We have a lot of new readers this week, so keep in mind that today is voting day. The poll on the right will be open until midnight on Saturday. Enjoy!
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The address that the university had given them for Jailene Arroyo was a dud. It led Colt and Krissy to a small apartment about fifteen minutes from the campus in a seedy area of town. By the time they got there, the place was cleaned out and all that remained was the occasional stain on the worn carpet. As they walked thorough each of the empty rooms, the thought occurred to Colt that maybe it had been empty for a long time. “There are cobwebs on the stove,” he said. “No one has lived here for a while.”
“So she never even moved in,” Krissy deduced. “Or she just can’t cook, but it could be that she is part of a much bigger plan.”
“Now the question is, ‘Does Jailene Arroyo have anything to do with Steven Mathis?’” Colt commented taking one last peek around the empty apartment. “And if so, how can we connect them?”
Krissy thought for a moment. “I’ll run her name through the system, but something tells me it is an alias.”
“What we need is a picture.” Colt was thinking through his options when he added, “Call your friend at the university. Have him check with Kevin to see if he has any photos. I want to know if anyone ever saw her around the apartment. Then we can show it around the marina and see if anyone there recognizes her.
Krissy made the call and the university police promised to stop at Kevin’s dorm to request a picture. “While we’re waiting, I can send you a copy of her student ID photo,” the cop at the front desk said. Krissy rattled off her e-mail address then she and Colt headed back to the station to print the picture.
After a quick lunch and armed with Jailene’s photo, Colt and Krissy returned to the marina. During their quick stop at the police station, Krissy had made a call to the service writer turned salesman at the Ford dealer where Creighton worked. In just under two minutes she had confirmed that Steven Mathis was indeed in the L.A. area for the day. He had stopped by to pay Creighton a visit on his first day back at work. “At least we won’t have to worry about Mathis catching us snooping around about this girl,” Krissy said.
“Let’s start with the secretary if she’s in today,” Colt replied. “She’s pretty easy to manipulate.”
“Easy targets are good.” The two detectives stepped out of Colt’s BMW and made their way through the half-full parking lot toward The Yachtery. Peering through the darkened front window, their optimism faded. “Looks like no one is home today,” Krissy said.
A thought flashed through Colt’s mind. The office hours were posted on the front window. The sign indicated that The Yachtery was scheduled to be open Monday through Thursday and on weekends by appointment. Given the fact that it was Tuesday, Colt grew concerned. “Did you get the name of the girl who was attacked at the university?”
“Yeah,” Krissy replied thumbing through her notes. “Jasmine Kennedy.”
“Have the university guys send her photo to my e-mail address. I think I found part one of our connection.”
Ten minutes later, Colt’s phone buzzed to life and began singing its familiar tone. “That’s what I thought.” He looked at the photo on the iPhone and then compared it to the photo of a smiling woman snuggling up to a man that was positioned on the secretary’s desk in Mathis’ office. “His own assistant. Now someone is sending Mathis a message.”
Krissy glanced at the two photos. “Who is close to Mathis? So far we haven’t found anyone who knows him on a personal level.”
“I’m guessing she is,” Colt said waving the picture of Jailene Arroyo in front of Krissy. “Let’s go back to the art gallery. Maybe they will recognize her.”
Colt stepped away from the front window of the Yachtery where he had been standing and made his way next door. The same young proprietor was on duty and Colt went straight for him, Krissy a step behind. Pulling out the photo, he began to ask if Jailene had been seen in the area. The trendy young man shook his head. “I already told you, the guy keeps to himself.”
Ready to move on, Colt stopped short of the front door. He looked up and noticed a surveillance camera staring out the front window. “Can I look over your security tapes?” Colt asked. “Specifically this camera?” The camera in question had a perfect view out the window of the gallery and had to have covered the front of The Yachtery office as well.
“Suit yourself.” The proprietor escorted Colt and Krissy to a back room where a fairly new iMac was sitting on an uncluttered desk. He pulled up the video footage from the front camera and left them to look it over.
--- Results ---
Who is sending Mathis the message?
A) No one. He attacked Jasmine Kennedy to throw the cops off of his trail. - 45%
B) Jailene Arroyo, because of a personal conflict she had with Mathis - 55%
C) Creighton, in an effort to buy more time (Is he really that stupid?) - 0%
Showing posts with label Read Books Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Read Books Online. Show all posts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Colt Crawford - Chapter 10 (Wednesday)
Colt’s only prior contact with the secretary at The Yachtery had been two days before when he and Krissy first talked to Mathis. She had provided them with a copy of the bill of sale for a boat, thus establishing Mathis’ alibi for the attack on Samantha. She was a woman of about 30 years, slim, somewhat fashionable. Her brown shoulder length hair had evidence of highlights in it.
It took a second, but she a flash of recognition eventually crossed her eyes. “You’re the cop from the other day.”
Neither confirming nor denying his actual occupation, Colt maintained his most serious cop face and began. “We are looking into a brutal attack on an innocent woman and we have reason to believe that one of your clients may be involved.”
The woman looked concerned, so Colt decided to keep going. “I need to see a list of everyone Mr. Mathis has worked with in the last 30 days. People who bought boats, people who looked at boats, people who sold boats or thought about selling a boat. Anyone who walked in the door.” Colt didn’t ask. He wanted it to sound like she had no choice without actually telling her she had no choice. If she gave up the information voluntarily, there wasn’t really an issue.
“Do you have a warrant?” she asked hesitantly.
“I could get one, but that takes time, and while I am waiting, this guy is going to hurt someone else. Someone like you who is on her way home from work and is snatched out of the parking lot, beaten and dumped on the side of the road to die. Do you want to wait until that happens, or do you want to voluntarily give me the records?”
The secretary looked worried. Maybe she felt trapped. It didn’t matter as long as Colt got what he wanted. Seconds passed in silence before she spoke. “I can get you a list of all the files we closed last month plus any current pending files, but it will take a few minutes. Some of them are not even in the computer yet.”
A warm smile swept across Colt’s face. “I can wait.”
Fifteen minutes later, Colt held a sheet of paper in his hand with the names, addresses and phone numbers of all The Yachtery’s clients and perspective clients for the last month. The list wasn’t long. There were a total of twelve names and they were divided into three categories: Completed Sales, For Sale, and Potential Buyers. There were only two names listed under Completed Sales. The For Sale column had another three names. The rest were potential buyers. Colt quickly noticed that Chief Brown’s name was not on the list anywhere, suggesting that perhaps the Chief’s dealings with Mathis were off the books, but he’d have to wait and see what Krissy turned before he jumped to any conclusions.
Colt started back toward the parking lot when he realized that Krissy had taken his car to the police station. Using the endless technology available on his iPhone, Colt quickly made arrangements for a cab to pick him up. Within fifteen minutes he was in Krissy’s office.
“We shouldn’t talk here,” Krissy said in hushed tones, her face revealing nothing, but the mere words suggesting she knew something she didn’t want to know. “Let’s get some dinner.”
It took a second, but she a flash of recognition eventually crossed her eyes. “You’re the cop from the other day.”
Neither confirming nor denying his actual occupation, Colt maintained his most serious cop face and began. “We are looking into a brutal attack on an innocent woman and we have reason to believe that one of your clients may be involved.”
The woman looked concerned, so Colt decided to keep going. “I need to see a list of everyone Mr. Mathis has worked with in the last 30 days. People who bought boats, people who looked at boats, people who sold boats or thought about selling a boat. Anyone who walked in the door.” Colt didn’t ask. He wanted it to sound like she had no choice without actually telling her she had no choice. If she gave up the information voluntarily, there wasn’t really an issue.
“Do you have a warrant?” she asked hesitantly.
“I could get one, but that takes time, and while I am waiting, this guy is going to hurt someone else. Someone like you who is on her way home from work and is snatched out of the parking lot, beaten and dumped on the side of the road to die. Do you want to wait until that happens, or do you want to voluntarily give me the records?”
The secretary looked worried. Maybe she felt trapped. It didn’t matter as long as Colt got what he wanted. Seconds passed in silence before she spoke. “I can get you a list of all the files we closed last month plus any current pending files, but it will take a few minutes. Some of them are not even in the computer yet.”
A warm smile swept across Colt’s face. “I can wait.”
Fifteen minutes later, Colt held a sheet of paper in his hand with the names, addresses and phone numbers of all The Yachtery’s clients and perspective clients for the last month. The list wasn’t long. There were a total of twelve names and they were divided into three categories: Completed Sales, For Sale, and Potential Buyers. There were only two names listed under Completed Sales. The For Sale column had another three names. The rest were potential buyers. Colt quickly noticed that Chief Brown’s name was not on the list anywhere, suggesting that perhaps the Chief’s dealings with Mathis were off the books, but he’d have to wait and see what Krissy turned before he jumped to any conclusions.
Colt started back toward the parking lot when he realized that Krissy had taken his car to the police station. Using the endless technology available on his iPhone, Colt quickly made arrangements for a cab to pick him up. Within fifteen minutes he was in Krissy’s office.
“We shouldn’t talk here,” Krissy said in hushed tones, her face revealing nothing, but the mere words suggesting she knew something she didn’t want to know. “Let’s get some dinner.”
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Colt Crawford - Chapter 9 (Thursday)
Kevin, the seeming leader of the two, spoke first. “I know him by reputation only. Never met him.”
“And what is that reputation?” Krissy asked. This was her favorite part of her job. She loved interviewing a suspect and then experiencing that moment when reluctance turns to victory. She waited eagerly for the answer she was about to receive.
“He’s known around here a source of information.”
He was still going to be vague. Krissy could feel the tide turning, but it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. “What kind of information?”
“Numbers,” Kevin said.
Frustration was starting to build. “Give it to me straight, Kevin. What is Steven Mathis known for?”
“Let’s just say he can help out with sports-related investments.”
“Gambling?”
Kevin’s head nodded slightly. “You didn’t hear that from me.”
***
“I have to admit that there are some perks to working with a civilian on a case like this one.” Krissy was trying to hide a thin smile as she walked out of the campus police station.
“I can’t say I’m surprised that these guys know of Mathis,” Colt replied. “So we have confirmed he’s into gambling, but we haven’t confirmed who attacked Samantha.”
“Can we link Creighton to Mathis?” She walked slowly toward the parking a few feet from Colt’s side.
“We have the witness at the dealership who has seen them together and the repair records,” Colt said. “But that is not enough to convict anyone of illegal activity.” Colt paused as he digested the information. “Has Mathis ever done any time?”
“He had that tax problem that cost him about nine months.”
“That’s another angle we haven’t explored. Mathis knows Samantha and has reason to be mad at her.”
“He’s the one who skipped out on his taxes. She actually saved him, but I guess he wanted even more,” Krissy said.
They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence, each trying to piece together what they knew. On the way back to the police station, Colt and Krissy agreed that the next step had to involve scrutinizing the life of Steven Mathis.
“We need to know everything we can about Mathis,” Krissy began. “Who he hangs out with, where he goes after work, what he spends money on. You wanna help me follow him for a while?”
Stakeouts basically consisted of hours of nothing followed by a few minutes of excitement and were a regular part of the job for Colt. Over the last decade he had developed a love-hate relationship with the classic stakeout. “How could I turn that down?”
Colt and Krissy climbed back into Colt’s car to make the drive from the university back to the harbor area. “I’m hungry,” Colt said. “Let’s get something to eat on the way.”
Armed with Chinese take out, chopsticks, and a couple of small drinks, Colt and Krissy pulled into the harbor parking lot. “This is going to be tough, Krissy said. There’s no place to park where we can see the front of his office.”
“Do you see his truck anywhere?”
Krissy scanned the lot. It wasn’t hard to spot Mathis’ silver Ford F-350. It had oversized tires mounted on chrome rims and a hefty lift. The hitch on the back dropped down about ten inches, presumably to tow his boat. Krissy spotted it in a corner of the lot away from other cars. “There it is.”
“Then we know he is here. I guess this is as good a place as any to have some lunch.”
--Results--
As they wait for Mathis, who should they see walk into the Yachtery?
A) Dean Brown, the police chief - 60%
B) Creighton - 0%
C) Krissy’s ex boyfriend who is a criminal defense lawyer - 40%
“And what is that reputation?” Krissy asked. This was her favorite part of her job. She loved interviewing a suspect and then experiencing that moment when reluctance turns to victory. She waited eagerly for the answer she was about to receive.
“He’s known around here a source of information.”
He was still going to be vague. Krissy could feel the tide turning, but it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. “What kind of information?”
“Numbers,” Kevin said.
Frustration was starting to build. “Give it to me straight, Kevin. What is Steven Mathis known for?”
“Let’s just say he can help out with sports-related investments.”
“Gambling?”
Kevin’s head nodded slightly. “You didn’t hear that from me.”
***
“I have to admit that there are some perks to working with a civilian on a case like this one.” Krissy was trying to hide a thin smile as she walked out of the campus police station.
“I can’t say I’m surprised that these guys know of Mathis,” Colt replied. “So we have confirmed he’s into gambling, but we haven’t confirmed who attacked Samantha.”
“Can we link Creighton to Mathis?” She walked slowly toward the parking a few feet from Colt’s side.
“We have the witness at the dealership who has seen them together and the repair records,” Colt said. “But that is not enough to convict anyone of illegal activity.” Colt paused as he digested the information. “Has Mathis ever done any time?”
“He had that tax problem that cost him about nine months.”
“That’s another angle we haven’t explored. Mathis knows Samantha and has reason to be mad at her.”
“He’s the one who skipped out on his taxes. She actually saved him, but I guess he wanted even more,” Krissy said.
They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence, each trying to piece together what they knew. On the way back to the police station, Colt and Krissy agreed that the next step had to involve scrutinizing the life of Steven Mathis.
“We need to know everything we can about Mathis,” Krissy began. “Who he hangs out with, where he goes after work, what he spends money on. You wanna help me follow him for a while?”
Stakeouts basically consisted of hours of nothing followed by a few minutes of excitement and were a regular part of the job for Colt. Over the last decade he had developed a love-hate relationship with the classic stakeout. “How could I turn that down?”
Colt and Krissy climbed back into Colt’s car to make the drive from the university back to the harbor area. “I’m hungry,” Colt said. “Let’s get something to eat on the way.”
Armed with Chinese take out, chopsticks, and a couple of small drinks, Colt and Krissy pulled into the harbor parking lot. “This is going to be tough, Krissy said. There’s no place to park where we can see the front of his office.”
“Do you see his truck anywhere?”
Krissy scanned the lot. It wasn’t hard to spot Mathis’ silver Ford F-350. It had oversized tires mounted on chrome rims and a hefty lift. The hitch on the back dropped down about ten inches, presumably to tow his boat. Krissy spotted it in a corner of the lot away from other cars. “There it is.”
“Then we know he is here. I guess this is as good a place as any to have some lunch.”
--Results--
As they wait for Mathis, who should they see walk into the Yachtery?
A) Dean Brown, the police chief - 60%
B) Creighton - 0%
C) Krissy’s ex boyfriend who is a criminal defense lawyer - 40%
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