by C. M. Sutter
John slowed to a crawl at the northeast end of Horner Park, a bit closer to the city. A narrow gravel road to his right looked to be a private service road for the electric company. A fenced-in substation stood several hundred feet in, and a sign at the turnoff indicated that the road dead-ended. It would do just fine.
John turned in, drove past the substation, and continued for a quarter mile. The road finally ended at a row of cement barricades. John climbed out and locked the SUV’s doors behind him. He had to see how far away the river was. Carrying a body over his shoulder or dragging it could prove difficult in deep weeds if the distance was too far. Just beyond his initial field of vision lay the river—running fast and nearby, and what appeared to be a trampled deer path would make his walk much easier and erase any potential footprints left by a human.
He shielded his eyes and peered out as the setting sun’s rays glistened on the water. Horner Park stood directly across the river. He had to work quickly before the sun dropped beneath the horizon and the shadows took over. John returned to his vehicle, opened the liftgate, and pulled Terry’s wrapped body out by his legs. He heaved him over his shoulder then walked to the water’s edge, where he unrolled the body. Dragging Terry by his wrists, John stepped into the river up to his knees and, with a push, released the body to the river’s current. He watched as it floated downstream. John waited a few minutes, picked up the wrappings, then returned to his vehicle and drove away.
Thirty-five minutes later, he pulled into his garage. It was time to drug the captive detective. Later, he’d decide who in law enforcement would be his next unfortunate victim, and that person would get a hot shot to the carotid artery, where the drug and poison would travel to the brain in seconds and kill them.
John entered the house and turned the corner. At the end of the hallway, he saw an arm extended through the opening in the door. Jesse was struggling with everything he had to get his fingers on that syringe. John saw with his own eyes that his plan had worked. Jesse McCord wanted the needle more than anything else in that moment. He was addicted. The rush of the drug flowing through his veins and the feeling of being invincible was all Jesse needed from that point forward, and John was about to give him exactly that.
He called out to Jesse as he pulled the mask out of his pocket and slipped it over his head. “Need some help, Detective McCord? I’m here to serve, you know, and I can make your dreams come true in a matter of seconds.”
“Give me a hit, and I want a full barrel.”
“You sure? I’ll have to get more from the other room. Can you wait five minutes longer?”
“Yeah, just hurry up, man.”
“Your wish is my command, Detective. I’ll be right back.” John retreated down the hallway and turned left. He went to the kitchen, pulled a beer from the refrigerator, and took a seat on the couch in the living room. Just over two years ago, he’d begun his plan to kill the detective in charge of the raid that day. Jim Crosley was the man who’d held a gun against Mason’s head and ordered him to the ground. As Mason knelt, he grabbed Jim’s leg and jerked it out from under him. The gun went off as Jim stumbled backward and the bullet entered Mason’s head just below his left eye and killed him instantly. John would return the favor in spades. He’d hold a gun to Jim’s head while injecting a lethal dose of meth and poison into his carotid artery.
Yelling echoed from the end of the hallway. Jesse had lost his patience and wanted his injection. He said he needed it now. John smirked as he rose from the couch and walked to his bedroom. He unlocked the vault door on his closet and, with another loaded syringe in hand, headed toward Jesse with the mask lowered over his face.
“What’s with the noise down here?”
“You said you’d be right back. You’ve been gone for a half hour, man. Give it to me. I need it now.”
“Hold your horses, cowboy. I’m calling the shots, and I’ve got plenty, but you have to play nice.”
“What does that mean?” Jesse stuck out his arm and swatted it against the outside of the door.
“It means I want information, current-day stuff about the narcotics division.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter why. Do we have a deal, or do I walk away?”
“Yeah, yeah, okay. Hit me with both syringes, and I’ll tell you anything you want.”
“Pump your fist and tell me how to access their scheduling roster.”
“I’m not in Narcotics anymore, but you already knew that.” Jesse snapped his vein with his finger and thumb. “Give it to me.”
“Give me the information first or no meth.”
“You can have my log-in. From there, you can access the other departments. Just hit the tab for whatever you’re looking for.”
“What’s your log-in and password?”
Jesse rattled it off.
John turned. “I’ll be right back.”
“No, don’t leave!”
“I have to make sure you aren’t bullshitting me.” John disappeared down the hall and came back minutes later with his laptop. “Give me your log-in again.”
Jesse peered out the five-by-five-inch opening and repeated the information. His eyes bulged as he watched John tap the computer keys.
“I’ll be damned. You weren’t lying. Okay, stick out your arm.”
John emptied the first syringe into Jesse’s vein then repeated the process with the second one. He saw Jesse’s transformation almost immediately. His disposition changed within minutes. The initial euphoria he experienced turned Jesse from a desperate man, crouched on the floor and pleading for a fix, into someone with bravado. Perspiration dripped from his body as he paced the small room like a caged rat. He rambled nonstop about a dog and his sister. He swore he would escape, torture John, and take all the meth.
“Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.” John walked away with the laptop in hand. He had found exactly what he needed—the work roster for the narcotics division. He’d strike on Jim’s day off, which was Friday. He had a full day to plan the attack.
Jesse peered out the opening in the door. “Hey, what’s your name? Don’t leave. I’m talking to you, asshole. What’s your name?”
John turned to face the door. “Just so we’re on the same page, you need to remember who’s in charge, and it sure as hell isn’t you. Don’t forget who’s feeding your drug habit. Speaking of food, you haven’t eaten in two days. I’ll get you a candy bar and a bottle of water. You need to keep those veins hydrated, unless you don’t want the needle anymore.” John grinned.
“No, no, no, just keep it coming. I’ll drink the water.”
“Good.” John walked down the hallway and yelled back before turning the corner. “And my name is John.”
Chapter 23
“Can you back it up to the eight twenty-seven mark and then freeze the frame? I’m almost sure that was Jesse walking in.” I looked at Henry. “That was him, right?”
Henry rubbed his chin and let out a long breath. “I honestly don’t know. It isn’t like he was looking up at the camera.”
I turned to Dave. “Go to eight twenty-seven and then back it up frame by frame until he’s about five feet from the entrance. Freeze it there and zoom in.”
“Sounds like you’ve viewed plenty of surveillance footage in your time.”
I answered with a groan. “Believe me, I have.”
We watched the time go backward in the bottom right corner of the screen. Dave stopped the footage at the designated spot then inched it ahead second by second.
“Okay, stop. Now zoom in.” I leaned forward. “Yep, that’s him.”
Henry nodded. “That’s definitely Jesse. You have indoor cameras too, right?”
“Only at the bar register, Detective Johnson.”
“Does the camera catch any of the people sitting at the bar? Jesse arrived at eight thirty—give or take—so his friends must have too. The bar is the only place to go since their reservations weren’t until nine o’clock.”
“Let’s see
what we can get.” Dave pulled up camera six and set the time and date for Sunday at eight thirty. The camera mounted in the upper corner of the bar showed the till and the bartender standing there whenever he was making a transaction.
“Do you really get much cash passing back and forth?” I asked.
“Sure do. The dinner tabs are normally paid with credit cards, but a lot of people use cash at the bar, especially for tips, which the bartenders have to split.” Dave pointed at a large jar on the back bar. “That’s the tip jar and in plain sight of the camera.”
“Hang on,” Henry said. “You can see some of the customers through the back bar mirror.”
“Sure as shit. Good catch, Henry, and there’s Jesse talking to a couple of guys. In that better lighting, we can actually see what they’re wearing. That’s going to make identifying them when they leave a lot easier, especially since the camera will be at their backs. All we need is the time they left and the direction Jesse went.”
“But he approached the entrance from the north. He’ll turn left when he leaves too.”
“At least we’ll have the time they left and can watch Jesse until he’s out of camera range. The problem is”—I pointed at the open map on my phone—“we don’t know if he continued straight on Rush or turned on East Bellevue. You know how parking is around here. If we’re lucky, we’ll pick him up on a street-facing camera from another establishment.”
Henry tipped his chin toward the screen. “Fast-forward to ten thirty. We’ll proceed from there. They had to be thinking about Monday being a workday.” Henry glanced at Dave. “What time does the restaurant close on Sundays?”
“They stop taking reservations at eleven thirty, but the bar stays open until two a.m.”
“I’ll call Pete Rogers. That will speed things up. The reservations were in his name, so he must be one of those guys at the bar with Jesse.”
“Sounds good. We’ll watch the door camera while you make the call.”
I excused myself and walked out to the hallway then flipped to the last page in my notepad. I made the call, explained who I was and why I was calling, and wrote down everything Pete told me.
“I guess we all arrived around the same time—eight thirty or so. It was Steve’s birthday, and we don’t get together as often as we’d like. Jesse, Steve, Curt, and I met at Gibsons.”
“Can you give me Curt’s phone number?” He did, and I wrote it down.
“The only one who couldn’t make it was Joe. He was too close to an editing deadline to take time off.”
That much I already knew and I needed to cut to the chase. “Pete, what is your best guess for the time you guys left.”
“Wouldn’t that be stamped on the bill? Didn’t you guys check that?”
He was thinking like a cop, but we’d already gone that route. “We did, and thanks for suggesting it, but we don’t know if you left immediately after dinner or hung out at the bar. The bill was time-stamped at eleven fifteen.”
“Got it. Come to think of it, we each had a celebratory shot at the bar. Should I be revealing that to a cop?”
I chuckled. “We have bigger fish to fry than worrying about downing a shot before driving home. Right now our only concern is finding Jesse.”
“Understood. My best guess is around midnight. We all had the drive home to consider, and Monday was a workday. I do remember getting home just before one o’clock, and I live in Naperville. Any tips on Jesse? I can’t believe he’s missing. I mean, he’s a cop for crissakes.”
“I really can’t discuss an open case with you, but we’re doing our best to track him down. Please call the Chicago PD on Fifty-First and Wentworth if you think of anything else.”
“I will for sure.”
I ended the call and returned to the security room, where I told Dave to fast-forward to eleven fifty. The guys would be walking out shortly.
We watched the footage until we saw them exit the building. They stood outside, gave each other back pats, and split up, each going in a different direction. We saw Jesse turn left, as we had assumed. He was out of camera range seconds later. “Damn it. That only helped establish the time they left.” I pointed at the screen. “Wait a minute! Isn’t that Jesse crossing the street at Bellevue?”
Dave backed up the footage. We had a minute-long gap of time without eyes on Jesse, then suddenly he reappeared.
Henry spoke up. “Yep, the jacket looks the same, and that man is right for Jesse’s height. His gait is even like Jesse’s.”
I glanced at the map on my phone. “Okay, he crossed to the east side of the street at the intersection, meaning he’s continuing on Rush Street beyond Bellevue. Rush Street ends at East Cedar, and State Street takes over. It’s exactly the same route we took, a five-minute walk. Let’s see if Carmine’s has cameras.”
“They definitely do, especially with all their outdoor seating,” Dave said.
“Great, and thanks for your help.” Henry handed his card to Dave, and we headed to Carmine’s.
Chapter 24
Henry updated Sergeant Lutz as we walked to Carmine’s. He explained that we were on the right track, and hopefully Carmine’s surveillance camera would show us where Jesse went once he passed their restaurant.
We entered the building, showed the hostess our badges, and asked to speak to the night manager. The hostess excused herself and walked away. The restaurant was filling with diners, and I was sure we were interrupting their busiest time of night as we stood shoulder to shoulder with people waiting to be seated. Moments later, I caught a glimpse of the hostess waving from across the room.
I elbowed Henry. “There she is. Go that way.”
We followed the hostess past the kitchen to an office, where we found the night manager talking on the phone. He raised his finger as if to say he needed a minute, then he pointed at the guest chairs. We sat and waited.
The hostess whispered before walking out. “His name is Ted.”
I gave her a thank-you nod and folded my hands in my lap.
Ted hung up and addressed us moments later. “Sorry about that, Detectives. An important delivery is behind schedule. What can I do for you?”
“We need to see your surveillance tapes from Sunday night around midnight.”
“Sure. May I ask why?”
I spoke up. “A Chicago detective is missing and was last seen in this area. We need to find out where he parked that night. He left Gibsons on foot and headed this way.”
“Okay, follow me. Our security guy is taking a break, but I’m familiar with the equipment.”
We walked to the next room and entered a bedroom-sized space. Four monitors were set up and running live feed from the outdoor cameras. One faced the street, one pointed into the side courtyard, and the last two faced north and south on Rush Street.
“This is perfect. We’ll need to view the footage from the south- and north-facing cameras from Sunday at midnight. We ought to see Jesse on the south camera once he crossed the street and headed this way. The north-facing camera will show us what direction he went once he passed the restaurant.”
“Sure. I’ll queue up three and four. Our equipment is very sophisticated, so there’s no way you wouldn’t see your detective if he passed by.”
I nodded. “That’s reassuring.”
Several minutes later, the manager had Sunday night’s camera feed playing. We saw Jesse once he crossed the street and began walking north. Henry commented that nobody seemed to be following him. The manager flipped over to camera three once Jesse came into view in front of the restaurant.
“Okay, you should see him pass our front door and continue on. The camera catches the entire sidewalk since we have outdoor seating when the weather cooperates.”
I pointed at the screen. “There he is.” Jesse passed the restaurant, continued down the sidewalk, then turned right on East Cedar Street. “Now we have to see if any buildings on East Cedar have cameras.”
“The street is lined with condos, and I be
t some have surveillance facing the front entryways.” Ted flipped back to live footage and escorted us to the front door. “Good luck, Detectives, and I hope you find your guy.”
We thanked him for his time and left the restaurant.
“This is our last chance, Henry. We’re running out of real estate. Jesse had to park in the same area we did. Now we have to find condos with cameras out front and see if anybody is there to show us the footage.”
We turned the corner, and Henry looked up at the buildings. “It’s already dark and seeing a camera mounted higher than the first floor is going to be difficult. Plus this street isn’t well-lit. Maybe we should come back first thing in the morning.”
I felt deflated, as if I hadn’t done anything yet to help the investigation. I gave Henry a sideways glance. “But every day Jesse is missing looks worse for him.”
“I know that, Kate, but even if we locate a camera that caught Jesse’s abduction, we have a long way to go before we find where he’s being held.”
I reluctantly agreed and walked toward the parked cruiser. I prayed for a sign. I needed to show our fellow officers that they hadn’t requested my help for nothing.
We returned to the precinct and met up with Lutz in the vestibule as he was walking out. Henry gave him the final update for the night.
“We’re getting closer, Boss. I can feel it. We’ve got Jesse turning toward the lake on East Cedar Street, so he had to have parked there. It was too dark to see cameras mounted on buildings once we narrowed down his route, but we’ll start back there in the morning. If he was truly abducted on his way to his car, there’ll be proof of it on somebody’s surveillance cameras even if they don’t realize it.”
Lutz blew out a tired-sounding breath. “There will be a group update first thing in the morning, and everyone needs to be on board, including you two. The rest of the team needs to know where Jesse’s investigation is going, then they’ll share where they’re at in the attorneys’ murder cases. I was hounded again by the press this afternoon, so we have to get a handle on things. Go home and get some sleep.” Lutz furrowed his brows at me. “Do you need an escort back to the inn?”
