Jack Stratton: Jacks Are Wild Part 17

She walked over to pick up a notebook. "You haven't found her. Let's start at the beginning." She sat down as she opened the notebook. Jack paced.

"Marisa came over to talk to you about the whole graffiti thing, right?" Jack asked. "She told me she was scared. She felt like someone was watching her." Jack noticed Replacement shudder. "I was going to go back that night, but she wasn't there." He walked over to the window. "I didn't think anything about it."

"That was Tuesday night," she added.

"Wednesday, I saw Thaddeus. He already had gone to the police, but nothing happened."

"SEE?" Replacement almost ripped the notepad as she dragged the pen across the surface.

"Collins had his reasons. Thaddeus isn't the most reliable witness."

"But you believe him. And you believe Marisa."

"It might not be black-and-white, kid. What if...what if she just went away and-"

"I'm only going to say this once, Jack." She glared at him. "You were right about Mich.e.l.le even when everyone doubted you. Don't doubt yourself now."

Jack looked back out the window.

"Did Thaddeus see the guys?" Replacement asked.

"Only one. He said he was Asian and had his arms covered with tattoos. I went to the station and met these two Feds, Walter Prescott and Jennifer Rivers."

"Feds?"

"FBI," Jack said.

"FBI? Oh, because it's a kidnapping? They sure came fast." Replacement put down her pen. "But I thought Collins didn't believe Thaddeus? And why would someone kidnap Marisa? She isn't rich, is she?"

Jack exhaled as he looked down at the Impala parked outside.

She can't help me if she doesn't know.

He looked at his reflection in the window that glared back at him. "It's because Marisa has a past. She's Severino Mancini's daughter. Her real name is Angelica."

Replacement spun around and then moved the mouse. After a few minutes, she looked up at Jack, wide-eyed. "Are you kidding me? This guy is a serious bada.s.s. He's ruthless. Even his name in Italian means severe. Do you know how many times he's been put on trial?" She leaned closer to the monitor as she frantically scanned the pages.

"He's never been convicted," Jack said dryly.

"You dated his daughter? Are you crazy?"

Jack shook his head. "She left her family when she was sixteen. That was almost eleven years ago."

"Why did she leave?"

Jack shrugged.

"She didn't tell you?"

"I didn't ask."

"Is that why she was kidnapped?"

"I don't know." Jack continued to pace. "For all I know, it may not be related but...why else would someone grab her? Like you said, she's not rich. But if it's a kidnapping, why hasn't anybody reached out to them?"

She started to write in her journal and then froze. "How do you know no one has reached out to them?"

Jack stopped pacing. "I asked."

"Severino?" Replacement spun around to face him as she pointed back at the monitor.

Jack nodded.

"You went to see him?"

Jack could see her fear and anger but there was also a little pride. "I did. He didn't know anything. Neither did his son, Ilario. He gave me a phone." Jack walked into the bedroom and brought out the phone.

"Why would he give you a phone?"

"It's a burner. I couldn't give him anything that could trace Marisa back here. She's in trouble, I know that, but...what if her disappearance doesn't have anything to do with her father? If Severino finds out where Marisa lives, she'll have to leave Darrington."

Replacement nodded.

"I followed Severino's men to Chinatown after we talked. They met with the Yakuza. The Yakuza didn't know anything either."

"What? Jack. Even I know the Yakuza are j.a.panese Mafia. You went alone? No backup? Jack, that's... It's..." She shook her head.

Now she's just ticked.

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets. "What else was I going to do?"

Replacement scribbled hard on the pad. "I put down they didn't know anything."

"I didn't get any read from the guy except..." She looked up. Jack turned away from the window. "He's very dangerous."

"When did you go to Marisa's apartment?"

"Last night. I went there yesterday morning before I went to see Severino. I went back last night to check it out again and left, but I forgot to leave a note with the neighbors, so I turned around. I saw the light from the hallway in the apartment. When I went up, this woman was in there. She got the jump on me and took off. I chased her until I caught her behind Bratton's but...she knows how to fight."

"What did she look like?"

"She had thick black hair, blue shorts with white stars, and this gold headband and la.s.so."

"Shut up." Replacement threw the pen at him. "I said I'm sorry about the Amazon thing."

"Sorry. It's hard, knowing I let her get away." His fist pounded the desk; everything bounced on it.

Replacement set the notebook down as she looked at the clock.

"You need sleep." She stood up. "Let me get up to speed and see what I can get online. You're no good to me if you turn into a raging beast."

Now it's my turn The bullet ricocheted off the wall next to Jack's head. Someone screamed. A sh.e.l.l exploded just beyond the wall in front of him. A wave of sand lifted high into the air and then darkness descended as the cloud enveloped him. Jack rolled onto his stomach and started to crawl. His hands felt a body as he pulled himself close enough to see the soldier's face. Another sh.e.l.l blew up next to the wall, making Jack's ears feel as if they would burst. He covered the man's chest with his arm and then Jack put his head down.

The swirling sand burned his eyes. Jack's arm lay across the man's chest, and he felt no movement. He pulled himself up to look at the soldier's face, but only lifeless eyes stared back at him.

Jack's eyes flipped open and Replacement's sleeping face was right there, next to his. He stifled a scream and then quietly slipped out of the bed. His whole body shook as he stood next to the bed, gasping.

Get it together. Nightmare.

Jack remembered the firefight. He remembered the dead soldier, but he couldn't recall the man's name. He turned and looked out the window.

You're alive. Be grateful. Why me? Shut up. Be grateful.

He could see the first rays of the rising sun gleaming off the window. Jack looked at the bare tree branches clawing at the lightening sky.

Dead trees. No. They're not dead; they're dormant. Come spring, they'll be beautiful. Alive. Breathe. Just breathe.

Jack fought to push the image out of his mind, but before he did, he remembered the soldier's name.

Private Henry Waller. Twenty-two. North Carolina. Loved fis.h.i.+ng.

He leaned against the window frame and closed his eyes. When he opened them, Replacement was watching him from the bed.

"You okay?" she asked sleepily.

He exhaled as he nodded. "Just a dream."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No. You find out anything?"

Replacement shook her head. "Marisa has no social media footprint. I researched her father, and that totally freaked me out. Sure, there are no convictions, but no one will testify because they're all dead, missing, or terrified. What did you say was the name of the FBI guy? Prescott?"

"Yeah. Walter. Why?"

"It's another trial Severino walked on. It was almost twenty years ago. Prescott testified." She stretched. "Shootout. Prescott's partner was wounded. Karl Weaver. He ended up in a wheelchair."

"That explains why Prescott hates him. Did the article say why Severino got off?"

"Not enough evidence. Two witnesses. One changed her story, said she never saw anything, and the other one disappeared-permanently."

Jack walked over to the table to check his phones.

Nothing.

He looked up and shook his head.

Replacement yawned. "Ilario Mancini is in med school. I found a photo. He looks like her." She hopped out of bed.

"Stay sleeping, kid."

"I want to see if my program's finished."

"What program?"

"Well, you said you went into the city to see Severino, right? I figure if someone was after Marisa to get to Severino, they would have come from the city, right?" She shrugged as her hands went out.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Makes sense, but-"

"If they came from the city, they'd take the highway and get off at the toll. It has cameras, and-"

"You didn't hack any government websites again, did you?"

"No."

He eyed her suspiciously.

"You know how there are public websites where you can watch traffic cameras from around the world?"

"Me and the Internet aren't on speaking terms, kid, but I'll take your word for it."

"Well, there are sites like Trafficland and the DOT. New York City even has its own cable television station-NYC Drive."

"Okay."

"They stream the video to help drivers. Some guy wrote a computer program that scans the video and records all the license plates. It compiles them into a database. I just pulled up the cached video from the state tollbooths on Tuesday and ran it through the program. Then I logged in to the police database as you and started cross-referencing."

Jack looked at her with awe.

"I narrowed it to the ones registered in the city, but then I might try limiting it to whether it's stolen, rented, or arrests, or something else."

"You did that?" Jack rushed over, grabbed her, and kissed her forehead. "That's brilliant. Illegal. But brilliant. I didn't hear any of this."

"I don't know if it will work." Even Replacement's ears blushed. "It may take too long trying to access the different systems and trying to pull those records, but it's not much."

"It's something, and at least we're moving. Thank you."

They walked into the living room and headed for the desk near the window.

"I can start checking the results." Replacement had both her laptop and Jack's computer on.

"Can I help? You want coffee?"

"Yes to both." She smiled back.

They spent all morning and afternoon poring over the records of the cars that had driven through the tollbooth. Jack would frequently check the phones and pace in frustration. As the sun started to set, Replacement began to apologize.