Across State Lines Page 3

  “You still working?”

  Frankie smiled despite herself. How did he always know? Instead of texting, she hit “send” on her phone. Her call was answered on the first ring.

  “Why are you still up?” asked Jim Craven, the FBI agent Frankie and Mia met while working on the rape case involving an organized crime syndicate. He and Frankie had become fast friends during the investigation.

  “Got a late call to the hospital for a new case. More to the point, what are you still doing up?”

  “After we left you and Mia, Fitz and I got called in on a wire. Want to grab a beer?”

  Frankie hesitated and then said, “Yeah, I do. Kelly’s in Westport?”

  “I think that might be the only place still open. See you in 10?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Frankie climbed into her Jeep. She navigated the empty streets with the skill of someone who had spent the better part of a decade working them. Frankie tried to clear her mind with loud music, pulling into the parking lot across from Kelly’s Pub just as Jim was getting out of his SUV.

  Jim spotted Frankie slipping out of the Jeep and called out. The faintest hint of his southern accent came through with the sound of her name.

  “What’s the good word?” Frankie asked as the pair walked to the bar for a beer.

  “Usual?” Jim asked, looking down on Frankie’s petite frame.

  “Yep. I’ll grab us a table.”

  To the bartender, Jim said, “Two Bud Light bottles.”

  Dropping the frosty bottle in front of Frankie, Jim asked, “What kind of case did you catch? I’m surprised Mia isn’t with you.”

  “Kidnap. Rape. We got the call at the end of the shift. I told her to go on home. We didn’t have a scene, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’m meeting the victim tomorrow to get a formal statement. We’ll try to track down the scenes after. I was actually going to call you. Guess what she had on her forearm?”

  “A rose tattoo?”

  Frankie nodded as she took a drink of her beer.

  “Do you think it’s related to the other cases?”

  “Possibly, but I’m not a huge believer in coincidences. Did you and Fitz get any more information on the dead girls from the hotel?”

  Taking a swig of his beer, Jim shook his head. “We were hoping to get something off the wire, but it came up cold tonight. Did Tessa give you anything?”

  “Not really. She knew the girls, but when we brought up the tattoo, she said she didn’t want to talk anymore. It was bizarre. She knows something but is either too scared to talk or too angry at me.”

  “If she wouldn’t talk to you, you can be damn sure she won’t talk to me. I think she might be the only female who’s immune to my southern charm.” Jim drew out the words southern and charm, letting his North Carolina drawl come out.

  Frankie laughed and said, “You might be right about that.”

  “I almost didn’t message you. I kinda thought you’d be at the counselor’s since the kids are with Sophie.”

  Frankie took a long drink of her beer then began peeling at the label on the cold, wet bottle. With the label off the beer, she took another drink, returning it to the sticky high-top table.

  “Not tonight.”

  Jim opened his mouth to say something, but sensing Frankie didn’t want to talk about it, he shut it and fidgeted with his own bottle. After a moment, he asked, “Want another?”

  “I’ll get this round,” Frankie said as she slipped off the stool.

  Chapter 9

  Frankie awoke to her cell phone, beeping with an incoming text message. Looking at the message, she yelled at the screen, “Screw you!”

  Her golden retriever, Isabelle, looked up from where she was lying as if to ask, “What’s wrong?”

  Rubbing the top of Isabelle’s head, Frankie said, “Sorry Izzie. I didn’t mean to startle you.” She looked at the clock beside the bed and asked, “Want to go for a run?”

  Isabelle jumped off the bed and started prancing around the room. Frankie got dressed, laced up her sneakers, and grabbed the leash. With an earbud in one ear, blasting Daughtry and others like him, Frankie took off to run in her neighborhood. Her pace started slow, but eventually her steps fell in time to the beat of the music. Forty-five minutes later she was filling Isabelle’s bowls and getting ready for work.

  Frankie was about to step into the shower when her phone beeped with another incoming text message. Realizing she had never answered Derek, she picked the phone up to see what the latest message said. But the message wasn’t from him. It was from Craven.

  “Emergency trip back home. Will call or text when I can.”

  Frankie quickly messaged back, “You okay? What happened?”

  “Granddad is in the hospital. Probably a stroke. I’m okay.”

  “Call if you need anything – travel safe.”

  “Thx.”

  While Frankie showered, she realized she forgot to ask Jim if he was flying or driving, although she suspected he was driving. Jim grew up in a small fishing village on the coast of North Carolina, and all his family still lived there. Frankie and her two children had vacationed there for years. She did not ever recall seeing Jim even though they later learned they had been frequent visitors of his mother’s bookstore.

  Thirty minutes later, Frankie was dressed and on her way into work. The day shift told her Heather had called three times. She wanted to know if they had found her car if they had arrested the men that attacked her, and if Frankie was ever coming into work.

  Frankie sighed. She had specifically told Heather she would not be at work until 3pm. This girl was going to be a handful. Frankie hoped she would have a few minutes to get settled before Heather called again. She also hoped Mia would be willing to go with her to the shelter.

  Chapter 10

  Frankie thanked the social worker that led her and Mia to a private room at the domestic violence shelter. No one from the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department had called or emailed Frankie about the case. Frankie made a note to try to call and find out who the case had been assigned to so they could collaborate on the investigation.

  Heather was sitting at a small table, fidgeting with the cross on her necklace. Shortly after they were seated, Alex, the victim advocate who had been at the hospital, was escorted into the room. Once she was seated, and pleasantries were exchanged, Frankie pulled out a digital recorder and laid it on the table.

  Hitting record on the device, Frankie said, “Heather, can you tell us, in detail, what happened to you?”

  Heather fidgeted in her chair. She looked from Frankie to Mia, then back to Frankie before asking, “What did the kit show?”

  Frankie sighed. It was a common question. Television made it look like evidence could be processed and results obtained in minutes. The reality was, the lab didn’t have the kit and may not for a few more days. And once they had the kit, it could be months before they had the results of the analysis.

  Frankie patiently said, “It will be a while before we have anything back from the lab. To be honest, it may be several months.”

  “What? Why?” Heather asked, exasperated.

  “The lab has a lot of evidence to process. Yours will be a priority, but it will still take a while. It will help if you tell us exactly what happened. Then we can tell the lab exactly what to look for.”

  A slightly mollified Heather said, “Okay. I just moved here a few weeks ago, and they put me in a room with this girl named Audrey. I thought we were friends, but after what happened, I’m not sure.”

  “Is Audrey still staying here?”

  “Yeah, but she’s gone right now. Her baby had a doctor’s appointment or

  something.”

  “Okay. Go on.”

  “Audrey said she wanted to go to a party, but she doesn’t have a car, and

  her boyfriend’s car isn’t running. She asked me if I’d take her to pick him up at his place and then I could go to the party too. Audrey told me they’d
give me money for gas, but they never did.”

  “Where was the baby?”

  “I think her mom took him, but I don’t know for sure. We left here at, like, 6 o’clock. It was early but we wanted to grab some food. She said her boyfriend would pay for it.

  “After we picked him up and got food, we went to a house party over in Kansas. I told Audrey I really wanted to hook up with a guy. She must have told her boyfriend because he gave me the phone number for this guy Corey. We started talking on the phone and he said he’d like to meet up. Corey wanted me to pick him up at his house, but I said I didn’t have enough gas. He said he’d give me gas money if I promised to drive him back home later that night.

  “I didn’t want to go by myself, so Audrey and her boyfriend rode with me to pick up Corey. This other guy William decided he wanted to ride along too. We went back to Missouri to pick him up and then drove back to the party. I asked him about gas money, but he said he’d put gas in my car when I took him back home.

  “When we got back to the house, Corey and I decided to stay in the car. We talked for a while then started making out. I was cool with it at first. We started to have sex. Everything was okay until he got weird. He wanted to do some stuff I didn’t want to do, so I told him to stop.” Heather’s voice caught, “But he wouldn’t stop and did what he wanted anyway.”

  “Do you know what Tubby’s real name is?” Frankie asked.

  “No. Everyone just called him Tubby which was a stupid nickname. He wasn’t fat or anything.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Corey got out, and I locked the doors and started my car. He got really mad and started yelling at me, saying I better not leave. When I put the car in drive he started hitting the car and making threats. I left and went to a friend’s house. Dude really scared me.

  “While I was at my friend’s house, Corey started texting and calling me. He was threatening me and saying he was going to kill me. Tubby and Audrey started texting me too. They kept asking me to come back to the party and pick them up. They said they didn’t have any way to get home. I wouldn’t answer Corey, but yesterday morning Audrey called me. She said she needed me to pick her up. She said her baby was sick and she needed to take him to the doctor. I told her I wasn’t coming back. Corey scared me and I didn’t want to see him again. I believed him when he said he’d kill me.

  “She called back a couple of times, and the last time she was crying. I asked if the guys were there and she told me they had all left. She said she was there by herself. Audrey acted like she was really upset. She told me her baby was really sick and she needed to get him to the doctor. I ended up giving in and went back to the apartment. When I got there, I stayed in the car and called Audrey. She didn’t answer her phone and I thought maybe she couldn’t hear it so I went up to the apartment door. I knocked on the door but Audrey didn’t answer. Corey answered the door and before I could say or do anything, he hit me. Like, in the face. With his fist. He hit me like I was a dude. I got really dizzy and fell down and when I tried to stand up, he hit me again. Then he grabbed me by the hair and drug me into a room and threw me onto the bed. I could hear Tubby and Audrey talking to someone in the living room, but I don’t know for sure who it was. Then I heard them leave. Corey raped me again and said if I was lucky he wouldn’t kill me.

  “When he was finished he left me lying there on the bed. I was crying and my whole body hurt. I was so scared. William came into the room next. I think he might have been who Audrey was talking to earlier, but I’m not sure. He tried to be nice, but I was still freaked out. He told me if I gave him head, he’d keep Corey from killing me.”

  The cadence in her voice was flat, but tears streamed down Heather’s rosy cheeks as she shared the details of her assault. She laid her arms on the table and began clenching and twisting her hands. Frankie caught a glimpse of the tattoo and jotted a note onto her notepad, reminding her to ask about it.

  “I did what William wanted me to do. When he was finished, Corey came back in and told William we were leaving. He held me by the hair and made me walk out to the car. Audrey and Tubby had come back to the apartment by then.

  “When we got to the car Corey opened the trunk. He told me to get in, but I told him no. I wasn’t going to get in there. But then he got this look…his eyes…they were cold and mean. He shoved me into the trunk. I kicked and did everything I could to keep him from getting me inside but he was stronger than me. He punched me again. Hard. Then he grabbed the tape and taped my hands and feet. He pushed me into the trunk and closed the lid.”

  Chapter 11

  Frankie watched Heather fidget in her seat and calmly talk about her attack. Frankie nodded in acknowledgment as Heather described being in the trunk of her car and then Corey’s threats to murder her and dump her body into the Missouri river.

  Mia was taking notes, and when Heather stopped to take a drink of water, she pushed the notepad towards Frankie. Nodding, she asked, “Do you think you could show us where he stopped and threatened you?”

  “Maybe. I’m not really familiar with the city, but I might be able to show you. I don’t think it was very far from Big Bruce’s house.”

  “Did you have a cell phone?”

  “Yeah. They took it from me when they shoved me into the trunk and never gave it back.”

  Frankie felt a small smile lift the corners of her mouth. Finally, a break. Not only could they find the locations where they took Heather, but if the phone was still on, they might be able to find the suspects.

  “Heather, can you excuse us for a second? I need to make a phone call to a friend who might be able to help us get your car back.”

  “Really? Like, seriously? Can I use the restroom while you make your call?”

  Frankie nodded.

  “Shit.”

  “What’s up?” Mia asked.

  “Craven’s on his way to North Carolina.” Frankie grabbed her phone and found Fitz in her contacts and pressed the call button. “But maybe Fitz will help.”

  Her call was answered on the first ring, “Hey Frankie, what’s up?”

  “Hey Fitz, do you think you could use some of your fancy equipment and try to find a phone?”

  “Hmm. Maybe. Whose is it?”

  “One of my victims. The suspects have her phone and her car. We were hoping to go up on it and find them.”

  “Do you know if the phone is still on?”

  “No. I’ll see if she can do a pre-text with them. Maybe they’ll answer, and we can figure out where they are.”

  “Give me about ten minutes, then text me her phone number. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks Fitz.”

  Frankie and Mia returned to the interview room just as Heather and Alex were taking their seats.

  “Heather, I need to see if you’d be willing to try something that might help us find your phone.”

  “Okay. Yeah, whatever you need.”

  “I’d like you to try and call them.”

  “What? Call them? Like actually talk to them? I don’t know if I can do it. Corey scares me. What if he finds out where I am? He can hurt me. He knows people. He said he’d have me killed.”

  “We can spoof our number and record the conversation. We will be here the entire time. He won’t be able to find you from this phone call. We might get lucky and get some admissions out of one of them. We also might be able to triangulate their location. The phone might not even be on, but it’s the one play we have right now.”

  Heather hesitated before saying, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Frankie grabbed the equipment and sent Fitz the information he needed. While waiting to hear back from Fitz, she explained the process to Heather.

  “The earpiece is going to plug into this digital recorder. You will put the earpiece next to your ear and hold the phone to that same ear. I’ll hit record as soon as you push call.”

  “Won’t the phone show up as a police department number?”

  “No. We
have the phone set to display a random number. It will dial this phone back if he doesn’t answer but tries to call. If he tries to call back after I turn the phone off, it will come up as a disconnected phone.”

  “What do I say to him?”

  “Ask if he still has your car. Ask why he had to rape you if all he wanted was your car. Ask why he had to duct tape your hands and feet then shove you in the trunk. Ask anything that will get him to admit to his wrong-doing.”

  “Okay.”

  Before Heather could ask any more questions, Frankie received a text message from Fitz saying they were ready.

  “Are you ready Heather?”

  Heather took a deep breath. She exhaled and then said, “Yes.”

  Chapter 12

  Heather entered her number into the phone and waited. She stared at the face of the phone for a moment before she hit “send.” One ring was followed by a second, then a third. She was about to disconnect the call when a female voice said, “Hello?”

  Surprised to hear a woman’s voice answering her phone, Heather wasn’t sure what to say.

  Frankie mouthed, “Say something.”

  Heather said, “Hello? Who is this?”

  “You called me. Who are you?”

  “Is Corey there?”

  “Who is Corey?”

  “The dude that took my phone. The phone you have.”

  “Look, bitch, I don’t know no Corey. My dude gave me this phone this morning.”

  Heather started to say something in response and realized the woman had hung up.

  Frankie turned off the recorder and called Fitz.

  “Were you able to get a location?”

  “Barely. Looks like the address is 6923 Wabash. When are you and Mia going to roll out? Want some help?”

  “Give us an hour to wrap things up. I’d like to drive her to the area to see if she can identify the house she was taken to. Can I call you when we are ready to go over there? We’re already in the area.”

  “I’ll start heading towards Metro Patrol. Meet me there when you are done.”