Where Secrets Lie

by R E Gauthier

  “Either Kelsey and I disguised, or two women FBI agents from the East Lansing office will be surveilling the apartment. We have two exact beat-up vans with the same license plates that we’ll have set up in front of the apartment building. We’re sending two FBI agents masquerading as cable service technicians to install the sound, video, and silent alarm in the apartment building once you get inside. We’ll be watching you from inside and outside of the apartment.”

  “If Paul Washburg comes to you, we’ll have every entrance from many angles covered. He won’t be able to get to you without us seeing him.” Kelsey put a hand on Deb’s shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. “You’ll be safe.”

  “Could he attempt to get into the apartment building disguised as someone other than Kyle Nolan?”

  Kelsey had brought up that definite possibility earlier to Nikki, and that was why they had come up with the plan to work only with women. Paul Washburg might be skilled in making elaborate disguises, but he wasn’t capable of covering up his obvious masculinity. The East Lansing FBI office emailed Nikki photos of two special agents they would make available for implementing their trap. Special Agents Maria Gillis and Susan Lambert were two petite, young agents that wouldn’t be easy for a man like Paul Washburg to impersonate. “We’ve planned for that eventuality if Washburg uses another male disguise or sends a woman to make contact with you; you are to stay inside the apartment. You’re not to open the door to anyone but myself, Nikki, Torres, or agents Gillis and Lambert, is that understood?”

  Deb nodded. “So, can we get started?”

  Nikki and Kelsey exchanged looks. Kelsey saw the affirmation in her best friend’s eyes. “Nikki can you call—”

  “I’m already on it. The FBI technicians will be at the apartment installing the video cameras momentarily.” Nikki tapped an entry on her cell phone. “All set. The apartment manager will be expecting them. He thinks the landlord has ordered added security cameras.”

  Smiling, Kelsey asked, “and the van?”

  Nikki made a few more entries on her phone. “The agents are in place.”

  Deb whistled. “I knew when you worked the Baltimore case, the two of you worked seamlessly, but I had no idea you were so…”

  Kelsey chuckled. “Nikki is the tech-wiz and can do everything; I just make her look good.”

  “Not so Mack, without your gift we’d still be in Pittsburgh and have no idea that Washburg had another victim in his sights.”

  Kelsey lifted one eyebrow and sent Nikki a warning glare. She gulped down a few breaths. She didn’t think that moment was the time or the place to divulge the fact that Kelsey used anything but the usual investigative skills to find Paul Washburg. Shaking her head slightly, Kelsey said, “what Nikki is trying to say is that we work well together.”

  Nikki nodded. “Okay, now let’s make sure you have everything. Where are Ashley’s purse and jacket? If Washburg is watching us, we want it to look like you’re leaving for home and you leave with your purse and jacket.”

  Happy that Deb didn’t seem to notice anything off, Kelsey asked Deb again what she was to do if she thought her cover might be blown. After hearing the same concise reply, Kelsey said, “if all goes well, we’ll be going home soon.” Inwardly, Kelsey hoped for the swiftest conclusion even if that meant Washburg died for real this time; it mattered not to her as long as they stopped the bastard.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Village Inn Motel, Holt, Early Evening, March 13, 2012

  Nikki returned from dropping Deb off at Ashley Foster’s apartment. Entering the motel room, she threw off the wig and ball cap. “How do people wear these things? It’s itchy and hot.”

  Kelsey smiled. Wearing a wig wasn’t a skill someone could learn, and she and Nikki had not been disguised often in their undercover assignments. “I bet, I’m not looking forward to wearing mine for any length of time, but we cannot risk Washburg recognizing us. Other than the hot an itchy wig; how did it go?”

  “I made a few circles around the block looking for anything that looked out of place. Gillis and Lambert’s surveillance van blends in well. We’ll get ours delivered here in a few hours. Our shift to watch Deb starts at 7 am.”

  Nodding, Kelsey said, “Torres should be here by then. I’ve thought we should contact Detective Roland Watters and see if we can track Kyle Nolan’s movements before he went missing.”

  Nikki seemed to be thinking before she responded. “I can search through CCTV footage in the area of his apartment.”

  “Exactly. I thought since Watters seemed to take to you, you could work with him.”

  Nikki frowned. “But if I do that, I won’t be available if something goes wrong with the video and audio equipment. Besides, wouldn’t it be better to have people Deb has met watching her?”

  Kelsey knew she would get some resistance to her plan. Her main reason to ask Nikki to work with Detective Watters was so that she didn’t have to work with him. Kelsey also thought it was best that there was space between Deb and Nikki. The reason she used to sway Nikki had more to do with her best friend’s need to control the forensic side of the investigation. “Deb is familiar working with a team, and she has seen pictures of Torre and knows of her. I think you should work with Watters so that you can use your expertise on the CCTV footage to enhance identities, and maybe you can use that new gadget; what did you call it?”

  Nikki smiled and puffed out her chest. She looked excited. “You think we could use my W.H.I.P?”

  Kelsey knew the program had an anagram but couldn’t remember the exact name. “Yes, maybe you can use it to identify Paul Washburg. Didn’t you say it can measure the weight and height of a person through an analysis of the measurements and comparing them to background objects’ mass and measurement?”

  “In the simplest form, yes. Weight Height Integration Program uses an algorithm that integrates the measurements of any person in an image and will estimate that person’s weight and height. I’ve been fiddling with it, but I haven’t used it in a practical setting yet.”

  Knowing Nikki wouldn’t be able to resist trying out her new toy, Kelsey thought, it would push Nikki into wanting to work with Detective Watters. “I’d much rather have you beside me in the van watching Deb, but your expertise is needed to find a lead we can pursue to nail Washburg.” Kelsey hoped that Nikki wouldn’t see her ploy. “We need to find Kyle’s body, and once we do, the forensic analysis will be crucial to finding the evidence to put Paul Washburg away forever.”

  “About that, I made a call last night to the Richmond Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit. I wanted to see if they could look for specific correlations between the fire at the storage facility and Wilker’s Senior Retirement Home.”

  “See what I mean? We need you looking for the forensic evidence, and once we find some, you’re the best to analyze it. Besides, we also need you to use your tech skills to search for how Washburg found Ashley. We haven’t had the time, but now that we have Ashley tucked away safely, we can work to find culpability; we don’t want Washburg to get away this time.”

  Nodding, Nikki closed her eyes, then said, “okay, I’ll do it.”

  Satisfied that she had Nikki’s focus on working to find out what happened to Kyle Nolan, Kelsey decided to go out for something to eat. “While you call Detective Watters and use your charm to let you work with him, I’m going to go get something to eat. Is there something you’d prefer?”

  “As much as I like eating junk food on occasion, it’s growing old fast. Is there a place around here that serves home cooking?”

  “That’s your area of expertise as well; you search for a restaurant that does home cooking, and I’ll go put on my wig. Be prepared that we may not find the kind of home cooking you’re in the mood for.”

  “Do you think we could have Nanna or Miranda come here and cook for us?”

  Chuckling, Kelsey shook her head. “As much as that sounds tempting, I’m afraid we may need to accept diner food. Your missi
on, if you except it, will be to find a restaurant that serves anything that isn’t deep-fried or processed beyond recognition.”

  “I’m on it; then I’ll call Watters to inform him I’ll be the thorn in his side until we find Kyle and can prove Washburg is responsible.”

  ***

  Torres arrived at the motel room at 3 am, and after a brief nap, she looked refreshed.

  “I slept nearly seven hours, and I’m sure I look worse than you, how do you do it?” Nikki slumped into the small armchair.

  “I’ve been doing this much longer than you Red, and the only thing I can say, is I do better on fewer hours of sleep when working a case.”

  “Well, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to sleeping on lumpy motel beds and what was all that racket earlier this morning?” Nikki yawned.

  “I tried to be as quiet as possible, sorry.” Torres hid her face behind her hands.

  Kelsey watched the two women banter back and forth. She closed her eyes to the thumping behind her eyelids. Her head had been pounding since she woke up. Even though she went to bed earlier than usual, she slept very little. Her sleep had been interrupted by several broken visions. One more disturbing than the others, still haunted her thoughts. In the vision, Kelsey saw a woman sitting alone on a bench, and a man stalked her. The woman looked right into Kelsey’s eyes and pleaded for her to stop. Who was this woman and what did she want Kelsey to stop doing?

  “Mack, you don’t look all that well, are you sure you’re up for our shift, sitting in a van for 12 hours?”

  Torres’s voice broke through Kelsey’s musings. Grimacing, Kelsey opened her eyes. “I’m sure I’ll be fine once I get some coffee and food into my stomach.”

  “You’re quite pale. Are you sure you’re okay?” Nikki asked with concern.

  “I had some visions last night, and one was disturbing.”

  “Did it have to do with this case? Did you have a vision about our plan? Does something go wrong?” Nikki crossed over to stand in front of Kelsey on the bed. “Tell me Mack, is Deb in danger?”

  Shaking her head, Kelsey frowned. “I would tell you if I had a vision about this case. I don’t know what I saw; I don’t know how it pertains to anything at this time. I saw a woman sitting on a bench, and a man was watching her from a distance. The woman looked right at me, like she could see me, and asked me to stop.”

  “Creepy. Has that ever happened before? Have people in your visions ever communicated with you before?” Nikki kneeled and put her hand on Kelsey’s shoulder.

  “No, I haven’t had anyone speak to me in my visions except Aisling. We used to project ourselves to each other’s house when we were young.”

  “You can do that? You can project yourself into a specific location?” Torres asked.

  “Only if the person and I are connected to that place, and that person knows me and is thinking about me as well.”

  Nikki looked hopefully and asked, “have you tried doing it recently? We can use this new skill to watch Deb more closely.”

  Kelsey recalled how she was able to project herself into the bed she shared with Miranda. She could feel her face heat up; clearing her throat she said, “I’ve been practicing it a little bit. I don’t think I could use it to watch Deb; it’s more if she is thinking about me and needs to concentrate on me.”

  “I’m sure we can find a use for this new revelation, and hopefully we’ll learn the significance of your vision, but we should get going if we’re to relieve the other surveillance team.” Torres was rising from her seat on the other bed.

  “Nikki, can you call me if you find anything on your hunt for Kyle’s movements on the days leading up to his disappearance. I did have another vision and saw trees, lots of trees and blue sky.” Kelsey’s headache had lessened its relentless tight hold on the skin of her forehead, and she took a deep breath.

  “Lots of trees and blue sky isn’t specific enough, but I’ll see what I can find.” Nikki grabbed her wig and hat as she put on her coat.

  “Maybe I should drive if you’re not feeling well. Are there any places around here that serve a hot, almost-healthy breakfast?” Torres asked as she grabbed her large coat and hat. “Will I have to get a wig as well or is this okay?”

  Kelsey smiled; she felt better by the minute. “I’m feeling better; I can drive. The motel restaurant has good diner food, and I think that hat and coat will obscure your identity sufficiently.”

  Nikki giggled. “Yeah Torres, where the heck did you find a hat like that?”

  Torres wore a faux-fur lined hat with ear flaps. The outer cover was a red plaid. The front brim thoroughly covered Torres’s raven hair and obscured her eyes. Kelsey smirked; the hat made Torres look like the cartoon character Elmer Fudd. “I’ll take my wig over that any day. Nikki, weren’t you saying how hot your wig was yesterday? Imagine wearing that hat?”

  Nikki nodded. “You can always use my wig. It’s a long blonde one, but sitting in a van for twelve hours with that hat could be torture. I won’t need the wig at the Police Station.”

  “No thanks, I’ll be warm until we get in the van; I won’t need to wear it while I’m in the back,” Torres said as she put on her coat.

  The three women exited the motel room, and Nikki took the rental car, while Kelsey and Torres got in the black, beat-up van. One look inside the back, Kelsey saw all the techy gadgets for listening and viewing Ashley Foster’s apartment building and inside her apartment. “Looks like we’ll have everything we need for our twelve-hour shift.”

  “Not quite, we need food and loads of coffee. I see, we at least, have several thermoses for coffee and a microwave. We can drive over to the Motel’s Diner and park there; tell me the truth, how good is the food?”

  Nikki’s hunt, the previous night, for a homestyle restaurant came up with passable roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy dinner complete with green beans and a slice of apple pie. It wasn’t Nanna or Miranda’s meals, but Kelsey ate it with gusto. “I recognized the ingredients. It was hot, and the servings were satisfying. It’s diner food but better than McDonalds or pancakes at Denny’s.”

  “Hey, don’t knock Denny’s they have great breakfasts and lunches, it’s not only pancakes.”

  “Well, if you want to find a Denny’s between here and Ashley Foster’s apartment be my guest; I’m going in the diner and get all of my day’s meals. You may want to do the same because if you run out of food, you won’t get any of mine.”

  Torres frowned. “There is one on our way but no sense in taking extra time to grab our food, we have forty minutes to get our food and relieve the surveillance team. Should we grab them a coffee?

  Kelsey thought this was a great idea. Agents Lambert and Gillis would appreciate fresh coffee after sitting in those chairs in the back of their van. The two seats behind her looked like torture devices.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Down-the-street from Ashley Foster’s Apartment, Mid-Morning, March 14, 2012

  After the first few hours of sitting in the van, Kelsey needed to get up and walk around the ten square foot floor space. The video and audio equipment took up the majority of the extended cargo van’s area. “I hope this case doesn’t take all that long. I’m not sure I can get through even one shift. How does anyone manage to sit for that long?”

  “You haven’t done much surveillance or stakeouts have you?” Torres sat crossed-legged and looking quite comfortable.

  Kelsey shook her head and made a few arm circles. She needed to get the blood flowing. “No, I didn’t do much; we always had plenty of people in our units to do the grunt-work. I’ve never acclimated to sitting for long periods. I even have to get up during a long movie or a flight or make frequent stops on a long drive.”

  “Maybe you can use some of your fiancée’s yoga moves. There isn’t much space, but you can bend down and move your legs around. You might even be able to sit on the floor and meditate.” Torres giggled.

  Kelsey stuck her tongue out. “I’m wondering
if Deb’s idea of texting Washburg is a good idea?”

  “We don’t want him to be tipped off by Ashley acting differently than she normally would. You said that Ashley was quite upset after Washburg raped her, so she’s not likely to text him.”

  Knowing Torres was right, Kelsey frowned. “It’s my impatience talking. I’m going to call Nikki; she may have some news on her end.”

  Nodding, Torres closed her eyes with the headphones on. Deb had been sitting watching a movie for the past hour and a half. There was not much to see on the video monitor.

  Tapping Nikki’s contact icon on her regular phone, Kelsey waited for her best friend to answer her call. Glancing at the video feed, she saw Deb get up to go to the bathroom.

  “Hey. Mack; how is it going?” Nikki answered her phone brightly.

  “I wish I could trade places with you right now.” Kelsey closed her eyes and made a few neck circles.

  Nikki giggled. “You said it’s best I’m here, what has changed?”

  “You know how I hate sitting in one place for long. I forgot how hard it is for me.”

  “You knew it would be twelve hours of sitting, how is it you didn’t know it would be this bad?”

  Kelsey growled.

  Torres chuckled without opening her eyes.

  Nikki said, “Sorry Mack, I wish I could help but you were right. The CCTV footage is chock-full of information. I’ve been able to find several persons to try out my new program. Detective Watters has talked to a few witnesses, and one said he saw a suspicious-looking man staking out Kyle’s apartment several nights before the night they thought he went missing.”

  “That’s great. Do you think we could get a proper description from this witness?”