Girl Jacked (9 page)

The next morning Jack drove out to Hillside Downs followed by Kendra and her partner Donald Pugh. They stopped before the entrance and Jack walked back to meet with them.

“Thanks for coming.”

“No problem.” Donald gave a curt nod.

Donald was Kendra’s partner. He had cajoled Jack once into promising to take him to the police gun range for an afternoon and he was still waiting for Jack to deliver. When it came to shooting, Jack went alone to the gun range. It wasn’t because he was bad; it was the opposite. He was like a celebrity at the range. Jack had found out the hard way the downside of being the fastest gun hadn’t changed since the old west. The title put a mark on your head, and everyone wanted to try to take you down. He didn’t know if Donald wanted tips or to take a shot at
besting
him.

“I normally enjoy watching you get into trouble but not here.” Kendra looked over and her eyes rounded in concern.

Jack understood her meaning. He started to speak in his stern military ‘no nonsense’ tone. “The guy we’re looking for is Kevin Arnold. He’s a little, skinny, rat faced white guy.” Jack handed them a copy of Kevin’s mug shot. “He has an outstanding warrant for failure to appear from Lincoln County.”

Kendra passed the paperwork over to Donald.

“He had no known address but I looked up who bailed him out… Nancy Mulligan. It’s her apartment. If we’re lucky, Kevin Arnold won’t be far behind.”

The two patrol cars rolled through the front gates of Hillside Downs. The ‘Downs’ were four three-story buildings with all the warmth and charm of 1950’s Russian architecture. They were squat, square and appeared as if whoever had built them had asked for the cheapest model possible. The peeled paint, rusted railings, and crumbling walls added to the feeling of desolation.

As they drove to Building 3, the windows all appeared empty. There were only a couple of actual shades and even fewer curtains. Most windows had some sheet or blanket that covered the room from the outside world.

Jack, Donald, and Kendra parked at the side of the building.

A dog tied to a railing of one apartment rushed the car. It came straight at them before it reached the end of its chain. It had run so fast that the collar yanked its neck. Its whole body violently twisted around and it fell into the dirt. The dog scrambled to its feet and began barking incessantly.

They looked up and the windows stayed empty in spite of the dog’s warning.

“Is this place deserted or what?” Kendra asked as she scanned the area.

There wasn’t a soul in sight.

“It always is at eight in the morning… everyone’s still sleeping off the coke and booze from last night,” Donald cracked.

“Kendra, you watch the back. This guy's assaults have all been on women, and he jumped them. If I were going to put money on it, I’d lay 4-to-1 that he takes off. A balcony on the end apartments connects them. He could try to go there. Plus, there are utility closets that link the apartments. I’ve seen water heaters in them, but this guy maybe skinny enough to slip through.” Jack said.

Kendra nodded. “I’ll cover them. If he bolts, I’ll nail him.”

“Good.”

Jack gave himself a once over and went through his list:
Gun. Taser. Vest. Mace. Cuffs. Baton.

Donald looked over at his trainee, “No unnecessary chances, okay?”

Kendra nodded.

Jack forced himself to walk slowly and Donald followed behind.

Third floor. All of these apartments, same layout.

A pair of yellowed eyes peered out from a first floor window and hastily disappeared.

The stench of urine hit his nose when he got to the staircase.

Front door. Square living room. Kitchen in the back. Utility closet in kitchen. Bathroom to the left then the bedroom.

The second floor had a couple of old lawn chairs next to the stairs and cigarette butts littered the cement. A chain held a mountain bike frame that was missing the tires, seat, and handlebars.

Third floor.

Jack flexed his shoulders. He leaned over the railing and saw Kendra. She was watching the back, and her head was in constant motion.

Head on a swivel. Good girl.

Jack reached the unit. He motioned and Donald waited near the window. Standing to the side of the door, Jack knocked. He didn’t pound on it like some cops do. He didn’t want to sound like the Gestapo. A dog two apartments down started barking, then another. Both sounded like big dogs. He instinctively put his hand on his mace. He knocked again. The face of a little girl appeared in the corner of the window.

Damn. A little kid.

A woman in her early twenties opened the door. She was dressed in gray baggy sweat pants and a loose top. The baby in her arms was pulling on the top so much that her left breast was almost exposed. She yanked her shirt out of the baby's hand while using her leg to try to hold back the little kid who had been peering out the window.

Jack categorized them as a non-threat and began scanning the background. The living room was dark, but there was enough light to see.

No one visible. Kitchen empty.

He listened intently for any sounds in the apartment.

“Yeah?” She alternated from looking at the floor to trying to look at him. Her eyes would catch his for a brief moment and then dart away.

Red mark on cheek. Bruise on arm. Distrust. Fear.

“Good morning ma’am. I’m Officer Jack Stratton.”

“Yeah?” She pulled the baby's hand from her hair.

“Sorry to disturb you but I have a few questions.” He kept his tone light. “May I ask you, your name please?”

“Nancy Mulligan.”

“And this is your apartment?” He gave an extra wide smile.

She just nodded her head.

“I’m looking for Kevin Arnold. Is he in?”

“He doesn’t live here.”

The little kid turned and looked into the apartment. The mother is lying.

“Ma’am” He gestured for her to step a little outside of the apartment. She stood frozen for a second but then Jack turned his eyes to her. She faltered and stepped out.

He turned slightly and leaned in a little. “I know you want to protect him. I’m not asking you to give him up but he needs help.”

His training in domestic violence kicked in. Beaten women often turned on the authorities and protected their abuser.

“Momma?” the little girl began tugging on Nancy’s shirt.

Jack could tell that she was on the edge of letting him have access into the apartment.

“Nancy.” Jack paused and lowered his voice to a whisper.

She looked confused for a second and then looked down at the little girl. She grabbed her daughter and pulled her closer.

“You want him to get help, right?” Jack looked down at the little girl. “Everyone needs help sometimes.”

A soft cry escaped her mouth and she began shaking her head.

She kept her gaze down as she whispered the words, “He’s in the bedroom.”

That was all Jack needed to hear. He nodded to Donald and stepped into the apartment, motioning for her to leave. She scooped up her children and ran down the corridor. Jack moved into the apartment, scanning constantly. The bathroom door was open. It was empty. The bedroom door was closed.

He gestured to Donald and then pointed at the closed door. He stood to the side out of range and slowly attempted to turn the handle. It was locked.

He heard a door open inside the bedroom.

I knew he’d run!

“POLICE!” Jack yelled before he popped the door with a short thrust from his shoulder. The cheap ply board shattered.

He caught a glimpse of someone running out to the mini balcony that connected the two apartments. Jack rushed towards the door to the balcony. He heard a woman scream from the other apartment. Jack whipped over the railing and onto the other balcony.

“Police!” he warned as went through the door, his gun at the ready.

The other apartment bedroom only had a mattress in the corner. A woman sat screaming on it and frantically pointed.

Jack raced across her kitchen to an open door that let out to the back of the building. He heard footsteps running down the stairway and sprinted after him.

The sound of barking dogs filled the air followed by angry shouts from Kendra. On the second floor, Jack looked over the edge and saw Kendra macing an enormous dog that howled in pain but held its ground.

“Go around!” Jack called as he sprinted down the stairs.

Jack saw Arnold as he ran for the other side of the building. A flash of metal in Arnold’s hand caught Jack’s eye.

“Knife!” He yelled.

Jack watched his prey knock over a chair as Arnold scrambled away. Jack’s legs pushed into the ground, his adrenaline raging as he pursued the perp. He felt the power course through his body as he flew forward.

Jack rounded the corner and saw how much ground he had gained. Arnold was now less than twenty yards away but beyond them was an open field.
 

“Freeze!”

Jack grabbed his nightstick and threw it side arm. The baton caught Arnold right behind his legs and he became entangled. Arnold’s hands went wide and he face planted in the dirt. The knife bounced along the ground in front of him.

Kendra raced around the corner of the building and then tackled Arnold.

Jack snagged his baton before helping her cuff the guy.

“Way to go rookie! Nice job taking this guy down!” Jack congratulated her.

Kendra was short on arrests and shorter on confidence. Being a new cop is hard enough. She had two things that made it a lot harder for her. She was a woman, and she was pretty. That meant that the guys hit on her, and the few girls on the force were jealous. Jack didn’t care who got credit for the arrest and he liked Kendra.

She pulled Arnold to his feet, a string of obscenities mixed with ‘don’t’ and ‘move’ pouring out of her mouth. She was beaming as Donald ran around the corner.

Kendra’s mouth was twitching between nervousness and unbridled pride. She looked up at him with a smile from ear to ear.

“I got him! I got him!”

“Nice job, Officer,” Donald said.

Jack stood next to Detective Charlie Flynn behind the two-way mirror and looked into the interview room where Kevin Arnold sat chained to a table.

“I appreciate this, Jack. How did you get the guy?” Detective Flynn was fifty-two years old and completely bald but had thick bushy eyebrows. His brown suit, although pressed and neat, looked to be at least ten years old.

“I got a tip that Kevin Arnold was at his girlfriend’s apartment. We picked him up this morning on an outstanding warrant. Kendra Darcey made the collar.”

Flynn chuckled. “Darcey. She’s the one with the… um, big um…
eyes
,” he practically drooled.

“She’s the one with the big shotgun. Anyway… She made the collar. This guy looks good for these cases.” Jack patted the folder in his hands. “I put them all in here for you.”

Flynn looked at the folder again. “Thanks. It’s great. This puts him on a silver platter for me. But what do you want again?”

“I just want to know his whereabouts before Christmas. See if he was anywhere near White Rocks.”

Flynn nodded. “He looks good for the other cases in here. He matches the description right down to the tattoo. I think we may have found our guy.”

Jack sighed, “Right.”

Flynn walked for the door.

Jack leaned back against the wall and watched as Flynn methodically picked apart the guy’s alibis for the sexual assaults. Kevin started to squirm.

“So where were you before Christmas?”

“I was in rehab.”

“Rehab?”

“Court ordered.”

“You know the probation office would have that in their system. There is nothing in your file here.” Flynn shuffled through the folder.

“I was out-of-state in Sanderson County Rehabilitation for four weeks, check it out with them.”

“Don’t worry I will.” Flynn looked over towards the two-way glass and nodded.

Jack stormed out of the room and over to his desk. He called the rehab and got them to email him the information. It was a county lock up not a country club rehab so there was no way he could have snuck out of it unnoticed. Still, Jack was always one for due diligence. He called and double-checked with the staff. Kevin’s story checked out. Dead-end.

As he sped home, Jack’s leg shook. He looked at his hand; it was trembling. Jack squeezed the steering wheel harder.

Get a grip, Jack.

In the field, the adrenaline was like a drug that pumped him up. When he came home, he crashed – total withdrawal. Fear and doubt would drag him toward the pit of memories that he fought to escape. He couldn’t fill the abyss. He couldn’t seal it up either.

He closed his eyes for a second and pictured Donald outside the door. Only now, the window behind him shattered and Donald flew back with a huge hole in his chest.

A horn blared. He looked up at the oncoming truck. Jack had drifted into the wrong lane. He yanked the wheel hard over and swerved the car back into his lane, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with the huge truck.

Dammit!

Horns blasted, drivers swore and flipped him off as he pulled onto the side of the road. He hit his hazards and put the car in park.

Blended memories. Donald’s fine. That was that kid… The one…

Jack stared straight ahead trying to remember the young soldier’s name. He closed his eyes.

What was it?

His breathing was ragged and his hand shook.

It was in Iraq. I was on patrol with two other soldiers. Jimmy Tanaka. Tank. He was there.

Jack remembered his friend’s name. Jimmy was Japanese. He was only 5’5” but he was a powerhouse. Jimmy may have been small but he never backed down.

It was me, Tank and the kid.

Jack could picture him. He had short red hair and freckles. He was young, tops he was nineteen. He was always chewing gum.

That day they had to search a building with three doors on the front. Jack, the kid and Tank each picked a door. They let the kid go first and he went with the door on the left. Tank chose the one on the right and Jack ended up with the one in the middle. They were all supposed to kick the doors open on three. The kid died on two. The enemy machine gun fire blew the door apart killing him instantly.

Damn. The kid is dead and I can’t even remember his name.

Jack put his head down on the steering wheel.

Defeated, Jack walked in the door, and Replacement was instantly up in his face.

“You went after him without me? Without ME!”

“When did you become my partner? Back off!” Jack snapped.

Replacement froze. The problem was she froze angry.

“Argh…
I just walked in the door.” Jack threw his hands up.

“You said…” she was growling.

“I didn’t say I’d take you!” He headed into the kitchen.

“You did!” Now she was shouting.

Go ahead and try to out shout me, kid.

“I did not!” he yelled louder.

“I sat around here on my ass while Michelle is out there!” Her lip started to tremble. “You promised that you’d take me. You–”

A loud hammering on the door interrupted her.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

They both stopped. Replacement marched over and opened the door.

Jack listened while he got a glass of water. He couldn’t make out who was speaking with her. Mrs. Stevens marched into the apartment with Replacement at her side. His landlady’s face was once more flushed a beet red and she tried to catch her breath.

Replacement’s eyes were wide and her head was twitching spastically.

Not again
. Jack shut the water off.

“Mr. Stratton.” His landlady puffed her big frame up even larger as she addressed him. “While I do appreciate how stressful law enforcement can be I cannot permit you to yell at this poor unfortunate girl.”

“Mrs. Stevens…” Jack’s jaw clenched as he tried to control himself.

“Jack, sorry!” Replacement hopped over to him at the sink. “Jack, very sorry! Jack, you sorry?” she put her head on his arm and looked up at him with big eyes.

Stupid kid.

Replacement’s arm went around him and she poked him in the side. Jack had to force himself not to laugh.

“I’m sorry. Okay? Mrs. Stevens my… apologies.”

“Mr. Stratton, I am trying to look out for her best interests.”

 “Well thank you. You have been very kind to… to her.”

“And you have too. Remember that. She’s an angel and when you deal with her, you need patience and love! Patience and love!” His landlady must have concluded her work here was done because she turned and waved as she headed out of the apartment.

“Patience and love! Patience and love!” Replacement repeated as she followed her. She shut the door and ran back in the kitchen.

“Thank you,” Jack fiercely whispered. “Now my landlady thinks I’m a jerk!”

“No, she doesn’t! She likes you. She thinks you have poor choice in women and drink too much though.”

Jack’s mouth fell open. “Are you talking with her? Stop talking to her! Okay? I’m serious.” He paused. “How could she know I drink too much?”

“She goes through your trash.”

“She told you that?”

“She thinks I’m slow.”

“You are. I’m taking a shower,” he announced and then headed into the bedroom.

“Jerk… Wait! You didn’t tell me what happened,” she protested as she followed behind him.

“Fine. Hold on.” He shut the bedroom door, closing her out. “We caught the guy,” Jack yelled out to Replacement.

She whipped open the door. “What? Awesome!”

Jack stood there in his underwear. “Get out!” He tossed his shirt at her. “You’re like a crazy little sister!”

“Don’t call me that.” Replacement didn’t shut the door but she did turn around. “It’s creepy.”

“Anyway… He’s the sexual predator but he had nothing to do with Michelle.” Jack headed for the shower.

“How can you say that?” Replacement asked as she walked backward following him.

Jack turned the shower on to let the water heat up.

“He was in a lock down rehab for four weeks in another state. He went in three weeks before Michelle went missing and was there for a week after. He couldn’t have had anything to do with it. I checked myself and confirmed it. Can you get out now?” Jack jumped behind the shower curtain.

Replacement kicked the wall and half of her foot disappeared into the drywall. “Oh, crap!” She knelt down and tried to pull the cracked piece back into place. “I am so sorry! I’m sorry,” her voice was trembling.

“Forget it, kid.” Jack kept his back to her and twisted around. “I’m pretty good at patching walls.” He stuck his face under the water.

“I’m sorry.”

“I can fix it.”

“Not just for that.” Replacement stood up. “I’ve been a psycho. You’re right. I’m a little… mental.”

Jack laughed.

“Thanks for agreeing,” she sniffled.

He could see through the curtain and Replacement now leaned against the sink.

“Everyone is a little mental, kid. Apology accepted. Can you please get out?” Jack turned his back on her.

“I have my eyes closed.”

“Get out.”

“Victor wrote back. He went out to Western Tech and asked around but Michelle has never been out there.”

“How can he be sure about that?” Jack splashed his face in the water.

“It was the same story that Neil Waters told us. She signed up for classes but no one had ‘seen her.’ He showed the picture around. Victor said maybe she signed up electronically.”

“Well… At least we sort of ruled it out.”

“Sort of? She didn’t go!” Replacement tossed her hands up in the air.

Jack slowly turned his head. “How do you know he emailed me?”

“You use the same password for everything.” She hopped up on the sink. “That’s not smart.”

Jack stood there blinking.

It wasn’t smart but…

“You read my email?”

“I needed to see what he wrote. I found something else too, an entry in the error log of the police database. It’s only one line.”

“In the error log? How could you get to the error log? Isn’t that on the backend of the system?” Jack looked back at her.

“Once you’re in a system it’s easy to move around.” Her shoulders popped up and down.

Jack let the hot water wash over him as he tried to think about what she had just said. He yanked the curtain around himself and glared at her as the meaning hit him.

“Are you saying you hacked the police database?”

“No. I just gained access to the backend.”

“Accessed the backend? You hacked the database!”

“I don’t call it that.” She crossed her arms. “I just exploited a security flaw.”

“That’s hacking. Did you use my account?” Now his eyes were wide.

“No. I made my own account.” She twisted back and forth. “Don’t sweat it. They won’t know. Their security sucks. I used my laptop so they have no way to trace an IP even if they did suspect something. I mask then go through a VPN and then double jump high anonymity proxies. The second proxy is offshore so don’t sweat it. No one is following my butt.” She grinned.

“Out. Get your butt the hell out.” His voice was rising.

“Shh… I’m sorry.”

Jack shut the curtain and just as quickly pulled it back again.

“Damn it! What did you find out?”

She turned back around.

“Look, get on the other side of the door and tell me.”

She made a face but still walked out, pulled the door almost closed and pressed her face against the opening.

“Someone started to run a site inspection on Michelle’s car. I don’t know–”

“A site inspection? Are you sure?” Jack switched the water off.

“Yeah. It was only one line, two codes in an error log file. The license plate number partially matched and the purpose field said ‘site inspection’. I think they didn’t put in enough information and it errored out.”

“Turn around. I have to get dressed.” Jack jumped out of the shower.

“What is a site inspection?”

“That’s police speak for an abandoned vehicle in an accident. If you find an abandoned car that shows signs of being in an accident, you have to do a site inspection. You first run the plate. Someone started one. Did it have a date?”

“No. Just those two fields.”

“I don’t know what went wrong but if a cop ran a site inspection the next step is the car gets towed. There’s only one impound they’d take the car to. Now, turn around!”