After Lila was stabilized, Hanna and Jeff watched as the EMTs loaded the woman onto a gurney and wheeled her out to the ambulance.
Hanna shook her head. “Thank God she’s in good hands. Now I can breathe again and focus on Jesse.”
An officer entered the camper and took a seat at the table. “I’m Officer Todd Owens, and I’m going to need a statement from both of you.” He tipped his chin at Hanna. “Let’s start with you. Tell me everything you know.”
“I don’t have a lot of firsthand information, only what was explained to me by my boyfriend and Jeff.”
Todd frowned. “Where’s your boyfriend now? I didn’t meet anyone other than you two.”
“I don’t know. He told me to stay here and do what I could for Lila. I’m a veterinarian, and although I operate on animals, it’s still the same basic skills to stop bleeding that it would be for humans. There wasn’t much in the camper to work with, though.”
She waited as Todd wrote down that information.
He looked up. “Go on.”
“Okay, so Jesse and I came here because he loaned Lila his phone earlier to call 911. From what I was told, her husband has a horrible temper and beats her. Jesse stopped by because things from our campsite had gone missing over the course of the day, and he was asking other campers about it. I forgot to mention that he’s a Chicago homicide detective, and I guess detecting is in his blood.” Hanna took a sip of water and continued. “Jesse stopped by Jeff’s place, talked to him, and then said he was going to continue on.”
Jeff took his turn. “I advised him to avoid coming here. I told him the guy was bad news.”
“But he didn’t heed your warning?”
“Apparently not.”
Todd looked at Hanna. “Then what?”
“Then Jesse confronted Leon.”
“Leon? That’s the man’s name who’s residing here?”
“Yes. I don’t have a last name, but I assume the people at the park registration counter would know. From what Jesse told me, Leon attacked him and tried to strangle him. Lila coldcocked him with a frying pan, essentially saving Jesse’s life. That’s why Jesse gave her his phone to use. He told her to lock herself in the camper, call 911, and have the police take Leon away. I don’t have any idea how that went so wrong.”
“Why didn’t Jesse stick around?”
“Bandit here went after Leon when he attacked Jesse. Leon kicked at him and scared him off into the woods. After Lila knocked out Leon, Jesse came back to our camp and picked me up so we could try to find Bandit. An hour or so went by with no luck. Jesse wanted me to call his phone to make sure Lila was okay and that Leon had been arrested, but I realized I must have left my phone in the tent. We came here so he could check on Lila himself and get his phone back, and that’s how we discovered her. Jesse’s phone was gone, so he went to our camp to find mine and make the call to 911. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
“And that was how long ago?”
Hanna wiped her eyes. “It’s going on two hours now. I know something happened to him. Jesse would never leave me alone in a situation like this.”
Officer Owens gave Hanna and Jeff a concerned look. “Do you think Leon could have ambushed him to finish off what he’d started?”
Hanna began to cry. “I was so focused on Lila, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but yes, that’s entirely possible. I haven’t met the man, but between what Jeff and Jesse have said, he sounds dangerous and volatile.”
“And Jesse is a City of Chicago homicide detective?”
Hanna nodded. “I need your help. We have to find him.”
“Okay. Do either of you know what kind of vehicle Leon drives?”
“No, but Jesse mentioned it being a truck.”
“Thanks, and I’ll get the make and model from the park registration people.”
“Can we take a look around our campsite?” Hanna asked.
“Absolutely. Jeff, do you have anything more to add?”
“Only that from what I’ve heard of Leon’s ranting, the guy is either on something, or he has a hatred for everyone. I haven’t met him face-to-face, and I deliberately avoided that. I was even going to move to a campsite farther away from him in the morning.”
“What’s your site number, Jeff?”
“Fourteen-G.”
“Okay, if we need anything more, we’ll be in touch.” Todd turned to Hanna. “Let’s head out.”
“I’m not sure how to get there, but we’re on the west side of the lake in site Twelve-C.”
After Jeff gave Owens the directions, Hanna turned to him. “I appreciate your help so much, Jeff. Thank you, and I’ll keep you posted.”
Hanna closed the squad car’s back door behind Bandit and climbed into the passenger seat, and Officer Owens drove away.
After they rounded the lake, Hanna pointed at the site on her left. “That’s it right there. My Explorer isn’t here, though.”
“That’s what Jesse drove off in?”
“Yes. It’s the vehicle we brought here for our camping trip.”
“Okay, I’m going to put out a BOLO on it, but first, I need the plate number, year, and color.”
“It’s a 2018 dark-red Ford Explorer. The plates are the standard Illinois design, and the number is 4703-AK2. No dings, dents, or bumper stickers on the vehicle either.”
“That’s good, thanks. I’ll call it in, then we’ll check the tent and surrounding area and head to the registration building. I need to put out a BOLO for that Leon character’s vehicle, too, as well as an APB on him for attempted murder.”
Hanna used the flashlight she’d taken from the trailer, and Todd used the squad car’s side-mounted spotlight to scan the area, but they came up empty. Jesse wasn’t at their site or the adjacent ones. The two checked along the water’s edge and saw nothing.
“Searching the area at night won’t be easy, Miss Bradley, and with the vehicle missing, it’s leaning more toward him not being here.”
Hanna continued the back-and-forth motion with the flashlight. “I know.”
Bandit seemed preoccupied with the tent. He sniffed, scratched, and pawed at the mat in front of the entrance.
“What’s going on with your dog?”
“I’m not sure.” Hanna aimed the flashlight where Bandit was pawing. “Officer Owens, it looks like blood!”
He pointed his flashlight in that direction as he walked to Hanna’s side. “Check out that branch lying next to the tent.” He aimed his flashlight at the bark of a three-inch-thick branch that had fallen from one of the oaks. “That looks like blood too. Let’s go to the registration building, find out what we can on that Leon guy, and then I have to make some calls. I need more officers out here as well as a couple of search dogs. I’ll see what my sergeant suggests.”
After speaking with the person in the registration building—who gave him Leon’s last name, truck model, and plate number—Officer Owens had what he needed to issue the BOLO for the Dodge Ram and the APB for Leon Stanley, who, according to the database, had already spent time behind bars.
Outside, Todd and Hanna took seats on the oversized porch lined with rocking chairs and picnic tables, and he made the call to his sergeant.
Five minutes after he began the story, Todd hung up and placed his phone on the table. “My sergeant is sending out a few more officers and two search dogs with their handlers. If Jesse is anywhere in the general area, they’ll find him.”
Hanna stared at her folded hands. “What if he’s in the lake?”
Todd went silent for a minute. “Let’s just hope he isn’t. The dogs could still follow his scent to the water’s edge if that was the case.”
“Officer Owens?”
“Call me Todd.”
She smiled. “Can you do me a favor, Todd?”
“Sure, name it.”
“Will you look up the number for Jesse’s commander? His name is Bob Lutz, and I have to tell him what’s going on.”
“You bet. Do you know what district they work at?”
“The second.”
“Good. I’ll check that precinct’s website, and his contact information should come up. Somebody will find a way to connect us to him.”
Hanna waited as Todd went through the process. After getting an officer on the line, Todd explained who he was and that he needed to speak to Commander Lutz right away. “He is? At ten o’clock on a Saturday night? Sure, I’ll hold.” Todd gave Hanna a thumbs-up. “The commander is actually at the precinct. Somebody named Phil Chase went to get him.”
“He’s one of their weekend detectives.”
Todd handed his phone to her. “The next person to speak should be the commander.”
“Thanks, Todd. You’ve been such a huge help.” When Lutz came on the line, Hanna’s eyes instantly welled up. “Commander Lutz, it’s Hanna Bradley, Jesse’s girlfriend. Sir, Jesse’s gone missing, and I think he’s been abducted. Yes, the officer is still with me. Okay, hang on.” Hanna handed the phone to Todd. “He wants you to put it on Speakerphone.”
“Sure. Commander, this is Officer Todd Owens. I’m here with Hanna.”
“Officer Owens, what the hell is going on? Hanna said Jesse went missing?”
“That’s correct, sir. There seems to be a very volatile camper here that Jesse had a confrontation with earlier today. The man tried to strangle Jesse and then beat his own wife within an inch of her life. Now that man is missing, and so is Detective McCord.”
“Jesus! What’s the man’s name?”
“Leon Stanley, and the criminal database shows he spent a nickel term for assault, not only on his wife but plenty of other people too. Seems he was selling steroids as well, and his roid rage makes him not only powerful but a loose cannon. Jesse’s life could be in real jeopardy.”
“Hanna?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When did you see Jesse last?”
“Around dusk. That’s when he drove back to our campsite in my Explorer to get my phone. He said he’d be back in ten minutes, and I haven’t seen him since.”
Todd took over. “Commander, we’ve checked the campsite and found blood near the tent. We don’t have proof that it’s human blood yet, but the detective and the Explorer are missing, and so is his cell phone. Hanna’s phone is missing too. I’ve spoken with my sergeant, and we have more officers and two search dogs on the way.”
“Good enough. So, where exactly are you, and how far is it from Chicago?”
“We’re at Giant City State Park, and it’s south of the city by a good five and a half hours.”
Lutz groaned before he responded. “Guess this wasn’t the vacation you had in mind, right, Hanna?”
“No, sir, it definitely wasn’t.”
“Okay, I have to inform my team, get another commander to cover my position, and I’ll pick up Jesse’s partner, Frank Mills. We’ll head out as soon as we can, and I imagine we’ll arrive around daybreak.”
“Commander, if you’d like to call my number when you’re close, I can meet you at the main entrance and take you to their campsite.”
“That’s a good plan, and Hanna, you can’t stay there. Sounds like it may be a crime scene.”
“I won’t. If they have an empty cabin here, I’ll stay in that.”
“Okay, then we’ll see you in the morning.”
Todd ended the call and walked with Hanna into the building. “Let’s get you settled in. There’s nothing you can do other than try to get some rest. Like the commander said, that campsite could be a crime scene, and we’ll have to tape it off as a precaution, anyway.”