CHAPTER TWO: A DATE WITH DANGER
Drea and Anne returned to the warehouse. They tried to enter the building, but were stopped at the door by a young woman in a police uniform. She had glossy black hair and brown eyes that shined like newly polished shoes. “I’m sorry but you can’t come in,” she said firmly. “There’s been a shooting.”
“We know,” Drea said and produced her business card. “Our employer was the one who was shot.”
The officer read the card. “I called 911 and accompanied him to the hospital,” Anne said. “I am a part of this investigation officer…”
“Flores,” the officer said as she tapped her brass nameplate. “Tina Flores.”
“They’re all right, Tina,” a voice came from inside. Soon the ample figure of Sergeant Max Bauer came into view. A twenty-year police veteran, Bauer was the image of the doughnut munching cop, with his neatly trimmed mustache and uniform the only outward signs of professionalism. Nevertheless, he was a smart beat cop and a friend of MacClarey and Associates.
Drea and Anne were admitted inside. A man and woman, both in thier thirties, approached them and asked you they were. They identified themselves, and insisted the other two do the same. “I’m Detective Sergeant Bill Parnell, and this is Detective Jill Blaine,” he said.
“Were you the one who was here at the time of the shooting?” Blaine asked. “If so, you’ll have to give us a statement.”
“I’ve already given a statement to Lieutenant Matthews,” Anne said. “Ask her.”
Just then, two men came into view, one with sparse, graying hair was Christopher Thompkins, the warehouse owner, while the other, younger and with thick dark hair was Craig Josephson, the warehouse manager.
“A terrible thing, this,” Thompkins said. “How is your boss?”
One of the benefits of being the daughter of Jack’s sister was the fact Anne wasn’t always linked to her uncle. Besides, they didn’t need to know that one of the Associates was the Boss’ niece. “He’ll pull through,” she said.
“That’s good.”
“Unfortunately I never got a good look at the shooter. If Jack hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I might be the one in the hospital.”
“In other words, there’s nothing useful you can tell us,” Parnell said.
“That’s right,” Anne said.
Parnell called the two uniformed officers over. As the cops talked, Anne’s cell phone rang. “Hi Anne,” Jason said. “I was wondering if you’d want to see a movie tomorrow night.”
“I’m in the middle of a case!” she protested. “I can’t take time off for a movie!”
“A couple hours off won’t hurt anybody,” Drea said. “Go with him.”
“Drea’s insisting I go,” Anne said into the phone. “I will.”
“Okay there’s something showing in the one at mall nearest where you live,” Jason said. “How about the seven fifteen screening?”
Anne gave her acceptance and repeated what he had said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
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Raelene believed she had woken into a nightmare rather from one. Her captain, the Chief of Detectives, and Police Commissioner were all in the room with her, all of which wore dubious looks on their faces. Raelene didn’t blame them. She probably would not have believed the story herself if she were investigating it. The questioning was disrupted by a knock on the door and somebody handed the captain a sheet of paper.
“The paraffin tests found powder residue on your hand,” Captain Reed said as he read from the paper. “But there was one odd aspect about it. None of it was on the palms.”
“That is strange,” the Commissioner said.
There was a knock on the door and a uniformed officer came in and turned in a ballistics result. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Detectives said. “The round came from a silenced gun.”
“I don’t use a silencer,” Raelene said.
“Nor does any other cop.”
“What about the other stuff?” the Commissioner asked.
After a brief silence, Reed asked “Raelene would you take a physical?”
“What for?” she asked.
“To prove your story.”
“Sure.”
“Then let’s not waste any time,” the Commissioner said.
Two hours later, the results were in and did indeed confirm Raelene had two small burns on her neck and a needle mark inside her left elbow. All were less than a day old.
“White cop kills black hooker,” Detectives said. “Looks like somebody wants to discredit the department. Raelene has a stellar arrest record and a near perfect conviction rate.”
“But to kill somebody as a pawn?” the Commissioner wondered aloud.
“No different than killing somebody to expedite boosting his wallet. We’ve all seen that.”
“We’ll have put you on suspension, Lieutenant. The press is going to have a field day with this.”
“I understand. Raelene said. “What was the girl’s name?”
“The one who was killed?” Reed asked. “La Toya Jones. She was picked up a few times for solicitation.”
Raelene left the meeting certain she had been singled out. Her impeccable record had made lots of enemies, and the racial angle was no doubt calculated to create as much outrage as possible when the story became public. This was a clever, crafty enemy who hated Raelene enough not to want her dead. Just ruined.
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Drea and Anne spent the rest of that day and all the next fruitlessly hunting down leads. Anne’s prospective date looked better all the time. Perhaps an hour and a half to two hours in a movie theater could clear her mind and relax her a bit. Drea called home to say she was on her way.
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Alicia Rodgers made her way back home. It was always a challenge to see if she would be home first or Drea. Alicia had been Drea’s father’s second wife, and she had developed a friendly relationship. She had started out as a masseuse at a spa who took the stock tips she overheard from clients and parlayed that into to first of what would be a chain of women only health clubs called the Venus Health Club. Unfortunately, as a movie producer, Frank Rodgers was accustomed to having his way with high priced directors and actors. His heavy-handed behavior carried over into his personal life, such as trying to interfere with Alicia’s business or compel Drea to become a lawyer. Fortunately for Drea, her final dispute with her father came after Frank and Alicia split up and therefore, Alicia, who had always been friendly with her stepdaughter, took Drea in.
As Alicia drove up, she noticed Drea’s car wasn’t there. She didn’t mind. Once inside, she noticed Lana had not shown up to greet her. That wasn’t unusual when Lana was cooking in the kitchen, but there was no response when Alicia called out Lana’s name. Alicia rushed into the kitchen and saw nobody there. As she stepped out of the kitchen, Alicia had her way blocked by three men. They were big shouldered and masked. “Do as we say and you and your maid won’t get hurt,” one of them ordered.
A chair with a high, narrow back was taken to where it would be visible trough the doorway. Alica was told to sit down and her wrists bound behind her. Her ankles were secured to each of the legs of the chair
“Where’s Lana?” Alicia asked.
“You’ll see,” replied the man who had spoken before. As his two cohorts left the room, he took a cloth from his pocket, fashioned it into a gag, and secured it around Alicia’s mouth.
A second chair was placed beside Alicia, and soon Lana was brought into the kitchen, with wrists bound, a cleave gag about her mouth, and eyes wide with fright. She was placed into the chair next to Alicia’s and bound to it with a coil of rope.
Eventually, Drea came home. As soon as she saw Alica’s and Lana’s plight, she rushed to release them only to be pounced upon by the three hoods. They pinned her to the floor, stuffed a gag into her mouth, and bound her wrists. “Get the van,” ordered the one to speak during the whole time.
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Anne left her cell phone atop the shelf in her bedroom beside her gun. She settled down for the movie and hoped she could get her problems out of her mind. Once the opening credits started rolling, she was certain Jason had chosen this movie with care. His tastes ran more to action films and techno-thrillers, and not sappy romantic comedies such as this one.
As soon as the lights went back up at the end of the film, the two got up and started out of the theater.
“Thanks, Jason,” Anne said as they made their way across the parking lot. “I know that wasn’t your kind of movie.”
“You needed a little something to get your mind of your uncle,” Jason said.
“I know. And it worked.”
Anne wondered if she was attracted to Jason because he was like Jack in many ways: handsome and in a line of work that required a great deal of physical courage. Both were unpretentious and forthright, far removed from the lobotomized sitcom male.
Her train of thought was derailed by the three figures that emerged from a van and pounced on them. Two tried hustle Anne into the van while the third threw a punch at Jason. If their plan was for the one to keep Jason busy while the other two hustled Anne into the van, it failed miserably. Jason quickly gut-punched his opponent then sent him to the pavement, which enabled him to join in turn his attention to Anne, whose wild gyrations hampered her opponents’ efforts a great deal. Jason’s entry into that part of the fray hampered the thugs’ efforts a great deal, and the commotion naturally drew a crowd. The three goons soon piled into the van and sped off.
“Are you all right?” Anne asked Jason.
“I’m fine,” he answered. “You?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
“C’mon, let’s get you home.”
They returned to Anne’s home with no problem and went into the kitchen, where Sharon was waiting for them. She told the couple what had happened to Drea. Both Anne and Jason were shocked, and they told Sharon what had happened.
“That’s no coincidence,” Anne said and she made her way out to the front room, with Jason and Sharon close behind. She peered out a window and saw a van parked in the street outside. “We’ve seen this van before,” Anne remarked.
“Jason, do you think you can take a quick trip around the block?” Anne asked.
Jason was a bit confused at first then he understood. “Ah, you want me to sneak up behind these guys,” he said. “No problem.”
Once Jason was out in his car and moving, Anne and Sharon slipped out the back door. They crept out to the front where they rounded the corner just in time to see Jason turn off his headlights and pulled behind the van.
“Looking for somebody?” Anne asked.
The three thugs rushed toward the two women. The first got a swift kick to the midsection from Anne and the second one was flipped onto his back by Sharon. The third faced a kick from each one.
By now, Jason had slid open the van’s doors. Drea sat on the floor of the van, bound, gagged, and blindfolded. Once she was released, she and Jason gathered up the ropes and headed to join the fray.
The three goons were soon down on the ground. Anne, Drea, and Jason each pinned one of the goons. Jason and Drea used the ropes they had carried, while Anne had to search the pockets of her charge to find rope.
“Are you okay, Drea?” Anne asked.
“I’m fine,” Drea replied. “Any idea who these guys are?”
“No, but they’re probably working for somebody.”
“Somebody who knew what your plans were for tonight.”
“Yeah, and there’s something that bothers me about it.”
“What’s that?”
“Six people knew our plans, and four of them are cops.”
Chapter Three