by DK Herman
“Bob!” Gail objected. "What they must think of us."
“It’s ok, Mrs. Kubicki,” I said. “We understand how your husband feels. But please, stay back and let us, and the police, do our jobs.” I looked at Bob, and he nodded.
Jane began crying softly, and her mother put her arms around her.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Bob said to Jane. “I’m sure Lexi will be home soon.”
Someone knocked on the door, and when no one moved, Ben got up and answered it. It was a young uniformed officer, and a police computer technician.
"Hey, Phil," Ben greeted the carrot-haired cop.
We knew Officer Phil Stewart well. He's another good cop and a nice guy. Unfortunately, with his bright red hair and very young looks, people didn't take him seriously.
The Tech I've seen, but I've never spoken to him. The police ID pinned to his belt read Mitch Thompson.
"We're here to set up a recording device. So we're ready if someone calls asking for ransom," Phil said.
"You've wasted your time. Jane doesn't have a landline," Gail said rudely.
"That's OK," Mitch said. "I'll clone your cell and record all your incoming calls and text messages on this device." Mitch pulled a small, plastic box from a gym bag.
“How is a kidnapper going to get her cell number?” Gail rolled her eyes.
“If she’s ever given the number to the gas, water, or electric company anybody can find it,” Phil said.
Ben and I nodded. Not much was a secret anymore. If you know where to look, you can discover anything about anybody. A cell phone number is an easy find.
"I need you to sign the permission form before Mitch can start." Phil Stewart put a paper and pen in front of Jane.
"When this is over, we'll get you a new phone, honey," Bob said sweetly to his daughter. "Any kind of phone you want."
Jane nodded. "I'll do anything if it will bring Lexi home." She picked up the pen and signed the paper without reading it. Then she handed the paper and her cell to Phil.
Phil gave Jane's phone to Mitch.
"May I use a table or counter top?" Mitch requested.
"The dining room table is through there " Bob said, pointing to a doorway. "Do you need electricity?"
Mitch shook his head. "Everything I need runs on batteries. All I do is take out the phone's SIM card. Then, I'll put it into a device that will read and copy its unique cryptographic key. And then I'll transfer that to this device, and I'm done. If you don't leave town, the box can stay right here in your house. You should be on the same cell tower as the recorder that way."
"What do I do with it?" Jane asked, nervously shredding a tissue.
"Nothing," Mitch assured her. "It's charged to last until Monday afternoon. If we still need the clone, I'll be back to recharge and check it."
"Okay, thanks." A tear slipped down Jane's cheek.
Mitch, Phil, and Ben went to the dining room.
"Why do they have to put your name and how much you win in the newspaper?" Jane said before bursting into tears.
I agreed with her. It’s unfair and an invitation to criminals who prey on other people's good fortune. But, I didn't say anything. I quietly watched with an aching heart as Gail and Bob tried to console their daughter.
To give Jane and her parents some privacy, I wondered into the dining room. Mitch was taking the back cover off Jane's phone. He went to work, and it didn't take him long to set up the recorder. In ten minutes, he was returning Jane's phone.
"Your phone will still work, just like it always did." Mitch said, zipping his gym bag shut. "The box only records incoming calls and text messages. To save the battery on the recorder, call someone back if you get a call that's going to last more than five minutes."
"If you get a call from someone claiming to have your daughter, call one of these numbers." Phil handed Jane a card. "That's Detectives Krause and Ross's cell numbers."
"I'll give you mine too," I added and handed her my card. "You can call me anytime, even if you just need to talk." I felt so bad for Jane, and the case was stirring my maternal instincts. I agreed with Bob more than I could admit. "Ben and I need to talk to some people, but I'll check in later."
Jane nodded and followed us to her front door. "Thank you," she said. I saw fear and weariness on her face before she hugged me.
"Try and get some rest," I said, patting her back.
She gave Ben a quick hug, and we went out the door.
The inside of my Denali was swelteringly hot. We put down our windows while the air-conditioning got its act together.
"This is so sad," Ben said, staring straight ahead. "I hope we find Lexi alive." I knew he was thinking about his murdered sister.
"I hope so too," I said. The air was kicking in, so I powered up my window and put the Denali into gear. "Check the file for the Detweiler's house number. I remember they live on Burrows Street."
Burrows Street is another section of town with older houses. But most are still single-family and much larger than Jane and Lexi's home.
"There's a lot of information for us to read," Ben said, looking through the file. "Here it is, 252 Burrows Street. Occupants of the home are Amanda, Taylor, and their mother, Darcy Detweiler." Ben shook the paper in excitement. "Andy left a note about Darcy's boyfriend, Charlie Dewalt. He owns a small house near Jane's, but he spends most of his time with Darcy. That might be something."
"Let's go find out," I said, pulling up in front of the Detweiler home.
Ben whistled, looking at the good-sized, tan, colonial style home. The small front yard was neatly mowed, but it was lacking any flowers or shrubs. For such a nice house, it gave off a cold, unfriendly vibe.
Ben followed me up the short walk, and I rang the doorbell.
"They might not be home," I said when nobody answered. "Maybe they're with Amanda." I reached out and pushed the doorbell one last time. I didn't want to bother them at the hospital.
"Mom's probably still in bed," a female voice said from behind us.
Ben stepped aside to let a young woman with short, strawberry blonde hair and face full of freckles, pass. She looked about Jane's age and was dressed in an ankle length skirt and a white blouse, underneath a baggy vest.
"Are you Taylor?" I moved out of her way when she pulled out a big ring of keys.
"Yes," she answered, unlocking the door to the house. "Who are you?"
I introduced Ben and myself before asking about Amanda.
"I called the hospital to check on her before I left work," she said. "Her condition hasn't changed."
"I thought you worked nights." I said
Taylor was acting coolly, but she looked tired, and as if she'd been crying. "That's my other job." She sighed. "I'm a part-time librarian too. Actually, I'm working on my Library Science degree."
"That's great," I said. Taylor looked like the stereotypical librarian, right down to the ugly shoes and black, plastic glasses. "Do you enjoy working at the library?"
"It beats my other job... cleaning." She rolled her eyes. "I guess you want to talk to my mother or something?"
"Yes, please."
She waved us inside her home. "Have a seat in the living room. I'll go see if she's up."
"Thank you," I called after her. I looked up the wide stairs and saw Taylor disappear into a hallway on the left.
Ben and I made ourselves comfortable on a slate-gray upholstered couch and looked around the room. Everything from the cream, painted walls to the dark blue drapes was tasteful, but sterile looking. There were no family pictures or souvenirs from trips. One fake Ficus and some department store paintings passed as decorations in the large room.
"Homey," I whispered to Ben as I heard someone descending the staircase. A flash of concern flooded my mind when Ben's smile faded. He looked so badly repulsed by something that his eyes almost crossed. I followed his gaze and let-out a cross between a gasp and a giggle.
Unlike her modest daughter, Darcy Detweiler let it all hang out,
literally. Naked under a light robe that was tied, half-assed, around her thick waist, her pendulous breasts were visible swinging from side to side when she walked. Her nipples even took turns peeking out of the four-inch gap in the front of the robe. When my eyes lowered to avoid that sight, I discovered eggplant purple wasn't her natural hair color.
A cigarette hung from her lips making smoke drizzle upwards, causing her to squint. That or maybe the weight of her heavy false lashes. Thick makeup covered her face and had settled into every crevice. It was smudged in places, like she'd slept in it.
"What can I do for youse?" She said in a voice that sounded as if she had something uncomfortable stuck in her throat. Then she batted her watery, blue eyes in Ben's direction and grinned with current, red lipstick staining her yellow teeth.
Ben tried to look everywhere in the room, except at her.
"We need to ask you a few questions about what happened here last night," I said after clearing my throat and making a gesture towards the front of her robe.
She pulled her robe tighter and sat on an armchair. "Ask away." She pulled the cigarette from her lips and stared at Ben with a predatory smile.
"You found your daughter in this room?" I looked around the hardwood floor for any sign of the spot where Amanda had lain.
"Yeah, right over there, next to that end table." Darcy pointed with the hand holding her cigarette.
"This morning you told the police nothing was missing. But have you noticed anything in the house that doesn't belong to you?"
"Is there a reward for finding that little girl?" Darcy dropped her cigarette into a nearby ashtray.
"No, why do you ask?" I wasn't getting much out of the blowsy old barfly. She didn't seem to care about Lexi or her own daughter.
"Well, her mama won all that money. Wouldn't she be grateful to have her back?"
"Jane will get Lexi back," I said firmly, "without paying someone." I took a deep breath and let it out to the count of ten while resisting the urge to smack Darcy silly. "Did you find anything out of place or not yours?" I repeated.
"After the cops left, I saw somebody took a couple of beers outta my fridge." Darcy shrugged. "My girls don't drink, and Charlie can't drink anymore with his medicine."
"You're sure, nobody else drank it?" Like you, perhaps.
"She shrugged again. " Don't know who, but they had a lot of guts. Everybody that comes in this house knows that beer's mine, and it's imported, over forty bucks a case."
" Call Phil Stewart, " I said to Ben. "Ask him to have somebody come over and print the refrigerator."
Ben nodded and pulled out his cell.
I turned back to Darcy. "Before you came home and found Amanda on the floor, when was the last time you spoke to her?"
"I saw her and the kid watching TV, right where you sit." She pulled a pack of smokes from her robe pocket. "Amanda said she'd see me when she got home from some lake, and I left."
"Was her boyfriend, Joey, here?"
Darcy shook her head. "He wasn't here last night. Amanda was bitching because he had to work twelve hours at his parent's place, then he was going home to bed."
"Does he drink beer?" I asked.
"Yeah, but like I said, he wasn't here." Darcy swiveled at the sound of someone stumbling down the stairs.
A scrawny, white haired man wobbled down the stairs. He wore boxer shorts and a stained, white tee shirt.
"Couldn't cha put on a robe?" Darcy yelled. "We got company."
Ben let out a bark of laughter and looked at me with huge eyes. I wanted to laugh too. The old guy was more covered than she was.
I pursed my lips to keep from grinning. "Is this Charlie Dewalt?"
"Sure is," he said, walking to the couch and taking the hand I offered. But instead of a handshake, he kissed it instead. "A pleasure to meet you, doll."
Abruptly, I pulled back my hand and wiped it on my pants. "Where were you last night?"
"He was with me, at my place," Darcy said.
"Your place?" I scowled, still feeling Charlie's cold, wet lips on the back of my hand.
"My bar," she said and winked at Ben when he finally looked at her. "Stop in sometime, cutie. My girls will show you a good time."
I felt like we were just spinning our wheels. I needed to read the police file and come back, if I had more questions for these two. Darcy and Charlie are lowlife pieces of crap, and I was close to losing my temper. "We'll go now and let you get some rest."
"We just slept for ten hours," Darcy laughed.
"Didn't you go to see Amanda?" I stood up, ready to leave quickly.
"What for? She's in a coma," Darcy said slowly, as if I didn't understand. "She won't know if I'm there, or not. And they'll call me if she dies."
"OK, Ben said. "Thank you for your time." He took me by the hand and pulled me towards the front door.
"Sure thing," Darcy stood and dug something out of her robe pocket, handing it to Ben as we passed.
We showed ourselves out and went straight for my car.
"I need a shower," I complained. "I feel filthy from being in the same room with that sleazy, selfish asshole! What did she hand you?"
Ben held up a business card so I could read it. It was written in bold script: Darcy's Delights, Cold Beer and Hot Girls. Below that, was the address, phone number, and business hours. The y in Darcy's was the silhouette of a girl doing a handstand with her legs wide apart.
"Classy.” I started the Denali’s engine. "And she really liked you." I chuckled.
"Not funny," Ben said. "When she came down the steps, I wanted to run out the door."
"Ever been to Darcy's Delights?" I asked. The strip bar was up the highway about seven miles from my house, near the county line. I'd never been inside, but I've driven by, and the lot was usually packed after dark.
"Once," Ben admitted. He knew from my expression that I wanted details "Most of the girls look good. But they aren't worth six bucks a beer, and there's no pool table."
"Pretty woman aren't worth six bucks a beer?" I asked teasingly and put my Denali into gear.
"Maybe one or two," Ben said and smiled into my eyes. He put his sunglasses on and buckled up. "Where to next?"
It was going for six o'clock. “How about supper, and we go over the police file?"
"I could eat." Ben nodded. "Anywhere you want to go."
"Liv will have supper ready soon."
Ben smiled again. "Let's go."
CHAPTER FOUR
We arrived at my house in time to help set the table. Besides Gram, George, and Liv; my Aunt Jeannie, Karl Beyer, and Woody and Poppy greeted us warmly. With everyone’s help, we were ready to sit at the long, oak dining table in minutes. Then I went to the kitchen to help Liv.
She already had everything on her cart. Liv enjoys wheeling the meal into the dining room and presenting it to her family. She takes a great deal of pride in her cooking and her food is ambrosia, Pennsylvania style!
In the dining room Liv allowed me to put two baskets of fresh, homemade rolls onto the table. Then she passed me one of two serving bowls full of her delicious kielbasa, cabbage, and noodles.
We sat down and dug in. Seasoned with onion, brown sugar, and Dijon mustard, the casserole was fantastic. I slathered a fresh sourdough roll with butter, to sop up the juices on my plate. Ben sat next to me, enjoying his food and joking with Liv who sat on his other side.
“You’re the best cook in the country, Liv,” Ben said, chewing a savory piece of kielbasa.
“Nah,” Liv said, lowering her eyes modestly and sighing. “The world,” she crowed, and poking Ben in the ribs they burst into laughter.
"How's the new case?" George asked. George is a retired teacher and Vietnam veteran. But I think he'd have made a fine detective.
"This one's not fun." I took a sip from my water glass. "A five-year-old girl is missing, and her babysitter is in coma after being bashed in the head with something."
"I heard a little about that," Karl said.
"The mother won the lottery, and the police think the child's being held for ransom."
"So do I," I toyed with buttering another roll. "The timing is too perfect. She got the money on Monday, and Lexi disappeared Friday night." I looked at Ben. "How would a kidnapper know she got the money on Monday?"
Ben shrugged. "Did anyone see it in the newspaper?"
Everyone at the table shook their head in the negative.
"Something for us to find out?" Ben said
"Maybe she told people," Liv said. "I play the lottery all the time, and I've won a couple thousand. I was so excited, everybody knew.”
"I remember," I said with a grin. Liv bought the family expensive Christmas presents that year.
"I’m pretty sure they don't announce when you get the money." Liv shrugged. "That's a shame about that little girl. I hope you get her back safe."
"If we can be any help, let us know," George said, taking Gram's hand.
"A chorus of "me toos," bounced around the table.
"I could use Poppy after we're done eating."
"Sure," Poppy said eagerly. "Anything you need."
"I need some information on the people around Jane and Lexi," I said, picking up my fork again. I was eager to finish eating and get back to work.
"I made strawberry shortcake for dessert," Liv said. "I'll fix bowls on a tray for you to take upstairs with you."
"What would we do without you, Liv," Ben told her with a grin.
"You'd eat a lot of take out and Tastykakes," Liv said with a twinkle in her eye.
Ben carried our tray of desserts upstairs to my sitting room. Poppy had her laptop that Woody had retrieved from their Blazer. She sat in the middle of the couch and powered up the computer. She knew the password to my Wi-Fi and was soon ready to cyber snoop.
I wrote down the names that I wanted information on first. I passed the list to her and opened the police file. "The police report says Jane's ex is Noah Kelly, and he still has an address and employer in Oregon." I studied a copy of his Oregon driver's license. He's a nice looking twenty-five-year-old, with brown hair and blue eyes, stands 5' 11", and weighs 185 pounds.