Chapter 3 – Caretakers
Nina Cassady double-checked the slip of paper and the house number. "This is it," she said before she and Joe got out of the car. "Man, I don't know…what if she's…"
Nina wasn't certain what she wanted to say. Gut feeling was that the mother had something to do with it. Why her mind always jumped to the mother and never the father as the guilty party, Nina couldn't say. It was wrong, prejudicial and not a good thing to have when investigating homicides, yet she held on to the opinion.
Joe gave her a look; one she knew how to read by now, even if it varied ever so slightly from some of his other expressions. "Look, we could be dealing with an irresponsible teenager, a frazzled parent or an absent-minded person my age. Who knows? That's why we're going to go knock on the door and see, all right?"
Nina bit back a better part of a smile, enough of a turning of the corners to get a wink from Joe. Mission accomplished, she thought, amazed at how he was so good at that – relieving the pressure before the volatile point for her. "Make a wager on who answers the door?" she asked
"Save your betting for later," he told her just as they got to the door. Fontana knocked four times with the back of his knuckle. The wait seemed like forever to Nina.
"Pardon me," Joe said, holding his suede gloves in front of him, "are you Ms. Renee Maguire?"
"I'm her mother," the woman said. She squinted at them. "Who are you?"
Fontana smiled. "I'm sorry." He took out his badge and said, "I'm Detective Joe Fontana and this is my partner, Nina Cassady." Nina gave a short nod. "We're conducting an investigation and it's possible Renee might know something that would be helpful to us. Do you know where we could find her?"
Cassady studied the other woman, wondering how long it had been since she had taken care of herself properly. "That ain't my responsibility," the woman said. "Once they're outta diapers, they're on their own."
"Do you know where she was at last night, then?" Nina asked, wondering if Renee could be a runaway instead.
"No." And with that, the door was slammed in their faces.
Joe stared at the door a moment before turning to go back to the car. "Charming lady," he said.
Nina caught something out of the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she changed direction. "Joe, wait!" She walked to the side of the house then towards the back, Joe right behind her. A small child climbed out of the dog-door, brushed off the knees of some very well-worn pants then smiled up at them.
"Hi," the child said.
"Hi, back," Nina said, squatting down to look the child in the face. It was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl given the long hair obscuring a dirty face. "I'm Nina, that's Joe. Who are you?"
"I'm Joey, too." A scab-covered hand brushed some of the hair back. "Well, it's really Josette, but that's sooo girly."
Nina smiled as she and Joey turned to see Joe laugh. He sat on a nearby picnic table bench – or what was supposed to pass as one. After finding a careful means of balancing himself, Joe asked, "What about your mom? Won't she get mad for you being-?"
Joey rolled her eyes. "Puh-leeze! She fell back on the couch and started snoring again before you even made it to the walkway." Joey sat down on the ground and Nina did the same. "You're here about my sister, aren't you?" Joey looked expectantly at both of them. "Renee isn't hurt, is she? Or did Miss Keith do something stupid again? That lady's almost as crazy as my mom, but not yet."
Nina folded her hands before her as she leaned forward. "Joe and I can take you someplace safe if you want us to." 'Hell of a question to ask a ten-year-old,' Nina chided herself. Glancing back at Joe, his expression read, 'would have done the same thing.'
"Well, if Renee wasn't at Miss Keith's then she'd keep the rest of us safe. Right now, it's my job."
A child screamed from inside the house. The three of them were on their feet almost immediately, Joey leading the way as they rushed in.
Nina bit back a series of curses she wanted to scream at the mother who didn't even stir on the couch. Joey continued up the stairs, Joe pushing Nina gently on the back.
Three other children crouched in the corner of a filth-ridden room, all pointing at the source on the opposite side.
Joe stepped between the children and the rats. "Get them out of here, now," he said calmly, his arms spread out as if to offer an additional barrier for the kids' sake.
Joey picked up the smallest child while Nina picked up the other. The next oldest child grabbed both Nina and Joey's hand. On the way out, the middle child, Michael, grabbed a large backpack and a car seat from out of the closet as if they had done this a number of times before. With that, they left the house. By the time Mrs. Maguire stirred, Joe Fontana looked down at her, eyes searing and warned the woman of the numerous charging coming her way.
By the time he got to the car, Nina had finished fastening the last of the buckles. Cassady heard Joe get on the phone to tell someone or ask Van Buren to have someone from Children's Services ready to meet them at the station.
Joey took her place in the front seat between the two officers, talking over her shoulder words or reassurance to the others. Listening to her, Nina couldn't help but think this girl was well beyond her years.
And that depressed her.
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Van Buren closed the door, counted to fifty quietly, then turned on her team. "I'm not going to ask," she told Fontana and Cassady. "Be sure that whatever earful I'm going to get, you'll get, too. In the meantime, what did you learn?"
Nina squirmed in her chair. She wanted to share in on the credit for pulling the kids out then and there, but Joe wouldn't let her. "We now have to track down a woman named 'Miss. Keith.' Evidently, Renee babysat for her frequently."
"No first name?" Van Buren asked tilting her head to one side wondering.
Fontana shook his head. "That's what Renee instructed the other kids to call her. Never left a number or anything, because she didn't want the kids too involved with this family. That's what Joey says, anyway."
Van Buren shook her head. "And yet Renee got involved? That… All right, see what you can get on anyone named Keith once you get a description of her from the other kids, if you can."
--
Nina sat beside Joey as she described the lady she had only seen once or twice. The sketch artist showed them the finished product that Joey approved of then set it on the desk to answer his cell phone.
Reluctantly, Joey returned to the social worker to take her back to the facility as Nina picked up the sketch. The woman didn't look much older than she did, Nina thought.
"Hey," she said as Ed Green walked passed with a new cup of coffee.
"Hey, yourself." He sat down at her desk gesturing to the paper. "Hope that helps your case?"
"I hope it helps us find Renee now," Nina admitted. "We started with a baby and are now adding a babysitter to this. I don't like it."
"Where's Joe?"
Nina set the paper down and began sorting the contents on her desk. "He got a call from Missing Persons. We're hoping it's about Renee. Luckily, Joey had a picture of her. The mother was something else."
"Not all of them are like that," Ed said as if aware of the inner demon Nina wrestled with.
"Just the ones we get to hunt down and arrest, eh?" She gave a quick smile and watched Ed pick up the sketch.
He narrowed his eyes, shook his head then said, "I'll be damned…It couldn't be."
"You know her?" Nina asked hopeful.
"It's a long shot and I'm probably wrong, but… There was a case a couple of years ago that involved a murdering mother. Well, actually this woman was dating the kid who was killed. Mother claimed it was 'for the greater good' because he was abusive. He started hitting on his pregnant girlfriend who got it in her head that the scum loved her even when he told her he wanted to kill them both."
"Some folks don't know what a 'normal' relationship is, Ed. Sad, but it's true. But, this woman-."
"This woman reminds me of Tina Keith," Ed said.
Nina beamed, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then said, "I owe you!"