Serial Separation (21 page)

Chapter 57

The light coming in the bedroom windows woke us.

I hadn’t realized how much I missed being with Lisa. It had been weeks since she spent the night with me, and we both made up for lost time. Neither of us got much sleep, between making love and talking.

I almost had to carry Lisa into the shower, but, once there, we picked up where we left off last night. We didn’t make any detours after we showered, although we both wanted to.

However, now I was rushing to bring Lisa back to her dorm and still make the task force before nine. We made the short drive to her dorm. Lisa was sitting close and breathing in my ear.

“Lisa, do you want me to head back to the apartment?”

She bit my ear. “That would be nice, but no. I just want you ready for the next time we’re together.”

Earlier, I expected her to question me about who stayed overnight with me, but she only asked her name and what she looked like. I was hesitant telling her, but there weren’t any additional questions. Maybe the thoughts of another woman made an impression.

She added, “When will I see you again? Tonight’s New Year’s Eve.”

“I would like to think I can get away, but I know we are going to be busy checking out waterfront properties. I really can’t say about tonight but can we make definite plans for Friday night?”

She was slow responding. “Friday night is fine, and if you find that tonight works, just call me at the dorm. I’m not going out. Oh, I forgot to tell you . . . Jeremy and Dottie got engaged the other night. He popped the question when they went out to dinner.”

Smiling, I said, “I’ll take your forgetting to tell me a compliment.”

“I meant to tell you, but there were so many other more important things to settle . . . I guess you just made me forget.” Then she blew in my ear.

After I parked the car, we walked to her dorm. We kissed again but not like last night. We looked at each other one last time—she looked like she had the glow back.

“Call me, Scotty, if things change for tonight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I could tell neither of us wanted to part for even a few minutes.

* * *

I was glad to make the office before nine. Colleen looked nice again, in what I expected was another new outfit.

“Good morning, Colleen.”

She smiled when she realized I noticed her outfit. “Good morning, Scott. Mike wants to see you and Mercedes. He’s in the conference room with Mercedes.”

“Thanks, Colleen. You look very nice today.”

“You’re always my hero. Thanks.”

When I opened the door to the conference room, Mike stopped talking with Mercedes and changed his attention. “Good morning, Scott.”

I responded, closing the door behind me. “Good morning Mike, Mercy.”

“Good morning, Scott,” Mercedes said, looking at her watch.

Her red hair hung down across the front of her white sweater, but I saw the corner of her mouth raised in a smirk. I offered, “I had something to do this morning; sorry I’m a little late.”

Mike pointed to a seat near them. “Mercedes has a list of all the properties that are currently available. We were just going over how to check them.”

I pulled a chair over near them and sat down. It was strange how the fragrance of gardenia wiped out my other thoughts.

I rescued myself. “Mike, I have some information regarding the case.”

Mike must have noticed. “What, no coffee? Why don’t you get a cup and we’ll start.”

I got up and Mercedes followed. I held the door for her, closing it behind us. I followed her to the coffee area. She looked good in that sweater and tight black ski pants. I suddenly wished Lisa and I were indeed going skiing this weekend.

Mercedes poured her coffee and then poured a cup for me.

Then, she broke the silence. “Mike and I talked about the other night. We got some things straight. We’re okay. That is, in case you were wondering.”

I took the cup from her and felt the warmth of her hand. “That’s good.”

“Scott, about the time at the cabin . . . I’m still waiting for an answer.”

“Do you want an answer now or can it wait until we’re alone?”

“Scotty, an answer now, or then, will do.”

I finished preparing my coffee and last night’s images with Lisa came to mind.

“Let’s wait until we’re alone.”

She was close, blocking my path. She smiled, looking at me over her cup. “That will just have to do.”

I felt like I was being manipulated again. In that split second, I realized how foolish I’d been, and things would be different from now on. It must have been my lack of experience with women that gave Mercedes the ability to manipulate me.

Lisa’s behavior those past few months had made me more susceptible to someone else’s advances. She turned and I followed her to the conference room. She waited until I opened the door. I would have to pay more attention to those little traps.

* * *

When we were seated back in the conference room, I repeated what I had said to Mike. “I have something that might help with the case.” I stood up and tapped the blackboard next to ‘JJ Johnston Next.’

“Mike, I learned this through Lisa. Jason’s cousin, Jeremy Johnston was kidnapped back in early November. They share the same nickname, and it could have confused the kidnappers.”

Mike took a long drink of his coffee. “Go ahead, you have my attention.”

I noticed Mercedes was also paying close attention. “His story went something like—he was kidnapped by a gang on Friday night, held all weekend, and tortured by either three or four women. Anyway, late Sunday afternoon another female arrived just before he thought he was going to be . . . well . . . killed.”

I continued. “They went away for what seemed to him over an hour and when they came back he was taken off this platform and put into a car. He was still blindfolded, tied up, and naked.”

My lips were dry, and I needed some more coffee.

“After they drove for about thirty minutes, they dumped him in the Medford woods. He managed to get untied, and some college kids picked him up. They thought it was a hazing, but when he showed him the marks on his body they got him clothes and took him to Kenmore Square.”

Neither of them interrupted me while I spit out the story. When I stopped to take another sip of coffee, Mike responded. “Scott, this might be extremely helpful. You said he thought it was about a thirty-minute ride?”

“Yes, that’s what I heard. However, I think we need to get Jeremy in to tell us the story directly.”

Mercedes added, “So what you’re saying is, the kidnappers picked up the wrong guy, put him through his paces for the entire weekend, then just let him go?”

I took a deep breath, looking into her eyes. “It looks like that is just what happened. It gives the appearance that the kidnap details got confused and the wrong JJ got picked up. Their names are so similar; it’s easy to see how they kidnapped the wrong guy.”

Again, Mercedes questioned, “Why let him go . . . why not just kill him? It looks like they made a major mistake.”

I offered, “Well, if this was their first kidnapping, and no one had been killed, it might have been easier to let him go. If it had happened after they killed someone, they would have just added him to the others. That’s what I speculate anyway.”

Mike added, “That is a pretty good bet, Scott. One of the things you will learn in investigation work, it’s the mistakes that help law enforcement solve crimes. If no mistakes are made, it makes solving the crimes extremely difficult. This was a major mistake.”

He continued. “They might also do something to correct it . . . if they knew Jeremy was telling his story now, it would seem likely they would go back after him. We need to bring him in for questioning right away.”

Mike rose, cup in hand. “You’ll have to excuse me; I need to bring Paddy up to speed on this development. In the meantime, Mercedes, why don’t you discuss the list of properties with Scott? Then decide how you want to cover them.”

Mercedes heard him, but she didn’t respond. She was staring at the right hand side of the blackboard.

I filled the void. “Okay . . . we’ll go over the properties.”

Chapter 58

The fragrance of gardenia reminded me of being close to her. However, Mercedes and I went over the list of available properties her dad’s office had provided. We divided the pages between us, focusing our attention on properties that fit a more remote location. We each reviewed our listings and made comments on them.

Each property on the list was originally targeted to have direct access to the waterfront. We both learned quickly that these descriptions were to enhance the sale or rental of the respective properties. Consequently, if there were pictures, they focused on the building, not the waterfront access.

Most of my notes indicated a need to physically visit the property. I focused my attention on the listings but could tell Mercedes was trying to get my attention. At one point, she left the conference room, returning with filled coffee cups. I could tell she had added perfume.
Focus, Scott, focus . . . things need to change . . . they have to
.

We exchanged lists, reading what the other had said about the properties. I realized she noted the same thing on her listings.

“Well, Mercy, it looks like you made the same notes I did. We’re just going to have to physically check out the properties. I only noted two properties that I considered appropriate waterfront access.”

She responded, “I thought I made it clear to my mother, the properties needed to be right on the water. However, they must have had the same problem we’re having—you just can’t tell from the listing.”

I suggested, “Maybe if we plot them on the map by the address, we can see whether they have direct access or not.”

“You’re right, Scott; we could do that, but most likely we’re just going to have to check them out.”

Mike came in, sat down, and picked up our marked sheets. “How’s it going?”

Mercedes responded, “Mike, these listings aren’t much help. They focus on the building more than the waterfront access. It’s going to take visiting them to determine if they could be a match for what we’re looking for.”

Mike nodded, looking at the listings and notes. “I reviewed what you told us about Jeremy’s kidnapping with Paddy. He’s calling a meeting at two o’clock with the entire task force to go over what we have—and this new development. He also wants to get an update on how the Lowell P.D. is doing regarding Jason Johnston. Before I announce it, do I understand you two are planning to check out these properties?”

* * *

My mental note was pulsating in my head:
Focus Scott, focus . . . things need to change . . . they have to. I know I can do this.

I thought it might be fun to see how she would react when the shoe was on the other foot. Looking over at her, I could tell she was already mapping her strategy.

She was faster responding to his rhetorical question. “Mike, there’s not really any other way to get an idea about fit. If we can narrow down the buildings to a respective number, we would have a better chance of catching them.”

“I understand,” he replied, “but tell me how you plan to do this. Do you start this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, or what? It would make more sense to have a consistent view of the properties. Spreading them out across several task force members, or worse, to outside resources, would not give us a consistent viewpoint.”

We didn’t respond, so he continued. “Don’t get me wrong, we appreciate your ability to help with the investigation, and, Mercedes, your perspective is respected.”

The way she looked at Mike, I wondered whether she was trying to read something into his praise.

“Thanks, Mike, I think I do have a picture of what these women would be looking for. I say we start this afternoon.”

I heard the key word in her response—“We.”

I questioned, “Isn’t visiting these places after dark going to be a problem?”

Mike offered, “Why don’t you get a start after the meeting today and call it quits when it makes sense. Tomorrow’s Friday, so why don’t you both just meet somewhere and resume where you leave off?”

I asked, “Do we come back here tomorrow afternoon since its Friday, and Jason might be either in custody, or worse?”

He quickly offered, “If Jason isn’t in custody tomorrow night, the Boston P.D. will increase patrols. They will be looking for any suspicious activity along the waterfront.”

He pointed to the listings. “My thoughts would be to take any buildings you find that fit what we’re looking for and drive by tomorrow night to see if there’s any activity. If you spot anything, you know how to reach me. Do not, however, get involved in what might be going down. It could be very dangerous, and we’re not looking for heroes.”

I looked at Mercedes to see if she was agreeing with this or not. She didn’t give any sign either way. Mike resumed. “If that makes sense, and you don’t have any questions, we will be meeting Saturday morning to go over status.”

I looked at Mercedes, and she nodded finally.

I said, “Sounds fine.”

“Okay then. Why don’t you two map out a plan as to how to visit the properties. Just note, that, at two, we will be meeting to go over this and how everything else is progressing. Scott, you should also be aware that Jeremy is going to be brought in for questioning. Paddy is trying to get authorization to bring him here.”

“One other thing—I’m assuming you two are okay doing the property site reviews together. If either of you have any problems, we can work out another method.”

We looked at each other, and then back to Mike—both of us nodded.

I can do this: Focus Scott, focus . . . things need to change . . . they have to
. I kept thinking to myself. I could almost sense Mercedes was already working her alternate plan.

* * *

The two o’clock meeting started on time. Who would have expected anything else with Paddy leading it?

“Lowell P.D. is having some problems locating Jason Johnston,” said Paul Brosque. “An informant indicated he could be headed to Atlantic City for New Year’s. He also told us his gang has a large quantity of illegal drugs and weapons.”

He continued. “The police are going to raid the gang’s headquarters tomorrow, no later than midnight, on drug possession charges. If Jason’s still there, they will have him; if he’s in Atlantic City, we’ll just have to pick him up when he returns. At least he will be alive.”

Paddy offered, “Tomorrow is Friday. We all know their routine is to kidnap their targets on Friday evening. We have to anticipate there will be an attempt to kidnap him, and we would like to catch them in the act. However, if we’re correct, neither Jason’s gang, nor the other gang, is going to do this peacefully. We need to find where they drop these men.”

He looked over at Mike. “In addition, Mike wants to update everyone on the search for available buildings. Mike?”

Mike stood, heading to the blackboard. “As we indicated earlier, we’re looking for a currently vacant waterfront building that is potentially remote. With the help of some real estate professionals, we have a list of all the currently vacant buildings. Mercedes and Scott are reviewing the list and will be visiting those locations to see if there are any suitable for weekend murders.”

He pointed to the map. “They will be starting their visits later today, going into the evening. They will try to determine the most probable facility, or facilities, and tomorrow evening they will focus on those buildings for any suspicious activity.”

He stopped, holding up his hands. “If they spot questionable activity, they will alert me to investigate. They are not to take any action on their own. We want both of them involved, providing a consistent evaluation, or yardstick. Mercedes has a good idea of the type of facility outlined in her profile.”

He looked at Paddy, adding, “In conjunction with their activity, the Boston P.D. will also have increased patrols targeting the waterfront.”

Paddy stood. “We’ve learned that a young man was kidnapped in early November and released. He had been taken on a Friday night and dumped at a building. During the weekend, he was tortured by several women and, to his surprise, released late Sunday. We believe the women realized they had the wrong person and decided to release him. They drove to Medford and released him there still tied up and naked.”

He walked to the blackboard. “The most interesting thing is that he is Jason Johnston’s cousin—Jeremy Johnston. Their nicknames are both ‘JJ.’ We speculate the communication between the women and the kidnappers got confused because of the similarity. We’re going to bring Jeremy in for questioning. Maybe he can shed some light on where he was held and, hopefully, something more about these women.”

He looked at all of us. “Any questions?”

Since there were no questions, he added, “Our next scheduled meeting will be Saturday morning at nine o’clock. If anything develops requiring an earlier meeting, we will get in touch with you. I want to thank all of you for your help, and a special thanks to Mercedes and Scott for their efforts. We’re further ahead with these young folks involved. . . I’m glad to have them here with us. Be safe out there.”