The plan was for Cam and me to follow in one cruiser and Val and Bill Lewis in the other. We pulled out of the parking garage and lined up behind the sheriff’s department SUV. I jumped out of the passenger seat of our cruiser and approached the driver’s side window. Sergeant Saunders rolled it down.
I peeked in and nodded at Deputy Spence in the passenger seat. A large tote containing several drones and the equipment that went with them sat on the folded-down back seat. “We’re ready when you are, sir.”
“Sure thing. Because one building doesn’t stand out more than another, we’ll go in order of location. There’s one due west of the tint shop, another north, almost to the fifteen-block perimeter, and the final one is due south. Let’s begin with the northern one, just because it’s the farthest one away, and then work our way back.”
“That’s fine with us. Cam and I are in the first cruiser, and Val and Bill Lewis will be taking up the rear. Let’s stay off the radio just as a precaution. Here’s my cell number.” I rattled off my phone number and watched as Sergeant Saunders programmed it into his personal phone. “Okay, are we good to go?”
“We sure are. We’ll jump on Martin Luther King Drive and head north.”
I slapped the doorframe before I walked away. “Yep, let’s do this.”
The fifteen-block trip on MLK Drive, as the locals called it, would take a good twenty minutes. The wide street with a boulevard in the center held dozens of storefronts with barred entrances and windows. We weren’t in the best neighborhood and the number of abandoned buildings in that area didn’t surprise any of us. The lights at every intersection seemed to turn red as soon as we reached them. I sucked in a deep sigh at every light.
“Nervous?” Cam turned toward me.
“I’d call it apprehensive since I don’t know what to expect. I guess this is a process of elimination and the fastest and most efficient way of doing it. We have to find them, but what if they aren’t at any of those buildings?”
“Then we keep looking, Jade. God knows, the longer it takes, the worse their chances are.”
“Exactly, and that’s my fear.”
When we reached the next intersection, I craned my neck at the street sign. We had seven more blocks to go.
“Looks like we’re almost there,” Cam said as we made a few quick turns into a run-down industrial park that appeared as if it had been abandoned years earlier. The brake lights flashed on the SUV about a block away from the fenced-in group of buildings. We pulled up to the curb behind it and parked.
Sergeant Saunders and Deputy Spence climbed out of their vehicle. We exited our cruisers and met up with them at the back of their SUV. Deputy Spence pointed toward the buildings and explained why they chose that spot.
“If we get any closer, I won’t have a wide field of vision. By standing back a bit, I’ll be able to see the red lights flashing on the drone and get it positioned in the best possible location. It looks like there are a handful of buildings in there, so I’ll just do a wide sweep over the rooflines of all of them.”
“And you’ll be able to see if there’s body heat coming from the buildings right on the transmitter’s screen?”
“That’s correct, Agent Lewis,” Deputy Spence said. “Shall we begin?”
We stood out of the way while Deputy Spence set up the drone. “If people are in these buildings, the heat-seeking device will kick in, and we’ll see red dots indicating body heat on the screen. If they’re actively moving about the building, we’ll see that too.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
With the drone engaged and hovering in the air, we watched as the deputy maneuvered the joysticks to position it right above the first building’s roofline. Deputy Spence kept his eyes on the drone as we watched the screen.
“I don’t see any evidence of body heat in that building,” I said. “Chances of there being electricity, as in lighting that’s still connected, are slim too, correct?”
“As old and dilapidated as these buildings look, it’s doubtful. I’m sure that would be a fire hazard, and the county probably doesn’t want to encourage squatters, either.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll fly it over all of the buildings in one large pass, then I’ll do a second round to double-check.”
“Sure, thanks.” I lifted the binoculars that I’d hung over my neck when we exited our cruiser. I held them up, adjusted the focus, and watched the drone make its passes over the buildings.
“Looks like a dead end here, Agent Monroe, but I’ll do another quick sweep.”
Ten minutes later and with no results at that first location, Sergeant Saunders suggested we move on to the west side of the search grid. We climbed back into our vehicles and left. Our next stop, on the far side of Wauwatosa Avenue, was fifteen minutes away. I made an update call to Spelling’s cell phone.
“Hey, boss, we’ve just cleared the first location on the north side. That complex of buildings was a bust, dead quiet, and now we’re heading to the abandoned warehouse on the west side. Yes, sir, we’ll keep you updated.” I clicked off and stared out the window as we followed Sergeant Saunders west.
“Something on your mind, Jade?”
I shrugged. “What isn’t on my mind, Cam? None of this makes sense. We have no idea what it’s about. We don’t have anything to go on except our hunches. So far, there’s no chatter on the Pirellis’ phone taps, nobody has called in about the van, and we don’t have any ransom demands, because it’s obvious that C.V. Loomis thinks that Curt, and now J.T., is more valuable than money. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m at a loss. I keep replaying those notes that were spread across Julie’s lap. They were vindictive and full of hate. This has to be about exacting revenge on Curt and J.T. more than anything else.”
Cam was quiet for a minute as he clicked his blinker and got into the far right lane. “And you checked through the folders for deaths caused by agents, right?”
“Yes, of course, and the only one that went in front of the Internal Affairs board was when J.T. shot and killed a man who was involved in an armored car robbery months earlier. I guess with the eyewitness reports and video of the heist, they were able to locate the suspects, and a gun battle ensued.”
“Yeah, that case sounds familiar. That was in 2014, right?”
I nodded.
“That was about the time J.T. began thinking about transferring into a different department. The Violent Crimes Division can get pretty hairy.”
My cell phone rang in the cup holder. I pulled it out and looked at the screen. “That’s weird, it’s Spelling again. Hello, sir, I’m putting you on speakerphone.” I pressed the icon and set the phone back in the cup holder.
“Jade and Cam, listen closely. A motorist just called in a sighting of a gold Mercedes sedan heading west on Wauwatosa Avenue near Forty-Fifth Street. They’re behind the vehicle right now and said the plate number is the same as the one that aired on the news.”
“What! We just passed Forty-Fifth Street two blocks back. They’re absolutely positive?”
“I just hung up with them seconds ago.”
“I’ve got to go. I’m going to have Saunders double back at the lights and get behind him. We’ll keep going straight then box the car in and take them down.”
“Be careful.”
“We’ve got this, boss.” I quickly called Saunders. I told him to turn right at the next set of lights, double back a block, and get behind the Mercedes. I hung up, called Bill Lewis, and told him what was going on. I asked if they could identify the car at their rear without looking back over their shoulders.
“Hang on. I’m putting you on speakerphone,” Bill said.
“Val, can you tell what kind of vehicle is behind you through your side mirror? It’s possible that it could even be a few cars back. A motorist just called in the sighting.”
“All I can see are headlights behind us, Jade. I can’t even make out the grille or see the hood emblem. There is a silhouette of the driver, though, and it looks like a large person.”
“Okay, we’re going to slow things down. Saunders is circling back and scooting in behind the car. We’ll box them in and take them down. Be aware that the driver, if it’s actually the right car, will most likely be armed. We have to wait for confirmation from Saunders that he has eyes on the vehicle before we do anything. No wrong moves here.”
Bill responded, “Got it, Jade. We’ll hold steady until we hear back from you.”