Dani and Jake smiled. “What is your friends name and what is the girls name.”
“I only know her first name. Katie.”
“Your friend?”
“Do I have to say? He’ll kill me if he finds out I ratted him out.”
“His name,” Dani yelled, slamming her hand down.
Drums jumped. “Becket. Daren Becket.”
The lawyer finally spoke up. “I don’t believe your outbursts are called for any more than my clients. He is willing to answer your questions…” He smiled. “But only if you ask nicely.”
Dani glared at him. She really hated defense lawyers. “Fine.”
She turned back to Drums. “After you tied her up and threw a hood over her head, where did you take her?”
“To a warehouse on East 88th. Down by the water.”
When he hesitated Jake asked, “And?”
“That’s it. We took her to the warehouse. Brought her up to a room on the third floor, removed her hood and dropped her on a couch. Then we made it known we were open for business on the second floor.”
“What time did you leave the room on the third floor?”
“I’m not sure, but we had a few drinks first.”
“Guess?”
“I’d say about eleven.”
“Did you see your friend Becket?”
“No. I called him to let him know I found her and that she was at the warehouse.”
“So you didn’t see him that night?”
“Nope.”
“Tell us about Becket.”
“What do you want to know?”
Dani and Jake sat up and stared at him. After a moment he wiped the sweat from his brow and continued. “He’s a real hardass, but he has money. When we go out it’s always on him. He loves flashing his cash. Especially if there are women around.”
“Where does he get his cash?”
“Mostly from his father, but recently he’s branched out into other areas.”
“Such as?”
Again Drums looked at his lawyer. “Do I have to answer that?”
“They know already, so you might as well tell them.”
“Drugs. He’s been selling drugs. Or I guess I should say he’s been getting the drugs. Tim and I have been selling them for him. We get twenty five percent of sales.”
“Seems since you’re taking all the risks, you should be getting a bigger cut than that,” Jake commented.
“Yeah, that’s what we thought. That’s why we told him we wouldn’t sell during the party unless we got at least fifty percent.”
“Where does he get the drugs?”
“The pills he gets from the hospitals. He works for his dad at his medical supply company. He’s a friendly guy and can get just about anyone to do as he asked. He made friends with a few of the nurses. One agreed to help him out in return for ten percent.”
“And the marijuana?”
“I don’t know, but about four or five months ago he started hanging out with this real intense guy. Nobody likes him, but he and Daren have become inseparable. Maybe he gets it from him.”
“The intense guy would be?”
“Ah…”
“What’s his name,” Jake clarified Dani’s question.
He moved his eyes only from Jake to Dani and back. “Ah, you know when I said Daren would kill me if I told you his name?”
They nodded.
“I was sort of lying. Daren wouldn’t kill anyone. Hurt them, yes, but kill? No. He would have the intense guy do that.”
“What. Is. His. Name?” Dani spoke slowly in hopes they would get the name.
“Tell them,” the lawyer ordered.
He shook his head. “No. I’m not kidding here. The guy is mean. I’m not giving him any reason to come after me.”
Dani got up and put the piece of paper back in the folder. “Jake, book him on the drug charges. I’ll take this to the DA.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He got up, grabbing for his cuffs.
Drums jumped up. “If I tell you he will kill me. I can’t go to jail. I’ll be a sitting duck.”
“Then I guess you have a decision to make. Here in jail, where you may or may not have a guard covering your ass, or out on the street where you’ll be able to get out of town as fast as your legs can carry you.”
That got him thinking. Getting the hell out of town sounded like a great idea to him. He stared at the ground and whispered, “Billy.”
“What?”
He looked up. “Billy. His name is Billy.”
“Last name?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I heard someone call him Larro, or Lauda, or something like that.”
“Do you know his address or what kind of car he drives?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Dani scratched her forehead. “Okay, sit down.”
She took her seat. Jake sat next to her. Slowly Drums sat across from them.
“Did you hear anything from your room on the second floor?”
“Nothing more than the music. It was pretty loud up there.”
“Did you hear the gunshots?”
“Oh, yeah. Gunshots drown out everything else.”
“How many were there?”
“To be honest, after the first one, I didn’t waste any time getting the hell out of there. Neither did anyone else. But thinking about it there might have been another one.”
“So two shots?”
“I won’t swear to the second, but I heard the first one.”
Dani looked at Jake to see if he had any questions.
“Can you describe this Billy guy?”
“Six foot, dark eyes, sort of grayish black hair cut short. Like a military cut, but I doubt he was ever in the military. Big. The type that spends five hours a day in the gym. Arms covered with tattoos. ‘Hate’ on his left hand fingers, ‘love’ on the right.”
Jake slid a yellow legal pad over to him. “We need the names of everyone that was at the party.”
“I don’t know all their names.”
“As many as you can remember. I’ll get a sketch artist in here within the hour. Do your best to get us a picture of this intense Billy.”
“If I do that I can go?”
Dani answered. “If we find Billy from the information you’ve given us the drug charge goes away. It will be up to the girl you kidnapped whether we proceed with the kidnapping charge.”
Drums looked at his lawyer. “What do I do?”
He threw his pad into his briefcase. “You give them everything they asked for and pray the girl doesn’t press charges.”
Drums looked around the small room before picking up the pen. Pulling the pad closer he started writing down names.
Dani and Jake left the room. “You take Tim. See if he knows anything more about Billy. Give him the same deal. I’m sure he’ll jump at it. I’ll talk to Katie and get the sketch artist down here.”
Jake smiled. Dani didn’t know it but by letting him talk to Tim alone she just gave him a big compliment and showed that she was starting to trust him. “Yes, ma’am.”
He headed to Tim’s interview room.
CHAPTER 33
IT WAS A LITTLE AFTER midnight when Jake walked into Dani’s office. Again, her feet were up and her eyes were closed.
“Sketch artist is in with Drums. He’ll get with Tim also. Tim didn’t know anything more about Billy then Drums. He has the same account of what happened that night.”
He sat in the chair across from Dani and waited for her to open her eyes.
It was a good fifteen seconds before she did. “And?”
“And he swears there were two shots. He was halfway down the stairs when he heard the second one.”
She put her feet down and leaned on her desk. “We didn’t find a second bullet. We didn’t find any other blood type in that room. We sure as hell didn’t find another body.”
Since Jake didn’t closed the door, Dani yelled out to the squad room. “Katie, get in
here.”
“Hey, what’s with the yelling? Don’t take it out on her.”
Slowly Katie walked into the office. Looking at the ground she asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”
Katie blew out a breath. “That’s okay. What’s up?”
“I need you to sit down and concentrate on what I’m going to ask you.”
“Okay.” She sat with her hands clasped together in her lap.
“How many gunshots did you hear that night?”
“One. Why?”
“Are you sure? I hate to ask you to remember that night, but it’s important. Close your eyes and think about it.”
She did as Dani asked. It was close to a minute later when she whispered, “Two. There were two shots.”
Jake took her hand as she opened her eyes. “Are you sure? There were two shots?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner, but there were two shots. I’m sure of it.” She took her hand from Jake’s and stood up. “As we were leaving another guy showed up in the doorway. I’ve never seen him before. Zach yelled for him to get out as he pulled me toward the door. The guy yelled something and ducked out of sight as the first shot went off. A few seconds later was the second shot and we went down.”
Tears started to run down her face so Jake stood up to hug her. “It’s over now. No one’s going to hurt you again. I promise.”
Katie stepped back and wiped her eyes. “Sorry. Sometimes it all hits me and I can’t stop the tears.”
“You don’t have to stop them,” Dani said as she pulled a box of tissues from her bottom drawer. “If it helps to cry, then cry.”
Katie grabbed a tissue, giving Dani a half smile.
“Can you describe the guy in the doorway?”
“I didn’t get more then a two-second look, but what I think I saw was a man.” She looked Jake up and down. “I’d say about Jake’s height. Maybe a little shorter.”
“Is that all you can remember?”
“He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket.”
Dani sucked in a breath. “Did he have blond hair, about shoulder-length?”
Katie thought a moment then nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Manark,” Jake asked.
“I hope not, because if it was I’m going to kill him.” She took out her phone as a detective from the night crew burst into her office.
“They found another one, but this one is still alive.”
Dani jumped up. “Where are they?”
“They’re bringing him to Mercy Hospital. It doesn’t look good, but first on scene said he had a pulse when the ambulance took off.”
“God, will this day never end?” She grabbed her jacket off the hook and headed out. “Katie, you’re with us.”
As they jumped in the car, Dani issued orders. “Katie, look up Manark Bikes. There should be a picture of him on his website. I need to know if he’s the one you saw. Jake, if the answer is yes, call Manark and get him down to the hospital. While you’re waiting call Wilson and fill him in.”
“The guy has been going non-stop since I showed up. Maybe we should see if this kid is going to make it before we interrupt his night.”
“We should, but he wouldn’t want that. He’d want to know now.”
He took out his phone. As he hung up with Wilson, Katie said, “Call this Manark guy. I’m pretty sure it’s him.”
Dani pulled into a spot by the emergency entrance and shoved the car into park. She was out of the car and heading to the entrance before Jake and Katie were out of the car. Jake called as they followed Dani.
“Manark, It’s Detective Santos. The lieutenant would like you to meet us at the emergency room.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She just needs your help with something.” Jake smiled at Katie. “Can you get down here and help us out?”
“Sure, yeah. I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
Jake hung up and looked at Katie. “That’s your first lesson in kissing ass to get what you want.”
“Are you going to arrest him?”
“Nah. We’re just going to make him sorry he didn’t tell us everything.”
“Thinking about it I think he was there to help Zach.” She swallowed heard. “Ah, my dad. I don’t think he should get in trouble.”
Jake put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “He’s not in trouble. Well, maybe a little. I’m pretty sure Dani is going to ream him out, but nothing more than that.”
At least he hoped that was so. He only met him once, but he liked him.
Dani was talking to an officer when they walked up.
“He was found in an alley off 18th Street. We got the call at nine-fifteen. We were only a block away. We pulled into the alley and he was just lying there at the end. We cleared the area and checked for a pulse. When there was one we called for the ambulance. When they pulled away with him he still had a pulse.”
He took his phone out. Showing her a picture, he said, “He looks like one of the other kids that was killed.”
Dani pulled the phone from his hand and stared at the picture. “Willy,” she whispered as she handed the phone to Jake. Katie leaned in to look at the picture.
She gasped. “Willy. That’s Willy.”
Dani turned back to the officer. “Where is he?”
“They took him through those doors. My partner is with him.”
He held up a finger to hold her off while he talked to his partner over the microphone attached to his shoulder.
When the answer came over the radio they headed for the room. The other officer was standing outside the room watching the doctors and nurses work on the boy. Dani asked, “Did you see him close up?”
“Close enough to check for a pulse.”
“I don’t suppose you noticed if his left collar bone was higher then the right?”
The officer gave her a confused look. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t.” He shrugged. “But then again, I didn’t really look.”
They all watched through the window for the next five minutes when the doctor came out. Dani took lead.
“I’m Lieutenant Castello. He’s part of a case we’re working. How’s he doing?”
“I’m sending him up to ICU, but I’m going to classify him as stable. I think we got to him in time.”
“Do you know who he is? What happened to him?”
“No ID. It seems he OD’d. From the quick blood test we ran it seems he shot up five different drugs.”
“Only five?”
“It may be more. As I said it was a quick blood test. We reacted to what we know. I’d say the major culprit was heroin.”
Dani peeked into the room. “We may know who he is. Can we get closer?”
“Of course, but let’s make it quick. They need to take him to ICU.”
Dani took Katie’s hand. “We need to know for sure. Can you do this?”
“Yes. I want to see him.”
The doctor motioned them in. “He’s still unconscious, but we’re hoping he’ll come to within the hour.”
When they walked in Katie when straight to the bed. “Willy, it’s Katie. I’m here for you.”
“Do you know who he is,” the doctor asked.
“Can we see his left shoulder?”
The doctor nodded to a nurse. She pulled the blanket down. It was clear that his collarbone was at one time broken and that it didn’t heal the way it should have.
“His name may be William Textler. Sixteen. Missing for two months.” She turned to Jake. “Get his parent here.”
Jake took out his phone and walked away.
“’May be?”
“It’s a long story. We’ll say ‘may be’ for now. His parents will give you a positive ID when they get here.”
“Okay. We need to get him upstairs now.”
Katie asked, “Can I stay with him?”
“Not now,” Dani answered. “But when
he wakes up, I’m sure the doctor will let you see him.”
She leaned down and whispered in Willy’s ear before walking out.
“What did you say to him?” Dani asked.
“I just told him he’s not alone.” She shrugged. “Sometimes when we talked he would say that he feels alone. I just wanted him to know he isn’t.”
Dani squeezed her shoulder.
“They’re on the way,” Jake informed them.
When Dani started to rub her temples Jake, walked over to her, stuck his hand in her jacket pocket, and pulled out her bottle of aspirin. He took two out and handed them to her. “Do you need water?”
She smiled. “No.” She popped them in her mouth and swallowed. “I’m getting good at taking them without any.”
They all stood back watching as they wheeled Willy down the hall to the elevator.
As the doors closed Jake spoke. “Manark is on his way.”
“Good. I could use a punching bag right now. He’ll do just fine.”
Jake and Katie laughed. “You might want to get the information out of him before you kill him.”
Dani looked at the door when it opened. “We’ll see how it goes. She grabbed Katie’s hand, this time pulling her toward Manark. She stood directly in front of him and asked, “Katie, is this the man you saw that night?”
Katie gave him a good look before she answered. “Yes, ma’am. I think it is.”
Dani pulled her hand back and punched Manark in the arm. He laughed and stepped back. She pulled her hand back again, this time hitting him in the other arm. This time he winced, held his arm, and stepped further back.
“Damn it, what is your problem?”
She poked him in the chest as she pushed him out the door. Jake and Katie followed. Not that they would have a chance to say anything. They just wouldn’t miss this conversation for the world.
“You were there. You were there and you didn’t tell me.”
“Stop poking me.” He grabbed her hand. “Where do you think I was?”
“Do you really think I’m in the mood for your bullshit. Tell me what happened.”
Manark looked at Jake, then Katie. “Are you Katie?”
Fatally Linked Page 26
