Got the Look (24 page)

I flew coach. What do you think?

Good. We can talk there.

Chapter
36

His name was Gerard Montalvo, said Cassie. They called him the Got the Look Rapist.

Jack gave her his complete attention as Cassie talked between bites of a toasted whole-wheat bagel with melted honey butter. The LeJeune Diner wasn't one of Jack's regular spots, but he remembered it from his days as a prosecutor, when an airport baggage employee agreed to meet him there and blew the lid off a currency-smuggling ring. It was a small joint with a few tables in the middle and booths on the left. A long Formica-topped counter separated customers from a short-order cook and the collective grease of four decades and over a million strips of bacon. Directly overhead, a pair of noisy ceiling fans wobbled out of plumb, like a couple of whining old synchronized swimmers who'd forgotten their routine. Jack and Cassie were seated opposite each other at a booth large enough for eight dockworkers, which made Cassie seem even more petite than she was. She told him all about the visit from Agent Henning and the FBI's theory that Teresa was now Mia. She told him, too, about that night at Club Vertigo II, when Teresa got the calling card from the club owner. Even as Jack listened, he was searching for physical similarities between Cassie and her alleged sister. With flawless olive skin and big, dark eyes, both were undeniably attractive Latin women.

It wasn't until Cassie identified her sister's rapist by name that Jack interrupted. His nickname - the Got the Look Rapist. Was that a name Montalvo got because he'd used the same pickup line with other women in the past? Or did it start with this case, when he gave that card to your sister?

I'm not sure.

Okay. Tell me more about that night.

Like I said, we went to that bar, Club Vertigo two. I didn't go with Teresa to the private party. She was my older sister, and all my life I thought of her as someone who could handle herself in any situation. I wasn't worried, and I didn't want to be a pest if she was having a good time. So I just planted myself at the bar and listened to music, talked with a few guys. Finally, it was like three-something in the morning, and she calls me on my cell phone.

What did she say?

She was headed home already in a cab. She said she came looking for me in the club and couldn't find me. Which - if it was true - means that she didn't look very hard.

Did she tell you she'd been raped?

No. She sounded pretty shook up, though. And then I was worried. Because it's not normal for Teresa to sound scared. Wasn't normal, I mean.

She looked away, and Jack saw in her expression how difficult this must have been for Cassie - the confusion as to whether she should talk about her sister in the past or present tense. Jack said, Did you speak to her the next day?

She wouldn't talk to anyone for about two days. Missed work on the following Monday, too. I was getting really concerned. Then, like three days later - it was a Wednesday morning - she called and told me she went down to the police station.

That's when she told you about the rape?

Cassie lowered her eyes, her mouth tightening. Yeah. It was awful. I felt terrible, you know, because I was the one who encouraged her to go to the party.

I'm sure she didn't blame you.

I'm not so sure, she said in a voice that faded.

What happened next?

Okay, this is where my information gets sketchy. I'm not trying to withhold details, but the fact is, I was lying low once the police investigation started. My visa was expired, and I was in this country illegally at the time. Teresa made me promise not to get involved as a witness. She was afraid I'd be deported.

You're legal now?

Yes. I married a U. S. citizen.

Do you know if your sister decided to prosecute?

Yes, of course. It went to a preliminary hearing. The judge found Montalvo guilty.

Actually, the preliminary hearing is not a determination of guilt or innocence, said Jack. It's just a hearing at which the judge decides whether there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. In a rape case, it would be more than enough if the prosecution presents evidence of some penetration and testimony from the victim that it was nonconsensual. At trial, things would get much more contentious.

Well, that doesn't really matter. Before the trial even started, Teresa vanished.

How do you mean, vanished'?

The day after the hearing was over, she was gone. So was Montalvo. The police went looking for both of them. Never found a thing.

When you say the police never found a thing, did they find evidence to suggest that Teresa was the victim of foul play?

You mean beside the fact that she was missing and so was the man she'd accused of raping her?

Yes, said Jack. I mean physical evidence.

Nothing that I know of. She was just gone.

Which is probably what's feeding the FBI's theory now that she's still alive - that Mia is Teresa.

The FBI asked me if I had anything with Teresa's DNA. I guess they want to compare it to Mia Salazar. Unfortunately, I couldn't help them. But they seem pretty convinced even without the scientific testing.

I'm sure their forensic people have already weighed in on this. They're good, but that doesn't mean they're always right.

The waitress came by to freshen Jack's cup of coffee. When she was gone, Cassie said, I told the FBI that I didn't think Mia was my sister. After sleeping on it, maybe I overreacted.

How do you mean?

It's not that their theory is flat-out crazy. I just don't want to entertain the possibility that Teresa could be alive until they show me some real proof. It was a nightmare losing my sister. I don't need false hopes.

That's understandable, said Jack. I'm sort of looking at it the same way, playing devil's advocate, trying not to jump to any conclusions that would give you false hope.

Her hand shook as she dug into her purse. I have these photos I wanted to show you. She removed two from her bag and laid them flat on the table. One was an old photograph of Teresa. The other was the more recent shot of Mia that Agent Henning had given to her.

Jack leaned forward, elbows on the table, studying them closely. Teresa's hair was longer and wavier than Mia's, but it was the same dark brown in color. Her eyebrows were much heavier, and, to be brutally honest, Teresa's nose was more prominent - more like Cassandra's than Mia's. Mia had fuller lips, and her cheekbones seemed more angular.

How old was Teresa when she went missing? asked Jack.

Twenty-six.

So she'd be thirty-three now. Mia just turned thirty.

Agent Henning mentioned that. Basically, her position was that if you were going to start a new life and take on a new identity, wouldn't you shave a few years off your age?

Jack couldn't disagree. I'm more troubled by the facial features. I see definite similarities. But before going so far as to tell you, yeah, I think your sister's alive, I'd want the obvious differences explained.

Agent Henning suggested plastic surgery.

Possibly. By any chance, did your sister have a scar on the inside of her left thigh?

Not to my knowledge. The FBI asked me the same thing.

That's because I told Henning that Mia had one. I saw it myself.

Cassie finished the last of her bagel and pushed the plate aside. It could have resulted from an injury after Teresa became Mia.

Or it could have been from the rape itself, said Jack. Do you know anything about the injuries your sister sustained?

I don't remember anything about a leg wound. But not everything about the assault was made public, since the case never got to trial. And I never saw the medical report.

Jack's gaze returned to the photographs, and he shook his head. It doesn't make sense. If these two woman are the same person, then your sister had no fear of plastic surgery. She did some serious work to change her appearance.

So?

So if she wasn't afraid of plastic surgery, why would she leave an ugly scar on the inside of her thigh? Any doctor who was capable of doing this kind of work to her face could easily have taken care of that scar.

Cassie considered it, then said, You're right. That doesn't make any sense.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but like you say, it never does any good to encourage false hope, either. We could be dealing with a serial rapist who's drawn to a certain type of woman. Attractive Latin women who look like Mia and Teresa. Similar height, similar build. That doesn't necessarily mean that Teresa is Mia.

Either way, what you're saying is that Gerard Montalvo is back. Which means that no one on this earth wants to nail this guy more than I do.

I suppose I'm a close second, said Jack.

Right. You mean if Mia is Teresa.

It's actually simpler than that. I know what this guy did to Ashley Thornton. I watched the video of Mia screaming in pain. Whether Mia is or isn't Teresa, somebody has to stop this monster.

You're right. I didn't mean to minimize your feelings. Agent Henning did tell me that you were in love with Mia.

What else did she tell you?

That she married a rich guy, Ernesto Salazar. Which is another thing that bothers me about the FBI's theory. Teresa was not the type to marry for money.

Strict personality comparisons probably won't get you very far in this situation. Being raped can change a woman. Psychologically speaking, you may not be looking for the same person.

I suppose that's true. Whichever way you look at it, the Teresa I knew is gone.

Jack felt as though he should say something to console her, but he could only manage to move the conversation along. Anyway, it's not really fair to say that Mia married for money. Her best friend told me that she was looking for protection, which fits with the FBI's theory.

Yes, it does. Naturally, Teresa was terrified of her attacker. That's why it took her three days to go to the police. The last time I talked to her, the possibility of retaliation from Montalvo was clearly on her mind. It freaked her out when he got out on bail. She begged the police for protection.

Did they give it to her?

Obviously not. Which is why one of two things happened. Either she ended up dead. Or she ran away and created a whole new life.

And she married Salazar to get the protection the police wouldn't give her.

That's why I don't trust the FBI with this. I don't think they'll ever tell me the whole story. They even told me not to talk to you.

That doesn't surprise me. They're afraid I might screw up the investigation if I try to hunt down Gerard Montalvo on my own.

Well, I don't trust the cops to hunt him down. They let him get away the first time. Definitely let him get away with rape. Maybe even murder.

Jack brought his cup to his lips, speaking over his coffee. Is there something you'd like to propose?

She tucked the photographs back into her purse. We should be helping each other. Henning told me that you're the one who will be talking directly with the kidnapper. You have to pay the ransom. Is that true?

Yes.

Then I'm sure you want to know as much as possible about the woman you're trying to save.

That's a fair statement.

Then it should be a no-brainer. Going forward, I'm the best person to know if your girlfriend Mia is actually my sister Teresa. So here's the deal. If you're honest with me about everything you do, everything that happens, I'll be honest with you. You'll know everything I tell the FBI and more. If we stay together on this, neither one of us will be at the mercy of Andie Henning and the FBI for answers.

That sounds good to me. Except we're already behind the eight ball. Obviously the FBI knows something that you and I have yet to figure out.

What?

Think about it, said Jack. I doubt that Agent Henning zeroed in on your sister's rape solely because of her physical similarities to Mia. That probably wasn't even their principal search criterion, given the fact that Ashley Thornton, the kidnapper's first victim, looked nothing like Mia. I suspect that Montalvo popped up on the FBI's radar screen because, number one, he was a sex offender. Two, he was a scuba diver. And most important, the modus operandi of the Got the Look Rapist was similar to that of the Wrong Number Kidnapper.

Cassie seemed to be searching for an answer, then shrugged. Nothing I ever saw or heard about the Got the Look Rapist ever made mention of ransom demands or families being forced to pay what the victim was worth.

I'm not saying it has to be an exact match. Just something similar.

Again, she struggled. That's hard for me to say, since I didn't attend the hearing. Like I told you before, Teresa didn't want me anywhere near the courthouse, because I was illegal at the time.

That's all right. You're going to be more helpful to me than you can even imagine. I'm sure we'll find the common operational thread.

Right. Got any ideas on where to start?

Jack leaned back in the booth, the wheels turning in his head. Yeah. Now that I have the name of the FBI's chief suspect, I certainly do.