by KD Michaels
“We can’t use this to get a warrant. We need more. I understand you guys feel he’s lying, and yes we know this came to us, but his attorney will eat us alive over this. He’ll walk and we lose any chance to find those girls in a timely fashion. We need to find another way. Go back to the arcade and talk to him some more. Go at him harder. If need be, take another detective or the Sgt. and let it spook him or whatever it takes. Have someone else watching him from the time you guys leave there in case he leaves or do it yourselves. Do whatever it takes, legally, so that his attorney can’t get him walking,” Sheriff Phillips ordered.
“Fine. Pratt, you and Cortez go back and talk to the arcade owner some more. Lean on him just a little. Make it seem like you know he’s lying. Stalk the son of a bitch, whatever it takes to get this fucker to confess. I want his balls in a vice so tight his own mother can’t suck them out of a straw for him,” Captain Irby demanded.
“Holy shit, Cap’s pissed,” Diesel whispered.
“What was that, Diesel?” Irby asked.
Diesel coughed. “Nothing captain, just clearing my throat, ma’am.”
Cortez and Laura left HQ after making backup plans in case there were problems. Twenty-five minutes later, they arrived at the BlueMan Arcade. When they walked into the building, the kid looked up then went as fast as he could to the phones while watching their every move. Cortez smirked as she watched the kid tell whoever he was talking to that they were there. Laura sent a text to the team that was sitting at the back of the arcade to keep an eye out in case they had a runner.
Cortez leaned up against the counter popping her bubble gum. “We’re here to see your boss. Want to let him know that Detectives Cortez and Pratt are back to see him?”
“Sorry detectives, but Mr. Ackerman is in meetings. This isn’t his only place of business. He has many fingers in different fields.”
“Wow Taz, the kid just spoke like a good little boy or is that a good little spaz? I’m sure your boss does dip his fingers into many fields, probably underage fields, too. So listen up dicklint, get back on that phone and you let your boss know that we are here and that he needs to have a new meeting or we get warrants to search and seize every fucking thing here, as well as his other businesses, too. You have exactly five minutes to give us the answer we are looking for before Detective Cortez here makes the call that will fuck your boss’s life up in more ways than one. Tick tock kid, tick tock,” Laura informed the visibly upset kid.
Cortez and Laura walked a bit away from the kid to see what he would do. They acted like they were in a conversation while Cortez made a quick call to Sgt. Brocard on the sly, who was in the alley way to make sure there were no runners. They were hoping the kid thought they were calling for the warrants since he picked up the phone and made a call. Two minutes later the kid came over to them and let them know that Mr. Ackerman would see them in a couple of minutes then walked away.
“Hear that, Sgt.? It seems like he’s in the house after all. He’ll get to us in a few minutes,” Cortez said.
“I heard. Get back to me after you’ve talked to him. I want to know what was said. We’re just down the street if you need us. Be careful in there, I don’t trust this guy as far as we can throw him. He’s already lied to us once. Do this by the book so he can’t get off on a technicality,” Brocard ordered.
“We will. Talk to you in a few.” Cortez hung up the phone then turned to Laura. “Even Brocard is feeling uneasy about this guy. How do you want to handle this?”
“Let’s just talk to him. See if any ‘guests’ come out this way or if they sneak out the back way. Brocard and York are just down the street and can see who pulls out the back way if they decide to go out that way.”
Cortez and Laura heard a door opening and turned toward where Ackerman came through a door and headed toward them. “Detectives, this is becoming tiresome. I’ve already spoken with you and gave you everything that I have and told you what I know. Now what is so important that you have to interrupt an important business meeting?”
“Important business meeting, Mr. Ackerman? How is running an arcade important? Ordering more video games? Setting up proper maintenance for your video cameras that supposedly aren’t working? Figuring out new ways to lie to the police about victims having actually been in here and you actually leading said victims to the back off the side where the cameras can’t reach? Or are you brokering for their sales to the highest bidder? What can a low-life arcade owner have that’s so important to merit doing ‘business’ with someone?” pushed Cortez.
Ackerman growled deep into his throat. “Detective, I’m not sure what your game is, but this is harassment and I do not and will not speak to you anymore. If you have anything further to say to me, please contact my attorney.”
“That’s ok, we already have more than enough information needed to go after you. So have a nice day. I’ll be sure to forward your attorney a copy of the video we have from the same camera you claimed was broken. It was actually sent to us by an anonymous Good Samaritan to show that you were lying about the camera. Don’t leave town, Mr. Ackerman. Toodles.” Laura smiled as she and Cortez turned and walked away.
“He’s up to something. Twenty bucks says he’s meeting someone to offload those kids and get them out of here as soon as possible. We need to have someone watching this place while we do some more digging on this SOB,” Cortez stated as she turned back around to take one last look at Ackerman. She saw that he was watching them leave the building with a dark look in his eyes.
As they left the arcade, they made the call to Brocard with their thoughts and agreed the team was to meet up somewhere for lunch to discuss their options and to talk with the captain about having patrol watch the area make sure no one left with the girls if they were being held there.
5
For the next couple of days, Laura and Cortez ran down leads of all sightings of the girls from the time they left their homes, from the fast food restaurant they were seen in having lunch, the library they had told their parents they were going to do some studying, and to the park it was believed they were believed to be seen at one time before going to the arcade. It was even stated by one passerby they could have been there after the arcade but it was highly doubtful.
After they left the arcade a few days prior, Ackerman had gone underground and he hadn’t been seen or heard from since their confrontation about the video camera. Laura sent an email to Tex to ask him if he could keep an eye on the camera to make sure he wasn’t sneaking in when the patrols weren’t catching him. Laura knew Tex would help them find anything on the girls they could use on possible locations they could be held. Laura sent a silent thank you every day for Joe sending Tex her way. She just prayed they could come up with where the girls were before it was too late.
Across the room, a phone rang.
“Cortez.”
After a short pause, Laura heard Taz exclaim, “A body? Shit, who is it? Hold on, let me put you on speaker and have you speak to my partner, too. We’re working a case at BlueMan Arcade. She might have an idea.”
Laura heard Cortez yell out for her, “Yo, Pratt, come here. We got a call from Officer Brooklyn with San Diego PD about a body found outside the arcade.”
Putting the officer on speaker, Cortez said, “Officer Brooklyn, I have you on speaker. Detective Pratt is here with me. You said my card was found on a body in the alley near BlueMan Arcade?”
“Yes ma’am, it was found in his back pocket stuffed into his wallet. According to the ID found on the body, kid’s name is Timothy Masters. Do you know who he is?” Officer Brooklyn responded.
Cortez went through her notes on the case to see if the name shows up. “Sorry, no his name doesn’t sound familiar.”
“Officer Brooklyn, is there any way you can send me a pic from your phone to show me what he looks like?” Cortez rattled off her cell phone number off to Officer Brooklyn.
Right then, Cortez’s phone pinged with an incoming text message. Laura
picked up the phone while Cortez spoke with the officer on the phone. “Oh shit Taz, it’s the kid behind the counter both times we went into the arcade.”
Cortez put her head into her hand and mumbled a few choice words. “Yeah, it turns out we do know who it is, Officer Brooklyn. My partner and I will be there in about fifteen minutes to check out the scene. Has anyone checked the BlueMan Arcade for Dennis Ackerman? Masters worked at the arcade and Ackerman is under investigation for the disappearance for four girls.”
“Yes ma’am, no one is responding when we knock on the door,” came the officer’s response.
“Why would you be knocking on the doors? Aren’t they opened? It’s after noon so they should be opened and packed with kids by now,” Cortez said in a confused voice.
Officer Brooklyn sighed. “Well there was a line at the door. A couple of the kids said they had been waiting for them to open the doors. When we tried the doors, they were definitely locked. One of the kids said that the doors usually open around ten am, but no one responded when we knocked. We tried to call the owner, but there was no response on the number that shows for him.”
“Shit, I bet you he’s rabbited. Ok, thank you. We will be there in a few minutes.” Cortez hung up the phone and looked at Laura. “I don’t have a good feeling about this. Ackerman isn’t at the arcade, the doors are locked, and the kid behind the counter is dead. I bet you Ackerman panicked about the video feed we mentioned. Damn it, he probably thought the kid gave it to us.”
“Let’s go tell Brocard the update and head out to the scene to see what we can find out. If that asshole is rabbiting then he’s probably tying up loose ends.” Laura grabbed her gun from her desk and holstered it while Cortez did the same thing.
Cortez and Laura went in search of Sgt. Brocard who was talking in the hall with Lt. Haile. “Hey guys. We just got a call from an Officer Brooklyn from San Diego PD. Apparently there was a body found in the alley behind the BlueMan Arcade.”
“Why the hell were they calling you then?” Lt. Haile started to get pissed thinking someone was messing with her officers.
“Apparently the body is a Timothy Masters, the kid who worked behind the counter at the arcade. They got the call when some kid trying to find out why the arcade wasn’t opened walked down the alleyway to see if there was another way in.”
“Damn it, Cortez, I don’t like this. What about Ackerman? Did they talk to him?” questioned Brocard.
“That’s just it - the doors to the arcade are locked. No answer coming from inside the arcade nor is Ackerman answering his personal phone according to Officer Brooklyn,” Cortez reported.
“Ok, you and Pratt go and check it out. But be careful,” Haile told them.
Brocard nodded, agreeing with the Lt. “York and I will be about ten minutes behind you. Stay near the others. I’m with you guys on this. Something doesn’t sound right with this scenario.”
Arriving on scene, they saw Officer Brooklyn with another officer standing with him writing down notes while looking down at the body. He looked up and waived at both women. Cortez and Laura started to walk toward them. Cortez gave Laura a questioning side glance and then looked back at the two officers.
“You must be Officer Brooklyn, I am Detective Pratt and this is Detective Cortez, you spoke with us on the phone a little while ago. Officer, where is the crime scene team and medical examiner?”
Officer Brooklyn swayed from foot to foot slightly. “Sorry Detectives, we were ordered to call you and have your department handle it. We were just waiting for you to get here so you can call your crime scene and medical examiner.”
“Officer, how long have you been on the job?” bristled Laura.
Officer Brooklyn started to respond when the officer with him spoke up, “Detective, I’m Officer Jenkins. I’m Officer Brooklyn’s FTO. He’s still training. Like he said, we were ordered by our Sgt. to wait for you to arrive and hand the scene over to you. We questioned the orders just like you are, but that’s our orders from our shift command. We can wait with you and help with the investigation to help give more information while we all wait for your crime scene techs and medical examiner to arrive.”
Cortez and Laura stepped away from the group and placed a call to Sgt. Brocard so they could get the crime scene techs and a medical examiner rolling. As they turned around, a shot rang out of nowhere. Laura looked over to see Officer Jenkins fly back against the brick wall going down motionless. Officer Brooklyn, Laura, and Cortez drew their weapons while looking up for a shooter.
Suddenly, Brooklyn took off down the alley way, Laura and Cortez yelled for him to stop. They followed behind him to back him up when another shot rang out and Brooklyn went down with a hole between his eyes.
“Damn it, where the fuck is that shooter? It came from two different directions,” whispered Cortez.
“Shit, what if we are surrounded? That means Brocard and York are going to be walking into an ambush along with our crime scene techs. We need to call and warn them.” Pratt pulled out her phone and dialed York’s phone to warn them what they would be pulling up into.
Just as York answered, the two heard a loud bang sounding further down the alleyway that had Laura and Cortez run toward it in hopes of catching the shooter. Laura grabbed her radio and informed dispatch shots were fired in the alleyway behind the BlueMan Arcade and two San Diego PD officers were down. Laura and Cortez could feel the hair on the back of their necks prickling.
Laura looked over at Cortez. “Something doesn’t feel right about any of this. My gut is screaming. I think the asshole is playing with us. Why only shoot the two patrol officers and not us?”
Cortez looked at Laura nodding. “I think he’s smarter than we gave him credit for. Me personally, I think he likes to play stupid to throw everyone off.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that feeling, too. We were too loose with this case.”
Cortez agreed with Laura’s assessment of how they handled this case. “What the hell was that?” Cortez said when a loud thunk sounded.
Both women turned around looking for origin of the noise. They slowly inched their way toward where they heard the sound. Hyper aware of everything around them and each other, they slowly moved forward until they heard a loud scream, not realizing it was their own screams as they were attacked from behind.
Both women went down, Cortez knocked out completely. Dennis Ackerman stepped over Cortez’s body, kicking her in the process to make sure she was out. “Take both these bitches into the van. Mendoza is expecting them at the drop off site along with the other merchandise. If they wake up, knock them the hell back out. Do not let them escape or I’ll let Mendoza have your carcass to do with as he pleases and I guarantee you won’t like what he has in mind.”
Ackerman looked from the two men that he gave the orders to down to the bodies of Laura and Cortez that they left lying in the dirty alley way, seeing that Laura was staring at him. “You bitches aren’t so high and mighty now are you, you dumb bitch? Mendoza is going to have a blast breaking the both of you in. You have no idea who you’ve pissed off. It’ll be interesting to see if he decides to just kill you or break you both then sell you. No one will ever find you two ever again.” Ackerman stood up and walked away laughing when Laura finally gave in to the darkness.
Neither woman heard their Sgt. and teammate yelling their names over the phone trying to get them to respond. Neither woman nor kidnappers realized every word was heard as they walked away. Neither woman heard the small cries as they were loaded into the van. Neither woman felt the bumps and turns as they were driven from the alleyway toward their destination. Neither woman heard the calls go out on the radio trying to locate them. They just vanished into the wind.
6
Laura slowly came to as she heard her name being whispered loudly. Slowly opening her eyes, she realized the person saying her name was Cortez trying to make sure she was ok and their captors hadn’t caused more harm than originally thought. Laura looked o
ver at Cortez with questions in her eyes but unable to voice them because her throat hurt feeling like sandpaper sliding across skin.
“Hey beautiful, glad to see your eyes again,” Cortez said.
Laura licked her very chapped lips. “Where are we? What the hell happened? Last thing I remembered was hearing a noise, turned around, and then nothing.”
“Not sure exactly where we are, but we are being held somewhere. I just woke up a few minutes ago. Not sure who took us but wouldn’t be surprised if it was needlenose,” Cortez started coughing as her throat became scratchy.
Suddenly the door opened and in walked a man that neither Cortez nor Laura knew. “Ola ladies. I’m glad to see that you beautiful senoritas have not suffered any serious damage in your trip to my humble abode. Well at least not any serious damage as of yet.”
“Who the fuck are you and where are we?” Laura spat out as she tried to sit up as best as she could with her hands and feet tied.
“Ah you must be the spitfire one. The red hair kind of gives that away, senorita.” The man clapped his hands with a huge smile. “To answer your questions my dear, my name is Francisco Mendoza, but you can call me Frank. I’m the son of a bitch you two whores have been looking for. Harassing my middle man on the whereabouts of my property tends to piss me off a little bit. The fact that you’ve been going in and out of his place of business tends to make people twitchy, and frankly, it’s been interfering in my fucking business causing a ruckus. That tends to piss me off, so now you’re dealing with me personally.”
“Actually asshole, those girls are not your property just because they were dumb enough to walk into Ackerman’s arcade. That’s kidnapping. Look it up.” Laura looked Mendoza straight in the eyes.
Mendoza backhanded Laura hard across the face. “Let me explain something to you putas. That establishment is mine. They came into it, making them my property while they are in there. It’s not my problem their parents weren’t responsible by letting them go somewhere alone. I take what I want, when I want. You bitches aren’t in Kansas anymore. You’re in my territory so what I say goes. And frankly my lovely bitches, I’m going to enjoy breaking the hell out of you.”
