“Hello?”
“Hi Cheyenne. I’m glad to hear you’re doing better.”
“Thank you.”
“Tre was released from the hospital, but he is in jail. I don’t think he’s going to be getting out anytime soon. They charged him with kidnapping and a bunch of felony traffic violations. His bond was set at $100,000. The prosecutor is looking at the rape case too. When they charge that case, he will get another bond in addition to the one he has now.”
“Can his momma bail him out?”
“I suppose she could if she had the money but I don’t think she will.”
“Do you think they will charge him with the rape?”
“I sure hope so.”
Frankie barely heard Cheyenne say, “Me too.”
Jerome said, “Thank you again for calling Detective, but Cheyenne needs her rest.”
“Yes sir. I’ll stop by this week and see you all if that’s okay.”
“That would be nice.”
As Frankie hung up the phone she heard Mia say, “She just hung up. Hold on.”
Putting the call on hold Mia said, “It’s Jessica Moon.”
Frankie felt her blood pressure rise at the sound of her name. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Send her over.”
Chapter 101
“Thomas.”
“Hello detective. I am reviewing the cases you submitted recently and had a few questions. Do you have a few minutes?”
Frankie steadied her voice, forcing herself to sound professional. “Sure. Which one are you looking at?”
“Let’s start with Trayvon Stockton. I noticed you spoke to several family members and processed a couple cars. Did the victim ever identify the house he took her to?”
Frankie pulled the receiver away from her ear and looked at it. Was she serious? A report had been written clearly stating Sarah identified Aurelia’s house. Instead of confronting Moon she found the report in her copy of the case file and said, “Yes. If you look at supplemental report 12 you will see she identified Aurelia Williams’ house as the house Tre took her to. It’s also where he switched cars.”
“Did you follow up on his alibis? Did you talk to his girlfriend or uncle?”
With a tempered voice Frankie said, “We went to the house where he said the girlfriend lived and talked to his uncle. It’s all documented in supplemental report 8. Supplemental report 9 actually indicates the woman he listed as his girlfriend is deceased. She died in a suspicious fire. I believe the Bomb and Arson Unit are looking at him as a possible suspect in the fire and her murder.”
“What about the gas station where Sarah said she was taken.”
Frankie didn’t even try to hide her frustration. “With all due respect, Jessica did you even look at the case file? Stockton is in custody for kidnapping Cheyenne Connor, the clerk for the gas station where he took the victim, Sarah Smedley. Not only did Sarah identify the store, but we talked to Cheyenne and got surveillance of them inside the store. Cheyenne reported to us Trayvon came back and threatened her for talking to the police, then later kidnapped her. If you would look at the case file you would see the reports are all there.”
Frankie could hear Moon tapping at the keyboard on her computer. A few moments passed before she said, “Detective I’m preparing a warrant for his arrest. Is there any reason to believe he will bond out today?”
“I don’t know. He has a bond set at $100,000. I don’t think his mother could bail him out, but it’s possible.”
“Okay. I’ll get this together and walk it through today. Now, about Sawyer.”
Frankie took a deep breath. She could tell this one was going to be a battle.
“I have positive identifications by three women and a possible ID by a fourth. You submitted additional cases for review. Have those victims identified Sawyer?”
“No.”
“You have a tracker on his car, is that correct?”
“Yes, but…”
“You have a tracker. Go see if the women in the other cases can identify him. Draft a search warrant for the tower information on his cell phone. Once you’ve done that, give me a call. Depending on what you find, I may be ready to charge him.”
Coleman dropped the signed search warrant for Miller’s house on Frankie’s desk as she hung up the phone. She leaned back in her seat and let out a groan.
“What was that all about?” Mia asked.
“She hadn’t even looked at the Stockton case. Even after Derek read her…”
“What?!”
Frankie explained to Mia what happened before their shift.
“Oh my gosh! I thought she was being difficult, but damn!”
“Yeah. She’s going to make me jump through hoops on the Sawyer cases. She won’t issue a warrant until we have more victims identify him and get his cell tower information. Her rationale is we have a tracker on the car so there’s no hurry.”
“Great. How many more will there be?”
Frankie sighed. “I need to go search Jackson Miller’s house. Want to go?”
Chapter 102
“What’s that smell?” Yang asked as he followed Frankie through the front door of Miller’s house.
“Smells like he forgot to take the trash out,” Ashley said.
Frankie scrunched up her nose in disgust and said, “Let’s get this done so we can get out of here.”
The house was small and sparsely furnished. Unlike Maggie’s clean house, Miller’s had trash, dirty dishes, and unwashed laundry scattered everywhere.
“What are we looking for?” Mia asked.
“The clothes he was wearing the other night and anything that might prove he planned the attack.”
“Looking for his clothes is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid you might be right. She said it was dark clothing, a hooded jacket and maybe a dark mask.” Frankie sifted through the clothes on the sofa, but nothing resembled what Maggie remembered.
“Frankie, you might want to come and look at this,” Ashley called from the bedroom.
Frankie dropped the pants she was looking at onto the sofa and walked down the hall. “What the hell? Mia come here.”
The room contained an unmade bed and a desk with an open laptop computer. Above the desk were photographs of four different women engaged in various activities. None of the photographs appeared to have been taken with the women’s knowledge. There was a red X across the faces of Dejauna and Maggie.
“Was he keeping score, or what?” Mia asked.
“Sure seems that way. I wonder who the other women are?” Frankie looked down at the open computer to see what website he had open. “He has his profile open to a dating website. It shouldn’t be too hard to identify these women. I’ll get a warrant and see if there’s something in his computer that will help get us their names.”
“Given his history with rejection, do you think we should wait?”
Frankie stared at the computer screen. If she searched his computer without a warrant anything they found would be inadmissible in court. If she didn’t there could be at least two other victims out there. “I think this falls under exigent circumstances.”
Frankie clicked on the message section of the dating website. There were four message streams. Maggie and Dejauna were two. The women in the photographs over the desk were the other two.
“Cynthia Freeman and Gillian Barnett. Looks like he spoke with both of them within the last seventy-two hours. What do you say we go pay them a visit?”
Mia looked at Frankie and said, “What are we waiting for?”
Frankie got addresses for both women from their in-car computer. Cynthia lived two blocks from Miller and Gillian lived six. “Looks like both are close by. Hopefully neither has rejected them yet.”
Within minutes they were knocking on Cynthia’s door. Without opening the door, she said, “Who is it?”
“Kansas City Missouri Police Department,” the detectives said in unison as they
held up their badge so she could see them through the peephole.
“Hold on.”
They could hear the deadbolt being thrown and chain being dropped.
“Can I help you?”
Frankie couldn’t help but stare at the laceration on Cynthia’s high cheekbone. “May we step inside?”
Cynthia stepped aside and let the women walk through the door.
“May I ask what happened to you?” Frankie asked.
She touched her cheek and looked from Mia to Frankie. She sat on the edge of the chair and said, “This? It’s nothing. Just a parting gift from a guy I was seeing.”
“Was it Jackson Miller by any chance?”
“How’d you know?”
“We arrested him yesterday for assaulting another woman. Can you tell us what happened to you?
Cynthia’s experience matched that of Dejauna and Maggie. The only difference was she did not threaten to call police.
“I told him if he didn’t leave I was going to kill him. After he hit me in the face I ran into my bedroom and grabbed my gun. I told him if he came near me or my house again I would blow his brains out. He must have believed me because he left.”
Frankie smiled. “Did you hear from him again?”
“No. I think he knew I meant what I said.”
Frankie got all of Cynthia’s contact information then stood to go.
“Is he going to be getting out of jail anytime soon?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Chapter 103
Gillian’s house was dark so Frankie left her business card and headed back towards police headquarters. They hadn’t gotten far when her phone began to ring.
“Thomas.”
“Frankie, it’s Fitz. Sawyer’s on the move again. He’s on Paseo heading north. Looks like he’s almost to the Avenue.”
“Okay, we’ll head that way.”
“Sawyer?” Mia asked.
“Yeah. Let’s see if we can catch him in the act.” Frankie’s phone rang again. “Hey Fitz, whatcha got?”
“His car isn’t moving. It’s at Independence and Paseo. Does he ever take girls to motels?”
“We don’t have any cases like that, but he may be switching things up. We’re about ten minutes out.”
“Okay, I’m still a good fifteen minutes away. Let me know if you find him.”
Mia drove through the parking lots of the seedy motels located near Independence Avenue and Paseo Boulevard. All three of them were two levels with doors that opened to the parking lot. They each boasted affordable weekly rates and two even offered rooms by the hour, making them frequent hosts to women being used in prostitution. Driving through the third parking lot Mia said, “Hey isn’t that his car?”
Frankie grabbed the microphone for their police radio. “1061 on Center Zone.”
“Go ahead 1061,” said the dispatcher.
Frankie smiled at the sound of Laura’s voice. She and Mac had been her mentors in the Explorer’s program. “Can you have a two-person crew meet me at The Admiral Inn at Admiral and Paseo for a residence check?”
“116.”
“Independence and Prospect.”
“116, meet 1061 at The Admiral for a residence check. 2008.”
While they waited for the radio car to arrive Frankie and Mia stepped into the office to speak to the night clerk. The small eastern Asian man appeared to be in his fifties. In a barely perceptible accent he identified himself as the business owner.
“You see that car?” Frankie asked, pointing to Sawyer’s car. “Can you tell me what room he checked into?”
“Mr. Jones is in room 107,” the clerk said.
“Jones, huh? Did he have anyone with him?”
“I do not think so. He usually comes in alone, but I think he has a lady friend who visits him.”
“He stays here regularly?”
“I would not say regularly, but often enough that I know him when he comes in.”
“Has a lady friend come to visit today?”
The radio car arrived before the clerk could answer. “Where are we going?”
Frankie turned to look at the officer and his partner who were flanking the entrance to the motel office. “Room 107, but wait just a minute.” Turning back to the clerk she asked, “Has a lady friend come to visit today?”
“He took a lady out of his car and walked her inside.”
“Took a lady out of his car? What do you mean?”
“He had her by the arm. He was pulling her. She walked but was looking around the parking lot.”
“Do you have any surveillance cameras?”
“Yes, but they do not record.”
“Alright. Thank you. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t warn him we were coming.” Frankie turned towards the officers, “Let’s go knock on this guy’s door.”
Frankie posted to one side of the door and Mia to the other. The officers stood just behind them. Frankie leaned her ear against the door and listened. Through the door she thought she could hear muffled cries. She used the side of her fist to pound the door. “Police Department, open up.”
The muffled sounds became louder screams of, “Help! Help me!”
Frankie stepped aside so one of the patrol officers could kick the door. The first kick was met with resistance. The sound of fists meeting flesh could be heard between screams. The officer lined up and kicked the door again, causing the handle to disengage from the door frame. The sound of a gunshot came as he raised his leg to kick a third time. Frankie looked at Mia and the other officers to make sure they were all okay. Before they could force the it, the chain fell and the door.
Standing in the doorway was a young woman, hands trembling, holding a gun.
Guns drawn, the officers took a step back and ordered her to drop the gun. Frankie took a step closer and said, “Lorelei, let me have the gun.”
Terror filled her eyes as they darted between Frankie and the other officers.
“You know her?”
“Yeah. Lorelei, give me the gun,” Frankie said with a bit more firmness.
Slowly Lorelei extended her hand to Frankie. Releasing the weapon into Frankie’s hand, Lorelei dropped to her knees and started to cry.
Chapter 104
“116 start me an ambulance to Room 107. We have a party down.”
“Copy, 116. Ambulance en route. 2018 hours.”
Frankie and Mia entered the motel room to find Sawyer lying on the floor, bent over holding his knee.
“That bitch shot me!”
“With your gun?” Frankie asked.
“It’s your fucking fault. You scared her when you started pounding on the door!”
“Mr. Sawyer, I believe it was you that scared her.” Frankie looked to the officers and said, “Can you keep an eye on him while I go talk to Miss Rain?”
Outside the room she looked to Mia and asked, “Did you smell that?”
“Yeah, smells like death in there.”
Frankie found Lorelei sitting in the front seat of the patrol officer’s car. She got into the driver’s seat, while Mia called the Crime Scene Unit.
“Can you tell me what happened tonight?”
“You that detective that came and talked to me the last time?”
“Yes.”
“You found my book.”
“Yes ma’am.” Frankie smiled at the memory. Lorelei had a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird from the library in a backpack the night Frankie met her. The bag had gone missing, but Frankie was able to find it and return it to Lorelei.
Hanging her head Lorelei said, “He’s the same guy. From that night.”
“Can you tell me what happened in there?”
Lorelei looked over at Frankie and said, “I can tell you the truth?”
Frankie nodded.
“I was working when this guy pulled up. I didn’t recognize the car at first, but when he put the window down I saw who it was and started to walk away. He didn’t care. He followed me in his c
ar and then showed me his gun. He said if I didn’t get in the car he’d shoot me. Dude’s crazy so I got in the car.” Lorelei began to cough. When she caught her breath, she continued. “He drove the car here and told me to wait while he got a room. I was going to get out and try to run, but he reminded me he had a gun and would hunt me down if I ran off. So, I waited in the car until he got a room key.”
“When he got me into the room he told me to get in the shower and clean myself up. He stood in the door of the bathroom and watched while I showered and even threw a razor at me and told me to shave. Everywhere. When he thought I was clean enough he told me to get out of the shower and made me get on my knees in front of him. He pulled his thing out and made me suck his dick. He told me if I bit him it’d be the last thing I ever did. When he had enough of that he threw my clothes at me and told me to put my shirt on so he didn’t have to look at my disgusting body. He shoved me onto the bed and started sticking me. I was crying and tried to tell him to stop but that just pissed him off. He held me by the throat and kept yelling at me.”
“What happened next?”
Lorelei began to tap the car door. She looked out the window then back to Frankie. “He had put the gun on the stand by the bed. When you started pounding on the door he started punching me and telling me to shut the fuck up. He shoved me against the wall and said he was going to kill me. Then he tried to grab the gun. I thought he was going to shoot me so I grabbed it first. I’d never shot a gun before but I wasn’t afraid to try. We started wrestling for it and it went off. Next thing I know he’s lying on the floor. I didn’t know what to do so I unhooked the chain and let you in.”
“Is there anything else you want to add?”
Lorelei shook her head.
“Would you be willing to go to the hospital for a forensic examination? It’s free.”
“Will that help get him locked up?”
“It can help.”
“Okay, then I’ll go.”
After directing the patrol officer to take Lorelei to the hospital Frankie stepped over to talk to the paramedics tending to Sawyer. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Looks like a flesh wound but you’d think he was dying,” answered the paramedic. “We’re going to take him to County but I expect he’ll be released by morning.”
No Stone Unturned Page 23
