a mess up? That should help us.”

  “I know, but I should’ve had this yesterday. When I was going through the Florida list, I called all the phone numbers and asked for Bethany Hope. I talked to each and every one. Or so I thought. There are two Bethany Hopes in a single household in Palm Beach.”

  “How can that be?”

  “One is the grandmother, the one I spoke with. The other is a twenty-five year old nurse who was named after her grandmother.”

  “I would’ve missed that too,” Jaxon said. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

  “I know. I just shouldn’t have missed it. I usually catch those details.”

  “How did you find the mistake?”

  “The Bethany Hope in Georgia came
home. She spent the night in Savannah with a friend. Then I went back to our list in Florida because I had a feeling I missed something and there it was. Grandma and granddaughter were listed right next to each other and I thought it was just a duplicate result in the search.”

  “I think it was a good catch. Anything that might help us?”

  “Yes. Couple of interesting red flags that pop up in her life. She’s engaged to a Dirk Samuels and he is also missing according to the grandmother. He hadn’t been over to the house in a few days and Bethany was wondering where he was.”

  “Could they have eloped or something and this is another false positive?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve considered it, but this next little tidbit is very interesting. As a teenager in high school, she was part of a group of teens that bullied another girl and that girl eventually committed suicide. It was a big scandal eight years ago in the community, but Bethany was never charged with anything and the thing just kind of blew over.”

  “What about the parents of the suicide?”

  “Both dead. The father died when the girl was young. The mother killed herself shortly after her daughter committed suicide.”

  “Nice.”

  “Yes. Pretty tragic. I’m still working all the angles, but nothing is jumping out at me.”

  “How about some pissed off boyfriend back eight years ago, or some relative?”

  “Checking all that now. There’s lots in the media about it, but the family seems to be rarely mentioned.”

  “What was her name?”

  “Danielle.”

  “Means nothing to me. Keep on it. You did good. This could be our first big break.”

  “If it’s related.”

  “Seems awfully convenient not to be related,” Jaxon said, and thought, just like him finding the finger. Convenient. Definitely not a coincidence. “All right, get back to work. We’re on our way to some airport in the middle of the Everglades.”

  “The next point?”

  “The only thing we have at the moment. We’re playing the game and he keeps staying a step ahead.”