JACKS ARE WILD Read online

  A small smile spread across Kiku’s lips.

  “Well said.” She turned to casually walk back to the bag on the counter. “I had to wait until Arber fell asleep. He was quite animated after you left, and made several phone calls. I don’t know who he spoke with.”

  She took a bottle of vodka, a bottle of triple sec, and two limes out of the bag.

  “Kamikazes?” Jack noted.

  “You know your drinks.” Kiku opened the vodka.

  “Did you get anything else?” Replacement huffed.

  “He had a guest. Veronica Martin. She is married, but I assume the husband is away. She lives here in Darrington. I did not find anything suspicious.”

  Replacement bit her bottom lip. “Did you just walk around the house?”

  “They were asleep. It was nothing.” Kiku opened a cabinet and took out three glasses.

  Jack picked one up. “For someone who remembers what cabinet my glasses are in from seeing it only once, I’d think you’d have noticed.” He nodded his head toward Replacement. “She’s a minor.”

  Kiku laughed, which caught Jack off guard. It wasn’t a reserved laugh; it felt real.

  Replacement frowned.

  “You will be joining me, will you not?”

  Jack nodded.

  “That’s not fair.” Replacement pouted.

  Kiku pressed her lips together as she poured the drinks. “We need to talk.” She handed Jack a drink and then walked over to the recliner to sit down. “My employer has heard nothing. Do you know if the Mancinis have heard anything?”

  Jack resisted the urge to check his phone and shook his head.

  Kiku frowned. “The Mancinis will be coming to town. It will not be good when they start looking for her, too. They will not be as subtle.” She said the words with precision.

  “Do you know for certain they’re coming here?” Replacement asked.

  Kiku swirled her drink before she took a large sip. “What I know is irrelevant. What I do not know, however, is important. Time is running out, Jack. What would you suggest?”

  Jack took a swig of the Kamikaze as he walked over to the window.

  “I don’t want to shock anyone, but I’m winging it here. If I had something, anything, I could go to Prescott and get the FBI involved.”

  “What do they have that we don’t?” Replacement crossed her arms.

  Kiku took a huge gulp of her drink and then settled back in her chair. “You have an inflated sense of self.”

  “Screw you,” Replacement snapped as she stomped over to Jack. “I’m guessing, too, but…you took classes in this right? What would they do?”

  “I took one seminar. That doesn’t make me capable of handling this.”

  Kiku chuckled. “Think of it like landing a burning plane in a horror movie. You’ve had a look at the cabin so you’re our best shot for a pilot.”

  I wish I had a parachute.

  “Okay, the first thing they would do is tap the phone.”

  “Whose?” Replacement asked.

  “Severino’s. That way, when someone calls, you can trace it.”

  “Can we?” Replacement asked.

  Kiku shrugged.

  Jack shook his head. “It already is. The FBI has them all tapped. Prescott may hate me, but I think he’d let me know.”

  “That is something in our favor.” Kiku smiled.

  “But, I figure if someone did kidnap her, they would use a different method to contact Severino. They would have to know the phones are tapped and he’s under surveillance.”

  “Even I would know that.” Replacement paced.

  “Besides, I’ll know if they get contacted.” Jack took a sip of the Kamikaze and had to work at not making a face. It wasn’t a drink he’d expect a woman to like.

  “You have an inside man?” Kiku ran her finger around the rim of the glass and didn’t look up.

  Way to slip, stupid.

  “Next they’d pull all—”

  “Can I ask you a question, Officer?” Kiku finished her drink.

  Jack looked out the window as he waited.

  “Are you sure she’s been kidnapped?”

  “He is,” Replacement answered.

  “I can answer for myself, kid.” He turned to face Kiku. “Yeah. All I have are two things to go on. Marisa was scared and felt like someone was watching her. The second is a homeless, crazy guy. If I’m wrong, I’ve shattered her life. If I’m right and I don’t do something…”

  “He’s right. I know he is.” Replacement nodded. “He’s got, like, a sixth sense.”

  Kiku’s lips pressed together as she put the drink on the table.

  Jack stretched. “The next thing I’d do is pull her credit card and phone records.”

  “What’re we waiting for?” Replacement thrust her hands out.

  “We need the FBI to get those. I mean…you can’t hack her bank account, right?” Jack made a face.

  Replacement shook her head. “I bet I don’t have to. Does she have a computer at home?”

  Jack nodded.

  “Odds are that she caches her passwords or writes them down nearby. Most people do even though it’s stupid. I just need to get on her computer.”

  Jack swallowed the rest of the drink and then headed for his jacket. “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll have to drive now.” Replacement frowned.

  “Your assistant is smart,” Kiku said as she rose from the chair.

  “I’m not his assistant,” Replacement shot back.

  Kiku slowly raised one eyebrow.

  “What?” Replacement snapped.

  “Excuse me?” Kiku’s canines flashed.

  “You made a face.” Replacement stood toe-to-toe with Kiku.

  Kiku shook her head. “I was just thinking about the relationship you and Jack have. I do not wish to be mean, but clearly you’re an accessory.”

  “What?” Replacement’s hands clenched into fists and her upper body leaned forward.

  Kiku continued. “Replacement is a childhood nickname, is it not? And he doesn’t allow you to drink? Now he debates with himself about taking you. He still considers you a child in need of his protection.”

  Jack swallowed as Replacement glared at him.

  “Hey, I never said you couldn’t—” He began to defend himself, but a ringing phone cut him off.

  Jack hurried to the counter, where he picked up the burner phone.

  “Hello?”

  “They’re coming,” Ilario whispered. “I can’t talk. They’re on their way to Darrington. I’ll try to find you when we get there.”

  “Who’s coming?”

  There was a long pause. “Everyone.”

  Bromance

  Jack, Replacement, and Kiku silently slipped into Marisa’s apartment and shut the door behind them. Jack held his hand up as he motioned for Replacement to wait. He and Kiku fanned out to sweep through the rooms, making sure nothing new was missing.

  “Besides the broken broom, everything’s the same.” Jack nodded toward Marisa’s art studio. “The computer is in there.”

  As they walked back, Kiku picked up the broom and set it against the wall. “You’re a fast man who can take a good punch.”

  “Me?” Jack tilted his head. “I didn’t think you’d be walking after I hit you with that shipping pallet.”

  Replacement sat down in the swivel chair and then spun around. “Can you two continue your bromance and who-can-get-hurt-more-and-not-cry conversation someplace else?”

  She spun back around and wiggled the mouse. The computer was already on. Jack and Kiku exchanged a grin as they leaned over her chair.

  Replacement’s hand hovered over the mouse as her eyes scanned the screen. “Most stuff is Web-based now and…bingo. She keeps her history. I’ll check her mail first.”

  The screen flashed and then opened directly to a listing of her emails.

  “Sweet.” Replacement’s smile quickly vanished as she checked the addresses of people who sent
Marisa email. “Her spam filter blows, but it looks like she doesn’t get many messages.”

  “She didn’t get any messages?” Jack leaned in. “I don’t get much email, either, and I’d imagine she gets less, but I figured she’d have something.”

  Replacement frowned. “She got a few. Here. Subject is WHERE R U???”

  “Read it.”

  “MARISA. WHERE R U??? THE COP KEEPS COMIN AROUND LOOKING 4 U. U R WORRYING US. SHAWN.”

  Jack shook his head. “Must be Shawn Miller.”

  “Who?” Replacement asked.

  Kiku answered, “He’s the tall guy at the tattoo parlor.”

  Jack and Replacement both looked at her quizzically.

  “It was the second place I looked.”

  “He sent a few messages. Read them. Look for any from Arber de Lorme, too.” Jack turned to Kiku as he fanned his arm out. “Let’s go through the apartment. Be respectful.”

  Kiku nodded. “I’ll start in the bathroom.”

  “I’ll start here.”

  Jack looked over at Replacement and smiled. She sat slightly forward with her ankles crossed under the chair. All of her focus was on the computer monitor.

  An hour later, Kiku and Jack came back into the art room. Kiku walked over to a sketchpad and tipped it up. It was a charcoal sketch of Jack in a doorway. His hands were above his head, holding onto the frame and leaning forward slightly. He wore a crooked smile on his face and nothing else.

  “When we find her, I’m ordering a copy of this one.” Kiku’s eyes traveled up his body before she put the pad back down. Jack blushed as he crossed the room to lean over Replacement’s chair again.

  “I uploaded all her email to another account so I can sift through it later. I can’t change her password without the original one, so I’m going to leave it as it is.”

  “What did you get?” Jack cracked his wrist.

  “She broke it off with Arber and didn’t really have anything to do with him except when it came to festivals and a couple paintings she sold. He sent a few groveling emails asking her out, but she blew him off. He did want to buy her work, and she did sell some stuff to him.”

  “A lot of art? Big money?” Jack asked.

  Replacement shook her head. “It looks like he keeps offering, but she turns down a lot of them. A few thousand, but nothing crazy expensive. He did offer a lot for the piece she has in the festival. It’s called Girl. Ten grand.”

  “It’s worth more,” Jack said.

  “Well, her response was ‘I’m not selling. Don’t ask me again.’”

  “Did he?” Kiku wondered.

  “Yeah.” Replacement smiled as she pointed to Marisa’s response and blushed.

  “I like her style.” Kiku grinned.

  “One more thing.” Replacement opened another email. “It’s from Shawn about three months ago. He offered to buy the tattoo parlor if she ever wanted to sell.”

  “Was she thinking about selling?” Jack asked.

  Replacement shrugged. “It’s only one email. Marisa wrote back to say if she ever did, he’d be the first in line.”

  “It’s worth a conversation.” Jack looked at Kiku.

  Kiku stiffened. She exhaled slowly as she listened. Jack held his breath while Replacement looked nervously around.

  Kiku shook her head. “Nothing. Can’t be too careful.”

  “Snap.” Replacement shifted in her chair as she let go of the mouse. “Her bank account is asking for a pin.”

  “Why? I thought it was cached,” Jack asked.

  “Nope. Some sites don’t let you.” Replacement pointed to a notebook. “Her password was saved but not her pin.”

  “We didn’t check the desk.” Jack reached forward but stopped when Replacement shook her head.

  “I searched the desk while I was surfing. She wrote down all of her passwords in here.” She tapped the notebook. “But not the pin. People don’t usually write the pin. I can try to guess the top three, but the chances are next to zip.”

  “If you guess wrong, you’ll lock the account,” Kiku frowned, “and the bank would have to reset it.”

  Jack leaned forward to type 2614. The page changed, and Marisa’s bank account appeared on the screen.

  Replacement’s mouth fell open. “How did you do that?”

  Jack looked over to a sketch on the wall. It was pencil and just an outline, but he knew where it was. It was a view of the mountains from when Marisa and he had taken a vacation together. It was the view from the bed. He shook his head.

  “It’s my badge number.”

  Failed to Follow

  Kiku lay down to sleep on Jack’s couch while Replacement worked on the computer. Jack watched the traffic below. The apartment had become completely quiet except for the sound of Replacement’s clicking and typing. After a while, she shook her head. “Nothing. Marisa hasn’t accessed any of her accounts since the day she disappeared.”

  “Do you need some sleep?” Jack looked back at her as he angled his head.

  “No. I got a few hours.”

  “When?” He glanced at the clock: 10:14 a.m.

  “When you were sleeping.” She rolled her shoulders. “I need help with something I found out about Arber.”

  Jack put his hands on her shoulders and started to massage them as he looked at the screen. Replacement clicked, and then pressed some keys and the police database appeared. A few more clicks and a report appeared on the monitor.

  He kept rubbing as he leaned forward. His mouth was close to her ear as he spoke in a low whisper. “That’s a preliminary report. That means a detective had to file it. Joe Davenport. Joe said he received a phone complaint regarding a Skylar Boyce.”

  “Why is it in F2F?”

  “Failed to Follow. It means he contacted the person, but she didn’t want him to follow up. It happens. People call the police in the heat of the moment but then decide against it later on. Still, he’s got an address.”

  “There’s a note sheet attached as the next doc.” Replacement clicked to the next page and then pointed to the screen. The image was of a handwritten notepad page that Joe had torn off and scanned. He had circled four words: Alcohol. Drugged. Incapacitated. Rape.

  “How the hell was that not followed?” Both of Replacement’s hands gestured toward the screen.

  “It doesn’t mean Joe didn’t follow up. It might have been the victim was unwilling to cooperate.”

  Jack closed his eyes and kept kneading her back. Replacement let her head fall forward.

  “That feels so good.” Her voice was a low tiger-like purr.

  Jack whispered in her ear. “We should swing by and talk to Joe. It would be better in person. Skylar lives at 18 Winston, so we can go there next.”

  He started to rub the back of her neck, pulling up with one hand while he pulled down with the other. Replacement moaned.

  “Then I want to go over to the tattoo parlor. I want to talk to Shawn about his offer and see his reaction.”

  “Sure. That’s awesome.”

  Jack put his mouth even closer to her ear. “I don’t understand.” His hands messaged her temples.

  “I love that.” Replacement let her head hang forward.

  Kiku sat up and stretched. “Should I leave you two alone?”

  Replacement popped up a little in her seat and turned crimson.

  Jack turned around.

  “Sorry. We were trying to be quiet,” Jack said.

  Kiku rocked her head back and forth before she looked up. “Your plan is sound. Would you mind if I take a quick shower?” Kiku asked.

  Jack shrugged. “Sure. We have time.”

  Kiku slipped off the couch, grinning wickedly. “When Alice takes her shower I, too, would like a backrub.”

  Replacement huffed, Jack blushed, and Kiku strolled into the bedroom.

  Like a puppy with a shotgun

  Jack parked in front of Joe Davenport’s two-story colonial. He smiled at the collection of boats in the si
de yard, five in all. They were all freshwater vessels, which ranged from two beauties on trailers to a one-man, flat bottom canoe. Joe was an avid fisherman, and the closer he came to retirement, the more time he spent with a rod in his hand.

  Jack walked up the flagstone walkway to the white front door. As he reached for the bell, the door opened. Bonnie Davenport had a grin from ear to ear as she reached out to hug Jack. She was in her early sixties with short gray hair. She wore a flowered dress with an apron tied around her waist. She leaned back, and Jack smiled, too.

  Bonnie had beautiful, welcoming eyes, and her thick glasses made them even bigger. Both her hands squeezed his shoulders as she looked him up and down like a mother inspecting a child, trying to determine his needs. After a moment, seeming satisfied with her appraisal, she said in a light, high voice, “How have you been, Jack?”

  “I’m good, Bonnie.”

  Jack had only met the woman a few times at police functions, but she always greeted him like a friend.

  “Joe’s fishing.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Canada, again. His brother called and told him the fish were jumping into the boat. He practically ran out the door.”

  That guy has more vacation time than anyone I know.

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  “Tonight. It shouldn’t be too late.” She leaned in and whispered, “I’m making him a pecan pie.”

  Jack whispered back, “I won’t tell him,” and winked.

  He wanted to add “if he’s in Canada, we don’t have to whisper,” but Bonnie’s smile was so sweet it derailed his sarcasm.

  She clapped her hands together. “It’s been his favorite since he was a little boy. Should I give him a message?”

  “No. Thanks, Bonnie. I’ll just call.”

  She hugged him again before Jack waved and hurried back to the car.

  He started to dial as he slid into the driver’s seat.

  “I knew it,” he muttered when Joe’s voicemail kicked in. “You’d think a guy who goes to Canada to fish would get a phone that gets reception up there.”

  “Are you kidding?” Replacement put her feet on the dashboard. “He probably went out of his way to get a phone plan that had the worst reception in Canada.”