“What if the kid comes during that five minutes?” she replied.
“Then we get him when he leaves.” He leaned forward to try and draw her attention away from staring at the park entrance. “I like meatballs.”
“Shush!” She grabbed the binoculars that were nestled in her lap and craned her neck as she looked through them.
A group of five boys and two girls made their way along the sidewalk and into the entrance. Satisfied that none of them matched the description of the kid they were looking for, she placed the binoculars back on her lap.
“What’s your favorite sub? No, let me guess.” Travis looked at her and tapped his chin with his finger. “Everyone likes meatballs, but I can’t see you dealing with the mess of meatballs.” He looked up at the roof of the car. “Got it! Philly cheesesteak; definitely a cheesesteak kind of girl.” Travis had the look of a man who had just won the lottery as he faced forward and looked in the vanity mirror of the sun visor.
“Will you please just shut the fuck up?” she snapped. “This might be a game to you, but I take my work seriously, and I’m trying to look for this kid. I can’t do that with you constantly talking shit in my ear.”
“Well, that is clearly the case,” he said, still looking in the vanity mirror. “Because if you could multi-task, you would have noticed the kid with the soccer ball approaching the gate from behind us.”
He turned to look at her with a smug look that made her use every ounce of self-control not punch his face. She frowned at him before quickly turning around and saw a kid fitting the description, bouncing a soccer ball as he approached the park.
“That’s got to be him,” she said. “Come on, let’s grab him.”
“Wait for him to enter the park. There’s only one way in and out. Once he’s in, he’s ours.” He picked up the handheld police radio and squeezed the transmission button. “Unit two four to base, requesting a marked unit to Richmond Park.”
“What the hell are you doing? We don’t need backup to grab a kid!” she said indignantly.
“I’ve just told you there is only one exit. If we have uniforms on the gate and he runs, they can get him. I do not want to run in this heat.” He opened the door and got out, then popped his head back in. “Are you coming?”
“You’re starting to piss me off,” she snarled, as she opened the door and got out.
“Hey, wait till you get to know me,” he said, checking the traffic before they crossed the road. “I can be a real charmer.”
They watched the kid disappear into the park before scurrying across the road. A marked police unit pulled up as they got to the gates. Two uniformed officers exited the vehicle and placed their night sticks into their utility belts. Maria flashed her badge that she had cupped in her hand to let them know who she was.
“Detective Hernandez,” she informed them, as she clipped her badge back on her belt. “This is Detective Travis.”
Both uniformed officers acknowledged them by touching the peaks of their caps and nodding.
“What’s the problem, Detective?” the taller of the officers asked.
“We need you to watch the gates.” Travis led them to one side of the entrance so they couldn’t be seen from inside the park. “We’re trying to detain a kid. He’s white, about twelve years old with shoulder-length, mousey blonde hair, wearing white and red Bermuda shorts and a Brazilian soccer shirt.”
“And he’s got a soccer ball with him,” Maria added.
“Yes,” her new partner confirmed. “This is the only way in and out of here, so we’re going to go in and attempt to grab him in there. If he runs and gets away from us we want you to be ready to grab him here.”
“What’s this kid done?” the second officer asked.
“Nothing. He ran from an attempted assault before we could question him. So he’s obviously going to be a bit spooked if he makes us,” she told them.
“Okay, ma’am.” The taller officer nodded. “We’ll position ourselves on either side of the gate.”
“Shall we?” Travis looked at her and nodded towards the gate.
Inside the park, the detectives casually scanned the area, looking for their target as they meandered along the path. Maria was taken by surprise when she felt Travis’s hand slip into hers. She snatched it away and stepped sideways.
“What the fuck are you doing?” She glared at him.
“Just taking a walk in the park with my fiancée.” He smiled at her. “Don’t want to give the kid a head start. If he makes us before we see him… well… you know what’ll happen.”
“We can walk without contact,” she said, as she walked on.
He shrugged and ran a few paces to catch up with her.
“Am I right about the Philly cheesesteak?” he asked, while trying to keep up with her brisk pace.
“Just keep an eye out for the kid.” She was angry with herself that this guy could so effortlessly get under her skin.
“Maria.” He grabbed her upper arm to stop her. She spun around and looked at his hand on her arm. “Listen, if you continue storming around the park like this he’s going to make us before we get any further.”
She sighed and looked up at him.
“I’m sorry,” she said calmly. “I’m just a bit tense with all this shit that’s going on. We’ve got execution-style killings, gang-related shootings, and now all these kids going missing. This place is getting like the wild…”
Maria drifted off as she looked over Travis’s shoulder.
“Hey. Are you okay?” he asked with a look of concern.
“There he is.” She grabbed both of his hands and held them so they appeared to be a couple having an intimate chat.
“Where?” he inquired, without turning around.
“He’s about fifty yards over your right shoulder,” she informed him.
The kid stood with one hand holding onto the chain-link fence separating the park from the basketball area, his soccer ball resting between his hip and his other arm. He was so engrossed in watching about a dozen teenagers taking turns playing one on one that he didn’t notice the detectives approaching him. They had separated so they could come at him from different angles, reducing the chance of him making a run for it.
“Hey, kid!” Maria said loudly to get his attention. “We need to talk to you.”
The kid jumped and spun around to see adults approaching him. He quickly looked between them with squinted eyes and made a step forward, but Travis moved sideways to block his exit. With a look that told the detectives he had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere, he stepped back against the fence.
“I’ll scream for help if you don’t back off,” the scared youth said as he continued to switch between them.
Maria pointed to her badge clipped on her belt. “Take it easy, kid, we’re the good guys.”
He held his hand up to shade his eyes from the blinding sun. “I ain’t done nothing,” he professed, when he realized who the approaching adults were.
“We never said you’ve done anything wrong,” Travis reassured the frightened youth. “We just want to talk to you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to you, so leave me alone.” He pushed himself off the fence and tried walking past the cops, but the male detective put his hand out to stop him.
“Listen, we only want to talk to you. It’ll only take a few minutes.” He looked at Maria, then back to the kid. “Are you hungry? Do you like subs?”
The kid looked confused by the question and glanced at Maria, as if he wanted clarification.
“Sorry, kid, he is obsessed with sandwiches.” She shook her head. “He’s been asking me the same thing all morning.”
“Yeah, I like subs,” he answered, squinting his eyes again as he looked up to the male officer.
“Okay, how about this. The three of us go to the sub shop around the corner. We buy you a sandwich. We have a talk, and then you can go. What do you say?” Travis asked.
T
he kid considered the offer. “If you throw in a soda, you got a deal.” He extended his hand out to shake on the deal.
“You drive a hard bargain, kid, but you’ve got a deal.” The male detective shook his hand. “By the way, this is Detective Hernandez.” He nodded towards his partner. “And I’m Detective Travis.”
“I’m Brad,” said the boy, looking a lot more relaxed. “But everyone calls me Ronaldo.”
“Come on, Brad,” Maria said, as she put her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go and get you that soda.”
***
“You guys get a table and I’ll get the food,” Travis suggested as he made his way to the counter.
Maria and Brad sat opposite each other in a booth by the window and waited for their sandwiches to arrive. It wasn’t long before they were joined by their companion, who placed a laden tray on the table and slid onto the bench next to the boy. He started distributing the contents of the tray between them.
“I figured you were a meatball kind of guy, Brad, so here you go.” He placed a sub in front of the boy before sliding another over to his partner. “Philly cheesesteak for the lady,” he said sarcastically.
“Take it easy, Prince Charming,” she retorted.
“I was right though, wasn’t I?” He looked for confirmation of his choice.
She smiled and started to unwrap her sandwich. “We’ll see.”
“I knew it,” he said confidently.
“Okay, kid, time to talk.” She pulled out her small notepad from her back pocket, leveraging herself against the back of the seat to do so. “Firstly, what’s your full name?”
She flipped the notepad open and pulled out the pen that was held inside the ring binding of the book. Brad eyed her and the notebook with suspicion.
“Bradley Lloyd,” he said, then took a bite of his sub.
“Okay, Bradley Lloyd.” She wrote his name down. “We want to talk to you about what happened at Sunny Glades the other day.” Maria looked at him.
The boy froze and stopped chewing his food. His eyes grew wide. “I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t bullshit me, kid. We have a reputable eyewitness who says you were there.” She pointed her pen directly at the nervous boy. “So, what were you doing there?”
Brad glared at the pen, then looked up at the female detective. He slowly put his sandwich down and started to stand up. “This has been great, it was nice meeting you both, but I want to go now.” He slid sideways and nudged Travis to let him out, who obliged by sliding along the bench.
“You stay right where you are, Detective.” She pointed the pen at him and looked back to the boy. “Kid, you sit your ass back down and start talking.” She slammed the pen on the table. “Now, what were you doing there?”
“You can’t make me stay here. I have rights,” the boy said indignantly.
“Rights? You want me to tell you what your rights are right now?” She leaned over the table to get a little closer to him. “You have the right to start telling me what I want to know. If not, then I have the right to get my colleague here to phone social services and have you put in foster care within the hour.”
“You can’t do that,” he pleaded, and cowered into the bench.
“I’m the police, kid, and I can do whatever I want. Now, for the last time, what were you doing at the theme park?” Maria glanced in Travis’s direction.
He sat motionless, holding his sandwich in his mouth ready to take a bite, his eyes wide open with the look of someone in total disbelief.
Brad sat back in his seat. “Man, you’re a hard bitch.” He shook his head.
“And then some.” She picked the pen up and readied herself for more writing. “Now start talking.”
“Okay, I was there to meet this TV producer guy.” He shuffled in his seat. “He wanted to make a film about my soccer skills.”
“Had you met this guy before?” Travis joined in the questioning, albeit a little more gently.
“Not exactly.” He shook his head.
“How exactly then?” Maria was becoming impatient.
“I got talking to him on an app. I sent him a short video of me doing some keep me ups and other ball tricks—” He was cut short.
“What type of app?” Travis interrupted.
“The one on my phone.” He looked at the male detective.
“What’s the app called?” Travis interrupted.
“Chat Around Me.” Brad went in his pocket to retrieve his phone. He started pressing the screen, then offered it to the detective to have a look. “It lets you chat and meet people within a certain distance of you.”
Maria peered across the table to try and get a look at the app. Unable to see it, she reached into her pocket and got her phone out and brought up the photo of Seaton on the screen.
“Is this the guy you met?” she asked, as she held her phone so Brad could see the image.
“Yeah, that’s him,” he replied, as he bowed his head to look away.
“Kid, you have no idea how lucky you were.” She shook her head. “This guy is a convicted child molester. Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?”
“Yeah, but he seemed on the level.” He sat back and crossed his arms.
“Okay, talk me through what happened from when you got off the bus,” she continued, in a more soothing tone.
He looked around, and then sat more upright in his seat.
“I got to the park and waited where he told me to. Then he came over to me and asked me my name. Then he said we were going to go to the studio.” He looked back and forth between the two detectives, and then fixed his vision on Travis. “But we headed for the parking lot, and that’s when I became suspicious.”
“Why did you get suspicious?” Maria asked.
“I’ve been going to that park for years. I know the studio part is in the opposite direction,” he said.
“Smart kid.” Maria nodded in approval. “So then what happened?”
“The closer we got to the parking lot, the more I knew something wasn’t right. So I told him I didn’t want to go any further and that I was going home. That’s when he grabbed my arm and tried to drag me.” He paused, and swallowed hard as he fidgeted in his seat. “Then out of nowhere this crazy old guy appeared, waving a big gun. The guy let go of me so I ran.”
“You did the right thing, buddy.” Travis rubbed the boy’s head.
“I’ve told you everything. Can I go now?” He looked pleadingly at Maria.
“Just a couple more questions.” She scratched the side of her face. “The whole meeting, was it set up using this app?”
“Yeah, everything was arranged on that.” He started to stand up and nudged his seating companion to allow him to leave.
Travis looked at his partner for confirmation. She nodded after taking a moment to assess if she had the information she needed. The boy started to push his way out of the booth.
“One more thing.” She put her hand on the table to stop the boy. “Does Genesis mean anything to you?”
Brad thought for a second. “Nope, can I go now?”
“Before you go.” She took out her wallet and retrieved her business card. “Take this. If you ever need anything, you call me.” She handed him the card. “And, kid, stay off that app for the time being.”
Brad looked the female detective up and down, then he gave her a little smile.
“You know, for a hard bitch, you’re kind of all right.” He held her card to his forehead and saluted, then left them.
She watched the boy leave, then noticed her partner was disbelievingly looking at her.
“What?” she exclaimed.
“I see you have a very unique way of talking to kids,” he said sarcastically.
“Worked, didn’t it?” She shrugged and took a bite of her sub. “Mmm, that’s a nice sandwich,” she said with her mouth full.
“Philly cheesesteak,” he confidently announced with a big smile. She swallowed her food. “I also have the kna
ck of punching people in the face who irritate me.” A sudden look of euphoria appeared on her face. “Hey, do you think we would be able to get a list of users for this app from somewhere?”
“I have no idea, that’s not my department.” He drew a large mouthful of soda through his straw and gulped it down. “But from what I do know of these things, you’ll probably find that a large percentage of the people registered on this app will be using a fake ID and e-mail account to set them up. Especially the kind of people we’re dealing with at the moment.”
Maria made a few notes on the pad as her partner spoke when she suddenly remembered something and looked at her watch.
“Jeez, look at the time.” She hurriedly closed her notepad.
“Are you okay?” Travis asked.
“Yeah, I promised Andy I’d attend Jen’s presentation at AppTech.” She finished putting her things away and stood up to leave. “I’m late. Look, you’re going to come with me.”
He finished his drink. “Sure, can you drop me off later?”
“Yes.” She scurried towards the exit. “Come on. I’m late enough without you trailing your sorry ass behind.”
She reached for the door when her phone rang and stopped her. She checked the screen and answered the call.
“Hey, Palmer, what can I do for you?”
“I’ve just done my preliminary report on Seaton,” the voice on the other end informed her. “It appears it wasn’t suicide.”
“What?” she exclaimed in disbelief. “Are you telling me this was an accident?”
“No, Detective Hernandez,” Palmer continued. “I’m telling you that I’m ninety-five percent sure this was murder.”
The Genesis Chamber
Chapter 21
Maria stood rooted to the spot in stunned silence.
“I’m sorry,” she said in disbelief. “Can you repeat that?”
“I said Seaton was murdered,” Palmer confirmed.
She continued her silence and slowly looked up at Travis, who was trying to listen to the conversation.
“What?” he mouthed at her, but she just stared at him through incredulous, wild eyes.
“What makes you say it’s murder?” she continued.
The Genesis Chamber Page 16
