by C. M. Sutter
Gary slammed on the brakes and jammed the shifter into Park. “That’s it. You’re right, Hope. You can die!” He jumped through the opening, grabbed her by the throat, and began to squeeze.
Leon punched Gary in the head over and over. “Let go of her. Leave her alone!”
Gary spun and slammed Leon into the opposite wall of the truck. He cocked back his fist and nailed Leon in the face. Blood squirted from Leon’s nose as Gary pummeled him. “Don’t you ever do that again. These damn bitches are coming between us, and I’m not about to let that happen. Now get in the front, and sit your ass down!” Gary stretched a new piece of tape across Hope’s mouth. “Consider yourself lucky I didn’t kill you. Make another wrong move, and I will.” Gary hopped into the driver’s seat and took off again. He looked across the console at Leon and glared. “We keep showing up late for our meetings with Charlie, and you and I will both be out of work. You want to get a job as a bagboy at a grocery store?”
“Hell no.” Leon wiped up the blood with his sleeve.
“Then knock off the bullshit, and prove you have a brain.” Gary pressed the gas pedal to the floor and took off.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the subdivision with only seconds to spare. The last thing Gary wanted was to anger Charlie, who he was sure had connections with scary people. Anything they did to piss off Charlie could lead to Gary and Leon disappearing without a trace, and that wasn’t something he was willing to risk. Gary drove to the back of the dead-end road at the defunct subdivision that was never completed. The builder had gone belly-up, and the project was nothing but abandoned half-built houses that had never been occupied.
“There he is.” Leon pointed out the windshield. He held a wad of tissues against his nose as he spoke.
“Stay in the truck, and clean your damn face. I don’t want Charlie to get suspicious and start asking questions.” Gary parked the truck and climbed out. He nodded at the man standing ten feet away with his hands on his hips. “Charlie.”
Charlie walked closer. “Why is there blood on your head?”
Gary reached up, touched the spot where Leon had pounded him, then looked at his hand. “Let’s just say the merchandise is resisting.”
“Let me take a look. You said she’s twenty-one?”
Gary led Charlie to the back of the truck. “You’ve seen her before. She helped unload the girls, but yeah, she’s twenty-one and a handful.”
“We have ways of calming the girls down. There is a market for women over eighteen, but it’s smaller.”
“Understood, but she makes up for her age by being pretty.” Gary pulled open the double doors and stepped up on the bumper. “Come in and take a look.”
Charlie climbed up and inside. “Ah, yeah, I remember seeing her before.” He knelt at Hope’s side and grinned. “I heard you’ve been misbehaving.”
Hope squirmed and tried to kick him.
“Okay, I’ll take her, but I’m only giving you seven hundred bucks. You should be happy I’m taking her off your hands.”
“Done deal, and thanks. Give me a second to get her out of the truck.” Gary stepped through the opening and pulled his knife from the console.
“You’re really doing this?” Leon asked.
Gary frowned. “Do you think I drove five hours then sat around for another three for nothing? Of course I’m doing this. The sooner we’re rid of Hope, the sooner our operation can continue without her drama.” Gary shook his head. “Wake up, man. I thought it would work out with them, but obviously I was wrong.” He walked to Hope’s side and cut the zip ties from the truck restraints, lifted her to her feet, and pushed her to the back doors.
She jerked away from him.
“Try anything, and I’ll stab you right here, right now. Step down to the ground.”
Screaming through the tape and swatting at Gary, Hope resisted as he handed her off to Charlie in exchange for seven hundred dollars.
“Good luck, dude. You’ve got your hands full. She’s like a wild horse, for God’s sake.”
Charlie shrugged as he grabbed Hope by the arm. “I can tame her, but some guys like bucking broncos.”
Gary thanked Charlie, said he would see him in a week, and climbed back into the truck. With a slap to Leon’s shoulder, Gary grinned then turned the key in the ignition. “I feel lighter already, now that we have one less problem to deal with.”
“You’re a real jerk, Gary.”
“Maybe so, but I’ll be a jerk with a lot of money.”
Chapter 18
Renz walked back into the house. “Good news.”
I raised my brows. “Yeah? I’m all ears for good news.”
“Maureen is going to talk with the local FBI agencies nearest Casper and Rapid City to see if they can post agents at Gary’s and Leon’s apartments. It’s time to haul them in for questioning.”
“That is good news. Is there more?”
“Yeah, as soon as Mr. Kline comes back with the plywood, we can leave. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said they’ll get us on one of their fastest choppers, and the regional airport is only a few miles north of Buffalo.”
“Thank God. We need to let the crime lab in Cheyenne know we’ll be on our way soon. How long will it take to get there?”
“According to the helicopter pilot, less than an hour and a half.”
I nodded. “Okay, I guess that’s better than a four-hour drive.”
“It sure is. Looks like it’s time to go. Mr. Kline is back. Got that milk carton and the journal?”
I headed to the kitchen, where the milk carton sat in the bag on the table. “I do. You got the baggie of swabs, hairbrushes, and curling iron?”
“Yep, let’s head out.”
Renz had a few parting words with Mr. Kline and offered his apologies again, and we left. The airport was less than five minutes away.
“I’ve already updated Tommy and Fay on our findings and told them we wouldn’t be joining them at the meeting with Chief Worth. They were fine with going over the details with us later.”
At the airport, we were met by a deputy who introduced himself as Ralph Zimmer. He led us to the hangar used by the sheriff’s office. Waiting just outside the hangar was the helicopter we would be on and the pilot who would take us to Cheyenne.
The deputy showed us to the counter and explained what we needed to do. “You have to sign a few documents, Agents, then you can be on your way.”
It was a few minutes after one o’clock when we climbed into the helicopter, buckled up, and lifted off. We would be on the ground at Cheyenne’s airport in less than two hours, where somebody from the crime lab would be waiting to pick us up.
While in flight, I paged through more of Claire’s diary, but so far I hadn’t found anything of evidentiary value. I put it away for the time being, then Renz and I outlined what we had up to that point.
It was two twenty-five when the pilot said we were making our final approach. We would be on the ground in five minutes. Once we’d landed and it was safe to disembark, we saw a woman dressed in business attire standing near a private hangar. She held a placard with her name and status on it. She was from the crime lab, and her name was Jennifer Shoff. We headed toward her, introduced ourselves, and walked with her to the waiting car.
“The crime lab is a short ten minutes away, Agents. Our forensic techs have everything ready to go as far as making the DNA comparison on the items you’ve brought.”
“That’s great news. Thank you. How long will it take to get a confirmation?” I asked.
“I’m an administrative assistant, not a lab employee, so I really couldn’t tell you with any accuracy. Do you intend to stay in Cheyenne overnight?”
I looked at Renz and shrugged. “I guess we didn’t plan that far ahead yet. I imagine it depends on how long it takes to get the results.”
“Understood, and the team can explain all that to you when we get there. You’ll be meeting with Carrie Kerwood and Brian Cole. They’re two o
f our top forensic technicians.”
Renz thanked her, and we settled in for the short drive.
Jen turned into the parking lot of a tan concrete building several minutes later. She circled around to the back, where we passed a sign showing that employee parking was in the rear.
I chuckled to myself when I noticed the front lot was nearly empty. “Does anyone ever use the front parking lot?”
She smiled at me through the rearview mirror. “We don’t get many guests. It’s mostly the police, deliveries, mail, and the like. Our employee entrance is a secured door in the back anyway, and we have ID badges that we have to swipe.”
“Sounds typical and very familiar,” Renz said.
“Yes, sir. Here we are.”
She waited as we gathered our bags and the evidence we needed tested. We followed Jen as she passed through the security door, and after walking down two left-turning hallways, we came to a large room where the wall facing us was glass. Jen pressed the buzzer, opening to a vestibule of sorts that separated us from the actual lab. We waited there for someone from the other side to allow us into the lab. She pointed at the woman who was approaching us.
“That’s Carrie, and Brian is the man working at the far left station.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
Carrie waved, opened the door, and allowed us in. Jen made the introductions, then Carrie escorted us to a separate room.
“Give me just a minute to get Brian. Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable, Agents.”
Jen excused herself and left, then Renz and I sat down. We’d only been waiting for a few minutes when the doorknob turned, and Carrie and Brian entered the room. We exchanged handshakes, then as we sat around the table, Renz explained what we had forensically up to that point.
“We noticed a blood smear on the bathroom door as if somebody had tried to wipe it off. The amount we have was rubbed onto several dry swabs and sealed in a plastic zipper bag. We also have hairbrushes, clips, and a curling iron that contain strands of hair. We’re pretty certain the hair belongs to the girl in question since her roommate is a blonde.”
“And you believe the blood belongs to the girl who showed up that night at her parents’ house?”
“Yes, that’s our belief, although we have nothing to prove the blood smear happened then. Our intent is to confirm whether the blood is a match to the hair samples—meaning it’s from Hope Daniels.”
“Sure thing. A simple DNA comparison won’t take long at all. We should have the results within a few hours.”
“Good to know. We also have a milk carton we need printed,” I said.
“Not a problem. That won’t take long either.”
Renz asked about nearby restaurants. “We don’t have a vehicle, so is there a restaurant within walking distance of the lab? We can hang out there for a bit and grab a bite to eat.”
“There sure is,” Carrie said. “Two blocks to the east is a busy retail street with a variety of restaurants. We could have a driver take you there.”
Renz lifted his hand. “No thanks. It’s a beautiful day, and we’ve been sitting plenty. A nice walk will do us good. We’ll be back by four o’clock.”
“Good enough. Just come in through the front entrance, and somebody will bring you back here.”
We thanked Brian and Carrie, and she showed us out. I would make a phone call to Tommy as we walked. Hopefully, they would have something else to update us on.
Chapter 19
“Hey, Tommy, it’s Jade.”
“Jade, we’ve been trying to reach you guys.”
“Sorry. We probably couldn’t get a signal while we were in the chopper.” I gave Renz a frown. “Hang on a minute, Tommy. We’re walking to a restaurant while we wait for the DNA results to come in. I’m putting you on Speaker so Renz can hear what you have to say.”
“Hey, buddy, what’s up?” Renz asked.
I pointed to a bench outside an ice cream shop, and we took a seat while Tommy went over their latest news.
“Our meeting with Chief Worth had just begun when my phone rang,” Tommy said. “I excused myself and took the call. It was Taft.”
I raised my right eyebrow. “And?”
“And a female body was discovered late yesterday afternoon in Colorado west of Denver. Two bow hunters came across it at the bottom of a ravine. An emergency response team was called, retrieved the body, and took it to the nearest hospital, where law enforcement officials positively identified her just a few hours ago. Her name is Jacquie Carver. She’s fifteen. She disappeared last Thursday and was listed with the local police on Friday as a missing person, so she was in the database. She’s from Kaycee, Wyoming, and we literally interviewed her parents two days ago.”
“Good God. That changes everything. Who are we dealing with—kidnappers or killers?”
“That’s a good question, Jade.”
Renz spoke up. “Has there been an autopsy, and has the medical examiner given a cause of death yet?”
“No to both. The parents have to be informed, and because she was a minor, they have to give their permission to let the medical examiner go forward with the autopsy. We’re on our way to Kaycee right now to meet with them. Chances are, we’ll head down to Denver to try to find out what the hell is going on.”
“Okay,” Renz said. “By the time you reach Cheyenne, we’ll know if that blood is Hope’s. I think we should team up and work this case together. We aren’t only dealing with trafficking teenagers now, we’re also dealing with murder. I’m sure we’ll need all hands on deck and I’ll clear it with Taft.”
“You got it, pal. Let us know where to meet you in Cheyenne, and we’ll go from there. We aren’t going to arrive until sevenish though.”
“That’s fine. Just text me when you’re close,” Renz said.
We continued to the restaurant, even though my mind wasn’t on food at that moment. The hostess seated us, poured coffee, and gave us time to look over the menu.
“Renz, have we been on the wrong track all along? Are Gary and Leon even involved in this at all? It seems like a push to go from having consensual sex with a teenager to kidnapping and murdering them.”
Renz held up his hand. “Let’s not speculate. We have to wait for the autopsy to find out the cause of death and how long Jacquie has been deceased.”
Renz was right. We couldn’t act before we had all the facts. We would wait to hear more, wait for Tommy and Fay to arrive, and wait for the DNA results.
“How far is Denver from here?”
Renz tapped his phone and checked. “The drive is just over a hundred miles, easily doable after Tommy and Fay arrive.”
“Okay, then should I reserve hotel rooms in Denver for the night?”
“Let’s find out exactly where the body was located first. We need to take a look at that area tomorrow during daylight hours, speak to those hunters, and talk to the first responders who took the body to the hospital. We have to meet with the medical examiner, too, and get the autopsy report. We also need to dig in and find out if there are kidnapping and human trafficking organizations in that area. The Denver FBI unit can help us with that.”
“It sounds like we’ll be in Colorado for a few days.”
“Probably. I’ll give Taft a call and find out if she’s heard about any movement at Gary’s and Leon’s apartments.”
“Let’s place our order first so we aren’t interrupted. When you’re on the phone with Taft, ask her exactly where the body was located.”
We both chose the dinner special of roast beef, vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy, and a side salad with a roll. Renz called Taft after the waitress took our order and walked away.
He jotted down notes on a napkin as he listened to Maureen. Minutes later, when Renz hung up, he repeated what Taft had told him. “Apparently, Jacquie was found near Evergreen, Colorado, about forty minutes west of Denver off I-70. Also, there hasn’t been movement at either apartment.”
“That’s weird. Whet
her Leon and Gary are involved or not, where the hell did they go?”
Renz huffed. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
Chapter 20
“So how are we doing this going forward?” Leon asked.
Gary waited at the stop light for it to turn green. “I talked to Claire while you were filling the truck with fuel. She said there’s a black sedan parked three houses down that’s been there for some time and two men are sitting inside.”
“So how do we go back to Casper?”
“We don’t. I told Claire to wait until dark, slip out the back of the building, jump the fence, and get out of town. I said she needed to find a way to Cheyenne, get a bus ticket or something like that, and we’ll pick her up as soon as she gets there. We’ll relocate after that.”
“What about the other truck in the storage garage in Schaeferville?”
“Who gives a shit? The truck rental and storage lease are in Hope’s name, and she paid the garage lease in cash. Nobody will connect it to us, plus we never leave anything behind in the trucks. We can’t risk going back for it.”
“I guess.”
“No reckless chances if we want this gig to last awhile. Three girls a week is plenty of money. That’s twelve grand a month. We’ll look for border towns and make sure the girls are from different states. That’ll slow down law enforcement connecting the dots.” Gary gave Leon a hearty shoulder slap. “Don’t worry, man. It’s all good.”
“What if Claire gets caught?”
Gary shrugged. “So what? She won’t know where we went, and as long as Charlie doesn’t get busted, our jobs are secure.”
“What happens when we decide we’ve had enough? You know, quit while we’re ahead? Charlie isn’t going to let us walk away that easily.”
Gary swatted the air. “Nah. You worry too much. We’ll head off to somewhere else, Florida maybe. Nobody will ever track us down. We’ll change our names and be fine with a lot of cash to live on.”