Journey to Murder (An Alex Warren Novel)

by DJ Owen

  "Seriously, though, being able to have that time to concentrate on Jimmy meant the world to us. We were so happy when Shelby went into labor, and then our heart sank when the doctor told us about the spina bifida. Next, we were full of hope when they took him to surgery and everything went okay. It was up and down, up and down emotionally. When Jimmy got that infection, we were worn out from everything that had happened. I don't think we could have handled the kids at that point."

  Alex could tell Pete was still lost in thoughts of Jimmy.

  "Kyle is really a good man. He'll take great care of your daughter, don't you worry."

  While she didn't know Pete very well, she believed what he had said. She realized she wasn't worried about Amy any longer. Monica, on the other hand, was a different story.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Jolene had called the Sheriff of Fayette County and explained everything as she knew it. They had agreed to investigate on their end, and to meet Alex when she landed. She did everything she could to investigate Mark Bauer from several states away, but she had one more trick up her sleeve.

  "Rayburn here," Jolene heard her husband say once he picked up his phone.

  "Hey, Ray. We've gotten into a bit of a pinch here and I wanted to run something by you," Jolene explained. She had already told him about Kyle and Alex, but she still needed to fill him in on everything that had happened today. She started with Monica's disappearance five days before, and ended with the suspected identity theft.

  "Let me look into this a little. It could be nothing, but I'm with you. I think there's a whole lot more to this story and I'm really concerned about this Monica Townsend. She could be in serious danger." Ray paused for a moment, and Jolene could hear the clicking of his keyboard as he typed information into the FBI systems. "You realize this means I'll be late for dinner, right?"

  "So why should tonight be any different? Tell you what, you grab a bite there. Kyle needs our help and I want to update him whenever you find something out." Jolene thought about the romantic dinner she had planned for the evening. Ray had just gotten back into the office that morning, and it was customary that they have a nice dinner to reconnect upon his return.

  "I'll give you a call whenever I know something," Ray promised.

  ----------

  The plane descended as twilight was falling. Alex checked her voicemail and listened to a message from Kyle. He told her to expect a welcoming party from the Sheriff's office, and told her they would go with her as she searched for Monica.

  She had just erased the message as Pete shut down the engines and stood up.

  "Pete, I don't know if I'll ever see you again. I would invite you to stay at Monica's, but I don't know what I'll find there. Thank you, though. You have been wonderful. I don't know if I could have made it flying commercial today, and I know I would have been a wreck if I were driving my Winnebago back." Alex hesitated, then threw her arms around Pete. "Kyle is really lucky to have a friend like you."

  Pete gave her a quick hug in return before holding her at arms' length. "I'm lucky to have a friend like Kyle. You are, too, you know. I'm hoping the two of you stay in touch." He took her hand in his. "You are not alone in this. I hope everything turns out okay for your sister, but you rely on Kyle. He'll get you through this."

  Pete looked out the windshield and saw a police cruiser pulling up. "Looks like Kyle arranged for an escort. Now, see? Even though he can't be here, he's making sure you've got law enforcement helping you out. You be careful, though. That little girl of yours needs her mother."

  Alex hugged him again. "Thank you for everything!" She grabbed the few belongings she brought with her and followed Pete to the door. He exited first so that he could help her down the stairs.

  "You're welcome. Take care, now."

  "I will. You have a safe flight back. Your kids need their dad, too." Alex shook his hand and turned toward the deputy, who had just walked up.

  "Ms. Warren? Alex Warren?" The officer was young, probably in his mid-twenties. His brown eyes matched his brown hair. Alex thought the officer resembled Jensen Ackles from the television show Supernatural. "I'm Deputy Riley of the Sheriff's office. I was asked to meet you and take you to your sister's house."

  "Thank you, Deputy. That would be greatly appreciated. I have a car there, and it would save me from having to wait for a cab." Alex hadn't given much thought about her transportation needs once she got back into town. Having door-to-door service was an unexpected godsend.

  "I told you Kyle would take care of you," Pete said, and turned toward the hanger to talk to someone about stowing his plane overnight and getting it refueled.

  Alex walked over to the cruiser, where the deputy opened the passenger door. "I'm not going to make you sit in the back since the Elko Sheriff's office vouched for you."

  "Thank you, Deputy Riley." Alex had been in the back of enough police vehicles to last a lifetime. "Do you know where we're headed?"

  "Yes, Ma'am. I was one of the officers who went by your sister's house for the Welfare Check."

  "Oh! Can you tell me anything about what you found? I've been so worried!"

  "Well, Ma'am, we found the front door closed and we knocked, but didn't get an answer. I looked in the front window and could see a purse and cell phone on the hall table, so we tried the door and it was unlocked. We announced ourselves, but no response. We went in and looked around, but nothing looked out of place other than your sister's purse and cell phone. No woman I know would leave the house without those two things, at least not voluntarily." The Deputy looked at Alex to see how she was taking the news. "At least we didn't find evidence of any violence. We have every reason to believe your sister was physically okay when she left the house. Calls to the hospitals didn't turn up anything, either."

  "So where do things stand? Are you investigating?" Alex struggled to keep her panic under control.

  "We've notified the local and state police of our findings. The state police are taking lead on this because we have reason to believe the man you're sister was seeing might be involved in some way."

  "Mark? But why would that bring in the state police?"

  "Ma'am, I don't quite know how to tell you this, but the man you know isn't actually Mark Bauer. The initial investigation to locate him turned up a death certificate dated six months ago. It appears that someone stole his identity and used it to get the job at your sister's law firm. We're still trying to figure out who the man really is."

  "Oh, no! Don't tell me that! So, was the address we had for him bogus, too? This is awful!"

  "I'm sorry, Ma'am. The address is bogus. We have no idea where he is, but we suspect your sister is with him." The Deputy wished he wasn't the one telling her this. He could only imagine how Alex must feel. Luckily, they were nearing the house and one of the Detectives would take over.

  Alex saw several police cars in the drive and along the street. The lights were on, and several officers were milling around the front door. There was no crime scene tape, since they found no evidence of a crime. As soon as Deputy Riley stopped the car, Alex thanked him and jumped out. She trotted to the group near the front door and asked who was in charge.

  "Detective Kang, Ma'am. He's inside. I'll get him for you," one of the officers said.

  "No, that's okay. I'll find him myself," Alex was not going to waste any more time. Hopefully, Monica was okay but Alex knew her sister was in trouble, and she was determined to find her.

  "But Ma'am....." It was lost on Alex. She was already inside moving from room to room.

  "Detective Kang?" Alex called out, and an older man turned toward her. He was stocky, wearing a dark blue jacket over a pair of grey slacks. His salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back, and he had a mustache and beard that were more salt than pepper. Alex could tell he was a smoker because the facial hair around his mouth was stained nicotine yellow. He also had some oriental heritage, though Alex thought it must have been a couple generations in his past.

 
"Yes?" The Detective spied her. "Are you Alexandra Warren?"

  "I am," Alex responded. "I just came in on a flight. What can you tell me about the investigation? I understand Mark Bauer isn't who he claimed to be?"

  Detective Kang considered her for a moment. He saw a worried woman, that's true. But he was good at reading people and he recognized that Alex had an internal strength that was helping her through this crisis.

  "That's true. We are doing everything we can to locate your sister, but we believe she left the house sometime over the weekend since she was seen at work on Friday, but didn't go in to work Monday."

  "I know all that." Alex was growing frustrated. She wanted answers and she wanted them now! "What are you doing to find out who Mark really is?"

  "We are running through his financial records, Ms. Warren, and trying to figure out where he's been staying. The address he gave when he was employed was fake. There's no residence there. We know he's been living somewhere, though, and it has to be fairly close to town since he reported to work every day. We just need to find it, and we will." The Detective knew he couldn't tell Alex everything, but he had to give her something or risk her starting to rant about police dragging their heels.

  He continued, "We've done everything we can do here, Ms. Warren. However, we would appreciate it if you could take a look around and tell us if you notice anything unusual or out of place. Is anything missing? That sort of thing. Here, wear these just in case." Kang handed her a pair of the same purple latex-free gloves he was wearing.

  "Certainly." Alex was happy to have something to do. She methodically walked from room to room on the first floor. Everything looked in order. There was nothing broken or out of place, other than the purse and cell phone Monica had left behind.

  Alex looked through Monica's purse and found her car keys, so there was no chance of locating her using the car's navigational system. Monica's wallet was intact, money and credit cards all there, as far as Alex knew. She picked up the cell phone and tried to unlock it, but didn't know the passcode.

  "Detective Kang? Do you have someone who can open this up? Maybe Monica had an address for Mark, or something. I have no idea what she used to unlock it."

  "Yes, we do." Kang called out the front door. "Mason! Take this cell to Barbara, pronto!"

  A young officer appeared and placed the phone in an evidence bag. "Yes, Sir!"

  After verifying Monica's car remained undisturbed in the garage, Alex suggested the police check the GPS to see if Monica might have used it to visit Mark. She then moved to the kitchen and quickly opened and closed the cupboards. She did the same to the refrigerator and noticed containers of leftovers that hadn't been there when Alex and Amy had left Thursday morning.

  She opened the dishwasher and found that Monica had evidently run it before leaving, but Alex realized from the dishes inside that Monica had evidently prepared dinner for two. There were pots and pans, but two of the place settings were from her mother's fine china and crystal, not the everyday dishes they normally used.

  "Detective? I believe Monica may have invited Mark over for dinner sometime after my daughter and I left Thursday morning. These dishes are used for special occasions, and there are two settings. Also, I saw leftovers in the fridge that weren't there when we left."

  "Too bad they're clean. I would have loved to have gotten fingerprints off them." Detective Kang looked over at another officer. "Get the techs to look for fingerprints on the backs of the chairs at the table. Maybe he pulled out her chair before dinner. Its long shot, but we can try."

  Alex went upstairs and started in her sister's room. The bed was made, and Alex couldn't find anything out of place. She studied her sister's closet for a moment as Detective Kang watched.

  "I think she's wearing a sequined blue tank, but I have no idea if she's wearing slacks, a skirt or jeans. She usually wears a jacket over the tank top, but its here. Probably because she wasn't planning to go out."

  Alex looked at the master bath and saw that her sister had straightened up after she had gotten ready for the date. She must have thought Mark might make it to the bedroom. Her sister usually left her make-up and hair styling tools all over the counter, but they were out of sight and the counter clean.

  Amy's room and the guest room Alex used were exactly as they had left them, as was the communal bathroom at the top of the stairs.

  "It doesn't look like anyone was up here, Detective, but it wouldn't hurt to have your technician also look at the half bath downstairs. If Mark washed up, maybe he left fingerprints down there on the faucets or toilet seat."

  "You think like a cop, Ms. Warren. I'm impressed." Detective Kang went back downstairs and Alex went back to Monica's bedroom.

  She stood in the doorway and looked around the room again. Her eyes fell on a photo leaning up near the lamp on Monica's dresser. She walked over and picked it up, turning on the lamp for extra light. The faces of her mother, father and Monica looked back at her. She remembered taking the photo during one of their cross-country trips. This photo showed Disneyland in the background. That would have made the photo almost twenty years old.

  "Mom? Dad?" Alex spoke partially to the images in the photo and partially into the air. "Help me find Monica. She's the good daughter. It's not her time yet."

  She sat the photo back where she had found it and went downstairs to find Detective Kang.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  It was two in the morning, and there wasn't much anyone could do for the rest of the night. The crime scene technicians had taken fingerprints from every surface Mark, or whoever the kidnapper was, might have touched.

  "Ms. Warren, we're finished here. Do you have somewhere to stay or someone to stay with you, or do you want us to have a car patrol every half hour or so?" Detective Kang yawned as surreptitiously as he could. He was only going to get about four hours of sleep as it was, he really wanted to wrap things up.

  "No, Detective, I'm fine. I'm used to taking care of myself, so don't pull any of your men to keep watch over me. I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight, but I want to try. Please, though, if you find out anything at all, please call me. Especially if you find some way to identify who Mark really is." Alex provided her cell phone number and showed the officers to the door.

  Once she had the place to herself, she made sure it was locked up and took her laptop upstairs. She went into Monica's room and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed.

  I research for a living. I've investigated dozens of people like Mark, or whatever his name is. Let me think this through. Alex's mind was racing, and she knew she had to slow it down. Mark came to town around three or four months ago, and he has to live somewhere. Let's start by looking at property transfers around that time.

  And so it went for the next few hours. If there was an avenue to follow, Alex made sure she thoroughly explored it. Almost every record was available digitally, and Alex reviewed hundreds of lists and photocopies of individual documents.

  Looking at government records is not a lively activity, and Alex had been up almost twenty-four hours when she finally fell back onto the pillows. You're the One That I Want blared from her phone, rousing her enough to answer it.

  "Hey, Kyle. What's up? Have you heard anything? Where are you? Is Amy okay?" Alex realized she wasn't giving him time to answer, and was embarrassed that she had fallen asleep.

  "Alex, no, I haven't heard anything. Amy is fine and has been doing a great job of navigating. We stopped late last night just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. I sent Amy to sleep earlier than that, but I knew I had to pull over or put us both at risk. We're on the road again, and I'm really hoping to be there late tonight."

  Kyle sounded fairly rested. Or maybe he's just trying to keep it together on my behalf so I don't worry about them, too, Alex thought.

  "Well, the police took fingerprints and Monica's phone last night, hoping Monica had Mark's address or something in there that will help us locate her, or at the very least help us
find him. They’re also checking the GPS on her car."

  Kyle had thought they would have already done that. "Who's taking the lead on this?"

  "A Detective Kang from the State Police. I'm not waiting on them, though. I was up for hours looking at everything I could think of online in hopes of catching a lead."

  "Did you find anything?"

  "Not really. There were a couple of houses bought around that time, but the records show they were purchased by a husband and wife. I'm still looking, but I had dozed off a bit." Alex swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge, standing as soon as she felt like she wouldn't fall over. She realized how exhausted she was.

  "You should try to get some rest, Alex. You aren't going to do your sister any good if you're half asleep. Just wait to hear from the police, and hold on until we get there." Kyle knew that Alex would be going crazy over her sister's disappearance no matter how well she treated herself, but not sleeping wasn't going to help anyone.

  "I will," she said, without a lot of conviction. It was daylight, and she didn't want to waste any more time when she could be looking for Monica. "Call me later, okay?"

  "Okay. Take care, and try to keep your spirits up. I'll call Detective Kang and see if I can get him to give me more information."

  "Call me back if you hear anything at all, okay?" Alex didn't expect much, but wanted to make sure Kyle wouldn't wait until later to give her any news.

  "Alex, you should know I will call you as soon as I get off the phone with him. Get some sleep now." He ended the call wishing he were there to hold Alex tight. He wanted desperately to be there with her, to let her lean on him for strength. But he was taking care of her daughter, and that was important, too.

  After splashing some water on her face and realizing she wasn't going to make it through the day without a few more hours of sleep, Alex took her phone into her room and pulled her bedspread over her as she dropped onto her bed. She was asleep before the bedspread reached her waist.