Snapped: An Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Book 1

by Sutter, C. M.

  “Yeah, get on that.” Tam tipped her head toward J.T. “Go ahead and get the old woman’s statement written down. It doesn’t sound logical to hang around the city with the heat that’s on Jordan right now, but you never know.”

  J.T. pushed back his chair, checked the map for directions to get to Lincoln Street, and left.

  Bruce spoke up. “Boss, nobody answers at the All-Store facility. The website shows the place is only manned until five o’clock daily.”

  Tam heaved a deep sigh and rolled her neck. “All right, let’s wait and see what the old lady has to say.”

  Chapter 43

  J.T. knocked on the door of the modest, single-story house at 274 Lincoln Street. The porch light illuminated the stoop, where he stood and waited with his hands jammed deep into his pockets. A cool breeze swirled around his head and found its way down the unzipped jacket. J.T. shivered and pulled his collar up.

  The curtain spread, and an old lady peeked out. J.T. flipped open the leather bifold that held his FBI identification and turned it toward her. She smiled and gave him a nod. A few seconds later, Edith Smart opened the door and welcomed him in.

  “Thanks, ma’am, it’s getting chilly outside. I’m Agent Harper, and I appreciate your call to the tip line.” J.T. shook her hand. “A diligent person like you with watchful eyes sure does help us catch criminals.”

  She waved him to follow. “Let’s sit in the kitchen and talk, agent. I just made some tea. That ought to warm you up.”

  J.T. walked with the woman, who appeared to be on the high side of seventy. They passed through a short hallway and entered the kitchen. The square wooden table with two chairs sat below a window facing a small deck and the backyard.

  “Have a seat, agent. How do you like your tea?”

  “Black is fine, thank you, ma’am.”

  She placed two porcelain cups on matching saucers and set them on the table. The teapot was placed on a trivet between them, and she took a seat.

  “Go ahead and help yourself.”

  J.T. gave her a thoughtful smile and poured tea for both of them. She reminded him of his grandma. “So what can you tell me about the white van, ma’am?”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m a snoop, but I do know the vehicles that belong in this neighborhood. I’ve lived in this house with mostly the same neighbors for twenty-seven years.”

  With his hands wrapped around the warm cup, J.T. took a sip and raised his brows for her to continue.

  “I only noticed the van because I opened my drapes to let some light in and to see if today’s paper was on the stoop. It was, so I went outside and grabbed it. The van was parked right across the street, and I know who lives in those homes. Nobody on that side of the street owns a vehicle like that. It looked… what’s the word?”

  “Raggedy, old, worn-out, beat-up?”

  “Yeah, sort of worn, I’d say, and older. Not that I’m judging, mind you.”

  “I understand, ma’am. And you mentioned a missing hubcap?”

  “Yes, that’s right, on the driver’s side rear wheel.”

  “Did you happen to see anyone in the vehicle? How about the model or a plate number?”

  Edith scrunched her forehead. “Let me think about that. Oh, I did see someone at the back of the van for a split second. It looked like they grabbed a bag of some sort then walked away.”

  J.T. almost choked on his tea. “You saw somebody? Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

  “Well, dear, I didn’t actually see the person’s face. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman or if they were young or old. They wore jeans and a dark sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.”

  J.T.’s excitement was instantly deflated. His shoulders lowered with disappointment. “You couldn’t even see their hair color?”

  “Not with that hood over their head. They walked fast though and faced the ground, as if they had to get somewhere quickly.”

  “Or like they didn’t want to be seen?”

  She rubbed her chin then poured more tea. “Could be.”

  “Okay, how about size? Tall, short, heavy, or thin?”

  “Man sized, I’d say, sort of like you.”

  J.T. gave that some thought. He knew anybody that described Jordan based on her size alone could easily mistake her for a man. “Did you see which way that person went?”

  “I only saw them for a few seconds, and they went that way”—she pointed to her left—“on Lincoln. I brought the paper in the house, looked out the window again, and they were gone. I forgot all about the van until I saw the breaking news on TV. That’s when I called the tip line and got ahold of you.”

  J.T. swallowed the last sip of his tea and stood. He thanked Edith for being a concerned citizen, shook her hand, and left his business card. “Please, give me a call if anything else comes to mind.”

  “I certainly will, Agent Harper. Drive carefully, now.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Smart.” J.T. pulled the collar up on his jacket and closed the door at his back.

  Chapter 44

  I’ve seen enough government cars to know that’s definitely an FBI or police cruiser.

  Jordan was coming up on the four-way stop at Lincoln Street when a black cruiser crossed through the intersection and continued on.

  I need to get this van safely back in the garage.

  Jordan made a rolling stop, flicked her cigarette out the window, and turned right. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw taillights disappear several blocks behind her. She turned left on Adams and pulled into the driveway.

  I don’t know what that was about, but if I need to leave again, I’ll take Jeanie’s car.

  She pressed the button on Jeanie’s remote and pulled into the garage then closed it behind her. She smiled as she passed the cinder blocks and entered the house.

  Jordan turned toward Jeanie, still bound in the chair, as she entered the living room. The woman’s chin rested against her chest.

  “Hey, no dying on me.” She ripped the tape off Jeanie’s mouth and slapped her cheek. “Wake up.” She slapped her harder. “Damn you, wake up, I said.”

  Boozer came around the corner and rubbed against his owner’s motionless leg. Jordan pushed him with her foot, and the cat hissed. “Get the hell out of here before I throw you outside.”

  The cat scampered down the hallway and disappeared into the first bedroom on the right. Jordan followed it and closed the door.

  She heard Jeanie moan just as she was about to throw another glass of water on her. Jordan drank it instead.

  “Good, you’re still alive, but now I’ll have to come up with something else that will keep you quiet. I wouldn’t want the neighbors to know you have company.”

  Jeanie’s head bobbed as she sucked in oxygen and looked around. “What happened to the agent?”

  Jordan chuckled. “Best friends, are you? When did she have time to tell you her life story?”

  Jeanie went silent.

  “No matter, she’s history now.”

  Jeanie’s phone rang on the kitchen table. Her eyes darted in that direction as she pulled at her restraints.

  “I wonder who that could be. Maybe I should check it out.” Jordan disappeared around the corner and returned a minute later. She wore a grin that couldn’t be hidden. “I listened to your voicemail, you know, in case it was something important. Looks like you’re having company in the morning.”

  Fear crossed Jeanie’s face, and tears wet her cheeks. “Jordan, I can explain.”

  “Shut up. You can’t explain anything, and it’s too late, anyway.” Jordan loosened the paracord restraints. “Get up and put your hands behind your back.”

  Jeanie did as she was told, and Jordan zip-tied her wrists together.

  “Sit down again so I can do your ankles.”

  Jeanie complied.

  “There, you’re free to move around as you please. You can shuffle forward. Your ankles are bound loosely. One scream and you die. No more questions, either, un
derstand?”

  “I understand.”

  Jordan turned Jeanie’s phone to the vibrate mode and slid it into her back pocket. “Sit at the table. I’ll make you something to eat.”

  Chapter 45

  “Well?”

  J.T. passed through the door of the command center with a deflated expression etched across his face. “I don’t know, boss. It could go either way. The old lady wasn’t senile or anything, so I have to take her at her word.”

  Agent Tam raised a questioning brow. “What does that mean?”

  “She said she saw somebody at the back of the van but couldn’t tell me if it was a man or woman. Apparently, whoever it was wore a dark hoodie and jeans. The hood was pulled up, and the person walked away at a quickened pace and carried a black bag. She did say the person was large. ‘Man sized’ were her actual words.”

  “Not much help there unless the van on the tape actually does have a missing back hubcap. Bruce, pull up the website for All-Store. See if there’s a contact name and number for any of the locations. I don’t care who answers. We need somebody to go to that facility and pull up the tape going back to last night.”

  Bruce planted himself at a computer and typed All-Store storage facility into the search bar. He found a nationwide listing, so he narrowed the search to Texas only.

  “There are fourteen facilities in Texas, boss, with phone numbers but no names.”

  “Start calling all of them and see if anybody answers. You need to get a voice on the phone, a live one. No recordings.”

  J.T. stood in front of the oversized map of Houston, his arms folded across his chest, and stared at the streets.

  “Something come to mind?” Agent Tam asked.

  “The old lady said the person walked straight ahead of the van after they closed the back doors. I was just checking to see how far west Lincoln Street went and what streets intersect with it.”

  Tam studied the map with J.T. “Point out where Mrs. Smart lives.”

  J.T. tapped the map’s surface. “Right there.” He slid his finger west and followed Lincoln Street. “Lincoln only goes three blocks west before it turns into a frontage road along the freeway. There are two streets that intersect Lincoln, west of Mrs. Smart’s house—Adams and Franklin—and they both go north and south. Why would anyone park a vehicle away from the house they lived at, or were visiting, instead of pulling into the driveway?”

  “Good question unless they wanted to sneak up on the property owner.”

  “Exactly my point. All we need now is confirmation of that hubcap and we can start banging on doors. I doubt if anyone would walk beyond a five-block radius of their destination.”

  Tam turned toward Bruce. “How’s it going on the phone calls?”

  “I’m on number eleven, boss. So far nobody has answered at any of them.”

  Boardman checked the time and said it was 8:42. “Anybody up for coffee?”

  The group nodded and got back to work. More calls came in, and more leads were checked out. Several detectives left to conduct interviews.

  “Boss, I have someone on the line.” Bruce held the receiver out, and Agent Tam crossed the room and pressed the button for speakerphone.

  “Hello, this is Supervisory Special Agent Michelle Tam with the FBI. I have you on speakerphone. May I have your name and location, please?”

  “This is Billy Brant, ma’am, and I’m at the Amarillo location.”

  “Thank you, Billy. I need to get somebody to the Houston facility on Collier Street. It’s an emergency situation. Are you capable of doing that? We have to review a surveillance tape as soon as possible.”

  “One second, ma’am.” Billy put Agent Tam on a brief hold. “Okay, it looks like that location has several people who take turns at the guard shack. Let me make a few calls. May I have a contact number?”

  Tam rattled off the number and hung up. She heaved a hopeful sigh. “With any luck, we’ll find out about that van tonight.”

  After a fifteen-minute wait during which Tam drank coffee and paced, the same phone rang again. Agent Tam picked it up. “Agent Michelle Tam speaking. How may I help you?”

  “Ma’am, it’s Billy Brant again.”

  “Yes, Billy. Please give me some good news.”

  “It is good news. Josh Lennart has agreed to help you with whatever you need at that location. He should be there in fifteen minutes, ma’am.”

  “I appreciate your help, Billy, and I’m going to put a good word in to the All-Store headquarters that you went above and beyond your duties to help out law enforcement. Thank you.” Tam clicked off the call. “J.T. and I are heading out. Chief, do you want to accompany us?”

  “Go ahead. I’ll continue with the leads from here.”

  Tam and J.T. left the precinct and drove the twenty minutes to the All-Store location. Josh Lennart should have already arrived. The guard shack’s light was illuminated—a good sign. With the cruiser parked along the driveway at the entrance, Tam knocked on the guard shack door, flashed her badge, and they were shown in. With the handshake and pleasantries out of the way, Tam told Josh exactly what they needed.

  “Sure, no problem. I’ve never had the opportunity to help the FBI out before. It’s kind of exciting.”

  J.T. gave the young man a pat on the shoulder. “Well, we certainly do appreciate you going out of your way, Josh.”

  “Okay, here we go. You need the tape that started yesterday, correct?”

  “That’s correct, but we need after nine p.m. going forward. We’re looking for a white van with limousine tinted side windows,” J.T. said.

  Tam shook her head and groaned. “The van didn’t show up on the tape until this morning. It came in and out several times, but I didn’t write down the time. Start the tape at eight a.m. You can speed through it until we see movement then slow it down.”

  Josh slid the speed bar to the right and increased the footage to proceed in double time. They watched and waited.

  “There! Okay, back it up a touch and slow it to normal speed. This is the first time we saw the van, but it did come in and out a few more times. We need to get an image of the back driver’s side wheel, Josh. Pan in, pan out, but do whatever you can to get eyeballs on the entire driver’s side.”

  “Will do, ma’am, but getting a side view of the entire vehicle from top to bottom won’t be easy. Normally, the vehicles are entering and exiting, which only gives us a front and back image.”

  “How about when the van rounds the corner out of Row C?” J.T. asked.

  “That could work if I zoom in as much as possible.” Josh made a few adjustments, zoomed in, and sped up the footage to the time the van exited Row C.

  “Bingo! Freeze that shot, Josh, and pull the image in the best you can.” Tam looked at J.T. and grinned. “Son of a gun. No rear hubcap. I think it’s time to start a knock and talk in Mrs. Smart’s neighborhood.”

  They thanked Josh for his help, handed him their business cards, and took his information. They were back in the cruiser minutes later.

  “Call the precinct and tell Boardman we need to establish a search perimeter around Mrs. Smart’s address. Let him know we’re on our way back.”

  Chapter 46

  With a team of FBI agents, detectives, and officers in the command center, a perimeter was set up around Mrs. Smart’s residence, with her home being ground zero. They would first make a drive-by sweep of the entire neighborhood and look for the white van parked along the street or in somebody’s driveway. They agreed on an area within a five-block radius. If nothing popped, they would start a foot search and conduct a knock and talk at every house, going out two blocks in each direction.

  “How many houses does that involve on foot?” Dave Miller asked.

  “Unfortunately, a lot, Agent Miller,” Chief Boardman said. “These homes were built after the Second World War when the housing boom took place. GIs got low-interest loans, and a lot of small two-bedroom homes were built in the area. I’m guessing we’r
e looking at nearly seventy-five houses. The time of night doesn’t help. The likelihood of anyone in this neighborhood, mostly elderly people or first-time home buyers with young kids, answering their doors after ten o’clock is slim to none. We’ll probably be repeating our efforts tomorrow during daylight hours. It’s closing in on ten p.m. already.”

  “Okay, let’s do a thorough drive-by sweep of the area tonight and save the knock and talk for tomorrow starting at daybreak. I want the street name and address noted of every house that has a vehicle parked in the driveway.”

  “Ma’am?” an officer asked.

  “You never know”—Agent Tam checked the name on his breast pocket—“Officer Jarvis. That van could be parked in someone’s garage.”

  He nodded.

  Agent Tam continued, “Since we have all night, we’re doing a wider grid. I want a ten-block sweep in every direction and the vehicle-in-the-driveway information going out five blocks. Any questions?”

  Nobody spoke up.

  “Okay, let’s assign areas and hit the streets. We’ll reconvene here at four a.m. and see what we have.”

  The area was separated into seven grids, and teams of two were sent out in each cruiser. The neighborhoods were swept, slowly, methodically, and thoroughly.

  At four a.m., with daybreak still hours away, each team reported back to the command center to reveal its findings. Two pots of much-needed coffee brewed while the results were tallied. Nobody had seen a white van parked along the search route, but thirty-seven homes in that five-block grid had cars parked in the driveway.

  “Okay, that tells us which houses we’ll go to first when daylight breaks. The teams will remain the same for the knock and talks. Take your breaks now, grab a bite to eat, get some coffee in your systems, and we’ll head out at dawn.” Tam dropped down in her seat and cradled a coffee cup in her hands. She gave J.T. a long, concerned look. “What do you know about Jade’s past history as a sergeant at the sheriff’s department?”

  “Not a lot except that she was a highly regarded and well-respected officer. Why?”