“I’m sure you’re worrying about nothing,” Maria added sarcastically.
Andy scowled at her.
“I’m joking!” She forced a broad smile. “Listen, I haven’t been to the gun range for a week or so, and I could do with some target practice. Do you want me to come with you and have a little firearm workout session with Pee Wee?”
Maria looked at Andy with no expression on her face. He was fairly sure she was joking.
“No, you stay here. I just want to check it out and have a word with Chris to see what he thinks of this guy.” He continued to look at Maria, trying to work out if she was joking about shooting Miller or not.
“Okay, but don’t worry about picking me up. I’ll get a lift home when I’ve finished up here.” Maria gestured at the files on her desk. “You go sort Jen out.”
“Are you sure?” Andy said with enthusiasm.
“Absolutely,” she confirmed.
“Maybe I could take her for dinner on the way home. Spend some quality father- daughter time together.” He glanced over at the lieutenant’s office. “Can you cover for me with Regan? If he asks, tell him I’ve gone back downtown?”
Andy pouted and gave her the puppy dog eyes.
“Okay, okay.” Maria dismissed Andy with a wave of her hand. “Now go, get out of here. I’ll see you at Coop’s in the morning.”
Andy started to leave, then stopped and walked back to Maria’s desk.
“One more thing. You were joking about using Miller as target practice, right?” He looked puzzled as he waited for an answer.
“Of course I was joking, partner!” She laughed. “You know I would never do anything like that.”
The sarcastic tone in her voice left Andy even more unconvinced than before. Still looking confused, he turned and left.
As soon as he was out of sight, Maria opened her desk drawer and pulled out another file. She quickly glanced around the office to make sure Andy hadn’t come back, then returned her attention to the closed document, opened it, and began reading.
The Genesis Chamber
Chapter 16
Maria entered the diner and spotted Coop talking to two uniformed officers who she vaguely recognized.
“Hey, Coop.” She grabbed his attention as she approached.
The two officers looked and nodded at her.
“Good evening, ma’am,” the taller of the two greeted her, then turned back to Coop. “Better get back on the streets. See you later, Cap.”
Even though Coop had been retired for some time, the cops who came to the diner still addressed him by the title given in his last position.
“You guys have a good evening.” Coop shook their hands. “Stay safe out there.”
“Sure will, Cap.” The shorter one mock saluted as he walked away.
Both officers touched the peak of their caps as they passed Maria. “Ma’am.”
“You guys take care,” she acknowledged.
“Come on.” Coop picked his coffee up and nodded towards the kitchen. “Let’s get some privacy.”
When they entered Coop’s ‘inner sanctum,’ Maria was rendered speechless. Gone were the boxes that had previously been piled against the walls. They had been replaced with corkboards that were filled with extensive details of each of the missing kids, all fitting the profile, and all looking very similar to each other.
“Wow!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been busy, old timer.”
“Less of the ‘old timer,’ if you don’t mind.” He stuck his chest out and posed to show off his physique. “There is plenty of life left in this old dog.”
“My mistake, you’re a regular Adonis,” she mocked. “Anyway, what have you come up with?”
“Well, I think I’ve found a pattern.” He paused for a second, and then shook his head. “The problem is, it’s very weak. It might not be a connection at all.”
He stopped and looked at the boards.
“And the more I think about it, the weaker it seems.” He sighed and continued to study the evidence.
“Well, seeing as I’m here, how about running it by me anyway?” She sensed he doubted himself, so gave him a reassuring smile.
“Don’t patronize me.” Coop grinned and walked over to the desk.
“All right, here goes.” He picked up a notebook. “I’ve cross-referenced all the information we have on these kids. We already worked out that they were riding the buses, right?”
Maria nodded.
“Now, on the days these kids went missing, they were all quiet days at the particular parks the buses were heading for—”
“Quiet days?” Maria interrupted. “What does that mean?”
“Different parks are quieter on different days of the week,” Coop said.
The puzzled detective wrinkled her face, not really knowing what he meant.
“You mean like Christmas holidays and stuff?” Maria asked.
“No.” Coop opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a map of central Florida. “Look here. For example, the second Tuesday of every month is the best time to visit Sunny Glades, because it’s usually quieter, so the lines for the rides are shorter.”
He pointed on the map at the Sunny Glades location, then pointed at another park.
“Now, if you go to Aqua Splash here. Every Monday and Thursday there are a lot less people in the park than the rest of the week.” He looked away from the map to Maria. “Are you with me?”
She stood gawking at the map for a few seconds.
“One quick question.” She looked at Coop. “How the fuck do you know this?”
“I thought everyone who lived in Central Florida knew this stuff. Besides, there are books you can buy with all this information in them.” He pointed at his desk. “I have the latest copy there.”
“Somebody wrote a book about that?” Maria shook her head. “That’s unbelievable. Somebody actually took the time to note all this statistical shit and wrote a book about it?”
She picked the book up and quickly flicked through it before throwing it back onto the desk.
“Anyway, continue,” she requested, and turned her attention to the boards.
“Well, all these kids went missing on the quiet days of each of the parks.” Coop walked past the boards, tapping the notes with his index finger on each one. “They all disappeared between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., which would suggest that whoever is taking these kids has some sort of routine. A job or something that ties them up till that time of the evening.”
Coop paused and narrowed his eyes as he looked up to the ceiling. He stood silently for a moment, then shook his head, as if dismissing whatever he had been thinking.
“Now, I want an unbiased opinion.” He picked up a small pile of folders and gave them to Maria. “I haven’t had a chance to process these files. You look through and see where those kids went missing. Check the days and times, then cross-reference them with that book. If I’m right about the quiet days, this is a major lead, and could give us a rough time and location for the next possible snatch.”
Maria opened the first file and laid it on the desk, then grabbed the book. She looked eagerly between the file and the book and started making a few notes. One by one she worked her way through the documents, getting more enthusiastic as each file was closed. After several caffeine fixes, numerous expletives, and a lot of arm shaking to wake up sleeping limbs, the last file got closed, and she stepped back.
“Fuck me, old man!” she blurted out in amazement. “You were right! These kids all went missing in the same time frame, and on the quiet days of the parks they were heading to.”
Her mind raced as she tried to analyze the whole situation. Why were the kids going missing at those times? Was it an office worker on his way home? Why only the quiet days? How did he know those were the quiet days? Was he a theme park employee? Every question she asked herself led to another.
“What do you think, old man?” Maria asked, as she turned to study the boards again.
Coop
took the photos out of the files that had just been scrutinized and pinned them on the boards.
“I have to admit, I thought you were off the mark with the quiet day theory, but this looks like the real deal.” Maria joined Coop in looking at the new faces on the boards.
“You know I should take this to CACU and see what they think.” She didn’t have any conviction in her voice.
Firstly she had to convince Coop that passing it over was the right thing to do. And secondly, she really didn’t want to turn this over to someone else just yet. She looked upon the legendary retired cop as a genius, and liked working with him. It wouldn’t take much to convince her not to report this.
“Let’s just keep it between us a little while longer,” he pleaded. “I have an idea I want to try out.”
Maria thought about it for a few seconds. She was intrigued as to what his idea could be.
“Okay. Run this idea by me.” She sat on the chair and waited to be convinced not to go to the CACU.
“I’m going to go through this again and see if there is a more definitive pattern.” Coop turned to face her. “If I can come up with something solid, we may be able to stop another kid going missing, and nab the perp at the same time.”
She sat looking at him, not completely convinced.
“Come on, kiddo. I know I can blow this wide open!” Coop implored.
“I have to be honest. I do think you have stumbled onto a credible connection here.” She stood up. “So, I’ll hold off reporting this—for now.”
Coop let out a sigh of relief. “Now you’re thinking.”
“One thing; are you working on the assumption these kids are alive still?” Maria inquired.
“Until a body turns up, yes. That’s the way we should conduct this investigation.” Coop rubbed his face in his hands. He looked tired. “Right. First thing in the morning, I’m all over this. If I come up with anything I’ll message you.”
He started tidying the paperwork on the desk, preparing to leave.
“Make sure you do. If this is accelerating as fast as we think it is, we need to jump on it,” she affirmed.
“I may even ride a few of these buses to see if anything jumps out at me.” He picked up a bus schedule from the desk and studied it.
“What? Is that wise?” she asked.
“Sure. What can happen?” Coop shrugged and put the schedule in his wallet. “It’s a while since I’ve been in the field.”
“May I remind you that you’re a retired cop?” She got in his face. “Retired!”
“Hey, look, some of the best evidence is found while re-enacting a situation.” He dismissed her comment.
“No. Coop—” She was cut off by him raising his hand.
“This is how I do things.” His voice was harsh. “I’ll be fine. I promise if I see something of interest, I’ll call you immediately.”
“Okay. But be careful, and make sure you call me,” Maria conceded.
“Thanks for your concern, but I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been out of diapers.” He smiled. “Now give me a hug and get out of here.”
He opened his arms and Maria stepped in for a hug.
“I’ll swing by in the morning for some breakfast,” she said as she stepped back.
“If you don’t see me, don’t ask for me.” He winked. “If Andy’s with you and gets suspicious, he’ll be straight on the phone to Cathleen. I don’t need the grief.”
“Gotcha.” Maria winked. “I’m out of here.”
She waved and left the office. Coop finished tidying the files on his desk and took one last look at the boards. Every pair of eyes of the missing boys stared back at him. There was a heavy silence in the room as he stood, mesmerized. Then, as if someone had pushed a ‘go’ button on him, he turned the light off and locked up for the night.
The Genesis Chamber
Chapter 17
“Damn heat,” Coop muttered to himself as he sat at the back of the bus.
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a handkerchief, wiping the sweat from his brow before returning it to his pocket.
The air conditioning on the bus he was riding seemed to be working intermittently, and when it was working, the air was barely cold.
This looked like it was going to be another fruitless journey, as he had ridden so many buses the past few days, with nothing of any significance to report to Maria. Thankfully, no more kids had been reported missing, so he told himself he would do it for just two more days before returning to the drawing board to come up with another plan.
His mind wandered as he thought how much of a setback it would be if he had read this whole thing wrong. He also hated the thought of handing this case over to some young desk jockey who, in his opinion, had no idea or experience on being a true policeman.
The bus jolting to a halt to pick up and drop off passengers snapped Coop out of his thoughts. He focused on the open doors and counted four adults off and what appeared to be a family of two adults and three children get on.
The father shepherded the two youngest children to the nearest available seat before sitting behind them, with the mother next to him. The third child didn’t stop and sit behind them. Instead, he continued to the seat in front of Coop and slumped into it.
The retired cop stared at the back of the kid’s head. His mind began to race. This kid fit the general description of the others on the boards in his office
He leaned diagonally forward slightly to get a glimpse of the boy’s face, and took a good look before sitting back. He leaned on the armrest and rubbed his chin while looking out of the window, trying to decide if this was what he had been waiting for.
“What should I do?” he said quietly under his breath.
The boy seemed anxious. He kept checking the cell in his lap, every so often flipping it over and looking at the screen before shaking his head and returning it to the face down position.
The bus came to another stop and a few passengers alighted. Coop’s attention was immediately drawn to the only person who got on. The new passenger was pretty much nondescript. Male, five ten, roughly two hundred pounds. He was wearing a Khaki shirt, matching trousers, and a distinct red baseball cap.
Every instinct Coop had told him something was not right with this guy.
Using his peripheral vision so it appeared he was gazing out of the window, he watched the man walk up the aisle towards the back of the bus. He looked at the boy for a moment before sitting two rows in front of them on the opposite side of the bus.
Coop disguised taking a look at the male by taking his handkerchief out of his pocket again and wiping his brow. He noticed the guy was typing a message into his cell so turned his attention to the boy. After a few seconds he heard the familiar sound of a cell phone buzzing while being on silent. The kid flipped his cell over.
He had obviously received a message and read it.
This is it, Coop told himself. This has got to be the son of a bitch.
A mixture of excitement, apprehension, and tension started to course through his body.
He continued to survey the reactions of the boy and the unknown male as the bus got fuller at each stop, getting closer to the theme park.
“Last stop before Sunny Glades, everybody!” the driver announced, pulling up to a stop.
With all his senses aroused, he focused his vision directly towards the driver so he could keep one eye on the male in the red cap and the other on the boy. He didn’t want to get caught and spook either one of them. He was close, so close. He could feel it.
The other passengers on the bus started to gather their belongings, preparing themselves to get off the bus and into the theme park as quickly as possible to take advantage of the last few hours before the park closed.
This is the end of the line. Surely they’re getting off here, he convinced himself, and decided it would be best to get off before anybody else so he could position himself at a safe distance, just enough to keep up the surveillance whil
e he contacted Maria.
He walked down the aisle of the bus, holding onto the back of the seats as he passed to steady himself, purposely knocking into other passengers and apologizing as he went by. To everybody else on the bus he looked like an infirm old timer, but Coop knew what he was doing. When he got to the front of the bus he held onto the rail behind the driver and fumbled in his pocket for his glasses.
“Excuse me, sir,” he addressed the driver with his glasses balanced on the end of his nose. “Did you say Sunny Glades?”
“Sure did, mister,” replied the cheerful driver.
“Oh my.” Coop peered through the windshield. “I appear to have gotten on the wrong bus again.”
“Are you sure, mister?” The driver quickly glanced in the rearview mirror.
“I’m certain.” He looked towards the back of the bus. “How far away from the Aqua Splash Park are we?”
“It’s about seven miles east of here.” The driver now looked a little concerned for the old man standing behind him.
“Oops. I’m supposed to meet my daughter and the grandkids there.” Coop fumbled for his cell. “I’d best ring her to come and pick me up.”
He searched through the contacts on his cell and pressed the call button to connect to Maria. The final stop was getting closer.
“Oh, hi, honey,” he stuttered when she answered.
“Coop?” She sounded surprised. “What’s with the honey shit?”
“I’ve made a bit of a mistake again, sweetie.” Coop winked at the driver through the rearview mirror. “I know I was supposed to meet you at Aqua Splash but I got on the wrong bus and now I’m at Sunny Glades. Can you bring the kids and pick me up?”
“What the hell are you talking—” Maria’s angst was clear.
“That’s right, honey. Sunny Glades.” The bus came to a halt at the park entrance. “Oh, one moment. We’re here. Don’t hang up.”
All the passengers stood up and filed down the aisle towards the exit. The doors opened, and Coop led the way for everyone to disembark. One by one everybody got off the vehicle and raced towards the entrance.
The Genesis Chamber Page 12
