He pulled her in for another hug.
“Can you do that?” he asked. “Can you be strong enough to help us find them?”
She rested her head against his chest. “But I don’t know who it is. I didn’t see who shot him.”
Jake led her over to the couch. While Dani paced, he and Katie sat. “Let’s find out what you do know. Are you okay or would you like to rest for a little while?”
“No, I want to help if I can.”
“Okay. First, is there anyone we need to inform about your mom?”
“Just Lizza, but she probably knows already.”
Dani asked, “Who’s Lizza?”
“My mom’s best friend. They work together at the hospital.”
“So there’s no other family?” They knew there wasn’t, but they wanted to make Katie feel like she was helping fill in the blanks.
“No. My grandparents died three years ago. It was just me and my mom,” she said as she wiped away her tears with her shirt sleeve.
“Okay. Anyone else?”
She hesitated before answering. “I should go see Mrs. Welmington.”
“Who is she?”
“Just some old lady I’ve stayed with these past few weeks. She can’t get around that well, so I’ve been running some errands for her in exchange for a bed.”
“Will she be expecting you tonight?”
Katie shook her head. “No, there were no set nights that I stayed there. I didn’t want to take advantage of her. She’s a nice old lady.”
“Okay, we’ll make sure we go by tomorrow. Is that it?”
Katie nodded.
Dani sat across from them. “Can you tell us why you ran away?”
“Daren wouldn’t leave me alone. He wanted me to sell drugs for him at school. When I told him no, he hit me and tried to rape me. I got away from him by kicking him in the nuts. I told my mom, but she didn’t believe me.”
“Are you sure she didn’t believe you? From what she told us this morning, she did.”
“She said she would talk to Matt about Daren, but she had to work nights for the next few nights and wouldn’t get a chance to discuss it with him until her day off. I got scared he would try again before she could talk to him, so I ran away.”
“Do you know where Daren hangs out? Where we may be able to find him?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Can you tell us what happened the night Zach was killed?”
She closed her eyes and put her head back. “When I came out of the café two guys grabbed me and threw me in the back of a van. They tied me up and brought me to the building by the water. There were about thirty people there, but I didn’t know any of them. They dropped me on a couch in the corner and started drinking with everyone else. I’d say over an hour later Daren came in. I started yelling at him to let me go and leave me alone, but he just laughed and kissed me.” She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Then he came in. Zach…” She swallowed hard. “He scanned the room and as soon as he saw me he came charging over. He pushed Daren away from me. They argued for a few minutes. Then suddenly, Zach punched Daren in the face and grabbed my arm. He was pulling me out the door when I heard a loud bang. He fell to the ground, pulling me down with him.”
She got up to pace. “Everyone started screaming and running for the doors. I got to my knees and saw blood coming from his head. I don’t know how I knew he was dead, but I knew. I got up and ran out with everyone else. I ran straight to Mrs. Welmington’s apartment and didn’t leave for three days.”
She stopped and looked at Dani and Jake. “I heard on the news that he was a cop. I went to the funeral. I don’t know why, but from the look in his eyes when he saw me, I got the feeling I should be at his funeral. I stayed way in the back.” She looked at Dani. “I saw you there. You looked really upset, but like you were important. That’s why I sent you the email about Willy.”
“You said you didn’t know anyone else at the party. Do you think you would recognize any of them if you saw them again?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I watched them all while I was trying to figure a way out of there.”
“Good. We’ll work on that tomorrow,” Jake told her. He got up and went to the refrigerator. When what he was looking for wasn’t there, he want over to Zach’s side of the apartment.
“You have a hole in the wall between the apartments?” Katie asked.
“That was Zach’s apartment. Because we were partners, we weren’t supposed to be involved with each other. That’s the best we could do so we were living together without actually living together.” Dani leaned close and whispered. “Don’t mention it to anyone in the department. It was mine and Zach’s secret. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Ah, sure. No problem.”
Jake came back with three cans of soda and a bag of chips. If she wouldn’t eat the pizza, maybe she would pick on some chips.
“Did I miss anything?” he asked.
Dani smiled at Katie. “Nope. I was just going to ask Katie how she knew Willy.”
Katie opened a soda and took a long sip. “I met him about six weeks ago in the park. I knew he was a runaway, but he was nice, so we hung out after school sometimes. I brought him some food and gave him a few dollars when I had it.”
“What did you do when you hung out?”
“Nothing really. We talked or he would help me with my calculus and analysis homework. He was really good at all types of math. It’s not my favorite subject so I’m lazy about trying to figure it out. He has a way of making it more interesting to me. He really doesn’t like to read for pleasure, so I gave him a few books to read and we talked about them when he was done.”
“Are you sure he didn’t do any type of drugs?”
“Yes. He said he would never do anything to mess up his mind. He was going to join the army as soon as he was eighteen so he could serve his country before deciding what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He said it’s a family tradition. He’s pretty sure he wants to be a CSI technician. He loved solving puzzles.”
“Do you know Kim Sasaki?” Jake asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Who is she?”
“Another victim.”
“Like Willy?”
“Yes, and there’s another girl that we haven’t identified yet.”
“Wow, three people were killed the same way. Isn’t that what they call a serial killer?”
Dani and Jake shook their heads this time. “We’re trying to not use that term,” Jake told her.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t be. What you’ve told us will be a big help in finding their killer.”
Dani got up to stretch. “I’d say we’ve all had a long day. Why don’t we give it a rest for the night? Tomorrow we’ll see what we can pull together to get these guys.”
Katie got up and looked at both of them. “What happens to me now?” She was back to whispering.
Jake answered. “Since I’m your uncle, I’d like for you to stay with me. We’ll talk to some people tomorrow to see what we have to do to make that happen.”
“For now,” Dani continued, “you’ll stay with me on this side. Jake is staying in Zach’s apartment. So we’ll both be here if you need us.”
Tears started again. “I’ve caused enough trouble. I think I should leave before I cause any more.”
“What did we tell you about that? None of this is your fault, and you are not any trouble. We want to help you. Not just because we owe it to Zach. We want to help you because we like you and you need us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Jake answered. “But Katie, you have to promise us you will not run away again. The person who killed your mother is still out there. They may come after you. You have to trust us to keep you safe. Okay?”
She tilted her head as she thought. You could tell she was thinking of running again, but hopefully she would believe what they said and stay put. The last thing Dani n
eeded was to lose her again.
“I’ll stay on one condition.”
Dani and Jake looked at each other and shrugged. “What’s that?”
“You have to let me help find Willy’s killer. I’m very good with a computer. Not so good with any type of math, but I’m great with computers. I can help you run down leads and look things up.”
She hesitated before adding, “He was my friend. I need to help him.”
“Well, since I suck at computers, it’s a deal.”
Dani put her hand out. Katie shook it.
CHAPTER 17
IT WASN’T TWENTY MINUTES LATER when Katie fell asleep in the middle of a sentence. She was telling them where Willy would hang out when he wasn’t with Katie. Dani and Jake sighed.
Jake quietly said, “I guess the day finally caught up with her.”
“I’m surprised she made it this long.” Dani stood up. “I’ll get the bed ready.”
She headed toward the bedroom.
Jake took a minute to watch Katie and make sure she was asleep. She’s a good-looking girl. About five-six with long blonde hair and beautiful amber eyes. He couldn’t help but notice that she looked a little like Dani. Since Jennifer and Dani looked alike, it was understandable. Zach attracted pretty women—so much so that he created another one.
Slowly Jake picked Katie up. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her up. She probably wouldn’t get much sleep tonight so he didn’t want to disrupt what she did get. Gently he laid her on the bed and took a step back.
Dani lightly touched his arm. “She’ll be okay. We’ll get her through all this.”
Jake nodded and left the room. Dani shut the light and followed. Jake was almost out the door when Dani stepped out of the bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
Jake sighed and turned around. With one hand still on the doorknob he answered, “I need to get out of here for a while.”
“We have work to do. Some things to discuss. Can you hold off a little longer before you run away again?”
“I’m not running away. I just need to clear my head.”
Looking in his eyes, Dani suddenly realized why Jake needed to get out of here. “I would have decked you if you tried.”
Jake released the doorknob and laughed. “Really? It didn’t seem that way to me. Actually, it seemed like you wanted me to kiss you.”
“Yeah, right.” Dani scowled. “While you’re out, put out an APB on Daren.”
Jake stared at her in wonder before opening the door. “Yes, ma’am.”
He closed the door quietly behind him, but man, did he want to slam it.
Dani threw up her hands in frustration. She was hoping he didn’t pick up on the fact she did want him to kiss her. But it wasn’t him she wanted to kiss. It was Zach. She was about to use Jake to replace Zach and she hated herself for it. One because she was still mad at Zach and wanted to get back at him. And two because she really missed him.
She grabbed her laptop off the counter. While it booted up, she put her head in her hands, taking some deep breaths. This whole situation was getting tougher and tougher. She wasn’t sure she was going to get through it without killing someone.
Jake walked around the block three times before he took out his phone to put out the APB on Daren. Every minute it was getting harder and harder to work with her. He didn’t come here to take Zach’s woman. But the more time they spend together the harder it is to fight his growing feelings for her.
He looked at his watch. Too late to call Nancy. He needed to talk to her. She always helped him worked through tough situations. Though this was one that he probably shouldn’t talk to her about. He still loved her, probably always will, but every minute with Dani was slowly changing that love from heart wrenching to friendship.
In the middle of the next lap around the block he took out his phone and called Nancy. She won’t mind. She’d probably be pissed at him if he didn’t fill her in on all this. At the very least she can look into Katie’s situation for him and start the paperwork on the guardianship.
Feeling better about everything after two more laps around the block and the purchase of a six-pack at the corner deli, he returned to Zach’s apartment. He wasn’t going to go next door, but as he emptied his pockets on the dresser, he realized that plans had to be made for tomorrow. Knocking on the bookcase to announce he was back, he walked over and sat on the couch. He opened one of the beers and handed it to Dani.
“Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Dani took the bottle and sighed. “No, I’m sorry.” She took a sip. She was going to let it go, but decided it was better to get it out in the open. “I did want you to kiss me.”
Jake’s head popped up in surprise.
“But not because of what you think. I wanted you to kiss me because I’m mad at Zach and I wanted to hurt him. That’s it. I’m not interested in you, Jake. I’ll never want you in that way.”
Jake could have fought her on that, but knew it was best to let it go. For now, anyway. “Understood. Let’s just clear these cases so I can get back to my life.” He took a long sip of his beer. “APB is set on Daren.”
Dani was happy with the change of subject. She turned her computer to Jake and brought up Daren’s rap sheet. “It seems Daren has a juvenile record. It sealed. I haven’t had time to find out what the charges were.”
“Only twenty years old. I guess he hasn’t grown up yet.”
“I called Manark and told him we have Katie. I also sent him a picture of Daren. He’ll let us know if he spots him.”
Dani took another sip of her beer.
“I found out that Matt Becket is a doctor, but he doesn’t practice anywhere,” she said. “He’s more into research. Cancer research. His wife died from it when Daren was thirteen years old. He works in a lab on West 100th Street. He makes money for his research by selling medical supplies. It seems to be a lucrative business for him. I wasn’t able to find out if any of his research has discovered anything. We’ll talk to him in the morning.”
Dani picked up her phone when it beeped.
“I sent a text to Jeremy asking him to meet us at the morgue. He’ll be there at eight. I also sent one to Peter to make sure Willy and the others are no where in sight.”
She put her phone down and picked up her beer.
“What are we going to do with Katie while we’re chasing all these leads?”
“I was hoping you’d have a suggestion on that. We can’t leave her alone. She’ll run again.”
They were quiet for a moment before Jake spoke. “She said she’s good with computers. Maybe we can set her up in your office looking for information on the tattoo. Maybe she can track down a lead on some of the Fallen Angels.”
“I have the whole department doing that.”
“Yes, but they can only run it when they’re not working on their own cases. She could do it full time.”
Dani blew out a breath. “We have to let her see her mother in the morning. That’s going to destroy her. I’m not sure we should involve her with another murder.”
Jake sighed. “You’re right. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, maybe you’re right. She said she doesn’t want to be treated like a child. Maybe helping with this will keep her mind off her mother and Zach.”
Jake sat back and chuckled. “Oh aren’t we the perfect guardians. Neither one of us knows what to do with a devastated sixteen-year- old girl.”
Dani laughed. “Tell me about it.”
She finished off her beer.
“Why don’t we see how’s she doing after seeing her mother? I agree she needs to be watched closely, so leaving her at the precinct is the best option. We’ll play it by ear whether she does any work or not.”
“I don’t suppose you know anyone that has a sixteen-year-old girl?”
“Actually, the captain does. I’ll talk to him. Maybe he can come up with something.”
Jake got up. “Okay, I’ll see you about
seven. Leave the wall open so I can hear what’s going on in here in case she wakes up and decides to go for a walk.”
“I’m still too wired to sleep so I’ll take first watch. You get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be another long day.”
“To be honest, I could use about three hours. Wake me if you need to go down before that.”
He headed for the hole in the wall.
“Jake, one more thing. Did you call Nancy and tell her about all this?”
He halted before walking through the opening. He rubbed his eyes and slowly turned around to face her.
“Yes, but only for a few minutes,” he said. “She’s working on a big case right now and studying for her finals. I didn’t want to distract her.”
“But you really needed to talk to her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why are you asking?”
Dani just shrugged in response.
Jake sighed. “Because she’s my best friend. We tell each other everything.”
“Even though you’re divorced, she is still your best friend?”
“Yeah, she is. Pretty sad, huh?”
He turned back to the hole in the wall.
“No,” Dani said to his back. “No, not sad. It’s the way it should be between two people that love each other.”
He turned back to her. “Don’t do that, Dani. Don’t minimize what you and Zach had because he was too insecure to tell you about me and Katie.”
Dani laughed. “Zach? Insecure? Ha! He was the most secure, strong, and determined man I’ve ever met.”
Jake looked up toward the heavens as if he was asking Zach for help with this conversation. “From what I know about him from our limited time together, he was. Maybe he was just afraid of losing the one thing that ever really meant something to him. That fear held him back from telling you.”
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