Fatally Linked

by Juliann Vatalaro

  “Go to bed, Jake. Be at the car by seven.”

  He took his beer bottle and dumped it in the recycle bin. Slowly he walked to the bookcase. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “It will get easier. Goodnight.”

  “When?” she said to herself, but Jake heard it as the bookcase closed.

  Dani headed for the bathroom. She washed up quickly and returned to the couch. She turned on her laptop again, but was asleep before it booted up.

  CHAPTER 35

  AS KATIE AND DANI WALKED up to the car at seven the next morning, they saw Jake and Wilson were leaning against it, laughing. As they approached Wilson stood up straight, wiping the smile off his face.

  “Lieutenant…”

  Dani held up a finger to hold him off. She reached her hand out for her coffee. Jake smiled as he handed a cup to Dani and then Katie. After a few sips she sighed.

  “Okay, I’m ready. What are you doing here so early, Wilson?”

  “I found something I thought you’d want to hear about right away.”

  “You could have called.”

  “Yes, ma’am, but I wanted to see your face when I told you.”

  Dani looked at Katie and Jake with a shrug. She leaned against the car and took another sip of her coffee. “Now I’m intrigued.”

  Wilson took a sip of his coffee. “I found the connection between Oberman and the angel tattoo.”

  That had Dani standing up straight. “Tell me,” she ordered.

  “Mr. Cameron called me around eleven last night.”

  “Mr. Cameron?”

  “Ah, you might remember him as Trotter. Manark’s customer.”

  “Yeah, right. Go on.”

  “He’s home. He told me that it was bothering him so much that he couldn’t help more; he wasn’t enjoying his grandchildren. His daughter told him to go home and find whatever he needed to find.”

  He lifted a folder that was sitting on the hood of the car and pulled out a flier. “He asked me to come over. He had something that he thought would help us find out about the kids. He sounded so hopeful I couldn’t put him off until this morning.”

  Dani smiled. “How’d that go over with Marylyn?”

  He smiled. “We’ll see when I get home tonight.”

  He pointed at the picture on the flier. “The guy circled is Dr. Keith Oberman, Sr. He was part of the Fallen Angels for about a year. He was only with them for this one ride. His father designed the tattoo. He was the first to get it. From what Mr. Cameron remembers, about a month after he got the tattoo he stopped coming around. They were all curious about him. But he didn’t return anyone’s calls. After about a month they stopped trying.”

  “What happened to him?”

  He shrugged. “Sorry, ma’am, but it was pretty late when I got home. I haven’t had a chance to look into it.”

  Dani gave Jake the keys. “You drive.” She headed toward the passenger side. “Wilson, call Fleming and tell him you’re with us this morning.”

  He smiled as he took out his phone as he jumped in the backseat.

  “Where to, boss?” Jake asked as he started the car.

  “Wilson’s not the only one who worked late last night.” Dani turned and glared at Katie. “It seems Katie couldn’t sleep. She found out that Oberman, Carson Oberman, has an eight-twenty-six tee time this morning.”

  Katie leaned over the seat and punched the address into the GPS. “It’s only forty-two miles, but with traffic I’m guessing we’re an hour and ten minutes out.”

  They all laughed at her wording as she sat back. Dani took out her phone. She called the hospital to get an update on Willy. She called her squad and put Fleming on keeping a twenty-four seven watch on Willy and his parents. Last was the call to the captain to fill him in on what they had going on. It was a lot so it took most of the trip to get it all out. When she was done they were only ten minutes out.

  “How’s Willy?” Katie asked as Dani put her phone in her pocket.

  “Still in and out. He’s mumbling about something, but nothing is clear according to his father. Doctor says another few hours and we should be able to get something we can use out of him.”

  Katie blew out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and wiped her eyes. “So how do we handle this?”

  Again Jake and Dani laughed. They knew she was only trying to do everything she could to keep her mind off her mother, but the way she’s been talking like she was a cop had them amused. Wilson stared at her like she was crazy for saying such a thing. Dani turned to her.

  “Jake and I will find him and have a conversation. You will stay outside with Wilson. Wilson will guard you with his life.”

  “But I want to know what he says. We have to find the others.”

  “Others?” Wilson asked.

  “Katie will fill you in while we talk to Oberman.”

  Katie took Dani’s tone as law and dropped her argument. She was pretty sure Jake would tell her what they found out. Especially if they needed to run down any leads from their conversation.

  Jake pulled into the country club, slowly driving around to the front entrance. The valet promptly opened Dani’s door as another hurried around to the driver’s side. He shook off the valet and flipped the keys to Wilson. Wilson jumped behind the wheel while Katie joined him in the passenger seat.

  Jake whispered in Wilson’s ear. “Run all the plates. I want to know who his friends are.”

  “I was planning on it. I figured it would keep Katie busy while you’re inside.”

  Dani and Jake checked in with the reception desk. Ten minutes later they were still waiting at the desk. It seems if you were not a member you couldn’t enter without special permission from the manager. The receptionist told them the manager was busy consulting with a member of the club and would be with them as soon as he could break away.

  Of course that did not sit well with Dani. “Okay, here’s the deal. My partner and I are going to find Dr. Oberman. If you have a problem with that feel free to call a cop.”

  She headed for the first tee.

  “What took you so long?” Jake asked as they exited the lobby, heading toward the first hole.

  “It has been brought to my attention that I may come off a little too strong. I thought I’d give toning it down a shot to see how it felt.”

  Jake couldn’t help but smile. “And?”

  Dani shrugged. “I didn’t like it. I probably won’t try it again.”

  Now Jake laughed out loud as they walked up to the sign in station. Jake took lead without a word from Dani.

  “We’d like to speak to Dr. Oberman. We understand he had an eight-twenty-six tee time.”

  The young woman behind the desk checked her computer. “Yes, sir. Dr. Oberman did have an eight-twenty-six tee time, but he called to change it.”

  “Change? Not cancel?”

  “Yes, changed. His new tee time is nine-thirty-seven.”

  “Is he here?”

  “How would I know that, sir?”

  Jake shook his head. “Right. He called.”

  She nodded in agreement.

  “If he was here, where would I find him?”

  She looked at her wrist to check the time. “He has plenty of time to have breakfast. You could try the dining room.”

  “Thanks for your help.”

  He had to jog to catch up with Dani.

  She took out her phone to call Wilson. “Is he here?”

  “His car is.”

  She hung up and headed into the dining room. They scanned the room and headed for a table in the back of the room. The picture they had of him was from his driver’s license. She couldn’t tell his height because he was sitting, but the man they were heading toward had gray hair and a medium build to match the description they got from Sleeter in the alley. His driver’s license put him at thirty -seven years old. She couldn’t help but note to herself that even with the gray hair, he looked younger.

  This time Dani took lead.

&nbs
p; “Dr. Oberman?” she asked as she took the seat next to him. Jake took the seat on the opposite side. Both of them ignored the man sitting with the doctor.

  “Who’s asking?”

  “I’m Lieutenant Castello.” She motioned with her hand to Jake. “He’s Detective Santos. We’re with the fifth precinct. We’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “I’m busy at the moment. I’ll be back at my office on Tuesday. You can call and make an appointment for then.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t work for us.” She finally acknowledged the other man at the table. “Would you mind giving us a minute?”

  Slowly he got up. “Carson, is everything okay?”

  “What is this about?” he asked Dani.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard about the three teenagers that were found dead around the city?”

  “Of course. What does that have to do with me?”

  “For starters, a man fitting your description was seen leaving one of the crime scenes.”

  “Well, it wasn’t me. Now if you’ll excuse us, we tee off in an hour. I’d like to finish our breakfast.” He turned to his friend. “Tyler, sit down.”

  Jake stood up and pulled Tyler aside. After a quick conversation Tyler left. Jake took his seat again. “He’s going to see if the rest of your party has shown up.”

  “Look, I don’t know what this has to do with me. I’ve had a rough few weeks and have decided to take a few days to get back on track. As I’ve said, I’ll be back in the office on Tuesday. I’ll be happy to talk to you then.”

  He started to get up, but Dani put her hand on his wrist to stop him. “We also have the parents of three teenagers that say they used your clinic to help them conceive. Those teenagers bear a remarkable likeness to the three dead teenagers we have in the morgue.”

  Slowly he sat back down. “Okay, you have my attention.”

  “Let’s start with where you were on Thursday, February 15th?”

  “That was what, two weeks ago? I’m not sure.”

  “How about last Sunday night? Or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning?”

  “I’m not sure. Why?”

  “You’re not sure? Two of the days I just mention were just this week. Surely a doctor of your stature can remember where he was just a few days ago.”

  He looked from Dani to Jake and back. When their facial expression said they were not going to leave without answers he reached in his pocket for his phone. Dani and Jake quickly stood up and put their hands on their guns.

  “Relax. I’m just getting my phone.” He pulled out his phone and showed it to them with both hands up. When they relaxed and sat again he brought up his calendar. “It seems on Thursday, February 15th, I was sitting in a meeting at the hospital.”

  He looked at each of them again.

  “I had nothing on Sunday and Wednesday of this week. That means I was either home or at the office doing paperwork.”

  “You’re not sure?”

  “I’m sure about Wednesday. Doing that paperwork was what made me realize I needed a long weekend. Now that I think about it, I was home on Sunday night. I had a date, but she canceled.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why did she cancel?”

  He smiled. “It seems she had an early day on Monday.” He shrugged. “It happens.”

  “Does it happen often?”

  “Not really. To be honest, I don’t date much. I don’t have the time. That’s why I planned this one for a Sunday night.”

  “We’ll need her name to confirm.”

  He again looked at each of them before quickly moving back in his seat. “Wait a minute. You don’t think I had something to do with those kids that were killed, do you?”

  “The thought has crossed our minds.”

  He leaned forward. Through clinched teeth he told them, “I help bring babies into this world. I do not take them out. So unless you have some hard and steadfast proof of why I’m a suspect, this conversation is over.”

  “Dr. Oberman, we can sit here to have this conversation or if you would rather we can cuff you and bring you in for formal questioning?”

  He leaned back and sighed. “Tell me what you have.”

  Jake took over. “As the lieutenant said we have a witness that described a man fitting your description leaving the scene of one of the bodies and the three sets of parent saying that they used your clinic to help them conceive. Their teenagers are almost an exact resemblance to the three teenagers we have in the morgue.”

  “Almost exact? As in cloning?”

  “That’s our going theory.”

  He put his head in his hands. “Oh God, the journals.”

  “What journals?”

  He got up and reached in his pocket. He threw a couple of dollars on the table and headed for the door. Dani and Jake were both at his side within a heartbeat, each taking an arm.

  “Whoa, hold on. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I have to check something.”

  He continued walking.

  Jake grabbed his arm again. “I think you need to explain what’s going on before I slap these cuffs on you.”

  Jake held up his handcuffs, wiggling them in front of his face.

  Oberman looked around and motioned them out into the hall. “When I was going through my fathers home office after he passed I came across some journals. I didn’t have time to read through them, but what I did read had to do with cloning.”

  “That didn’t interest you enough to read them more carefully or turn them over to someone who was interested in them?”

  “No. I wasn’t interested in cloning. I’m still not. I want to help people conceive. I have no interest in making duplicates.”

  “Why?”

  He sighed again. “Why what?”

  “Why are you interested in helping people conceive?”

  He smiled for the first time. “My mother always wanted a houseful of kids. After me, she had problems conceiving. She really wanted a girl, but after three years of trying for one, they gave up, because it would have been too dangerous to both her and the baby.”

  Dani and Jake looked at each other. He had said ‘after me.’

  Does that mean he doesn’t know he has an identical twin brother?

  “Where are these journals?” Dani asked.

  “At home.”

  Dani motioned with her hand for him to lead them out. “I’ll go with him.”

  “I don’t suppose you’d let me go with him and you can follow?”

  She gave him a sideways glare. “No, I don’t suppose I would.”

  “What’s your address?”

  Oberman rattled off the address as he opened his car door and jumped in. Dani jumped in beside him. Oberman barely had the car started before he was backing out and taking off out of the parking lot.

  “What’s the rush, Doctor?” Dani asked as she put her seat belt on, making sure she still had easy access to her gun.

  “I just have a bad feeling about this. I need to know what’s going on.”

  “Why don’t you fill me in?”

  “If you don’t mind I’d rather confirm my thoughts first. I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I see the journals.” Before she could answer to that, he added, “Please. My home is only five minutes from here.”

  She sat back and relaxed. “Okay, I’ll wait, but do me a favor and slow down. Let’s not break any laws getting there.”

  He glanced at his speedometer and immediately slowed down. “Sorry.”

  Oberman came to a screeching stop only inches from his garage door. He was out of the car, fumbling for his house keys before Jake pulled in behind him.

  Jake jumped out of the car. “Katie, stay in the car. Wilson, you’re at the door, but keep one eye on Katie.”

  Oberman was inside and heading toward the back of the house before Jake reached the door. Dani was on his heels with her hand on her gun.

  He entered a room and went to a
picture hanging on the wall behind the desk. He practically ripped it off the wall to reveal a safe behind it.

  “Not very original,” Jake commented as he stood to the left of Dr. Oberman with his hand on his gun.

  Oberman swore as the safe didn’t open. “Damn it.”

  Dani was on the other side of him. “Will you slow down and tell us what is going on?”

  He turned the dial again, this time more slowly. They all heard the click as it opened. Oberman reached his hand in, but he could see what he was looking for wasn’t there.

  “No. They’re not here. They’re gone. That can’t be. They can’t be gone.”

  He started pulling out everything else, dropping the items to the floor as he pulled them out.

  When a gun hit the floor, Dani pulled her gun as Jake grabbed Oberman and pulled him away. He brought him to the ground and twisted his arms behind his back.

  “No, no, let me up. I have to check the other safe.”

  “Will you relax and calm down?” Jake yelled. “We have all day. We’re not going anywhere until we get answers.”

  He pushed Oberman’s face into the carpet.

  Oberman fought for a moment before he resigned himself to what was going on and calmed down. “Okay. I’m good. Let me up, I’m good.”

  “Are you sure? You’re not going to lose it again, are you?”

  “No. I’m okay. Let me up.”

  Slowly Jake got off him and helped him up. Dani picked up the gun and checked to see if it was loaded. She dropped the clip out and released the bullet that was in the chamber, before turning back to Oberman.

  “Now, calmly tell us what is going on. What’s gone?”

  “The journals. I put them in the safe. They should be there, but they’re gone.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair as he paced. Suddenly he stopped for a moment before heading for the door.

  “Follow me,” he ordered as he left the room.

  Dani and Jake were at his side as he ran up the steps. He entered the first bedroom on the right. He pushed the bed about three feet and pulled the throw rug aside. He reached under the bed and hit a button. Suddenly the floorboards lifted and moved leaving a twelve by twelve hole in the floor.

  Oberman reached in and started pulling items out. A passport and what looked like about ten thousand dollars band together hit the floor before he pulled out a brown accordion folder. With shaking hands he worked the string around and around until it opened. He looked in and sighed with relief.