“Police confiscated my gun. Not much chance.”
“I hate it when they do that. Is Stella awake?”
“No.”
“Good. I swear she looked worse than you. She’s not one of my charges but I’ll give her a once over when she’s up.”
“How is Trish?”
“Sleeping like a baby. Her brother has been checking on her more often than have I.”
“Is he with her now?”
“No. I just came from there when I heard you get up. Are you sure you’re okay without the shoulder wrap?”
CJ did a slow windmill with his arm. “A little sore, but I think I’m okay.”
“Josh is out walking the perimeter with Officer Kramer,” Stratton said from the kitchen. "The next six hour shift starts at 4:00 when Kramer's relief shows up. My agents are supplementing. Been rotating them in and out regularly. It’s too hot to stay out there very long."
"Have Gianna Onassis and my ex been advised?"
Stratton walked back in with a soda and a sandwich on a plate. "Crane made the visit to your ex this morning. Her husband has taken then next few days off. Crane tells me she blames you for everything."
"Of course she does. Really can't blame her."
"She was a bit pissed when Crane wouldn't tell her where he daughter had been taken."
"I'll bet."
"As far as Ms Onassis, she told Crane that she's a big girl and can take care of herself. Her purse is armed and licensed, by the way."
"Really? I had no idea."
"She impresses me as a woman who knows how to use it, too." With that Stratton sat down at his computer and took a bite of the sandwich.
CJ remembered the sparring that took place between the two of them in the interview room and wondered if the tenor in Stratton's voice indicated something more than official interest in Gianna Onassis. Stratton was single, CJ was sure, so....
CJ stood and went into the living room, found a comfortable chair and sat. He continued to go through the report. It appeared that Tommy Clark and his brother, Kevin, were raised by a single mom. An “A” student with a “B” sprinkled here and there. Chicken pox and tonsillitis, no hospital stays. CJ wondered if Clark was his father’s name or if his mother was ever married. He paged through looking for any information on the father, but found nothing. As a matter-of-fact the only thing on the mother was that she was deceased, died in January, just seven months ago.
He put the report aside. Stratton was right; there was nothing.
In the kitchen he made a sandwich and with that and a bottle of water, returned to the chair. He ate the sandwich, staring at where he’d dropped the report on the coffee table, until Josh and Officer Kramer came in. Josh fetched a bottle of water, went down to check on his sister and then returned to sit on the sofa.
“How’re you feeling, Dad?”
CJ felt something jump inside of him. His son, who he hadn’t heard from for seven years, who in the last few days hadn’t said more than a handful of words unbidden, actually inquired as to his father’s well being.
“Not too bad actually, Josh, and I haven’t taken a pain killer yet today.” CJ stressed for a dozen heartbeats over what to say to keep the exchange going without making it look like he was prying into his life. “I assume you’ve read that,” he said, pointing to the report on the coffee table.”
“Yes.”
“Not much there.”
“No.”
“I still want to like him for it,” CJ said. “What do you think?”
“Not my call.”
“Ah.” CJ smiled. “You haven’t earned your thinking badge.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You can’t earn the right to think and express your thoughts on a case until you’re a more seasoned agent; you haven’t earned your thinking badge.”
After ten seconds of feeling the glare from his son, CJ wanted to retract all those words. If he wanted a relationship with him he shouldn’t be giving him a hard time about being a rookie.”
He softened his voice. “Is this your first case, your first time in the field?”
Josh’s jaw tightened. “Yes. I have a lot of office duties and responsibilities.”
CJ looked toward the dining room and then rose from his seat and went over to sit next to Josh. Keeping his voice low he said, “I know you’ve come for Trish, but while we’re here, in this house, and Joe is keeping an eye on her, you have an opportunity to show your stuff. If you want in the field you have to show them it's worth their while to put you in the field.”
Josh considered his dad’s words for a time and then said, “What do you think I should be doing?”
“Walking the perimeter is important, no doubt about that, but what gets attention is contributing to solving the case, actively involved in figuring out who this guy is. Even if what you discover isn’t what breaks it, at least they can see you digging… thinking.”
Josh nodded. “Okay.”
“Like I said, I still want to like Tommy Clark for this. What do you think?”
“I’m kind of the same way. What you’ve said about there being partners makes a lot of sense to me.”
“So, you and I have both been through this report and agree that it is pretty empty.”
“Right.”
“I think it’s in there. We’re just overlooking it. What are we both missing?”
Josh reached for the report, enclosed in a clear plastic report cover, and opened it. CJ leaned closer to look at it with him. They went through page-by-page and then put it aside again.
“He has the intelligence, as per the profile some of us put together.”
“Who’s that?”
“Detective Payne and Dave McDermott, Lisa’s father. He’s a retired police sergeant. Trish and Stella were there, as well as Lisa.”
“Krystal told me it was she and Lisa who dug up Tommy Clark’s name.”
“He and two others, yes. We eliminated the other two right off, but Tommy Clark fit the bill until the guy showed in my hospital room last night a half foot too short. I’d already been thinking partners because I don’t know how one person could have abducted Trish and me by himself.”
The two of them sat back, one a younger version of the other, neither realizing how much resemblance they shared.
“What about the brother?” Josh said.
CJ considered that for a moment. “The report said younger brother but didn’t mention age. I’d certainly like to know where he is right now.” He picked up the report again and opened it. “Mom died in January. It might be worth finding out how she died. I don’t think this report is complete until those details are filled in.”
Josh took the report from CJ’s hand and stood. When he disappeared through the dining room door, CJ sat back and smiled. The chances that the answers to those questions would led to anything were likely remote, but the conversation he just had with his son filled something inside of him that had been empty for a very long time.
Chapter 54
The kitchen had a table barely big enough for four people to eat a modest breakfast. CJ and Stella shared it with Agent DeBonski. They were pouring through his notes which included photocopies of two cases in which CJ was involved the year before he left the force. DeBonski also had notes on cases CJ had worked since becoming a PI. CJ had a hard time not taking offense that his office was now free FBI property.
"I remember this one," Stella said, one of the reports open in front of them. "It was right after I started working for Clint." She pointed to a note on one page for the agent's benefit. "That's my handwriting. After a nasty divorce in which the wife was rewarded the winter property..."
"Winter property?" the agent broke in.
"They were snowbirds; spent half of the year here and the other half in Illinois, Chicago area. She got the home here, which was mortgage-free. He got the Chicago home which was mortgage-maxed. She got alimony and the dog."
"And he got pissed."
"One of the neighbors who'd heard the rocks hitting the tiles, looked out. It was middle of the night and all he saw was a person, couldn't tell age or gender, throwing rocks. He called 911 but by the time a patrol car got there, the person was gone. The damage wasn't discovered until the wife returned. When she accused her ex-husband, he claimed he'd been in Chicago the entire time. Since his office was his home, no employees or coworkers to verify his whereabouts, it was his word against hers. She had no proof."
"So she hired you to find proof," DeBonski said to CJ.
"Yes, and I would have never found it if not for her. Utilizing some contacts I had and calling in favors I'd built up from my time on the force, I managed to obtain passenger lists of flights to and from Tucson for the days before and after the night in question. His name wasn't on them. When I mentioned that to my client she said, 'What about his alias?' Apparently, his business wasn't all that above board. He had another name with a driver's license and credit card based on a second Social Security number. Anyway, the alias was in fact on the passenger lists, coming in the day before, leaving the next morning. Put that together with his fingerprints left on items she'd purchased after the divorce was final, she had him by the you know whats. Then he faced federal charges with using a social security number that belonged to a baby who'd died the same year he was born. The guy went down hard and was pissed more than ever."
"So it's possible he's back and is wreaking revenge," the agent said.
"The threats he made were more at my client then at me, but you never know. I'd contact her to be sure she hasn't heard from him. As far as I know, however, he might still be incarcerated in Illinois."
CJ sat back for a moment, thinking about it, and then pointed at the case files the agent had laid out. "To be truthful with you, incarcerated or not, this guy isn't a murderer. If he was he'd go after his ex-wife, not random women. Neither are any of these others you've dug up. This seems like a big waste of time.
The agent leaned forward, elbows on the table. "The person we're looking for is a psychopath disguised as someone you know or someone you've done business with in the last few months, or years."
"Right, but what you also appear to be looking for is someone who's entire goal in life is to get back at me. That's not what's going on here. If I was his prime target, he wouldn't have started killing women in hopes that I'd show up at one of his crime scenes. He would have come at me head-on. Instead, I showed up in the middle of his..." he waved his hands in the air, "whatever you call it, psychopathic game, and he saw an opportunity to divert the focus onto someone else for a while, a fun little side game, you might say, in his psychopathic world. Not only has he had the opportunity to make a run at me, but he also has had an inside track to always be able to know where I am and who I'm with." He pushed from the table, rattling it and the agents nearly full coffee mug. "I'm a mouse he's having fun playing with."
Realizing he was shouting and noticing DeBonski's sudden reach for his coffee, CJ said, "Sorry."
Stella jumped up and got a paper towel to hand to the agent.
"Our perp has to be a cop," CJ continued. "Looking anywhere else is a waste of time."
Agent Stratton, who obviously had heard CJ's rant from the operation center in the dining room, walked in.
"We hear what you're saying, CJ, but all ground has to be covered. We can't not look left just because we think he's somewhere to the right. We're being thorough."
Josh suddenly appeared in the doorway from the living room, where, CJ knew, he'd been on the phone with the field office in New York. Although Stratton had not thought it worthwhile pursuing further study into Clark, he did see the necessity to continue to be "thorough" and so told Josh to do the follow up on Clark's mother and brother. CJ was certain that all Stratton was doing was pushing Josh out of the way, keeping him busy on the lower odds side of the investigation.
"We might have something," Josh said.
Everyone turned and looked at him.
"Actually it might be three things," Josh added.
"Okay, Kid," Stratton said. "Spit it out."
"This is stuff that should have been in the first report."
"Fine. What is it?"
CJ winked at Josh and nodded for him to continue.
Josh grinned at his father and then turned his attention to Stratton. "Tommy Clark's 18-year-old little brother, Kevin, relocated here to Tucson after their mother died in January."
"So he's living with or near his brother. That's not much help. What else you got?"
"When Mom died Kevin inherited her vehicle, a 2010 GMC Savana Van, color black."
"Not bad but still coincidental. What's the third?"
"Their mother was murdered, strangled, her body discovered in a dumpster, wrapped in an old quilt. Case is still open, no leads."
Stratton's mouth fell open. "Why wasn't this in the report?"
"No idea. I think they're busy pointing fingers at each other."
"The same fingers that were probably busy scratching their asses when they should have been getting it all in there the first time." He started heading back to the dining room. "This changes our entire focus. I'll get on the line with Chief Rague and then we'll rig up and bring this psychopath in."
Just as Stratton hit the door, Josh said, "You don't want the fourth?"
Stratton stopped and turned, his hand still on the swinging door. "I thought you said there were three?"
"I miss-counted. Sometimes I do that."
Stratton looked at CJ who just grinned back at him.
"Fine! What's the fourth?"
"Mom was a mobile prostitute, her van a rolling bedroom."
Chapter 55
"What the hell do you mean, you're waiting?" CJ couldn't believe his ears. "You've got everything you need to take him down. Motive, means, everything. No judge is going to deny the warrant. What happened to rigging up and bringing this psychopath in? Did you talk to the chief?"
"Actually, CJ, I did. Where do you think I've been for the last three hours?"
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"After we got past the knee-jerk reaction, we realized that we haven't enough to even print off a warrant, let alone get a judge to sign it. What we have is the mother murdered in the same fashion, however we cannot put the boys anywhere near her at the time. Tommy was here in Tucson. Although off duty and unaccounted for during those two days, there are no records that he flew to New York, or even left Arizona, not even any out of state credit card transactions for that time period. There is record that he flew to New York the day after she died, though there is no record of a return flight. It's believed he returned with Kevin in their mother's van. As for Kevin, he was in the hospital after an accident in his apartment building. Not only can't we place either of them at the scene of their mother's death, we can't put them even close to any of the crime scenes here. As far as motive, nada for killing off Mom."
"So what are we waiting for, another woman to turn up in a dumpster?"
"The New York office is doing more digging into the mother's murder, and your son is doing a damn good job of staying on top of that. We've now got eyes on Tommy around the clock."
"Does Tommy know he's being considered for this, that he's being watched,?" Stella asked.
"We don't think so. I'm using only agents for that. In the Tucson Police Department, only Chief Rague and Detective Payne know about it."
"What about Kevin and the van," CJ said. "Is there an APB out on the van?"
"An APB would go out everywhere and even though Tommy is off duty, he may have a scanner and could know about it immediately."
"But since you have eyes on him, th
ey'd be able to see his reaction. If he tries to disappear, you'd know for sure he's the perp and could grab him. If he comes in saying, 'Hey, that's my brother's van, what the hell guys?' we'll have reason to believe he's not the perp."
"Just because someone appears to act guilty, doesn't provide meat for a warrant. What we're more afraid of is if he is the perp, upon hearing the APB broadcast he'll have reason to suspect that there are eyes on him. Once he identifies who the eyes are, which wouldn't be too hard once he knows they're there, he'll more easily slip away. And then we'd lose both of them until bodies start turning up in some other part of the country."
"So, like I said, you're waiting for another woman to turn up in a dumpster with the hopes that this time there'd be connecting evidence?"
"We're waiting for a break, CJ. No, that's wrong. We're digging for a break; we just haven't found it yet. Yes, we'd like to get him before he kills again. We could bring Tommy in, and question him as to his here-a-bouts during all of the murders, but if he doesn't confess or we don't find something that can tie him, we'd have to release him, and then what? You've been a cop. You know how it works."
Josh came in, pushing his phone into his belt holster. He sat down. "We may have motive."
"You've been on the phone with New York, right?" CJ said.
"Yes, and they're scrambling. It seems that this is not the first time little brother has been in the hospital or has been seen at the emergency clinic. This is the third time he's had an accident in his apartment building, or," Josh made a pair of quote signs with his fingers, "fallen down the stairs. He has been seen in emergency a total of eight times in the last six years."
"Mom's a bit aggressive in her discipline?" Stratton said.
"The previous time, March of 2011, he'd fallen down the stairs and fractured a leg. Hospital records show that it was Tommy Clark who checked him out."
"Child welfare was never called in?" CJ said.
"Actually they've been called twice, per the records," Josh said, taking a seat. "Both times Kevin claimed he was clumsy."
Deserving of Death (CJ Washburn, PI Book 1) Page 25