“89, PD, Detective Barton and I will be en route to the Gilbert construction site on West and 14th. Please advise Detective Maxwell that Jeff Gilbert was not at home. His mother told us he has been working with his father and would be there on site.
“10-4, 89. Did you copy that, 15?” Sandy wanted to make sure Connor had heard where Barton and Harris were heading.
“Copy that,” Connor said. Pulling over his car, he dialed Beth’s cell phone, which went straight to voice mail. He thought that was odd, knowing this was Beth’s day off.
As he hung up and reached to put the car back into drive, the phone rang again. The caller ID said it was reporter Candy Martin.
“Connor, this is…”
“I know who it is,” Connor said.
“Well, hello to you, too. Someone piss in your Wheaties this morning?”
Connor was in no mood to talk to Candy, or to any reporter for that matter. “Listen, I’m busy right now,” Connor gruffly said and started to disconnect the call.
“Wait, Connor, we have Kate’s photo running as a missing person. I’m only trying to help.”
“Thanks,” Connor said.
“Please keep us updated and let us know if there’s anything we at the station can do,” said Candy.
“Will do.”
It had been two days since Kate had gone missing. The DA finally came on board, setting aside the fact that Jeff Gilbert came from a wealthy, prominent family with the highest priced attorney in the state.
Connor sat in the squad room, watching the tiny TV screen as Candy Martin reported live from the Gilbert home. Mrs. Gilbert pleaded to the camera for Jeff to do the right thing: to turn himself in and not do any harm.
“Do no harm,” Connor said aloud. “I think she’s a little late for that discussion.”
The camera showed a photo of Kate, then a photo of Jeff along with the number for the tip hotline. The camera panned back to Candy, who told viewers that if they had seen or knew the whereabouts of either Kate or Jeff, they should call the number at the bottom of the screen. She then read the number for the TV viewers.
Connor glanced around his and Kate’s office. It had become a war room of sorts. There were maps with colored pushpins. Red pins were positive, confirmed sightings. Blue pins were sightings too vague to confirm.
The elevator chimed. Deputy David Smith walked in and headed straight for Connor’s desk. “I have something for you,” Deputy Smith said, tossing an offense/incident report on Connor’s desk.
Connor set down his coffee cup. “A wreck? Deputy, I don’t do accidents. You need to see the patrol division downstairs.”
“This isn’t just any wreck, Detective.” Deputy Smith opened the report, turned it toward Connor, and pointed at the name. Connor saw “Jeff Gilbert” and quickly sat forward.
“The Hampton murder happened that same night, within about thirty minutes of this wreck. I saw his photo on the BOLO and knew I recognized the name and the face. It took me a minute to put it all together. Then I had to pull the reports. He wasn’t in the clothes you mentioned in your report, but he could have changed.” Deputy Smith pulled up a chair, waiting for Connor’s response.
“Once he got in the wreck, he must have chosen this place as his dumping ground. We found IDs as well as other things out there,” Connor said, looking over the full report.
“Isn’t this also where he abducted Detective Stroup?” Deputy Smith inquired.
“Yes.” Connor looked across at the empty desk and chair where Kate usually sat. “Yes, it is.”
“How the hell did he overpower her?” Deputy Smith asked.
“We don’t know. She never should’ve gone out there alone in the first place. The caller told her it was his attorney’s office wanting to clear up some details. I assume she thought she was simply going out there to meet with his attorney or an assistant.”
A call coming in on his desk phone interrupted Connor. He signaled to the deputy to wait as he took the call.
“What! Why in the H-E-L-L didn’t they report this sooner?” Connor raised his voice as he slammed down the receiver and shook his head.
Rubbing his hand through the stubble on his face, Connor stood, walked over to the white board, and pulled Ellie’s photo off it. He quickly made a copy and handed it to Deputy Smith.
“What’s this?”
Connor grabbed his sport coat. “The vic’s girlfriend is missing. They think since the same day Kate turned up missing,” Connor said, heading toward the elevator.
Sundae and Deputy Smith followed him.
As the men entered the elevator, Smith asked, “You think he has both women?”
“Her parents live out of town. When they reported Ellie missing, they said she calls them every day. The last call was two days ago. They called her workplace and were told she hadn’t been in or called in for two days. You do the math, Deputy. Have your deputies look for her, too. Oh, and thank you for the copy of the report.”
Connor quickly stopped at the dispatcher’s desk and handed the photo to the dispatcher.
“After you do a BOLO on her, would you have someone put the photo back on my desk? Her physical details are in my initial reports. Also let the Hampton family know. They live out of state. Request a welfare check on them from the local PD and ask the PD to place a car at their house if they can, in case this maggot has really slipped a cog. I’ll be heading to Ellie’s house.”
Deputy Smith stopped Connor. “Do you think the girlfriend and Gilbert could be working this thing together?”
“In this line of work, I’ve learned to never discount anything.”
Connor started through the door, then turned back to the dispatcher. “Also, please try calling Beth Ellis. I’ve been trying to reach her since…” Connor stopped and thought to himself. Surely Gilbert couldn’t have been brazen enough to take three women. Then he remembered that this was the same man who had walked into a house with three people in it and killed the victim, execution style, in his bed.
“Just please call the profiler and ask her to call me ASAP!”
Chapter 27
Connor, Sundae, and Detectives Barton and Harris found the back door to Ellie’s home unlocked and open. They saw signs of a struggle. Two chairs in the kitchen had been overturned. Droplets of blood dotted the floor and the side of the white kitchen cabinet. Ellie had put up a fight – or so it appeared.
Connor quickly called dispatch to have them check on Ellie’s daughter. When dispatch called back to say that Ellie’s daughter was safely with her father, Sam Peters, Connor requested a uniformed patrol by the Peters’ house. Dispatch conveyed to Connor that Ellie had called her daughter each evening when the daughter had visitation with her father, but had not done so the last two days. Sam had thought it odd, but he didn’t bother to call anyone. Also, dispatch said to let Connor know that they had made contact with Beth Ellis, the profiler, and that she was okay.
“Have there been any demands?” Bob asked.
“Nothing.” Connor sat, thinking while surveying the kitchen. “You said that when you and Grant went to the Gilbert office, Jeff’s car was parked in the employee parking lot, but he wasn’t there, right?”
“That’s correct,” Bob said.
“Did you ask if any of the company vehicles were missing?”
“Already checked. Everything was accounted for,” Grant said.
Connor reached for his phone and called dispatch on speaker.
“Can you check on whether any rental cars, vans, or trucks were reported missing on the day of the abductions?” Connor asked.
Sandy looked through her logs for the date. “Nothing,” she replied regretfully. “But let me…” She looked at the following day’s entries, then saw it. “Wait. The day after the abduction, an SUV wasn’t returned. Patrol unit 55 found it on the outskirts of town.”
“Where?” Connor asked.
Sandy read the location. “Ninety-Eighth Street.”
“Ninety-Eight
h. Isn’t that where Warehouse Row is?”
Warehouse Row was the nickname the officers had given the area. There was row upon row of warehouses, some in use and others abandoned and boarded up.
“Sandy, send me the rental car company’s contact info. They may have video from when the SUV was leased. We’d be able to see who leased it. Has the patrol officer submitted his report on the SUV he found?”
The line was silent. Then Sandy came back on. “No, he hasn’t turned in the report and officer 55 is off duty today.”
All three detectives shook their heads.
“Call his cell phone. We need any info he has on this, ASAP! Oh, Sandy, thank you.”
Seconds later, Connor received a text from Sandy with the contact information for the rental car location.
“I’m going over to the rental car place. Would you two go back to the Gilberts’ business and find out if they have a warehouse in Warehouse Row? Maybe that’s where he’s holding the women,” Connor said.
“We’ll lock this up,” said Grant as Connor headed out to the rental car business.
Connor looked at his watch. It was getting close to five, and he didn’t know whether anyone would be there to look up past rentals after that time. He rushed through traffic.
“Welcome to Easy Rentals. I’ll be right with you,” the agent said with a big smile.
Connor removed his badge from his belt. “Lakewood Police. I need to know if you can look up who rented the SUV that was abandoned the day after its rental.”
The lady at the head of the line let out an audible sigh and gave Connor a disgusted look. “Honey, he said he’ll be right with you,” the woman said.
“I heard him.”
The agent glanced back and forth between Connor and the woman as though he were watching a tennis match.
“Is that a service dog?” The lady looked at Sundae and pointed.
The hair on Sundae’s back stood up and she growled at the woman.
“Lady, honestly…”
The agent interrupted Connor. “You’ll have to go to our office on 6th Street. That’s where we keep all our rental records, Officer.” The agent turned his attention back to the anxious lady in line.
Connor turned and left, looking at his wristwatch. He should have asked the agent for their office hours; however, the rude customer had really gotten under his skin. Once again, Connor weaved in and out of traffic, making every attempt to get there before 5:00.
“You didn’t like that woman very much either, did you Sundae?” Connor chuckled, knowing that Sundae had simply been giving a warning when the woman had suddenly raised her hand.
Connor pulled into the driveway of Easy Rentals on 6th at exactly 4:55. He ran to the door and pulled on the handle, but the door refused to open. He looked down and saw the gold leaf lettering on the glass door: “Hours of operation, 9:00 to 4:00.” Connor ran to the back of the building, praying that someone was working late. The parking lot was as empty as a toy store’s shelves on Christmas Eve.
Connor walked back to his car. The first twenty-four hours of any kidnapping were the most important. It was now forty-eight hours without any contact or demands. What kind of monster was Jeff Gilbert and what was he capable of doing?
Chapter 28
The windows were clouded with a coating that consisted of years of age, dirt, and weather. They resembled the frosted glass of a shower stall more than they did safety glass, as one could barely make out the wire mesh embedded into the safety panels. Nonetheless, Jeff could tell it was still daylight because he knew the panels became black at night.
His hair was dirty and in disarray. He hadn’t shaved in the past two days and he kept rubbing the stubble on his face, as he was not used to having facial hair. He paced the large building like a madman, back and forth.
Why didn’t Ellie like him? He couldn’t understand. What had she seen in Bud Hampton? Even with Bud out of the way, she wanted nothing to do with him. She had glared at him with hostility and anger when he’d showed up at her door. He’d had to take her forcefully from her house. If only Bud hadn’t gotten in their way, he wouldn’t have had to do what he did that night. Nor would he have done what he did the other day. It was all Bud’s fault. The thought made him angrier.
“No!” Jeff yelled like a crazy man. He had to put the rest of his plan into action. Now it was time to make contact with the Lakewood Police Department. He had made them wait long enough.
Jeff assured himself that he was in control. Once he completed his plan, Ellie would have no choice but to love him. Bud was dead and Brad had lost his career when he had become the focus of a murder investigation. Besides, he had another girlfriend, but that wouldn’t matter. Tonight, he and Ellie would be jetting across the ocean.
Connor was sitting at his desk, waiting for a call from Barton and Harris, when his phone rang.
“Maxwell,” Connor answered as he picked up the handset.
It was Sandy, the dispatcher.
“Connor, first I want to let you know that the FBI is here and they and our guys are already tracing this call.” She paused, then continued.“I think this may be the call you’ve been waiting for…Jeff Gilbert.”
“Put him on.”
The line was silent for a few seconds. “Sir, go ahead. I have Detective Maxwell on the line for you,” Sandy said, then disconnected her line.
“Detective Maxwell, it seems I have what you’re looking for.”
There was silence on the phone. Connor knew the longer he could keep Jeff on the line, the better the chance that they could trace where the call was coming from.
“Looking for…who is this?” Connor played dumb. The elevator chimed as Bob Barton and Grant Harris walked in. Connor motioned for them to be quiet and to pick up the other line to listen in.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Detective. You know I have your little companion cop. I have to say, she’s quite pretty, too.”
Connor looked at the wall clock. He wrote a note asking Detective Harris to find out if the FBI and IT people had a location on this SOB yet. Harris jumped up and left the room.
“I want to talk to her,” Connor demanded.
“I’m sure you do,” Jeff said as he chuckled. “That simply isn’t going to happen.” Jeff felt the power and control.
Harris returned to the room with a printed note. “Feds are here; they have their equipment on the line with our guys, nothing yet.”
Connor shrugged his shoulders as if to ask why. Harris just shook his head.
“So, here’s what I want. Got a paper, Detective? I don’t want you to forget any of this.” Jeff wiped the sweat from his face.
“Go ahead…Jeff, what is it you want?”
Jeff began pacing again. He hadn’t taken any of his antipsychotic medication in two days and he was becoming edgier.
“I want three million dollars from my dad. All one-hundred-dollar bills. No consecutive or marked bills. I want my dad’s private jet and pilot. Is that understood? I want all this by tonight.”
Jeff was sweating profusely now. His arms became more animated as he spoke. “I’m waiting, Detective.”
“Jeff, we need time to get in touch with your dad. Plus, the banks are all closed by now. There’s no way…”
Connor was interrupted by Jeff’s angry outburst. “You stupid cop! All of you are dumb, dumb, dumb! I know the banks are closed. My dad has that much and more in the home safe.”
Connor raised his eyebrows at Bob. Both men were thinking, ‘Who keeps that much money in a home safe?’
“Jeff, we need you to guarantee that if we do what you want, we’ll get Kate and Ellie back safely,” Connor said.
“You’ll get Kate back. Not Ellie. She’s mine! Does your little cop brain understand that?”
Connor looked over at Harris, who was on the phone across the room. In large letters, Connor wrote, “Do they have anything?”
Harris shook his head no.
“I understand, Jeff. Just tell m
e where and when.”
“Take a taxi to my father’s private hangar at the Lakewood airport. I want your cop dog to bring me the money. Is that understood?” Jeff demanded.
“Jeff, my beagle couldn’t carry that much money.”
“So have it drag the money. Put it in a damn wagon if you have to. If any cops show up, the mutt gets it first, then the lady cop. Eight o’clock tonight.”
Jeff disconnected the call and smiled. He knew by that night, he and Ellie would be on their honeymoon far, far away from Lakewood. Far from her ex-husband and that kid of theirs.
“Call the Gilberts. Tell them Jeff’s demands and see if we can put this all together in…” Connor looked at the wall clock. “Two hours.” Getting up, he headed to the elevator.
“Where are you going?” Bob asked.
“Downstairs to the FBI and our IT guys. I want to see if they’re using two tin cans and string to trace this call.”
Connor burst into the IT department and found more men in black or blue suits than Macy’s had on their racks.
“What the…” Connor said as one of the men in a black suit grabbed him by the arm.
“Detective, I understand you’re all under stress here,” FBI Agent Young said. “We did everything possible, but that call was bounced off not one but twenty cell towers. There was no way we could trace the call. Whoever this guy is, he either knows phone systems or paid someone to do that.”
Chapter 29
Connor walked back into the squad room with Agent Young and introduced him to both Barton and Harris.
“Connor, we didn’t have a chance to tell you that the Gilberts weren’t home. We waited there for an hour to find out about the warehouse. No one showed up,” said Bob, knowing this was going to add even more stress to the situation.
“We can assume Jeff knows what his dad’s pilot looks like. I have my men in touch with your people. Because he’s a licensed pilot, we can find out who he is. I need all the intel you’ve gathered on the Gilberts so I can have my people locate them,” Agent Young said.
In a Split Second Page 9