Cold Case True Crime

by Denise N Wheatley

  Just when he reached out to ring the bell, Samantha flung open the door. He’d expected her to have a distressed, just-rolled-out-of-bed look going on. But instead, Samantha was dressed in gray yoga pants and a matching tank. Her hair was pulled up into a messy, sexy bun, and her skin had a freshly washed glow.

  “Hey,” he said, unable to wipe the slight grin off his face. He knew a subdued greeting would be more appropriate considering what she’d just been through. But the sight of Samantha made it impossible to appear somber.

  “Hi,” she replied softly, stepping to the side as he walked through the door. “I know you said no more thank-yous. But I’m my own woman and you can’t tell me what to do. So, with that being said, thank you again for coming over. You really have no idea how much this means to me.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m happy to be here and happy to help.”

  Gregory walked farther into the living room and assessed the damage. “This is unreal,” he said, looking around the room in complete awe.

  “It really is. But I’m more concerned about my safety than any of this damage that was done.”

  “Of course. So am I.” Gregory walked over toward the couch. “You haven’t touched any of the bricks or bottles that were thrown through the windows, have you?”

  “I haven’t. But Officer Baxter picked a brick up off the floor and just cavalierly tossed it onto the couch. Without gloves, might I add.”

  “Huh? Why would he do that?”

  “I have no idea. My guess is that he just wanted to be an ass.”

  “Yeah, I’ve observed quite a bit of his frat boy behavior around the station. So hearing that doesn’t surprise me.” Gregory stepped carefully over the piles of glass that Samantha had swept up and approached the windows. “So who came out with Officer Baxter?”

  “Officer Miller. He’s the one who recorded my statement. He tried to be decent, but Officer Baxter completely overpowered him.”

  “Oh yeah. Miller seems to be a pretty decent policeman. But he hasn’t been on the force for long, and I think he’s easily intimidated by officers with more seniority. And as for Baxter, he’s already skating on thin ice for giving out bogus parking tickets around town in order to meet his quota.”

  “Figures. I just hope Baxter is reprimanded after the way he treated me. And they both need to be dealt with over the mishandling of this crime scene.”

  Detective Harris reached inside his bag and pulled out a pair of gloves, along with several evidence bags. “Don’t even worry yourself with that. I’ll be sure to make that happen. In the meantime, I’ll process everything here thoroughly, and take these bricks and bottles in for DNA testing.”

  “You are such a lifesaver. If I weren’t so sweaty, I’d come over there and hug you.”

  Gregory stopped midmotion while bending down to pick up a bottle as the thought of Samantha wrapping her arms around him crossed his mind.

  Focus on the crime scene, he told himself, forcing his eyes to divert from her curvy, svelte frame, which was perfectly outlined in her skintight spandex outfit.

  “So how do you like your coffee?” Samantha asked.

  “Black.”

  “I figured as much. You’re too tough to have it any other way.”

  “Don’t be fooled by my hard demeanor,” he joked. “Underneath it all I’m just a soft teddy bear. How do you take your coffee?”

  “With a dash of oat milk and a touch of raw sugar.”

  “Child’s play. That’s how I drank it back in the day when I was a kid. My mother would indulge me every Saturday morning. But we weren’t all bougie and gourmet like you. We used whole milk and white sugar.”

  Samantha threw her head back and laughed. “Please. I am far from bougie. I’m just trying to keep it healthy.”

  Gregory eyed her figure a little more lustfully than he’d intended. “Yeah, I can see that...”

  She quickly turned away and swept a pile of shattered glass into a dustpan.

  You’re doing too much, the detective thought, wishing he had kept that last comment to himself. He turned away from her and picked a brick up off the floor.

  “Once I collect all this evidence, I’ll start boarding up the windows,” he said in an attempt to deflect from his provocative remark.

  He glanced over at Samantha, anxious to hear her response. When she flashed him a soft smile, his head bowed with relief.

  “That sounds good,” she said. “Thank you. And while you do that, I’ll go grab the coffee.”

  “Can I give you a hand?”

  “No, no. I’ve got it. I’ll be right back.”

  Gregory felt hypnotized by the sight of Samantha’s swaying hips as she sauntered into the kitchen. Her open floor plan allowed him to watch as she pulled mugs down from a shelf and placed them on the counter.

  “So since those two officers decided that taking photos of all this damage wasn’t important,” she called out, “I made sure to take plenty of pictures before I started cleaning up.”

  “Oh good. Smart thinking. I took some, too, but make sure you email yours to me.” Gregory picked up the rest of the bricks and placed them in evidence bags. “By the way, I ran those names of the missing Westman’s employees through the system. It took some digging because, strangely, none of their names were spelled correctly. But I was able to access their police reports.”

  “Their names were spelled incorrectly? How convenient. I’m guessing that the reports were completely bogus, too.”

  “Unfortunately, your guess is correct. The first thing I noticed is that there was no exact date or even time frame listed for when the men went missing. The only date recorded was the day the reports were filed. And ironically, all the reports were filed on the same day.”

  Samantha carried their coffee back into the living room and handed Gregory a cup. “And we both know those men didn’t all disappear on the same day. I bet someone from Westman’s filed the report once they realized that the men had just up and vanished without a trace, and no one was doing anything about it.”

  “I agree. Which is sad. Because it just further proves that those men didn’t have any family or friends keeping up with them.”

  “Yeah, it’s definitely sad. But it’s also not surprising. Oftentimes there’s only so much the supporters can take before they give up on an addict.”

  “True indeed,” Gregory replied quietly as he sipped from his mug.

  “I just hate the fact that those missing men’s cases were left unresolved. It’s as if they were completely forgotten. I’ve dealt with so many cold cases throughout my career, and it’s painful when the families have to live with no answers as to what happened to their loved ones. Maybe that’s how you managed to suck me into this investigation of yours,” he said before nudging her playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “Hey, if that’s what it took, then so be it,” she giggled. “Seriously, I’m sure you already thought of this, but Jacob may very well be the person who reported the Westman’s workers as missing. That could’ve been the motive behind his murder.”

  “I did think of that. And it very well could be.” Gregory took another sip of coffee. “Mmm, this is really good.”

  “Thanks, glad you like it. I buy the grounds at Hannah’s Coffee Shop. She actually roasts her own coffee beans. Her secret is that she blends both arabica and robusta beans to give it that nice mix of fruity and nutty flavors.”

  “Good to know. I’ll have to pick some up next time I’m there,” the detective said before taking a few more sips. “Listen to you, sounding like a full-blown coffee expert.”

  Samantha set her mug down on the table and continued sweeping up glass. “I’m far from an expert. I just know the good stuff when I taste it.”

  She turned and locked eyes with the detective. Just then the intensity of her gaze made him feel as if tim
e had stopped and they were frozen in the moment.

  “Anyway,” she continued abruptly before turning away from him, “back to those missing-persons cases. The question of who reported them to authorities could possibly be answered by Kenzie, since the calls were placed anonymously.”

  “I agree. Because my guess is that if it wasn’t Jacob, it was her. Do you feel comfortable reaching out to her and asking?”

  “I do. I’m pretty sure I earned her trust after we met up at Barron’s. At this point I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help apprehend Jacob’s killer.”

  Gregory dropped the last bottle into an evidence bag, then glanced over at Samantha. He couldn’t deny the fact that he was taken by her beauty. But his attraction toward her fiery intellect and passion for justice was growing stronger by the minute.

  Reel it in, Harris, he told himself. You cannot endure a repeat of what went down in Chicago...

  “So was there any useful information on the men’s disappearances in the police reports?”

  “Not really,” he replied, placing the evidence bags near the front door. “Just a bunch of filler. And a major focus on their prior drug addiction.”

  “Of course.”

  Gregory walked over to the sheets of plywood leaning against the wall and grabbed a board. “Do you have nails and a hammer?”

  “I do. They’re on the kitchen counter. I’ll go grab them.”

  “Thanks,” he said, once again finding himself unable to take his eyes off her as she walked across the room.

  “So I, uh...” he began, struggling to find his words, “what I also found interesting is that none of the men’s names had been entered into any missing-persons databases. At least not the major ones. And I checked several, including Illinois’s clearinghouse and the four federal databases. I even checked NamUs, which you know is the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Nothing there, either. That’s pretty bad considering their family members or friends could’ve entered their names in that system themselves.”

  “It’s terrible. On their part as well as Gattenburg PD’s.”

  Samantha strolled over to the window and handed Gregory a nail. When he reached for it, his fingertips brushed up against hers. He jumped back a bit as the feeling of her supple skin sent tremors up his arm.

  “You all right?” she asked, eyeing him curiously.

  “Yep, I’m good,” he lied, knowing full well Samantha had practically knocked him off his feet.

  She handed him the hammer, and Gregory made sure to grab the head so not to make contact with her skin again.

  He turned around and placed a sheet of plywood over a window. Samantha came behind him, brushing up against his back before reaching out and helping to hold the sheet in place.

  Gregory felt a fervent stirring emerge from deep within. His limbs went numb, and he almost dropped the hammer.

  “Go ahead and pound the nails in,” Samantha said, her lips so close to his ear that he could feel her breath on his lobe. “I’ve got the board.”

  He closed his eyes, mentally reprimanding himself for allowing his mind to drift off to taboo places.

  “So, um...back to the missing men,” he said as he hammered the nail through the plywood. “At this point, since the disappearances occurred months ago, the FBI should’ve been brought in. But according to the police reports, they were never contacted. So I took it upon myself to enter the names into the NamUs database. I also submitted them to the criminal justice agencies that manage the federal clearinghouses. Hopefully we’ll get some leads from that.”

  “You’re so awesome,” Samantha gushed. “Thank you for doing that.”

  “Of course. It’s my job.”

  “You do realize that those names not being submitted is a sign of a cover-up, don’t you? Because think about it. Any sort of questionable activity coming out of Westman’s is being completely ignored by Gattenburg’s law enforcement. That includes this attack on my house. Somebody at Westman’s is up to no good. And by somebody, I mean Collin. I believe his shady father and the entire police force have turned a blind eye to his crimes.”

  Gregory secured the board, then moved on to the next window. “I agree that at least some of the police force is looking out for Collin. And there’s obviously something way deeper to those men going missing as well as Jacob’s death, which just so happened to occur right after he confronted Collin about the disappearances.”

  “We’ve got to get to the bottom of all this. I should check my blog and see if anyone has messaged me with new leads. I bet the comment section is blowing up now that I’ve name-checked Collin.”

  “I’m sure it is. The people in this town may be afraid to speak out against Collin publicly, but they’re probably willing to say their piece anonymously. From what I’ve gathered, he certainly isn’t loved, but he is definitely feared. And with that being said, you need to be careful, Samantha. I don’t want something like this to happen to you again.”

  Her eyes narrowed defiantly. “If you think I’m about to let up over this amateur, punk move, you’re wrong. This little incident just motivated me to go in even harder.”

  “Little incident? Samantha, I don’t think you should diminish what happened here tonight. This was a serious act of violence. What if you had been sitting in your living room when those bricks and bottles came flying through the windows? You could have been seriously injured.”

  “But I wasn’t,” she rebutted, her stern tone laced with defensiveness as she backed away from him. “You know Collin did this to try and silence me. Unfortunately for him, that’s not about to happen.”

  Gregory realized he’d hit a nerve. Instead of responding, he grabbed his coffee and took a few gulps.

  “Would you like a refill?” Samantha asked, her voice softening a bit.

  “No, thanks. One cup was perfect.” He emptied his mug then studied the boards. “Looks like these should do the trick until you get someone in here to replace the windows.”

  “Great. I’ll call an installer first thing in the morning.”

  He looked around the living room and nodded his head. “Looks like you’ve got everything cleaned up. Don’t forgot to email the photos you took to me. I’ll add them to mine on the police report and include all the details that were left out.”

  “So in other words, you’ll be filling out the report from scratch. Because my guess is that Officer Baxter is going to force Officer Miller to destroy whatever information he recorded.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

  Gregory noticed Samantha’s rigid posture slacken at the sound of those words. He felt himself wanting to wrap his arms around her and hold her reassuringly. As soon as that visual popped into his head, he shook it off.

  “It’s, uh...it’s pretty late,” he continued, “and I have to be at the station early. So I’d better get going.”

  “Ooh,” Samantha moaned. “That means you’re not gonna get any sleep.”

  “That’s okay. I usually don’t. Too many thoughts constantly flying through my head for me to ever fully unwind.”

  “Sounds like you need a vacation.”

  “What is a vacation?” Gregory asked before the pair broke out into laughter. He grabbed the bags of trash that were filled with broken glass. “I’ll take these out. Anything else I can do before I go?”

  He watched as Samantha hesitated, biting her ample bottom lip while clasping her hands behind her back. She glanced up at the ceiling, then back down at him.

  “No. But I’d like to do something for you,” she told him. “As a thank-you for—”

  “No, no,” Gregory interrupted, adamantly shaking his head. “You do not have to do anything for me. I’m just doing my job, and—”

  He stopped speaking when Samantha held her hand in the air. As she sauntered toward him, Gregory felt himself
once again becoming both hypnotized and aroused by the sight of her sensual gait.

  “That wasn’t a question,” she murmured. “And it wasn’t your job to come over here in the middle of the night to check on me and board up my windows. Not only that, but you collected the evidence that those sorry police officers left behind, then volunteered to update my police report. Don’t even get me started on how you’ve gotten involved in Jacob’s case, which you originally had no intention of doing, and—”

  “Okay, okay,” he interjected, throwing his arms out at his sides. “You got me. I’ll let you do something for me. What did you have in mind?”

  “I was thinking I could treat you to dinner. Better yet, I’ll cook dinner for you. How does that sound?”

  Gregory was taken aback by the offer. “That sounds really nice, actually. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in...” He paused, running his hand over his goatee. “I don’t even remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal.”

  “Well, you’re going to have one this weekend. Does Saturday night work for you?”

  “Yes. It does.”

  “Good. Any allergies?”

  “Nope.”

  “Excellent,” Samantha said while walking him to the door. “I’m already looking forward to it.”

  “Same here. Hey, are you sure you feel safe staying here tonight?”

  “I do. I’m not about to let Collin run me out of my own home.”

  “You know you’re more than welcome to stay at my place if you want.”

  Samantha paused. Her mouth fell open as she stared into the detective’s eyes. “I really appreciate that. But I’ll be fine.”

  He cocked his head to the side and threw her a look of uncertainty. “You sure?”

  “I’m positive. Now go home so you can at least get a few hours of rest.”

  “Okay. If you change your mind, you know how to reach me.”

  Samantha slowly opened the door. “I do. And for the thousandth time, thank you.”

  “For the thousandth time, you’re welcome.”