“So we keep things as they are. She stays with us.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Or I guess she stays with you since you’re her uncle.”
“To be honest, I’ve worked with a lot of teenage boys, but not any girls. I could use the help, if you don’t mind.”
“Because I’ve been such a big help,” Dani laughed.
“Don’t laugh. You’ve been great whether you think so or not.”
Dani looked at him a moment and nodded slightly. “Do we tell her we know?”
“I think so. What I’m not sure of is if we go at her or keep it toned down.”
Dani thought for a moment. “Toned down. She needs to trust us. If we get mad at her, she’ll run. We can’t have that.”
Jake agreed and called Katie in.
“Have a seat.” Dani directed her to the chair in front of her desk.
Jake sat next to her and asked. “Katie, is there something we need to know about you?”
Katie looked from him to Dani and back. “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh? That’s all you have to say?”
She twisted her hands in her lap. “I thought if you knew you would think I didn’t need help.” She jumped up. “I don’t want to be alone. Please don’t leave me alone.”
Jake grabbed her in a tight hug. “You’re not alone. As long as I’m on this earth you will not be alone.”
“That makes two of us, Katie. We’re here as long as you need us.”
After a moment Jake pulled back. “Just so we are on the same page,” Jake said. “What do you think we know?”
Katie sighed. “That I’m a genius in my second year of college and I’m an emancipated minor.”
“Anything else besides that we need to know?” Dani asked.
“Not that I can think of.”
“You’ll tell us if something comes to mind?”
“Yes, ma’am. I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.”
“Understood. Let’s try to stay on the same page from now on.”
Wilson knocked on the door and came in.
“See, Jake. Knocking is not that hard. I bet Wilson’s hand doesn’t even hurt.”
“Huh?” Wilson exclaimed.
“Nothing. What’s up?”
“I just got off the phone with Mr. Cameron. He gave me a few names, but couldn’t remember them all. He says it’s been more then twenty years since he talked to anyone in the club. He did say the club helped out with some St. Jude charity carnival. Set up the tents, cleaned up every night, built some stands. Basically anything they needed. They did a few bike rallies for the cause also. He thinks he might have some promotional material at home. He said it lists everyone that rode in the rally. The problem is he won’t be home for two weeks.”
“Is there anyone that can get us the list? A friend with a key, maybe?”
“He wasn’t sure where the list is. He’ll have to hunt around for it. His words, not mine.”
“Okay, good work. Run down the names he gave you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He left the office, closing the door behind him.
“I can probably find the promotional material,” Katie said. When they stared at her, she continued. “Computers are my thing. I bet the information is on the web somewhere.”
“That club was around over forty years ago.”
Katie shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
Dani and Jake chuckled. “Give it a shot,” Dani said, returning to her file.
CHAPTER 22
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, KATIE KNOCKED on Dani’s door and entered. “I have that list you wanted.”
Without looking up, Dani asked, “What list?”
“The one of the members of the Fallen Angels club from the bike ride.”
When Dani looked up she couldn’t help but smile as she took the papers from Katie.
“I gave you a list for 1974 and ‘75. But the bike rally has been held every year starting from 1966. The St. Jude Foundation started in 1962.”
Dani scanned the list in silence for a moment. “There must be fifty names between the two lists.”
“Fifty-two.”
“Why these two years?”
“Detective Wilson said that was when some guy named Pop said the tattoo was designed and the club members got them.”
She picked up her phone to call Wilson into her office.
“What’s up, Lieutenant?”
“Did you talk to Henry Michaels again?”
“Who?”
“Henry Michaels? Pop?”
“Yes, ma’am. About a half hour ago. He believes the tattoo was done in ‘74 or ‘75. After reviewing a scrapbook he had from back then, he’s sure that Geronimo’s grandfather designed it for his granddaughter. He also apologized because he still can’t remember any of their real names.”
“And you were going to tell me this when?”
“As soon as I had it all down in the report that I just emailed to you before you called me in.”
Dani checked her email. She clicked on the file Wilson had just sent her. She smiled when she read what he just told her. “Okay. Good. Katie has a list of the members that rode in ‘74 and ‘75. Compare the lists. I want to know everything about each and every one of them. Use anyone that’s available to help.”
Wilson motioned with his head to Katie. “Even Katie?”
When Dani looked at Katie there was such hope in her eyes she couldn’t possibly deny her. “Yes, even Katie.”
Wilson lightly slapped Katie on the shoulder. “Let’s go hunting, kid.”
As Katie left, Dani held up Wilson. “Make sure you’re discreet with what you give her to do and let her see. Have her find a list for every ride first. I don’t want to take a chance on missing one member of this club.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned to the door.
“Where’s Jake?”
“He said he was going to the morgue. Something about the tattoo was bothering him.” He closed the door behind him.
A little less than an hour later, Jake walked into the squad room. He stopped for a moment when he saw Wilson leaning over Katie’s shoulder. He clinched his fist as he continued to Dani’s office.
As usual he walked in without knocking. “What the hell is Wilson doing?” he bellowed as he slammed the door closed.
Dani looked at the phone in her hand to Jake and back. “Hold on a second, please,” she said into the phone. “Damn it, Jake, can’t you just knock? I’m on the phone. Now get out of here.”
Instead of leaving, he opened the door, knocked three times, closed the door, and stared out of the office at Wilson and Katie through the glass.
Dani shook her head as she returned to the phone call. “Thank you, Doctor. We’ll be there at nine tomorrow morning.”
She hung up and stared at Jake’s back. “What the hell is your problem?”
“Look at them. He’s been hanging over her shoulder since I walked in and who knows how long before.” He turned to her. “You’re supposed to be watching her. What the hell have you been doing?”
Dani laughed. “I’m going to ignore your attitude, because that’s the kind of lieutenant I am, and it’s obvious that something has crawled up your butt. So tell me what the hell your problem is.”
Jake stepped back from the glass, motioning to Wilson and Katie. “What the hell is he doing?”
Dani moved her head slightly so she could see through the glass. “It looks like he’s helping Katie with something.”
“She’s sixteen. How old is he?”
Dani laughed. “Jake, he’s a detective with the NYPD. Not some pervert.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like it. He’s too close.”
Dani picked up her phone and called Wilson into her office again.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
Dani motioned to Jake to deal with it. Jake clinched and unclenched his fist. “Why were you hanging all over Katie?”
He looked from Jake to Dani and back. �
�What?”
“You’ve been leaning over her for at least five minutes that I saw. Who knows how much longer before I got back. Why?”
“She… she asked… she wanted me… to explain something to her. I was looking at the screen to see what it was.”
“Did you have to stand so close to her?”
Wilson took a step back. “What the hell is your problem? What are you saying?”
“My problem is, that’s my niece out there. My sixteen-year-old niece. I’d like to know why you feel the need to be so close to her.”
Wilson took a deep breath to build his courage. He stepped toe-to-toe with Jake. “I’m a twenty-six-year-old detective with the NYPD. I’m not some pervert that makes a play for a sixteen-year-old girl.”
He poked Jake in the chest.
“Now I know you’re under some stress, so I’m going to let this little conversation go and get back to work. If I happen to have to lean over Katie again, which I will try not to do, I will be doing my job and only my job.” He poked Jake again. “You got that?”
Jake rubbed the spot that Wilson poked. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Good.”
He turned to leave.
“Wilson, I’m sorry. I saw you with her and I just snapped. I guess Zach’s death hit me harder than I thought. I want to do right by Katie for him. It’s stressing me out a little. I guess I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
Wilson nodded and left, quietly closing the door behind him.
“What do you know about him?” Jake asked Dani as he kept an eye on Wilson all the way back to his desk.
“I know he was a good street cop and that he’s going to be a great detective. He’s a little shy in the squad, and when he has to report to his superiors, but at a scene he’s thorough and just needs experience to get better.” Dani tapped her pen on the desk. “I think that little scene has gone a long way to building his confidence. Thanks.”
Jake laughed. “Ah, you’re welcome.”
He took a seat across from Dani.
“Was there something else?”
“What are you working on?” Jake sat back, crossing his right leg over his left.
“I asked you first. Wilson said you went to the morgue? Something about the tattoo.”
“Yeah. Something didn’t seem right, but it wasn’t about the tattoo. I find it hard to believe that our Jane Doe number two does not belong to the Chartels. How can she look so much like Melissa and not be theirs. So I went down to the morgue to put a rush on the DNA test.” He lowered his leg and leaned forward. “The results were back. She is their daughter. The DNA is a match to both of them. Well, a 99.7% match.”
Now Dani sat up. “That doesn’t make any sense. I get that Mr. Chartel might not have known about a child, but Mrs. Chartel would know if she had another child. And you’re saying the DNA is a match to both?”
“Yup. That’s why I made an appointment with them for seven tonight.”
Dani tapped her pen on the desk again for a minute before she stopped and stood up. “Did they go to a fertility clinic? Are we talking about cloning here? Did someone steal their egg and sperm to make a child without them knowing?”
Jake stood also. “All good questions. We’ll have to ask tonight at seven.”
“Anyway, we can ask the Sasakis and Textlers before tonight’s meeting.”
“I tried. Mr. Sasaki hung up on me. When I called back, Mrs. Sasaki answered. She spoke to me long enough to tell me to leave them alone. They have nothing to say about Kim. She made her choice. Mr. and Mrs. Textler are still in route home.”
Dani paced her small office. “Okay. We’ll see what shakes out tonight. I’ll send someone to the Sasakis in the morning if we need to.”
They were silent a moment before Jake asked, “So what were you working on?”
Dani sat at her desk. “I was talking to the two psychiatrists that work with the department. Dr. Warren is a certified hypnotist.”
“Hypnotist?”
“I think Katie knows more than she can tell us about the night Zach died. I think subconsciously she’s still scared and is blocking something. I was thinking maybe if she was hypnotized, she would tell us some more about what went on that night. Maybe come up with another name or lead we can follow.”
“Sounds reasonable. Have you asked her if she’ll do it?”
“No, not yet. I figured I’d wait till we got home tonight. She’s getting into working on these teen murders. I didn’t want to distract her.”
“Has she found anything?”
Dani filled Jake in on what Katie found about the club and bike rally.
“Wow. She found all that in twenty minutes.”
“She’s good.”
Dani nodded to the captain’s office. “That’s Trisha,” she told Jake as she watched a girl walk up to the captain’s office.
She looked at her watch. “I can’t believe it’s four-thirty already.”
The captain’s door opened, closed, and then two minutes later opened again. The captain walked his daughter to Katie and introduced them.
“I haven’t had a chance to fill the captain in on Katie being a genius and emancipated minor. Why don’t I do that while you get Katie to take a break with Trisha? Maybe she’ll talk to her being they’re the same age. I’ll go fill in the captain on what we’ve got so far on everything.”
“Trying to leave me out again?”
Dani wiped her face with her hands. “No. I’m trying to keep all this together. You can come into the captain’s office after you get Katie to take a break.”
“You could order her to take a break.”
“I could, but you are her uncle. Better you should tell her what to do than me. This way she can run to me when she gets pissed off at you.”
Jake laughed. “You know she likes me better.”
“Ha, ha.”
As they headed for the door, Jake held Dani’s arm to stop her. When he felt a little spark he released it quickly. “Ah, one more thing. Jennifer’s body will be released by noon tomorrow.”
Dani sighed. “Any thoughts how we are going to handle that?”
Jake ran his fingers through his hair. “Not a one.”
“I guess it’s something else we’ll need to discuss when we get home tonight.” She opened the door and headed to the captain’s office.
CHAPTER 23
AS DANI HEADED TOWARD THE captain’s office, Jake headed over to Katie and Trisha. When Dani was about to knock on the captain’s door she looked over and saw Trisha staring at Jake with her mouth open. She sighed and headed over to them.
“How are you doing, Trisha?”
When she continued to stare silently at Jake, she tried again.
“Trisha, how are you?”
“Ah, I’m good, Lieutenant,” she answered without taking her eyes from Jake.
Dani put her hand on Trisha’s arm. “It’s okay, Trisha. This is Jake Santos. He’s Zach’s brother. Twin brother.”
Trisha let out a long breath. “Thank God. I thought I was seeing a ghost.”
“No ghost.” Jake laughed and held out his hand to her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
She hesitantly took his hand. “Ah, nice to meet you.”
“Katie, why don’t you take a break? Maybe you and Trisha can go grab a snack.”
“I don’t need a break. I’m real close to having addresses on two more members of the club.”
Dani looked at Trisha and motioned with her head toward Katie.
Trisha nodded back. “I think the adults need a few minutes and I could use a snack. Why don’t we head down to the cafeteria?”
When Katie didn’t seem to want to go, Jake pulled out a twenty. “Dani tells me you’ve been going nonstop since we got back. I’m not sure, but I believe it’s against the law for a sixteen-year-old to work that long without a break. I’ll have to find a cop and find out for sure.”
Dani and Trisha laughed. Katie rolled her eyes and grabbed the twenty
.
Katie and Trisha were quiet all the way down to the cafeteria, while they grabbed some snacks and until they sat down at a table in the corner. Trisha took a sip of her drink and broke the silence.
“So why am I here?”
“Excuse me?”
“My dad called, ordering me to stop by after school. Then two minutes after I get here he introduces me to you. I get the feeling he wants or thinks you need to talk about something and would feel more comfortable talking to someone your own age. So what’s going on?”
Katie stared at her drink as she slowly spun it in her hands. “I don’t need to talk about anything.”
“I’m a good listener.”
“I’m good. I don’t need to talk.”
Trisha shrugged. “Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
They were silent for another few minutes while they ate their snack. Trisha tried again. “What were you working on for the last few hours?”
“I guess you know about the teenagers that have been killed.” When Trisha nodded Katie continued. “I’m helping them run down a lead they have on the son of a bitch that killed them.”
“You sound like it’s personal.” She finished her drink. “My dad says you should never take a case personally. It will eat you up in side.”
“It is personal. One of them was my friend. Willy. I didn’t know him all that long, but he was a nice guy.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I miss him.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, just one more sucky thing in a long line.”
Trisha gave her a moment to think before she continued, but Katie remained silent. “So what else sucks in your life?”
“Your dad didn’t tell you?”
“Nope. He just said he wanted me to meet someone and brought me out to you.”
Katie was quiet again. Trisha tried one last time. “Come on, Katie. Talk to me. Tell me why your life sucks.”
“Well, let’s see,” Katie said with an attitude. “About a month ago the son of the guy my mother was seeing tried to rape me. I told my mother, and she believed me. She was going to talk to his father. When she did, he hit her. I ran away. I thought it would be safer for my mother if I wasn’t around.”
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