Leverage

by C. M. Sutter

  “Those underground parking garages are dark. Keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Put a marker next to anything you see, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. Also, stretch some tape in front of the garage entrance and don’t let anyone drive in or out until you’ve searched it thoroughly. When you’re done, go upstairs and get SSA Spelling. Let him and the other agents take a look at everything you’ve marked. Any questions?”

  “No, ma’am. I think we have it covered,” Carson said.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll be back soon.” I raced down the sidewalk to the intersection and crossed the street at the green light. I approached the happy looking yellow building with red shutters. Written on a sign above the door was the name of the business—Kidz Rule Daycare. I entered the building and approached a young lady standing behind a counter.

  She gave me a wide grin. “I don’t think you’re a mom I recognize. How can I help you?”

  I pulled out the lanyard from inside my blouse and flashed her my badge. “For starters, I need to see your west-facing camera footage from this morning.”

  “Oh my goodness. Um, okay. Give me one second to get somebody out here to watch the counter. I’ll be right back.”

  The young lady pulled off the stretchy band that hung from her wrist and unlocked a security door that likely led to the children’s play area. She returned several minutes later with another employee who looked to be the same age—a twentysomething female.

  “Okay, right this way, please.” She stopped and introduced herself. “I’m Dee Dee Sanchez.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Agent Monroe.”

  Dee Dee led me through the door of the secured area and down a short hallway. I heard the chatter, cries, and laughter of children coming from a room somewhere to our left.

  “Our office is right here.” She pointed straight ahead as she pulled off the stretchy band for the second time in five minutes and unlocked the door.

  “I’m impressed with your security measures. If I ever have a kid, I’ll bring them here.”

  She grinned. “Thank you, that means a lot. Okay, let me pull up the footage.” She pointed at a guest chair. “Why don’t you scoot in here next to me and the computer?”

  I pulled a chair to her side of the desk and took a seat.

  Dee Dee looked at me with her brows raised in question. “You said the west camera, right?”

  “That’s correct.” I noticed the clock on her desk read 10:52. “I’ll need you to begin at six thirty and go forward from there.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I knew that was probably earlier than the time Julie normally left. From door to door, Julie might have had a forty-minute commute, but that would include parking and getting to her department in the hospital. I wanted to watch the entire complex for a bit to see whether anything had looked off before she left for the day. No one would likely be going into the building at that time of morning. Under normal circumstances, the only people leaving would be residents pulling out of the garage and heading off to their place of employment.

  Dee Dee set up the camera footage and typed in the beginning time. The footage began playing at six thirty. I was thankful the day care center had newer cameras with modern technology. That made my job a lot easier. I sighed a deep breath, and Dee Dee gave me a quick glance.

  I patted her shoulder. “Everything is okay. I’m just happy you have modern equipment.”

  Dee Dee pushed back her chair, stood, then walked around the desk. “Do you need me to stay, Agent Monroe?” She pointed at the door. “Otherwise I’m probably needed out front.”

  “I’m fine, and thank you. Hopefully I’ll find what I need and be out of here in less than an hour. Do you have blank thumb drives in case I need to copy the tape?”

  She returned to her chair and tapped a few keys to show me how to send the daily camera footage directly to my email address. “It opens up in Media Player like any other attachment.”

  “Awesome.” I gave her a nod, and she left the room. Young adults were far more advanced in computer technology than I was. I reminded myself to have my sister Amber show me the ropes when we both had time.

  I tapped the forward arrow and continued watching that morning’s footage. Several people passed the camera as they walked their dogs. Cars buzzed by, and joggers made occasional appearances. City buses stopped and picked up people waiting on benches in the covered structures. I glanced at the lower right corner of the computer and nothing unusual had surfaced yet. It was closing in on seven o’clock. I was beginning to fidget. Julie should be pulling out any second, and J.T. would be close behind given that it was the morning of our scheduled breakfast together. Any other day, J.T. wouldn’t leave the condo until seven forty-five. He lived only ten minutes from our Glendale office. An idea came to mind, and I quickly jotted it in my notepad before it faded away. I’d check to see whether either vehicle had been picked up by the plate readers on the interstate. That could speed up the search process considerably, yet we still had to rule out any foul play at the condo. I paused the tape and called Joe in Tech again.

  “Joe, I need to know if any plate reader got a hit on J.T. and Julie’s plates on I-43. Yes, call me back as soon as you find out.”

  I hung up and leaned forward with my elbows on the desk and my face in my hands. I continued to stare at the screen. Several minutes later, what appeared to be two men from the gardening crew crossed the front lawn. They stopped briefly, said a few words to each other, then parted ways and disappeared off screen. I watched the garage exit and barely dared to blink. The garage door rose several minutes later and a burgundy Fiesta pulled out. I stopped the tape and checked the exact time—7:07 a.m. I began the tape again. Julie turned right at the end of the driveway.

  Where the hell is she going? The freeway is to her left.

  I jotted down the time she pulled out and the direction she went—east. I continued the tape. If J.T. had had any intention of meeting me at seven twenty, he’d be pulling out in the next five minutes. I watched and waited, then I waited some more. Every second seemed like an eternity. I checked the time, heaved a sigh, and stared at the screen again. The door rose at seven thirteen, but it was a false alarm—the car was white. I let out a slow breath and settled in. A flash of movement at J.T.’s balcony caught my eye.

  What the hell was that?

  I backed up the tape and saw it again but couldn’t make out what I was looking at. It seemed as if the drapes fluttered for a second, and then it was over. I wrote down the time. At seven twenty-one, the overhead garage door began to lift. I sat up straight with my eyes laser focused on the garage. It had to be him, or my timing was completely wrong. The door reached the top, and a black Corolla pulled out. I nearly jumped from my chair to pause the video. I stopped the footage at exactly 7:22 a.m. It was definitely J.T.’s car, and he turned right at the end of the driveway, just as Julie had.

  Where the hell are they going, and why didn’t he call to say he wasn’t showing up for breakfast?

  There was nothing else I needed to watch at that moment. I knew what time each of them left the condo and what direction they headed, although I’d email a copy of the footage to myself. I wanted the tech department to look it over. Even the smallest detail could be significant.

  I thanked Dee Dee, told her I’d forwarded a copy of the footage to my email, and left the day care center. My pace quickened, I got back to the condo in less than five minutes. With the door still propped open, I passed through and gave the officer watching the entrance a thank-you nod. I took the stairway, not wanting to wait for the elevator doors to part.

  Val and Maria had returned from their knock and talks. Because it was a small complex and most people were at work during the day, Spelling had the officers speak to every tenant who was home.

  “Get anything?” I asked as I entered the condo.

  Everyone turned toward me. “Yeah,” Val said, “a complex consisting of six people who answ
ered their doors and didn’t see or hear anything unusual.”

  Spelling slid out a chair and took a seat at the dining room table. “I finally got ahold of Mr. and Mrs. Harper. They haven’t spoken to J.T. or Julie and said there weren’t any family emergencies. I hated to worry them, but we had to know.” He took a deep breath. “What did you learn, Jade?”

  “First off, I forwarded the day care center tape to my email. We can all go through it again back at the office.”

  Spelling nodded. “That could help—the more eyes the better.”

  “That’s what I thought too, sir. Anyway, I saw both cars leave. The condo doesn’t seem to be related to their disappearances since they left on their own accord.”

  “We’re thinking the same, that there’s nothing unusual here,” Maria said. “So can I make a quick pot of coffee while Jade goes over her findings with us?”

  Spelling waved her off. “Yeah, go ahead. This unit is clean.” He turned his focus back to me. “Okay, tell us what you learned.”

  I let out a deep breath to clear my thoughts, then I pulled out my notepad and flipped to the last used page. “Okay, Julie drove out of the garage at seven minutes after seven. The timing is within range given the fact that she starts work at eight o’clock. That would give her time to park, go inside, grab a coffee, and have a few minutes before she reports to her department.”

  “I agree. Then what?” Spelling asked.

  Maria brought five cups and the carafe of coffee to the table. She poured a cup for everyone and sat down.

  “Then she turned right.”

  “The opposite way of the freeway?” Cam asked.

  I nodded. “My exact thoughts, but what’s even stranger is that J.T.’s car exited at seven twenty-two, and he made a right-hand turn as well. He’s never late for our Wednesday breakfast, but if he didn’t intend to show up, which seems obvious by the direction he turned, then why didn’t he call me?”

  “And you tried his phone numerous times while you waited.”

  I turned toward Spelling. “That’s correct, and he never picked up. Something is definitely off.”

  A knock sounded on the front door. Val got up and opened it. Standing in the hallway were Officer Carson and two other officers. Val ushered them in.

  “Carson,” Spelling said, “have you finished searching the garage?”

  “Yes, sir, and I’m sure you’ll want to see the areas we’ve marked.”

  “Then let’s go.” Spelling stood, guzzled the coffee, and followed Officer Carson out the door. We fell in line at his back.

  Chapter 7

  The eight of us piled into the elevator and stood against the walls. Val pushed the button for the garage level, and the doors closed. With a slight jerk, the elevator began its descent two more floors to the garage. Once the elevator settled at the bottom floor, the doors opened, and we exited into the darkened parking space. Even with the lights on, the garage was dim, and anything could be missed.

  “We used our flashlights, Agent Spelling, and did a thorough search. We even looked under the few cars that are still parked inside.”

  “Understood, Officer Carson. Show us what you found.”

  “Sure thing, sir.” Carson took several steps to the left of the elevator and pointed at the ground. “We found an earbud where that marker is.”

  “An earbud?”

  Carson shined the beam of light to the small orange marker on the floor. An earbud lay on its side next to it. The parking space was indicated by a large number three in white paint. Every spot in the garage was marked by a number.

  Spelling turned to Val. “Go back upstairs and open that file cabinet in J.T.’s bedroom. One of the folders inside that cabinet had Deed typed across the tab. See if there are parking spaces indicated with the paperwork that goes to his unit.”

  “On it, boss.” Val entered the elevator, and the doors closed at her back.

  I knelt down and took several pictures of the earbud and where it sat within that parking spot.

  “We found a few stomped cigarette butts scattered throughout the garage. Don’t know if they’re related to each other since they’re different brands, but we marked all of them, anyway,” Officer Rankin said.

  Cam tipped his head, and with the officers, we walked to each marker. I snapped pictures of each cigarette and its location within the garage.

  “Anything else?” Spelling asked.

  “You bet, sir, and this one is substantial.”

  I gave Cam a concerned sideways glance as he scratched his chin.

  Carson knelt at the last marker and pointed. “Take a look at that.”

  Each of us knelt down at the rectangular, two-inch-long pin on the floor. The backside had the typical pin clasp attached to it. We took two steps to the front and knelt again. Julie H.— Radiology Department was embossed across the face of the pin.

  “Son of a bitch, this garage is probably a crime scene,” I said. “If that was J.T.’s earbud on the floor, then maybe his phone is missing too. That could be why he didn’t pick up and probably why we can’t get through to either of them. The likelihood of J.T. and Julie having possession of their phones anymore is slim.”

  Spelling began calling out orders. “Cam, organize things with the Whitefish Bay Police Department. Get this garage sealed off. Nobody except the crime lab comes in or out, and get them here immediately.”

  “I’m on it, sir.”

  “Carson, get your superior out here. We need officers on-site to keep the residents out and to usher them through the front doors only. Until further notice, everyone has to park in the surface lot.”

  “What about the cars inside the garage?” Maria asked.

  “Too late. They aren’t getting moved until this garage has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb.” Spelling pointed at the dumpsters at the far end of the garage. “For all we know, the phones may be in there. Everything is getting searched again and printed, and somebody is going dumpster diving today too.” Spelling hollered to Carson before he was out of earshot. “Get somebody to bring portable floodlights.”

  Val returned from the condo and approached us. “J.T.’s parking spot is number three, and Julie’s”—she looked down at the marker in front of us—“is number twelve.”

  “Something falling from both of them right as they reached their cars is far from coincidental. It sounds like an ambush to me. Jade?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Go downtown and get Joe started on that videotape. There has to be something on it that you missed. Call him and let him know you’re on your way.”

  “I’m on it.” Spelling handed me the keys to the cruiser, and I took off.

  The drive to our downtown FBI headquarters would normally take fifteen minutes, but since it was lunchtime, I knew that it could be closer to a half hour. I called Joe as I drove.

  “Hey, Joe, it’s Jade. I bet you were about to take your lunch break, weren’t you?”

  He chuckled. “Something is telling me I may have other plans.”

  “Sorry, it’s urgent. We think the parking garage is a crime scene, and I have video footage from a day care center across the street that aims right at the complex. There has to be some kind of clue on it that I’ve missed. Even zooming the images in closer would be a huge help.”

  “Sure, no sweat. I’ll just grab a sandwich and a soda out of the vending machine. Want anything?”

  “Whatever you’re getting for yourself is fine with me too. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes as long as the traffic doesn’t back up.” I clicked off and thought about J.T.

  Where the hell are you, partner, and why has somebody kidnapped you and Julie?

  I thought back to the clues in the garage and the video footage. Julie was taken first and J.T. only a few minutes later. That told me there had to be more than one assailant. It was an organized, planned attack that somebody pulled off without a hitch. Chances were, they didn’t even realize items were dropped. They would have surely pic
ked them up otherwise. The attack had to have been done quickly and efficiently given that other residents could have come down to the garage and caught them in the act. It was a blind side, a blitz attack, and well planned. J.T. and Julie’s daily habits had to have been monitored for a while, but why?

  I reached the downtown headquarters on East Kilbourn Street at twelve thirty and slid my badge into the slot for the security gate. I drove to the third floor parking area designated for our FBI personnel and pulled into the first empty space I could find. Once inside the building, I took several hallways to the tech department, where a thumbprint ID pad was mounted next to the door. Luckily, the last time I had been in that facility, my thumbprint was entered and stored at all of the areas that needed security clearance. I pressed my thumb against the pad and waited for the scan and beep. The lock clicked, and I passed through.

  Joe waved as he saw me enter his department. He sat at the last row of computers, wolfing down his lunch. A cellophane-wrapped sandwich, bag of chips, and a can of iced tea sat on the table to his right.

  “Thanks for the food, Joe. I appreciate it.”

  He waved my comment away then wiped his mouth with the napkin and pitched his wrappers in the garbage can at his back.

  “Okay, agent, what do we have?” He gave me a quick smile, but I knew Joe was all about business. He was an expert at his job.

  “Log in to my FBI email address, and the attachment will be from Kidz Rule Daycare.” I ate as Joe tapped away at the keyboard.

  “Okay, I’m in.”

  I pointed. “Right there. It’s the fifth email down.”

  Joe opened the email and clicked on the attachment. He tapped more keys, replicated the attachment, and dropped it into his software program. He closed out my email and slapped his hands together.

  I took a gulp of tea to wash down my sandwich. “Are we ready to go?”

  “One second. I want to tweak the video a bit first to get the best resolution. That way I can zoom in if necessary without a pixelation issue.”

  “Thank God for tech-savvy people like you.”