Unlawful Imprisonment

by Tracey Higgins

“Trust me, I’m sure of it.”

  Christopher looked at Mueller. “This is the most ridiculousthing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Oh yeah, what about your virgin theory?”

  “We’re going to be on a wild goose chase if you plan to investigate missing persons. There are hundreds.”

  “You have a better idea?” Frank gave Chris a look to prove he was serious. Mueller agreed.

  “He’s right Chris. You guys have a lot of work to do.” Mueller backed off into his office, knowing that Frank was not to be fought with on this subject. Chris was controlling his temper.

  “Alright, print the list. I’ll be in my office when you’re done.”

  Maggie held in her laugh until Chris was out of sight. “Well, well. You actually shut him up. I’m impressed.”

  “I hope he’s even more impressed when I arrest this creep.”

  Maggie sat next to him while he was waiting for the print out. “You know, Chris is going to go right to Slomin with this and he’s not going to be happy. After all, you insulted his favorite detective.”

  “Fuck him.”

  “No thanks.” They both laughed.

  When the print out was finished, Frank took it to Christopher’s office. It was a good forty pages long. “Okay Chris I know you don’t agree with me, but here is your half of the list.” Frank handed him twenty pages.

  “This is half?”

  “Yup. We need to narrow it down to all females with Kylie and Crystal’s profile. I’m going home to start.”

  “See you tomorrow.” Chris wouldn’t look at Frank when he left. He insisted this was a complete waste of time.

  When John got to David’s house, his mother answered the door. Andrea was right about her wearing too much makeup.

  “Hello, I’m John Healy…”

  “I know, my son told me.” She said sarcastically.

  “He is here I assume?”

  “Of course.” She directed him in. John disliked her already.

  “Hello David.” David was sitting on a chair watching television.

  “Yes?” David sounded like he was answering a business call. John sat on the couch across from him.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’d be doing better if I could leave my fucking house.”

  “David!” Louise yelled from the other side of the room, upset with her son’s language.

  “At least you’re here instead of prison.”

  David shook his head and laughed. “How would you know?”

  John was trying to stay calm. “I would assume you would rather be here. If you would like to go back to prison, it can be arranged.” John waited impatiently for a response. “WELL?”

  “I just want to know when I’ll have another job.”

  “I don’t know.” John got up. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find one. See you later.”

  “Great.” David mumbled under his breath.

  John glanced over at the building across the street where Tony was watching the house. He couldn’t see him, so John was relieved that none of the Reese’s would notice him either.

  Tony made sure to park his car around the corner, so nobody from the house would become suspicious. The floor he was watching from faced David’s bedroom. He set up the telescope and made sure the blinds were closed. The telescope lens was in-between the blinds so no one could see it. All there was to do was wait. Tony checked his cellular telephone in case he needed to call John or Andrea. He hoped he would be able to catch David leaving the house, but he wasn’t very optimistic.

  Brandon was getting dirty looks from almost all the parole officers, including the men. One of the officers, Jesse Daniels finally had to confront him.

  “Brandon?” Jesse had a smirk on his face that he couldn’t help.

  “What?”

  He walked into Brandon’s office and closed the door. “What was the story with the woman who was looking for you? She looked like she was out for blood.”

  “She was.” Brandon smiled. Jesse scratched his beard and pulled up his pants. Jesse was always doing that because his bulging stomach kept pushing them down. He had to be the most out of shape parole officer there was.

  “So what happened? She’s not pregnant, is she?”

  “God no! I don’t think her husband would be too happy with that.”

  “I don’t think her husband would be too happy with you sleeping with his wife.”

  “Hey, that’s her decision to cheat, not mine. Anyway, she’s pissed at me because I’ve been busy and whenever she gets a night away, I can’t see her.”

  “For a woman who looks like that I would think that you of all people would make time.”

  “My nights have been…pretty booked lately.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to see Brittany in a little while, so I’m going to break it off with her.”

  “Good luck.”

  “I just hope she doesn’t cry,” he laughed, “I hate it when they cry.”

  “Oh please.”

  Brandon was finishing some paper work, and after he talked with Brittany, he would go see one of his favorite female parolees. He couldn’t wait until he could see Diane again. She was his favorite.

  Frank had quite a list of people to speak with. He narrowed the list down, confining it to only white females in their twenties and early thirties who were reported missing from Millers County. Recently, there were twenty in a one-week period. It was incredible. The sad part was, that aside from the women who are victims of the sociopath, the others were probably abducted by someone they knew, like a boyfriend or a husband, and probably killed.

  The first woman was Sandra Michaels. She lived a few miles away from Frank. She was reported missing two weeks ago by her live in boyfriend. Sandra fit the profile perfectly. She is white, twenty-four years old with long blond hair. Frank looked at her picture. It was hours before he got through all the files. Frank took all the pictures out and looked at them one by one. He was staring at them when the phone rang.

  “Yeah,” he answered, completely uninterested.

  “Hi, its Maggie.”

  “Hi. How are you?” Now he was interested.

  “Tired. I was up late last night reviewing these missing persons files.”

  “Are you taking…”

  “Yes.” He cut her off. “I’m taking my medicine.”

  “Good. Are you coming to the office first?”

  “No. I don’t want to run into Chris yet. I’ll talk to some of these families first so I’m going to be awhile.”

  “Alright.”

  “Oh, by the way, don’t say anything to Chris. I’ll talk to him myself.”

  “You got it.”

  Frank continued looking through his pile. He couldn’t believe the list of missing women. He could only imagine how long it is including men and children. The first stop he would make was Sandra’s. While he was getting ready, Frank was thinking about how her boyfriend was going to re-act to a homicide detective investigating a missing person. The last thing he wanted to do was to get anyone’s hopes up.

  Frank went to Sandra Michael’s' home and her boyfriend answered the door. Frank took out his badge. “Is this the home of Sandra Michaels?”

  “Yes…is she alright? Did you find her?” He was stuttering.

  “No, I’m sorry we didn’t. I need to ask you a few questions. May I come in Mr..”

  “Greene, Steven Greene. Yes of course.”

  Frank followed Steven into the house. He looked run down like he hadn’t slept in a week. “Mr. Greene, I’m investigating the disappearance of quite a few women from Millers County. I know you’re upset but I need to clarify some things.”

  “Sure. Can I get you anything?”

  “No thank you.”

  They satat the kitchen table. “What happened on the day she disappeared?”

  Steven sighed. His voice was shaking when he spoke. “We were supposed to go to dinner. She
called me from work and said she was running late and that she would meet me at the restaurant. She never did. I had to wait twentyfour hours before I could file a missing person’s report. I called her office and they said she had left hours before I even got to the restaurant. I called her friends and family but nobody heard from her that day.”

  “Any enemies that you know of?”

  “No.”

  “What about an ex-boyfriend?”

  “No. We’ve been together since high school.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He smiled.

  “When you called her office did anybody say anything about her meeting with somebody, like a client?”

  “No. They just told me that she had told them she was meeting me for dinner, but she wanted to do some shopping first.”

  “Well, I won’t keep you Mr. Greene. Thank you for your time.”

  “Are you close to finding her?”

  “We’re trying sir.” He took out his card. “If you think of anything at all that you remember, please call me.”

  “I will, absolutely.”

  Frank left knowing Steven was not the guy. He was way too upset over his girlfriend’s disappearance. He could just be a very good actor, but he was also young and black. Serial killers were mostly older, white males. As far as Sandra was concerned, he didn’t know if the sociopath had her. The more he investigated this case, the more frustrated he became.

  Immediately following that visit, Frank was on his way to visit the home of another missing woman, Dina Weston. He wondered how Chris was making out with his list. He wanted to see as many people as possible before he and Chris exchanged information. He drove for twentyfive minutes to Dina’s home. It was an apartment building and Dina lived on the fourth floor. He parked three blocks away in the only available spot. He walked the three blocks with the pain of his ulcer starting to act up. Frank flashed his badge to the doorman and was immediately let in. He didn’t have to say a word. That was the best part of his job. He went to the elevator sand got off the fourth floor. As he walked down the hallway, his stomach was becoming more upset. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He kept knocking for five minutes and he heard the door behind him open.

  “Can I help you?” Frank turned around and there was a man standing there. He was huge and dressed in spandex shorts and a cut off top. Frank assumed he was in the middle of working out.

  “Yes,” he flashed his badge; “I’m working on the investigation of Dina Weston who was reported missing…”

  “Yes, yes I know. It’s a shame, she was a nice girl.”

  Frank was wondering why he was speaking of Dina in the past tense. He held out his hand. “Detective Frank Riser.”

  They shook hands. “Alan Landser.” Alan’s grip was stronger than Frank’s.

  “Mr. Landser, can you tell me anything about Ms. Weston’s disappearance?”

  “Nope.” He was looking at the floor. “She left for work one day, and just…never came back.”

  “Who does she live with?”

  “No one. This was her own apartment.”

  “Any boyfriends you saw or anybody come to see her recently that you didn’t recognize?”

  “No, I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”

  “Thank you. Here’s my card in case you think of anything.”

  “Will do. I can tell you that our landlord reported her missing. But he’s away on vacation and didn’t tell anybody where he was going.”

  Frank turned around. “His name?”

  “George tanner.”

  “Thanks for your time.”

  Frank walked away and made sure to get both of those names down. Dina’s work address was an office building just a few blocks away. He actually got a spot close to the office. Dina worked in a small law firm as a secretary. He walked up to the receptionist.

  “Excuse me, I would like to speak with the boss of Dina Weston.” The receptionist looked up at Frank holding his badge and ignored all the flashing lights from the switchboard.

  “Oh my God! You’re homicide!”

  “Yes ma’am, but we haven’t found Dina yet.”

  “Oh.” The elderly lady clutched her chest and sighed with relief that Frank was not bringing news of Dina’s death. “Her boss is Mrs. Sylvia Wilder. I’ll call her now. Please have a seat.”

  “Thank you.” Frank sat down across from the receptionist. He looked around him and saw three people waiting. One woman was in a neck brace, one with a cast on her leg and a man with a bandage wrapped around his head. Personal injury, he thought to himself.

  A woman walked into the waiting area dressed in a suit. Her hair was blond and short, shaved to the back of her neck. “Detective Riser, please follow me.”

  Frank followed her into her office. It was huge and had a sofa. He wasn’t surprised. The District Attorney had a leather sofa in his office too. He was at work more than he was at home. Sylvia Wilder sat at her desk and pointed at a chair for Frank to sit down.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I was hoping for any information you could give me regarding Dina Weston’s disappearance.”

  “No, but I wish I could.”

  “How long has she worked for you?”

  “Three years.”

  “Has anybody ever come to see her, or call for her, like a boyfriend?”

  “No. She never spoke of her personal life. Her mother is her only family and is on a nursing home. Although, she has Alzheimer’s disease so she wouldn’t be much help to you.”

  “I see.”

  “She does have a cell. Believe me, I’ve been trying the number every hour.”

  “Could you give that number?”

  “Sure.” She wrote it down for him. “Do you mind if I ask why a homicide detective is running a missing persons investigation?”

  Frank was silent for a moment. “It’s a personal interest. Thank you for your time.”

  Frank left her office dreading having to face Chris. He could already hear the 'I told you so' speech, he was going to start he investigating Alan Landser.

  Chapter 54

  Tony was on the third hour of watching David’s house, and aside from John making his visit nothing was happening. He has to screw up sooner or later. He dialed Andrea’s office number and the phone rang only once before she answered.

  “Hi babe, it’s me.”

  “Hey, how is it going?”

  “Boring. Did you talk to John about his visit?”

  “Yeah. He said there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary going on. David was his usual obnoxious self.”

  “I figured that. Listen, I’m going to stay here for another halfhour, then I’ll pick you up. I’m sorry, I know it’s getting late.”

  “See you later.”

  Andrea still didn’t think David was sending her anything. However, if she learned anything in her profession she knew that no parolee could ever be trusted.

  John had left the office soon after he told Andrea about his visit with David. By the time he got back to the office, it was late and Andrea was gone. He stormed into his office. John’s anger was flaring. He had always felt so guilty over the death of Tina Sterner that he vowed to protect every one of his officers. Now, he was starting to realize that it was impossible. He had no idea what to do next. John sat at his desk and held his head, which was throbbing. Michael walked by and noticed him.

  “John, are you alright?”

  “No,” he sighed, “I’m far from alright.”

  Michael walked in. “Andrea?”

  “Yes.” He replied while searching his desk for an aspirin.

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing, that’s the problem. I thought I could catch that weasel sneaking out of his house or coax information out of him, but it was hopeless. I try to make him angry on purpose hoping he’ll screw up and say something. I can’t protect Andrea and I feel totally useless.”

  “Come on John. You can’t blame yoursel
f because somebody is trying to scare her.”

  “John found an aspirin and swallowed it without water. “He’s doing more than trying to scare her.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “I know it! I saw those notes!”

  Michael took in a deepbreath. “What exactly did theysay?”

  “It was a threat.”

  “Look, John we’ve all been threatened in this job. I’m sure you were, right? I’ve been.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take this seriously.”

  “I agree, believe me. I of all people would like some time alone with this asshole, but Andrea is not being left alone and nobody can get to her. Why don’t you let me make the next visit at David’s?”

  “No, he might get suspicious.”

  “Right. But let me know what happens next time you go.”

  “I will.” Michael got up to leave. “Michael, thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  John knew that Andrea was either at the office or with Tony, so she was protected. However, he didn’t know how long she would put up with not being able to make any visits. Andrea was not the type of person to hide out, no matter what.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Earlyin the morning Andrea’s phone went off and she jumped off the bed.

  “What is it?” Tony sat up quickly.

  “Oh,” she sighed, “just a missed call, it scared the shit out of me.” She sat back down on the bed. Tony was looking over her shoulder.

  “Is it John?”

  “No, it’s Michael.” She was surprised to be hearing from him.

  “Oh great.” Tony buried his head in a pillow.

  Andrea sighed. “Please don’t start.” Michael had left his home number. Reluctantly, she dialed.

  “Michael, it’s me.”

  “Hey, how are you doing? John has been filling me in on what happened. I figured it was late last night and you wouldn’t want to talk.”

  “I’m fine. I’ll be staying here until I know what’s going on. John told me you saw David.”

  “Yeah, his brother is a real piece of work.”

  “Tell me about it.” She heard banging noises in the background. “What are you doing?”

  “Straightening. I…I came home last night and found the house like it was burglarized.”

  “Oh my God!”