Chapter 7

The eight of us piled into the elevator and stood against the walls. Val pushed the button for the garage level, and the doors closed. With a slight jerk, the elevator began its descent two more floors to the garage. Once the elevator settled at the bottom floor, the doors opened, and we exited into the darkened parking space. Even with the lights on, the garage was dim, and anything could be missed.

“We used our flashlights, Agent Spelling, and did a thorough search. We even looked under the few cars that are still parked inside.”

“Understood, Officer Carson. Show us what you found.”

“Sure thing, sir.” Carson took several steps to the left of the elevator and pointed at the ground. “We found an earbud where that marker is.”

“An earbud?”

Carson shined the beam of light to the small orange marker on the floor. An earbud lay on its side next to it. The parking space was indicated by a large number three in white paint. Every spot in the garage was marked by a number.

Spelling turned to Val. “Go back upstairs and open that file cabinet in J.T.’s bedroom. One of the folders inside that cabinet had Deed typed across the tab. See if there are parking spaces indicated with the paperwork that goes to his unit.”

“On it, boss.” Val entered the elevator, and the doors closed at her back.

I knelt down and took several pictures of the earbud and where it sat within that parking spot.

“We found a few stomped cigarette butts scattered throughout the garage. Don’t know if they’re related to each other since they’re different brands, but we marked all of them, anyway,” Officer Rankin said.

Cam tipped his head, and with the officers, we walked to each marker. I snapped pictures of each cigarette and its location within the garage.

“Anything else?” Spelling asked.

“You bet, sir, and this one is substantial.”

I gave Cam a concerned sideways glance as he scratched his chin.

Carson knelt at the last marker and pointed. “Take a look at that.”

Each of us knelt down at the rectangular, two-inch-long pin on the floor. The backside had the typical pin clasp attached to it. We took two steps to the front and knelt again. Julie H.— Radiology Department was embossed across the face of the pin.

“Son of a bitch, this garage is probably a crime scene,” I said. “If that was J.T.’s earbud on the floor, then maybe his phone is missing too. That could be why he didn’t pick up and probably why we can’t get through to either of them. The likelihood of J.T. and Julie having possession of their phones anymore is slim.”

Spelling began calling out orders. “Cam, organize things with the Whitefish Bay Police Department. Get this garage sealed off. Nobody except the crime lab comes in or out, and get them here immediately.”

“I’m on it, sir.”

“Carson, get your superior out here. We need officers on-site to keep the residents out and to usher them through the front doors only. Until further notice, everyone has to park in the surface lot.”

“What about the cars inside the garage?” Maria asked.

“Too late. They aren’t getting moved until this garage has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb.” Spelling pointed at the dumpsters at the far end of the garage. “For all we know, the phones may be in there. Everything is getting searched again and printed, and somebody is going dumpster diving today too.” Spelling hollered to Carson before he was out of earshot. “Get somebody to bring portable floodlights.”

Val returned from the condo and approached us. “J.T.’s parking spot is number three, and Julie’s”—she looked down at the marker in front of us—“is number twelve.”

“Something falling from both of them right as they reached their cars is far from coincidental. It sounds like an ambush to me. Jade?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go downtown and get Joe started on that videotape. There has to be something on it that you missed. Call him and let him know you’re on your way.”

“I’m on it.” Spelling handed me the keys to the cruiser, and I took off.

The drive to our downtown FBI headquarters would normally take fifteen minutes, but since it was lunchtime, I knew that it could be closer to a half hour. I called Joe as I drove.

“Hey, Joe, it’s Jade. I bet you were about to take your lunch break, weren’t you?”

He chuckled. “Something is telling me I may have other plans.”

“Sorry, it’s urgent. We think the parking garage is a crime scene, and I have video footage from a day care center across the street that aims right at the complex. There has to be some kind of clue on it that I’ve missed. Even zooming the images in closer would be a huge help.”

“Sure, no sweat. I’ll just grab a sandwich and a soda out of the vending machine. Want anything?”

“Whatever you’re getting for yourself is fine with me too. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes as long as the traffic doesn’t back up.” I clicked off and thought about J.T.

Where the hell are you, partner, and why has somebody kidnapped you and Julie?

I thought back to the clues in the garage and the video footage. Julie was taken first and J.T. only a few minutes later. That told me there had to be more than one assailant. It was an organized, planned attack that somebody pulled off without a hitch. Chances were, they didn’t even realize items were dropped. They would have surely picked them up otherwise. The attack had to have been done quickly and efficiently given that other residents could have come down to the garage and caught them in the act. It was a blind side, a blitz attack, and well planned. J.T. and Julie’s daily habits had to have been monitored for a while, but why?

I reached the downtown headquarters on East Kilbourn Street at twelve thirty and slid my badge into the slot for the security gate. I drove to the third floor parking area designated for our FBI personnel and pulled into the first empty space I could find. Once inside the building, I took several hallways to the tech department, where a thumbprint ID pad was mounted next to the door. Luckily, the last time I had been in that facility, my thumbprint was entered and stored at all of the areas that needed security clearance. I pressed my thumb against the pad and waited for the scan and beep. The lock clicked, and I passed through.

Joe waved as he saw me enter his department. He sat at the last row of computers, wolfing down his lunch. A cellophane-wrapped sandwich, bag of chips, and a can of iced tea sat on the table to his right.

“Thanks for the food, Joe. I appreciate it.”

He waved my comment away then wiped his mouth with the napkin and pitched his wrappers in the garbage can at his back.

“Okay, agent, what do we have?” He gave me a quick smile, but I knew Joe was all about business. He was an expert at his job.

“Log in to my FBI email address, and the attachment will be from Kidz Rule Daycare.” I ate as Joe tapped away at the keyboard.

“Okay, I’m in.”

I pointed. “Right there. It’s the fifth email down.”

Joe opened the email and clicked on the attachment. He tapped more keys, replicated the attachment, and dropped it into his software program. He closed out my email and slapped his hands together.

I took a gulp of tea to wash down my sandwich. “Are we ready to go?”

“One second. I want to tweak the video a bit first to get the best resolution. That way I can zoom in if necessary without a pixelation issue.”

“Thank God for tech-savvy people like you.”

Joe smiled. “Why do you think the FBI hired me? Plus, it helps to have a clean record and a lot of training under my belt. How much footage is there?”

“I copied everything from six thirty this morning until about eleven o’clock. The actual amount I needed was less than an hour long.”

He smirked. “That’s what you think.”

“Meaning?”

“We’re considering this an abduction, correct?”

“Yes, of course we are. Half of Milwaukee’s finest is probably headed to the condo right now.” I felt my throat tighten with anxiety and heard my voice crack. Joe gave me a concerned look and squeezed my shoulder. I could barely hold back my tears.

“Jade, we’re FBI, remember? We’re experts at our jobs. Everything on that tape is going to be considered suspect until proven otherwise. We may even need more footage, who knows. One way or another, we’re going to solve this case because of that tape.” Joe drummed the tabletop with his fingertips and gave me a nod. “People don’t disappear into thin air. If their vehicles were driven out of that parking garage like you say they were, then we’ve got something to work with. We’ll get J.T. and his sister back safely. Now come on, let’s buck up and dig in.”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and sat up a little prouder. I shook off my doubts. “You’re right. Let’s figure this out. J.T. is counting on us.”

Joe hit the tab to start the video, and we watched the early morning scene play out again. Things I hadn’t noticed earlier, because I had been so focused on the garage, now caught my attention.

“I guess I put all my energy into staring at the garage earlier, but now I’m noticing even more.” I saw people walking their pets, sitting at the bus stop, joggers here and there, school buses, and cars pulling out of the garage. “That’s about it. Julie pulled out and then J.T. did fifteen minutes later. They both turned the wrong way, though, opposite the freeway. Oh, wait, I did see a split second of movement at the balcony after Julie left but before J.T. did.”

“Which unit is theirs?”

“It’s the third set of balcony doors on the second floor, right above the main entrance.”

“And what time was that?”

I checked my notes. “The flash of movement I saw was at the seven seventeen mark. It looked like the curtains fluttered. I even backed up the footage but couldn’t tell what caused it. For all I know, Ralph might have bumped the drapes.”

“Sure, but I’ll forward the footage to that time and freeze it. Maybe we can make out an image if it’s zoomed in a bit. Because we’re watching the complex from an angle and a block away, we aren’t going to see everything as clearly as we’d like.”

I watched as Joe tapped a few keys and framed the balcony at the seven seventeen mark. With each click of the mouse, he enlarged the image on the screen.

“This is about as big as I’m going to get the image without it pixeling on us.”

We both leaned in and stared at the screen.

“Okay, Julie had already left, so that would leave Ralph and J.T. in the condo. The movement was about halfway up, so that would rule out the dog. I think it’s J.T.’s hand. Maybe he’s making sure the slider was locked before he left.” I checked my notes again. “The timing would make sense considering his car pulled out of the garage five minutes later.”

“I have to agree with you, Jade. So likely it’s saying that all was well inside the condo five minutes before J.T.’s car left the complex. Unfortunately, that lends to the theory of a blitz attack from someone waiting in the garage, hence the items on the floor at both of their parking spots.”

Joe rubbed his chin while his eyes were glued to the computer screen. “Has anyone checked for camera surveillance on buildings behind the complex or to the west?”

“I only saw the day care center and ran over there, but I should call Spelling and get somebody checking for other tapes. We need to see what’s going on from all angles.”

Joe nodded. “Get on that, agent. I’ll keep watching the footage.”