Jack Stratton: Jacks Are Wild Part 25

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 pa.s.sword 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 s.h.i.+fted 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 pa.s.sword 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 pa.s.swords 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 ma.s.sage 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 h.e.l.l 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 side 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 ap.r.o.n tied around her waist. She leaned back, and Jack smiled, too.

Bonnie had beautiful, welcoming eyes, and her thick gla.s.ses 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 fis.h.i.+ng." 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."

"She is correct." Kiku leaned forward. "What fisherman wants to be interrupted?"

Jack frowned as he pulled out.

"It would be nice if he was a detective first and a fisherman second."

"Skylar Boyce lives at 18 Winston." Replacement picked up her smartphone.

"I know where it is." Jack took the first right, also checking the rearview mirror.

"We are not being followed." Kiku sat back in the seat and folded her arms.

They rode in silence for a moment before Replacement turned around to look at Kiku. "Is that where you learned these things? In the Yakuza?"

Kiku nodded.

"Were you born in j.a.pan?"

"No. I am half Korean. I was born in Korea but raised in an orphanage."

"Did you move to j.a.pan when you were adopted?"

Kiku exhaled and then looked down at her hands. "In a manner of speaking, but that would be the sterilized version. A truer telling would be the couple who ran the orphanage was beaten nearly to death because they couldn't pay the bribes necessary to stay open. They were driven out of the country. As a result, I was sold and s.h.i.+pped to j.a.pan for delivery like cattle."

Jack had angled the rearview mirror so he could look at Kiku, but she didn't flinch as she retold her story. If anything, her eyes became brighter and wider. He turned back to driving. Jack knew well the emotions behind the look. He didn't run from pain and neither did she. They both ran forward and embraced it.

"Sold?" Replacement's voice was a mixture of puzzlement and anger.

Kiku nodded.

The Impala's engine whined as Jack over-accelerated. He slowed down and took a left.

"I did not make it to my destination, fortunately. I was meant to be a prost.i.tute, but instead I was selected to be...a courier."

Replacement shook her head. "A courier?"

"I was selected to work imports and exports."

Replacement looked at Jack.

"They used her as a mule." Jack's voice was low. "They like to use women and kids to smuggle things."

"I prefer 'courier,'" Kiku continued. "My demeanor was a good fit for transporting items through customs. There was a need, and I was capable. I excelled and was rewarded."

"What's that pay?" Replacement now knelt on the seat, completely turned around.

"Not enough, kid. Turn around." Jack shot Replacement a look.