Текст книги "Detective Jason Strong: The Early Cases"
Автор книги: John C. Dalglish
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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
Chapter 14
Jason hung up the phone. He had called Sandy to let her know he wouldn't be home for dinner. She understood, after all, Vanessa was her friend, as well. He figured there was a good chance he might not be home at all tonight.
He had called the lieutenant before calling Sandy and told him that Stephanie Morris was awake. Lieutenant Patton was just as frustrated as Jason at not being able to get answers but they both knew that arguing with the doctor was a losing battle. At least she was awake and they should get some answers soon.
The lieutenant told him nothing was going on that he needed Jason for and he could stay at the hospital. Jason didn’t bother telling him that he had no intention of going anywhere. Stephanie was his best hope to find Vanessa.
The description of the vehicle on the news had brought in hundreds of responses, and they were still following up on them, but nothing appeared promising. Jason looked at his watch.
5:30 pm.
It had been about three hours since the girl had come around and Jason figured it was time for an update. He made his way up to the third floor and found a nurse.
“Has Stephanie Morris come awake again?”
“No. However; they’ve ordered a tray for her and I think they’re going to wake her to eat soon.”
“Alright. I guess I’ll go downstairs and find something at the cafeteria. Any recommendations?”
“Yeah. Eat out.”
Jason laughed out loud. It felt good and immediately made him feel guilty. With Vanessa missing, there was little to smile about. He headed downstairs to get something to eat.
****
Vanessa stared at her abductor. He wasn’t fat, in fact he was well built. He would probably be attractive if not for one thing. The birthmark. He stopped just inside the door.
“Take your clothes off.”
Vanessa shuddered. She knew the other victims had not been raped but that hadn’t been much comfort.
“No.”
He didn’t come toward her, didn’t even act as if he heard her.
“Hang them in the closet with the others.”
“No.”
This time he looked directly at her.
“When I come back you will have your clothes hung up or I will kill you.”
“Please don’t do this. I’m pregnant.”
She didn’t mean to let him know but it slipped out. He stared at her for a long minute.
“Hang them up!”
He slammed the door.
She didn’t get undressed.
****
Jason ignored the nurses advice and went to the cafeteria, anyway. Nothing looked good to him, so he ended up with coffee and a banana.
Sitting alone in a booth, he thought of Vanessa. He didn’t know what she was going through but he had seen the result. He was torn between fear for her and anger at her abductor.
Jason thought of Rob. He knew that if something like this happened to Sandy, he wouldn’t be able to function. He’d be paralyzed with fear.
He finished a second cup of coffee and threw away his banana peel before heading back up to the third floor. He looked at his watch.
7:15
Vanessa had been missing for nearly 12 hours. He knew that Stephanie Morris had only been missing about 24 hours when the loggers had seen her. Two of the other cases supported the 24 hour window. If this guy kept the same timeline, and there was no reason to think he won’t, Jason had 12 hours left to find her.
****
When he got to the room, Stephanie Morris was sitting up in bed. A tray of half eaten food was on the rolling table next to the bed. Jason lightly knocked on the door. She looked up.
“Yes?”
“May I come in, Miss Morris?”
“Yes. Who are you?”
Jason took a chair next to the bed and opened his pad.
“My name is Detective Jason Strong. Your friend, Brooke Donald reported you missing to me and now I’m trying to find your attacker.”
The mere mention of her ‘attacker’ brought tears to her eyes and she started shaking.
“When you walk the streets, you know something like this can happen but….” She let the sentence trail off.
“I know this will be difficult but I need to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.”
“Did you know your attacker?”
“No.”
“Could you describe him?”
“I guess. I saw his face.”
She shuddered visibly.
“Could you describe him to an artist?”
“I can try. The most obvious thing about him was the birthmark on his face.”
Jason’s hopes began to lift.
“Okay. Will you excuse me a minute?”
She nodded and Jason stepped into the hall. He dialed Lieutenant Patton.
“Patton.”
“Lieutenant, this is Jason. Stephanie Morris is awake.”
“Excellent. Does she know anything?”
“Yes. She said she would do a description for a sketch. Can you get someone over here?”
“I’ll make the call.”
“Thanks.”
Jason hung up and returned to the room. A nurse was there checking on the girl and took the tray away. Jason sat back down.
“We have a sketch artist coming. Are feeling okay to do it?”
“I guess. Can you call Brooke for me?”
“Absolutely.”
Jason put down his pad and looked the number up in his phone. He dialed and Brooke answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Brooke, this is Detective Strong.”
“Hi.”
“I’m sitting here with a friend of yours, perhaps you remember her?”
Jason smiled and Stephanie managed a little smile herself.
“Steph…Is she awake?”
“Yes. Would you like to talk to her.”
He handed the phone to Stephanie and left the room. His questioning could wait a few minutes.
When he returned to the room, Stephanie was off the phone and her eyes were red from crying.
“Thank you.”
“Not a problem. You okay for a few more questions?”
“I think so.”
Jason returned to his chair and retrieved his phone. Pad open, he looked up at Stephanie. He realized that normally, if he had his pad open, Vanessa would be asking the questions. He forced himself to focus.
“Do you know where he took you?”
“No. Some house. It was a mess.”
“Can you describe the outside?”
“Not really. It was dark and he blindfolded me after we left the Presa street area.”
“What about the house inside? Anything specific about it?”
“Yeah. The room.”
“What room?”
“It was a bedroom. White walls with a blacked out and barred window. A mattress in the middle and a closet at the far end….”
She paused and it appeared to Jason that she was steeling herself for what she had to say next.
“….He made me take off my clothes and hang them in the closet. There were other girls clothes hanging in there.”
“Can you describe the clothes?”
“I guess. Normal stuff, except for the uniform. 7-11, I think.”
Jason recalled that’s what Marcie Walker was wearing when she disappeared.
“Anything else about the room?”
“The writing.”
“Writing?”
“All over the walls. Different colors. The same thing over and over.”
“What did it say?”
“I will never call you bloodstain again….he made me write it on the walls, too.”
“I’m sorry. Can you tell me that again?”
“I will never call you bloodstain again.”
Jason looked up at her. Tears rolled down her face. He didn’t know what the words meant but he couldn’t conceive the horror each of the girls must have felt. Naked and forced to write it over and over while that animal watched. His heart broke for her. Jason knew she needed a break. He closed his pad and got her a tissue.
“That’s enough for now. The sketch artist should be here soon. You rest.”
“Okay. Thanks. Will you stay?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She half-smiled and closed her eyes.
Jason looked at his watch.
8:30
Where was the artist?
Chapter 15
The light that had been coming in around the edges of the window was gone now. Vanessa guessed it to be nine or ten in the evening. The man had not returned but she knew it was only a matter of time. She thought of Rob, what he must be going through and how much she missed him. And Jason, who she knew would be doing everything in his power to find her.
There was a click, the doorknob turned and the door opened. He stepped into the room, looked at Vanessa, and slammed the door. Walking directly towards her, he drew the gun from behind him and pointed it directly at her stomach, the end of the barrel touching where her child was.
“Take off your clothes and hang them in the closet or your child dies.”
“Please no.”
“They all say that. Do it!”
He raised the gun and fired into the far wall. Vanessa ducked but he hadn’t intended to hit her. Her ears rang as he returned the gun to her belly.
“Take off your clothes or the next one goes through the baby.”
She did as he ordered.
She kept her eyes on the gun as her clothes came off and when she was naked, she turned her back to him.
‘Hang them up!”
She did, slowly.
When she was done, she turned around, her arms wrapped across her breasts. He threw her a marker. She didn’t try to catch it and it hit the wall next to her, dropping by her feet.
“You see what’s written on the walls?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I want you to write the same thing over and over until I tell you to stop.”
She didn’t move.
“NOW!”
She jumped at his shouting before retrieving the marker. She turned to the wall behind her because it allowed her to keep her back to him. It occurred to her she hadn’t asked his name. She started to write.
“You haven’t told me your name.”
“Norman.”
Vanessa continued to write but she had remembered something. She had read some articles on kidnapping and they all said to try and start conversation. The goal was to make yourself be seen as a human being, not an object.
“That’s a nice name.”
She tried for as sincere a tone as she could muster but his reaction told her she had failed.
“You’re a liar. Just like always. You made me believe you cared but you didn’t. You’re like all the others.”
Something hit the wall next to her and made her jump. She looked down to see a 9 millimeter bullet.
“The next one that comes at you will be coming from my gun.”
Vanessa continued to write while she tried to think of some code or a way to leave a message. Nothing came to her. He stayed by the door and watched her as she continued to print out the words.
I will never call you bloodstain again.
****
Jason looked at his watch for the twentieth time.
10:15
He’d been waiting almost two hours for the sketch artist. He knew every minute mattered and he had just lost 120 of them. Finally, he saw the man coming down the hall. He didn’t bother with greetings.
“In here.”
They found Stephanie watching TV.
“Stephanie, the artist is here.”
“Okay.” She flipped the TV off and tried to pull herself up farther in the bed. She squinted from the pain. “How do we do this?”
“The artist will start with some basic questions and then move to more specific features. You just answer the questions the best you can and when he shows you the picture you can make suggestions.”
“Okay.”
The artist had finished opening his sketch book and was ready.
“Miss. Morris, is it?”
She nodded.
‘My name is George Stewart. Do you have any questions about what Detective Strong said?”
“No. I think I understand.”
“Okay. Let’s begin with the basic shape of the face. Would you say it was round or long?”
“Long.”
“And would you say it was thin or wide?”
“Thin.”
The artist did some drawing.
“And the eyes, were they close together or wide set?”
“Close.”
“And his forehead, long or short?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would you say he had a big forehead or small?”
“Big.”
Jason had moved over to the corner behind the artist so he could watch the picture take shape.
“And his nose, narrow or wide?”
And so it went for over a half an hour. Slowly the picture in Stephanie Morris’ mind came to be on the paper in front of Jason. He didn’t recognize him but he knew this was the face of the one holding his partner.
Jason planned to show the picture to Marcie Walker’s parents and friends. He still believed that she was the key. It had to be someone in her life. The artist continued with questions.
“His skin. What tone was it, light or dark?”
“Well, one half was light but the one side of his face was covered with a birthmark.”
“Okay. The birthmark, which side of his face?”
“It was on my right, when I looked at him.”
“Okay, that’s his left. Was it brown, red or some other color?”
“It was red, almost purplish.”
“Like a Port Wine Stain?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
Jason stood straight up. He looked at the artist.
“What did you call it?”
“A Port Wine Stain. Why?”
Jason’s mind was going a mile a minute. The wine glasses. The bloodstain on each. It had to be the connection.
“Our suspect would leave a wine glass at each scene.”
Stephanie’s eyes got big.
“I remember that! He took a wine glass out of his bag.”
Jason headed for the door.
“Finish the sketch including the birthmark. I need to make a call.”
He glanced at his watch.
11:30
****
Vanessa’s arm was getting tired. She had written the sentence at least a hundred times, maybe more. She had occupied her mind by counting each one but had lost count at 74. She had no idea how much time had gone by, but she figured as long as she was writing, he would leave her alone. He had not left the room. He just watched.
“That’s enough.”
Her heart stopped.
“Throw me the marker. Nicely.”
His voice had lost all tone. It was dead, cold and matter-of-fact. It matched his eyes.
She turned and tossed the marker over by his feet. Wrapping her arms around herself, she waited for what she assumed was the inevitable. He looked at her and then at the mattress in the middle of the room.
“Lay down over there.”
Vanessa didn’t move. The gun came up from his side and pointed at her.
“Lay down over there, now.”
She crossed the room and climbed onto the mattress. Laying down, she curled into a fetal position with her back to him. She heard him get up.
She held her breath, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Then she heard the door open and shut, the lock click, and silence.
She let her breath out.
Chapter 16
Jason found the number in the memory of his phone. It was almost midnight but he had to call. Mrs. Walker had obviously been asleep.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Walker, this is Detective Strong. I’m very sorry to wake you.”
“Detective Strong?”
“Yes. Detective Vanessa Layne and I spoke with you and your husband a little over a week ago.”
“Oh, yes…Of course. It’s very late, detective. What is it that couldn’t wait until morning?”
“I don’t have time to go into the details but my partner has been taken and we believe it’s the same man that took your daughter.”
Jason could hear Mrs. Walker suck in her breath.
“We saw the news, of course. We didn’t realize who the abducted detective was.”
From the background came the voice of Mr. Walker.
“Who is it?”
The phone was partially covered but Jason could still hear Mrs. Walker telling her husband who was calling and about Vanessa. There was some muffled noises and Mr. Walker came on.
“What is it we can do for you, detective?”
“Mr. Walker, do you or your wife recall a friend of Marcie’s from school that had a large birthmark on his face?”
“Well…yes. There was a boy that had a rather large one who went to high school with Marcie. I only met him once, quite by accident.”
Jason held his breath as Mr. Walker turned to his wife and asked the boy’s name.
“Do you remember that boy’s name that stopped by looking for Marcie? He had the large birthmark on his face.”
Jason couldn’t hear the answer but Mr. Walker came back on.
“My wife doesn’t remember his name but she thinks his picture would be in the high school yearbook. She’s gonna look for it. Do you want to call back?”
“Actually, would it be alright if I came over?”
“Now?”
“Yes. If his picture is in that book, I’ll need to see it.”
“Very well.”
Jason hung up and called Lieutenant Patton.
“Patton.”
Jason didn’t know if the lieutenant was at home but he had definitely not been asleep.
“Lieutenant, this is Jason. I’m on the way to Marcie Walker’s parent’s house. The sketch has given me a lead. Mrs. Walker’s looking for a school yearbook that may have our guys photo.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Yes sir.”
****
Time had stopped for Vanessa.
After what seemed like hours, she couldn’t tell how long actually, Norman came back into the room without a word. She heard him move around the room. There was a click, like a lock snapping shut, and then she heard him walk to the door. He left.
Vanessa looked around her. The closet at the far end of the room was now closed and had a padlock on it. That was what she had heard snap shut. She couldn’t put her clothes back on if she wanted to.
She curled back up on the mattress. She shook even though she wasn’t cold. The fear that came with the loss of control over her own life was something she had never experienced. She knew that each girl before her had felt the same fear. It was paralyzing.
Vanessa had been in street fights while on patrol. She had been involved in a gun fight when responding to bank alarm. Nothing had approached the fear she felt now. She was helpless. No weapon, no clothes, no escape. She fought for control. She wanted to run to the window or door, start pounding and screaming at the top of her lungs but she had realized that the room must be sound proofed in some way. He would not have risked firing his gun if he thought someone could hear it.
She thought of Jason. He was her best hope, maybe her only hope. He had to find her before it was too late.
****
Jason arrived at the Walker’s home twenty-five minutes later. The lights in the house were on. He parked and walked up to the door. Mr. Walker opened it before the detective could knock.
“Come in, Detective.”
“Thank you. Did Mrs. Walker have any luck finding the yearbook?”
“She’s still upstairs looking. Would you like some coffee?”
“No thank you. I’ll just sit if it’s okay.”
“Of course.”
Jason was about to sit when he heard Mrs. Walker coming down the stairs.
“Found it. Hello, Detective.”
“Hello. You found the yearbook?”
“Not only did I find the book, I found his picture.”
Jason’s adrenaline began pumping.
“Excellent. May I see?”
She handed him the book with the page open to a row of pictures. Jason spotted him immediately.
Norman Lasiter.
The name didn’t ring any bells.
“May I take this book?”
“Of course. Please let us know when you catch him.”
“I will. Thank you and I apologize again for getting you out of bed.”
Mr. Walker shook his head.
“It was no trouble.”
Jason headed for the door. His next stop was back at the hospital to show the picture to Stephanie Morris. There was no point in trying to put together a photo line-up with six men who have Port Wine Stains. IF he could find them, it would take too long. Vanessa didn’t have that kind of time.
He called and updated the lieutenant as he drove.
****
Jason found Stephanie Morris asleep with the TV on. The nurse was just coming to check on her and Jason let her know he needed to wake her.
“She needs to sleep, Detective.”
“I know but a life is at stake and I need her to look at a photo for me.”
“Very well but I will have to note it on her chart. Dr. Nance wanted her to sleep as much as possible.”
“I understand. I won’t keep her any longer than I have to.”
Jason walked over and shut off the TV. The change in noise seemed to stir the girl. Jason touched her arm.
“Stephanie? Stephanie?”
She opened her eyes and gave him a half smile.
“Detective? Is everything alright?”
She sat up, pulling on her shoulder and wincing.
“Yes. I just need your help with something.”
“Did you see the sketch?”
“Not yet. I’ll see it when I get to the station. I have a photo I need you to look at.”
“Okay.”
She rubbed at her eyes before accepting the yearbook from Jason. His heart was pounding but he did his best to hide it. He needed a positive ID with no influence from him. The lieutenant had suggested that rather than point out the suspects picture, Jason should show her the entire page of senior photo’s and see if she picks him out. It wasn’t a true photo line-up but it was better than nothing.
The yearbook was in her lap and Jason opened it to the page he had dog-eared.
“I want you look carefully at all the male photos on this page. If you see the man who attacked you….”
Before Jason could finish the sentence, her finger came to rest on the picture of Norman Lasiter. He watched her begin to shake and tears welled up in her eyes. He could tell by her reaction that she was sure. He didn’t bother asking.
“Thank you, Stephanie. I have to go. Are you alright?”
She nodded, and as he got to the door, she stopped him.
“Detective Strong?”
He turned and met her eyes.
“Get him.”
“I will…. I will.”
Jason ran for the elevator even as he was dialing the lieutenant. His phone said 1:45 am.
“Patton.”
“Lieutenant, I have an ID on our guy. I need an address.”
Jason heard the lieutenant grab a pad and pencil.
“Our suspect’s name is Norman Thomas Lasiter. He went to high school with Marcie Walker.”
“Give me five minutes.”
Jason smiled to himself. He knew John Patton wouldn’t be asleep but he didn’t expect him to be at the station. He should have known better. Lieutenant John Patton would not rest when one of his own was in danger.
It was no more than three minutes when the lieutenant came back on.
“Norman Lasiter. Age 22. No priors. Last known address was 125 Rio Grande here in San Antonio.”
“You’re shittin’ me!”
“No. Why?”
“That’s two blocks from Marcie Walker’s parent’s house. I’ve driven past that street probably ten times in the last few weeks.”
“I’m on my way with a S.W.A.T team.”
Jason was already pulling out of the parking lot and heading back towards the neighborhood he had just left an hour ago.
“I’m going there now.”
“JD.”
“Yes sir?”
“Be careful. No unnecessary risks until I get there.”
“I’ll be careful.”
He hung up and gunned the engine.
