“I’ll begin on sector five when I’ve finished with the doctor.”
“I thought you might say that,” Wilde said, before sauntering out of the room.
“Bitch! Fucking bitch!” Steven said, as he watched her walk off. His hands were balled into fists.
Jessica’s husband spoke to him.
“Maybe you should ask for a transfer.”
Steven looked over at Jessica and her husband as if he just realized that they were still there.
The plastic smile returned.
“Well, Doctor, is there anything else you’d like to see?”
“No... Steven, no thank you, and I meant what I said, you were very helpful.”
“Thank you for saying so, now let me escort you two out.”
As they stood by the elevator, waiting to go up, Jessica turned and stared back at the surveillance center.
“That hooded figure in the film, do you think it’s possible that it could have been a woman?”
He thought it over for a moment, and then answered.
“Yes, but she’d have to be tall.”
Jessica continued to stare at the doors of the surveillance center.
Her husband studied her and asked a question.
“What is it?”
“I think I have a new theory of the killer.”
“Did you see something in the footage that I missed?”
“No, I think it’s more what we’re not seeing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain later, but first, I want to find Agent Stiles and have him run this copy of the footage Steven gave us through the FBI lab.”
“I thought the police lab already did that?”
“Yes, but I don’t think that they were looking for what I hope to find.”
The elevator arrived and the two of them stepped on to discover that they were alone.
“You’re smiling,” he said.
“Am I?”
“Yes you are; you’ve solved this, haven’t you?”
“Maybe, just maybe,”
CHAPTER 17
THE PAST
Boston, Massachusetts
He sat with Dr. White in front of a glass-topped desk as his lawyer, Jeff Roman, brought them up to speed on his case. Jessica had wanted to come along to be with him, but he insisted that she not miss any school related activities, and in truth, she did have a meeting planned with her advisor, and so it was just him and the doctor.
The high-rise office they sat in had an envious view of Boston, and scattered about the room were numerous pieces of boxing paraphernalia. Apparently, Jeff Roman was a boxing fan much like himself, and atop the desk was a photo of a young Jeff Roman wearing boxing trunks and sporting a deep cut above his left eye and an obviously broken nose.
He hoped that Roman was a better lawyer than he was a boxer.
“I’ve heard back from the investigator I hired. He found out some interesting things about one of the tenants in that building. In fact, if they hadn’t found the murder weapon in your locker, I think he would be their lead suspect.”
“Who are you speaking of, Jeff?” Dr. White asked.
“A kid named Howe Winslow. He’s a junior at Harvard, but when he was in high school, he and his older brother were accused of date raping a classmate of his, one Carolyn Simon, the first victim.”
Dr. White blinked rapidly.
“Did, did you just say that Howe Winslow was a rapist?”
“Accused rapist, but the accusation was only dropped after Miss Simon’s father received a substantial promotion at his place of employment, The Winslow Investment Group. Even a blind man could see that the promotion was a pay-off so that the girl would drop the charges.”
Dr. White appeared pale.
“Good God, I encouraged that boy to ask my daughter out.”
Jeff Roman pointed his way.
“But I thought that he was Jessica’s boyfriend?”
“He is. I was... I mean... I was being a fool. I thought that Winslow would make a better match for Jessica due to his background. Now I discover that he’s likely a rapist.”
“You’re such a snob, Jimmy. I’ve been telling you since college that these blue bloods are no different than anybody else, maybe now you’ll believe me.”
“I do, and you’re right. I’ve been a snob.” The doctor stared at him. “Can you forgive me? I don’t think I’ve been treating you fairly.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. You only wanted what was best for Jessica.”
“Thank you. Now tell us, Jeff, do the police know about Howe Winslow?”
“I made sure that they know, but it may not do us any good. Winslow has an alibi, at least for the first murder. His roommate and his roommate’s parents were in his apartment and they swear that Winslow never left his room.”
“That’s too bad; he seemed like a likely suspect.”
“Well, there’s good news too. I found out that the lead homicide cop on the case isn’t happy about the way he found that screwdriver. He even admitted that it was a little too convenient, plus, there’s the fact that the murders appear to have been committed by two different people. The first one appears to be the act of someone enraged who used a long knife to stab the victim repeatedly, while the second victim was only stabbed twice in the neck from behind with that screwdriver.”
He was about to ask a question when a commotion erupted from the reception area. He turned in his seat to look out the office doorway, and watched as a large man dressed in a pair of black leather pants and a matching vest came storming toward them. The man was as tall as he was, but a good forty pounds heavier due to the slabs of muscle coating his upper body.
Behind the man was the law firm’s male receptionist, who now sported a bloody lip.
Jeff Roman got up and met the leather-clad man at the door.
“Dynamo, what’s the problem? Why are you here?”
“You owe me for that last bout, Roman. I learned that you took in over a hundred grand at the box office. I want more money.”
“We did take in over a hundred thousand, much more, but there are expenses, renting the arena, security, advertising, hell, you made more than I did.”
“What’s going on?” Dr. White said.
“This is Dynamo; he’s one of the best Premium Fighters around. I just have to clear up a little dispute.”
“Dispute my ass,” Dynamo said, as he grabbed Jeff Roman by the throat. “You give me another ten grand or I’ll break your neck.”
He jumped up from his seat.
“Let him go.”
Dynamo looked him over.
“Fuck you!”
“Let him go now or I’ll hurt you.”
Dynamo chuckled. “Okay, kid, you asked for it.”
Dynamo flung Roman onto the floor and headed towards him. As Dynamo reached for him, he flicked his right hand and struck Dynamo in the throat. The man stopped his charge as he gasped for breath, and he hit him again; this time it was a left uppercut that knocked Dynamo out and left him laying on the floor.
When he turned to look at them, he found both Roman and Dr. White staring at him with open mouths.
“Good God, kid, where did you learn to fight like that?” Roman said.
He shrugged.
“I’ve always been good at it.”
“Well hell, you could make a fortune with your skills.”
“What are you talking about, Jeff?” Dr. White said.
“Premium Fighting, I told you about it, Jimmy. It’s a new sport that I’m promoting; it’s like boxing, only there are fewer rules.”
“It sounds barbaric,” Dr. White said.
The receptionist with the bloody lip appeared with two of the building’s security guards. They cuffed Dynamo and hauled him off to their office to await the police.
Roman handed him a business card.
“That’s my personal number, once I clear you of this murder charge, give me a call and I’ll get you
a bout. If you win a few, you’ll make more than you would in a year as a janitor.”
He looked down at the card and then up at Roman.
“I won’t have to wear leather and call myself by a funny name, will I?”
Roman laughed.
“No, and oh, Dynamo’s real name is Elvin Clevis.”
***
Jessica entered her apartment and found Juliet dancing to an exercise video.
When she spotted her roommate, Juliet killed the sound on the TV and ran over to give her a hug.
“How’s everything?”
“My dad got him out on bail and he’s staying in a hotel. Listen, Juliet, I know that we haven’t known each other very long, but I want to thank you for standing by us, and I promise you that my boyfriend didn’t kill those girls.”
“I know that, and hey, what are friends for?”
“I’ve just come back here to pack a few things. I’ll be staying at the hotel until this mess is over.”
“I wish I could come with you. I barely slept last night; I kept thinking that I was hearing noises in the walls.”
“If you’re really worried then why not come and stay with me? My room has two beds, and besides, I’m actually staying in my boyfriend’s room anyway.”
“Does your dad know that?”
“Probably, but he got me a room anyway. You might as well use it if you’re really scared.”
“I am scared, and a few of the girls have moved out already, some of the guys too.”
“Do your parents know about the murders?”
“No, it would just worry them.”
“Go pack a bag and then we’ll go, and while you’re doing that I’m going down to talk to Manuel. I’d like to know how many people would have known what locker to plant that knife in.”
Juliet made a face.
“Why the look?”
“Manuel, every time I see him he stares at me. I think he’s got a thing for college girls.”
Jessica grinned. “Maybe he’s just got a thing for you.”
“Lucky me,”
***
Jessica found Manuel in the maintenance room; even from the doorway, she could smell the liquor on his breath.
“What do you want, is something broke?”
“Um, no, I came down to ask you a question about the lockers.”
“What about them?” Manuel asked, before taking a sip from a coffee cup, a cup that obviously held more than coffee.
Jessica looked at the long row of metal lockers and a new question formed in her mind.
“The lockers, why are there so many of them? I thought that there were only two of you working here.”
“Those lockers were here before you were born. Before they turned it into a hotel for the brats of the rich, this building was a factory. My father and his father worked here their whole lives, then, a year after I started here, the owners moved the business down to South Carolina. Just like that, over a hundred people lost their jobs.”
“That’s a shame, but at least you managed to stay on.”
“When the factory folded I went into construction. A year later, the company I worked for got the contract to renovate this building. I couldn’t believe it. It was like coming home after a long absence only to find out that everyone expected you to burn your house down. Once the apartments were finished, I filled out an application and I’ve been working here ever since. Seems like one way or another I was meant to work here.”
“With so many lockers, how would the murderer know which one to plant the screwdriver in?”
“What? You still think your boyfriend is innocent?”
“Yes, he’s being framed.”
“The cops seem to have the same idea all of a sudden. They were just here asking me all kinds of questions. I don’t need you coming down here and doing the same.”
Jessica smiled, as she moved closer.
“The police are still investigating? That’s great news; that means that they’re not convinced of his guilt, and sooner or later they’ll learn the truth.”
“What’s her name?”
“What?”
“Your roommate, the one with the long legs, what’s her name?”
“Her name is Juliet, why?”
“She reminds me of a girl that used to work in the factory, in the office; she was a stuck-up bitch too.”
“Juliet is not a bitch. She just doesn’t like men who are old enough to be her father glaring at her.”
Manuel smirked.
“You’re all the same. Year after year I watch you move in here, and every last one of you are nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats who will never do a real day’s work your whole lives. This Juliet, she doesn’t give a damn how old I am. If I was rich she’d spread her legs wide for me, you’re damn right she would.”
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m also off the clock, so I can do what I want.”
“I’ll come back when you’re sober.”
Manuel raised his coffee cup in a toast.
“Give Juliet my love.”
Jessica walked out to the elevator. After a minute passed and the car still hadn’t arrived, she headed for the staircase at the end of the hall. When she was halfway there, the elevator PINGED! its arrival, and she rushed back to it.
Too late,
The elevator doors closed shut just as she reached them.
As she mashed the call button in annoyance, she heard a harsh grating sound come from the maintenance room. As she listened, the sound repeated itself.
“Manuel? Manuel, what was that noise?”
She walked back down the hall and peered inside the room.
“Manuel?”
Jessica searched behind the metal shelves that held spare parts and supplies, then searched inside the bathroom, which contained three urinals, a set of toilets and an empty shower stall. Before leaving, she even looked inside each locker. Manuel was gone, gone from a room that had only one exit, a room that she could see clearly from the hallway.
PING!
Jessica jumped at the sound of the elevator’s chime. She then ran down the hall and slid into it just as the doors were closing.
She was not alone.
There was a young man already in the car. He was tall, blond, and good-looking. He was dressed in tennis clothes and held a racket in his right hand. As he smiled at her, his eyes leered at her breasts.
“Hi, my name is Howe Winslow, what’s your name?”
Jessica, who was already shaken by Manuel’s unexplained disappearance, gazed up at Howe Winslow, and wondered just what it was about him that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up.
CHAPTER 18
THE PRESENT
Detroit, Michigan
Kenny Posnanski seemed to be enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame.
Kenny a.k.a. Rudolf Heinrich, confessed to all five murders while claiming that it was one of his followers who sent the note telling John Schulz where to find Deidra Webber’s wallet.
McGraw’s boss, Captain Haggerty, wanted to believe Kenny, but he was leery of being made a fool of in the papers. If Kenny were lying and the murderer killed again, John Schulz and other reporters would crucify the department in the press.
***
Jessica and her husband sat at the conference table along with McGraw and Stiles and talked about the case.
“Our forensic team found no DNA trace of any of the women at that building or in the van Posnanski was using,” Stiles said.
“That’s highly unlikely if that’s where they were killed.” McGraw said. “I’d bet a year’s pay that Kenny had nothing to do with this.”
“What about the woman his men abducted, how is she doing?” Jessica asked McGraw.
“She’s fine, her name is LaWanda Taylor. It turns out that she’s the sometime girlfriend of a drug dealer named Manny Smith. We now think that Kenny and his boys abducted her to try and blackmail Smith into giving up part of his turf.”
The doctor’s husband stared up at the board where the list of victims was displayed.
“Detective McGraw...”
“Yes?”
“How old is Manny Smith?”
“He’s just a kid, eighteen, nineteen, but don’t let that fool you, he’s been a gangbanger for years. Why do you ask?”
“I realize that Smith is a very common name, still, I was wondering if he was related to the woman we believe might have been an intended victim, Mira Smith?”
“Hold on and let me check,” McGraw said, as she worked on her laptop. A moment later, she grinned. “Well I’ll be damned; Manny Smith’s mother is our Mira Smith.”
“It would make sense. Our witness says that Mira Smith’s attacker had a tattoo like the ones that Posnanski and his men wear. My guess is that Posnanski tried to kidnapped Manny Smith’s mother first, and when that didn’t work, they went after the girlfriend. If that’s correct, then Posnanski had absolutely nothing at all to do with the murders. It was just a coincidence that Mira Smith matched the same general profile of the other victims.”
Stiles stared over at Jessica.
“You know doctor, when we first met in Colorado I was annoyed that you brought your husband along with you, but now I see that you two are really a team, aren’t you?”
Jessica grinned.
“He’s my secret weapon and at least half of the reason that I’ve been so successful over the years.”
He took Jessica’s hand.
“My wife gives me too much credit, and she was catching criminals long before she added the word doctor to her name.”
CHAPTER 19
THE PAST
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Howe Winslow walked Jessica to her apartment door, but then leaned his back against it, blocking her entrance.
Winslow smiled at her.
“You’re even more beautiful than your father said you were. Did he tell you that we met the other day?”
“Yes, and he seemed very impressed with you.”
“Why don’t we go out tonight? We’ll have dinner, see a movie, and then...”
“Thank you for asking, but I have a boyfriend.”
“Are you talking about the janitor that killed that girl?”
“He didn’t kill anyone; he’s being framed.”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 5-8 (Taken! Box Set Book 2) Page 7