“The girls are her age and they are all active in something so she could…”
“… be involved in normal kid stuff. You think I haven’t thought of that? I know my schedule makes it hard…”
Sophie laid her hand on Frankie’s arm, “Sis, you are a good - no, a great mom. You would move heaven and earth for these kids, but you are only one person. And there are two of them down there. Right now she’s only seeing the weekends. The fun. The activity. Maybe you should let her stay for the summer and see what it is like to live there every day. I’m bet she will change her mind when it’s not all fun and games every day; when she realizes she will get disciplined there too.”
Frankie thought about what Sophie said. Summer was just a few weeks away, and Dani may not want to stay down there by then.
“Maybe. I’ll wait and see if she brings it up to me. Maybe it would help her to see first-hand that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”
Chapter 69
Sunday’s weather was a repeat of Saturday. Frankie took advantage of Sophie sleeping on the sofa and went for a quick run in the neighborhood. As she ran, she made a mental checklist of all the things she needed to load into the Jeep for the picnic.
When Frankie got home, she could tell that Dani woke up even more surly than the day before.
“Danielle, you need to lose the attitude before we go to the park.”
“Why, so those kids can think you are a perfect parent with perfect children?”
“Seriously, Dani, what the hell?” Sophie exclaimed.
“What? You know I’m right. She wants everyone to think she is so perfect, but really she is a mess.”
“Danielle, you know that is not true. Get ready to go,” Frankie said.
“Whatever, you can’t even remember to pay our lunch accounts.
Frankie stared in disbelief as Dani left the room. To Sophie she said, “Today
should be fun.”
“Why don’t you let me take her to church and then we will come to the park and help clean up. Maybe a little dose of the Holy Spirit will adjust her attitude.”
“You’d do that?”
“Of course,” Sophie answered, giving her sister a hug. “Tyler too.”
With Sophie and the kids gone, Frankie loaded the Jeep and headed to the park. She was surprised to see Carl, one of the kids from VISION, was already there with Craven.
“Hey guys, are you early or am I late?”
“I think we are all on time,” Craven said. “Carl told me he hopped the bus to come up here. I told him I’d take him home for you.
Frankie nodded a thank you to Craven and said, “Why don’t we get things set up. Carl, do you think you can start the grill?”
A smile filled the boy’s face as he nodded and grabbed the charcoal and lighter from the Jeep.
The laughter and chatter of the children she mentored almost made Frankie forget about Danielle’s attitude that morning. The parents who were able to show up to the picnic chatted amongst themselves until it was time to start cleaning up the remnants of lunch.
“Frankie, when do you want us to start collecting hygiene items for our project?” Carl asked.
Frankie smiled at the enthusiasm of the young man eager to start planning for their volunteer project. The kids had voted to make hygiene bags for the homeless, sex workers, and domestic violence shelters. It was intended to be an all-year project.
“Let me draft a letter, and maybe over the next couple of weeks, we can visit a few dentists and hotels to get donations. I also have a few ideas on how to either get bags donated or make our own.”
The kids and their parents talked over one another with ideas on what to put in the bags, where to store them, and how they plan to distribute them. Frankie’s heart was full.
They had just about finished cleaning up when Frankie saw Danielle and Tyler walking towards her. Dani was smiling, and the moment Tyler saw Carl, he took off at a run towards the boy.
“Sophie said to tell you she had to go take care of something, but she’d call you later,” Dani said.
“Okay. How was church?”
“I like the church my sisters got to more, but this one was okay.”
Frankie just smiled and handed Dani a bag to put into the Jeep.
Chapter 70
The phone was ringing when Frankie walked into the squad room. She tossed her work bag on the chair next to her desk and grabbed the phone, “Sex Crimes Detective Thomas.”
A muffled voice pleaded, “I need your help.”
“Who is this? Where are you?”
“It’s Heather. I’m in a closet, and I’m scared.”
“Where are you? Is there anyone there with you?”
“They’re trying to get into my apartment.”
“Where is your apartment, Heather? Did you leave the shelter?”
Frankie heard the sound of a door breaking and a woman screaming.
“Heather?!” The phone line went dead.
Frantically Frankie dug Heather’s file out of the desk and located the phone number for the caseworker at the domestic violence shelter. Frankie dialed the number but got no answer. Mia walked into the office as Frankie scanned the file, searching through her notes for anything that might help her locate Heather.
“Mia, will you please call the main number of Rose Brooks and see if they will give you Heather Whitaker’s new address? Somebody’s breaking in. We need to get a radio car there as soon as possible.”
“Sure,” the word not completely out of her mouth before Mia started dialing the number.
Frankie tried Heather’s number again. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. “You have reached Heather. You know what to do.”
Frankie tried the number again with the same results. She tried a third time and was about to try a fourth when she heard Mia say, “8802 East 87th Street # 201. Okay. Thank you.”
“Hey Laura, I need you to get a radio car out to 8802 East 87th Street #201 on a nature unknown.”
“What’s going on, Frankie?”
“I got a call about five minutes ago from a victim in one of my cases. Her name is Heather Whitaker. She was hiding in a closet and said someone was breaking in. I heard the door break, followed by her screaming. Then the phone disconnected.”
“Okay. Want the officers to call you when they get there?”
“Yeah. We are going to head that way from headquarters, but I’ll have the phone.” Frankie hung up and grabbed her vest and bag. Looking towards Mia, she asked, “You coming?”
“Of course.”
The twenty-minute drive to the apartment felt much longer. Frankie and Mia listened to the radio traffic as they drove, waiting to hear if the officers found Heather. And if she was alive.
They were ten minutes from the complex when they heard the radio car, “244. We’re 10-23. Hold the air.”
Frankie recognized the voice of Bryan Shane telling the dispatcher they were on the scene. Frankie pulled into the apartment complex minutes later.
“244. You can clear the air. Start an ambulance and a sergeant.”
Chapter 71
Frankie advised the dispatcher she and Mia were on the scene, grabbed a pair of gloves, and took the stairs two at a time. The flimsy door to the apartment was hanging from its hinges. Frankie stepped into the unfurnished living room, taking in the lack of furniture and the bare walls.
Shane called from the bedroom, “She’s back here, Frankie. She’s pretty banged up.”
Frankie made her way to the bedroom, careful not to touch anything in her path. Frankie caught her breath at the sight of the girl sitting on the floor, leaning against the frameless mattress. Patches of long curly hair lay between the closet and the bed.
Heather tried to speak, but the words gurgled in her throat. Blood ran down the side of her face from a gaping wound on the side of her head. Red tears drained from her right eye; her left swollen shut. If Frankie had not known who she was, she wouldn’t have reco
gnized her.
Frankie knelt down next to the girl and softly said, “Don’t try to speak Heather. An ambulance is on the way.”
Heather’s head fell forward, and she began to sob. Her left arm hung from her body at an unnatural angle. Frankie reached over and put her hand on Heather’s opposite shoulder, speaking softly.
“They ra…” Heather’s voice cracked. “He rap…”
“Did they rape you, Heather?”
Heather nodded her head slightly.
“Do you know who did this to you?”
Heather nodded.
Before Frankie could ask any additional questions, the paramedics walked into the room.
“Hey sweety. Can you tell us your name?” asked the paramedic.
Heather tried to speak, but only a gurgle could be heard.
“Heather Whitaker,” Frankie said.
“Okay, Heather. Let’s get you onto the gurney and get you to the hospital. Looks like you got beat up pretty bad.”
“She will need a forensic exam too. Heather, I’ll come see you at the hospital before the end of my shift,” Frankie said.
The paramedics got Heather onto the gurney and were just about to leave when she motioned to Frankie.
“What is it, Heather?”
Heather motioned for Frankie to give her the notepad she had been writing on. Frankie handed it to Heather with her pen. Heather scribbled something on it and handed it back to Frankie.
Frankie looked at the name Heather had scribbled and asked, “Are you sure?”
Heather nodded.
Chapter 72
Frankie looked at the names scribbled on the notepad. Corey and Tubby. They had found her. Why hadn’t Heather told her she moved? Heather needed to go somewhere where she would be safe. Somewhere Corey and Tubby couldn’t find her.
“Frankie, want me to call Crime Scene?” Mia asked.
Frankie nodded.
“Do we need to call the Assault Squad?” Shane asked.
“No, we’ll handle it. The men that physically assaulted her raped her as well. They are the same men from the other case we’re working on her.” Frankie looked around the room and added, “Dammit!”
Intellectually Frankie knew there was nothing they could have done to protect Heather, but it was still frustrating. She grabbed her notepad and began taking notes of the scene, her back to Mia and the officers so they couldn’t see the emotion overtaking her face.
“Crime Scene is en route,” Mia said. Sensing Frankie needed a moment she added, “We’ll go do an area canvas while you sketch the scene.”
Frankie nodded in understanding. When she was sure they were gone, she reached up and wiped tears of frustration from her eyes.
She was just finishing up with her notes and sketch when Frankie heard a cheerful, “Hey girl, where ya at?”
“Back here Erin!” Frankie looked up just in time to see Erin’s infectious smile.
“What’s going on? Why are you all out on this? I heard 244 ask for a report number, and he said it was for an assault. Did you get more information after he called?”
“Yeah. When the paramedics were taking her away, she disclosed a rape. You remember that case where the girl was loaded into the trunk of her car in Kansas and brought over here?”
“Yeah.”
“This is the same girl. And the suspects in this assault are the same guys from the other case. They beat her up pretty bad, Erin. Honestly, I’m surprised they let her live.”
Mia walked in just as Frankie was finishing her sentence.
“I don’t think that was their plan, Frankie.”
“You find something on the canvas?”
“Yeah. We talked to two different neighbors who heard them kicking her door in. The first guy said he thought the apartment was empty, so he called the apartment complex instead of the police. The office told them they would send over the off-duty deputy who lives on-site. The second guy said he saw Heather move in yesterday. Apparently, he knows the off-duty deputy and called his cell, but no one answered. He walked out of his apartment at the same time as the first dude. They went down and started yelling in the apartment door but didn’t go inside. Both said they heard the girl screaming and were about to go inside when the dudes ran out past them. One of the dudes turned back towards them and lifted his shirt to show a gun. He said they stood there trying to decide what to do when they heard the sirens. They figured since the police were coming, they didn’t need to go inside the apartment.”
Frankie shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t they call 9-1-1? Did they get a good look at them? You think they could pick Corey and Lamont out in a lineup?”
“Probably, but I don’t know that they will. Both seem pretty shaken up.”
“I guess all we can do is try. We’ll run up to Metro and make some line-ups before we go to the hospital. We need to find a safe place for this girl to go when she is released from the hospital too.”
Mia pulled her cellphone out and said, “I’m on it. I’ll call MOCSA and see if they can have someone go sit with Heather at the hospital. They may also be able to make contact at one of the shelters for her.”
“Good call, Mia,” Frankie said. As an afterthought, she added, “Have security sit by Heather’s door. These guys are out there and she’s a sitting duck in the hospital.”
Chapter 73
Frankie laid the folder on the table in front of Solomon Kendrick, one of Heather’s new neighbors. She explained what she needed Solomon to do, then opened the folder.
Solomon looked at each photograph carefully before returning to the third one. He picked the piece of paper up and looked at it thoughtfully, careful not to make an error in identifying the man he saw. After a long pause, he said, “This is the man who showed me a gun.”
Frankie noted that Solomon identified Corey Simpson. “Thank you. Can you please do the same with the next set of photographs?”
“Mmhmm.” Solomon repeated the same process, carefully looking at each photograph before making a choice. Pointing at the photograph of Lamont Foster, he said, “Here. That’s the other guy.”
“Thank you. Did you happen to see what kind of car they left in?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t think they had a car. I never heard one start up or leave. I don’t know how they got out of here without the cops seeing them.”
“Okay. Thanks. Do you know if the apartment complex has cameras covering the parking lots?”
“I don’t think so.”
Frankie thanked Solomon for his time and walked across the hall to the other neighbor who had seen the men leave. She explained the process to Benjamin Connor the same way she had to Solomon.
Benjamin looked at the stack of photographs carefully, stopping on the photo of Corey.
“That’s the boy who showed us a gun.”
“Okay, thank you. Can you please do the same with the other set of photographs?”
Benjamin looked at all the photographs, pausing on the photo of Lamont, without saying anything. After a few moments, he said, “That’s the other boy.”
“Did you happen to see or hear anything after they left? A car or anything?” Frankie asked.
“Naw, I don’t think they had one. If they did, I didn’t hear anything.”
“Why didn’t you all call 9-1-1 or go inside the apartment and try to help the girl you heard screaming?”
“We heard the sirens. We knew help was coming.”
“You told Detective Boden you called the off-duty deputy that lives here. Can you give us his name?”
“Sure. It’s Victor Nelson. Give me a second, and I’ll get you his phone number.”
Chapter 74
Frankie and Mia walked into the Emergency Department amid a flurry of activity. Nurses were running to get medical equipment and additional medications. Doctors were running towards the trauma room, shouting commands at the interns and nurses. Frankie peeked into the room and exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she had been
holding.
“It’s not her,” Frankie said aloud.
“Good. Let’s see if we can find her and determine exactly what happened tonight.”
Frankie and Mia walked through the Emergency Department, glancing in each room as they passed. They were about to check in with the charge nurse when Alex called out to them.
“Hey Alex. I’m glad you were able to come out. Did they tell you what room she is in?”
Alex nodded as she said, “ED 12. What’s the story?”
Frankie told Alex about the phone call and how officers had found her. “Witnesses put two of the suspects from her other case in the apartment.”
“Are you serious? Poor girl.”
Frankie and Mia nodded. Frankie heard Alex suck in her breath at the sight of Heather lying on the hospital bed. Mia touched Alex on the shoulder and nodded. The three spoke softly while walking closer to the broken woman.
“Hi Heather,” Alex whispered.
“He,” Heather began to cough, a red tear seeping from her eye. “He.”
“It’s okay. You’re safe now,” Alex assured, standing next to Heather’s head. Alex reached down and gently placed her hand over Heather’s.
Frankie walked to the opposite side of the bed. “Heather, I need to show you some photographs and see if you can identify the men that did this to you.”
Heather nodded slightly.
Frankie held each photograph up in front of Heather for ten seconds. When she got to the photograph of Corey, Heather began to whimper. She lifted her unbroken arm and pointed to his face.
“Do you recognize the man in this photograph?”
“Ye…us,” Heather coughed.
“Is this one of the men who assaulted you?”
“Ye…us.”
Frankie handed Heather a pen and waited while she scribbled her name on the photograph.
Frankie took out the second set of photographs and started the process again. When she got to the photograph of Lamont, Heather raised her finger and tapped the paper.
“Do you recognize the man in this photograph?”
Across State Lines Page 16
