BLOODY BELL

by Jeremy Waldron

  Both detectives hit the brakes and turned to listen.

  “Location 7800 Smith Road. Female, approximately 17 years of age, brown hair, unresponsive. All units in area are requested to respond.”

  King shared a knowing look with his partner. Tracey’s image immediately popped into his mind. “Sounds like it could be Tracey.” They both jumped into action.

  Piling into their cruiser, Alvarez popped the clutch and sped off, saying, “There is only one way to find out.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Not more than thirty minutes later, we were sitting down inside a Starbucks offering to buy Tyler Lopez a latte. I wanted to learn how he knew Cameron was missing.

  Erin glanced over her shoulder from the counter.

  Tyler Lopez was better looking than I’d imagined. He wore a stallion black leather jacket with pressed slacks and bright white sneakers. His hair was slicked back and there was a cool calmness about the young twenty-two-year-old that completely shattered my stereotype of the man who I thought I’d be sharing a coffee with.

  “You have a nice smile,” he genuinely said.

  Tyler was confident, too. But I wasn’t going to let any of that fool me into forgetting he may have had his hand in the disappearance of Cameron.

  “Why did you call?” I asked as soon as Erin was back with the coffees.

  Tyler nodded a quick thanks to Erin. Stroking his paper cup, he said, “To clear my name.”

  “And why do you think you need to clear your name?” I asked, wondering if he had spoken to Detective Campbell.

  Tyler gave a cockeyed look. “Cameron has disappeared and I’m naturally the first suspect.”

  “You knew she was missing?” Erin sat upright.

  “I heard.” Tyler unzipped his jacket, slung his left arm over the back of his chair, and stared. His t-shirt read @GetHighWithTy. It was about the only thing I didn’t like about him up to this point.

  “And who did you hear that from?” I asked, sweeping my gaze up from his shirt and into his eyes.

  He was elusive in his answer. He was probably home when we visited his house. He could have either overheard us talking to his roommate or his buddy told him everything we said. Perhaps Tyler had even spoken with Detective Campbell. But, if that were true, what did Campbell say and did he tip him off to why we were looking for him? I wasn’t sure about anything today, but I knew one thing was certain: Tyler had more than enough time to prepare his answers before meeting with us.

  “My roommate told me.” The sound of his voice never wavered. “But what you don’t understand is that Cameron and me, we were never a thing.”

  “Her mother seems to think differently,” Erin said.

  Tyler flicked his eyes to her. “Of course she would.” He brought both his elbows to the table and hung his shaking head over his steamy cup of coffee as if needing time to think through his response.

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

  He swept his eyes up and stared from beneath his brow. “Look, the baby wasn’t mine.”

  “How can you be so certain about that? Was there a paternity test done?”

  Tyler leaned back and sprouted an arrogant grin. “I always wear a jimmy hat.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything.” Erin shook her head and huffed a hot breath of disgust.

  “Look, Cameron was as much of a slut as I am. We had fun but we weren’t exclusive. She showed up to a few of my parties and we hooked up but that was about it. She never could stand the fact that she was one of many women I was sleeping with.”

  My stomach flipped and now both Erin and I were on the edge of losing our breakfast. But I remained professional in my inquiry. “Her mother said you two had a rocky relationship, that you were a bad influence on Cameron.”

  Tyler laughed hysterically. “When it comes to Cameron’s mother, it was never about her daughter. It was always about her.”

  I stared and tried to make sense of what he was saying. Before I could come up with my own conclusion, Tyler fleshed it out for me.

  “Ms. Dee is one of those moms who wanted to go back in time. Like they regretted their earlier years and wished they’d done more than they had. She saw the fun we were having and now she was making up for it. A mid-life crises, I guess.” Tyler shrugged. “She wanted Cameron to have that baby more than anything.”

  “More than Cameron wanted it?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “Why is that?”

  Tyler leaned forward, dropped his voice down to a whisper, and looked deep into our curious eyes. “Because as soon as Cameron gave birth,” his dark eyes glimmered, “then Ms. Dee could have me all to herself.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  King and Alvarez rushed across town with their lights flashing. Neither of them spoke the entire ride, though King knew they both firmly believed that the victim could very well be Tracey Brown.

  Alvarez maneuvered between vehicles—many of which pulled to the side of the road, but not all. The description of the victim matched and King was certain he was going to find her dead.

  King’s muscles were tight. His stomach clenched with anxiety. He tried not to get ahead of himself, but the further his day went on, the harder it became not to think that maybe Sam was right and Tracey’s and Cameron’s cases were somehow related.

  As soon as they arrived, Alvarez slammed on his brakes and King hit the pavement running. He badged his way through the police line and stared at the ambulance parked near a half-dozen cruisers with their lights flashing blue and red. No one was in a hurry and that could only mean one thing. Then he saw Leslie Griffin already working the scene, confirming what he feared. It was too late. The victim was already dead.

  King’s world spun as he approached the cobalt blue Kia Optima. Both front doors were opened, only Leslie poking around inside.

  This can’t be Tracey, he thought as he approached. Why would she be in this car?

  King couldn’t see the victim’s face but he couldn’t get past the car’s location. Tucked into a dark, inconspicuous corner of the Walmart parking lot, he was surprised anybody had found the woman at all.

  His steps were slow as he approached the vehicle from behind. Colleagues greeted him but he couldn’t hear them. The blood in his ears was thrashing too loud, his heart hammering hard against his chest in a steady echoing thump.

  Slowly, he padded closer, stepping forward to gain a clear view of the victim’s face.

  He wanted to find Tracey Brown more than anything, but not like this. He needed her alive—needed her to tell him her theory of why her parents would want to kill themselves.

  One step closer and King stared into the victim’s soft features. His lungs released and stars flashed bright across his vision. Weak in the knees, King turned to look away, thankful it wasn’t Tracey.

  “You all right there?” Leslie lifted her gaze to King.

  King opened his eyes, shaking off his anxiety before turning to face the medical examiner. “Has the vic been identified?”

  “Kate Wilson.”

  King wiped his face and stepped forward. He pulled a pair of latex gloves out from his back pocket and slid them over his fingers, feeling his sweat cool his core.

  “I estimate the time of death not more than six hours ago,” Leslie shared. “I can give you a better time after the autopsy. If there is one.”

  “Cause?”

  Leslie lifted the woman’s left arm and pointed to the track marks bruising around a large vein. “Overdose. The syringe was still dangling off her arm when I found her.”

  “Heroin,” King said softly.

  “That would be my guess.” She lowered the vic’s arm “But that’s not the most interesting piece of information.” Her voice was light with excitement.

  King arched a brow.

  “Kate recently gave birth.”

  King knitted his brows. “I guess she didn’t do it here?”

  Leslie shook her head. “No sign of that.”

&nbs
p; “Gave birth, then went to get high.” King couldn’t believe it.

  “Not exactly. I won’t know for sure until further examination, but I’d estimate her birth to be somewhere in the window of the last seventy-two hours.”

  Leslie lifted the hem of the victim’s shirt and showed King signs of stretch marks across her belly. Leslie then pointed out the stains on the victim’s shirt from milk leaking from her breasts.

  “No sign of the baby,” Leslie spoke calmly, “and it doesn’t appear she gave birth in the car, either.” Leslie looked around the seats. “There would have been quite a mess if she had.”

  King hovered overhead, lost in his thoughts. The drug epidemic was out of control. It seemed like every day it was hitting closer to home. Too many lives claimed, too many victims left to clean up the mess from those who died. When he blinked, his thoughts drifted to the woman’s baby and how it would now join the other thousands of orphans growing up without its mother. Suddenly, Leslie surprised him.

  “Oh, Detective,” her gaze locked on King’s, “by the way, the deaths of the Browns seems suspicious…I found fentanyl in their systems. I’m ruling it a homicide and will conduct a toxicology report for Kate, too.” She rolled her eyes to Kate’s face. “Wouldn’t be surprised if I find the same in her. Seems like a bad batch is sweeping the streets these past couple of weeks. We have to make sure whoever is spreading it is behind bars. Only one way to do that—take them down—and this is the first step.”

  “Another overdose?” Detective Bobby Campbell came out of nowhere and joined the circle. “Who’s to blame? The dealers or the users? That is the question.”

  King didn’t share Campbell’s amusement. “Was she a case you were working?”

  “Indeed, she was.” Campbell bent forward and put his face directly over Kate’s. King stared at Campbell’s behavior in bewilderment. Campbell sprang back on his heels and continued, “She’s been missing for the last two months.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “She was considered a runaway.”

  “But you didn’t think she was?”

  “Can an eighteen-year-old really run away?” Campbell flashed an annoyed look to King. “Her parents are worthless, poor, and split up. Kate grew up without either of them really giving two shits about her.” Campbell flicked his gaze to King. “So I’m told. It’s the same saga, different name.”

  “Leslie says Kate recently gave birth. Know anything about that?” King asked.

  Campbell raised his brows and stared at the side of Kate’s face. Then his round head started to bob. “Makes sense.” He flicked his gaze to King. “I was told she was seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.”

  “Who reported her missing?”

  “Oddly enough,” Campbell paused, “her mother.” He rolled his neck and stared at the side of Kate’s face. “I guess she had a change of heart, realizing the good she had only once it was gone.”

  King couldn’t stop thinking about the baby, how he and Alvarez had found prenatal vitamins inside Tracey’s car only a short while ago, and how Sam also happened to be looking for a young woman who was known to be pregnant. Could it be that someone wasn’t targeting the women, but rather their babies?

  “Does Kate share any similarities to any other cases you’re working?” King asked Campbell.

  Campbell stared at King out of the corner of his eye. “Tracey Brown’s name hasn’t come across my desk. I assume that’s who you’re referring to since I heard the BOLO go out.”

  King nodded, not wanting Tracey to get lost in the shuffle, like what seemed to have happened to Cameron Dee.

  “I’ll look into it, but no.” Campbell looked away. “Not that I can think of.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, Detective. I’m sure,” Campbell said through clenched teeth.

  “Because there is a name I’m thinking of that you might be familiar with.”

  Campbell arched a sharp brow and continued to stare.

  “Cameron Dee.”

  Campbell’s skin flushed as he narrowed his gaze. “Your girlfriend put you up to this?”

  “What do you know?”

  “What I know is,” Campbell squared his shoulders with King’s, “Samantha Bell has a way of impeding important police investigations.” His pupils narrowed to tiny pin pricks. “And if I were you, I would tell my woman to stay in her lane before she crosses a line she can’t uncross.”

  King inched closer and balled his hands into fists. “Is that a threat?”

  Campbell gently pretended to pick lint from King’s sport coat. “Let’s just put it like this.” He lifted his eyes and locked them with King’s. “If Samantha botches just one more of my investigations by alerting the suspect that we’re on to them, then I’ll make sure she’s not telling the stories, but is the story.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Susan Young enjoyed a leisurely morning with Benjamin. It was a nice change of pace for them both. They stopped for brunch on their way to the Boulder Medical Convention and Susan’s head was still light from the Bloody Mary she had drank.

  Once arriving in the city of Boulder, they checked into the hotel suite and had a porter deliver their luggage to their room. The views were exactly as Benjamin had promised. Large floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping views of the magnificent Flatirons.

  The scent of rose hung in the air and promised a night of romance ahead. Susan had decided on a cherry red shoulder sheath dress to match Benjamin’s elephant gray three-piece designer suit. It was a splendid combination and one which was sure to turn heads.

  “You look stunning,” Benjamin said to Susan as he took her into his arms.

  Susan tipped her head back and smiled. “You’re not so bad looking yourself.” Their lips pressed together and Susan felt her body melt into his. “But I would hardly call this,” she tugged on his suit, “laidback and casual.”

  Benjamin’s chuckle vibrated her core. He lifted his sleeve and glanced to his silver wristwatch. “We better get going so we don’t miss Dr. Wu’s keynote.”

  They took the elevator down to the lobby and strolled through the hotel hallways, making their way into the conference room. They checked in at the door with the event organizer and together they entered the room filled with hundreds of guests. Heads turned their way and whispers started. They were the best dressed couple in the room.

  Once inside, the air buzzed with excitement. Susan could feel the allure quake in her bones and it was contagious. Everyone was smiling, looking forward to the speech from Dr. Glenn Wu, speculating on whether it would live up to the hype.

  The more Susan learned about the man, the more eager she was to hear Dr. Wu’s grand announcement. Biotech wasn’t exactly her arena, and wouldn’t have been something she sought herself, but today’s announcement promised to be nothing short of spectacular.

  Dr. Wu had promised his findings were revolutionary—so large it would forever change the course of human history. It was a tall order and Susan only hoped that she wouldn’t be let down.

  Benjamin had explained this all to Susan over brunch, but hearing it and seeing it were two different things. Now, Susan felt ashamed for thinking this could have been a conference she could pass up. She was more excited than even her date.

  She had her arm in the crook of his as they meandered through the knots of people. Benjamin was recognized by many and he took the liberty of introducing Susan to everyone they stopped to greet. He impressed Susan, and when they found a rare chance alone, Susan commented on the Big Shot doctor he was. Benjamin laughed and played it cool, remaining humble in his small moments of celebrity.

  An announcement came over the loud speakers.

  The chatter dimmed to a soft murmur.

  Benjamin turned to Susan, squeezed her hand, and smiled. “It’s time.”

  They found their seats close to the stage and Susan was blown away by the spectacle. It was a show of entertainment and, once again, shat
tered Susan’s expectations. Music played loud overhead and a video flashed on a large screen in front of the room. It was a mini-documentary on Dr. Wu’s work as a research scientist and the incredible work he had achieved over the years of his successful career as a leading geneticist.

  Susan watched intently while holding onto Benjamin’s hand. Soon, the video finished with a crescendo of instruments and the lights flashed the entire room bright.

  “The moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived,” a man’s voice boomed from the speakers. He was nowhere to be seen. The stage was empty, but his voice was strong. “This afternoon you will hear from the man himself, Dr. Glenn Wu.”

  The crowd erupted into an explosive applause. A spotlight found the tall, slender man by the name of Dr. James Andrews as he strode onto the stage. He had a big grin on his face and walked with confidence.

  “What Dr. Wu is doing now has only been dreamed about as science fiction,” Dr. Andrews said.

  Susan shared a look of thrill with Benjamin.

  “His work will be praised. It will be criticized. News cycles will continue to debate the ethics of what Dr. Wu has accomplished, but nothing will stop the progress he has made.” Another roar from the crowd. “Others will follow his lead, but he will always be the founding father. So, without further ado, I am proud to introduce to you the man who is rewriting the course of human history. Dr. Glenn Wu!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  We watched as Tyler left with an attractive college-aged woman tucked under his arm. She had arrived just when things were getting juicy. It was as if Tyler had planned his escape before he’d even arrived. He was smart enough to be that cunning. We didn’t catch her name, but it was clear Tyler’s promiscuity made both Erin and me gag.

  “Is Tyler so cocky that he thinks Ms. Dee wanted to sleep with him, or were they really having an affair?” I was thinking out loud and wasn’t even sure Erin was listening. Either way, I didn’t want to believe what Tyler said could be true. Until I had proof, though, I couldn’t discredit his statement.