Leverage

by C. M. Sutter

  She gave us a nod goodbye, and Cam and I showed ourselves out. In the alley, we found the tow truck backing up to the abandoned Mercedes. Butch Martin and Hal Friedman were busy dusting the garage for prints and taking pictures.

  “How soon will you get to the car?” Val asked. “There’s likely a lot of information inside that can help us with this investigation.”

  Butch scratched his head. “How about I call Leah and Terry in? They can meet you guys at the evidence garage, and you can give it a look through before we start dissecting everything.”

  Val turned my way. “Jade, you want to join me?”

  “Yeah, but we need to call Spelling and Hopkins first and let them know what’s going on. Cam?”

  “You and Val go ahead and follow the tow truck. I’ll update Spelling and Hopkins on our way back to the department. I’ll ride with Bill. We need to get the statistics and locations for all those other warehouses.” Cam turned to Sergeant Saunders and Deputy Spence. “Can you guys give us a call first thing in the morning? We’re going to need those drones for the other vacant buildings.”

  Saunders stuck out his hand and shook ours before they left. “You got it, guys. We’re ready and able to help with whatever you need. There will be two more drones at your disposal first thing tomorrow. I’ll check in with you then.”

  The tow truck driver secured the chain under the front bumper of the Mercedes, and the winch pulled the car up onto the flatbed.

  “Ready to go, agents?” the driver asked.

  “Yep, we’ll be right behind you.” I handed Cam the photographs Sally had given me. He’d make sure that information was put on the air right away. We needed more going out on the van, additional information on the man who took the Mercedes in for window tinting, and now, the description of Frank Wyatt, who had been abducted that night. We needed the BOLOs and descriptions aired on every news station during every newscast. Dangerous criminals now held three people captive, and we still didn’t know their intentions. At that point, with nothing substantial to go on, we needed the public’s help in locating them.

  Val and I said our goodbyes then climbed into the cruiser Cam had been driving. I took the driver’s seat, pulled the belt over my midsection, and adjusted the seat forward two clicks. I was taller than average for a female, but Cam still had a good four inches on me. I turned the rearview mirror just a smidge. “I’ll update you guys if we find anything in the car. I’m guessing we’ll be done going through the Mercedes in a few hours.” I rolled up the window, shifted into Drive, and followed the tow truck out of the alley.

  We arrived at the evidence garage in less than twenty minutes. With the cruiser parked between the white lines at the back of the building, we walked through the open overhead garage doors and watched as the tow truck backed in and released the winch slowly. Val and I crossed the concrete floor to the small office space and took the two seats next to the desk.

  “Want a coffee?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m about to pass out.”

  I plugged a half dozen quarters into the vending machine and pushed A-6 twice. With two steaming cups of coffee in my hands, I returned to the chair next to Val and handed her a cup. We’d wait there for Leah and Terry to arrive. After they made a few initial photographs in the light of the garage, they’d allow us to sift through anything the person we had been chasing had left behind. The phone rang behind the desk of the small office area where we waited. Tammy Barella answered and passed the phone to me.

  “It’s Leah, Agent Monroe.”

  “Thanks.” I leaned over the desk as I spoke since the phone was a land line and the cord was badly tangled. I imagined people pacing back and forth, turning and twisting as they talked. That was the only way I could think of to reduce a six-foot phone cord to a tangled ball of eighteen inches. “Hi, Leah. What’s your ETA?”

  “Hello, Agent Monroe. Terry and I should be there in ten minutes. We’ll take some initial pictures inside and out, pop the trunk and hood, and then you’re free to go through it while we dust the outside for prints.”

  “Sounds like a plan. See you in a few.” I handed the phone back to Tammy and sipped my coffee. My cell rang, and I set the cup on the desk. SSA Spelling was calling.

  “Hello, sir.”

  “Jade. How soon do you think you and Val will be back?”

  “I’m estimating a few hours should do the trick. There’s only so much evidence that can be inside a vehicle. I’ll take pictures of anything that could be of interest and leave the original behind for forensics to test. They’re going to work on the outside of the car while we look through the interior.”

  “That sounds good. We’ve already updated the news stations, and now it’s a waiting game in hopes of something that will spark a memory in the public’s eye.” Spelling clicked off.

  The creak of the outer door opening made Val and I look up. Leah and Terry walked through and headed our way. We stood and met them halfway at the car.

  “This is it, huh?” Terry asked.

  “Yep. I hope to God we find something too. Right now we’re batting a big fat zero in the leads department. If we only would have caught up to that guy before he ditched the car.”

  Leah nodded. “It does get frustrating, Jade. Let’s glove up. We’ll snap off a few photographs of the interior, and then it’s yours for an hour or so.”

  “Thanks, guys, and we really do appreciate you coming in at this late hour.”

  Terry popped open his portable bag of supplies and held out the glove dispenser. Each of us pulled out two and stretched them over our fingers. He jerked his head toward the car. “Okay, just give us five minutes inside, and then the car is all yours.”

  Chapter 35

  “What you did was unacceptable, Antonio. There were things in the car that could lead back to us. If I didn’t need you, I’d—”

  “Boss, please, I didn’t have a choice. I followed your instructions to the letter. Somehow they knew about the Mercedes. It wasn’t my fault they circled back. I stayed plenty far behind them.”

  Carden jerked his chin toward Anthony. “What did you find out?”

  “My uncle’s brother-in-law, Dante Leone, has a cabin halfway between Milwaukee and Wisconsin Dells. The guy is clean and isn’t on anybody’s radar. He didn’t want to say much over the phone, but he texted me the address. He said the place is on five acres of pine forest off several dirt-logging roads. We should be safe there for a few nights. There’s a hand-carved black bear about four feet to the left of the front door. Under it is a spare key to the door off the garage. He said to park in the garage and to keep the curtains drawn and the doors locked. Twice a week, the neighborhood watch group patrols the dirt roads with cabins on them. He doesn’t want anyone to become suspicious if they see a strange vehicle parked outside.”

  “Okay, our only choice is to take Julie’s car and the van. The only thing the news stations have is a description of a dark-colored panel van. No plate number was mentioned. Bring all of the vehicles inside. We need to wipe everything down, load the car and van, and get out. We’ll torch the place when we leave. By the time anyone notices a fire, we’ll be long gone.”

  “What about our guests?”

  “The Fed and his sister go with us, and the new guy stays behind. I want J.T. hog-tied and damn good. There better not be the slightest chance of him getting loose. Hands behind his back, feet together, and tape over his mouth. He’s going in the trunk of his sister’s car. I don’t trust him anywhere else. The sister gets tied up inside the van. Antonio, you’re behind the wheel of the car, and Anthony, you drive the van. I’ll keep my eye on the sister. I want her blindfolded and gagged too. Everything else remains the same. The jewelry store pickup isn’t until eleven a.m. Saturday. We’ll be ready and waiting for the armored truck to pass us at the halfway point. Anthony, I’ll drop you off at the storage garage. You’ll drive the U-Haul cube van to that designated location and wait for my instructions. The only change in plans is we�
�ll have to head out earlier.” Carden stood and slapped his hands together. “Let’s go. We’re leaving in an hour. I want both of you to secure the Fed. Don’t leave anything to chance. He’s a fighter, and if he gives you trouble, knock him out cold.”

  Chapter 36

  Val and I began by opening all four doors of the Mercedes and pulling out the mats. We gave them a thorough shake and placed them on the floor, out of our way. I took the front seat, and Val took the back. We searched the obvious areas first, the glove box and center console. Inside the glove box, the car’s registration papers indicated that the Mercedes did indeed belong to the man from Sheboygan whose car was stolen eight months prior. I sent a quick text to Cam telling him to contact Mr. Dave Burns. His missing Mercedes had finally been located. Unfortunately, he probably wouldn’t get it back anytime soon.

  The glove box contained the usual—repair receipts, vehicle registration, and a tire air gauge. I closed the compartment and began looking in the console. I pulled out a tin of aspirin, lip balm, gum, nail clippers, several CDs, pens, a notepad, and a folded paper map. I backed out of the car and stood upright with the notepad and map in my hand.

  “Find anything yet?” I asked Val.

  She glanced over her left shoulder at me and opened her hand to count the bounty. “Let’s see, I have a quarter, two dimes, three pennies, and a snow scraper that was buried under the seat.”

  “Hop out of there for a minute. Let’s take a look at this map and notepad.”

  “Good, I was getting claustrophobic squished between the seats like that.” Val backed out of the Mercedes and stood. She rolled her neck then brushed the carpet fibers off her knees. “What have we got?”

  “I haven’t checked yet, but I hope we find clues between these pages.” Terry and Leah busied themselves with dusting and printing the outside of the car. I tipped my head toward the two chairs we had been sitting in. “Let’s get out of their way and take a look.”

  We returned to the small two-chair area next to the desk. I handed the map to Val, and I flipped the pages of the notepad.

  “This notepad looks relatively new, and I haven’t found anything that seems related to the owner in Sheboygan. There are references to street names in and around Milwaukee, though.”

  “Check this out, Jade.” Val pointed at areas on the map that were circled in red ink.

  I flipped back to the pages in the notepad with street names. “See if those circled areas match any of these streets.”

  “Okay, go ahead and read them off.”

  “I already recognize the Center Street and MLK area from the warehouse we were at earlier.”

  “Yep, and that neighborhood is circled. Give me some more.”

  “Okay, how about West Twenty-First and Vleit?”

  “Hang on. No, nothing circled there. Next.”

  “Um, try South Second Street and Scott.”

  Val leaned in and took a closer look at the small print. “Damn it, I should have brought my reading glasses.”

  “Let me see. I think that area is around Greenfield.” I looked at the red circle on the south side of Milwaukee and tried to locate the names of the cross streets. “There it is. Yep, it’s circled too. How many are left?”

  “Four circled areas and a star,” Val said.

  “What the hell would the star signify?”

  “I have no idea. There’s a downtown area circled, though, and it’s only five blocks from our headquarters.”

  I looked over the half dozen street names. “That has to be the address for Plankinton and Wisconsin, but all of those businesses are retail shops. That real estate is too expensive to house vacant buildings, and there’s no privacy in the area.” I pulled out my own notepad and wrote a reminder to check out the shops along that block of retail stores. “Is there a circle in the western suburbs? Calhoun and Bluemound are written down.”

  “Yeah, that area is circled too.”

  “Okay, I know we’re on to something—I just don’t know what that something is. I want to show these addresses to the tech department. They’re much faster than we are, and they can pull up the satellite images. We’ll see if the rest of these street names are near vacant buildings. How well did you check under the seats?”

  “The obvious areas are done. Leah and Terry will pull out the seats, anyway, and check for more.”

  With a short stop back at the car to show Leah and Terry the items we were taking with us, we exited the evidence garage and left.

  Once we reached the freeway, I turned to Val. “Why don’t you give Spelling an update call? Tell him what we have and that we’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  Chapter 37

  “Let’s see that map and notepad,” Hopkins said.

  We had just returned from the evidence garage and joined the rest of the team in the conference room. I had made copies of the addresses in the notepad before we left the evidence garage, and I passed them out to the agents at the table. Val unfolded the map and spread it out for everyone to see.

  “Did you compare all of the circled areas to the street names in the notepad?” Spelling asked.

  “Not all of them, sir. The tech department can pull in the satellite imagery and tell us if any of those addresses are empty buildings. So far, all we know for sure is that we eliminated that north location on the map with the drone earlier tonight. Two circled locations seemed odd to me, though.”

  Spelling arched his brows. “Like how?”

  “The addresses wouldn’t work as a place to hide out. One is downtown at Plankinton and Wisconsin.”

  “Retail space?”

  I nodded. “See what I mean? And the other is out in Brookfield, nearly thirty minutes west.”

  “That is strange,” Hopkins said. “I wonder why they noted areas so spread apart. Okay, get that info to Tech and tell them to put a rush on it.”

  Val folded the map, picked up the notepad, and headed down the hallway with both items.

  “Do we have the locations for the rest of the empty buildings in Milwaukee?” I asked.

  Cam, with a handful of papers, took a seat. “I have them right here. Each image shows the square footage of the building, the layout with entrances and exits, location of the parking lot, how long the building has been vacant, and nearby structures. We’ll have to cherry-pick which ones seem like the best to start with when we get the drones at sunrise.”

  “I’d suggest looking at all of the buildings in the vicinity of the addresses in the notepad first.”

  “I agree, Agent Monroe,” Hopkins said. “Let’s pinpoint those addresses on the wall map and see what we have.”

  Val shot around the corner and startled all of us. “A structural fire alarm just went out over the scanner. The address is one of the locations on the list.”

  “What’s the address?” Spelling grabbed one of the sheets copied from the notepad.

  “The fire department was dispatched to Eleventh Street and Pierce.”

  Spelling ran his finger down the sheet and confirmed the address. “Let’s go. That can’t be a coincidence. Val, get ahold of the fire department and tell them there may be a federal agent and his sister inside that building.”

  We raced out of our headquarters and climbed into four available cruisers. The drive would take only ten minutes going south on Sixth Street. The vacant building, according to the address, was on the northwest edge of Walker’s Point.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. I spun in the passenger seat and saw the fire chief’s car and a fire engine coming up quickly behind us. Spelling pulled to the right side of the street to let them pass. I prayed that the building would be empty and that the fire would be put out before any valuable evidence, if there was any, was lost. But assuming it was a deliberate act, the perpetrators might have taken along everything that could incriminate them.

  We reached our destination and saw the fire engines and ladder trucks in action. Water hoses were engage
d, and the firemen were dousing the building with the forceful spray. The dried-out, rickety structure was engulfed in raging flames. Barrier tape was already being stretched across the driveway to keep curiosity seekers at bay. Our cruiser and the others following us screeched to a stop. I already had my badge in hand for the first person who tried to block our entry.

  My heart pounded double time when I saw what stood ahead of us. “Shit, it’s a three-alarm fire. That building won’t last long!”

  Spelling and Hopkins made a mad dash for the fire chief. Spelling yelled out over the commotion as he ran.

  “There may be a federal agent and his sister inside that building. Do you have firemen searching the interior?”

  “I have men going in right now, but they have to move cautiously. It’s a large, unsafe structure. Please stay back by the tape, sir. Our men need room, and we have another truck arriving any minute.”

  Spelling and Hopkins returned to our sides and paced nervously with the rest of us.

  “Are they going to tell us anything?” I asked.

  Spelling raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, Jade. We have to let them do their jobs. All we can do at this point is stay out of their way and be optimistic.”

  Radios crackled with voices from the firemen inside the burning building. I couldn’t make out anything they said, but I did hear the fire chief yell for the ambulance to back in closer. He said his men were bringing somebody out.

  “Oh my God, did you guys hear that? They found somebody! It has to be J.T. or Julie.” I started toward the fire chief, but Spelling grabbed my arm.

  “Stay right here, Jade. I don’t want you to distract them from their jobs. We have to wait and hope for the best. There’s nothing else we can do.”