Against her better judgment, Tommy thought she should touch base with Detective Kelly about what she’d learned. She was probably going to need his help. He acted ultra tough, but she sensed that deep inside, he was probably a big softie.
Straightening her white eyelet skirt and tucking in her pink tee shirt, Tommy tried to step lightly in her brown cowboy boots as she crossed the marble floor of the downtown precinct, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. Fat chance of that. Every secretary lifted her eyes to watch Tommy’s progress. She was hoping to try the door back to the detectives without announcing her presence, but she’d blown that.
Damn, I’m about as sneaky as a charging rhinoceros.
The receptionist, who was wearing a headset, raised her eyebrow at Tommy. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m here to see Detective Kelly.”
The woman frowned. “Is he expecting you?”
“Uh, not exactly.”
“I’ll try him,” the woman said reluctantly, picking up her phone, “but I’m not sure he’s in.”
“Thanks.” Tommy’s smile was not returned.
She heard some commotion behind her as a group of cops walked in, carting fast food bags, and sodas. Kelly was in the group. Tommy raised her arm but he’d already seen her. Saying something to the other cops, he headed her way.
“Tommy St. James.” He drew out her name.
“Detective Kelly.”
Their eyes met and Tommy quickly looked away.
“Who are you here to pester now?” Kelly said with a drawl.
“Why you, kind sir.” Tommy did a little curtsy.
“That’s what I thought. Come on back.”
“Can we go somewhere a little more private?”
Kelly raised his eyebrow and Tommy blushed. Seeing the flush race across her cheeks, he immediately adopted a professional tone when he answered.
“Sure,” he said. “The conference room okay?”
Tommy made a face.
“My car?”
She nodded.
“Give me two seconds,” he said. He disappeared into the inner offices. Tommy picked up the paper. She re-read Parker’s story in the News. Parker cited several anonymous sources saying that investigators were looking at a possible connection between Jason Carter’s girlfriend and Belinda Carter’s death. However, police in Minneapolis refused to comment, denying that they were looking at anyone except Jason Carter. “This matter is still under investigation,” Chief Danny Meko said.
She read on. The story said investigators were also looking at reports that Belinda Carter had possibly kidnapped a small child before her death. Tommy couldn’t believe that the sentence made it into the story, but was relieved it was small and toward the end, almost as an afterthought. She was shocked it wasn’t in the headline and wondered why it had been buried in the story, but then when she read the chief’s comment about it underneath, she understood.
“Investigators are looking at whether Ms. Carter is connected to a missing child case, but whether the child is missing or not right now is unclear. The circumstances and situation is murky. We’re not even sure who exactly has custody of the kid so it is hard to say if he was ever missing. For all we know, the kid might have just returned to his home.”
Not missing? Returned home. What crap.
It was time to tell Detective Kelly what she knew.
When he returned, she met him with a grim smile.
“Can we take a drive?”
“Sure.”
He drove them to a Northeast Minneapolis parking lot up on a hill with a bird’s eye view of the city. A few other people had parked their cars there, eating their fast food lunch in their cars.
“So, spill it.”
“It’s Dewey Nelson. The chief’s cousin. He’s the guy I think has Rafael.”
Detective Kelly let out a breath of air.
“I know.”
Tommy looked over at him in surprise. “You know?”
“Yeah. Ever since you said the name Dewey, I’ve suspected it was that clown. He’s bad news. And it’s even worse than I thought because the chief isn’t going to go after his own cousin. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do since you dropped that name.”
“But would the chief break the law to protect a relative? A relative who might be a child kidnapper?”
“Well, let’s just say, I’m worried we’re not going to be able to touch that guy with a ten-foot pole.”
Kelly gripped the steering wheel in front of him and kept his gaze on the cityscape below.
“Okay. Here’s why. I took my suspicions to the chief. It did not go well. He told me there was no case. In fact, he told me to quit messing around worrying about an illegal immigrant and get to work making sure we have a rock-solid case against Jason Carter. But the thing is, Carter’s case has some holes in it. Even the D.A.’s office is starting to get skittish about it. There’s a chance the judge might not even bind him over for trial at his prelim.”
“Wow. That doesn’t happen very often.” Tommy watched a seagull ride the current circulating above the hilltop, wondering, as always, why seagulls lived in Minnesota.
“No, it doesn’t. And if it does, it’s going to make the police department look very, very bad. That’s the last thing the chief wants. If that happens, some heads are going to roll. I’m sure I’m in line.”
“Have you guys looked at Carter’s girlfriend?” Tommy remembered the photo of the Italian-American woman.
Kelly looked at her and swore. “I’ve already told you way too much. I could get fired just for telling you what I just did.”
“You don’t have to worry. I won’t say anything.”
“I know,” he said. “I guess that’s why I feel I can talk to you.”
Tommy scrunched her face in thought. “Okay, what about this, then. What if Nelson not only kidnapped Rafael, but also killed Belinda for taking Rafael away from him? Then you would solve that problem, right? You could let Jason Carter go, but still have the killer in custody. Problem solved.”
“Maybe.” Kelly turned to look at her, thinking so hard he bit his lower lip.
“Not maybe. Case closed, right?” She said.
“Okay. But it would make the chief look like an idiot. And that’s the case even if the murderer wasn’t his cousin. It’s just a bad deal all the way around.” He turned back and gave the steering wheel a light punch of frustration.
“It’s even more complicated,” he said. “When you told me the first name, I figured it was Nelson so I did some digging. Apparently, not very covertly. Within five hours, an FBI agent pulled me out of a meeting. She told me that I better keep my nose away from Nelson. He’s got some special immunity or something. He’s not only the chief’s cousin, but he’s also working with the government on a big bust. It has something to do with some illegal importing of defective medical devices or something. They aren’t going to go near him or he’ll blow their operation right out of the water. The federal agent did tell me that once they finish the op, I can have at him and she’d even help, but until then, he was off limits.”
“How long until the op wraps up?”
“June, most likely.”
“Three months? Rafael can’t be there that long. Nelson has a record for exposing himself to children. I have a feeling I know why he wanted to adopt Rafael. We’ve got to get Rafael the hell out of there as soon as possible.”
Kelly tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, gazing out at the skyline below him.
“You’re absolutely right.”