"After the jump start, the first thing I did was charge my phone. Since the cops said that's how you found me, I guess I'm glad I did. I headed toward Omaha on Interstate 80. I was only about ten miles away from my house when I saw what I thought looked like the SUV that had stopped and given me a ride. It was totally dark out by then, so I wasn't sure, but I slowed down as I passed it.” He shook his head, and continued. “Sure enough, it was the same girl who'd given me a ride and now her SUV was stopped on the side of the road. I stopped and walked back to talk to her. We had a laugh about karma. I offered her my phone to make a call, but she asked if I'd just give her a ride to her friend's place." Jeff laughed again. "You know what they say about kids and stranger danger? If the kid has seen the person before, the kid doesn't think of them as a stranger. That goes double for guys where a good-looking girl is concerned. I didn't think twice about saying yes. So, I followed her directions to a neighborhood in southwest Omaha. It had been about 15 minutes since I'd picked her up when I'd stopped in front of the house she'd indicated." Jeff smiled sheepishly. "We'd been chatting sorta casually and so I asked for her number, you know? She reached into her purse to get a pen. Only what she came out with was a gun and a syringe. She jabbed me in the thigh. As everything went black, I remember thinking all she had to do was say no." He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I was out of it a lot. I'd come to, they'd feed me give me something to drink, but mostly I was out of it. Once when they thought I was still out, I thought I heard a couple of guys taking about a meth house. I have no idea how or when I ended up in Saint Louis. I guess they drove me here in my own truck. I have one of those wireless charger pads, you know. Whoever brought me here must have thought my phone was dead still. The police suspect that my truck broke down near a meth house and that they kidnapped me because they thought I'd seen something or could identify someone. Joke's on them. I didn't see a thing."
The poor kid, Lane thought. She knew Interstate 80 was a drug corridor, but that sure didn't explain how or why Jeff had ended up far from Interstate 80 in a warehouse in Saint Louis. She looked at her watch. It was nearing 11:00 and she was sure that Jeff needed to get some rest. She smiled at him.
"Well, Bud, you had some week. Look on the bright side; you have a story to tell your grandkids someday. Did the police tell you they had a guard outside your door?" Jeff nodded. "Bud, you look like you're worn out. You get some sleep. I can stay here if you don't want to be alone." She knew that no matter how harrowing the ordeal had been that Jeff would man up and tell her to leave.
"You probably need to get some rest too, Aunt Lane. You go to the hotel. Like you said, there's a police guard outside my room. I'll be fine."
Lane bent and kissed his forehead. "Your Mom's flight should get in around 11:00. I'll pick her up and we'll see you tomorrow." She wrote her cell phone number down. "The nurses and the police have my number, but I want to be sure you've got it too. Call me if you need anything before I get here."
Chapter 9
Confession is good for the soul
Ben hadn't told Lane the reason he needed to go to the station was that the man they'd arrested was his brother. His youngest brother, Paolo Raffaelle Bellini was in med school at Saint Louis University and Ben stood outside the interrogation room wondering how the hell Pauli was mixed up in all of this.
Ben didn't know what was going on, but he was sure that Pauli wasn't involved in a drug ring. Pauli had better not be involved; their mother would kill both of them. First Pauli for being involved then Ben both for letting Pauli get involved and for getting Pauli caught. If he didn't handle this right, they'd both need a lawyer before morning.
He opened the door and avoiding Pauli's eyes he nodded to Detective Boyer. "I'd like a word with my client, alone." He waited for the detective to leave the room, then turned his chair so that his back was to the camera in the corner of the room and told Pauli to do the same. Then, calmly in Italian, he began talking to his brother.
"So, tell me what you were doing at the warehouse Pauli. They're going to charge you with possession and intent to distribute. There was enough meth in that building to put you away for a very long time."
Pauli rubbed his hands over his face and began in English "Ben, it's not what you think."
"Parla Italiano!" Ben snapped as he slapped his right hand hard into his left. He knew that conversations between lawyer and client weren't supposed to be recorded or eavesdropped upon, but he knew the chances of whoever might be listening understanding a conversation in Italian would be small.
"Me lo dica che cosa è successo." Ben said.
Pauli started again this time in Italian. "It's not what you think. There was a girl."
Ben nodded. Of course, there was always a girl.
"She came into the clinic earlier today with her uncle. We talked. She didn't want to give me her number, but she took mine. She called me tonight and asked me to meet her. She said she was in trouble and needed my help. When she gave me that address in the warehouse district, I knew it wasn't a safe place for her to be, and I had to go." He sighed loudly. "She was a really pretty blonde, Benito."
Ben shook his head. Nonna had told all of her grandsons "Pretty is as pretty does." Pauli hadn't figured out what that meant yet. To him, pretty was just pretty, and if she'd given him a lady in distress story, Pauli would have done anything she asked.
Pauli was as tall as Ben and there was a strong family resemblance. Since Pauli was five and carried their four-year-old neighbor Hannah Stevens home after she fell off her tricycle, Pauli had been attracted to beautiful women in distress like a compass pointed true north, unwaveringly.
"I had her text the address to me. When I got there, the door was open and I went inside. The next thing I knew I was on the ground, my hands in a zip tie and my rights were being read to me." He shook his head. "That's the truth, Benito. I've told the police, but I don't think they believe me. But you believe me, don't you?"
In English, Ben said, "Yes, I believe you." But, he knew his brother and Detective Boyer didn't.
Then in Italian, he asked where Pauli's cell phone was. Pauli replied he'd left it in his car. Ben needed to find out if the police had impounded the car or if it was still parked on the street by the warehouse. He rapped on the door.
Detective Boyer came into the room. Ben asked, "Are you charging my client?"
"Not yet, but we are holding him while we check his story. We need that cell phone, Bellini."
"Yeah, I know. Have you impounded his car or did you leave it on the street to be stolen or stripped?"
"It's where he left it. I can give you his keys. But, if you recover that phone, we need to see it. You know I can get a warrant for his phone records, but having the phone would be faster." They walked back to the desk and retrieved Pauli's personal effects. Boyer handed over the keys and Ben called Tanner who was still staking out the warehouse.
"I've got the kid's keys. You got eyes on his Beemer?"
"Yeah, the idiot parked it in front of the warehouse. The kid's not involved in this is he?"
Ben walked toward the door. "No, he got suckered in by some chick. Do you have that app on your phone that Lane used to open the Donaldson kid's truck? Pauli's cell phone is in it and the phone will corroborate his story. The sooner we get it to the cops the better." Tanner had the app and they used it to open the car. Tanner got the cell phone and scrolled through the calls and text messages.