Across State Lines Page 9

  “Well, if something happens to the guy, she can’t say she wasn’t warned,” Frankie said as she dialed the jail and gave orders to release Kennedy.

  Frankie, Mia and Sergeant Baker walked into the office after a quick pizza just as the phone started to ring.

  “Sex Crimes, Detective Boden.”

  Frankie held her breath, silently praying they did not have a new crime scene.

  “Sure, here she is,” Mia put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and said, “Frankie, this is a detective from Wyandotte County. He says he wants to talk to you about the Whitaker case.”

  “Okay, send him over.” Frankie introduced herself to the detective and after about 5 minutes, said, “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

  “Are you going there or is he coming here?” Mia asked.

  “He’s coming here. I’ll make copies of everything we’ve done. Hopefully, this guy will be more eager than the original detective that responded.”

  “What was his name? Not that I really know anyone over there,” Mia laughed.

  “O’Brien. Kelly O’Brien.”

  Chapter 33

  Derek awoke in a cold sweat. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Over the years, since the helicopter crash that killed his best friend, he had nightmares. They had subsided for a while but then he got shot and technically had died. Since then the nightmares had come back with a vengeance. As a prosecutor who dealt mostly with homicides, he seemed to always be surrounded by death and after all these years, it was finally starting to take its toll.

  As if on cue, his phone vibrated with an incoming text.

  Hey babe. You still awake?

  I just woke up. You coming by?

  Finishing up now. See you in 20.

  Derek was relieved Frankie had texted. He needed to see her tonight. She would exorcise the demons that were haunting his dreams. Derek got out of bed and padded into the kitchen with Bear, his Labrador Retriever, following close behind. He picked up the bottle of Johnny Walker Black from the counter and poured two fingers into a glass. He finished it in one gulp then poured another. Lately, it was the only thing besides Frankie that helped him get back to sleep. After he unlocked the back door and turned on the porch light, he went into the living room and stoked the fire that had faded into embers.

  Derek stared as the flames began to rekindle, thinking about the dream that had awakened him. The blades of the helicopter whirred loudly in his ears. The crackle of the growing fire reminded him of the flames that engulfed the machine. But tonight, instead of watching the helo crash, he felt the piercing of the bullet into his own flesh and saw a woman lying dead at his feet. The tattoo of a rose caught his eye. Derek’s experiences were beginning to meld together. His mind was no longer treating them as separate events. It was as if he was being shot when the helo crashed. He was beginning to think he might be losing his mind. Sensing his unease, Bear laid his head on Derek’s knee. Without thinking, Derek began stroking the dog’s fur. With each stroke, he felt the stress begin to leave his body.

  Derek’s heart rate had returned to normal when he heard Frankie’s Jeep ramble up the driveway. A few moments later, she was opening the back door.

  “Hey there. I was surprised you were still up!” Frankie said with a smile.

  “I had just woken up a couple minutes before you texted.”

  Something about the look on Derek’s face caused the smile to fall from Frankie’s. She knew he had struggled with nightmares in the past but thought they had subsided.

  Sitting on his lap she asked, “Nightmare?”

  Derek wrapped an arm around her waist and ran his hands through her short, dark hair. His ebony eyes looked deeply into her blue ones. Without answering the question, he pulled her in and kissed her fully on the mouth. Frankie’s arms circled his neck and her fingers grazed the back of his head.

  As the flames licked the wood in the fireplace, Derek ran his fingers down the side of Frankie’s neck and whispered, “Let’s go to bed.”

  Frankie nodded and led Derek to the bed they had shared on so many nights. When they were both satisfied, they lay spent in one another’s arms.

  Letting her fingers trace the arm he had thrown across her body. Frankie asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Derek sighed and said, “No. I think I’ll sleep now.”

  With those words he pulled her body closer and nuzzled her, resting his chin on her head. As they lay there, as close as two people could be, Frankie sensed Derek was a million miles away.

  Chapter 34

  Frankie awoke before Derek and quietly slipped out from under his arm. She grabbed his t-shirt and went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee for him and make a diet Coke for herself.

  As the smell of coffee filled the kitchen, she scrounged around looking for something to cook for breakfast before going for a run. After turning on the radio, she pulled out some eggs and a slab of bacon. The sounds of Daughtry provided the perfect background to the sound of sizzling bacon and percolating coffee.

  Derek came into the kitchen, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed the top of her head just as Frankie was putting the bacon onto a plate.

  “Mornin’ sunshine! I was going to bring you breakfast in bed.”

  “How about we skip breakfast and just go back to bed?”

  Frankie smiled and laid the back of her head against Derek’s chest. “We need to eat a good breakfast so we can go for a run. We can take Bear with us on the Trail of Heroes.”

  Frankie enjoyed running the trail near the regional police academy. Normally they took both of their dogs, but this weekend her golden retriever Isabelle was at her mom’s with Tyler.

  “Do we have to? I think we can get a good cardio workout in right here,” Derek raised his eyebrows flirtatiously.

  Frankie plated the food, smiled, and said, “Yep. Let’s eat and get out there.”

  Reluctantly Derek took the plate and coffee and went to the table. Frankie grabbed her diet Coke and joined him.

  “Tell me about your latest case,” Derek said.

  Frankie sighed. “This one is a doozy. Three unidentified suspects. Well, technically, we only have one that is unknown now. At least two different jurisdictions.”

  “What is the other jurisdiction?”

  Frankie spent the next half hour telling Derek all she knew about the case. He listened intently, occasionally interrupting to ask questions. They frequently discussed cases they were working. They looked at things through different lenses; therefore, were able to give each other ideas they may not have considered on their own.

  “You ready to go for a run?” Frankie asked.

  “Honestly, I’d rather take you back to bed, but you seem to have your mind made up.”

  “You will thank me later.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were at the Trail of Heroes. The sun was climbing into a deep blue sky. They started off with a slow jog, gradually increasing their pace to a level that made it difficult to talk.

  When they were about 400 yards from the trail’s end, Frankie asked, “Race? Winner gets to shower first?”

  Derek smiled and said, “Go,” and took off.

  Frankie broke into a sprint, barely finishing after Derek. “Guess you get the shower first!”

  Derek grabbed her around the waist, pulled her body close to his, and said, “Maybe you can join me.”

  Chapter 35

  “Hey Sarge, anything going on?”

  “Nope. You ready for the phones?” asked Sergeant Kramer, supervisor for 1050 squad.

  “Yep. Have a good night.”

  “You too, Frankie.”

  Just as she parked the car, her phone began to ring, “Sex Crimes, Thomas.”

  “Detective Thomas, this is Officer Davis out of Metro. I’ve got something I need to run past you.”

  Frankie grabbed her notepad and pen from her bag. “Go ahead.”

  “We are out at the station with a woman who says she found a
video recorder hidden in the bedroom at her boyfriend’s house. She found a couple tapes and said there is some pretty disturbing shit on them. She has had consensual sex with him, but never consented to being videotaped. First, is this even a crime? And if it is, is this something you guys handle?”

  “It is a crime, and it is something our unit will handle. I’ll need you to take an Invasion of Privacy report. Did she happen to say what was on the videos that was so disturbing?”

  “Just that the women in the videos did not appear to know they were being videotaped, and at least one did not appear to be conscious.”

  “Is she still there with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I just got to the unit. Let me run upstairs and talk to my partner. I am meeting with a detective from Wyandotte County and a witness coming in about ten minutes. Can you ask the victim if she’d be willing to come to headquarters in about an hour? If not, Detective Boden and I’ll drive down to Metro after O’Brien leaves.”

  Frankie waited while Officer Davis talked to the woman.

  “She said she’ll drive downtown.”

  “Great. Tell her to park in the PD parking lot across from the Federal Building. Let her know she won’t get towed since it’s the weekend. She can come in through the basement. I’ll let the guard down there know she’s coming and to let her in. What’s her name?”

  “Keeley LaCorte. She’ll be down in about an hour.”

  “Okay. Does she have the videotapes?”

  “No, she said she was afraid to take them.”

  “Okay. Give me a call when you get a case report number.”

  “Will do.”

  Mia was parking her car when Frankie jumped out of the Jeep. The pair walked in together, stopping at the guard desk to tell them they had a Wyandotte County detective, Audrey, and a victim coming in.

  “What do you think the deal is with this one Frankie?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. Davis didn’t refer to the suspect as a ‘former’ boyfriend, so I don’t get the idea they are estranged.”

  “Should be a pretty easy case. Get her statement. Find the cameras. Arrest him. Easy peasy,” Mia said.

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Chapter 36

  Frankie smiled at Detective James O’Brien as they walked towards the elevator.

  “I’m sorry we have to take the jail elevator, but they close the others down over the weekend.”

  “It’s not a problem, Detective Thomas.”

  “Call me Frankie, please.”

  James O’Brien stood no more than a head taller than Frankie. His eyes were coal-black, his skin the color of dark chocolate and his smile infectious. During the ride to the 4th Floor, Frankie learned that he had just made detective and had only handled one other rape case.

  “Do you think this girl will talk to me?” O’Brien asked.

  “I think so. Especially if you let Alex be there with her. But why don’t you listen to the statement Mia and I got before you decide if you need to bring her in.”

  “That would probably work.”

  Frankie escorted O’Brien into the squad room and introduced him to Mia.

  “Audrey’s waiting in the interview room,” Mia said.

  Frankie looked to O’Brien and asked, “Want to sit in?”

  “How about I watch from here and let you two talk to her?”

  Frankie nodded and followed Mia into the interview room. They spent about fifteen minutes gathering demographic data before pulling out Heather’s photograph from the file folder.

  “Do you know this girl?”

  Audrey nodded.

  “Can you please sign your name on the photograph and tell us how you know her.”

  As she signed her name, Audrey said, “Heather is my roommate at the women’s shelter.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “A few weeks. She got there a few days after me. I don’t have a car, but she’s been helping me see my son and get to my appointments.”

  “Sounds like she’s been a good friend,” Mia said.

  Audrey didn’t say anything.

  “Tell us about the party in Kansas,” Frankie said.

  Chapter 37

  Audrey sat quietly and stared at her hands. After a few moments passed, she said, “A few days ago, my boyfriend told me there was going to be this house party over in Kansas. His car is brokedown so I asked Heather if she’d take me to pick him up. He said he’d take us to McDonald’s and put gas in her car if she’d do it. Girl was excited. She tried on different shirts and fixed her hair up. She talked non-stop while she was doing it too. Girl never shut her damn mouth.

  “We finally got in the car and started towards my man’s apartment. While we was driving, Heather told me she hoped there’d be a cute guy there. She said she wanted to feel a man tonight and hoped there’d be somebody up for that.”

  “What’s your man’s name and where is his apartment?”

  “Tubby. He lives off 87th Street.”

  “What’s his given name?” Frankie asked. Noticing the question in Audrey’s eyes, she clarified, “What did his momma name him?”

  “Lamont. I don’t know his last name.”

  “What happened after you picked Lamont up?”

  “We went to McDonald’s then to the party. Heather was disappointed that everyone there seemed to be with someone, so Tubby told her his boy might be willing to come over and keep her company. She talked to dude on the phone and then we all got in her car to go pick him up.

  “They seemed to hit it off okay, and when we got back to the apartment, they stayed in her car. I don’t know what happened in the car but after about thirty minutes, he came inside the apartment alone. He was mad as hell too. Said the bitch had left us there when she said she’d take us home the next day. That kind of freaked me out too. I had a visit scheduled with my son and she was supposed to take me.

  “I called her a few times, and when she finally answered, she said she wasn’t going to come back. Corey, that’s the dude we picked up, kept calling her too but she wouldn’t answer him either.”

  “What finally made her come back?” Frankie asked.

  “About 8:00 AM, I called her and begged her to come back. I was crying and told her I was going to miss my visit with my son. She knows how important those visits are to me. Heather asked if the guys were still there and I lied to her. I told her they had left so she would come back.”

  “What happened when she came back?”

  Audrey shared a similar story to what Heather and William had provided. Audrey and Tubby had left to pick up a package for Corey, and when they got back, they left in Heather’s car. She described the drive back to Missouri, glossing over the fact that Heather was in the trunk during the drive.

  “They let me out on 77th Street, and I walked to the shelter. I don’t know what they did after that. A few hours later, Heather came back to the shelter and asked the night staff to take her to the hospital.”

  “What was in the package you picked up for Corey?” Mia asked.

  Audrey glared at Mia, “I didn’t ask. I figured it was probably best if I didn’t know.”

  “Why didn’t you stop them from putting Heather in the trunk of her car?”

  Audrey squirmed in her chair and, at first, did not act like she was going to answer the question. Just as Frankie prepared to ask the question again, Audrey looked up with tear-filled eyes and said, “Because I didn’t want to end up in the trunk with her.”

  Chapter 38

  Audrey explained to Frankie and Mia that she was at the shelter because of an incident between her and Tubby. Tubby was her baby’s father, but he had accused her of stepping out on him and the baby belonging to someone else. During a fit of rage, he had hit her while she was holding the baby. She fell down and she and the baby ended up with a few bumps and bruises. The neighbors called the police and as a result, their baby went into foster care. Audrey had gone to the shelter because the Depar
tment of Family Services told her she had to get away from Tubby or she wouldn’t be able to get her son back.

  “But you are still seeing him?” Frankie asked.

  “We are trying to work things out. He said he’s sorry, and it was just momentary lapse. He says he’ll never hurt me again but that day…I couldn’t risk it. Corey is a bad dude and after seeing the way he was with Heather I know he would have thrown me in the trunk too.”

  “Can you help us get in touch with Tubby?”

  Audrey gave it some thought before saying, “I can give you his number, but that’s it. He said he was moving from the house where his momma lives. She told him she was tired of his stuff. He pretty much stays wherever a friend will let him crash.”

  “Is there anything else you think is important for us to know?”

  “Will they know I talked to you?”

  “We won’t tell them, but if this goes to court, it will likely come out,” Frankie explained.

  Audrey nodded then got up to leave the room. Mia escorted her to the elevator and out of the building while Frankie returned to the squad room to talk to O’Brien.

  “You guys going to charge her with conspiracy?” O’Brien asked.

  “I don’t know. I am trying not to judge her, but damn, with friends like her who needs enemies?”

  O’Brien nodded.

  “Do you want us to call you when we get the other two in custody? We can interrogate them together, or I can burn you copies of the video,” Frankie said.

  “Please give me a call. If I’m not out on anything else, I’d like to come and at least observe. Have any of the lab results come in yet?”

  “No. We put a rush on them, but it will still probably take a few days.”

  “Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?”