“How many years have you worked here?”
“Fifteen.”
“What about Mrs. Cowan?”
“She’s going on thirteen years.”
“And Leroy Bennett?”
“He’s only been here a couple of months.” For some reason that sent up a red flag. “The other custodian retired.”
“I see. Have you been in this closet at any time today?”
“No, sir.”
“Where’s Mrs. Cowan right now?”
“She’s in the office with the rest of the staff.”
“Will you get her on the phone so I can speak to her?”
“Yes, sir.”
Oscar punched in some numbers and after getting Reba on the line, he passed the phone to Vic. “Mrs. Cowan? This is Ranger Malone. As you know, my son Jeremy has been missing since school let out. Have you been over in the second grade pod or the main hallway at any time since school started today?”
“No. I heard Leroy called in sick, so I was going to get to that area after I finished my regular rounds.”
“Thank you.” He handed the phone back to Oscar. “Is it the rule to keep these storage closets locked?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So if Leroy didn’t show up today, then to your knowledge this closet hasn’t been opened since it was locked last evening.”
“That’s right. Leroy would have ensured it was locked before leaving the school.”
“Will you please put on this glove and unlock the door for me?” Vic pulled another glove from his pocket.
After the custodian put it on, he pulled up his chain of keys from his belt and found the right key. When it clicked, Vic turned the knob and opened the door. He discovered a person could lock the door from the inside.
“Take your time looking around in here, Mr. Fyans. Do you see anything missing?”
The man scratched his head. “Yeah. There should be the big garbage can set on wheels that we roll to the classrooms, but it’s not here.”
“That’s all I need to know. Thank you. Please go to the office and get fingerprinted. I’ll take your glove.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kit rejoined him and Vic told him about the missing garbage can. “You didn’t by any chance see a garbage can with wheels while you were outside, did you?”
Kit shook his head. “But there are a couple of maintenance vehicles parked right outside on the playground. I talked to two men who were doing some repair work on the roof. If Jeremy was taken out this exit, another vehicle could have been waiting there for him and no one would have questioned it. I checked for tire marks on the asphalt outside the door and didn’t see any. I’ve put in a call to the school district to find out if a truck is missing.”
“Good. Let’s search this closet thoroughly.”
Kit pulled on his own pair of gloves and started dusting for prints.
* * *
“ARE YOU THINKING there could be some connection to the big arrest you made three months ago?”
Vic grimaced because Kit had been reading his mind. Two months ago Vic had been appointed to the NIGC known as the Indian Gaming Working Group because of that arrest. The group consisted of representatives in the economic crimes unit of graft and corruption. Their work was to identify resources to address the most pressing criminal violations in the area of Indian illegal gambling interests.
After tracking down violations from one of the Indian casinos near Luckenbach, Vic had arrested lobbyist Edgar “Lefty” Quarls for committing conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. He and his slippery gang of thugs had grossly overbilled their clients and secretly split the multimillion-dollar profits. In one case they orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.
At the last report, the tribes were being bilked out of $85 million, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. As one of the key people spearheading the scandal and then being appointed to the NIGC, Vic had no doubts Jeremy had been kidnapped as a personal warning to him to lay off.
This wasn’t the case of someone wanting a ransom. Vic didn’t have that kind of money. Like Kit, the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced this had to do with his new assignment to the gaming group dedicated to making more arrests.
To take Vic’s child from the school in broad daylight smacked of revenge in its most evil form. Lefty had to be involved with someone very high up politically who knew the particulars about Vic’s life and hated him enough to hire someone to help pull this off. Why not bribe a janitor?
At the thought of anyone harming Jeremy, searing pain reached his gut, almost cutting off his breathing.
“Your son is tough. We’re going to find him, Vic.”
He nodded and brushed the tears from his eyes with his shirtsleeve. They checked every inch of the closet for clues that Jeremy had been held there. As far as Vic could tell, there was no sign of a struggle.
After they’d taken half a dozen fingerprints and put them in bags to send to forensics, Vic looked at the yellow bucket wringer in the corner. He walked over and lifted the mop. In the bottom of the bucket he saw a round two-inch button.
He leaned over and picked it up. The second he saw the picture, his heart leaped. “This looks like one of the action hero magnets Jeremy got for Christmas!”
“If that’s his, he’s left you a clue, Vic. He’s not your son for nothing.”
“Dear Lord, I hope that’s true. It means he was dragged in here and able to get it out of his pocket or backpack before he was taken away.” Vic slid the magnet into another baggie.
Kit said, “You drive to the lab quick while I round up the crew. We’ll meet you at headquarters. Do you have Jeremy’s prints on file?”
“Yes. Last year he wanted to know what it was like when we made an arrest, so I had him fingerprinted at the office to experience the process. I made a copy for him to take home, but his prints are on my computer.”
“Then before long you should know if you have a match.”
Vic made sure the closet was locked and then hurried outside to his car while Kit took off in the other direction. On the drive to headquarters, he phoned Claire.
“Any news?” she cried. Her question meant his precious son hadn’t come home. His heart almost failed him, but he had to focus. Every minute Jeremy was gone, the chances of getting him back alive diminished.
“Claire? Do me a favor? Check on those little two-inch magnets he has in his room with the action figures on them.” This was a long shot, but it was imperative he investigate every possible lead. “I think there were eight of them. Let me know if any are missing.”
“Just a second. He usually keeps them in the top drawer of his desk.”
Thank heaven she knew his son so well. Every second while he waited, visions of what could be happening to Jeremy passed through his mind, torturing him.
“Vic? I found six.”
“Do you know which two are missing?”
“Yes. His favorites—Wolverine and Sabretooth. Why do you ask?”
He looked at the face of the magnet through the baggie. “Because I’m holding Wolverine in my hand. I believe he left me a clue in the janitor’s closet outside his classroom. I found it in the bottom of the bucket.”
“Oh