“I’m sure we can place one of our men as an employee.”
“Even better,” I said.
“What about surveillance?” Connors asked.
“Same as last time. We’ll have cars on the freeway, both directions, but slanted toward Hardy Toll Road. I’ll post two at Rayford, one on #242, and one on Woodlands Parkway in each direction.”
“It sounds good,” Sameena said. “I think we’ve got it covered this time.”
I stared around the group. They weren’t being creative enough. “Think hard, people! We can’t afford to mess this up. Think about how they might fool us. How they could trick us—again.”
For ten minutes, we tossed ideas around. We changed a few plans, but when all was said and done, the plan looked as if we had it covered. We were still discussing it when the phone rang again. The tech popped his head inside the room.
“It’s them.”
Scott casually picked up the phone. He was getting into this. “Hello.”
“Mr. Winthrop, good morning.”
“Good morning.”
A pause, then, “Mr. Winthrop, you sound very relaxed this morning. I’m glad to hear that; however, I must caution you. If you are counting on Detective Cataldi to get you out of this mess, well…that would be foolish. Ask him what happened in Philadelphia.”
Scott shot a ‘what the hell is that about’ look to Gino. “What do you mean?”
“Just ask.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now before I hang up, are all the instructions clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Are you prepared to go?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I want you to leave in exactly one minute.”
“Okay.”
“One more thing, Mr. Winthrop. Take Detective Cataldi’s car. Not yours.”
The line went dead.
I pounded my fist on the table. “Fuck!”
Connors and Sameena were staring at me; so was everyone else. We hadn’t even started, and they had already pulled one on us.
Scott stood there, his hand extended. “Keys, Detective. I’ve got to go.”
I handed him my keys, said good luck, and assured him again that we’d have him covered. I’m sure that guarantee didn’t mean as much to him now, but it was all I could offer.
When Scott left, I turned to see Lonny staring at me. “What did he mean by asking you about Philadelphia?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? You told us you worked a kidnapping case in Philadelphia.”
“Yes, Lonny. I worked two of them.”
“So what happened? You said you brought those girls back safe.”
I didn’t answer for a long time, most of the silence spent wondering how the fuck these guys knew about that. When I did respond, it was with regret. I found the courage to stare him in the eyes then I told him, “I said I brought them back alive, Lonny. And I did.” Barely.
“So what did he mean by ask you about it?”
“I guess what he wanted me to tell you, is that the girls were hurt. I assume he wanted that as a warning to follow his instructions.”
“Son of a bitch!” Lonny said, and stormed off.
I watched him go but harbored no ill feelings. If I were him, I’d feel the same way. “Call Delgado!” I shouted to Connors. “See if he’s got any good news.”
Finding that girl in the motel might be our only way to win this one.
Chapter 53
Bust Down the Door
Number Four cracked the curtains and looked outside. A car pulled into a space at the far end of the lot. Plenty of spaces were closer; why pick that one?
He wants to get a look, Four thought, and continued to watch him. The man walked slowly, his hand conspicuously holding a hotel room key as he went out of his way to look the part of a patron. He didn’t look like the kind of man who would stay at a motel; he looked like a cop.
Four grabbed the girl and moved into the room they used for decoys. The maids had already cleaned this morning. He crept in. Looked. The curtains were open. He thought about closing them but opted not to. He took the girl and moved her to the bathroom. To be safe, he gagged her.
Number Four tucked himself against the wall, drew his gun, and checked the clip. No way was he going down for a kidnapping rap. He knew what happened in prison to guys like that.
***
Delgado got everyone assembled in front of the motel, with both exits blocked. He showed the manager his badge.
“Samir, we need the keys to the rooms Julie called you about.”
He handed over two sets of keys—for rooms #180 and #182. “Please do not ruin the furniture.”
“What can you tell me about the rooms on either side? Are people in them now?”
“Number 178 has been rented by a man from Odessa for one week. No trouble. Number 184 has only been since yesterday. An older gentleman.”
“Thanks, Samir. We’ll try not to disturb anything.”
Lance and his crew stood by the van, looking eager for battle. Delgado had no experience in real battle, but this was how he pictured soldiers acting before a conflict—hyped up and itching to pull the trigger. As he got closer, he noticed fear in some of them. That made him comfortable with his own feelings.
Lance looked at Delgado, eyebrows raised. Delgado didn’t know if he was missing a secret signal, or if talking aloud was verboten in this line of work. If so, he went ahead and did the unthinkable.
“Let’s go, gentlemen. We’ve got someone to visit in room #180.”
As they moved out, Delgado looked at Lance. A smile lit his face. If the man felt fear, he hid it well.
They advanced to the back of the building, careful not to make noise. Lance insisted on an advance man going before them. When he signaled all was clear, Delgado moved forward. As the first of the SWAT team rounded the corner, Delgado thought back to yesterday’s mess. One of Yogi Berra’s old sayings came to mind: “It’s like déjà-vu, all over again.” He hoped the results today would be different.
As Delgado passed by #178, he looked through the open curtains and saw a cleaned room, bed made. He imagined the scene in the next room wasn’t quite so pretty. Lance knocked on the door for #180, waited a few seconds, then knocked again, harder. With no response, he signaled one of his men to use the key. Lance and two others got in position, and two more stood guard outside room #182. Then they went in.
“Police!” he shouted as they barged through.
Delgado knew what he’d find before he even got there—no gunshots meant an empty room. When he entered, Lance and his crew had already cleared both rooms. No one was there, but the room wasn’t quite empty. A pair of socks lay on the floor by the bed. Next to it were a pair of ripped panties and a bra. One of Lance’s crew was on the floor examining it.
“Sir, we’ve got blood.”
Delgado stooped to have a look. Someone had tried cleaning the carpet and had done a damn good job, but there were faint signs of blood and from what he could tell, a lot of it.
“Got blood stains on the mattress,” another one said.
Lance had the lampshade in his hand. “This lamp has been broken.”
Delgado got to his feet. “Don’t touch anything else. We’re clearing out until forensics gets here.”
He looked around the room one more time, not knowing what he expected to see, then got on the phone to request a crime scene unit. Lance and his men waited outside, disappointment etched on their faces like battle scars they wished they had.
“Lance, leave a man in #182 in case they come back.”
He looked at Delgado with a scowl.
“I know,” Delgado said. “They’re gone. But…”
“Bobby!” Lance barked. “Park it in #182.”
The walk back to the vehicles seemed a lot slower. Three times Delgado started to dial Gino, and three times he found a reason not to. The man was a bundle of nerves, ready to explode. But he has to know about this, Del
gado thought, so he punched in the number.
The phone barely rang before Gino answered. “What have you got, Ribs?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t tell me that.”
“I shouldn’t say ‘nothing,’ but it doesn’t look good. We’ve got blood—lot of it—and we’ve got her socks…”
“And?”
“And her bra and panties.”
“Ah fuck!”
“Even worse, Gino. Her panties are ripped.”
There was a short silence, followed by, “Get forensics—”
“Already on the way. I left one of Lance’s men, just in case.”
Gino didn’t say anything.
“If they left that evidence, it means they were in a hurry,” Delgado said.
“How the fuck are they doing this, Ribs? How did they know?”
“I hear you on that. And what’s bothering me is this: why were her panties and bra off?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. And I don’t want the answer.”
“We’ll get them. Sooner or later, we’ll get them.”
“Somebody has to see these people. They’re not fucking ghosts. We need to think harder.”
“What’s happening up there?” Delgado asked.
“Scott’s delivering the money. We’re tracking with GPS, and we’ve got a dozen cars.”
“Any more leads?”
“None yet.”
“How about you going to the airport? Sameena is going to catch the shuttle to the airport with Scott. See what you can spot from inside.”
“I’m on my way. I hope Winthrop is doing okay.”
“Me too, Ribs.”
***
Number Four waited until he heard no sounds then waited some more. When it had been quiet for fifteen or twenty minutes, he stepped silently across the room, motioning to the girl to keep quiet as well. He listened at the door adjoining the next room, the one where they had kept her, and then he looked out the window, both ways. He leaned close to the girl’s ear and whispered. “Remember.”
As he was about to leave, a van pulled up, and two men got out. The crime scene unit. Number Four backed away from the window and grabbed his cell. Boss answered on the third ring. “Need a place to roost, Boss.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m stuck. Cops are in the other rooms.”
“Where’s the girl?”
“Right here.”
“Has she seen your face?”
“Yeah, we were on our way out, remember?”
“Stay put no matter what. They have no reason to search that room; it was rented in a different name. If you don’t make noise, you should be okay.”
“What about—”
“If she gives you trouble, kill her. Use a knife.”
“I didn’t sign up for that.”
“Kidnapping will put you away for the same amount of time. If you have to, do it. It might save your ass.”
***
Jada saw Number Four looking at her. She didn’t like the look in his eyes.
Who is he talking to? What are they saying?
Inside, she cried, but she didn’t dare let it out. It was difficult to stop the sobbing, to stifle the noise. But she had to stay quiet. Her stomach muscles hurt and spasmed, causing her to contort her body to ease the pain. One sob escaped. Number Four glared and moved toward her. She cowered, burying her head in her chest.
This wasn’t fair. Why was it happening to her? Yesterday, all she’d feared was getting raped. She was no longer afraid of that with the cops in the next room. But that fear had been replaced by a worse fate. She was going to die. She didn’t see a way out of that one. She’d seen this guy’s face. No way were they letting her live after that.
Chapter 54
A Slight Interruption
Scott left the house carrying two black bags stuffed with money. And no cell phone. He felt naked without it. He felt like he should be carrying a gun along with so much money, or have a contingent of bodyguards. Something. The bags were heavy, as the kidnappers had warned, but nothing he couldn’t handle. It would have been more difficult with the full 150 pounds weighing him down on one side. He set the bags down, opened the back door, and lifted the bags onto the seat. Afterward, he climbed behind the wheel, adjusting the seat for his long legs. In thirty minutes or so, he’d be pulling into the airport garage.
Two blocks away, he came to a stop at an intersection. Someone jumped out from behind a van on the side of the road. They wore a mask and had a small placard in one hand. Scott’s first reaction was to step on the gas and get the hell out of there, but then he read the writing on the placard.
Don’t move, Scott! And don’t say a word.
He nodded and swallowed hard. Were they going to kill him?
Another sign flashed.
Roll down the windows.
A second person came from where the van was. He opened the door and removed the bags, then ran toward the van.
Another card: Stay calm.
The man removed the bags and dumped the money into the van. He refilled them with paper and magazines then put them back into the car.
The first person handed him a cell phone. A new sign flashed.
This phone is on speaker. Do not talk.
More signs came in rapid succession.
Do not turn off the speaker. Follow all instructions.
Place phone in shirt pocket. Speaker will continue to work.
It will work in garage. Been tested.
Do not take the elevator at the airport.
Do not take the elevator at hotel.
We will be listening.
And watching.
After that they got back into the van and pulled next to him. Scott stared, terrified. He looked over and saw the driver wore a mask and was signaling him to move forward. A gun was pointed at his head. He hit the gas and moved through the intersection, perhaps a bit faster than he should have. Scott focused on remembering the instructions on the cards. These people didn’t allow for mistakes. He checked his shirt pocket, making sure the phone was on and in no danger of an accidental shut-off.
What else did they say? He recalled the cards, flashing rapidly. He had always been good at remembering things like that; he’d grown up on flashcards.
The garage. That was next. He didn’t have to do anything until he reached the garage. Then he had to remember not to take the elevator in the airport.
Easy enough, he thought, and turned right onto The Woodlands Parkway. Now that he had those worries taken care of momentarily, he returned to his real troubles. He had not expected the kidnappers to pull this. What if things went wrong? What if he lost the money for good? What if they didn’t let Jada go? Things weren’t supposed to go like this.
***
I hovered over the tech’s screen, doing my best to interpret the data, but I had never been good at that stuff.
The tech looked up and smiled. “We’ve got him, sir. Don’t worry.”
“Is our tail with him?”
The tech nodded. “Picked him up on the Parkway. He’s on the feeder heading south. He should be entering the freeway any second.”
I could tell where he was now that I’d been filled in. “If anything changes, anything you feel isn’t right—call me.”
“Yes, sir.”
I dialed Delgado’s number. “Scott’s getting on 45 now.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Delgado said. “Wish I knew what to look for.”
“Suspicious people.”
“The airport is full of suspicious people.”
“Then look for ones who don’t look suspicious. How the hell do I know?”
“I got it, don’t worry. You talk to Tip yet?”
“I was about to call him. I missed him earlier.”
“You better call. He’s about to give Texas a bad name.”
“Shit! I knew I shouldn’t have sent him. Tip scares the hell out of hardened criminals, not to mention
a bunch of white-collar biotech workers who hide their eyes when a couple of kids with baggy pants walk by.”
“You know, cuz, we got to find this leak. We don’t, and we’re gonna lose the money. Maybe the girl too.”
“I’m working on it, Ribs. Let me call Tip. I’ll get back to you.”
Tip answered right away. “I’m not far from you, Gino. I can be there in a few minutes.”
“Don’t bother. Winthrop’s on his way to the airport. I got Sameena and Delgado there. I need you at the hotel.”
“I’m on my way,” Tip said.
“You do any good at Scott’s work?”
“Got one guy who knows something. He didn’t talk, but I didn’t have a chance to convince him. Give me five minutes alone with him. He’ll talk.”
“You think he knows something?”
“I know he knows something,” Tip said. “I just haven’t figured out what.”
That got me to thinking about what Delgado and I had theorized before, that someone from Scott’s workplace was involved. It made sense. “I’m going to check on some things from this end, Tip. See if Julie or Charlie can dig up some stuff for us.”
“Get back to me.”
“I will.”
I called Charlie first, knowing Julie was swamped with motel stuff. When he answered, he sounded like he was eating. I was going to tell him not to talk with his mouth full, except then he might never talk.
“Charlie, I need information on Winthrop and some of his people from work.”
“Gino, y’all got us busier than—”
“No matter how you were going to finish that sentence, I’ve heard it. So let me tell you what I need.”
“Get with it.”
“We’ve got three cases that we feel are connected: the poker games, the home invasions, and the kidnapping. I want everything run for all of them. Things in common, services they used, insurance claims…run all of the addresses through the system.”
“We already gave you some of that, remember?”
“I know. But we were focused on the home invasions. I want it all run together. See if we come up with anything new.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate it.” I hung up and went to the tech. “Where is he?”
Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery Page 26