by Mike Ryan
“The police have a lot on their plate. They’re juggling a lot of cases at one time. We’re not. Plus we got something they don’t.”
“Which is?” Jones asked, struggling to figure out what that could have been.
“We got Tyrell,” Recker answered.
“I fail to see how that gives us an advantage.”
“He knows people all over this city. If that car’s not spotted by a camera anywhere else, it’s parked out of sight somewhere. We’re gonna need a lot of eyes open. A lot of eyes,” Recker explained.
Jones raised his eyebrows and shrugged, not sure if Recker’s plan would work, but figured it was probably worth the effort. Recker immediately called Tyrell to see if he could help him out.
“Tyrell, I need a favor,” Recker told him.
“Whatcha need?”
“A friend of a friend is missing. I’ve got a picture of it getting off I-95 by the airport. Think you know anybody who could see if the car is still parked there?”
“Yeah, I know some people. If the money’s right,” Gibson replied.
“If they find this car, the money will be right.”
“What’s the car?”
“It’s a 2015 gray Honda Civic,” Recker said. “I’ll send you a picture.”
“What timeframe you want?”
“Like now.”
“I’ll get some people on it.”
“Thanks. I guess I’ll owe you another one.”
“Nah. It’s cool.”
“If that car’s not still at the airport, have them canvass nearby areas. I’m gonna be leaving here in a few minutes to check myself too,” Recker said.
“I’ll give everyone the heads up. Should be able to get five or six guys on it,” Gibson said.
“Thanks.”
Once Recker hung up, Jones couldn’t help but think that the plan was a waste of time. Not because he didn’t think Gibson could help, but because he assumed the police had already done it.
“I’m sure the police have already combed over the airport for her car,” Jones stated.
“You’re assuming they’ve already found that picture.”
“Yes, I guess I am.”
“What if they haven’t?” Recker asked.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Besides, even if they did and it’s not there. Maybe it’s close by. Maybe in a surrounding area that they don’t check.”
“That’s a lot of maybe’s,” Jones told him.
“No, I got one more. Maybe it’s worth a shot.”
“A long shot.”
“A shot nonetheless.”
“Even if we do find the car, that’s not necessarily going to tell us where Ms. Hanley is,” Jones replied. “I’ll check flight records to see if maybe she took an unexpected trip.”
“Also might be a good idea to check any cameras at the airport to see if she actually went inside. I’m gonna head down there to check things out for myself,” Recker said.
“What good will that do? Isn’t that what you called Tyrell for?”
“Never hurts to have more eyes out there. Besides, computer work is more your thing. Out in the field is mine. Call me if you come up with something.”
Recker then left, heading for the airport to search for Hanley’s car. Jones continued the multifaceted computer work that he was doing in the hopes of finding the needle in the haystack that they were looking for. He hacked his way into the airport security cameras to look for Hanley, starting the search after eleven, knowing that her car wasn’t seen until that point. Once Recker got to the Philadelphia International Airport thirty minutes later, he checked in with Jones to see if he turned up anything yet.
“How you making out, David?”
“So far, nothing else has turned up on any cameras. The rest of the I-95 scan is done,” Jones answered.
“So the car didn’t get back on.”
“Correct. It also appears that there’s no hits on any local roadway cams either.”
“What about the airport?” Recker asked.
“So far that’s coming up nil as well.”
Recker didn’t respond for a minute, thinking of some alternatives that might’ve happened to Hanley. Jones kept typing away, waiting for a response.
“What are you thinking, Michael?” Jones wondered.
“Nothing good.”
By the tone of his voice, Jones had been around Recker long enough to get a hint of what was on his mind. Though Recker didn’t want to say it, it was clear enough to the professor what he meant.
“You don’t think she’s alive, do you?”
“Let’s just say I have my doubts,” Recker responded.
“Not that I necessarily disagree, but why do you think so?”
“She leaves her apartment Friday night looking like she’s going on a date, her car looks like it’s headed to the airport, she didn’t leave with luggage, so unless she’s got some elaborate plan in mind to disappear, it’s unlikely she was going anywhere.”
“Could be she just picked someone up.”
“But we probably would’ve gotten a hit on the car getting back on 95. It doesn’t really make any sense that she’d be meeting someone there,” Recker continued. “If I had to make a guess, I’d say she wasn’t even the one driving when that picture was taken.”
“If that’s the case, and somebody else was driving…,” Jones said, stopping short of what he intended to say.
“Then she’s probably dead,” Recker bluntly stated.
“Why would someone want her dead? There’s nothing in her background that would indicate any problems or red flags that I can see.”
“You know as well as I do that doesn’t mean much. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Might’ve been a spur of the moment thing.”
“If she is deceased,” Jones said. “Let’s not assume the worst just yet.”
“David, she hasn’t been heard from in a week. If she didn’t leave this city, it’s more than likely that she’s no longer amongst the living.”
“Let’s just keep hoping for the best. In that vein, I also tapped into the police department records to get a look at the file they have for her.”
“And?”
“Looks like we were both right.”
“How so?”
“They did find the picture that we did and they did do a check of the airport,” Jones told him. “But that’s as far as they’ve gone with it up until now. They’ve got at least ten other missing person cases they’re working on at the same time.”
“Maybe we should expand our search then,” Recker replied. “Did they do any of the surrounding area?”
“It doesn’t appear so.”
Recker continued his conversation with Jones for a few more minutes before checking some of the airport parking garages. Gibson sent him a message saying that his guys were already on some of the other garages and terminals, the only one left available was Parking Garage D. Recker headed over for it, a lot of thoughts and scenarios running through his mind. If they did find the car, and she wasn’t the one driving it, that meant she could’ve been almost anywhere in the city. And she most definitely would’ve been dead. Part of him actually hoped that Jones found her on one of the airport cameras hopping a flight somewhere. At least that would’ve proved she was alive and just left town, whether for a short time or permanently. It would’ve been easier and less painful to explain to Mia as well. But if that wasn’t the case, he knew Mia would probably have a hard time with it. After another hour of scouring the airport parking garages and terminals, the team had concluded that the car wasn’t parked there. Recker called Gibson for an update on their next move.
“Let’s search a few nearby places,” Recker told him. “Maybe the car was dumped there or something.”
“Yeah, all right. There’s some car rental places and the other side of 95 got some hotels and stuff,” Gibson replied.
“All right, send your guys to the car rental spots. Me and y
ou will take the hotels.”
Gibson informed his guys to do what Recker had requested while they took the hotels in the area, each taking a different one. As they did that, Jones was coming up empty in almost everything he had checked. He called Recker one more time to keep him up on his progress, or lack there of.
“Michael, I’m fairly certain she never entered the airport,” Jones told him.
“Didn’t find any pictures I assume?”
“Not a one. The scan of the airport is complete and the car never got back on 95, so I’m at a loss as to where its location is.”
“It’s gotta be here somewhere. If it’s not at the airport, and it didn’t get back on 95, then it got dumped nearby,” Recker said.
After another hour of searching, Gibson’s teams at the car rental business reported back that they still hadn’t found anything. Tyrell told them to check a few more places in the area while he continued with the hotels in the vicinity of the airport. Recker had personally checked four hotels, each one coming back as empty as the one before. He was beginning to get a little frustrated at their lack of progress. He knew the car had to be around somewhere. He just knew it. Gibson was also on his fourth hotel, the previous three also coming up with nothing.
After Gibson got to the final hotel on his list, he cruised around the parking lot, keeping a sharp eye out. He saved the biggest hotel for last, knowing he could knock the other ones out a little faster. He gave the side lot of the hotel a good once over, making sure he accounted for every car in there before moving around to the back of the lot. He turned the corner and went up and down the rows, not really having any expectations of finding the car. He assumed since they hadn’t found it yet that it was probably not even close. But he didn’t have as much invested as Recker did. Still, he was willing to keep going as long as Recker asked him to. After he cleared the first several rows, he drove along the back row, the last one that was behind the hotel. And then he saw it. A newer looking gray Honda Civic, sitting in the middle of the row, parked between two other cars. Gibson then parked his car in an open spot then walked behind the Honda, reading the license plate and comparing it against the numbers that Recker had given him. It was a match. He immediately called Recker with the news.
“What’s up?” Recker asked.
“I found it.”
“What?” he asked, almost not believing it.
“Found it. I’m at the Grand Marx hotel, around the back.”
“Be there in five,” Recker told him, then calling Jones instantly. “David, Tyrell spotted the car. I’m on my way there now.”
“OK. Let me know what you find when you get there so I can start running the information in the computer,” Jones replied.
Even though he was only five minutes away, Recker couldn’t get in his car and drive fast enough, getting there in just over three minutes. When he pulled around the back of the hotel, he spotted Gibson still standing by the front of the car. Recker parked his truck and then met Gibson by the Honda, the two men shaking hands.
“I told the rest of the boys that we found it and to go home,” Gibson stated. “They’re still gonna expect a little something though, even though they didn’t find it.”
“I’ll make good on it,” Recker replied, tapping him on the arm.
“Yeah, I know, I ain’t worried about it.”
The car was locked, not that it impeded Recker much. He got out one of his many gadgets that he liked to employ and had the car unlocked in about thirty seconds.
“That must come in handy,” Gibson joked.
“Always have to be prepared,” Recker responded.
Once inside, Recker inspected both the front and back seats, as well as the glove compartment, looking for any kind of clue that would lead to Hanley’s location. Her car, though, was spotless. There was no trash, no papers in the cracks of the seat cushion, nothing that would indicate any type of struggle, or even that someone else other than her was in it. Recker sighed, thinking all along that once they found the car, that would lead them closer to finding Mia’s friend. But now that they had, they weren’t any closer at all.
“Maybe something’s in the trunk,” Gibson said.
Recker agreed and popped the trunk open. Both men walked around to the back and were instantly taken aback by what they saw. They didn’t need to look for any more clues now. Susan Hanley was dead. Her hands and feet were tied together and her mouth was gagged. Recker also noticed some blood on her, though he wasn’t exactly sure where it was coming from at first glance unless he moved her body around. He didn’t really want to do that though and possibly destroy or contaminate any evidence.
“Damn,” Gibson said. “That’s a damn shame.”
“David, you can stop what you’re working on,” Recker said, calling his partner.
“Why?” Jones asked, fearful of the answer.
“We found Susan Hanley. She was stuffed in the trunk. She’s dead.”
“Our worst fears were realized. I’ll call in an anonymous tip to the police department so they can close the case out.”
“No, I’ll figure out who did this,” Recker objected.
Jones did not like that response, however. “Michael, that’s not the business we’re in.”
“I’m in the business of helping people.”
“And there’s nothing more we can do for her. I’m sorry to say it, but she’s gone. There’s nothing we can do to change that. It’s a police matter now, let them take care of it.”
“I can do it better.”
“Perhaps. But while you’re chasing that down, three more people might get seriously hurt that you can prevent,” Jones insisted. “As far as I’m concerned, this case is over. Don’t touch anything, don’t look for anyone, just let it be.”
“I’m not real good at just letting things be,” Recker replied.
“I’m well aware. But please just listen to me on this. We’re not in the revenge game.”
Recker sighed, thinking for a minute, not really wanting to close the case, even if Jones was correct. But he knew that working to solve who killed her would take time, probably more time than he had to invest. It was just hard for him to let go of something like this, something that was more personal, even if it was only because of Mia’s involvement in it. Jones kept telling him to not pursue it further, and after several more minutes of convincing, Recker finally agreed.
“Fine, but I want to continue monitoring it,” Recker said. “If the police haven’t arrested someone in the next month or two, I’m getting back in.”
“Deal. Thank you. Do you want me to tell Mia?”
“No. I’ll do that.”
“OK. Just so you know though, we might have a new case coming. Something just popped up on my screen a few minutes ago,” Jones told him.
“OK. It’s gonna have to wait until tomorrow though.”
“Why?”
“I’m gonna need tonight off.”
“That can be arranged,” Jones replied, knowing what he was intending.
“I’m turning my phone off for the night. I need to take someone to dinner.”
Other Books
The Cain Conspiracy
The Cain Deception
The Cain Directive
The Cain Redemption
Rogue Ghost
Ghost Pursuit
Ghost Fall
The Silencer
About the author:
Mike Ryan lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, three kids, and three dogs. He is currently working on another book. He loves country music, 80s hair bands, superhero movies, and cop shows.
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