Brenner.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, he died three years ago. Hunting accident.”
“What about neighbors? Did anyone see anything?”
The deserted house was on a spur off the main road. And given the rural setting, the nearest neighbor would have been too far to hear much, but asking the question was worth a shot.
“When we get back to the station, I can let you look at the case file, but I don’t need an outsider second- guessing the work of my men. I’ve had my guys go over every detail, and I questioned most of the key people who were living here at the time. I came up empty. DNA evidence is my last shot at reviving this case, but without anything to compare it to, this investigation has run out of gas.”
Jessie believed Chief Cook when he told her that he’d been over the case, reexamining every scrap of evidence. A murder like this would have been a black eye on his years of service. And it probably still haunted him, like it would have bothered her. But even if she wouldn’t get a long look at the murder book back at the station house, she had another way to look into the case. If the local library carried old newspapers in its archives, she might find something intriguing to look into.
“When I talked to Detective Cooper about your case, Chief Cook, she mentioned something about children being reported at the DeSalvo house. What can you tell me about that?”
“Not much. We interviewed folks who lived close to the crime scene and one or two mentioned something about seeing kids at the residence the week prior to the murder, but none of that could be substantiated.” He pursed his lips and avoided her eyes. “Now that I think about it, if your DNA was found at the scene, what those folks saw was probably you.”
“But kids doesn’t mean one child,” she argued. “And with my DNA being at the scene, there’s proof that at least one child was there. Doesn’t that give a new perspective on all those people who claimed to see children there?”
Chief Cook heaved a sigh and shook his head.
“Like I said, none of that could be substantiated. We saw no evidence of a child or children at the DeSalvo house. For all we know, if there were kids there, they could have been visiting one day. That’s it. We just don’t know. And, quite frankly, I don’t see how it factors in.”
“It factors in because I ended up in the hands of a serial pedophile, Chief. If I was in La Pointe, how did I end up in Chicago? Someone had to take me there.”
Cook narrowed his eyes as he leaned a shoulder against a tree.
“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, and I certainly wish I had answers to your question, for your sake, but backtracking who brought you to Chicago won’t solve my murder.” He softened his expression. “That would bring closure to you. And I pray you find it, but I’m not sure what more I can do for you.”
“Can I see a copy of the DNA analysis?”
Sam had already sent for the analysis, but Chief Cook didn’t know that. Jessie wanted to see how forthcoming he’d be.
“I’ll see what I can do. After I got a look at it, I sent it to be filed. It should be in the evidence box, but maybe that hasn’t gotten done yet. Why do you need to see that?”
“DNA brought you the first lead you’ve had in the case in nearly twenty years. Bet that made you feel pretty good.” After he nodded, she made her point.
“Well, think how I felt when I finally got a lead on a past I’d given up on knowing about. After I got rescued in Chicago, no one ever came forward to say they knew me. The Chicago PD posted my face in the news all over, and no one contacted them except the lunatic fringe. This is the closest I’ve come to knowing where I came from. I just can’t walk away from this. I can’t.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Beckett. I truly am, but I’m not sure what you expect me to do for you.”
“You said you’d let me look at the murder book, that’s a start. I don’t want to interfere in your investigation, but maybe I could talk to those people who reported kids at the DeSalvo house.”
“You can read the interviews. I don’t want you talking to the people of this town unless I’m with you. But after nearly twenty years, the memory of some of these folks may not be so good. The best you’ll get is probably in those interviews, when their minds were fresh.”
“You’re probably right. And thanks, Chief.”
Jessie followed him back to his squad car in silence. For the first time in a long while, she was stumped for anything to say. The harsh reality was that the death of Angela DeSalvo might only be another piece to the puzzle of her life. The case had gone cold for a reason. Getting her hopes up now would only make it harder later if the answers she’d hoped for couldn’t be found.
She knew she had been at that crime scene before. That had been real, but none of this explained why she’d ended up with Danny Ray Millstone.
At least, not yet.
After Alexa had been dropped downtown, it didn’t take her long to find suitable accommodations. She’d checked into the Villa Ganz, a quaint boutique hotel on the west side of the city near Avenida Chapultepec and the beautiful Zona Rosa district.
With the hotel catering to a discreet clientele, the average tourist couldn’t afford the luxury accommodations, but she’d picked the hotel for other reasons. Her room had a good view of the street, and there were plenty of ways to bail in a hurry if she had to. And anyone who came looking for her, without an invitation, would get noticed if they weren’t a guest.
While she waited for the sun to go down, Alexa had gotten familiar with the hotel layout, looking for viable egress plans in case she needed them. She had also made a few calls and arranged for a rental car to be brought to her. A dark SUV with tinted windows was waiting downstairs, but before she left the hotel, Alexa called Tanya to check in.
“I’m here. Anything new?”
“I had Seth do a little digging into the use of that satellite. Whoever is behind this off-book mission isn’t only using it to trace one cell GPS signal at the Perez compound. Harper backtracked their trace.”
“Oh? What else are they working?”
“Something happened in El Paso that triggered all this. And from the satellite imagery, they were following a moving signal that ended up at the Perez estate.”
“Do we know what they were interested in?”
“Yeah, and Harper sent me the images. From what I can tell, a man was abducted on the U.S. side in El Paso and taken over the border to Perez. We’re trying to figure out who he is, but that’s a long shot.”
“You think it’s Garrett?”
“Don’t know. He’s been missing longer than this man was abducted, but no telling what this off-book job is. I’ve forwarded the images to you on your cell. There’s not enough detail to see faces, so no luck there.”
Alexa couldn’t help but let her disappointment get to her. They had plenty to be concerned about but nothing real to go on.
“Harper told me one other thing,” Tanya added. “It seems phone chatter inside the compound was picked up once the hostage was delivered. Whoever this man is, it’s a big deal to the men who took him.”
“Do you think our team is there to rescue this guy?”
“From what we can tell, they haven’t made their move,” Tanya said. “It’s like they’re waiting for something.”
“Or someone,” she speculated.
“Maybe, but none of this makes sense from where I’m sittin’. I’m worried.”
“Yeah, me too. Thanks. I’ll call you when I can.”
“Be careful.”
After Alexa ended the call, she sat on the edge of her bed, thinking about what Tanya had told her as she stared at the satellite image she’d been sent. Tanya was right. There wasn’t enough detail to see faces. All they had was proof of a kidnapping. Only her gut made her believe that Garrett was the abducted man.
