“On Minnieford Avenue in City Island,” Bud interrupted. “Yeah, I’ve stayed there many times. Haven’t been there in years though.” He squinted, “That was a great place.” He gave a shake of his head. “Small world, isn’t it?”
“It sure is.” Folding the printout in half, she tore the page on the perforated line, “Thanks. Here’s your half.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I’VE NEVER SEEN anything as heart-wrenching as the scene at the Slopers,” she said sitting across from Zach at Riley’s Beer Stop. Given her melancholy mood, she was happy he’d chosen a small mom and pop place on the outskirts of the city, but now that they were here, she wanted to leave.
“I’m sure it was. I heard through the precinct’s grapevine that they found her body in . . .” Jessie stopped listening and let his voice fade into the background. She couldn’t listen to one more goddamned condolence. And what was even more depressing was knowing Lily’s disfigured body was found in Central Park, a place that had always held a special place in her heart, but now the only thing she would see was an image of Lily. Not only had she failed at her first missing person, but she’d lost her desire to be in the department.
“Jess,” Zach jerked her hand to get her attention, “are you listening to me?”
“I’m sorry, Zach, I can’t talk about this tonight,” she said fighting back the tears. begging to release, but she forced herself to control her emotions even though she was exploding inside.
He rubbed his thumbs over the top of her hands. “Look at me.”
When she did, “Look, my heart aches for you, but you can’t let this get you down.” She lowered her head and he lifted her chin with his finger.” She drew in a long breath and slowly released it. “Do you want to leave and go back to my place?”
“Can you drop me off at my apartment?”
“Not a chance. Not when you’re feeling so bad. Talk to me, please,” he begged.
A sick feeling burned in the pit of her stomach. She nodded and lowered her head.
“Listen, Jessie, you did everything you could. From what you’ve told me from your first meeting with the Slopers, you counseled the father, but he thought he knew more than the authorities. That’s not on you or Bud. That’s on him.”
She lifted her face and placed her hand against her heart. “I don’t feel any less grief than you did for Jake.”
“I understand, sweetheart. I’m not telling you not to grieve. I’m just asking you not to blame yourself.” Zach took her two hands again and held them while staring into her eyes. “Listen,” he said, “I have no doubt, giving up control of your child’s abduction had to be one of the hardest things for a parent to do. I understand Warren Sloper’s position, but the guilt he’ll carry around for the rest of his life is going to be pure hell, and frankly, I don’t know if he’ll be able to live with himself.”
The waitress came to the table and took their order. “Two cold beers on tap,” he said holding up his fingers.
“Do you know what you want to eat?” she asked.
“Pizza?” His brows rose when he asked Jessie.
“I don’t care.” She massaged the back of her neck.
“Mmm, I think you need a massage,” he teased after the waitress left. Jessie laughed. “There’s my girl.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “So what do you say we talk about the Justin Cavanaugh’s case?”
“Do you still have the photographs?” she asked.
“Yes.” He gave her a curious look and pulled them out of the inside breast pocket of his jacket. “Why?”
“I know we talked about this, but the picture,” she said shuffling through them, “had me thinking about . . . this picture,” she said holding it up.
“Okay. But like I said, I’ll bet every kid in America has a teddy bear.”
“I was thinking today when Bud and I were researching that rather than try to finesse Abby’s recollection about her brother’s teddy bear, I’d like to be more direct.” She gave him a questionable frown. “I know it’s a random shot, but it might confirm my suspicions. What do you think?”
“Wow . . . you’re thinking Jake Thomas and Abby’s brother are one in the same?” She nodded. “Christ, Jess,” he said releasing a breath, “that would be unbelievably surreal.” He humphed, “Can you imagine if that were true?” His head cocked to the side. “I don’t know about showing her the picture though. I think that’s a little risky. You don’t want to get her hopes up. From what you’ve told me Abby has had more tragedy in her young life than most people have in a lifetime.”
“I know. And that’s how I feel about all these parents. Working in Missing Persons is the hardest job I’ve ever had in law enforcement. I think if I had children, my kids would hate me because I wouldn’t let them do anything for fear something like this would happen. And then there’s the other side of that, Jake, regardless of who he turns out to be. The horror he must have felt seeing the person he knew as his father being killed in front of his eyes, and then being yanked out of the only life he knew because of his value as a witness against the gun smugglers next door.” Zach’s hand touched her arm.
“Don’t do this, Jess. You’re all melancholy because of what happened to the Sloper kid.”. Zach bent his head slightly toward her, “Jess, I’ve never seen you like this before.”
She nodded. “I know. It’s because of the kids. I can’t handle unhappy endings when it comes to them.”
“Then you need to do something about it.”
“I know. My apprehension is because Bud and I have finally worked out our issues. When I told him I wasn’t cut out for this work he gave me one of those looks and told me if I left, he wasn’t going to be happy.” She smiled slightly. “But you’re right, I need to give this serious consideration.”
“What did you think this job was going to be like?” he asked.
“Oh hell, you know me. I always think I can solve every case.” She chugged her beer back. “I need to stop talking about this.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said tonight.” He gave her a half-smile. “Okay, then tell me about your progress with Abby’s old man.”
“Bud and I worked on it today. I think we’ve found him in New Mexico, but I can’t be sure.”
“You need to go there . . . talk to the man.”
“Webster isn’t going to let me go there. Everything I have is based on supposition—”
“Then put in for some vacation days. I’ll even go with you. What do you think?”
“I think it would be fabulous. I’m not sure how much vacationing we’ll be doing though.”
“I don’t care. I’ll have you all to myself. That’s all that matters to me. It’s going to give me time to convince you to move in with me again.”
“It’s not that I need convincing, Zach, but if I don’t stay in MP, the only other thing I want to do is homicide as your partner. But if I live with you . . .” her voice trailed off as she raised her palms in the air.
“Hey, Abby,” Jessie said entering her office. “Are you ready for lunch?”
“Yes. Give me a minute to save this document, and I’ll grab my purse and we’ll be outta here,” she said slightly upbeat. “I had a great weekend. How about you?”
“It was okay. Nothing exciting though.”
“I know, Jess. You don’t have to spare my feelings. I heard about the Sloper child.”
“So what did you do over the weekend?”
“My boyfriend, Kevin and I went to see Wicked and hung out in the city. We don’t usually do that. Not because of him, but because of me. Kevin and I met at the Doe Network organization where we volunteer. Over the course of our volunteering at the Network, we shared our stories with each other.” She grinned, “and before you know it, we found that we had a lot more in common than we knew.”
“Who did he lose?” she asked surprised.
“His cousin. They found her, but he’s still working with the organization because he
remembers how horrible it was for his aunt and uncle.”
“Did they find his cousin in one piece?” Jessie cringed. “I’m sorry. That was meant metaphorically.”
Abby grinned. “I know. I didn’t think you were being sadistic.” They ordered lunch and walked to a vacant table. “They did find her unharmed physically, but not so mentally. Quite honestly, I’m grateful no one has ever found my brother in pieces. I don’t know what I would have done—” She stopped talking. “Yes, I do know what I would have done. I would have committed suicide.”
“Don’t talk like that, Abby. None of this has been easy for you but life goes on and you have to view it that way. One thing you need to remember is that if we ever find your brother, you are the only thing he has that’s real. If you were to do something silly like end your life, he’d be all alone in this world.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right about that. Now it’s me who’s getting sadistic.”
Jessie told her all the things they’d done with the research. When she finished, Abby leaned back in the seat.
“So I guess that means we’re right back where we started,” Abby said. “A big fat nowhere.”
“I’m afraid so—at least at this point.” Jessie’s phone rang when lunch was brought to the table. “I’m sorry, Abby, I need to get this,” she said, and walked to a quiet corner when she saw it was Zach.
“Jess,” he said, “I got the kid’s DNA sample. I don’t want the Lieutenant to know that I’m getting involved so I called Ziggy, our favorite street tech who’ll get it back to us by the end of day. See if she’ll give you a sample of her DNA so we can compare.”
“Hmm, how am I going to do that without raising her suspicion?”
“You’ll think of something. Be creative. Go back and eat your lunch. Call me later.”
They disconnected. “That was work.” Jessie stabbed the salad with her fork and put it into her mouth. Trying to broach the subject of the teddy bear, she came up with what she thought might get Abby talking. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but when I was a kid, I had a favorite Raggedy Ann doll that I dragged around everywhere I went. As a matter of fact, I still have that doll, although her clothes are stained and she’s pretty warn in spots, but she still sits on my bed.” Jessie chuckled, “I’ve never shared this with anyone, so if you repeat it, I’m going to deny it.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“What about you? Did you have a favorite stuffed animal?”
“No. I didn’t, but Justin did. He had a teddy bear he did the same thing with.” She stopped talking. “Did I tell you this?”
“I don’t remember if you did,” she lied. “Do you still have it?”
“No, I don’t have it, but I’m pretty sure he does.” She gave a low laugh and played with her food. “He loved that little bear even though the ear was missing. He called it ‘Cubby.”
“Well, wherever Justin is, he has a friend with him.”
“Yeah, he does.” She smiled.
“Jess,” Zach said, “did you ask Abby about her brother’s teddy bear?”
“I did. I’m surprised she didn’t remember telling me about the bear, but she didn’t, or if she did, she figured it was my age. She said it had an ear missing. She didn’t say anything about a black circle around the eye, though.”
“That’s okay.” She heard Zach say goodbye to someone.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“Mike Guardino stopped in. You remember him, don’t you?”
“I absolutely do. How’s he doing?”
“He looks great, so I assume all is good in his life. By the way, I have Wednesday through Friday off next week. Did you ask the Lieutenant?”
“No. I haven’t yet, but I’ll do that as soon as we’re finished. You know that creative side you told me to exercise?”
“I’m listening,” he said in a low husky voice.
“When she went to the restroom, on impulse I removed her straw from her drink and wrapped it in a napkin, then stashed it inside my purse. I hope I didn’t mess it up.”
“I’m proud of you.” He sniggled. “My, my, you’re usually as straight as an arrow, a do-it-by-the-book kinda gal.” He grinned. “I think I must be rubbing off on you.”
“Apparently so.” She made a face. “The truth is, if the DNA matches the kid’s, she’s not even going to be worried about how I got it. She’ll probably think she may have had it swiped during the initial investigation.” She wrinkled her nose. “Right?”
“Right.” He laughed at her silliness. “And don’t worry about the DNA getting messed up in the napkin because we can do a test from the inside of the straw too. How’d you replace the straw before she returned?”
She laughed, “I grabbed the waitress and told her I’d dropped mine.”
“Clever.”
“Yeah, when I want to be. Okay, I’m going to ask the Lieutenant right now. Let’s drop the samples off to Ziggy before dinner, then stop for a burger or something.”
“Sounds good. I can hardly wait to see you.”
She grinned. The longer they dated, the more romantic he became and the loving words flowed from his mouth. She sighed because she loved every minute of it. “I can’t wait to see you too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
EXITING THE PLANE Jessie held onto the railing in front of Zach and made her way up the gangway into Santa Fe’s Municipal Airport.
“Feels good to be away from work, doesn’t it?” she said.
“It feels wonderful. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken time off from work, but now that we have a reason to use it, we can start using up all that time saved.”
“Have you ever been to Santa Fe before?”
“Once,” he said stepping onto the escalator. “A long time ago. I was here with a chic I was involved with. Her parents lived here.”
“Aha! Interesting. You’ve never mentioned any of your women before.”
“I don’t think it’s important for you to know, but I’m not going to lie about it either. I know your history, so I figured if we’re going to be a couple, I should come clean with my life as well.”
“I guess that means you were serious?”
“We were, but that’s ancient history and now I have what I want right next to me, and all I have to do is convince you to marry me.”
“Whoa, slow down cowboy. Remember what it was like living together?”
“I do, Jess. Given that we’re still dating, I figure maybe things have changed and we’re a little more flexible.”
“But isn’t that what we said we liked about our relationship? This was more comfortable?” Recognizing passengers from the plane, they followed the crowd to the first of three carousels to wait for their luggage.
“That’s right, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to make it work—this living together thing. We’re not getting any younger.”
Seeing his luggage drop onto the conveyer belt, Zach stepped up to the edge and pulled it down onto the floor. A few seconds later, Jessie’s dropped down. She pulled it off and snapped the handle into place, and together, they made their way through the terminal to the rental desk to pick up their car. Checking the numbers painted in bold black letters, they found their car. Zach hoisted the luggage into the trunk and slid into the drivers’ seat.
“How about we check-in first, grab a bite and scope out Alexander’s address, and then afterward . . .” he gave her the Groucho Marx hubba hubba eyes.
She changed the subject remembering that he’d told her Ziggy hadn’t finished the DNA testing. “So what happened that Ziggy doesn’t have the results yet?”
“I guess he got too busy.” Zach shrugged. “Regardless, making sure the father doesn’t have the kid stashed away with him will be satisfying. I might have a different opinion of him if that’s the case.”
“Not me. No matter what, by virtue of the fact that this bastard left a twelve-year-old daughter in City Island to fe
nd for herself with a drunkard mother speaks volumes about his character,” Jess said. “I only want to find out if he has the kid, because then I’m going to arrest his ass and throw him into jail and throw away the key.”
“Go get ‘em, Jess.”
Zach parked on Artist’s Road across from the Native Art Gallery belonging to Alexander Cavanaugh. Checking the records in city hall had given them more information than they’d expected. He and his partner, a Native American Indian, named Koda Mesquakie, had owned the gallery for five years. Jessie wondered what he’d done for the first two years after Justin had been abducted.
“Are you ready to go inside?”
“Yep. Here, look at his picture again so we recognize the dirt-bag.” Zach pulled the handle to open the door to the gallery, and together, they entered. Alexander was the first to approach them.
“Good afternoon, folks.”
They played it cool for a while waiting to strike up a conversation. “Good afternoon.”
“I think I’m hearing a little bit of New York in that voice,” he said with a smile. “Is that where you’re from?”
“It is. How about you?” she asked.
“I lived there several years ago—moved here to live a different life than I had before. Is this your first time to Santa Fe?”
“It is for me,” Jessie said. “We’re really thinking about moving here and starting fresh, away from the busy streets of Manhattan. I’m not sure I can handle the culture shock though.”
“It is different. I’ll give you that. But once you get used to the winters, it’s smooth sailing. The winters are horrific, but the summers are glorious.”
“How long did it take you and your family to adjust to this new lifestyle?” Zach asked.
“Oh. I don’t have family here. It’s only me. It was difficult at first, but I needed to leave the city. Too many bad memories there for me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”
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