ONE OF THEIR OWN (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 6)

by John C. Dalglish

  “So Nina testified he shouldn’t be released?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Was he?”

  “Yes. He was let out on parole three weeks ago.”

  Jason got up and went to the lieutenant’s door. Without looking up, John Patton spoke. “Call me when you two get there.”

  Jason smiled. “Yes, Sir.”

  *******

  Jason didn’t like leaving town with Sandy about to go into labor at any time. Austin was only an hour and a half away, but it still made him nervous. He called her while Vanessa drove.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, babe. It’s me.”

  “Any word on Nina?”

  “Afraid not. That’s why I’m calling. Vanessa and I are on our way to Austin, so I’ll be back late.”

  “Okay.”

  He knew if she did worry about him being out of town, she wouldn’t say so. Finding Nina was everyone’s priority right now. “I’ll call when we’re on our way back. Love you.”

  He hung up as Vanessa merged onto I-35. She gave Jason a knowing smile.

  “Nervous time, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, for me. I think Sandy just wants to get on with the delivery.”

  Vanessa laughed. “I remember that. I was so ready by the time Kasen was born.”

  Jason opened the file containing Nina’s testimony at the parole hearing. He had called the parole officer assigned to their target and requested the ex-con’s address. Jason read aloud while Vanessa drove.

  “Joey Brady, twenty-eight. Convicted of manslaughter one, given fifteen years. He killed a police informant inside the Montalba drug cartel. He refused to turn state’s witness against the cartel.”

  Vanessa grunted. “No kidding!”

  “He was granted parole three weeks ago, and has checked in each time he was scheduled.”

  “Where’s his address located?”

  Jason pulled out a map he’d printed from his computer.

  “He’s rented a room at the Super 8 motel on East 12th. It’s just off the interstate.”

  “Oh, good. Nice and convenient for us. Remind me to thank him.”

  *******

  With traffic, it had taken two hours to get to Austin, but finding the Super 8 had been easy. The two-story motel, which sat less than a hundred yards from the I-35 overpass, had seen better days.

  Jason glanced at the file one more time.

  “Room 108.”

  From the car, they scanned the room numbers and spotted room 108 in the back corner. Vanessa parked as close as she could and they got out. At the door, Jason knocked.

  No answer.

  He tried again, harder this time. “Joey Brady?”

  Still no answer.

  “Can I help you?”

  The detectives turned to see an elderly man in overalls, staring at them suspiciously. Jason walked toward the man.

  “Yes, we’re looking for Joey Brady.”

  The man took a few steps back. “Stay back, I carry a gun.”

  Jason stopped in his tracks.

  Vanessa tried.

  “Sir, we mean you no harm. My name is Detective Layne, and this is my partner, Detective Strong,” She flashed her badge. “We’re with the San Antonio Police Department.”

  The relief on the man’s face was obvious. His shoulders even sagged a little, as if he’d been trying to stand taller than his six-plus feet.

  “Oh, good. I was afraid you were two more of those men who came looking for Joey a few days ago.”

  Jason approached the old man, shaking his hand. “Jason Strong.”

  “Walt Cumberland. I’m the manager of this place.”

  “Is Mr. Brady here, do you know?”

  “I haven’t seen him in a couple days.”

  Jason took out his notepad. “Do you know if he’s working somewhere?”

  Walt shook his head. “I don’t think so. He spends most of his time holed up in his room.”

  Jason didn’t like the coincidence of visitors to the ex-con’s room, and the sudden scarcity of Joey Brady.

  “Mr. Cumberland, do you have the room key on you?”

  “Yeah, sure. I always carry my master with me.”

  “Would you mind letting us into room 108?”

  “Well, I don’t know. . .”

  Vanessa gave the manager her sweetest smile. “We want to make sure Mr. Brady is okay. Just a quick look to check on him.”

  “Okay.” Walt pulled out his keys and moved to the door. Once the door was unlocked, the manager stepped back. Jason followed Vanessa into the room.

  At first, everything appeared normal, although messy. Two double beds, the farthest from the door unmade, and the near one covered with dirty clothing. A dresser, TV, side table, and lamp, completed the décor in the room. ‘Shabby chic’ was too kind a description.

  Vanessa moved toward the bathroom at the far end of the room, but stopped just past the second bed.

  “Jason, over here.”

  Jason walked to where she stood. Between the bed and the bathroom wall lay Joey Brady. Jason guessed he’d been dead for a couple days. There was an obvious bullet hole in his forehead.

  “It looks unlikely he has anything to do with Nina’s disappearance. I’d guess he was already dead when she went missing.”

  Vanessa followed Jason from the room, pulling out her phone. “I’ll call it in to Austin PD.”

  Jason went over to where the manager was standing.

  “Mr. Cumberland, Joey is dead.”

  The elderly man didn’t seem surprised.

  “I told you, those guys who visited him were scary. I could tell they were bad news.”

  “Austin police will want to talk to you.”

  “That’s fine. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Sirens started to whine in the distance, ruining a beautiful fall afternoon.

  Chapter 7

  Jason and Vanessa made it back to the station before six. Before going to their desks, the two detectives took the stairs to the basement. Pushing through the glass doors leading to the Forensic Science Department, they entered into the sterile world of Doctor Jocelyn Carter.

  ‘Doc Josie,’ as she was known around the precinct, was the head of the department. Short with curly, brown hair and black, wire-rim glasses framing blue eyes, she looked like the classic college professor. Some might’ve described her as ‘frumpy,’ but she was brilliant.

  They found her in her office and she smiled as they came in. “Hey, it’s my favorite dynamic duo.”

  Jason and Vanessa looked at each other. Jason played first. “What do ya think, Wonder Woman? Should we trust her?”

  Vanessa put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know, Superman. Maybe.”

  Doc Josie laughed, rolling her eyes. “What do you two want?”

  Jason took out his notepad. “Did you find anything we can use at Nina’s house?”

  Doc Josie grabbed a file lying on her desk and flipped it open. “We took several hairs from Nina’s brush, ran DNA on them, and compared it to the blood on the table. They matched, the blood was hers.”

  Jason scribbled something and Vanessa moved to where she could look over Doc Josie’s shoulder. “What about the prints?”

  “We were able to eliminate ninety-nine percent of the prints by matching them to the brother, the boyfriend, and Nina. We pulled from the hall closet door handle a thumb and forefinger. When we ran them through the database, they came back to a Stanley Magnus.”

  Jason wrote the name down, then looked at Vanessa. She shook her head. “Doesn’t ring a bell with me.”

  Doc Josie gave a piece of paper to Vanessa. “There’s the address.”

  *******

  Lieutenant Patton, who Jason wasn’t sure had gone home in two days, was at his desk when they came in.

  Jason had called the lieutenant on the way back from Austin, telling him what they’d found, and to cross Joey Brady off the suspect list. The coroner at the scene had confirmed what Jaso
n had suspected. Joey Brady was most likely dead before Nina went missing.

  He came out of the office to meet them. “Jason, didn’t you say Nina’s brother was one of the phone numbers in the log?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Let’s call him. Family should be aware of what’s going on, and besides, we need to be sure he doesn’t know something.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Lieutenant.”

  The lieutenant started to go back to his office, when something stopped him. “Does the brother live out of town?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, let’s find out. If he does, make sure he comes down here. We can take him to Nina’s house, maybe he’ll see something we haven’t.”

  Jason nodded. “I’ll call him now.”

  The lieutenant resumed his walk back to his office, moving a little slower than usual. Jason could tell Nina’s disappearance was weighing on his friend, especially since Nina was in Homicide at his urging.

  Vanessa had looked up the brother’s number, and slid it across the desk to him. Jason had never met Nate Jefferson, but Nina had always talked about how proud she was of him. He dialed the number.

  “Hello?”

  “Nate Jefferson?”

  “Yes, who’s this?”

  “My name is Detective Strong. I work with your sister.”

  “Oh yes, Detective. She’s mentioned you many times. Is something wrong?”

  Jason had figured a call from another detective would set off some alarm bells. “I’m calling because we’re having trouble locating your sister. Have you talked to her lately?”

  “We usually talk about once a week, but I haven’t heard from her this week. Do you think she’s in danger?”

  “At this point, we are concerned something may have happened to her.”

  “Have you been to her house?”

  “Yes, but there’s no sign of her. Can I get you to meet me at her home?”

  “Sure. Why?”

  “We’d like you to take a look around, see if you can find something we missed.”

  Jason could hear a rustling, as if Nate was looking at his watch.

  “Okay, I can be there in an hour.”

  “We’ll meet you there.” Jason hung up and looked at Vanessa. “He’ll be there in an hour. You want to go see if Stan Magnus is home first?”

  “Absolutely.”

  *******

  “Stanley Magnus carries a record longer than he is tall. Multiple arrests for drug possession, drug trafficking, and conspiracy to distribute.”

  Vanessa was reading from the Stan Magnus file as Jason drove to the center-city address Doc Josie had given them.

  Magnus lived on Daniel Street, near an industrial section of downtown. He occupied half of an old wood-frame duplex. The detectives parked on the street, and avoiding the fenced front yard, they walked to the side door. Jason knocked.

  Several minutes later, he knocked again.

  “Who you lookin’ for?”

  Jason and Vanessa turned, looking for the location of the voice. Across the alley, obscured by a screen door, they spotted an elderly black man. Unshaven, wearing white boxers and a white undershirt, he carried a bottle of beer.

  Jason walked across the alley. “Stanley Magnus. You know him?”

  “Yeah, I know him.”

  “Do you happen to know if he’s home?”

  “Well, if he is, it ain’t there. He’s been moved outta there for a couple months now.”

  “Do you know if he left a forwarding address?”

  The elderly man snorted. “Funny! Look, he was there one day and gone the next. That’s all I know.”

  Jason thanked the man and walked back toward the street, Vanessa falling in step with him. Jason nudged her.

  “Not every day you get see a man in his underwear.”

  “Hah! You’re a funny guy!” She punched him. “Seriously, should we put out an all-points on this guy?”

  “Yeah. I doubt he’s just going to show up on our doorstep.”

  *******

  They arrived at Nina’s house to find her brother parked in the driveway. He got out and met them by the walk to the front door.

  “I didn’t go in because of the crime tape. Is it locked?”

  Jason nodded. “Probably, but I brought the key. Do you have a key?”

  “Yeah. Sis gave me a key the day she closed on the house.”

  Jason made a mental note. Vanessa and he had talked on the way over and they both found it unlikely, based on Nina’s description of her brother, he was involved in her disappearance. She’d always spoken of him warmly, and Jason had never sensed any conflict in their relationship. Still, he had a key and there hadn’t been any sign of forced entry.

  They reached the doorway, and after tearing away the crime tape, Jason unlocked the door. It didn’t swing open at first, and Jason had to lean on it to get it cracked enough to enter. What they found on the other side left Jason temporarily speechless.

  Nate scanned the living room. “Was it like this when you guys left?”

  Vanessa slowly shook her head. “Definitely not.”

  A tornado appeared to have spun through the interior of the small home. Jason stated the obvious.

  “Somebody was looking for something.”

  Chapter 8

  Three hours later, the forensic teams had come and gone for the second time. No new fingerprints, or any other evidence, had been found. Jason had walked the house with Nate before the forensic techs had a chance to start moving stuff around, but Nate was unable to see anything important missing amidst the chaos.

  Vanessa had earlier discovered the point of entry, a broken window in the back bedroom. Jason finished talking to a uniformed officer before going to find Vanessa. She was in the living room with Nate.

  “I just talked to the officer in charge of canvassing the neighborhood,” he told her.

  Vanessa groaned. “Let me guess. Nobody saw or heard a thing.”

  “Apparently not.”

  “Shocking. Positively shocking.”

  Jason knew the frustration Vanessa was feeling. They needed a break, some direction where to look.

  Nate was sitting on the couch, using the only cushion not thrown on the floor, and staring at a picture of his sister. Seeing the young man hurting only added to the fear they were all dealing with and heightened the frustration.

  Jason’s phone began to vibrate. “Hello.”

  “Jason, this is Patton. Did you find anything useful?”

  “Afraid not, Lieutenant. Nate didn’t see anything missing. Granted, it’s hard to tell with this mess, but he tried.”

  “That sucks,” John Patton let out a long sigh. “Okay. I’ve talked to Captain Garcia and he wants to hold a press conference. He’s decided it’s time to ask for the public’s help. He wants you, Vanessa, and Nate here at nine in the morning. Ask Nate if he can make it.”

  Jason covered the phone. “Nate?”

  The young man looked up. “Yeah?”

  “My lieutenant wants to know if you can be at the station tomorrow morning. We’re going to hold a press conference to get help with finding Nina.”

  “What time?”

  “Nine.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Jason touched the kid’s shoulder before getting back on with the lieutenant. “He’ll be there, Sir.”

  “Good. Get some sleep; it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

  Jason didn’t bother mentioning the last two days were long as well. “Yes, Sir.”

  *******

  Nina forced herself to a sitting position again. Her left arm and shoulder still caused her pain when she moved. She figured her shoulder to be separated, maybe her collarbone broken. Her leg wasn’t bothering her as much, which she knew was a bad thing. It was dying.

  The warmth of the day had been replaced by the cool of the night, and she shivered violently. More than just the cold air caused her to shake. She had begun
to shiver while the sun was still up, and it was easy to figure out why.

  Infection was now raging through her system, and she was no doctor, but she’d seen what gangrene would do to a body.

  Nina thought back to her Dad. He’d struggled with diabetes, and the circulation to his foot had slowed over time. Eventually, no blood could get to his right foot at all, and it began to die. The toes first, then the foot. Unfortunately, her father had waited too long to go to the doctor. They finally had to amputate his leg below the knee.

  Doctors had treated it aggressively, using large doses of antibiotics, but it had progressed rapidly. Nina had been surprised how quickly, considering he was getting treatment, and she knew her untreated leg would get worse even faster.

  She was poisoning herself from the inside. The skin above her wound would begin to die from the infection, and the black would rise up her leg until it reached the trunk of her body. Her organs would begin to fail, and there wouldn’t be a thing she could do to stop it.

  Her head swam with the effort of sitting up, the lack of food and water, causing her to have constant dizzy spells. On her second night now, she knew the traffic noise would die as the darkness grew.

  Nina decided the time had come to force herself down by the water. If she was going to have any hope of surviving, she had to get a drink.

  Keeping her left arm pinned to her chest, she pushed on her dying left leg, moving it a little, and then moving her right leg over to meet it. She repeated it several times, resting between each effort, slowly turning her body until it was parallel with the river.

  With no idea how long it took, she finally let herself lie back. The sound of the river echoed in her right ear, now just a couple feet away. Reaching out with her right arm, it dropped into the river. The initial cold of the water startled her, making her more alert.

  Cupping her hand, she tried to bring a drink to her mouth, but the water just ran down her arm. She licked what drops she could find, and repeated the maneuver. Her thirst flared, wanting so much more than she was getting.