“Wyatt here,” he said, noticing the call was from Detective Finch.
“Tony Langford has been found dead.”
16
So that will be our menu for the open house. Any other suggestions?” Kate stood at the end of a long table with the girls who had wanted to help make the food.
“Oh, I forgot all about the no-bake cookies I used to have as a little girl. I’d like to have some of those. I’d like to make them,” Beth said.
Kate wrote that on the white dry eraser board. “Anything else?” Turning, she looked at each of the eight girls who had volunteered for this job. “Then we are set on what we will serve. This is your open house. I want to showcase you all even if you decide not to participate that day.”
The students filed out of the classroom while Kate jotted down what they had suggested. When she sensed someone near her, she glanced up and smiled. “I’m glad you have decided to help cook, Cynthia. I understand you are quite good.”
The teen shifted her gaze away from Kate and murmured, “I love to cook.”
“So do I. On one of the cook’s days off, we’ll have to make something for the girls.”
Cynthia looked straight at her. “I’d like that.”
“So would I.” Kate gathered up her pad and pencil and started for the door.
Cynthia hung back.
Kate turned toward her. “Is there something else you want to talk to me about?”
“I don’t know if this means anything, but I remember Rose talking to me about when she was growing up, she had trouble getting to sleep because of the planes that flew so low over her house some of the time.”
“It might. I’ll pass the info on to Ranger Sheridan.”
Cynthia shuffled past Kate. “I’m scared it’s too late even if it could help.”
“I’m not giving up hope we’ll find Rose. As long as we haven’t heard anything otherwise, there is room for hope.” Out in the hallway, Kate shut the door to the classroom. “The Lord gave us the ability to hope. It’s a precious gift. Without it people would give up. Once you give up, it’s over.”
“Then I’ll pray Rose has hope wherever she is.”
“Me, too.”
“Tyler, I’m glad you called. I’ve missed you.” Maddie looked at her wall calendar with five Xs drawn through the days since she last saw him. “School is starting soon and I figure you’ll be so busy . . .” She was making a mess of this. She sounded too needy. Biting her bottom lip, she shifted her cell to the other ear.
“Kelly told me what happened with your dad. I was afraid to call and get you in more trouble. I miss talking to you.”
She dropped back on her bed and stared up at the white ceiling. “I’m glad you called. Dad hasn’t restricted my calls. I just can’t go anywhere for another week and a half.”
“That long?”
The disappointment in Tyler’s voice brought all of Maddie’s anger at her dad to the foreground again. She was so bored she could scream and she might when she got off the phone. “Yeah, he was pretty ticked off at me.”
“I want to see you. Is there any way?”
“I wish. I—”
“Oh, Maddie, I’ve got to go. Chad’s here. There’s an orientation at school. I have to be there. Talk to you later.”
“Bye,” she said to the dial tone.
She clicked off and tossed the phone onto her covers. He was going to be at school with all his classmates while she was stuck here in her room doing nothing. Her cell phone was an old kind without access to the Internet and no games on it. She could only make calls using it. Boring. Then to add insult to everything, her father had taken her computer out of her room. He said she would get it back when she started classes in a few days. Until then, she was going crazy. The only time she could leave the house was to take care of Star in the morning while her dad was at the ranch. And, what was worse, for once her grandmother was following her son’s dictates. She seemed to barely think about Maddie. She was so wrapped up in her new guy, Jack.
Maddie turned over and pounded her fists into her pillow. It was a good thing her dad was working a lot lately. She might say something to him that would get her in more trouble.
“Why did ya say that to her?” Brad grabbed his latte from the clerk and made his way to a table in the front of the coffee shop that had a view of people walking by in the mall. “We don’t have any junior orientation. We don’t have anything to do but hang out here.”
“I know that. It’s a ploy to keep Maddie guessing about my intentions.” Gregory chuckled and sat. “I can’t appear too eager to see her all the time, especially if I’m gonna persuade her to run away, to meet with me against her father’s wishes. I’ll give her another day of silence, and she’ll be calling me, begging to see me.”
“Are Kelly and Maddie going to be part of the San Antonio cargo? If not, we still need two more to fill that order.”
“King hasn’t made up his mind yet about Kelly. Yes, to Maddie, but I need to get her away from the ranch. Things are heating up and King wants to take the ranger’s mind off the case.”
“Okay, then we need to scout out another girl.”
“Yeah, the younger the better.”
Brad nodded toward two teenage girls. “How about one of them? I think the blond would work. Let me do this one. I could use more money.”
“Sure.”
Brad scraped back his chair and threaded his way through the tables to the exit. Gregory leaned back and watched his protégée make his move on the girl, probably no more than fourteen. Brad’s thirty thousand dollar gambling debt would keep him working for a long time—at least until he could no longer lure young girls.
He observed Brad stroll out of a store at just the right moment so that the blond teen collided with him. Gregory’s cell went off. “Littleton here.”
“Have you found another girl yet?” His uncle asked.
“Working on it. Why not Kelly?”
“I’ve found it’s easier to take one at a time. Keeping a girl separated from anyone she knows is better too.”
“So Maddie is still slated for San Antonio.”
“Yeah, those girls won’t be staying in the United States long. Perfect revenge for Ranger Sheridan for sticking his nose into my business. Son, when someone strikes you, you have to strike back. Hurt him where it counts.”
“Of course,” Gregory hung up and slipped his cell back into his pocket. When his father went to prison eleven years ago, his uncle took him in and raised him. There was no one else in his family who would. He would do anything for King. He was the father he never had.
“The firefighters pulled Tony out of the warehouse before he was burned so we were able to ID him.” Detective Finch walked toward the stretcher where a body bag lay and unzipped it.
The stench wafted to Wyatt. Not something he hadn’t smelled before, but he was glad it wasn’t a charred corpse. At least now they knew what happened to Tony. “Any idea what the cause of death is?”
“No knife wounds, gunshots, or obvious blunt force. I suppose it could have been smoke inhalation, but I don’t think he would lie there and not try to get out. The firefighters said he was lying on the cement floor of the warehouse in the corner behind a stack of crates. That doesn’t sound like someone trying to get out of a burning building.”
“Let me know as soon as the medical examiner determines cause. Do you think the crime was committed here?” Wyatt waved toward the partially burned building, one of several deserted warehouses in this part of town.
“Probably not. If so, we may never know. The place is a mess. If an anonymous person hadn’t called the fire in, this warehouse would have been destroyed. When the fire department got here, it was going fast.”
“Do we know who called 9-1-1?”
Finch lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “He didn’t stick around, but this area has its share of bums. I’ll have some officers canvas the ones they can find and see if anyone will admit to calling 9-1
-1 or seeing anything connected to the dead body. We’ll check the company who owns these warehouses, but I suspect it will be a dead end.”
“Yeah, from the looks of the other two, not much security around here.” Wyatt noted the broken windows and one door ajar on the building next to the destroyed warehouse.
“I’ll continue to dig into Tony’s background. Find out who he has been working for. Check with his neighbors.” Finch zipped up the body bag.
“Whoever killed Tony, cleared out his house. That will make it more difficult, especially following the money trail.”
“Someone probably has seen something we can use. Some unusual activity at his place. He lived there for almost two years. The bad thing is that he paid his rent in cash.”
“Do you think he did everything in cash?”
“Possibly. There might not be much of a money trail to follow.”
The tension in his neck gripped it in a viselike hold. Wyatt kneaded the taut cords. “The news is just getting better and better. The matches didn’t lead anywhere. No one had seen Tony at the bar. While you concentrate on him, I’m going to continue trying to track down where Rose lived before she got caught up in the prostitution ring.”
“Daniel is looking into the Liz Taylor connection at the college. Let’s hope one of these pans out for us.”
“Yes. I’m heading to Beacon of Hope. I need to find a locker that goes with a key. At least that’s what I think it is. We checked the bus stations nearby. Nothing.”
“You think it’s near Beacon of Hope somewhere.”
“I’m starting there then checking out the area where Zarah was last picked up. Otherwise, it could be anywhere in Dallas.”
“That’s a big haystack.”
“And a tiny needle.” Wyatt withdrew the key—too small for a door. “If you come up with any ideas, I’m open to them.” He strode toward his truck, his ring tone blaring. Seeing the call was from Kate, he quickly answered. “Hi, I was telling Detective Finch I was on my way to see you.”
“You are?”
“Yep. I was going to start at Beacon of Hope and work outward, trying to come up with a place that has lockers.”
“For Zarah’s key? With all that has been happening, I’d forgotten about that. I’m going to ask some of the girls. One of them might know where she could have gotten a locker.”
“They seem to open up to you better than me. Anything to narrow down where to look would be great.”
“The reason I called is that Cynthia thought of something else that might help you in finding Rose’s parents. She once told Cynthia that she used to have a hard time getting to sleep because of the planes that flew overhead.”
“So Rose lived near an airport. That might help when trying to exclude people who died in a fire. Tell her thanks from me.”
“I’ll let you tell her. I think it will be great coming from you. See you soon.”
When he slid into the cab of his truck, he caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror and the grin that spread across his face like some teenage boy in love. He couldn’t be in love. There was no time or place in his life for love. At a stoplight, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, he tried to visualize Rebecca in his mind. The image wavered and vanished.
As he neared Beacon of Hope, his thoughts filled with Kate. Her smile that encompassed her whole face. Her eyes that twinkled when she was happy. The sound of her voice when she talked about the girls she was trying to help—full of dedication and love for her job and the people she worked with.
Maybe his mother was right. Nine years of mourning his dead wife was enough. Was it time to move on? But then, that advice came from a woman who had been married multiple times and still hadn’t found a man who made her forget all others.
The sight of the place up ahead made him smile in spite of himself. Knowing Kate, she would be near the foyer waiting for him. After he parked, that thought spurred his steps faster. He needed a bright spot in a tough day.
As he thought, Kate stood talking to Audrey in the foyer. The animation on Kate’s face told him she had more good news for him. Did Audrey know where Zarah would have found a locker?
“Good afternoon,” Kate said with a big grin. “Audrey may be able to help you. She remembers Zarah talking about the recreational center. She was thinking of going over there and swimming. Audrey doesn’t know if Zarah ever did, but she’s pretty sure they have lockers in the dressing rooms.”
“She never actually said she went swimming?” Wyatt asked Audrey.
The girl shook her head. “On our free afternoons she would sign out, but I know for a fact she didn’t go where she said she was. Once I went to the same place as she had signed out for and she never came. I don’t know where she went.” Audrey swung her attention to Kate. “I’m sorry. I know I should have said something, but I had to share a room with her. She was difficult at best. I didn’t want to have to deal with her if she found out I ratted her out.”
“How often do the girls have a free afternoon?”
“They earn them up to one a week, and there were stipulations of how they could use them. Zarah only earned a few of them in the months she was here.”
Wyatt turned to Audrey. “Is that the rec center in connection with Oiler Park?”
“Yes. I did see her once in the park. I don’t know where she had signed out to go.”
“Thanks, Audrey. This might really help us. It’s a place to start looking.”
Beaming, Audrey ascended the stairs to the second floor.
“Let’s go see if the key fits a locker.” Kate started for the door.
“You’re going?”
She paused near the entrance. “You bet. I was with you when we found the key. I want to know as much as you what she could have hidden in a locker.”
He held up the key. “If this fits a locker. We don’t know for sure.”
“Have faith. We’ve got to have a break soon.”
“We. You keep saying that.” He covered the space between them and opened the door.
“That’s because I have a stake in this investigation. I owe it to Rose to find her.”
“You don’t owe her anything except to keep yourself and these girls safe.”
“As long as that prostitution ring is working out there, we aren’t safe, especially young girls in the area.”
“The sad thing is if we shut down this one organization there will be another to fill the gap.”
“Every time you put these criminals away, you send a message to the bad guys.”
He climbed into his truck. “I know. I can’t stop, but sometimes it’s discouraging.”
“One step at a time, Ranger Sheridan.”
Ten minutes later, the woman who ran the rec center showed Wyatt and Kate into the women’s locker room. “We have several people who come regularly and leave their clothing here for a workout. Most are used for just a few hours while they are here.”
“So you don’t know if a locker is being used on a regular basis or only one time?” Wyatt scanned the three rows of lockers with one on top and the other on bottom—about ninety lockers in total.
“We haven’t had any complaints. So long as things run smoothly, I don’t see any reason to monitor them. That takes manpower we don’t have with budget cuts. We’ve always had the option of cutting the lock off if need be.”
Wyatt opened his hand to show the woman the key. “Would this fit one of your lockers?”
The young woman swept her arm to indicate the three rows. “Most have a combination, but I think there are a few that need a key. Feel free to check them all out.”
“Any with 5RB on it?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
Wyatt walked down the first row while Kate took the last one. He found one locker that required a key to unlock. When he fit his into its slot, it didn’t go all the way in. He moved on until he heard Kate call him.
On the bottom of the last row Kate stooped in front of one.
He passed the key to her, and she tried it. It went in but wouldn’t turn.
“She’s right. Most of these are combination locks.” Kate rose.
“I know. This shouldn’t take too long.” Wyatt rounded the corner and examined the lockers on one side of the middle row while Kate took the other.
Five minutes later, Wyatt pocketed the key, disappointed. “I thought this might be the place.”
“So did I. I thought Audrey was on to something.”
Wyatt thanked the woman who ran the center and left with Kate. Out in the parking lot next to the building, he stood at his truck and made a slow circle. “Where do we go next? You know this area better than I do.”
“If Zarah hid it recently, then it should be near Beacon of Hope. She wouldn’t have a lot of time or money to go very far. Let’s drive around. Move outward from our building.”
Two blocks from Beacon of Hope, Kate leaned forward and pointed toward a large structure on the left. “The Striker’s Bowling Lanes. About a month ago, we came over here one afternoon and bowled. The girls had fun. I think they have lockers in their restrooms—at least the women’s. She might have used one of them.”
“Did Zarah come?”
“Yes.” Kate tilted her head and thought a moment. “I remember Zarah being unusually quiet. When she came back, she said she got sick in the restroom but was fine now.”
Wyatt made a sharp left turn into the lot next to the bowling alley. When they entered the building, he pressed the key into Kate’s hand. “You go in and check the women’s restroom for lockers. I’m going to talk with the people who work here. See if they remember Zarah coming here recently.”
As Kate made her way toward the restroom, Wyatt strolled up to the large round counter in the middle of the bowling alley. The workers had a good view of both sides of the building’s sixty lanes. Some teenage boys were playing video games in the room off the main hallway. The aroma of French fries and hamburgers saturated the place and stirred his hunger.
Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1 Page 22