Pied Sniper, page 20
“And if she doesn’t? They could kill Tiffany.”
I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. It was still troubling me when we pulled into the parking lot. After touring the lot twice but finding no empty spaces, we pulled back onto the street.
“Is it just me or is this a crazy time of day for the gun range parking lot to be so busy?” I wondered aloud.
“It’s not a very big lot,” Solomon pointed out but my attention was drawn to something else. A man in a dark suit with hair barely curling at the collar of his white shirt. He wore sunglasses and looked out of place against the concrete parking structure painted with colorful graffiti tags. I pointed as I said, “Is that Maddox?”
Solomon narrowed his eyes. “Looks like him.”
“What’s he doing here? The range has nothing to do with the investigation. At least, not directly.”
“Go find out and meet me inside.”
“Yes, boss.” Solomon pulled over and I hopped out and jogged over to Maddox. He was staring at his phone, then turning this way and that, craning his neck. “What are you doing?” I asked and he jumped.
“Jeez, where did you sneak up from?” he asked, his hand hovering above his concealed gun.
“Ooh, jumpy. Over there,” I said, flapping my hand in the vague direction where Solomon dropped me off. His SUV was already out of view and I hoped he didn’t have too long of a walk back. “I spoke to Garrett briefly and he said you were on your way back from a dead-end lead.”
Maddox relaxed. “Correct, but I wanted to follow up with another clue.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I figured, and since you found it, it won’t hurt to tell you. The ticket you picked up at the apartment overlooking Tiffany’s belongs to this parking garage.”
“Huh.” I frowned. What were the odds that the scrunched-up parking ticket from the abandoned building would lead them here?
“That is why you’re here?” Maddox continued.
“No, we came to talk to one of Solomon’s contacts at the gun range across the street.” I pointed to the flat-roofed, dark building.
Maddox looked toward the parking garage and asked, “Do they know something?”
“Maybe, but not the identity of the kidnappers. Although…” I thought about it. If Solomon’s contact could identify the laser sight, could he identify the gun too? And if he could, would he know who owned one? I hoped so. Keeping my fingers crossed, I hoped it would turn out to be a rare and unusual weapon. “We came to ask about the weapon that might have been used in the abduction. I doubt we’ll get any amazing revelations but it might come in useful if you and Garrett make an arrest later.”
“A where-to-point-us-next clue? Works for me,” said Maddox. “Kind of weird that your contact lives across the street from this parking garage that might have been used by the perps.”
“What’s even weirder is that Solomon didn’t just park in there.”
“The garage is closed,” Maddox said, pointing to the barriers. “The guard says their electricity shorted out last night and none of the lights or the elevators work so they decided it wasn’t safe to open.”
“What about cameras?” I wondered.
“Similar electrical issue. Seems to be on the fritz more often than not. Farid is talking to the guard right now about getting any footage from the date on the ticket. I’m trying to figure out why someone would want to park there.”
“There are a lot of businesses in this area,” I said, glancing around. I could see a grocery store, a deli, a nice-looking wine shop, a pet store, a dentist and two hair stylists all on the block closest to me. The upper floors could contain apartments or offices too, but it was hard to tell.
“Before you ask, most of these shops have parking in the rear for their employees so I’m thinking whoever parked here was visiting one of the businesses.” Maddox’s gaze stretched across the street towards the gun range and I knew what he was thinking: did the perpetrators practice there? “It’s a longshot but I’m going to canvass the area and see what kind of security footage we can dig up. I’ll get the boyfriend and PA to take a look at any likely figures. See if anyone stands out.”
“Can you let us talk to the firing range owner before you question him?” I asked. “I can see you putting together an equation.”
“If it’s as simple as two plus two make four, then yeah. Doesn’t mean I’m right though. I can give you some grace but I will want to talk to him. I can see he has cameras and his records should be good.”
“I can mention it to him and perhaps they’ll be extra helpful?”
“Best not,” decided Maddox. “I’d rather our visit were a surprise.”
Solomon walked back to the full parking lot and raised one hand to wave. I wasn’t sure if it was a hello to Maddox or a tacit “move it” to me.
“Garrett said I should attend the press conference later,” I told Maddox. “He thinks someone might show up.”
“Sounds good. Our faces have been onscreen, but you’re still fairly anonymous.”
“Except for the people who identified me online as a first responder to Tiffany.”
“That’s only your name. Your face is still unknown. Plus, even if someone did know you were hired, they wouldn’t necessarily expect us to be working together. That works in our favor.”
“Someone might have identified me properly by then.”
“We’ve looked through the comments on Tiffany’s latest videos and all the chat about you dried up pretty fast. Mostly everyone’s speculating on whether she’s dead or not, and if her body will be found… and in what condition it might be if it is.”
“Disturbing. I also feel irrelevant but given the rest of the speculation, my feelings are irrelevant.”
“Your poor feelings,” said Maddox and for a moment, I thought he might pat me on the head.
“Did you speak to Flavia?” I enquired.
“Next on my list.”
“I’d better go now,” I said. “I’ll call you and tell you when we leave.”
“No need. I’ll notice. You’ll probably cause some kind of carnage on the way out.”
I huffed at that but crossed my fingers as I jogged across the street to where Solomon waited. “What’s he doing here?” he asked. “He didn’t follow us.”
“You have a very suspicious mind.”
“My business is suspicion.”
“This is the location of the parking ticket you found at the apartment overlooking Tiffany’s. Do you think there’s a connection to the gun range? Maddox is considering it.”
“The range has its own parking lot.”
“And we couldn’t find a place,” I pointed out. “Maybe they came here to practice?”
Solomon made a noise but I wasn’t sure if it were a grunt of annoyance or a huff of acknowledgment for the worrying possibility that the kidnappers practiced target shooting at his friend’s range. Rather than ask him to clarify, we headed inside and walked up to the reception desk.
“Is Clay Olson around? He’s expecting me,” said Solomon.
“I’ll get him for you,” said the woman behind the desk. She leaned into the doorway a few steps beyond her and called his name. A moment later, a stocky man with tattoos sleeving his arms all the way up stepped out. His face split into a broad smile as he saw Solomon and they did a manly hand clasp and shoulder bump.
“So this is the beautiful bride,” he said, reaching a hand over the desk to me. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I said, finding his hand warm and dry and his personality immediately likable. “Why don’t you two come on in the back?” He waved to the end of the desk. Walking over, he unlatched a half-height door and we followed him into the office. As we moved I heard a pop-pop-pop!
“Our sound-proofing isn’t quite perfect,” he said. “When I bought the place, it was pretty rundown. It cost me a lot to turn it into a nice gun range but there’s still some work to be done. Do you shoot?”
“I do,” I said, “but I’m not a regular for target practice.”
“I’ll give you a pass before you leave. There’s a ladies’ afternoon if you prefer to come by without any masculine posturing. We’re trying to become a female-friendly venue, not just appealing to the butch gun nuts.”
“I can hold my own,” I said.
“She’s a force to be reckoned with,” said Solomon. “If anyone tries to belittle her, you’ll enjoy the ensuing calamity.”
“My insurance doesn’t cover mass casualties,” said Clay with a grin. “So what can I do for you both? You said something about identifying a weapon.”
“Let me show you the video we have,” I said, pulling out my phone. I found the saved video file and I pulled the slider until moments before Tiffany began to freak out. I passed it to Clay and hit play, waiting as he studied it.
When it finished, he glanced up at Solomon. “This is a short-range sight and it’s probably mounted on a handgun. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that,” he added.
“No, but is there anything particular about this sight that might identify the weapon?”
“They all look largely the same. If you had a bullet, that would be more helpful.”
“The police do but they haven’t shared that information with us.”
“This is about that missing woman, right?” he asked, looking from Solomon to me. “She looks kind of familiar but I can’t think why. I’ve got a fourteen-year-old kid so maybe she watches her stuff, I dunno. It’s all YouTok and TickTube and I don’t get any of it. Anyway, I heard some of the clients talking about the kidnapping. Look, the way I see it, the sight itself is relevant but in an odd kind of way. Why are they using a sight in good light? It’s not like they would struggle to identify the target from a few feet away.”
“The lights did go out,” I reminded him.
“Sure, but not until after they were already using the sight. See here—” He moved the slider back in time and played the video again, then paused it. “You can see the dot already, then the lights go out. If you’re going to scare someone, it looks a whole lot scarier when you see that red light in the dark. Then they know they’re marked.”
“You think they played this up for the camera?” asked Solomon.
Clay handed my phone back to me and shrugged. “Could be. Could be the shooter is a jumped-up punk who thinks the optics of a laser sight mounted on his gun make him look intimidating. We see that shit here all the time. Weedy, little nerds that act like tough guys just because they have a semi-automatic. They drool over a grenade launcher they really don’t need. All that stuff is available though for the right price.”
“From here?” I asked.
Clay held up his hands. “All strictly legit here and I don’t sell guns. I’m not offended, but sure, you can get just about anything if you’re willing to pay enough for it. That said, any gun shop sells handgun-mounted sights. It’s a common item and I couldn’t even begin to guess how many are in the state, let alone, the country. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”
“It’s what I expected,” said Solomon. “I was being optimistic that you might recognize something I didn’t.”
“I appreciate your faith in my skills.”
“You said you overheard some of your clients talking about the kidnap? Was that before or after it happened?” I asked.
“When did it happen?”
“Last night.”
This time, Clay frowned. “After. A couple of women who shoot here were talking about ways they can feel safer in their homes and asking their friends to come over for lessons. I said I’d give them a group discount if they wanted it. Some of the guys were talking about it too, saying how freakin’ brazen it was to do something like that on camera. You gotta be stupid, right?”
I nodded. “Anyone stand out? Somebody a little too interested in the case? Or seeming to have too much information? Maybe a little too flattering about the kidnappers’ skills?” I asked.
“No. Why? You think I’ve got the woman stashed here some place?” He grinned at Solomon, apparently finding that comment hilarious.
“Not one bit,” said Solomon, “But we have information the kidnappers might have been in this area prior to the abduction. We have no proof yet, and nothing to suggest they were, but I wonder if they might have practiced here.”
“I hope not but I can’t tell you definitively. Why don’t I keep an ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything?” he said, rising and proffering his hand to shake first Solomon’s, then mine. I knew we were being dismissed.
“I think I offended him,” I said as we walked to the car. I kept a lookout for Maddox and Farid but couldn’t see them anywhere. That didn’t mean they couldn’t see us though.
“He’s not easy to offend. I think he’s more concerned that you could be right. He doesn’t want criminals in his place of business. He runs a tight ship and he’s keen to be known as female-friendly.”
“Then he’s not going to be pleased when the FBI drops by.”
“That won’t faze him. He’s dealt with far worse.”
“Sounds like he has a back story.”
“One that he’s glad to leave in the past,” said Solomon.
I checked my watch. “Let’s drop in on Lucas before we head over to the press call,” I said. “I’d like to see if any more information about Tiffany has surfaced.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I have news,” said Lucas when we stepped in, “and you’re not going to like it.”
“Our favorite donut place is closed?” I asked, stopping and holding my hands to my face in shock.
Lucas stilled. “It is?”
“It really is?” I squeaked. That was the problem with making jokes. Sometimes they backfired.
“You just said so!” he yelled. “Now I don’t want to give you Tiffany’s cloned laptop. The original is on its way to MPD now.”
I spotted a laptop on my desk. “Aha!” I said, diving for it before he could snatch it back.
“It hasn’t closed,” said Solomon, “and there won’t be anymore donuts for anyone until you tell us what you found out.”
“Tiffany is wanted in three states for fraud.” A smile slid across Lucas’s face. For a moment I didn’t know whether to gasp or hug him. That was big news!
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Because with everything we’ve learned about her, I kind of like it.”
Now he looked offended. “Am I sure? Sure, I’m sure. I figured someone who is that much of a grifter wouldn’t just stick close to home so I broadened my search and found several active warrants. There’s a fraudulent investment scheme in South Dakota, a hotel that she stiffed after a luxury shopping spree in Vegas, and a whole host of petty crimes in Pennsylvania. She also collects parking tickets. That’s the past few years. I draw a blank before then.”
“Any of the people she stiffed likely to kidnap her?” asked Solomon.
“It’s chickenfeed to the hotel, the investment scheme took money from thirty Average Joes with a cap of ten thousand apiece, and the petty crimes don’t reach more than a few thousand each.”
“Lexi, why are you scrunching your face like that?”
“It’s how I do the math,” I said as I mentally calculated what thirty times ten was. Then I got out my phone and checked it with the calculator app because I got lost in zeros. “Three hundred thousand sounds like enough for a bunch of people to get together to hire someone to kidnap her and demand a ransom that returns the money with a buttload of interest.”
“Has anyone called the tip line and mentioned her owing money?” asked Solomon.
“Not as far as I know but I’ll check,” said Lucas.
“If they’re not responsible, they might still be overjoyed at Tiffany’s misfortune,” I said, wondering how I would feel if someone stole my money, disappeared, and then ended up in a horrific national news story. I suppose I wouldn’t gloat publicly. But inside? Inside, I might do a teensy, tiny, guilty happy dance.
“Or they might be keeping quiet to avoid attracting attention,” said Solomon. “Do some more digging into all of them and inform Detective Graves and Special Agent Maddox of these developments. They’ll be able to speak to the detectives in charge of the cases and inform them of the connection, if they’re not already aware.”
“We need to speak to the people who claim to be related to Tiffany too,” I said. “Have they called again?”
“No, and we’ve tried calling them but no one is picking up,” said Lucas. “I’ve got last known addresses if you want to send investigators there, but they’re out of state.”
“It’ll be a waste of time,” decided Solomon after a moment of contemplation, “Lexi and I are needed here. By the time we send someone else out there, Tiffany will probably be dead. Tell the team that if anyone claiming to be family calls again, they’re to be promptly dispatched to one of us. At the very least, get a number where we can call them directly back.”
“Got it, boss,” said Lucas.
“And check into a Rose Busch,” I added. “Tiffany changed her name. You might find more now the search isn’t just for Tiffany Rose.”
“What do you make of it?” Solomon asked me once Lucas disappeared through the door.
“Tiffany doesn’t have many redeeming qualities,” I replied. “The more we find out about her, the worse she becomes. However, I think there’s still a case to be made for her planning this herself. Who knows how many people are after her besides the ones we know about? She changed her name once. She’s been lying since school. She has a bunch of active warrants. Disappearing forever in a high-profile case is one way of getting everyone off her back. It’s been done before.”
“Do you think she has the smarts to pull off a permanent disappearing act?”
I pondered that. “Yes, she could pull it off, but as we’ve already found out, her past doesn’t stay there. If she did orchestrate this, I expect it will unravel.”
“That could take months or years.”
“But it will.” Waiting that long didn’t strike me as a good thing. “The other possibility, of course, is that the ransom gets paid, Tiffany pops up all bloodied and heroic with a stash of cash hidden somewhere and a whole host of new big-money projects to capitalize on her tragedy.”
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