Lauren (5 page)

"Apparently two days ago. She was out at a bar with her friends. She's a freshman and was last seen at the bar."

"Did she leave with anyone?"

"Her friends aren't positive. Apparently, they were pretty wasted."

"Why am I not surprised? I suppose the Wilson family has been calling?"

"Oh, yeah, and Captain Morris wants us on this case.” “She's missing right now. She could be shacked up with some guy somewhere and still recovering from the other night."

"Or, this could be related to the Wilson case. Reporters are all over the captain. They've got the public all worried that the college isn't safe. There's a rapist murderer loose, and Tammy Lucas is another victim."

"Oh, shit. Well, who from Missing Persons is working the case?"

"Your favorite guy."

Lauren rolled her eyes. Jack didn't even have to say Charlie Marks's name. Charlie was a jerk, who believed women belonged barefoot and pregnant, and at the disposal of their husbands or boyfriends.

She despised him, even though he'd finally faced the fact she wasn't his ideal woman, and could handle any shit he dished out.

It was an ongoing battle between the two of them.

"You really know just how to ruin my day off, Jack.” Lauren sighed, then headed toward her bedroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To change clothes.” She couldn't possibly go to work wearing the one-piece fitted, sleeveless dress.

"You look great. Just change the shoes and let's get going. For the most part, we'll be in the office at the 56th Precinct with Marks and his partner."

"Fine.” She changed her shoes, then met Jack by the front door.

As they headed toward the 56th Precinct on the Westside, she called her father.

"Hey, Dad."

"Don't even tell me you're not coming."

"Unfortunately, something came up. I'm not sure how long I'll be. So just in case I can't make it..."

"I had a feeling you were going to call. I saw the report on the television about the second missing college student."

"How did you know I was working that case?"

"I figured as much. Be careful."

"Thanks, Dad. I will,” Lauren said, then hung up the cell phone.

"He disappointed?” Jack asked.

"A little but probably not as disappointed as Mom and Dave."

Thirty minutes later, Jack and Lauren stood in the main office talking with Charlie Marks.

Lauren was getting annoyed with the way Charlie eyed her. She shouldn't have listened to Jack. She should have changed her clothes.

Once they determined Tammy was still considered ‘a missing person,’ all Jack and Lauren could do was wait.

Jack was talking with John Coven, another detective in Missing Persons.

"So you think my missing person is gonna come up dead? She's a pretty little thing and it would be a shame.” Charlie leaned against his desk and chewed on a toothpick.

"Let's hope not,” Lauren replied as she smiled in salutation to another detective she knew.

"You movin’ up to high profile cases, huh?” Charlie asked and Lauren wasn't in the mood for his sexist, chauvinist remarks.

She could hardly stand to look at the guy. He was slovenly, overweight, and continuously grabbed his crotch as if he had the goods to more than satisfy any woman he wanted.

It was annoying.

"Let's just hope this Tammy shows up unscathed and with only a hangover.” Charlie smirked at her, which only made her blood pressure boil faster.

"Hey, Jack, you ready to go? Charlie and John are trying to find this girl and we're taking up too much of their time,” Lauren stated sarcastically.

Charlie was lazy and all talk. She prayed they'd get lucky, and Tammy would show up sometime today.

Jack got the hint, said goodbye, and then they left the 56th Precinct.

"So, what do you think?” Jack asked.

"He's still an asshole."

Jack laughed. “I meant about the girl and where they are in their investigation?"

"Sorry. Instead of sitting around in the office talking shit, he should be trying to find her."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but that's Charlie. He takes things slow."

"Well, it could be the difference between saving her life and ending the media craze."

"Do you want to go back and tell him that? I'm sure he'd love to stare at you some more, and take your advice to heart,” Jack teased, and Lauren rolled her eyes.

Just then, she heard her cell phone ring. “Detective Phelps here."

"Yeah, Lauren, it's Commander Quinn. We just got a call from the Ridgeburgh Police Department upstate. They located the missing college student. Her body was found in the woods adjacent to the main parkway."

"Damn it! Who's in charge?"

"I just got off the phone with Detective Eddie Tennellie. He's the lead investigator on the case."

"All right, we're headed back to 53rd. I'll contact him and see what they got."

Lauren hung up the phone and gave Jack the news.

"Charlie didn't even say anything. They would have called him first,” Jack added.

"I keep telling you, Jack, that Charlie is not a team player, but you don't want to listen. You just focus on his incredible ability to remember sports history and his other macho bullshit."

Lauren was annoyed but more so at the fact the Wilson case and the Lucas case could be connected. Some sick son of a bitch could be going after innocent young women and now he was headed up north.

"So you may make it up north today after all,” Jack added as they entered the unmarked police car.

"I'll see what we can find out over the phone. If there isn't anything else for us to do down here, then we'll take a ride."

"I told Kelly I'd meet her at her parents’ place by 5:00 p.m. Big family barbeque,” Jack told Lauren, as he maneuvered the car around the tightly packed parking area.

"Thanks, Jack, so I guess I'm on my own?"

"Looks that way. You can use it as an excuse to visit the family."

Lauren shook her head and sighed. She had a bad feeling about this.

She got off the phone with Detective Tennellie's partner, Ken Murphy. They hadn't gotten the lab results back yet on Tammy Lucas, but the preliminary reports showed evidence of rape and forensic evidence under her nails.

Lauren decided to take the ride up north to Ridgeburgh, which was only twenty-five minutes south of her hometown of River Point.

She wanted the detectives to be aware of the possible similarities in their cases and that they should keep one another up-to-date in each of the investigations.

Lauren's cell phone rang as she traveled up the well-known parkway that separated the city from the suburbs. “Detective Phelps speaking."

"Hey, Lauren. It's Tom."

"Hey, Lieutenant. I take it you got my message?"

"Sure did, darling, and I thought I would update you on the case."

Lauren laughed. “Didn't they tell you I got an update from the lab this morning? I heard that the homeless guy had some blood on his pants that wasn't his, and also that the tire track was from a large vehicle like a van or truck."

Tom sounded surprised. “No, I didn't know you were at the lab today."

"Yeah, just before I left town. But I didn't hear anything about the witness. Did you get more out of him?"

"No. All the guy wants is a drink."

"So give him a drink and see if he talks,” Lauren added sarcastically.

"Bullshit. The guy doesn't know crap. I'll call you if there's a match on the blood."

"That's fine, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm headed upstate and I'm not sure if I'll stay over or drive back tonight."

"Tell your dad I said hello."

"I will, thanks, Tom.” Lauren hung up her phone.

Thirty minutes later, she was talking to the Ridgeburgh Chief of Police.

"So you think there may be a connection here?” The chief of police asked with genuine concern.

"I'm not sure, sir, but we're covering the bases,” Lauren replied.

"Well, you'll have our full cooperation, Detective Phelps. We have one of our best detectives working the case. I'm sure you'll get along fine,” the Chief stated and Lauren followed him down the hallway and into the main offices.

The place was quiet. There were only a few people around.

The chief called over Detective Ken Murphy. She had spoken to him on the phone earlier today.

He was a nice looking man, well groomed and physically fit. His hair was blond and his skin bronze from the summer sun.

"Detective Phelps, what a pleasure to meet you in person. I didn't know you were coming by,” he added with a smile and she could tell he was the flirtatious type but very likable.

"I was in the area. I've got family in River Point."

"Oh, that's a nice town. Where a'bouts is your family?” Ken motioned for her to sit in a chair near to his desk, but she opted to stand.

She told him where her family was from and soon they were talking about the people they knew and the history of the area.

Just then, Ken's phone rang. “Detective Murphy.” He jotted information down on a piece of paper and responded ‘Yes’ and ‘I see’ answers. When he hung up, he looked right at her.

"Well, your trip wasn't wasted. That was the lab. They found trace amounts of liquid Ecstasy in Tammy's blood.

There was also some kind of fabric or carpeting under her nails. She was sexually assaulted and the bruising around her ankles and wrists indicate she was bound. The tearing of tissue and muscle under the arms and groin area indicate she was probably tortured."

"Well, as soon as they test the fiber under her nails, maybe we can get a match to the fiber found on our victim. That would be a link between the two cases,” Lauren responded.

"How about the evidence of Ecstasy?"

"There wasn't any detected in our victim, but as you know, Ecstasy could be completely out of the system anywhere from three hours to seventy-two hours, depending on whether or not alcohol or other drugs were used."

"What's going on here?"

Both Lauren and Ken quickly turned toward the voice that shouted across the office.

Lauren's chest tightened, and she immediately felt herself blush at the sight of the man who yelled. She was thankful for her olive complexion, and hoped it hid her red cheeks.

"Hey, Eddie, you got good timing. This is..."

Before Ken could introduce Lauren, Eddie was near the desk with a mean, aggravated look on his face. “I hope this isn't information on my case you're sharing with one of your bimbos,” He stated, and eyed her from head to toe.

If she had been wearing her dress slacks and her side arm, the jerk wouldn't have been so quick to make such a remark. This was her luck, another macho, sexist jerk she'd be forced to work with. His dark black hair, emerald green eyes, and great body hid the arrogant jerk he really was.

Blatantly giving him the once over in response, she absorbed the sight. Black boots, dark blue jeans, and a tight t-shirt that revealed his muscular physique. Who was this renegade? Denying her immediate attraction to the guy, she told herself he was too buff for her taste. But, what did it matter? His personality ruined it all.

She refused to break eye contact, but heard Ken's shaky voice. Obviously, the tough guy intimidated the fellow detective, but not her.

Ken began to speak, but Lauren interrupted him by standing toe-to-toe with Eddie and holding out her hand.

"I'm Detective Lauren Phelps, NYPD and you must be the infamous Lieutenant Tennellie?” she stated sarcastically, and Eddie visibly caught his breath. Now, it was he who turned red from embarrassment, but he brushed it off like it was no big deal.

He ignored her hand, and she slowly placed it back down by her side, mentally adding Lieutenant Tennellie to her ‘shit list.'

A few minutes later, after they got past the awkwardness of their introduction, they began to professionally discuss the two cases. They established they had a situation on their hands, a possible ‘signature’ that would require their mutual, combined cooperation.

"What about the press? When they find out that the Wilson murder and the Lucas murder are connected, they're going to go nuts. Who's going to handle the media?” Ken asked.

"Well, ‘Lieutenant Mr. Personality’ here seems like he could handle the questioning, or we can push it off to the brass.” Lauren got the shot in, and even though it was childish, it felt good.

Eddie ignored the comment and they compared their cases and possible leads.

"If I were you, I'd check into the Ecstasy thing. Perhaps it was bypassed by the original lab tests.” Eddie crossed his arms in front of his chest. He still eyed her as if she weren't for real.

Releasing an annoyed sigh, she filled them in on her assessment as well as the preliminary autopsy results. She concluded with information achieved by interviewing the bartender and friends of the victim.

"We need to get the results on the tire tracks. If we can find a match with the vehicles and the material, then we can focus on finding the vehicle and then our suspect. Do you have many sexual offenders living in the surrounding area? Anyone who meets the criteria or M.O.?” Lauren asked.

"There are a few guys, but they haven't gone as far as murder. All of them were sexual assault or attempted rape. I guess we can start looking at them as possible suspects. If we can link the vehicles, then we can check Motor Vehicles and hopefully find some possibilities,” Eddie added while watching Lauren as she read over the case file.

She was the hottest looking detective Eddie had ever laid eyes on. His partner was drooling, as he nonchalantly pointed down to Lauren's toes. Eddie glanced down. Her open toe sandals revealed pink manicured toes, to his partner's obvious, complete satisfaction.

He laughed, but he thought her toes didn't compare to her perfect voluptuous figure and classy look. She seemed a bit on the young side, but when she spoke, she sounded experienced and very thorough.

"Well, I guess we'll be in touch as we get our lab reports. Here's my card with both my pager and cell phone. I wouldn't bother to leave a message at the office. It gets crazy downtown, so please call the cell phone if anything new comes up.” Ken pulled out his business card before Eddie could.