by DK Herman
Poppy and I chuckled at the retching sounds coming from the bathroom.
I dropped Ben at the office. He wanted to go upstairs to his apartment and take a nap. Poppy rode along with me to my house. Jessie agreed to meet us there for a burger and a swim since Andy was still working on a case.
We pulled into my driveway and saw Poppy's husband, Woody, waiting on the front porch.
Woody sailed off the porch and picked Poppy up, twirling her around after a quick kiss. "Did you have a good morning, sweetheart?"
"Yep," Poppy giggled. "We met Liv's cousin, and she made Ben puke."
"Wow! You'll have to tell me all about that." Woody smiled and straightened his glasses.
Woody is one of those guys that if he robbed a bank, all the witnesses would remember is that he was a tall guy with glasses. He's not ugly, just not memorable. But he's a great guy and a super smart chemistry major, destined for an excellent job. He and Poppy are a terrific couple.
I went inside and up to my rooms. After changing into an aqua tankini, I pulled on a pair of cut-off jean shorts, stuffed my feet into clog sneakers, and went downstairs to the kitchen.
Liv sat by the counter on her padded stool. Her little TV was tuned to a cowboy movie. She was slicing strawberries without looking away from the screen.
"Need help with anything?" I asked.
"You can take those things out to the patio." Liv jutted her chin toward a small cooler with a full, plastic, shopping bag on top. "We can take the food out in a little while."
"OK, I'll be back in," I picked up the shopping bag. "Oh, yeah. I met your cousin, Grace, today."
"How's she making out at the nursing home?" Liv turned from the TV and smiled.
"She seems ...content," I said, not mentioning her dementia.
"It's a shame," Liv said. Her boy didn't have any choice but to put her in that place. She was a wonderful woman, a good wife and mother. And now this damned old age has made her a different person."
I nodded sadly. Time could be so cruel.
"Ah, don't look like that, honey," Liv said. "Grace's dementia is kind of a gift. She's happier living in the time when her kids were young, and her husband was alive."
I picked up the cooler. Liv was right, as usual.
Outside, Gram, George, Woody, and Poppy were gathered on the patio.
"Need help?" Woody asked.
"Liv said we can bring the food out in a little while," I put the cooler and bag on a bench.
"Cold drinks are in the other cooler," Gram said, nodding toward a large, red cooler near the kitchen door.
I grabbed a paper cup and poured myself an iced tea from a jug. I sat down at the table and fanned myself with my hand. "It's hotter than it was yesterday."
"Yep, but it's a beautiful day," George said, smiling. Suddenly, a stink bug bounced off his forehead, landing in his tea, and his expression turned sour. "The gosh danged things should be declared the state bird!" He angrily flicked another stink bug off the patio table. "They're everywhere."
Buddy and Princess, who lay dozing under a big oak tree, stirred themselves enough to let out one woof apiece.
"I'm here," Jessie said, joining us on the patio with a tray of hamburger patties. "Liv said you can start cooking these."
I jumped up and lit the gas grill.
After we ate, we all helped redd up before most of us hopped into the pool. The water was deliciously cool and silky on my skin as I bobbed around, clinging to a pool noodle.
Woody and Poppy played with the dogs at the other end of the large, rectangular shaped pool, and Jessie floated nearby on her own noodle.
"This feels fantastic," Jessie said with a happy sigh.
"You're welcome to come for a swim anytime." I paddled to the edge and took off my sunglasses, preparatory to dunking my head into the water, when my cell rang. I pulled myself out of the water and grabbed it from a lounge chair. "Hello," I answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Hallie, it's Andy." He sounded tired.
"Hey, Andy. What's up?" I expected him to ask for Jessie. She told him that she was going to be at my house this afternoon, and he was going to call her when he could go home for some rest.
"Is he going home?" Jessie asked as she paddled across the pool.
"Hallie, a woman needs your help. And me too." I heard Andy let out a deep breath. "A teenage girl is comatose, and a five-year-old is missing. Krause and I agree that we need your help."
Krause, is Detective Mike Krause, Andy's senior partner. He's another good cop and an asset to the town.
"What's wrong?" Jessie asked. Her eyes looked worried, and when I didn’t answer, she jumped out of the pool.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"At the station. Can you meet me here soon?"
"Of course," I said. "I can be there in a few minutes. Talk to Jessie while I go get dressed." I handed Jessie my cell. "I'll be right back."
I sped up to my room and pulled my clothes back on. Then I brushed my teeth, fluffed my hair, and grabbed my purse before running back downstairs.
I kissed Gram and explained that I was needed on a case and retrieved my phone from Jessie.
"Need any help?" Poppy asked.
"I'll call if I do," I said and headed for my Denali.
On my way to town, I called Ben. He sounded better and wanted to help, so I stopped and picked him up.
Ben looked much better, and he smelled like something fresh and masculine.
"Whose little girl is missing?" He buckled up and flipped his sunglasses on top of his head.
"I don't know. We need to get to the station and talk to Andy," I said. The police station is a few blocks across town from my agency. Main street was crowded, so I pulled into a spot in the municipal lot, near Andy's truck.
The side door to the station was ajar, saving us the walk to the front of the building. I could see Andy pacing when I pulled the heavy, metal door open. Nearby, Detective Krause sat backwards on a chair with a can of soda in his hand. Both men were in shirtsleeves, their ties missing, and had their sleeves rolled up to their elbows.
Andy looks a lot like Gabi with light blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. But like his older brother, Hank, Andy is tall, muscular, and very male. He's been a Herville cop since his discharge from the army, seventeen years ago.
At forty-four, Mike Krause is five years older than Andy. He's happily married with a couple of kids. He's still a nice-looking man, but middle age was setting in. His hair was getting thinner and his hips wider. He gave Ben and I a wave and asked us inside a small office with two desks.
Sitting on old, wooden chairs between the desks, we waited quietly for the two cops to organize their thoughts.
"Last night around three a.m., a woman came home from work and found her seventeen-year-old daughter unconscious on the living room floor," Detective Krause said. "She's in intensive care, in a coma. They don't know if she's going to make it. She was struck in the head with something hard enough to crack her skull, but the object is splayed and has sharp edges." He pulled pictures from a file and passed it to me.
They showed a red headed girl on life support, laying in a hospital bed. What I could see of her face appeared grayish except for the right side of her forehead. There, the skin was a puffy red and purple, with small cuts that ran outwards in a half circle. The cuts and bruising merged into her hairline, which was now shaved.
"What the hell did they hit her with?" Ben asked, looking at the pictures over my shoulder.
"Good question," Andy said. "But we don't know. Her name is Amanda Detweiler, she's seventeen. She was babysitting a little girl last night. A little girl who’s missing and hasn't been seen by anyone else since her mother dropped her off at eight o'clock last night."
Mike Krause handed me another picture. This one was an eight by ten of an adorable little girl with light brown hair and stunning turquoise eyes.
"That's Alexa Wilson. Her family calls her Lexi. She just turned five years old, and we
think somebody tried to kill Amanda Detweiler to take her."
"Why do you think Lexi was the target?" I asked.
"First, nothing was missing from the Detweiler home, and there was cash, jewelry, and portable electronics lying around," Mike Krause said.
"So it wasn't a burglary gone bad," Ben said and handed the little girl's picture back to Krause.
"Second, there's no sign of sexual assault," Krause tucked the pictures back into the folder. Then he took out a copy of a newspaper clipping and handed it to me. "And third, little Lexi's mother hit the lottery in January."
I quickly scanned the page. "I remember hearing about this. Jane Wilson, a twenty-three-year-old single mom, hit the lottery for two million and change."
"You're thinking a kidnapping?" Ben said.
"Yep," Krause replied. "She just got the money on Monday, and her kid goes missing Friday night. But there's been no contact from a kidnapper yet."
"Where was the mother when Lexi disappeared?" I asked.
"Jane and her best friend, Taylor Detweiler, who's also Amanda's older sister, were at work." Krause looked at the file. "They work nights, part-time, cleaning offices, but it was Jane's last shift. If I won all that money, I wouldn’t clean up other people’s messes anymore either. But Jane still goes to school during the day to be a nurse."
"Can I have a copy of the file?" I wasn't sure how my request would go over. The Herville Police Department asking for my help was new. I usually just butted in on a case.
"You can have this one," Mike Krause said. "I'll copy Andy's for me."
"Thanks." I opened the file. "I'll start by talking to the mothers of both girls. Why don't you guys go take a nap. I'll call you if I need you or find anything."
"A few hours rest might sharpen us up, Andy," Mike said.
"A nap would be great," Andy said.
"Then we'll talk more later," I said, and Ben and I left to start our investigation.
CHAPTER THREE
Jane and Lexi Wilson live in a row house with gray siding and a purple front door. I parked across the street, wondering if the occupants ever worry about their neighbor catching their house on fire. The flames would spread so quickly.
The six connected houses were at least a hundred years old. Over the last twenty years, they'd gotten the bare minimum of maintenance after becoming rentals. Gram almost bought them as an investment, but she was advised that they needed extensive updates to the plumbing and wiring.
Without porches, each house had a small, concrete stoop to the front door. Ben and I stood in front of the purple door and knocked. I smiled at the small hand print two feet from the bottom of the door, dried into the paint. Lexi must have helped.
A woman with her salt and pepper hair in a ponytail, answered the door. I put her age around fifty, so it couldn't be Jane Wilson. She wore square, wire frame glasses over pale blue eyes.
Suspiciously, she looked at Ben and me. "Can I help you?"
"We're with James Investigations," I extended my hand. "I'm Hallie James, and this is Ben Gordon. The Herville Police Department asked us to assist with the disappearance of Alexa Wilson."
"We didn't ask for any investigators." Ignoring my hand, she started to close the door.
"Mother," a female voice said from deeper inside the house. "Let them in."
The purple door opened wider and a young woman with short blonde hair stood near an enclosed staircase. As she walked towards us, I knew she was Lexi's mother.
Girl next door pretty, her face was devoid of makeup, and the only jewelry she wore was a pair of tiny gold hoops in her ears. The mauve smudges under her turquoise eyes told me she hadn't slept recently.
"Detective Krause just called, he said that you're going to help find my daughter." Jane looked at us hopefully. She shook our hands and invited us inside.
"Yes," I said, taking a seat on the couch. When I worked for Williams and Allen Investigations, missing people were my specialty. But missing child cases are especially heartbreaking. I can't give a frightened parent a guarantee that their child will be found safe. However, I try to keep things positive. It made things go smoother. "We're going to do our best. Right now, I have some questions for you, if you're up to it."
"Anything that will help." Jane shivered and pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt lower on her forearms.
An air conditioner in the living room's only window was going full blast. I felt a chill too, but the woman who answered the door hovered nearby, fanning herself with a paper plate.
"What makes you think you can find my granddaughter?" The older woman asked rudely.
So, she's Lexi's grandmother. Was the pain in the ass attitude grief and worry, or was she being overprotective of Jane? "I have a lot of experience in finding missing people."
The woman stared daggers at me. "I think we should let the police handle this, Jane."
"If this is a kidnapping, a strong police presence could be harmful," I said calmly.
"Who the hell said Lexi was kidnapped?" The woman snapped.
"Mother, please stop. Go in the kitchen while I talk to them," Jane pleaded and sat down next to me.
"You never listen to me." Jane's mother glared at me and stalked out of the room.
She couldn't go far. The inside of the small house was arranged shotgun style; living room, dining room, then a kitchen. The decor was better than I expected. Freshly painted walls and tasteful drapes in beige and light browns were accented with peach trim.
A child's toys and stuffed animals were scattered here and there, and a large dollhouse took up the entire corner by the stairs. But other than that, the house was clean and tidy.
I came straight to the point. "Can you think of anyone who would take your daughter?"
Jane shook her head. "No. Lexi and I tried to keep to ourselves. I never let that many people watch her. Only Amanda, her sister, and my mother, and then only for work or school." Tears came to her eyes. "I thought winning that money would be a good thing. But if it took my baby from me, I don't want it."
I put an arm around her shoulders. "We'll find her, but I need you to stay strong. OK?"
She wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Did Lexi help you paint the front door?" Ben asked from a nearby recliner. He must have noticed the small handprint too.
"Yes," Jane said with a little smile. "She also picked out the color, it's her favorite."
"Did Amanda babysit Lexi often?" I reached inside my purse and switched on a small, digital voice recorder. I've found that minute details can break a case.
"She watched her when I worked in the evenings, but usually, she came here and spent the night." Jane sighed. "She asked if Lexi could go to her house, an hour before I had to leave for work. Actually, Taylor called me. She’s Amanda’s older sister.”
"Why the change?" Ben said.
"Amanda wanted to get up early this morning, and go to Lake Jean with friends. She thought she'd sleep better in her own bed. Since I don't get home until after two, Lexi was going to sleep on the couch. I'd pick her up in the morning." Jane reached for a tissue. “I've been friends with Amanda's older sister since we were Lexi's age. I’m sure none of the Detweilers had anything to do with Lexi's disappearance."
I nodded, but it was telling that Lexi disappeared when the routine changed. “Who else knew Lexi was going to be at the Detweiler’s home?”
Jane closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Just Amanda and Taylor, their mother, and maybe her boyfriend.”
“What about Amanda’s boyfriend,” Jane’s mother said, entering the room. She seemed calmer. “I’m sorry if I was rude earlier. I'm just so scared that we'll never see Lexi again.” She walked up to me and put out her hand. “I’m Gail Kubicki, Jane’s mother.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. I wondered where Jane got her eyes. Gail Kubicki may have been pretty once, but her pale blue eyes had never been a vibrant turquoise. I turned back to Jane. “Tell me about Amanda’s boyfriend.”
“What’s his last name?” Ben asked.
“It’s Joey Kearn, right dear?” Gail asked her daughter and sat down on her other side.
“Yes,” Jane replied. “His parents own the beer distributor on Market Street.”
I made a mental note to visit Joey. "What about your ex... Lexi's father?"
"He moved to Oregon, and I haven't heard from him since before Lexi was born." Jane ran a hand through her short hair. "It was his choice. He told me he didn't want kids, but the pill didn't work for me. He was furious when I wouldn't have an abortion and left me."
I saw Ben's eyes narrow angrily. "He sounds like a prince. Would he take her to get a piece of your winnings?"
"Maybe." Jane looked frustrated. "But, I didn't notice anyone following or anyone watching us."
“It’s easier than you think to follow someone unnoticed.” Ben said. “And most people don’t watch behind themselves constantly. So, we’ll check to make sure he’s still in Oregon.”
I nodded in agreement. “Are there any other family members who aren’t here?”
“Bob,” Gail said, leaning forward while she spoke to me. “Bob’s my husband. He should be here soon. He’s a maintenance man for The Herville School District. On the weekends and holidays the men take turns checking on all the buildings. They check for break ins, plumbing problems, and roof leaks. You know how a leak, left go for a day or two, can cause a mess.”
“Sure, but I’d like to talk to Bob,” I said as the front door opened.
“Speak of the devil,” Gail said. “Bob, these people are private investigators. They’re helping the police find Lexi.”
“Great,” Bob said, giving Ben a friendly nod. “The sooner they find my little princess the better. If anyone hurts her, I swear I’ll kill them.”
I understood the sentiment, but Bob Kubicki didn’t look that fierce. He looked close to sixty, thin and of medium height, with short, slicked back, gray hair, and crinkled brown eyes. He wore khaki shorts, a black, pocket tee shirt, and white sneakers. Bob looks like somebody's grandpa.