LET'S PLAY (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 10)

by John C. Dalglish

  “That’s me; Denny will do.” He shook hands with the detective.

  “My name is Detective Warren; this is Detective Strong and Detective Layne.”

  Denny shook hands with each but didn’t offer to take them inside. “What brings you guys out here?”

  “We’re investigating the disappearance of four women from the River Walk area.”

  “I heard about that; I saw one was found dead.”

  “That’s correct. Did you know Melinda Gomez?”

  “No.”

  “I understand you like to go to the RainTree on a regular basis.”

  “Yeah, but there’s no crime in that.”

  Jason sensed a defensive tone creeping into the man’s voice. Eli kept it light.

  “No, no, of course not. We were just wondering if you may have met Melinda at the RainTree.”

  “Like I said, she’s not familiar. Is it possible? Sure, I guess.”

  Vanessa produced copies of the missing fliers and handed them to Denny. “What about these other women? Recognize any of them?”

  He shuffled through them quickly and Jason picked up an almost imperceptible hesitation at the last flyer, the one of Tammy-Jo Cousins.

  Denny shook his head. “Nope, none of them.”

  Jason took the fliers back, pulled out the last one, and held it up. “You sure she doesn’t look familiar?”

  Denny had re-gathered himself. “Nope.”

  “What’s going on, Denny?”

  Purdom and the detectives turned to look in the direction of the voice. Standing in the doorway was a tall woman with swept-up brown hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a yellow tennis skirt and a white tank top. Jason recognized her from the newspaper as Barbara Purdom.

  “Nothing, Mom. These detectives were just asking some questions about those missing girls.”

  The woman’s face went from smiling to a blank stare in an instant. “I need you inside, Denny.”

  Denny shrugged and grinned at the detectives. “Momma knows best.”

  She waited until her son was in the house before directing her attention to the visitors. “Detectives, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave. If you have any more questions, please make an appointment with our attorney.”

  She turned, walked inside, and the large front door closed behind them.

  The detectives headed down the driveway as Vanessa said what they all were thinking. “What a pleasant lady.”

  Eli laughed. “Yeah, she went from zero to angry in record time.”

  Jason was more interested in the result of the questioning. “He denies remembering Tammy-Jo, even though it was just a couple days ago he was talking to her. If Jennifer Landers can ID him, we’ll have ourselves a liar. Let’s go by the station and get a mug shot for Jennifer to look at.”

  *******

  Vanessa offered to take the photo out to the hotel while Jason and Eli looked at some more video. She found Jennifer in her room packing. Vanessa reached onto the bed, picked up a shirt and meticulously folded it, before handing it to the girl. “When do you leave?”

  “Tomorrow morning.”

  “We never reached Tammy-Jo’s parents. Did you ever get them?”

  “Yes, about an hour ago. They were on safari in South Africa. They’re trying to book a flight here and I gave them your number.”

  “I’ve got a photo I’d like you to look at. Do you mind?”

  “No, of course not. Is it the surfer guy?”

  Vanessa handed her the mug shot. “You tell me.”

  Jennifer’s eyes widened. “That’s him!”

  “And you saw him dancing with Tammy-Jo the night she disappeared?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long would you say they were together?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Forty-five minutes or an hour, maybe. What’s his name?”

  “Dennis Purdom.”

  “Denny! I knew it was something like that. Does he know where Tammy-Jo is?”

  “If he does, he’s not saying.”

  “Well, can’t you beat him up or something?”

  Vanessa laughed. “I’m afraid not; that’s only on TV. We don’t even know if he’s involved for sure, and besides, we only use water torture!”

  It took a second for Jennifer to catch on. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, but we have questioned him and probably will again.”

  “Good.”

  Vanessa put her arm around the young girl. “Call me before you take off, okay?”

  “I will.”

  She looked into the girls eyes. “And Jennifer…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I won’t give up until I find Tammy-Jo.”

  Jennifer’s eyes welled up with emotion she’d kept trapped too long. “Thank you.”

  Vanessa pulled her in and let her cry.

  Chapter 7

  When Vanessa returned to the station, she went directly to the third floor conference room. Jason and Eli sat in the dark watching the grainy black-and-white images move across the screen. Jason paused the video when she entered. “What did you find out?”

  “She identified him immediately.”

  “And Jennifer previously told us she talked to Purdom before closing, when she left RainTree to look for Tammy-Jo, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  Jason rewound the video, figures moving in fast backward motion until Jason stopped it again.

  “Look what we found. We have Tammy-Jo coming out for a cigarette, followed by Denny Purdom, who joined her.”

  The tape moved forward and Vanessa watched it play out. After a few minutes, Tammy-Jo throws away her cigarette and returns to the bar. Denny leaves and heads toward the parking lot. The cameras lose him as he goes by the cab stand.

  Jason stopped the tape on the last image of Denny. “Purdom is lying about not seeing Tammy-Jo and his time is unaccounted for from this point until Jennifer talked to him around closing.

  Vanessa grabbed a chair and sat down. “What about Tammy-Jo? Do you have her leaving the bar?”

  “No, at least not yet. She appears earlier, again having a smoke, where she’s seen talking to a guy emptying the trash cans. He shows up on the Melinda Gomez tapes, but we haven’t found him on the other two.”

  “Do we know his name?”

  “Anthony Martinez. He’s worked at the River Walk for almost a year.”

  “Is there another way to place him at work on the River Walk when the other two girls went missing?”

  Eli stood. “I can handle that. I’ll go to the offices of the River Walk and request his time cards.”

  “Good.”

  When Eli left, Jason restarted the video. Vanessa was bothered by the lack of further video on Tammy-Jo.

  “How would our girl get out of the bar and not be seen?”

  “It’s possible she went along the back walkway, which doesn’t have video. It’s used mainly by employees and delivery people, and there’s no city closed circuit.”

  “Well, if she did leave that way, she either had a lift from someone or took a cab, right?”

  “Probably.”

  “Have we checked with all the drivers from that night?”

  “Eli said he had not received the driver logs yet.”

  “Then perhaps we should go see what the delay is.”

  Jason shut off the video player, and stood. “Perhaps we should. I’ve got the driver logs from the nights the other three girls went missing. If we can match a fourth, it might narrow things some more.”

  *******

  The main garage and headquarters for San Antonio Blue Cab was located near downtown on Lone Star Boulevard. They parked on the street and entered through the open garage door. Cabs were parked in long rows with their lights dark, except for a couple cars getting ready to start their shifts.

  A bald man nearly as wide as he was tall shouted at them as they approached. “No civilians inside the garage!”

  Jason took out his badge, flashing it
for the man, then tucked it away. “Official police business.”

  The man was unimpressed. “What now?”

  Jason glanced at the nameplate partially covered by a sandwich wrapper on the desk.

  “Well Frank, I need some information, and I’m guessing you’re just the one to help.”

  “You’re guessing wrong; I’m just the dispatcher. If you want information, go through that door, and ask for Lucy.”

  Both detectives turned their heads in the direction he pointed. A glass door led out of the garage into an office. “Okay, Frank. Thanks.”

  Frank didn’t respond, putting his head down and continuing his paperwork.

  Jason held the door open for Vanessa and they entered into a space too small to contain all the smoke from Lucy’s cigarette. Vanessa coughed, waving her hand in front of her. Lucy stubbed out her lit butt.

  “Sorry, I’m in here alone most of the day.”

  Jason propped the door open and held it while Vanessa talked to auburn-haired woman.

  Vanessa showed her badge. “My name is Detective Layne with SAPD. Frank said you’re who I need to talk to for information.”

  Lucy grunted. “Yeah, Frank helps nobody. What do you need?”

  “We’re after the logs of your drivers from three nights ago. The department sent over a request, but we haven’t received them.”

  “I don’t remember any paperwork; Frank probably threw it away. What’s this about?”

  “We’re just doing some background on a murder case.”

  “The Gomez thing?”

  “Yes.”

  Lucy had opened a file cabinet and pulled a folder. “That was awful, them finding her dead and all.”

  Vanessa nodded as she accepted the thick folder. “Do you have certain cabs assigned to the River Walk?”

  “Yeah. They work our stand over there.”

  “Can you give me a copy of just those logs?”

  “Sure.” She took the folder back and went over to a copy machine. “Just a minute.”

  Vanessa moved over by the open door for a breath of air. When the copies were done, she returned to get them from Lucy. “Thank you for your help.”

  “No problem. Sorry again about the smoke.”

  Outside in the car, Jason looked over his records as Vanessa read the names from three nights ago. “Jesse Thomas?”

  Jason shook his head.

  “Michael Ware?”

  Another shake of the head.

  “Julie Masters?”

  Head shake. It went on like this for several minutes; name after name not cross-matching the other three cases. Some had one case in common but not all four. Vanessa kept reading.

  “Ricardo Bonitez?”

  There was a hesitation. “Yes. He’s on duty all three of these nights, which makes him the only one so far.”

  Vanessa finished the list, not finding another name that matched. Bonitez would need further investigation. Jason’s phone started to ring.

  “This is Strong.”

  Vanessa listened but couldn’t make out who it was. Jason nodded a couple times, his glance coming over to Vanessa, then down to his list. “Things are looking up, Eli. We’ve got a name to check out ourselves. See you at the station in the morning.”

  Jason closed his phone. “Eli said the worker at River Walk shows up on the time card all four nights.”

  “Really? You’re right; things are looking up.”

  *******

  Fear surged through Tammy-Jo with the unlocking of the box. It had become her safe place, and even with the claustrophobia, she preferred it to being with him. By her best estimate, she was near the end of her third day in captivity.

  He hadn’t left her hungry or thirsty, but the physical abuse was worse than either of those. The lid flipped open and he stood there, smiling. “Let’s play.”

  She didn’t move. “Play what?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. How about Yahtzee?”

  Tammy-Jo knew the game; she and Jennifer had played it on the airplane. He extended his hand to her. “Out you get.”

  She pulled herself up, refusing his help.

  Just like the nights before, food was waiting at the table, along with water. After they’d eaten, he brought the game over from the shelf and set it down. “You know how to play?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. I’ll keep score and you can go first.”

  She picked up the cup with five dice in it and rolled them out onto the table. Mechanically, she slid two off to the side and gathered up the three remaining. She rolled them and repeated the procedure. After the third roll, she made a choice. “Twenty-three in chance.”

  He marked it down, gathered up the dice, and dropped them into the cup. He shook the cup for a long time, which vibrated against her frayed nerves, before finally rolling them. He then mimicked her steps in dice choice.

  It went on like that for three hours. At the end of the fifth game, Tammy-Jo was exhausted. “I don’t want to play anymore.”

  Without a word, he gathered up three of the dice and the score sheet, putting them into the box. The cup remained on the table and he dropped the last two dice into it.

  “Now’s the time for the real game.”

  Fear shot through her. “What do you mean?”

  His eyes bored into her. “Have you ever played Craps?”

  “No…I don’t think so.”

  “Well, you’re going to play now. One round and if you win, it’s your choice. If I win, it’s mine.”

  “Choice of what?”

  He held up a finger. “In a minute; first the rules.”

  He tumbled the dice out onto the table. “A two and a four. That’s six.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, now you’ll roll. You have to get a total of six, any way you can, before you roll a seven.”

  Her heart was pounding. “What if I get a seven?”

  “Then you crap out and I win.”

  “And if I get the six first?”

  “You win.”

  “What’s the prize?”

  “You are.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Crap out and your body is mine tonight. Get a six, you can choose to go back to the box.”

  “What if I don’t want to roll?”

  “Then you lose automatically.” His hand went to the handle of his knife, resting there for emphasis. “What is your decision?”

  She didn’t have a choice; she had to roll.

  Slowly, she put the dice back in the cup, shook it once, and turned it over. The dice cascaded out onto the table. As if in slow motion, she watched a five come up, and then a two roll over into a three. She felt herself breathe.

  He clapped his hands together, causing her to jump. “Eight, roll again!”

  She repeated the steps, watching this time as a five was followed by a four.

  “Nine, roll again!”

  This time she moved faster, just wanting the twisted game to end. The dice hit the table, scurrying away from her. A five appeared first and was followed by a one, which hesitated for a second, before rolling over into a two.

  “Craps! I win!”

  Tammy-Jo shuddered and her tears overflowed. The hope of escaping her captor’s hands cruelly dashed by a roll of the dice.

  Chapter 8

  Eli decided not to go to the station the next morning, but instead he drove directly to the address he had for Anthony Martin. The apartment was on the ground floor of a three-story complex in desperate need of paint and landscaping. Eli expected the inside of the building to look no better and he was right. Taking the dimly lit hallway, he checked numbers until about halfway along he found the apartment.

  Eli knocked and waited. It took a long time before any noise indicated someone was home. A sleepy Martin opened the door. “Yeah?”

  “Anthony Martin?”

  “Yeah. Who are you?”

  Eli held up his badge. “Detective Warren,
SAPD. Can I speak to you for a minute?”

  Martin suddenly appeared more awake. “Uh, I guess.”

  “Mind if I come in?”

  Martin looked back over his shoulder, and then stepped into the hall. “Actually, my girlfriend is asleep. I’d rather talk out here so we don’t wake her.”

  “Okay.” Eli took out his notepad. “Does your girlfriend live with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Martin appeared unnerved. “Why does that matter?”

  “Just background.”

  “Look, Detective…Warren is it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, why don’t you get to the point? I work nights and would like to go back to bed.”

  Eli produced some flyers. “Do you recognize any of these girls?”

  Martin took a quick look at the posters. “This again? I answered all these questions before.”

  The detective held out the Tammy-Jo Cousins flyer. “This girl went missing four days ago. Do you remember her?”

  Martin looked again. “No.”

  “I have you on video talking to her on the night she disappeared.”

  “Detective, I talk to a lot of women at work. They’re all over the River Walk at night while I’m cleaning.”

  “So you don’t remember talking to her?”

  “No. Can I go back to bed now?”

  Eli folded up the flyers and put them away. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Martin. Here’s my card, and I would appreciate a call if you think of anything that might be helpful.”

  Without another word, Martin took the card, went back into the apartment, and shut the door.

  *******

  When Eli let them know he was going to the Martin apartment, Jason and Vanessa headed out to speak with Ricardo Bonitez. As they drove, Vanessa compared the log sheets.

  “This is interesting.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Bonitez took lunch at nearly the exact same time on all four dates, and his lunch was more than two hours.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Wouldn’t you think cabbies eat on the run, or at the very least, when there was no fares?”