“What kind of car does your husband drive, ma’am?”
Sally Wyatt wiped her swollen red eyes as she sat nervously on the edge of the couch, her feet planted firmly on the floor in front of her. Cam faced her from the other side of the coffee table. As the only female agent in the room, I took the seat nearest her and rested my hand on her shoulder.
“It’s our secondary car, for errands and such.”
“Understood, and it’s…?” I asked.
“A 2001 Ford Focus.”
“Four door or two, and the color?” Cam held his pen over the notepad he’d pulled from his inner jacket pocket.
“It’s a four-door. We had young kids at the time. It made things easier. Oh, and it’s black.”
“Okay, and Frank just happened to go out to pick up a gallon of milk, you said? Nothing more than bad timing?”
“Yes.” She looked up with hopeful eyes. “You will find my husband, won’t you, agents?”
“We’re going to do everything in our power to bring him home as soon as possible, ma’am. What we need now is a recent picture of Frank. We also need to know his height and weight, that sort of thing, to air on the news as a missing person.”
“Certainly, I’ll be right back.”
I watched as she exited the living room and walked down a side hallway out of earshot. I whispered to Cam three feet away, “How the hell are we going to find her husband? We can’t even find J.T.”
When we heard her footsteps getting louder, Cam put his finger to his lips. Sally was back with a handful of photographs and took the same seat as before on the couch.
“We just got these in the mail last week from my niece’s wedding. My sister sent the duplicates to us.”
I took the photographs from her hand. “And the wedding was when?” I flipped through the stack of pictures.
“It was on May twenty-seventh. We had a great time, it being Memorial Day weekend, and even extended our trip by a few days. Kate and Bobby were married in Dubuque, Iowa. We took a riverboat cruise and did a little gambling too.” She dabbed her cheeks with a tissue. “Anyway, there are a few close-up pictures of Frank and me together. I’m sure you can cut me out of the ones you post on the news.”
I found two that would do just fine. “I’ll make sure you get these back, Sally. Go ahead with your best guess of his height and weight.” I brought the picture closer to my face but couldn’t make out Frank’s eye color. “Are his eyes brown?”
“Yes, brown eyes”—she pointed at the photos—“and light brown hair. He weighs around one hundred eighty pounds and is five foot eleven inches. That’s what it shows on his newest driver’s license, anyway.”
I stood and tipped my head at Cam. “Ma’am, I think that’s all we need. We’ll be out back with the other agents. Don’t be surprised if there’s a bit of commotion for the next few hours. The car left behind will be towed to the county’s crime lab, and the forensic team will be here for a while. I’ll make sure they lock everything up and let you know when they’re about to leave.” I pulled a contact card out of my pocket and handed it to her. “We’ll be in touch. Thank you.”
She gave us a nod goodbye, and Cam and I showed ourselves out. In the alley, we found the tow truck backing up to the abandoned Mercedes. Butch Martin and Hal Friedman were busy dusting the garage for prints and taking pictures.
“How soon will you get to the car?” Val asked. “There’s likely a lot of information inside that can help us with this investigation.”
Butch scratched his head. “How about I call Leah and Terry in? They can meet you guys at the evidence garage, and you can give it a look through before we start dissecting everything.”
Val turned my way. “Jade, you want to join me?”
“Yeah, but we need to call Spelling and Hopkins first and let them know what’s going on. Cam?”
“You and Val go ahead and follow the tow truck. I’ll update Spelling and Hopkins on our way back to the department. I’ll ride with Bill. We need to get the statistics and locations for all those other warehouses.” Cam turned to Sergeant Saunders and Deputy Spence. “Can you guys give us a call first thing in the morning? We’re going to need those drones for the other vacant buildings.”
Saunders stuck out his hand and shook ours before they left. “You got it, guys. We’re ready and able to help with whatever you need. There will be two more drones at your disposal first thing tomorrow. I’ll check in with you then.”
The tow truck driver secured the chain under the front bumper of the Mercedes, and the winch pulled the car up onto the flatbed.
“Ready to go, agents?” the driver asked.
“Yep, we’ll be right behind you.” I handed Cam the photographs Sally had given me. He’d make sure that information was put on the air right away. We needed more going out on the van, additional information on the man who took the Mercedes in for window tinting, and now, the description of Frank Wyatt, who had been abducted that night. We needed the BOLOs and descriptions aired on every news station during every newscast. Dangerous criminals now held three people captive, and we still didn’t know their intentions. At that point, with nothing substantial to go on, we needed the public’s help in locating them.
Val and I said our goodbyes then climbed into the cruiser Cam had been driving. I took the driver’s seat, pulled the belt over my midsection, and adjusted the seat forward two clicks. I was taller than average for a female, but Cam still had a good four inches on me. I turned the rearview mirror just a smidge. “I’ll update you guys if we find anything in the car. I’m guessing we’ll be done going through the Mercedes in a few hours.” I rolled up the window, shifted into Drive, and followed the tow truck out of the alley.
We arrived at the evidence garage in less than twenty minutes. With the cruiser parked between the white lines at the back of the building, we walked through the open overhead garage doors and watched as the tow truck backed in and released the winch slowly. Val and I crossed the concrete floor to the small office space and took the two seats next to the desk.
“Want a coffee?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m about to pass out.”
I plugged a half dozen quarters into the vending machine and pushed A-6 twice. With two steaming cups of coffee in my hands, I returned to the chair next to Val and handed her a cup. We’d wait there for Leah and Terry to arrive. After they made a few initial photographs in the light of the garage, they’d allow us to sift through anything the person we had been chasing had left behind. The phone rang behind the desk of the small office area where we waited. Tammy Barella answered and passed the phone to me.
“It’s Leah, Agent Monroe.”
“Thanks.” I leaned over the desk as I spoke since the phone was a land line and the cord was badly tangled. I imagined people pacing back and forth, turning and twisting as they talked. That was the only way I could think of to reduce a six-foot phone cord to a tangled ball of eighteen inches. “Hi, Leah. What’s your ETA?”
“Hello, Agent Monroe. Terry and I should be there in ten minutes. We’ll take some initial pictures inside and out, pop the trunk and hood, and then you’re free to go through it while we dust the outside for prints.”
“Sounds like a plan. See you in a few.” I handed the phone back to Tammy and sipped my coffee. My cell rang, and I set the cup on the desk. SSA Spelling was calling.
“Hello, sir.”
“Jade. How soon do you think you and Val will be back?”
“I’m estimating a few hours should do the trick. There’s only so much evidence that can be inside a vehicle. I’ll take pictures of anything that could be of interest and leave the original behind for forensics to test. They’re going to work on the outside of the car while we look through the interior.”
“That sounds good. We’ve already updated the news stations, and now it’s a waiting game in hopes of something that will spark a memory in the public’s eye.” Spelling clicked off.
The creak of the outer door opening made Val and I look up. Leah and Terry walked through and headed our way. We stood and met them halfway at the car.
“This is it, huh?” Terry asked.
“Yep. I hope to God we find something too. Right now we’re batting a big fat zero in the leads department. If we only would have caught up to that guy before he ditched the car.”
Leah nodded. “It does get frustrating, Jade. Let’s glove up. We’ll snap off a few photographs of the interior, and then it’s yours for an hour or so.”
“Thanks, guys, and we really do appreciate you coming in at this late hour.”
Terry popped open his portable bag of supplies and held out the glove dispenser. Each of us pulled out two and stretched them over our fingers. He jerked his head toward the car. “Okay, just give us five minutes inside, and then the car is all yours.”