Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (21 page)

“I can probably get it by three. Is my daughter there? I want to speak with her. I won’t do anything unless I know she’s all right.”

“You’ve got thirty seconds. Clear?”

“Oh my God,” Lonny said.

“Daddy! Daddy, is that you?”

“Jada! Oh God, baby, are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

“Daddy, listen. I don’t have much time. I don’t want you coming yourself with the money. Not with your blood pressure and heart. Send Uncle Eddy. You know how calm he is. Even my friends say that about Uncle Eddy.”

Lucia was holding on to Lonny’s arm and squeezing, her head buried in his shoulders. Mars stood behind them, his arms wrapped around his parents. I thought I saw tears in his eyes.

“No way! I’m doing this myself.”

“Dad, you’re not well enough. Send Uncle Eddy,
please
.”

“Okay. I’ll get Eddy to do it…but you stay safe, baby. And don’t worry. You’ll be home soon.”

“It’s me again.”

“If you hurt her, I swear—”

“Yes, I know. It is natural to worry, but there is no need if you do your job.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Good. A much better attitude. And don’t worry—she’ll be home soon. Listen carefully. We don’t have much time. Get the money. Put it in a duffel bag. You can purchase one at Academy or Walmart if you don’t have one. When it’s ready, drive to the Denny’s restaurant on Research Forest Boulevard. Be there at three o’clock. Park near the back on that same side. Go in and enjoy some coffee and breakfast. I suggest the Grand Slam or the blueberry pancakes with a side of sausage. In any case, do not come out before half an hour is up. That is important. Are we clear?”

“What else?”

“Let’s keep it simple. We’ll call once you are inside, so make sure your cell phone is with you. And the money, of course. Don’t forget that.”

“I haven’t checked with the bank. I don’t know—”

“They’ll have it ready. Don’t mess up.”

“Three o’clock?”

“Yes. And please tell the police not to try anything. We
will
know.”

I turned off the machine and looked over at the Hacketts. They were a mess. I had planned on asking them questions but figured that could wait a few minutes. “You want anything? Tea or coffee?”

Lonny looked ready to fall down. Mars helped him to a chair in the family room. Lucia sat beside him on the floor. “She’s gonna be all right, Lonny. She’ll be all right.” She repeated it over and over, as if it were a mantra.

Delgado pulled me aside. “What’s the plan, Gino? We don’t have much time.”

I motioned for him and Connors to join me outside. “We need to set up surveillance, and it has to be tight.”

Connors looked at me and Delgado. “How are we going to do this without the ransom?”

“It won’t be easy. In fact, we’re fucked unless we catch them. But we don’t want to panic the Hacketts, so when we go back inside, watch what you say.”

“Who’s Coop sending us?” Delgado asked.

“She said she’d get back to me. I told her to get someone to do the drop too. Worked out good with that Uncle Eddy thing.”

“We need to find out about that,” Delgado said.

“No time like the present.” I opened the door and started back in, Connors and Delgado trailing me. “Scott, do you have a map of the area?”

“He’s upstairs,” Delgado said. “I’ll ask.”

Delgado called up. “Mr. Winthrop, do you have a map of this area? A good one?”

“In the study, top drawer of my desk.”

Delgado returned a few minutes later with a big fold-out map of North Houston. I quickly pinpointed his address, and we dropped a pin there. Delgado put another one at Denny’s.

“We’ll need people on I-45, north and south,” Delgado said. “And on #242, Research Forest, Woodlands Parkway, Gosling…all the major crossroads they might use to get out of here.”

I pointed to the freeway and to #242. “Double teams at each of these spots. We need people in front and behind so they’re not spotted.”

My phone rang, and I grabbed it. It was Coop. “I got ten uniforms coming your way, Gino. Most of them have good surveillance experience.”

“Thanks, Coop. What about somebody for Winthrop?”

“What do you think of Doran?”

“From Narcotics?”

“That’s him.”

“Perfect. He’s done undercover, so he won’t crack.”

“Glad you think so, ’cause he’s on his way.”

“Okay, Coop. Gotta go.” I hung up and went to the table.

Connors said, “I expected more details of the drop.”

Delgado shook his head. “They won’t stay on the phone long, and more importantly, they don’t want to give us time to plan a defense.”

“Smart fuckers, aren’t they?” Connors got embarrassed as soon as the word slipped his mouth. He turned to Lucia, just in from the family room. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Detective, that is the
least
of my worries.”

Connors blushed. “Of course, ma’am.”

Lucia wandered around like a lost child. “Mrs. Hackett,” I said, “Would you mind getting me some coffee?”

She brightened. “Of course. Anyone else want any?”

I kicked Delgado’s leg. “I’ll take some, if you don’t mind,” he said. Connors chimed in with his request as well.

I leaned in close. “What time is it, Delgado?”

He looked at his watch. “Quarter to nine.”

“That gives us six hours until the meet. We need to get our asses busy.”

Connors leaned in closer. “Do you think they’ll hurt her?”

“Shut up, Connors.”

His words brought images of Philadelphia to mind; I didn’t need that in my head. Not now. Not ever.

Chapter 30

Analyze the Call

L
onny walked into the kitchen as if he were a zombie. “Detective, about that call.”

My phone rang. “Hold on. I’ll get with you as soon as I’m done with this.” I answered the phone. “Cataldi.”

“Detective, this is Dr. Morris.”

“Did you listen to the tape?”

“Yes, numerous times. Have you got a moment to go over it?”

I got out my notepad and pen then set the phone on the table. “Ready. And I’m putting you on speaker.”

“First let’s look at the noise, or perhaps I should say the lack of noise. When I amplified the recording I found no noise in the background. No refrigerator humming or computer whirring or air conditioner running. No clocks chiming or ticking. No outside traffic. No peripheral sounds at all. We could have hit a lull in such sounds, or they could have made it artificially quiet, but I don’t think so. Wherever they are is a quiet place.”

“How does that help?” I asked.

“Right now, I suppose it doesn’t. But if we get closer, that fact could eliminate possible leads.”

“What else?”

“The man had a definite Texas accent. From what I could make out, East Texas. He’s not a transplant. And he’s intelligent, or, at least, has a decent command of grammar. Not uneducated.”

So far Morris hadn’t given me anything. “Keep going.”

“The kidnapper is confident. I sensed no intimidation when Mr. Winthrop threatened him. He made no retaliatory remarks in defense, simply offered a confident response. Also, he didn’t argue when the girl suggested a switch in plans. This is a man who can adapt to change. That makes him dangerous.”

“Where did you get all this shit from, Doctor?”

“Let’s go through the call. I have the recording hooked to the phone.”

“Is the money ready, Mr. Winthrop?”

“Notice here that he called him
Mr. Winthrop.
A sign of respect. He didn’t try to demean Winthrop. That shows confidence.”

“You said forty-eight hours when you called yesterday.”

“But I
know
you have it. Let’s do the transaction today. I’m sure you want your little girl back. I
know
she wants to go home.”

“Notice here he says, ‘But I
know
you have it,’ and ‘I’m sure you want your little girl back.’ This is a man who understands emotions and what Mr. Winthrop is going through. He cut right to the chase—he wants his girl back, and she wants to come home. What father isn’t going to cave at that point?

“I’m skipping through the part where Jada asks for her uncle to deliver the money.” The tape stopped. “Okay, here is where it gets interesting again. Scott threatened the kidnapper. He said, ‘If you hurt her, I swear.’ That is a normal response from a parent, but the response from the kidnapper is abnormal. He attempts to soothe Scott, being understanding about his threat then assuring him there is no need to worry.”

After a slight pause, Morris continued. “When Scott asks what he wants him to do, he
rewards
Scott with a ‘Good, much better attitude.’ Then the kidnapper once again assures Scott that his daughter will be home soon. What happens after that is classic: he puts the pressure on. ‘We don’t have much time,’ followed by the instructions. He even gives Scott the options of using Walmart or Academy. You would be hard pressed to find a more reasonable man, even to the point of telling him to enjoy a breakfast meal at Denny’s, and providing suggestions for what to order. He then closes by asking Scott to ‘please’ tell the police not to try anything.”

“Sounds like a lot of shit, if you ask me,” I said.

“Don’t be so sure, Detective. As I said, this is an intelligent and dangerous man. He’s a man in control.”

“So with this analysis, what do you suggest?”

“I have no suggestion, but I
will
warn you. If you think you have this man figured out, be careful. He will fool you. He will do the unexpected.”

“Thanks, Morris. I appreciate it.”

“Good luck.”

I hung up and looked at Lonny. “What’s up? You mentioned the call.”

He seemed confused. “She said something about Uncle Eddy delivering the money.”

“I know. Don’t worry. That’s a good thing. We’re going to have an undercover guy do it.”

Lonny shook his head. “You don’t understand. She doesn’t have an Uncle Eddy.”

He had my attention. “How about anybody she calls Uncle Eddy?”

Lucia had come to stand beside Lonny, her hand on his shoulder. She shook her head.

“And there’s nobody you know named Eddy?”

“We had a neighbor named Eddy a few years ago, but he moved.”

“Anything odd about him, fishy?”

“No, he was a cop.”

I looked at Delgado, who seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. “Do you think she’s telling us one of them is a cop?”

“Could be,” Delgado said. “Might be.”

“How would she know that?” Lonny asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Then Connors added, “All of this makes me wonder how they got Jada instead of Mr. Winthrop’s daughter.”

“If they were watching this house, it could have been an easy mistake,” Lucia said. “Jada spends the night here a lot. In fact, last week she told me that Mr. Winthrop drove her to school. Yesterday, she and Alexa walked, but, as you know, Alexa detoured with her boyfriend.”

I pondered this for a moment. “So if they happened to be watching the house and saw Scott take Jada to school…it would have been an easy assumption that she was his daughter.”

As I thought it over, Scott came down the steps. “I’ve got to get to work. They—”

“Go ahead. We’re good for now.” He started to leave, and I went to him. “You did good this morning. Don’t worry. She’ll be all right.”

“Call me if you need something. I’ll have my cell phone.”

I asked Connors and Delgado to come to the table then suggested to Lonny and Lucia that they keep busy, maybe get Alexa to drive them home so they could change and get their car. I also asked for recent pictures of Jada. I mostly wanted them out of the house so we could make plans for the drop.

“I thought we were going to figure out that shit about Uncle Eddy,” Delgado said.

“We will,” I said. “But while they’re gone, I want to go over some details. The last thing we need is the Hacketts hovering while we discuss options that may not be pleasant.”

“Let’s do it,” Delgado said.

***

Lonny sat in the back seat with Lucia while Alexa drove them home. He held Lucia’s hand, her head resting on his shoulder. The whole, time he thought about the phone call. It was Boss; he knew it. The voice, the way he spoke, and the way he said “clear.” That was the clincher. It was Boss.

If only I hadn’t gotten involved with them.

Would it have made a difference? Had they really made a mistake, or did they somehow know Jada was his daughter, and this was payback? No, he was getting paranoid. It wouldn’t make sense to take his daughter. He had no money. And if Lonny knew anything, it was that those redneck crackers were in it for the money. They didn’t give two shits about anything
but
money.

He almost told the detective about the whole operation when he heard the voice, thought maybe he had given himself away from the way Gino looked at him. But nothing came of it. Now he wondered whether to turn himself in. What good would it do? How would it help Jada? He didn’t know
shit
about these people. Not where they met, not their names. Didn’t even know what they looked like.