Scent of Murder (36 page)

Junior intended to make sure her precious Sensei Rick wasn't going to be proud of what she did it tonight.

*   *   *

Hallett had listened to the surveillance and finally caught up with them headed south. Darren and Claire had stayed well back of Slaton driving his ratty old Ford Taurus and had lost him along the way. Right now Darren thought the Taurus turned into one of the shopping centers along the west side of the road.

Hallett let his eyes search the traffic in front of him and in the parking lots along Military Trail, dangerously ignoring the cars close to him. Rocky sensed the tension and sat up in his compartment, panting directly against the metal door that faced forward.

He slowed when he saw the brighter lights of a large shopping center and noticed the Publix grocery store that anchored it. Somewhere in a report he had read that Michelle Swirsky worked part-time at Publix. On a hunch he got on the radio as he turned into the shopping center.

Hallett said, “I'm searching the parking lot of the Publix. Is anyone available to go inside and check with the manager real quick? I think this is the Publix where Michelle Swirsky works.”

Claire acknowledged him as she parked her Tahoe directly in front of the building. They were starting to veer off the original mission of finding Bill Slaton, but just the idea that Slaton was in the same area as his last victim worried him.

As he made a quick pass through the lot he still didn't see the Taurus.

*   *   *

Bill Slaton Jr. already felt some relief. That nagging feeling of unfinished business had vanished like a Budweiser at a Toby Keith concert. He felt powerful. Michelle was securely restrained and crouched down in the passenger seat of his car. She put up a brave fight to hold back the tears, but it only made her seem that much more vulnerable.

Junior enjoyed glancing over at Michelle as she sat perfectly still, sitting low in the seat the way he had told her to. Maybe she was a replacement for Karen Olson or some other woman who had screwed up his life. Women never knew how much influence they had with their little comments or silly laughter. This was one way to show them.

He hadn't realized how much the visit with his father had affected him. He needed to prove he was a man. Just hearing his father call him a dickless wonder made him want to go out and find five girls like Michelle. He'd always thought the insult was related to his lack of athletic ability until he recalled his father's “treatment.”

The traffic was light, and he could just see a hint of the rising moon. He knew he had to act quickly. The managers at Publix would notice one of their employees missing, and after Michelle's notoriety on TV, no one would take any chances. He knew an abandoned gas station that had an office behind it. One of his probationers had found a way in and was living in the empty office. It was easier for Slaton to ignore the minor trespassing than to find housing for the homeless probationer.

He stole another glance at his prey as she sat silently. The blindfold left her nose and mouth exposed, and he pictured her beautiful smile.

He wished he could bottle this feeling.

*   *   *

Claire hustled through the automatic doors of the Publix, still dressed in her uniform with a, long-sleeve black T-shirt that said
PBSO K-
9 on the right sleeve and a black tactical vest. The combat boots she wore boosted her height to a total of five foot six. She had to look up almost a foot to the lanky manager behind the customer service counter.

The man, about her age, said, “May I help you?”

“Do you know if Michelle Swirsky is working here tonight?”

Then the man gave her an odd smile and said, “River, is that you?”

It took Claire by surprise, and she tried to figure out who this man was. She had to admit he looked familiar.

He gave her a broad smile and said, “It's Bill Shepherd. I used to live next to you in Lake Worth. Remember, my dad gave us rides everywhere.”

Claire nodded and said, “It's nice to see you, Bill. We have a little bit of a situation. I need to speak with Michelle Swirsky, right now.”

He just continued to stare and smile. “I had no idea you would grow up to look like this. I would've been nicer to you as a kid.” He still had a goofy laugh.

“Look, Bill, I'd love to catch up with you later, but right now I want to make sure Michelle is okay. Is she working tonight?”

It finally sank in with the gangly manager that this might be important. He said, “Miss Hollywood? She was here tonight. I haven't seen her in a few minutes. Don't tell me she's followed in her father's footsteps and ripped someone off?”

Now Claire was starting to lose it. “Bill, we need to cut the small talk. Let's find Michelle.”

The manager stepped through the door in the back of the small room and then appeared in the store, walking directly to a heavyset, older cashier. He spoke to her and then the cashier next to her. He walked back toward Claire shaking his head. “She went out to grab carts about five minutes ago, but no one's seen her since.”

They did a quick check around the store and called for her over the intercom, but after two minutes Claire couldn't wait anymore and got on the radio to tell Hallett she wasn't here.

This complicated things.

 

43

Hallett tried to hide his panic after Claire reported that no one at Publix could find Michelle.

He all but screamed into the radio, “Do you see him?”

Darren thought he had spotted the Ford Taurus on Military Trail, but he hadn't seen it in the last minute. Hallett would never forgive himself if something happened to this girl because he didn't act quickly enough.

He mashed the button on his handheld radio and called out again. “You guys see him anywhere?”

Then a female voice that wasn't Claire came on the radio and said, “He made a U-turn and went north on Military Trail.”

Hallett was about to ask who was giving the information when he realized it was Sergeant Greene.
Where the hell had she come from?
It didn't matter; they needed the help now.

He punched the gas as Rocky became more agitated in the rear compartment.

Sergeant Greene said, “I'll keep on Military, you take Lake Worth Road west. We'll do a grid search if we have to. I'm calling in more help now.”

Hallett got on the radio and said, “Thanks, Sarge. I think I can explain this all in a few minutes. But we need to stop this guy and do it now.”

A few seconds later his phone rang. “Hallett.”

It was Sergeant Greene. She didn't sound angry, but she said, “You kind of need to explain it to me right now. Just the
Reader's Digest
version.”

Hallett continued to search traffic but understood the importance of keeping the sergeant informed. He gathered his thoughts. “All the victims' fathers were in state custody. Slaton has access to the DOC computers. He tracked the sand into the Ludners' house and tried to lead us to Arnold Ludner. Plus, Rocky alerted to him when I spoke to him earlier.”

The sergeant said, “I can add something.”

“What's that?”

“While I was reviewing crime scene photos of the Ludner house, I saw a footprint on the walkway of a boot missing a square exactly like the cast Claire took out at the scene of Katie Ziegler's kidnapping.”

“Unbelievable.”

“I have crime scene matching them up now. We'll have an answer tonight.”

Hallett said, “That should help seal it.”

“That's not nearly enough for an arrest right now.”

“We're not trying to arrest him, just stopping him for safety reasons. We can't risk him cruising the streets looking for a victim, and he may have Michelle Swirsky with him right now.”

There was a pause on the line. Then the Sergeant said, “Keep looking. I'll get marked units over here.”

That didn't make Hallett's gurgling stomach feel any better.

*   *   *

Darren Mori appreciated sitting so high in the Chevy Tahoe. It allowed him to look down rows of traffic and into parking lots easily. He'd just heard a call on the main radio asking for marked units to come into the area and help look for the Ford Taurus. The bulletin included a full description and a note to detain for Sergeant Greene if seen. He knew she was the right person to call. She had been tough but fair from the start, and Darren knew she liked Hallett.

Brutus sat up and let out the occasional bark. The connection between partners told the dog something was wrong. He might not have been trained to intervene in critical situations, but he still knew when his partner was tense. The way Brutus's head moved back and forth made it look like he was searching traffic with Darren.

He hoped Brutus's cadaver-searching abilities weren't going to be needed today. If this asshole really did have Michelle Swirsky, they had to act fast. Unlike in the movies, cops rarely faced situations like this, and Darren was happy he had the entire team out with him. It gave him confidence to know how well they had been trained.

Even though the situation was exciting, it forced him to look on the flip side and consider what that poor girl might suffer. The idea of her trauma, both physical and emotional, pushed Darren harder to get through traffic and cover more distance. He just hoped he was going to make a difference today.

*   *   *

Bill Slaton Jr. tapped the brakes on the Taurus before he turned. It was a habit his father had taught him when he was a teenager. Unless it was an emergency there was no reason not to warn the drivers behind. He had drummed the use of turn signals into the young man's head the way he had a thousand little things that had carried into Junior's adulthood. His father had screwed him up in more ways than Slaton could keep track of. Maybe Karen Olson had done worse, but he doubted it.

He turned into the parking lot, then took almost a full minute to survey the area. The lot had a tendency to be packed with homeless people and day laborers, but this time of night the laborers had gone home and the homeless were working the street corners. Slaton didn't know the story on the real estate but imagined one owner controlled the gas station, tiny strip mall, and other outparcels because he couldn't imagine why they would all close down at the same time. He hadn't seen active business in the plaza for at least eighteen months.

The lot looked clear.

Michelle had hardly let out a whimper, but Slaton wasn't fooled. He already knew what she was capable of doing and wasn't going to take any chances this time. He pulled through the lot with the intention of parking behind the office at the rear, but someone had piled trash in that exact spot. He could see broken wooden pallets and a half-burned, thin mattress and hoped that meant no one was living inside the abandoned office at the moment.

He could see no light coming out from the slits in the plywood covering the windows and saw no activity in the vicinity. He didn't mind taking the extra time to check the area because he knew it would also serve to disorient Michelle in the blindfold. However Slaton dealt with Michelle tonight, he couldn't leave the blindfold behind. There could be a load of forensic evidence stuck somewhere in the mass of dish towels, duct tape, and cotton. He'd incinerate it later, but right now, he didn't want to rush, so he could enjoy the feeling of power that was surging through his body. Slaton wanted to burn every moment of it into his memory for later use in his fantasy life. He intended to lie low for a long time after this. His visit from former detective Tim Hallett today had actually spurred him on to take action. If the cops really did doubt Arnold Ludner was the right suspect, it didn't matter if he struck tonight or not.

Slaton finally selected a spot away from the road between the office closer to the strip mall and another outparcel that looked like it was used to store equipment. He thought the car might be more difficult to see from the road.

The biggest risk, the one that scared him the most, was the walk from the car to the office. It wasn't far, and the lot was poorly lit, but he couldn't risk anyone noticing a girl with a hood over her head. He took a moment to pull on blue rubber gloves, then take one more quick look around the lot. Without a word, he opened his door and pulled Michelle out the driver's side.

As soon as she stood, he said, “Walk with me or I'll put three bullets in your belly and let you die painfully. Then I'll go to your house and get your mother, too.” The little talk had its desired effect. She straightened up and matched him step for step. Once he was behind the office he breathed easier. He pushed on the loose board his probationer had showed him and shoved Michelle through into the dark, musty interior.

He popped on a tiny LED flashlight and could tell no one had spent the night in here in some time. He shoved Michelle onto some old blankets spread out on one side of the room.

He couldn't ask for anything more perfect.

*   *   *

Hallett had done a lot of surveillance over the years, especially the month he'd spent in narcotics. He'd lost suspects before and learned how to look for them when it happened. Every parking lot and side street was a potential hiding place. The difference was when he lost someone they were following because of dope, no one sweated too much about it. The suspect would turn up again, and even if he didn't, it wasn't like a young girl's life depended on it right at that moment. That added stress affected every aspect of the search.

One key difference right now was that he did not believe Bill Slaton realized anyone was looking for him yet.

Claire had stayed at Publix to gather more information and try to contact Mrs. Swirsky.

Sergeant Greene had called for more units, but a knife fight at a local bar had tied several up. Right now it was just Darren, the sergeant, and Claire helping Hallett look for the rogue probation officer.