Rainey opened the safe and took out the Beretta 92FS she kept there.
“M-9, good weapon,” Colonel Asher said.
“My favorite is the Glock 19, but since the police have that at the moment, this will do.”
He reached under his jacket, coming out with an M-9 of his own. “My favorite weapon is the one in my hand, when faced with a kill or die situation.”
“I hear that, Colonel. I most definitely hear that.”
#
In Bladen’s apartment, Rainey found the lodgings of a tidy, organized, young woman. She spoke as she walked the space, a habit that worked for her and her old partner, Danny, on many investigations. Her “partner” on this walkthrough happened to be the father of the victim, but she did not temper her remarks for him. She was not telling him things he did not know. He offered insights of his own, the investigator in him trying to contain the emotional father. Years of military training had allowed him to compartmentalize. Rainey admired this ability, because she knew all too well how hard it was to maintain those boxes, where monster hunters kept their most precious possessions, family.
“Your influence is evident, Colonel. Your daughter’s quarters are immaculate, closets and cabinets organized, minimal clutter, the home of a military man’s daughter.”
He opened the refrigerator, which was a cluttered mess of take-out containers. “Her rebellious side peeks through some of the spit and polish, though,” he said, grinning. “She also hates to cook.”
First grade worksheets were stacked neatly on the kitchen table, graded with smiley faces. Rainey recognized a few from helping Katie pack up her classroom when she resigned from the first grade teaching job she loved to recover from the trauma that changed her life. Rainey hoped Bladen could return those worksheets to her students personally, but every hour that crept by made that less and less likely.
“What do you see, Rainey?” The colonel asked, after she had been quiet for a moment.
“I see a young woman who added a dead bolt to her door, a pole lock on her balcony door, and I found a pistol in her bedside table drawer.”
“I gave it to her. She is licensed and trained, but she never carries it.”
Rainey smiled. “Then what does she carry? I’m sure with you as a father, there was either pepper spray or possibly a stun gun in play here.”
“Pepper spray and a personal alarm on her keychain. I insisted,” the colonel replied. “And she had self-defense training.”
“When she ran, was it outdoors, alone?” Rainey asked, examining the books on Bladen’s desk and finding only school related material.
“No, she ran on the treadmill here at the complex gym, except for when her running club went out on the weekends. She was careful. She was prepared,” he said emphatically.
Rainey knew he was questioning what else he could have done to secure his daughter from the monsters that walk among us. He knew they were there. The colonel was a man who spent the better part of thirty years hunting them for the army. He was in the business of protecting his soldiers, both from each other and from those outside the military that would harm them. Colonel Asher had almost certainly investigated his share of sexual predators in the alpha male world of the armed forces. He had prepared his daughter for the worst, and still he was tormented with the thought he had not done enough. Rainey faced these same fears for her own children, as her father had done for her.
“Colonel, my father did all he could to prepare me for the world. I was also a trained FBI agent, much more capable and aware than a twenty-two-year-old college senior, and still I was abducted. There is nothing you or she could have done. When a criminal like this goes after a target, his patience usually wins out over all precautions.”
She gave him a moment to let that sink in. “So, let’s use what we know about Bladen to tell us about her abductor. He’s above average intelligence. I’d say very intelligent. He stalked her, knew her patterns, and took his time learning about her. Planning like that takes patience and cunning. He’s organized, has a vehicle to transport his victims, and if that needle cap proves to be part of his MO, he was prepared to handle someone like Bladen who would have fought him. He may have picked her specifically because she would be a challenge, but he’d have to know he could gain control of her. You saw no evidence of a struggle at her car, correct?”
“No, nothing like that. It looked like she just vanished.”
Rainey nodded her head. “That’s consistent with the other women, with two exceptions. About the time he changed targets from street people to more affluent women, there was evidence of a struggle. One woman’s briefcase fell open, scattering paperwork around the parking lot where she was taken. The next woman struggled with him. A piece of her blouse was found under the edge of her car tire, and she was also abducted from a parking lot. After that, there were no signs of disturbance. That’s probably when he started using drugs to subdue them.”
“Or his con improved,” the colonel suggested.
“That’s true, he could have learned how to be more efficient at luring them into his trap. It’s probably a combination of both,” Rainey said, moving toward the door. “I’d like to see the car now. I’ll need to make a call first.” The colonel was hesitant to leave. Rainey knew he needed a moment to gather strength for the next phase. “I’ll just step into the hall, while you lock up.”
Rainey pulled the phone from her coat pocket and closed the apartment door behind her. The screen saver on her phone showed a picture of Katie and the triplets, laughing wildly. She remembered taking it, her hand shaking from laughing with them. This was the only shot that was not motion blurred. Strained peas in the hair and all, Rainey loved being a parent. That realization hit her several times a day. It always caught her by surprise. She had been so sure she would fail miserably at raising children. She looked down at the picture of the four loves of her life and was immediately drawn back to the father of a missing child, inside the apartment. She could not let her empathy overwhelm reason, but the reminder did not hurt. Rainey understood more profoundly than ever before that nine daughters were still missing—one found—and all were someone’s child.
She pushed the contact number for her favorite detective. “Sheila Robertson, I might have known you would stoop to sending a devastated father to rope me back into this case.”
Sheila chuckled. “Well, I’m assuming my manipulation worked. How else can I help? Do you need me to run over Rex with my car?”
“Not a bad idea,” Rainey said, laughing. “Really, what I need is for you to meet me in the forensics garage. I have a plan.”
“You’re not planning on stealing your car out of there, are you?”
“No, but you better get there before I do and make sure my baby is in the same shape I left her. I wouldn’t want to cause a scene. You know how I feel about my car.”
“Yes, I do, so I’ll go down now and make sure it’s being lovingly looked after.” She paused, then excitement crept into her voice. “Oh, I forgot. The ballistic report came back on your Glock.”
“So, am I cleared now? Can I go on with my life without Rex King up my ass?”
“Well, not exactly. The barrel of your gun did fire the bullets that killed Bobo Jackson.”
Rainey was shocked into saying rather loudly, “What the fuck?”
“Wait for it,” Sheila said, teasing out the information. “The barrel of your weapon fired the bullets, but the firing pin and breech face impressions, along with the ejector mark on the casing found at the scene, were made by a different weapon.”
“Rex took my weapon apart last night. He gave it back to me in a box,” Rainey said, very sure now that Rex King was setting her up for murder. “He took it into custody himself, this morning. That fucker is framing me, Sheila. It’s so obvious it’s almost pathetic.”
“Fortunately for you, enough people saw the Glock in Rex’s possession. The brass told him he needs more evidence to bring you back in. FYI, rumor has it, he’s t
rying to get search warrants for your home and office.”
“Damn, Katie will be pissed if they tear up the house or upset the kids.”
“Someone may be framing you for murder, and you’re worried about what Katie will say. Man, you have mellowed into an old married lady.” Sheila paused, her tone more consoling. “No one would blame you if you went home to take care of your business. We can look for this girl without you.”
The colonel came out of the apartment, locking the door behind him. Rainey saw the grimness of his expression.
“I’m in this for the long haul,” Rainey said, “or until they lock me up, whichever comes first.”
“No way that murder charge ever sticks to you. You’re right, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Someone is manipulating evidence. The question seems to be who that person is, not whether you killed a man.”
“Oh, Molly will see to the already mind-fuckingly-tainted murder charges, Sheila. I’ll be going into cuffs for trying out the new self-defense move Gunny taught me on Detective King. It’s called the hammer-blow.”
“Please let me be the arresting officer,” Sheila replied, laughing. “I’ll be gentle with the cuffs.”
“Bring the pink ones,” Rainey said. “See you in about twenty minutes.”
She hung up and put her phone away. The colonel’s grim scowl had changed into a smile.
“What?” She asked, wondering what he found so amusing.
“I can see why you survived your assault. Up against murder charges and you’re all piss and vinegar. You’re hard to knock down. You remind me of Bladen.”
Rainey did not have the heart to tell him the only reason she survived was an inadvertent siren that scared her attacker away. Luck saved her, nothing nobler than that.
She decided to give him some hope instead. “Then she’s giving this guy hell. Let’s go find your daughter.”
Chapter Seven
Colonel Asher pulled his sedan into a parking space outside the forensics garage enclosure, as directed by the officer on duty. Rainey’s phone rang in her pocket, just as she reached for the door handle. She stepped out of the car, pulled out the phone and saw it was Molly calling.
“I need to take this. It’s my lawyer,” she said to the colonel, as he exited the car.
He moved toward the entrance checkpoint to give her some privacy, pulling out his own phone to make a call.
Rainey slid her finger across the screen to answer. “Guess you’ve called to warn me my home and office are about to be searched.”
“How the hell do you do that?” Molly replied.
Rainey chuckled. “I have mystical powers. Have you warned Katie, yet?”
“Oh, so your mystical powers don’t include telling a certain little blonde that her house is about to be raided. I suppose you were waiting for me to soften the blow.”
“I think that was wise, don’t you? She won’t blame you, and if she does, you can still go home. I have to live with her.”
“Well, you’re safe for the time being,” Molly said. “She’s mad, but not at you. I’m at your house. Ernie is at the office, now.
“Should I come home?” Rainey asked.
“No, I think it is best if you stay far away. I’ll have my hands full keeping your wife out of cuffs. Oh, and your mother is on the phone demanding an explanation from somebody, not sure from whom, but it appears to be a government official.”
“With my mother’s social circle, that could be anybody. Let her do what she does. Trying to stop her will only make it worse.”
Rainey knew Molly could understand the dysfunctional relationship she had with Constance Herndon. Molly and Rainey both had life altering experiences with their respective mothers at age ten. It was probably one of the reasons Rainey liked Molly so much. Molly had her own demons with which to deal.
“Hey, if your mother wants to call in the big dogs, let her,” Molly said. “This whole thing stinks of conspiracy to frame you. Did you see the ballistics report?”
Rainey kicked at a rock on the pavement in frustration. “No, but Detective Robertson told me about it. Should I be worried, Molly?”
“Rainey, if you go to prison for this, I’ll be sitting right there in the cell with you. Just let me handle it and keep your mouth shut. I’ll let them in here, give them your weapons, and send them on their way. Ernie is at the office, and she’ll deal with everything there. You just stay calm. It sounds like you are, which kind of surprises me, actually.”
“Well, I’m trying to concentrate on finding this missing girl, rather than the demise of one Rex King. And what do you mean ‘weapons’? Why are they taking all my weapons? I thought they were looking for another Glock, which I don’t own by the way.”
“I argued that, along with having Rex King removed from the case. His obvious conflict of interest precludes his participation. He was removed, but they want all the weapons. The argument being, you may be a dangerous criminal. I had to give them that—the dangerous part anyway,” Molly said, with a chuckle.
“I’m dangerous to King right now, that’s for sure. I think my dad slept with his wife, but this is extreme payback if that’s his motive.”
“Are you sure he’s the only person who had access to your weapon?” Molly asked.
“No, I’m not. Gunny, Junior, and the other runners, they had access to it, and I don’t know where it was while Rex had it. Gunny and Junior, I trust them with my kids, so I certainly trust them with my weapon. The runners, I’m not really familiar with them, but I can’t imagine why they would do something like this. Besides, how did they change the barrel back?”
Molly was on top of things and looking at every angle. “The Glock was in your car at the hospital this morning. I’m sure it’s like your house and sends out an alarm to wake the dead if someone tries to break into it, but has anyone had access to your keys? They can clone those electronic keys now, you know.”
Rainey thought about it and remembered her coat being moved in Wiley’s car. “Yeah, I did leave my keys in my coat last night. Someone moved it, left a note in my pocket about the serial rapist.”
“How long does it take to switch barrels on a Glock?”
“If you’ve done it enough, fifteen to twenty seconds tops.”
“Well, there you have it,” Molly said, “another plausible scenario. If your key was cloned and they were following you this morning, then it is possible the barrel was switched back while you were inside the hospital and before Detective King seized the weapon. It’s also possible someone else in the chain of custody has a problem with you.”
“I guess that’s why you get the big bucks,” Rainey said, truly glad someone was thinking of possible reasons her Glock barrel killed a man, but not the weapon itself. “Speaking of bucks, I’d like to do something for Bobo’s family, make sure he gets a decent burial. It appears someone killed him to get at me. I feel bad about that, but under the circumstances, I’m not sure I should contact them.”
Molly answered quickly, “No, don’t do that, at least not yet. Let’s get through this search and see what else they throw at us first. They won’t do anything with the body for a few days, anyway. It’s an open investigation and less than twenty-four hours old. You’ll have time to make arrangements later, when you are completely in the clear.”
“And that’s going to happen, you’re pretty positive?” Rainey asked, allowing a bit of apprehension to slip into her voice.
Molly was reassuringly confident. “You find the Colonel’s daughter. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks, Molly. I appreciate you dealing with my problems.” Rainey turned to see the colonel had finished his call and was handing his weapon over to the officer in charge of the checkpoint, which prompted her next question. “Hey, what about the weapon I’m carrying? Should I turn it in while I’m here at the forensics garage?”
“How convenient. Sure, make it easy on them,” Molly said. “And Rainey, watch your back. If it isn’t King, then it could be so
meone else in that department or even somebody closer to you.”
“Yeah, I hear you. I’ve got to go. Don’t let Katie get into to trouble. She’s hard to wrangle when she’s mad.”
Molly laughed. “Oh, I know. I’ve discovered she really gets angry when someone questions your integrity. Your children may have learned some new words. I’m just glad her mother was here when I told her. She was able to calm her down and convince her not to hide all the weapons in the panic room.”
“That’s my girl,” Rainey said. “Okay, call me if she needs bail money.”
#
Sheila waited for Rainey at the checkpoint.
“I came to tell you the search warrant request went through and Rex King is in the garage, two things I was sure would not make you happy.”
“On the contrary,” Rainey said, “Molly is handling the warrants and I’m told Rex is off my case, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Sheila tilted her head to one side, an expression of confusion on her face. “Are you all right? You seem very calm for someone being framed for murder.”
The colonel spoke up. “You can remain composed, when you’re trained to ignore distractions.”
“A murder charge is a hell of a distraction,” Sheila commented.
Rainey removed the Beretta from her holster, dropped the ammunition magazine, and made sure the chamber was clear, before presenting it to Sheila. “I’m calm, because there are more pressing matters. Take this, and turn it into the lab. I’m also not worried, because I’ve got nothing to hide. Let them search and test all they want. They’ll never find proof I killed Bobo, because I didn’t. Now, I’d like a look at Bladen’s vehicle and the personal items that were inside. Can you arrange that?”
“Already done,” Sheila said, nodding at the colonel. “Colonel Asher has some friends in high places. Access to whatever you need is to be given, as long as you stay away from the Jackson murder investigation.”
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