We raced to Whitefish Bay after Cam called back with the exact address of J.T.’s condo. Spelling hit the brakes, and our cruiser squealed to a stop at the curb behind the police squad car that had arrived ahead of us. The main entry to the building led us into a small vestibule with a security door beyond that. On the wall next to the door was an intercom with buttons labeled with each resident’s unit number. I pressed the button for J.T.’s unit and held it down, but no one answered. With my hands cupped on each side of my face, I peered through the glass into the building’s lobby.
“The elevator is opening,” I said.
The officer assigned to conduct the wellness check stepped out of the elevator and walked toward us. I held out my badge, and he nodded then opened the door and allowed us to pass through.
“Agents.”
I checked his name tag before speaking, made the quick introductions, then asked Officer Carson what he had found upstairs.
“Nothing, ma’am. I knocked on the door of unit ten a number of times and heard a dog whimpering on the other side, but that was about it.”
The outer door opened, and Cam, Val, and Maria entered the building. Spelling pulled the handle of the security door and let them pass through.
“What’s the word?” Cam asked.
Spelling responded, “Does anyone know what Julie drives?”
We shrugged as we looked from face to face.
“I’ll find out, sir,” Maria said. She stepped away and called the tech department.
“Do you have a battering ram in your car, Officer Carson?” Spelling asked.
“I sure do, Agent Spelling.”
“We may need it, and get your boss on the phone. We can use more officers out here since we have no idea what to expect.”
“Yes, sir.”
Spelling directed his focus back to us. “Okay, as soon as Maria has Julie’s car type, I want”—he pointed—“Cam and Val to check every vehicle in the parking garage. You’re looking for J.T.’s black Toyota Corolla and whatever Julie drives. It shouldn’t take too long.” Spelling turned and counted the number of units listed on the intercom. “There are only eighteen units in this complex.”
Maria returned. “Julie drives a 2012 burgundy Fiesta.”
“Okay, go. The rest of us are heading upstairs.”
Officer Carson propped the door open with a decorative stone from the flower bed along the sidewalk then left and got the ram from the trunk of his squad car. He said he’d make the call to his precinct and wait for the other unit to arrive.
Maria and I boarded the elevator to the second floor, and Spelling took the staircase. We reached the condo at the same time, and I dialed J.T.’s phone while Spelling dialed Julie’s. The only sound that came from the other side of the door was the nasal bulldog whines from Ralph.
“Sir, there aren’t any phones ringing in the unit, and how are we going to ram the door with Ralph whimpering on the other side?”
Spelling raked his hand through his hair as he paced. “All right. Call a locksmith, then, but he better be here in under ten minutes. We don’t have time to wait around.”
I made the call to the nearest locksmith. From the map on my phone, it looked as if his business was only a mile from the condo. He said he was on his way. I hung up and told Spelling we had only a few minutes to wait. The elevator dinged, and when the doors parted, Cam and Val stepped out.
“Anything?” Spelling asked.
Cam shook his head. “Neither vehicle is in the garage.”
“Their phones didn’t ring in the condo and their cars aren’t in the garage, so where the hell are they?”
“I don’t know, but maybe there’s something inside the condo that could help,” I said.
Spelling tipped his head at Maria. “Go downstairs and wait for the locksmith and check on Officer Carson. We’re going to need somebody to start combing the grounds and knocking on doors. Somebody had to have seen something.”
The locksmith, a Mr. Brian Joost from Locks “R” Us, arrived a few minutes later. Maria escorted him to the second floor, where she made the introductions.
“Okay,” Mr. Joost said. “It looks like we have a doorknob lock as well as a dead bolt, but there’s nothing unique about either one. They’re run-of-the-mill locks anyone can buy from a big-box home improvement store.”
Spelling gave him the eyeballs. “How long is this going to take?”
Mr. Joost knelt on the floor, eye level to the knob. He pulled several tools from his work case and inserted them in the key slot. With a few turns and jiggles, the door was unlocked. “Just about that long, sir.” He repeated the process with the dead bolt, then he stood and turned the knob. “The door is open.”
Spelling carefully turned the knob, covering his hand with the bottom of his sports coat. He jerked his chin at Val before continuing. “Settle up with Mr. Joost and get some gloves from Officer Carson.”
“On it, boss.” Val left with the locksmith at her side.
Spelling inched the door open carefully since Ralph waited on the other side. “We need to secure this dog.”
Cam slipped his hand through Ralph’s studded collar and allowed Spelling to squeeze past the door. Cam heaved the solid, fifty-pound dog up into his arms then looked helplessly toward me. I shrugged and pulled out my sidearm, following close at Spelling’s back. Maria was directly behind me. It took only a few minutes to clear the two-bedroom, two-bath unit. I holstered my weapon.
“All good?” Cam asked as he waited in the hallway with Ralph in his arms.
“Yeah, come on in, and”—I pointed at the balcony—“put Ralph out there for now so he stays out of our way. He’ll be fine. He’s too fat to fall through the rungs, anyway.”
I picked up the water bowl and cushion and set both outside in the shade. I closed the slider at Ralph’s back with a dish towel in my hand. “Where are those gloves?”
Val walked in right as I finished my sentence. “Here, I have plenty. The officers’ downstairs are walking the perimeter of the complex to see if anything looks out of place.”
Spelling panned the space as we stood against the kitchen island. The unit was set up with a common center area consisting of a living room, casual dining room, kitchen, and a large balcony. The two bedrooms were on opposite ends of the unit, each with a full master bath. A powder room stood next to the louvered hallway doors where the stacked washer and dryer were located.
Spelling tried to roll the anxiety out of his neck. “Okay, let’s do a slow and methodical search of this condo. From the way the unit looks, there wasn’t a struggle here or a forced entry to get inside. It appears that they left on their own accord, but we still need to do a thorough search. We’re looking for anything that might tell us where J.T. and Julie disappeared to. Look for day planners, wall calendars, and random notes. Val and Maria, knock on every door on this floor and see what the neighbors know.”
Spelling, Cam, and I began going through every loose piece of paper, including mail stacked on the countertop next to the barstools as well as paperwork that sat alongside the home computer on the desk in J.T.’s bedroom.
It felt odd to be going through J.T.’s personal belongings, as if I were intruding on my partner’s private property. But in that moment, I was an FBI agent and nothing more. Julie and J.T. needed to be found. We couldn’t come up with a logical explanation for their disappearances or why neither of them answered their phones.
Thinking about the phones gave me an idea that I suggested to Spelling. “Why don’t we ping their phones? Locating them or at least triangulating the general area they’re in would tell us definitively if Julie and J.T. are somewhere together.”
“Do it. Call Joe and give him the phone numbers. Get him started on that immediately and tell him to call me the minute he has something.”
With a nod, I dialed our tech department and stepped out to the balcony to talk. Ralph lay on his cushion, fast asleep and snoring. His pink tongue rested against his paw. I smiled briefly and wondered whether I would make a good dog owner. They seemed like lovable pets.
“Tech department, Joe speaking.”
“Joe, it’s Jade.”
“How’s the search coming?”
“So far, we’ve got nothing. J.T.’s condo is empty with no signs of foul play. We need you to ping their phones.”
“Okay, shoot.”
I rattled off J.T. and Julie’s phone numbers. “Spelling wants you to call him directly as soon as you know something.”
“Copy that. I’ll be in touch.”
I hung up and pocketed my phone then scanned the outdoor area. To my right, several officers walked the surface parking lot, their eyes to the ground. Below, I saw Officer Carson searching the shrubbery near the patio of a first-floor condo. I called out to him, “Anything look amiss?”
He shielded his eyes and looked up. “Nothing yet, Agent Monroe.”
“Has anyone searched the parking garage?”
“That’s the next place we’re going to check, ma’am. We were waiting for the agents to clear it first.”
“Okay, keep us posted.” I stared across the street and took in the view. Several blocks of single-family homes faced the condo complex. I leaned over the balcony and looked to see where the driveway from the garage exited onto the street. A day care center stood on the next block to my right with two roof-mounted cameras facing in opposite directions down the street. I looked over the railing again then back to the camera that faced my way. From where that camera was placed, it would definitely catch every car going in and out of the parking garage. I opened the slider and called Spelling to come take a look.