Blood and Justice Page 4

  The room where she was being held was nice enough. Sure, everything was old. Antique maybe. But it was functional. The closet was even filled with clothes. And the drawers as well. It seemed obvious to Jenny this is, or had once been, the bedroom of a woman. Or maybe a husband and wife, because the room contained a double bed, but no sign of a man’s presence.

  The walls were covered with wallpaper, creamy and pink roses. A bit faded, but still pretty. The dark hardwood floor needed a fresh coat of varnish. A large curtained window was on one side of the room. It was covered with bars on the outside of the glass, fastened in tight. They wouldn’t come loose. Jenny had tried. The only other means of exit was the bedroom door, but it was securely bolted from the outside.

  She loved to read, and the room was well supplied with books. A massive overstuffed bookcase took up half of one wall of the large room. She had perused a few books, but she couldn’t settle her mind long enough to actually finish one.

  Jenny had tried screaming for help earlier, but a look out the window told her it was no use. On the other side of a massive unkempt lawn, there was a decaying and weather-beaten barn, surrounded by fields of empty, and then what appeared to be an endless forest. She knew she was in a secluded spot. It did no good to call for help. No good at all.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and cried. She thought about her mother. Surely, she wondered where she was. And the police. Were the police looking for her? And about Chad. She thought fondly of Chad. Why had he been killed? And who was this little man who had killed him, and was terrorizing her? He had said his name was Jeremy, and he wasn’t going to hurt her.

  With a sob of despair, she threw herself onto the bed, her gasps filling the room. She prayed. Prayed God would get her out of this place, and away from this terrible man.

  Her prayers were burst by the sound of an approaching vehicle. She could hear the gravel crunching under the tires as it drove in and squeaked to a stop near the house. She didn’t need to look out the window. She knew it was him. It was late afternoon, maybe early evening; just about the time he always arrived. She turned over on her side and soaked her pillow with tears.

  Chapter 7

  Wednesday, August 10th, 8:20 AM

  CRANSTONS DEPARTMENT STORE had turned a lot of work toward Lincoln Investigations, and when the head of security at Cranstons called Annie, she was obliged to drop all she was doing and head over immediately to consult with them.

  Cranstons was the anchor store of the busiest mall in the area. The security office was located on the main floor of the massive store. Annie tapped on the door and a burly man opened it immediately. An enormous grin threatened to split his face when he saw her.

  “Annie,” he almost shouted, “Come in! Come in!”

  Annie smiled back at him. His exuberance was almost overwhelming. He pointed to the only visitor’s chair in the small room. “Have a seat,” he said, as he slouched down in a swivel chair behind the desk. “So how’s the most beautiful girl in America?” The grin still hadn’t left his face.

  Annie chuckled. “Oh, Jake and I are doing well,” she said.

  “Jake? Are you still with that guy? If you ever need a real man I’m your guy.”

  Annie laughed. She and Jake had known Chris for quite some time, and had assisted him in his job as head of store security on several occasions. He was a harmless flirt. She knew he had a wife he loved dearly, and a young boy was his pride and joy. “I’ll let you know,” she said.

  “Good enough,” he said, and turning more serious, he continued, “But in the mean time, we’ve got a small problem on our hands. It’s in the jewelry department. Seems like we’ve had some stuff go missing lately. A couple rings, a necklace or two. Security cameras haven’t caught anything.” He was frowning now.

  Annie leaned forward. “We ran all of your jewelry people through a security check. They came back clean.”

  “We have two shifts during the day, then a couple of different girls work evenings and weekends. But we’re not necessarily suspecting it’s one of our girls. It could just as likely be a customer.”

  Annie knew exactly what to do. A few strategically placed mini-cameras should do the trick. “We’ll set up some camera surveillance,” she said. “If we may get in here this evening after you close. It shouldn’t take too long. We’ve got the equipment.”

  “Excellent,” he said. “I knew I could count on you.” The grin was back.

  Before she left, they arranged to meet again just after 9:00 that evening.

  On her way home, she was thinking about Jenny. Jake had filled her in on their unsuccessful attempt the day before to locate Chad. She felt she should update Mrs. James on their progress, or lack thereof. She knew in the case of a missing child, for a mother any news was better than no news at all.

  When she arrived back to the office, she called Mrs. James immediately, and arranged for a meeting just after 12:00 noon.

  Jake was still at home, and she informed him of the task for Cranstons. They needed a few more mini-cameras in order to do the job right, so Annie sent him down to Techmart, a store that dealt in everything electronic, including a wide range of security and surveillance equipment.

  Jake didn’t mind that mission. It made him feel like a kid in a candy store.

  Wednesday, August 10th, 11:05 AM

  “HANK WANTS TO MEET us at Amelia’s,” Jake informed Annie. Jake had returned from Techmart and had dumped his purchases out onto the kitchen table.

  “That’s fine,” she said. “Amelia will see that he is still taking this seriously.” Annie eyed the pile of electronic equipment. “This looks good,” she said, “but did you really need this pen camera? You’re not quite James Bond, you know.”

  “I thought it would come in handy,” Jake replied sheepishly. “Plus, it was on sale.”

  Annie glanced at the clock on the wall. Still a little while before their appointment. Jake helped her prepare a quick brunch before heading to Amelia’s.

  When they arrived at their destination, Hank was already waiting for them. He was parked across the street, still sitting in his dark brown Chevy. He swung from the vehicle when he saw them pull up. He greeted Annie with a warm smile and a smothering bear hug.

  They made their way up to the front door of the house, and when Annie knocked on the door, Amelia opened it almost immediately. She led them again into the lavish sitting room. There was a box of tissues on the stand beside where Amelia sat. A look at her face showed she appeared to have been crying. The lack of sleep was evident on her face as well. Photo albums were spread out on the coffee table. The room was quiet and still. They sat down.

  Hank fumbled with a package he was carrying. He withdrew the picture of Chad and handed it to Mrs. James. “Amelia, he asked, “do you recognize this man?”

  She took the photo and looked at it carefully. “No,” she said. “I don’t believe I have seen him before.” She looked up at Hank, a question on her face.

  “This appears to be a friend of Jenny’s,” he informed her. He withdrew the necklace from the bag. He looked at Jake, and then back at Amelia, reluctantly adding, “This was found in his car. Do you recognize it?” He didn’t want to mention the necklace had been found in the trunk.

  She gasped. She took the necklace and fondled it gently. “It’s Jennie’s. I’d recognize it anywhere. Her father gave that to her on her thirteenth birthday.” She looked at Hank again, puzzled, as if waiting for an explanation.

  Hank continued in a soothing voice. “Amelia, we have absolutely no evidence any harm has come to Jenny.” He pointed to the photo. “Apparently she was seen with this man, Chad Bronson, several times in the past. He seems to be missing too, although we were able to locate his vehicle. It appears they may have been together the day she went missing.” He quickly added, “There could be a perfectly logical explanation.”

  Annie interrupted, pointing to the necklace. “As you can see, it’s undamaged. It wasn’t forced off or broken off. The
clasp was undone, and it was removed. By Jenny herself, we believe.”

  Hank spoke, “And we have an APB, an all-points bulletin, out on Bronson. If he’s around anywhere, we’ll pick him up.”

  A mixture of hope and despair was in Amelia’s voice as she spoke, “Jenny’s out there somewhere. Please find her.”

  Hank leaned forward and gently placed his hand on Amelia’s. “Don’t give up hope,” he said. “Just don’t give up hope.”

  Amelia smiled weakly and thanked them.

  After they had left, Hank followed them to their vehicle.” I didn’t want to mention this to Amelia,” he said, “but I got the forensics report back on the vehicle this morning. They found some hair in the trunk as well. They match Jenny’s. I think we can definitely conclude she was in that trunk.”

  Wednesday, August 10th, 1:25 PM

  EARLY THAT AFTERNOON, Hank faxed over a copy of the Police Forensics Report. Annie grabbed it from the machine and studied it for some time. There were several pages, and she went over it thoroughly.

  Picking up the phone, she dialed MacGlen Forensic Services. MacGlen was a private forensic firm located in the downtown area. As a licensed forensic service, MacGlen could gain access to Bronson’s vehicle. It was not that she didn’t trust the police forensic report, but she had a question the report didn’t seem to cover. Specifically, she wanted a botany test of the tires and underside of the car. Forensic botany is the application of plant sciences to criminal investigations.

  She spoke with Sammy MacGlen. Sammy was an expert she had dealt with in the past, and he took her call immediately. “Annie, what may I do for you today?”

  She explained the situation to him, and outlined her needs. He agreed they could get at it right away and try to get back to her in a day or two. As a private for-profit firm, they were unhampered by red tape and backlogs. With a team expert in every forensic field, she was confident she would get accurate results, and fast.

  Chapter 8

  Wednesday, August 10th, 1:55 PM

  AMELIA PICKED up the phone. “Hello,” she said.

  It was Hank.

  “Hi Amelia, it’s Hank Corning. I have something I’d like to talk to you about. Is this evening ok for you? Say about seven o’clock?”

  “Seven would be fine,” she answered.

  “Actually, if you’d like to get away from the house for a while, there’s a quiet little deli I know. You can have a break and we can have some dinner, and talk.”

  Amelia hesitated. Jenny could call again at any minute. She wanted to be here if she did. She hadn’t wandered far from home these last few days. All she did was worry, pace the floor, and cry. And wait for the phone to ring with some good news. It never did. Would it be ok to just go out for an hour or so?

  Amelia thought for a moment. “That sounds fine,” she said. “I’m sure I could use some time out.” Suddenly she felt guilty and considered changing her mind.

  Hank interrupted her thought. “See you at seven,” he said.

  She hung up the phone, and dug in the kitchen junk drawer for the manual. She consulted it, and with a few clicks enabled call forwarding to her cell phone. She tested it. It worked fine.

  Before driving to Amelia’s house that evening, Hank visited the local war wash just around the corner from his apartment. After the wash, he spent a few dollars on the two dollar vacuum machine and did a well-needed cleaning of the inside of his car. Then he dashed home and switched into a pair of slacks and a matching sport jacket. No tie.

  He knew about the death of her husband from his first interview with her a week or so ago, but he wasn’t sure what his intentions were with her. He knew he was attracted to her very much. She could use someone to talk to right now, and he could always use a little feminine company. He wasn’t much of a lady’s man. Just didn’t seem to have met anybody and never went out of his way to. Besides, his job kept him busy most of the time. It was always easy enough to work overtime to keep his mind occupied.

  But today was different. He definitely needed a break. He just hoped he wasn’t being too forward at this difficult time, when Amelia’s mind would be consumed with thoughts and worries of her daughter. He didn’t think flowers or a bottle of wine would be appropriate.

  He steered his Chevy into her double-width driveway at a couple of minutes before seven. A last look at himself in the mirror, a quick brush of his hand through his hair, and he stepped out and made his way to her front door.

  Amelia answered his knock wearing an attractive but not too elegant black dress, matching high-heeled shoes, and a simple white blouse. She carried a small handbag, just big enough to hold a few necessities. A small gold chain and pendant hung at her throat, her long hair in a ponytail. Hank refrained from telling her how beautiful she looked.

  Instead, he just said, “Hi.”

  She offered him a weak but wonderful smile as he held out his hand to help her down the stairs. He followed her to the car, and opened the door for her. He felt a little self-conscious about picking her up in this wreck of his when she probably had a Mercedes, or maybe a Porsche, parked in her garage.

  “Buckle up,” he said. “I’m a cop.” Then thought how lame that must sound.

  But she laughed. A real laugh. Something she hadn’t done for a while. It made him feel better.

  They didn’t have time to more than exchange a few pleasantries, talk about the weather, and traffic, before Hank pulled up in front of the deli, only a couple of blocks away.

  Center Street Delicatessen was a popular Jewish deli, tucked over in the corner of a small strip plaza. Small, but great food, and always busy. They were able to find a fairly quiet booth near the back.

  Hank ordered a corned beef on rye with meat stacked about a mile high. A juicy kosher pickle and a generous portion of wedge cut fries on the side would be enough to fill his slightly rounded potbelly. And a large coke, of course.

  Amelia was a little more conservative with just a couple of stuffed knishes and a dollop of sour cream. A glass of diet coke would be enough to wash it all comfortably down.

  After placing their order, Hank spoke, “Amelia, I have to admit, I don’t really have any progress to report, but the good news is, now that Bronson’s car has been found, with some evidence Jenny had been in the vehicle, the Captain has taken another interest. He can justify putting more men on this. In fact, he already has. There is not only a local, but also a nationwide, lookout for either Bronson, or Jenny. Or both.”

  “But what about if she’s... I mean, do you think she is ok?” Amelia asked.

  “We have no reason to think otherwise,” Hank said softly. “There’s no evidence any harm has come to her.”

  Hank filled her in on Bronson’s car, and how it had been found. “Jake and Annie got information on Chad from Jenny’s friend, Paige,” he informed her. “She also said Jenny and Chad had been seeing each other off and on, but nothing serious.”

  They were interrupted briefly as the bubbly young waitress brought their meal. She slid it onto the table in front of them. “Enjoy!” she said with a smile.

  Hank took a big bite of his mountain of meat, and added a sip of coke to his mouthful. Amelia took small bites, picking daintily at her food.

  “Jenny never told me about that boy,” she said, and frowned.

  “According to Paige, there was nothing romantic between them, so perhaps Jenny just didn’t feel like he was that important to talk to you about. Just another casual friend.”

  Amelia looked thoughtful. “Yes, I’m sure you’re right.”

  Amelia spoke again. “I don’t mean to pry, but have you ever been married?” she asked. She had noticed the lack of a ring on his finger.

  Hank put down his sandwich. He leaned back in his seat, took a deep breath and studied Amelia for a moment. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts. Finally, he said, “A long, long time ago.”

  Amelia waited for him to continue.

  “We were young. But very much in love, or s
o we thought. Perhaps we were. I know we certainly enjoyed being together as much as possible. So we got married. Things were great. I had just graduated from the academy. She had just graduated from U of T, and our future looked wonderful, without a care in the world.”

  Amelia picked at her food some more and waited patiently. “Go on,” she encouraged him with a smile.

  “Before too long we found out we were going to have a baby. Our nice life was even nicer. We were over the moon. We soon found out it was going to be a girl, and we spent so much time running around, getting stuff for the nursery, all those things expectant parents do.”

  Amelia leaned forward. “I remember doing that too,” she spoke wistfully, a faint smile. “I loved every minute of being pregnant.” She interrupted her own thoughts, “Go on.”

  “Well, before we knew it the baby was born. We named her after my wife, Elizabeth. Beth we called her.” Hank’s eyes seemed unfocused, a faraway look, with a twinkle of moist. “She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.” He moved his head slowly back and forth a few times as if amazed at the thought. “As a new father, looking at this little baby, this person I had helped create. It was an indescribable feeling.”

  He looked away, watching a couple walk by, his eyes unseeing. He was quiet. Amelia sensed the disruption in his thoughts. A sadness, as if not wanting to continue.