“Not to worry, my love. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
Saturday Morning
R. Sloan and his father Alex were heading out on an early morning run. Saturday morning had dawned clear and bright. The air was fresh and the storm clouds were gone.
“You’re telling me that you do this jog every Saturday and Sunday?” Sloan said, trying to catch his breath.
“Not going too fast for you, am I?” Alex said with a smile. “Next month the knee surgeon said I’ll be running this road, for now it’s just over a fast walk.” Alex said, as he looked at his son. “You’re in good shape, just a little out of practice.”
“Yeah, the case load at the office has been heavy lately. I better make time to get in better shape. Can’t be seen dragging ass behind the old man.”
Sloan laughed and patted Alex on the back then picked up speed and tried to blow past Alex.
“Hey,” Alex said, “slow down, hotshot.”
Sloan slowed down. “That was all the sprint I had in me. I’m slowing down.”
“Tell the truth now,” Sloan said, walking beside his father, “aren’t you ready to retire from a part-time danger hunter into being a full-time bartender?”
“I have to think of Cynthia. She kind of likes me being around. Going on dangerous escapades chasing bad guys is starting to worry her more. She’s worried I may have lost a step on the bad guys. They keep getting younger and I don’t. But an occasional safe job from a local lawyer could help break the routine. You know anyone like that?”
“Yeah, one or two. I’ll call next time I get a job that requires a guy like you. I don’t want you to lose your edge and turn dull.”
“Is it true that there’s an old Cuban plane out here?” Alex asked changing subjects, as they rounded a curve in the road. “Heard about it from a guy at the Green Parrot. Said his grandfather flew it in from Cuba to escape Castro’s takeover back in the day.”
“Yup, about half-a-mile up the road. Landed here way back and wasn’t allowed to fly back out. Been sitting there ever since.”
“Hey, what’s that?” Alex asked as they started up a light jog again.
“Looks like a…” he walked over closer to what appeared to be a bright green piece of cloth.
“My, Lord,” Alex said. “She’s dead.”
Sloan shook his head to clear it. “Not again. I seem to be a magnet for dead bodies. A virtual cadaver dog. I’ll call nine-one-one.”
“This is R. Sloan. I’m with my dad, running on Government Road. There’s a body of a woman in the bushes alongside the road.”
“About half a mile from where it intersects with Linda Avenue,” Alex said, “she’s in the clearing made for a utility road.”
Sloan nodded and repeated the location.
“I have a cruiser headed your way. Try to keep clear of the crime scene.”
“Will do.” Sloan pointed to the road and said, “Looks like somebody took off out of here in a hurry.”
Officers McCabe and Springfield took the call.
“We have a report of a dead female on Government Road. Two joggers are at the site. R. Sloan and Alex Sloan.”
“Roger that,” McCabe said, glancing over at Officer Jenney Springfield. “Looks like we have a call. The last few days were quiet. About time something exciting happened,”
A few minutes later the police car pulled up and Officer McCabe stepped out of the driver’s side and a tall blonde stepped out of the other side. She had short but stylish blonde hair, framing her features and giving her a delicate appearance.
“Hey, Sloan, you scored again.” McCabe said.
“Don’t even say it.” Sloan said holding up his hands. “No, I don’t go around looking for dead bodies. They come to me.”
McCabe smiled. “This is Officer Jenny Springfield. She left us several years ago and is back as our newest Officer. Jenny, this is Attorney R. Sloan and his father Alex Sloan.”
“Good to meet you both.” Jenny grinned and shook both their hands.
“What do we have here?” McCabe asked.
“She’s over there, you can see her green dress,” Alex said.
“Okay, we’ll be back. Hang out here for a little while,” McCabe said to Alex and Sloan.
“Sure,” Alex said. He looked over at Sloan and winked. “The police force just got an upgrade.”
Sloan smiled back. “I’ve heard about her. Don’t be misled. She looks sweet and soft, but I’m told she’s hard as nails. Grew up on the streets, literally. A homeless orphan here in the Keys, one of Fitzgerald’s street people who came in from the cold and turned their life around.”
“Happy endings like that don’t happen often on the street,” Alex said.
Sloan nodded.
McCabe and Jenny carefully walked to the body taking photographs of the scene as they went.
“Tire tracks over here,” Jenny said. She took photos.
“She’s gone,” McCabe said, touching the woman’s neck. “Sharkey and Harris are on their way and it looks like the press is here, too. I’ll go talk to them.”
Mckenzie Jones, reporter for the Eye on Key West Newspaper along with her photographer, Arron Connor, pulled to the far side of the road and started walking forward.
“Mckenzie, Connor, you’re up early,” McCabe called out.
“Yeah,” Connor said, “we have this talking alarm clock that tells us what you’re up to.”
“Any idea who it is?” Mckenzie said.
“No. There’s no ID or purse. Sharkey and Harris are on their way and so is the M.E.”
“Okay, we’ll hang out across the street.” They walked across the street and Connor started taking pictures.
Sharkey picked up Harris at his apartment and headed for the crime scene.
“Hell of a way to wake up on the most important day of your life,” Harris grumbled as he entered Sharkey’s car.
“At least it’s not the middle of the night,” Sharkey said. “That rain really dumped last night. We got a dead woman on Government Road.”
“She drowned in the rain?”
“No…” Sharkey said slowly, “but the rain that fell last night may have washed away any clues at the site.”
“Yeah.” Harris was somewhere else.
Sharkey eyed Harris. “What’s so special about today?”
“I proposed to Amy and she accepted. We were going to celebrate today.”
“Wow. Now that’s news. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I snuck out yesterday after work and met with Camie and she picked out the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. Amy was thrilled.”
“That’s fantastic, Harris. You deserve a good woman.”
“Thanks. Not sure about the deserving part, but I think I’ve got a good one.”
Sharkey pulled onto Government Road and soon saw an officer directing traffic, or at least keeping people away from the crime scene. They were the only car in sight.
Jenny Springfield was putting up privacy barriers. “Hey, Sharkey,” Jenny said with a grin.
“Jenny, glad to have you back on board. I’ve heard lots of amazing things about you. Can’t wait to hear all about it from you.”
“I’ll buy a beer and we can catch up soon. Now we have a young woman kicked under the chin and pulled off into the weeds and underbrush. It’s this way.” She led them over to the body.
“She can’t be much over twenty-four or five,” Harris said. “What a shame.”
Frank Demonte and his assistant Becky climbed out of the Medical Examiner’s van.
“I sure had a good time last night,” Becky said.
“So did I,” Frank said, smiling over at her. The sun was shining on her golden-brown hair and her hazel eyes were behind a pair of Ray Ban aviator sunglasses. She smiled over at Frank showing teeth that were only slightly out of alignment. She used to be self-conscious about them, but with Frank she knew it didn’t matter.
“Next time let’s go on the dinner cruise. I’ve h
eard that it’s really good.”
“I’d like that.”
“You have any plans for next weekend?” Frank asked.
“No.”
“I was thinking of parasailing. They can take you up and you never even get wet.”
“I’d love it. That really sounds like fun. We’re good together.”
He checked the temperature of the body.
“Becky, help me straighten her out. Rigor hasn’t taken over completely. I’d say she was killed somewhere between four and six hours ago. Look at her knees. They’re all scratched up. Let’s check the palms of her hands. Ah, as I thought. She was probably on her hands and knees when…” He bent down and examined her throat again. “She was most likely kicked in the throat.” He felt the back of her neck. “Neck is broken. Okay let’s get her to the office. Any personal items? I want her clothes handled carefully.”
Looking up at McCabe, Becky asked, “You find anything in the surrounding area? A purse, phone, clothing?”
“Nothing,” McCabe said. “We checked the area for a handbag. We’ll have forensics check the area again. There are some tire marks in the loose coral rock and sand. Somebody turned and headed back for town. The rain out here lasted long enough to wipe off most of the details.”
“Okay, let’s get her in the van and I’ll start right away. We’ll set her up as a Jane Doe. I’ll do prints and check DNA. But I’m betting a tourist and not the kind we’ll find in the system.”
Sharkey and Harris headed for their car and were met by Mckenzie. “Anything for me?”
“Nothing exciting yet. We have the body of a young Caucasian woman twenty something, who we are listing as a Jane Doe. I’ll let you know when we figure out who she is.”
“Okay…mind if Connor takes some more pictures?”
“Forensics has just arrived and will be upset if you trample their crime scene. You’ll have to wait for them to open the area up. Until we have an ID and next of kin identified and informed, I’ll have nothing else to say. Enjoy the beautiful day.”
Sharkey turned and joined Harris in the car. Harris was mumbling to himself. “Man, what a shame…such a pretty lady…I’ll never understand it.”
“I know. I sometimes shudder at the thought of how soon my little girl will be all grown up and looking for her first boyfriend. How do you protect them?” Sharkey asked.
“Don’t know. I’m not the one to give advice, but you’re a great dad. Don’t you ever forget that. Those kids of yours are great.”
Sharkey smiled. “Yeah, they are. Why don’t you and Amy come to dinner next week so we can celebrate your engagement. Camie won’t stand for anything less.”
Harris grinned for the first time this morning. “Yeah, we’d love that.”
“I’ll have Camie make it happen.”
“Yeah, like you could stop it.”
Back at station Sharkey fixed a pot of his Cuban coffee and pulled out a coffee cake that Camie had sent for them.
Harris said, taking a piece of cake, “I’ll check the missing persons update. Somebody must miss her by now. I’ll also check fingerprints for a match to anyone in our system.”
“Okay, I’m headed to the ME’s office. He has something that he wants me to see.”
“Webber coming in?”
“No, he has classes all next week so he and Gloria and the little one are going to visit her parents in Miami.”
“Cool. I’ll get started here,” Harris said.
* * *
Back at the scene, Connor took pictures of the area and the working forensics team.
“He was more than usually tight lipped,” Mckenzie said.
“Maybe it’s because it’s a Jane Doe. An attractive, unknown, young woman killed out here, and nobody knows anything, and the hard rain washed away a lot of the clues,” Connor offered. “Frustration could account for a lot of that.”
“I want to stay on top of this one. Something tells me there’s a lot more to this story. Just a hunch. Barney will love it. It has all the elements of a good story.”
“Agreed,” Connor said, looking at Mckenzie and smiling. The sun was catching the colors of her red hair to give her a warm aura around her face.
“What?”
“You just get more beautiful every day. You’re glowing in the morning sunlight.”
She smiled. “Must be your influence on me. I’ve never had that happen before. You make me happy. I can’t remember being this happy before I met you.”
His face softened. “You do the same for me,” he said softly.
“Come on, let’s go back and at least get the setup of a murder story going. I’ll get more about this from Sharkey,” Mckenzie said, “or know the reason why.”
“Will you take, ‘It’s none of your business’ for an answer?”
“No. That never works for me.”
“I was afraid of that. Okay then, we’ll take a ride. I have something to show you.”
Mckenzie’s eye’s sharpened down to suspicious slits. “Where?”
“No talking. Go to work while I drive.”
“You.”
* * *
Sharkey entered the Medical Examiner’s office and saw Becky heading for exam one.
“Becky,” he called.
“Sharkey, glad you’re here,” Becky said. “I think you will want to know this.” She pushed through the door with her back and held it open for Sharkey.
“Sharkey,” Frank said, “I ran the fingerprints and came up with nothing so she’s not in the system. I’ll check for a DNA match too but that could take a while. I’ll try to fast track it. But don’t expect much from that.”
“I didn’t find anything unexpected in the autopsy aside from the superficial wounds on her knees and palms of her hands.”
Becky added, “She didn’t have a wedding ring and no white area where the ring had been. But a woman like this, someone must be missing her.”
“I’ll get a picture out to the hotels, B&Bs and motels,” said Sharkey.
“Good. I’ll call if I find out anything else.”
Sharkey returned to the station, sprinted up the staircase, and sat down at his desk to call the public outreach department. That was Debbie Anderson who was on desk duty until she recovered from an accident on bicycle patrol.
She appeared at the door to their office. Her arm was still in a sling. “Yeah, I know. At least I didn’t fall off the damn horse. You have a photo of the victim?”
“Yeah, here. So far, she’s a Jane Doe. We suspect she’s a tourist,” Sharkey said.
She looked at the photo and said, “I’ll be right back. I’ll make her more natural looking. You look too dead and it freaks people out and they don’t really look at the photo.”
Thirty minutes later she returned with the results.
“You made her look good,” Sharkey said.
“Hope we find out who she is. I hate the thought of someone being a Jane Doe.”
“Me too,” Sharkey said.
Officer Debbie Anderson sent a police alert memo to all the hotels, motels, B&B’s and resorts asking if this person was registered with them.
* * *
Around three that afternoon a call came in from the Sands Inn Motel up near the Atlantic side.
“Detective Sharkey, we have the manager of the Sands Inn Motel. She thinks your Jane Doe was staying with them.”
“Patch her through,” Sharkey said.
“Detective Sharkey, this is Shirley Reiner. I’m the manager of the Sands Inn Motel. I saw your picture alert. Mrs. Susan Abbott is registered with us. That picture is strange looking, but it’s her, I’m sure.”
“I’ll be right over, and I would like to look at her room. Is her car still there?”
“Yes, a green Prius. It’s parked two down from her room.”
“Thanks, we’ll be there in a few minutes. Please don’t disturb the room.”
“No problem. There’s a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. It hasn’t been cl
eaned yet.”
Sharkey hung up. “Harris, she’s Susan Abbott. We found the motel that our lady was staying in. Let’s roll.”
Harris put down the sandwich he was about to bite into, rewrapped it, and followed Sharkey out the door.
Sharkey and Harris headed straight for the office where a red-headed woman stood waiting. She waved and called out, “Detectives. I have the key here.” She headed for the room and using her key, unlocked the door. As she prepared to open the door she asked, “What about the kids?”
Sharkey looked at Harris realizing the case had just pivoted. “Kids?”
“Yeah, she has a young boy about six and a baby about three months. Darling kids, so cute.”
Sharkey and Harris stepped into the room. There was a faint smell of baby powder. The bed was unmade.
Sharkey looked in the bathroom and saw a diaper in the garbage can. Harris found a toy truck and an action figure on a chair.
“Where the hell are the kids?” Harris grumbled.
Sharkey opened the suitcase on the end of the dresser. He looked through the clothes and personal items. He found a leather paper holder and opened it up.
“What have we got here? There’s a copy of a birth certificate for the baby. The mother’s name is Susan Abbott. That’s a match to the renter of the room. The father is listed as Javier Trujillo.”
Sharkey looked at Harris. “Okay, let’s get the information on Susan Abbott. I want an APB out for Javier Trujillo. Get Officer Anderson to check the hotels and B and B’s for him. We have a person of interest.”
“You got it, Boss,” Harris said, flipping closed his notebook.
When the forensic team arrived Sharkey told them, “look for evidence that doesn’t match. We have the possible abduction of two young children.”
* * *
“I need more information,” Mckenzie said as she pounded away on her keyboard for the article about the Government Road dead woman.
“You’ve been working on that for an hour,” Connor said. “You don’t have that much to say. Call Sharkey and get what you need. Your ace detective must have found something more by now.”
Key West Gone into the Night Page 2
