Page 9 of Complicated Past
“Thank you, but we can handle this. At this point, there’s no evidence of a crime?—”
“Mrs. Feldman came to take care of my nephew. She doesn’t know people here, so I don’t see her going off with someone. I came home from deployment because I got a call from my sister indicating she might be in trouble. Now, I can’t reach her, and she told her friends she was going to Mexico. I don’t know if this is related, but it feels off.” Way off. “I don’t believe in coincidences. You can use me to help, but I won’t be sitting on the sidelines waiting for you to find something.”
Detective Lowe and the uniformed officer exchanged a brief look. “Are you in Third Group?”
“No.”
She raised an eyebrow and studied him when he didn’t say more.
“But I have US Marshal credentials,” he added.
“All right. You can review footage to speed things along.Butyou can’t go off on your own. You need to workwithus.”
“Acknowledged, ma’am.” He didn’t have to take orders from a civilian; however, he needed intel, and he couldn’t get it through military channels. Without his team here, he was on his own, and he couldn’t investigate like he neededandtake care of Jalen.
Sittingin the police station less than an hour later, Linc reversed the footage from the grocery store’s parking lot security camera that covered Regina’s SUV. He stopped when he reached Regina parking. Zooming in, he confirmed that she exited the car and entered the grocery store—carrying the beige handbag found in the car.
Her purse being left in the car didn’t sit right with Linc. Detective Lowe had already requested a warrant to access the call records and had gone in search of a charger that worked on Regina’s ancient phone.
Watching for Regina to come out, Linc noted the vehicles in the lot and people entering the store. A nondescript white work van that had backed into a space down the aisle pulled out and took the handicapped parking spot next to Regina’s vehicle as soon as the other sedan left.
Hair on his arms and neck stood at attention.
Linc decreased the speed of the playback. His pulse kicked up as he watched. The driver didn’t get out of the van. From the security camera’s angle, he could make out it was a dark-haired Caucasian or possibly Latino male wearing a ball cap pulled low and shielding his face.
When Linc saw Regina push a shopping cart into view, he shifted his focus on the man in time to see him climb into the back of the van.Oh, shit. He leaned closer to the screen and zoomed the image in on Regina, who loaded groceries into the back of her SUV. When she took the cart to the corral, the van’s side door slid open. The man blocked Regina’s path to the driver’s side door.
Because the van’s height obstructed the view below their heads, Linc couldn’t tell from this footage how the man got Regina into the van so fast. In seconds, she was gone from sight. No one in the parking lot appeared to have witnessed what happened based on no one rushing forward to help.
The guy slammed the door closed and tossed Regina’s purse in her car. Smart. No one could track her location via her cell if it wasn’t on her. This guy knew what he was doing. They didn’t have proof—yet—but this had to be tied to Bri’s call.
He did his best to remain detached as he wrote down what he could see of the license plate when the van pulled out. Then, he watched which direction it took to determine what other cameras might give a better angle.
When Clara returned to her desk in the small squad room, he said, “I’ve got something.”
She plugged the charger cord into the outlet built into her desk and stepped behind Linc. He backed up the footage and replayed it, fast-forwarding to the highlights.
She let out a sigh. “We need to review other angles, but I’m going with this as a kidnapping. I’ll get a BOLO out on that van. Did you get the plate number?”
“A partial. Looks like they covered it with mud or something.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. It’s also the most common make and color, but there’s a dent in the back bumper that could help identify it.”
“Good catch.” Clara picked up Regina’s phone. “She’s got message and voicemail notifications. I’ll ask the judge to expedite the warrant on the phone.”
“Or you can let me have a crack at unlocking it. You don’t need a warrant when it belongs to the victim.”
“Worth a shot, especially since it’s already been nearly twenty-four hours.” She handed Linc the phone.
He couldn’t use biometrics unless he could get her prints from something at Bri’s. Since it was a numbers pin code, he ruled out words. “What’s her birthday?”
“You think it’ll be that easy?” Clara opened Regina’s wallet and read off the date.
“Nope.” She’d never done anything to help Linc. He guessed she’d want something significant that she could remember. Next, he tried Bri’s birthday, then Jalen’s. Neither worked.
He tried to think like Regina. Clifton’s birthday? He might have been a disappointment, but he’d been her son. More than once, Mom had done a combined birthday cake for Linc and Clifton since their birthdays were only six days apart. After trying Clifton’s month, day, and year, he was locked out for the next minute.