by T. J. Jones
"We're not here about the noise." I explained. "We need to talk to Jessie Pearson, and it's really important. Could you ask him to come outside? I really don't want to have to go in and find him."
"Yeah, that would be trespassing. I don't think he's here." She tried.
"Listen little girl." Maggie pushed by me and put her face inches from the girl's. "His car is out there, so you go drag his privileged ass out here or we're going to have about a dozen fucking Cops here in the next five minutes. This is serious shit, so if you don't want my foot in your ass, I'd start running for the house and find that little prick."
"Jesus Lady, chill. I'll go get him." As a pack they turned and fled toward the front door of the house.
I had learned to trust Maggie's instincts, but it was clear she was closing in on irrational. I slid an arm under hers and leaned close.
"Remember, we want to keep this from turning into a media circus. If the press gets wind of this, it's going to make finding her impossible. Jessie probably isn't involved, so we have to be careful what we say to him."
"I know that." She said sharply, then softened. "Sorry, you're right. I'm just so damn worried I'm not thinking straight. He's scared of you, so you have the best chance of getting something out of him. Feel free to slap him around if you think it will help."
It was a poor time for levity, but I chuckled. I also knew she wasn't kidding.
Jessie stumbled down the front step of the porch led by the tall blond that I guessed might be a year his junior. She stopped a dozen steps from us and gave him a bit of a shove in our direction. A few of the young partiers looked curiously in our direction, then returned to their debauchery.
Jessie eyed us cautiously. It looked like he had already had a few too many. "Whas-up?" He asked bleary eyed. "Jasmine already broke up with me, isn't that enough? I maybe called her a name or two, which I guess I shouldn't have, but shit, she didn't have to call out the Family Guard. I really like her, so sue me. Are you gonna' kick my ass Mr. Slater?"
"No Jessie, not that. She hasn't come home yet, so we're just worried about her. We thought maybe she was with you."
"Me?" He mumbled and weaved around with a perplexed look on his face. "We had a fight and broke up, and she wouldn't talk because she had to get to your party. Because your birthday was a big deal and I didn't matter to her. Happy birthday Mr. Slater."
"Do you remember what time that was, Jessie?" Maggie asked calmly.
"I was 'sposed to work at five, but I came here instead. Whoops." He chuckled. "A guy gets a day off when he gets he heart stomped on, right? Stupid job anyway. So, maybe four-thirty." He frowned, thinking. "She was really in a hurry to get to your party. Is she okay? I really like her, Mr. Slater, but I blew it."
"Sorry kid, but at your age relationships don't usually last."
"I was pissed about that biker guy that she used to date, 'cause he called her and she told me the whole deal. I didn't handle that well. Dude was old. Weirded me out, you know?"
"He called her? When?"
"Couple days ago, I guess. She said they had a long talk and straightened some shit out but that they were done, because he was a loser. But she said she actually cared for him when they were hanging out. Kind of like me. It weirded me out because he was so old, and then she told me to go to hell, just like the old guy. Guess I'm a loser too, huh Mr. Slater?"
"You're just seventeen Jessie." I said. "But pull your head out of your ass and quit the drinking before you wrap that pretty car of yours around a tree, okay? Go drink a couple glasses of water and take a nap. If I hear you were drinking and driving, I will come back and kick your ass, is that clear?"
"Yeah, okay." He took a step back, then eyed me mournfully again. "But tell Jasmine I really like her okay? If she was to take me back, well, just tell her I said I really like her, okay?"
"We have to go Jessie. Remember, don't even think about getting in your car tonight."
"Don't want you kickin' my ass, that's for sure." He turned and stumbled back in the direction of the house and the girl we had talked to earlier. She latched onto his arm and pulled him toward the house and gave us a brief wave. I had a feeling she intended to help him mend his broken heart. Teenagers.
"Cletus called her? And he's out of jail?" Maggie asked as we drove back toward her house.
"Maryanne thought she told you he was out. He's in Atlanta, under house arrest with an ankle monitor on. If he skipped town, Tommy or Maryanne would be notified the same day."
"Why would she even answer his call? The guy is nuts, and he's obsessed with her."
"Maybe he has a new phone number. Or maybe she feels sorry for him." I reasoned.
"He shot at us, nearly killed me. Why would she feel sorry for him?"
"The Little One, she has a very good heart." Luis spoke up for the first time. "I think it must have skipped a generation, but she has a heart like her Grandmother. Divine, she is very pretty, but her heart is like a stone. If the Mrs. hadn't already given her money, I'm just saying, I would put nothing past her."
"Maybe not her Luis, but she doesn't keep very good company. There are quite a few people in Jasmine's life that I don't trust. We need to sit down with Maryanne and go over our options. Hopefully they make contact again soon."
Maggie slid her hand into mine and looked at me wide-eyed. "I've never been so scared in my life Slater."
"I know. Me either."
It was getting dark when we pulled up to the Jeffries house but there was no missing the shiny new job trailer sitting in the turn-around with the big bow on it. Maggie gave me a weak smile.
"I forgot the dealer was going to deliver that. Happy Birthday. Angela, Maryanne, Jasmine and I all went together on it. Now she isn't here to see you get it!" Luis got out of my old pickup and the tears came in a torrent. I held onto her until she stopped shaking and sat up. "Sorry, I have to keep it together for Maryanne. We'll figure out who has her and get her back, right Slater?"
"Absolutely, partner. Don't you think that trailer is a bit much?"
"I told you, the building in Fort Lauderdale was worth twice what we thought, and it's just money. Angela and Maryanne can both afford it, and Jasmine kind of borrowed against her inheritance, I guess. We all love you Slater, get used to it."
"Still a little much, but thank you." I gave her a quick kiss. "Before long I'll be able to thank Jasmine too."
"Right now would be good, but we'll find her."
"The food is cold, but we all should eat." Angela pointed toward the table. "I know everybody is worried, but you need to keep your strength up."
We all sat down and picked at the food and I thanked Maryanne and Angela for their part in my new trailer; then we ate cake and sat around staring at each other, waiting for the phone to ring.
Tommy brought up something that had been on my mind. "Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but secrecy has to be absolute. No one but the people in this room can know about this until it's resolved."
"I don't know what to do about Divine." Maryanne admitted. "She isn't known for being prudent. If she told one of her worthless friends it would be in the tabloids the same day."
"She made you Jasmine's guardian." Maggie pointed out. "If that means protecting her from her own mother, so be it."
"Unfortunately, I have to agree. Alright, for the time being it doesn't go beyond this room, and I trust you all completely. All we can do is wait to hear their demands. I presume that will mean money and an exchange of some kind."
I tried to be reassuring. "We'll hear soon, I'd bet on it."
It was nearly midnight before the text came in. Surprisingly it was from Jasmine's phone again. There was a picture of Jasmine lying on a hardwood floor with her hands and feet tied, a piece of duct tape across her mouth, and an angry, defiant look on her face.
Included is a picture of your Granddaughter before we moved her to a secure location, so don't bother trying to track this phone. She is perfectly fine and will remain so if you agree to
our demands and DON'T CALL THE POLICE. You will be contacted in a couple days regarding a donation to our favorite charity. If you call the police, I swear, I will kill her.
"Days? What kind of kidnapper would want to wait days to get their money?" Maryanne asked, after sharing the text.
"I can make some guesses." I said.
"You're my investigator Slater, you and Maggie. By all means, start guessing."
"I'd say whoever this is, they're amateurs. They gave away a lot in that short text. First of all, it's they, so more than one person. Then he said he would kill her. "I swear I will kill her." It's almost like he needed to convince himself. And maybe his partner isn't willing to do it. Not to be sexist, but that implies his partner might be a woman."
"That is sexist." Maggie nodded. "Could be a woman, or it could be someone who knows her, someone like Cletus Johnson. He called her, maybe he's still obsessed, or maybe he thinks getting some of Maryanne's money would be a good way to get even."
"Cletus is wearing an ankle monitor, and he isn't supposed to have any contact with Jasmine." Tommy said. "My understanding is he found a job and is able to move around Atlanta when he's working, but he can't leave Fulton county. Not to say he couldn't have a partner. For some people, jail is just a training ground. Maybe we could turn this around on them, figure out who this is before they make their demands."
"I can't believe she didn't tell me that he called. But then I couldn't believe she was hanging out with him to start with. My granddaughter is full of surprises."
"Which is a good thing." Maggie chuckled. "She'll give those kidnappers as much trouble as she can. I wouldn't be surprised if they volunteer to give her back for free."
"Okay, I think you two need to try to figure out who this is. Maybe, if we're lucky, you can find her without some dangerous exchange going on. In the movies, that's when someone gets shot, and I don't want it to be Jasmine."
"Maybe tomorrow we'll go to Atlanta and track down Cletus. It's a start. I have a few other ideas. It's like you say, the dangerous part will be when it comes down to getting her back. If a kidnapper kills their victim, there is no payday, and then they're just murderers. But it is odd that they're not in a bigger hurry to have it done with."
Maggie shrugged. "Maybe they're such complete idiots that they're still trying to figure out what to do next. Maybe they saw her on the road, recognized her, and grabbed her spur of the moment."
"Whatever is going on, they have every reason to keep her alive, and that's the biggest thing. I say we all get as good a night's sleep as we can. If you don't want the police involved, I would suggest you see about having some cash on hand. Sooner or later that will be what it comes down to."
Maggie walked me out and said goodnight.
"Is it going to be alright Slater? Tell me that it is, please!" She was near tears again.
"It has to be Maggie. We both know that Jasmine is about as strong and tough as anyone can be. I almost feel sorry for those kidnappers."
"I was going to spend the night at your place tonight, but now I better not. Angela is holding it together pretty good, but she'll go off the deep end as soon as everyone goes home. She loves Jasmine almost as much as you and I do."
"Getting Jasmine back is the important thing right now, we're good."
"Come over early and we can start figuring out how to find her." She kissed me quickly and said goodnight. I doubted I would get any sleep and I knew she wouldn't.
Chapter Fifteen
It's hard to imagine anything worse than having your child disappear. Having them killed tragically would be horrific, because kids are supposed to outlive their parents. I had delivered that news to parents as part of my job while I was in the Navy, and it always tore me apart watching their grief. But at least they knew. There wasn't the constant hoping for unexpected good news, all the while thinking the worst; knowing at any minute a body could be identified that had been the center of your world for the last five, ten, or fifteen years.
Even seeing it first hand on many occasions, that kind of pain had always been abstract to me, unimaginable. Not now. Jasmine wasn't my flesh and blood, but in the few months we had known her I had come to adore her as if she were my own. It's hard to define what makes us love the people we do. Familiarity plays a part, but in Jasmine's case it was so much more; the crazy blue hair, the comical mix of sweetness and sarcasm in just the right dosages, and the realization that Maggie and I had played a major part in turning her life around, all combined to make me think of her as family.
Now there was an ache somewhere behind my breastbone that refused to go away and a gnawing in my head that followed me into sleep and continually told me that there was something very wrong with my universe. Edith Templeton told me one time that the pain of losing Davey never left her, that it was the first thing she thought of in the morning, and the last thing at night. I understood that better now.
I was reasonably sure Jasmine wasn't dead, so there was still hope. But I wanted to find the person that had taken her, and end him. While I was at it, I would have liked to find every bastard like Frank and Gary Jeffries that had ever taken a child from their parents and end them as well. Those parent's pain wasn't abstract to me anymore. Davey Templeton's death had been reason enough to go after Rashad Dinar. Now that I knew that pain, I wanted Dinar more than ever. I wanted him dead. If the time and opportunity came, I might not be able to do it, but for now, it was a place to put my anger.
"Slater!" Maggie pulled me back to reality. "Are you alright? You were gone. Thinking about Jasmine?"
"Yeah, and what I want to do to the people that have her. And I'm not talking about jail."
"I know, but we'll find her. We need to stay positive. I'll be the good cop this morning. We have to concentrate on trying to figure out who has her, it's our best chance. I spent half the night thinking of all the horrible possibilities and it didn't help in the least. She is really strong and smart. She'll do what she has to, to survive and escape if it's possible. We have to stay sharp and do our part."
"Okay coach, point taken. I still say the first person we look at is Cletus Johnson. Just because he's under house arrest, doesn't mean he doesn't know somebody he could line up to kidnap a rich heiress. Jasmine spent weeks with him and he probably picked her brain about her grandmother's money, which would be plenty of motivation."
"He didn't strike me as a mastermind, but he was so crazy about Jasmine, he might have had her taken somehow. Maybe he thinks he can talk his way back into her good graces."
"That would be crazy, but obviously the guy isn't playing with all the cards. Who would be dumb enough to help him with a plan like that? They're asking for money, so even if Cletus only wants her heart, somebody wants her money."
"Maybe he had to include ransom to get help, since he can't leave town. People have done crazier things for seventeen-year old girls."
"Maybe, but they were usually seventeen-year old boys, not middle-aged bikers."
"Been on the internet lately?" Maggie asked dryly.
"Too depressing, but I get what you mean. I just think Cletus would have more sense that that now that he's off the meth or whatever the hell he was using. If he got a job as an electrician, he must have gotten a recommendation. I'm calling Sidecar and see if Cletus has talked to him."
"Sidecar? Oh, you mean Brandon, the guy that owns the electrical business where Cletus used to work? What was his last name?"
"Kramer, I think. Yeah, Kramer Electric in Fargo, North Dakota. I really doubt he knows anything, but it will only take a few minutes. At the least he'll know where Cletus was applying. If we go up there, I don't want to have to contact his parole officer and risk tipping him off. It would be better if we could do some surveillance before we talk to him."
"You call him, I'll call Maryanne and see if she's heard anything."
"Eric Slater! Wow, it's great to hear from you. Are you and Maggie married yet?" Brandon's wife Gracie answered the phone. We had led the
m to think we were engaged as part of our backstory when we rescued Jasmine from her crazy boyfriend.
"Not yet Gracie. Any chance I could talk to Brandon, it's about Cletus Johnson."
"I told you that guy was batshit crazy. We heard there was trouble after we left that morning and he started shooting at your airplane. Next thing we hear he's in the slammer."
"Yeah, it wasn't good." She wanted to chat, I didn't. "I really need to talk to Brandon."
"Slater?" She must have handed him the phone. "I hear the pea flipped and Cletus went off the deep end. I told you he was in love with that little girl, the crazy bastard."
"I need a little information about him if you don't mind. He's out of jail and that's making us all a little nervous. I wouldn't want him coming after Maggie and me, much less Jasmine."
"Do you still talk to Jasmine?"
"Yeah, she and Maggie ended up being good friends. They talk pretty often." There was no reason to tell him any more than I had to. "We understand Cletus is on work release and is wearing an ankle monitor so it's unlikely he could show up, but Maggie is worried he might hold a grudge for our part in their breakup. I was thinking I might drive up there and have a talk with him. I figured if he has a job, it's probably being an electrician, and he'd need a reference from you. If I can't find him at home, I might try to catch him when he's leaving work."
"I have his phone number, that might be a better option. He told me he's in a drug program and going to meetings most nights, and that he sees where he went wrong with Jasmine. That doesn't mean he might not react badly when he sees you. But he did say he likes you, and that you have a good right hand."
"Odd reason to like someone. I hit him as hard as I could and he just shook his head and came back for more." Nonetheless, I was feeling quietly proud.
"Guys like him respect somebody that's willing to stand up to them. Probably why he liked that little Ballbuster so much."
