Traffic Stop (23 page)

“Whenever you are,” Ryan said.

They got out of the car and approached the house cautiously.

Ryan stayed behind as Jake made his way up the rotting steps.

Jake stepped over a bunch of old milk cartons and empty boxes and knocked solidly on the door with his nightstick. He waited for a minute before knocking again; they were both surprised to see a small child answer.

The little boy stared at them in surprise and seemed almost scared.

Jake crouched down to put himself at the boy’s level before asking, “Hi, is your mommy or daddy home?”

The little boy continued to stare but didn’t say a word. Just as Jake got ready to ask him again, he slammed the door in his face.

Raising both eyebrows when Jake looked at her, Ryan shrugged her shoulders. He stood back up and knocked again. This time when the door opened, a woman was standing there.

“Yes, what do you want?”

“Ma’am, we’re looking for a Geraldo Santiago. Do you know who this man is?”

“No,” she said as she started to close the door again.

“Wait…” Jake said, holding out his hand. “You’ve never heard of this man before?”

“I told you no, why you gotta keep bothering me?”

“Ma’am, your address came up in our database when we were checking cell phone records.”

“I ain’t got a cell phone, and there’s been no man here in years.”

“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll lea-” he started to say as the door was closed in his face for a second time. Making his way back down the steps, he shook his head as they walked to the car. “I guess she’s a little bitter about that, huh?”

“I guess so,” Ryan said, chuckling.

Jake closed the door and glanced at his watch before looking at Ryan. “We really don’t have time to check out the other address. Why don’t we save it for tomorrow, and we’ll do it first thing?”

“Okay.” Ryan really didn’t want to wait another day, but she knew their shift was almost up, and Jake had plans with Tim tonight, so she conceded.

Ryan sat in her Jeep after saying goodbye to Jake, thinking about the last address. She knew it was on the way home because the street name looked familiar. As she sat there sliding her hands up and down the steering wheel, she made the decision to check the address out on her own.

What are you doing, Ryan?

What do you mean?

Don’t play that innocent game with me. You know that what you’re thinking of doing is against standard operating procedures.

I know, but damn it, this is about Tobi! I made a vow to
protect her. I can’t do that if I’m sitting and waiting for this
psycho son of a bitch to come to me.

What about the trouble you could get into from work?

I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

You have no backup! What about your own safety?

I refuse to sit back and let him get close enough to harm Tobi
again.

This is not like you, Ryan. You don’t go off half-cocked like some type of rogue agent.

Well, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I won’t
let her be taken from me now.

But-

No buts, end of discussion.

She grabbed her cell phone and punched in Tobi’s number.

“Ryan?” Tobi responded after a couple of rings.

“Hi, honey.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you know I’m on my way home, but I need to make a stop first. I shouldn’t be too long, okay?”

“Okay, be careful, and I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you, baby.”

“I love you, too,” Tobi said before hanging up.

Ryan placed the phone back in its holder, started the car, and headed to the address on the piece of paper. Ryan took the exit off the highway and followed the street around as she glanced at the numbers on the buildings. She slowed to a stop in front of a house, checked the numbers to make sure they matched, and put the Jeep in park. Several lights were on in the house, so she figured someone was probably home. Ryan took a deep breath, climbed from the vehicle, and walked steadily to the front door.

She looked around then knocked. As the door opened, she saw a man who was a little taller than she was, but approximately the same age.

“Yes, may I help you, officer?” he said, opening the door a little farther.

“Yes, I’m looking for a Geraldo Santiago. Do you know where I can find him?”

He hesitated briefly then nodded before gesturing for Ryan to enter. “Please, come in. I was wondering how long it would be before someone caught on to him.”

Ryan stepped into the house and felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as he closed the door.

yan followed the man down a short narrow hallway to a living room. He rushed to pick up a few items lying R on the couch.

“Have a seat,” he said, tossing the papers onto a tiny table next to the recliner.

“Thank you,” Ryan responded, sitting on the edge of the couch. “What did you mean when you said you wondered how long it was going to be before someone caught on to him?”

The man sat in the recliner bouncing his knees in a nervous gesture before raking his hand across his face. He blew out a mouthful of air, stood once again and clasped his hands under his arms.

“Listen, I just don’t think you’d understand.”

“What? What exactly am I supposed to understand here?”

“It’s not so simple to explain,” he said, raising his voice.

Ryan held her hands up. “Hold on. Why don’t we just take it slow and you can try to explain it?”

He chewed on a thumbnail, but didn’t respond; instead, he continued to stare at the coffee table.

“Sir?”

He dropped his hand and looked at Ryan as though he hadn’t seen her before. “I’m kinda thirsty. Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

Nodding his head, he said, “I’ll be right back.”

Ryan watched him leave the room then let her eyes survey the walls. There were many pictures scattered about in various sizes.

She walked over to peer more closely at a couple of them. Some of the smaller pictures contained a man and two young boys. As she stepped sideways following the pictures along the wall, she looked closely at each one. The last one was of an older man with someone she couldn’t quite make out. She leaned closer to get a better look and bumped into a table, knocking a stack of papers to the floor. She kneeled to gather them up and stood. As she started to lay them back on the table, a sparkle caught her eye. Ryan reached down and picked up a bracelet that strongly resembled one that Tobi owned. She turned it over and noticed an inscription on the back. It read, “
To Sylvia, the love of my life, now and
forever.
”

“It’s all makin’ sense to you now, isn’t it?”

Ryan jerked her head around and found herself looking down the barrel of a very large gun.

“Ya know, I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried,” he said with a leer.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your worst nightmare, lady.” Motioning with the gun, he said, “Sit down.”

She edged her way past him to the couch and sat.

“Go ahead and slide that piece I know you got over here.”

Ryan slowly removed the gun from her holster and did as she was told. He picked it up and stuffed it into the waistband of his pants.

“Are you going to tell me who you are?”

“I’m exactly who you were looking for…well, almost. It won’t hurt to tell you who I am now because soon it won’t matter.”

Ryan remained quiet while he continued to glare at her.

Finally, he leaned back in his chair.

“I’m Geraldo Santiago, just not the one you think. Geraldo was my father, who happened to have a very…how should I say…untimely death.” He narrowed his eyes at her, and Ryan got the feeling that his father’s death was not an accident at all. With a wicked grin, he stood up and stepped closer to her. Yanking the bracelet from her fingers, he swung his arm back and smashed the butt of the gun against the right side of her head. He grabbed a fistful of Ryan’s hair and pulled her face closer to his.

“You can call me Victor,” he said through clenched teeth.

As he shoved her away from him, Ryan fell back against the couch, fighting the temptation to close her eyes. She reached up with her fingertips and lightly touched her head where Victor had hit her. Searing pain brought little white stars dancing before her eyes.

“Why are you doing this, Victor?”

“Why? Why
?
” he nearly screamed. “I’ll tell you why. I was in the hallway that day, waitin’ to see pictures of my baby. I heard Sylvia yellin’ and then that bitch let the only woman I ever loved die. Now, she’s gonna lose what’s most precious to her.”

Ryan watched as he pulled a little white envelope from his pocket, opened it, and looked inside. With almost a growl, he tipped it up and swallowed its contents. He crushed the paper between his fingers and threw it to the floor.

“You wanna know what that happens to be, Miss High and Mighty Cop?”

Not answering him was the wrong thing to do as he grabbed her by the front of her shirt. He jerked her forward, making her head pound even harder.

“Do you?”

“What?” Ryan rasped.

“You.” He released her shirt and stepped back to the recliner.

Turning, he said, “The best part is that she’s gonna be here watchin’. I wanna see the look on her face when you die, and when I’m done with you, she’s next.”

“You don’t have to do this, Victor. We can help.”

“Help? What kind of fucking help do you think I need?”

Appearing to grow even angrier, he spun back around. “Fuck that!”

Ryan had to think of some way to get to him. She had no doubt that if he got Tobi here, he’d follow through on his threats.

The longer he paced around, the angrier he became.

“Victor, why don’t you tell me about Sylvia?”

He stopped and looked at her. “What do you wanna know?

She was an incredible woman. So full of love, and she was givin’

me a child. Don’t you see what that bitch took from us?”

“What else?”

“That bastard husband of hers didn’t deserve her. He didn’t know how to treat her. I was good to her. I gave her all the things he didn’t.”

“Why do you think that Dr. Drexler was the one who took all that from you?”

“She didn’t try hard enough. She gave up and let my Sylvia die.”

“Victor, what happened wasn’t Dr. Drexler’s fault.”

“Shut up.”

Continuing, Ryan said, “Don’t you see? She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I told you to shut up, bitch!”

She knew she was pressing her luck, but Ryan stood up and tried one more time. “She tried to save her, Victor. There was nothing she could do.”

When Victor whirled around, she had no time to react as he slammed the gun into Ryan’s already sore ribs, causing her to double over and fall to her hands and knees. As she felt the blow to the back of her head, Ryan collapsed onto the floor. The last thing she remembered before fading out was the smell of the musty carpet and the dark soles of the shoes standing before her.

“Where the heck is she, Tobi? She should have been here by now, shouldn’t she?” Grace asked, peering at her watch.

“That’s what I thought. She said she had to make a stop first but that she wouldn’t be too long.”

“That was almost two hours ago. Have you tried to call her?”

Nodding her head, Tobi responded, “Yes, I’ve tried twice with no answer. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this, Grace.”

“This isn’t like her at all. We should give Jake a call and see if he knows where she might be.”

“I’ll page him now.”

Tobi opened her cell phone, found Jake’s pager number in the contacts list, and waited for the beep. She entered Grace’s home phone number and hung up.

“I put in your number, Grace, just in case Ryan tries to call.”

“Okay, honey,” she said, patting Tobi’s hand. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation for this.”

“I hope so, but with everything that has been going on, I’m really worried.”

Tobi jumped at the sound of the ringing phone. She clasped her hands nervously while Grace answered it.

“Yes, hello, Jake. I’m really sorry to bother you, but Ryan hasn’t made it home yet, and I was wondering if you knew where she might be.”

Tobi stood and listened to Grace’s end of the conversation.

Not being able to contain her nervous energy, she paced around the living room.

“Okay, yes, we’ll see you in just a bit.” Grace hung up the phone and turned toward Tobi. “Jake said Ryan left the same time he did, and as far as he knew, she was heading home.”

Tobi felt almost dizzy as her heart rate quickened. Whatever stop Ryan had to make was the reason she wasn’t home.

“Honey, sit down. You’re white as a ghost. Jake is on his way over.” Grace led her to the couch where Tobi sat down heavily.

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to go fix us some coffee. I’ll be right back, honey.”

Turning on her heel, Grace disappeared into the kitchen.

Where are you, Ryan?
The sinking feeling Tobi felt in her stomach did nothing to alleviate her fears. She just prayed that Jake had some idea of what was going on, or where Ryan might be.

“Can you get that, Tobi?” Grace asked, hearing the knock at the front door. Tobi opened the door to see Jake standing there with Tim in tow.

“Hi, Jake, come on in. Hi, Tim.”

“Hey kiddo,” Jake said as he walked in and closed the door.

Tim was as tall as Jake was but not as muscular. They were a striking couple together, and standing between them, Tobi felt small, yet very safe.

Tim wrapped his arm around Tobi and pulled her close. “How are you doing, honey?”

Close to tears, she hugged Tim and replied, “I’m okay. I just wish I knew what was going on.”

Jake took a seat on the couch. “How long ago did she call?”

Grace walked back into the living room and handed Jake and Tim a mug before sitting down next to Tobi and handing her one.

“It’s been over two hours.”