Premonition (Detective Jade Monroe 4)

by C. M. Sutter

  I didn’t know what to say, but I understood Kate’s feeling of guilt. She had a burden to bear, and whether it was a gift or a curse was still unknown.

  Chapter 25

  Robert

  Robert passed the green Evansville city limits sign at five o’clock. He was chomping at the bit and anxious to get the night started. Ten years in prison had put a damper on the activities that gave him pleasure. He clicked the right turn blinker and checked the rearview mirror. Tony was right behind him. Robert turned into the Speedytime gas station at the edge of town. He drove the Mazda around to the back of the building, and Tony followed in the truck. They killed the engines and got out, both stretching after that long drive.

  Robert lit a cigarette and handed the pack to Tony. “We have to figure out how to do this. At some point, we’ll have to ditch her car.”

  “Let’s discuss it over dinner. I’m starving. I’ll go inside and get a bottle of water and a bag of chips for her. It’s a real shame, you know.”

  “Yeah, what is?”

  “That the water and chips will be her last meal.”

  Robert chuckled. “Go on, get her snacks, and let’s go. There ought to be a decent restaurant downtown somewhere.”

  Tony dropped his cigarette and ground it into the dirt. “I’ll be right back.”

  Robert called out before his brother rounded the building. “Get a twelve pack of beer too. Make sure it’s cold. I’ll keep my eye on the car.”

  Back in the vehicles, Robert led the way downtown. He looked to the left and right, hoping to find a restaurant with a decent but not overly expensive hotel attached. They planned to eat dinner, check in, then have fun with the woman before killing her and getting rid of the car. Tomorrow morning they would continue their journey north.

  The car idled at the red light. Downtown Evansville was busy with people out for dinner and walking Wabash Avenue. Robert glanced down the side streets in both directions. Thumping sounded from the trunk. Soon enough, that woman would become more of a liability than a plaything. She was making too much racket. He needed to rethink the plan and get out of that overly populated area. A restaurant and hotel in a seedier part of town would make more sense, a place where undesirables stood at street corners and that normal people didn’t frequent.

  Robert rolled down his window and stuck his head out. Tony, behind him in the truck, did the same.

  “Downtown isn’t going to work. Keep following me.”

  Tony gave Robert the thumbs-up. The light turned green, and they continued on.

  Beyond the university, away from the crowds and bright streetlights, Robert found exactly what they needed. He drove slowly past the entrance to make sure. Garbage littered the sidewalk even though a garbage can stood at the corner. The building’s facade had missing bricks, and the windows looked as if they hadn’t been washed in years. The thought of sleeping in one of the beds disgusted him. The chance of the night clerk caring about his ID and vehicle plate number was slim, and the chance of there being a video camera in the building was even less likely. City Hotel would be home for the night.

  Robert turned at the end of the block, pulled into the small parking lot, and killed the engine.

  Tony parked and got out right behind him. He checked their surroundings—dark, sketchy, and depressing. “We’re seriously stooping to a shit hole like this tonight?”

  “Sure are, bro. It doesn’t look like anybody in this neighborhood gives two shits about anything. It’s the perfect place to ditch the car too. It will be stripped down before morning. Go ahead and check in. I’ll pull our gear out of the back of the truck.”

  Tony returned five minutes later. “Man, that place is rough, and the desk clerk? He looks like a meth head that hasn’t slept in a week. Anyway, we go through the side door in the alley and up to room seven on the second floor.”

  With their arms loaded, they entered the alley. Rats scurried and ran behind the garbage cans when the men got too close. They passed an overhead delivery door cut into the bricks, then saw another door halfway down the building. Tony jerked his head in that direction.

  “This has to be it. He propped the cooler on his knee and turned the key in the lock. It turned, and he pulled the door toward him. A single lightbulb above the creaky staircase cast shadows on the dirty walls.

  Tony called out a warning as he grasped the handrail. “This sucker is loose. Don’t put any weight on it.”

  They reached the second floor. Sounds of loud TVs, headboards banging against walls, and people yelling came from each room they passed.

  Robert smirked. “I guarantee you, brother, we’re going to be invisible here.”

  Room seven was at the far end of the hall on the left. Tony inserted the key in the lock and gave it a clockwise turn. He pushed the door open with his foot. Smells of stale beer, stale cigarettes, and stale body odor wafted into the hallway.

  “Jesus, this place stinks.” Robert jerked his head back with disgust when the vile odor hit him. He reluctantly entered the room and flipped on the light switch. “Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll sleep on the chair. I can’t imagine what’s been in those beds.” He crossed the room and pulled the cord on the roller shades, then pushed up the window. “This place needs a good airing out.” A cool nighttime breeze came in as Robert stared at the landscape beyond the stench they had just walked into. “Hey, check this out.”

  Tony peered through the screen and nodded his approval. The brothers were on the same page.

  Beyond the grime of the windowsill and beyond the rail yard a few hundred feet away stood an abandoned warehouse complex. Weeds poked through the asphalt of what used to be the parking lot. Shards of window glass and crumbled bricks lay scattered about. The building’s rooflines bowed inward. A few parking lot lights faintly illuminated the area facing Robert, giving him a good impression of what to expect.

  “I’m thinking we should do this now instead of later. Those broken-down buildings”—Robert pointed straight out the window—“are perfect for our needs. We’ll leave this dump behind and find something better downtown after we have our fun. Show me the street map on your cell phone. We need to get to those buildings.”

  Five minutes later, Tony grabbed the room keys and locked the door at their back. They’d be at the warehouses in a few short minutes, and then the fun would begin. Robert climbed into the Mazda, Tony in the truck. A right on Central Avenue, a left on Crandon Street, straight for two blocks, and then a right on Bridge Street. They crossed the bridge over the rail yards and found a well-hidden building in the group of abandoned warehouses. Robert’s blood thirst would be satiated soon.

  They parked side by side and got out. Robert popped the Mazda’s trunk, and the light came on. He looked down and watched her tremble. Her hair clung to her face—wet with perspiration. She moaned as she rolled over and sucked in deep breaths of fresh air through her nose. Robert released the rope and pulled her out of the trunk. “What the hell?” He laughed and stared at the wet spot between her legs. “She pissed her pants.” With a fast swipe of his hand, he ripped the duct tape off her mouth. Tears ran down her face and mixed with the blood from her torn lips.

  “I bed those salty tears sting, don’t they?” Robert said when he saw her wince. “Give her the water and chips. She needs a little energy. I’m going to cut those zip ties so you can eat. Don’t try anything funny, either. Be careful eating those chips, they’re pretty salty.” Robert spun her around and pulled his knife from the sheath. The blade sliced through the plastic zip ties like butter. He leaned in close to her ear. “Just think what this knife can do to your body. Terrifying, isn’t it? Watch her, bro. I have to take a leak.” Robert gave the woman a glare. “I have my eyes on you.”

  Tony handed her the bottle of water. She guzzled it, barely taking time to breathe.

  “I need more. Can I have another bottle of water? Please, I’m begging you.”

  Tony looked at Robert for an okay. He nodded.

  “Ye
ah, hang on.”

  All it took was for Tony to reach over the side of the truck and open the cooler. His back was turned, and she ran with every ounce of strength she had in her.

  Robert saw her disappear between several buildings and yelled. Tony popped his head up.

  “Son of a bitch. Tony, go after her.”

  Robert zipped up his pants and ran behind his brother. He caught up to Tony, and they stopped, their ears perked for sounds of movement.

  “You moron, how did you manage to pull that off?”

  “I don’t know, dude. I wasn’t expecting her to run.”

  “We need to find her and damn quick. This isn’t exactly how I planned to spend the evening. I had more exciting things in mind.”

  A flash of something crossed in front of them at the end of an adjacent building. “There she is,” Robert said. “You go around to the left, I’ll go right.”

  She hid in the shadows, but they heard her panting and closed in. They lost her twice more as she darted in and out of nooks and crannies.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Robert taunted. “You know we’re going to find you.”

  The sound of running echoed against the pavement. Robert craned his neck to peer around the steel shed he hid behind. He heard voices in the distance. Four flashlights glowed and pierced the darkness. A group of people only a block away were heading toward the bridge.

  “I caught her,” Tony yelled, laughing.

  Robert looked back again. The people were on the bridge and beginning to cross.

  “We don’t have time for anything,” he yelled back. “Gut her.”

  The figure coming out of the shadows a few minutes later was Tony. “It’s done—stupid bitch.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I threw her inside one of the buildings.”

  “Okay, we have to get out of here. Keep your headlights off until we’re a few blocks away. I’ll be right behind you. Find a secluded spot to pull over once we’re out of the area. I’ve got to wipe down this car. My prints are everywhere.”

  Chapter 26

  My desk phone rang right when Clayton poured the last cup of coffee. That told me it must be close to nine o’clock. Instinctively, I looked above the door—9:07. I smirked then pulled my notepad closer.

  “Hello, Sergeant Jade Monroe. How can I help you?”

  “Hi, Jade. It’s Kate.”

  “Kate, did you have another dream?”

  “No, but I have a sense of dread. Have you heard anything from Detective Amoroso?”

  “Sorry, not yet.” I heard her teakettle whistle in the background. “Making tea?”

  “Have you turned psychic?” Kate chuckled. “I wouldn’t advise it, Jade, unless you want sleepless nights.”

  “I have them on occasion already and don’t need any more. I heard the teakettle whistle, that’s all.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, that thing startles me sometimes when I’m deep in thought. So, do you know if the Nashville PD has looked over the neighborhood stores’ surveillance tapes yet?”

  I threw an eraser at Jack to get his attention and hit him square in the chest. He rolled his eyes at me and pushed his chair back. He knew it was his turn to make the next pot of coffee. I grinned and mouthed a thank-you.

  “Do you want me to call and ask for an update?”

  “Would you?”

  “Sure. I’ll get back to you in a half hour.” I clicked off and dialed the direct line to Detective Amoroso’s desk.

  “Sergeant Monroe, I was about to call you.”

  “Please, call me Jade.”

  “Okay, and you can call me Joe. Anyway, our boys brought back copies of the videotapes from various stores in the neighborhood. They wanted to clean up the footage a bit.”

  “Uh-huh, and did they find anything useful?”

  Jack poured two cups of coffee and set one on my desk. I gave him a wink.

  “I just left our tech department a few minutes ago. I reviewed the footage they think shows Deidra being abducted. I have to agree, I think that’s exactly what was happening. Part of the footage is obscured by a car parked next to hers, and there are overhanging trees—”

  I interrupted. “Did an officer have the store personnel pull up the receipts from the lane she checked out from? There had to be better video of her inside the store, right?”

  He chuckled. “Take a breath, Jade. Yes, they have her on tape at the lane, and they pulled up the receipt from her purchase. It was just like her coworkers said. She bought one bottle of aspirin and nothing else. The time stamp on that video was ten twenty-one.”

  I took a gulp of the hot brew and scorched my tongue. “Damn it.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing—only a slight problem on my end.” I fanned my tongue. “So, then what?”

  “We only saw the back of a man approach her at the far end of the lot. Couldn’t really tell where he came from.”

  I wrote as he talked. I wanted to run everything he’d said past Kate.

  “Could you make out his hair color, style, and his body type?”

  “His hair was short and dark. Build, not in mid-November. He wore a jacket.”

  “That’s right. That would eliminate my next question.”

  “Which was?”

  “If you could see any tattoos.”

  “Yeah, even if he had on short sleeves, the distance would be too far to make out anything definitively.”

  “Will you email me that footage? I’d like Kate to look it over.”

  “Yeah, no problem. Let me know if something hits a nerve with her.”

  “Will do.” I clicked off and dialed Kate back immediately. “Kate, can you come to the station? Detective Amoroso is emailing me a video. I’d like your take on it.”

  “Sure thing, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  I checked my emails every few minutes, waiting for the one from Detective Amoroso. A new message popped up when I hit the refresh icon. The clerk of courts informed me that Mandy’s trial would resume tomorrow at nine o’clock instead of Monday. The judge had a scheduling conflict. I had to make a quick call upstairs.

  “John, it’s Jade. How’s Mandy doing? Has she needed many aspirin?”

  “Are you worried about her trial resuming tomorrow?”

  “Obviously you got that email too. Does she seem okay?”

  “I think she’ll be fine. She sounds nasally since her nose is packed and swollen, but she doesn’t have to testify, does she?”

  “Nope, she isn’t stable enough for that, anyway.”

  “Other than the nose, her eyes are black and blue, but she can see through the slits well enough to get around her cell and the TV room. She needs to be at the courthouse by eight thirty.”

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” I hung up and checked my messages again. The email came in. I downloaded the video and waited for Kate to arrive.

  Peggy called five minutes later and said Kate was waiting at the reception desk. I opened the bull pen door and welcomed her in. She said hello to the group and took a seat on the guest chair next to my desk while I hung her coat in the closet.

  “What would you like to drink?”

  “Coffee, please. It’s just one of those mornings.”

  I understood what she meant. In my opinion, tea was best saved for relaxing moments in a comfy chair with my favorite novel in hand.

  I carried the cups to my desk and briefed Kate on the video I wanted to show her. I jiggled the mouse and woke my computer back up, then logged in.

  “The PD went through a handful of videos from stores in the area. This is the one that stood out, and they confirmed it with the store receipt and the image of her in the checkout lane. It’s definitely Deidra. What I need you to do is think outside the box. Don’t just focus on the scene at her car. See if anything triggers a dream memory. It doesn’t matter how insignificant it may seem to me, it could be important.”

  Kate gave me
a nervous nod.

  “Do you mind if we peek over your shoulders?” Billings asked.

  “Sure, it’s fine. We can go over this as many times as we need to. More eyeballs on it might help.”

  Jack, Billings, Clayton, and Clark stood at our backs. They leaned forward and watched the screen.

  “Okay, here we go. This is as clean as the police tech department could get the footage.” I clicked on the downloaded video image on my desktop and began playing it. “If anything stands out, tell me. I can stop the footage, back it up, and play it again.”

  “Got it.”

  I clicked on the full screen icon, hit the forward arrow, and the video began. The time stamp at the bottom right of the screen showed 10:32. A woman crossed the parking lot at Shopmart and had almost reached two cars parked side by side under a row of trees. She appeared to be preoccupied with her purse. A man walked toward her at a quickened pace, as if he were trying to catch up with her. The video showed him only from the back, and his face never appeared on camera. She stopped between the cars and looked back, shielded her eyes, and spoke with him. He continued forward until they were both between the cars. Some kind of scuffle happened in that obscured spot, although we couldn’t see what it was. Within a few seconds, they were both in the car, and the man drove it away.

  Kate took a deep breath. “That was scary. Okay, so he must have called out to her to get her to look back at him. How else would she have known he was there?”

  “Especially since she wasn’t paying attention to anything other than her purse,” Clark added.

  “She must have been digging for her keys,” Clayton said. “She was an easy mark. It wasn’t about robbery, or the man would have grabbed her purse and ran.”

  “He had to be watching her from a distance. He chose her deliberately. Being parked that far out made it easy for him. No matter what, that man must have had something in his hand to get her to comply so easily. If it was Robert, a knife would have been his weapon of choice. Wouldn’t she have screamed or tried to fight him off if he was unarmed?” Kate asked.