CHAPTER 3

Thursday, 3:07PM

"There you are." Chuck met his friend as he came into the building. "We're meeting in the conference room. Got a little more information."

Houston followed his friend into the room, the same one where he had been sworn in as a member of the department the previous year. Much like then it was a buzz of activity and as soon as he and Chuck walked in, Martinez called the group to order. "Wylie, bring us up to date."

"We finally got a fix on Lisa Landers' car, ran it for prints, and got two hits: Zachary Young and Brandeis Wiggins." Two mugshots popped up on the screen behind him. "As you all know, Young is the one that held her captive for a month once before...and unfortunately it looks like he's involved in her disappearance again."

"What do we know about Wiggins?" Houston's voice resonated in the room.

"He's got priors for guns and drugs." Chuck pulled up Wiggins' record. "His brother Andre has a shop on Port Road down by Taylor Bayou." The detective pointed out the location on a map. "As luck would have it, he's got a warrant on him, too."

"And we're going to serve it." Houston looked at the location as Wylie nodded and zoomed in on it.

"There are three doors: a large bay door and an office door on the north side of the building and a bay door on the back. According to what we've been able to find, the business repairs heavy machinery."

Matt listened closely as Martinez went into detail on exactly how they would approach the shop and execute the plan. As she finished she looked around at the group. "We need information from these people if Lisa Landers isn't there. We also need to keep everyone safe. Use your best judgement and watch each other's backs out there. Let's roll."

Going back out to the parking lot, Houston got behind the wheel of his SUV, the passenger door opening and Francine Martinez hopping inside. Chuck and De la Cruz were checking their weapons and loading up into Wylie's vehicle. Altogether four units rolled out of the parking lot and Houston hit the siren and lights as he went toward I-45. Once again his phone rang. "Houston."

"Hon..." CJ paused, hearing the siren in the back ground.

"Babe, we've got a lead on where Lisa might be..."

"Okay. Just...well, be careful and call me afterward okay? Love you."

"Love you, too." He hung up and punched the accelerator as he merged onto the interstate headed southeast.

Martinez watched as he worked his way through traffic, moving swiftly to avoid cars that refused to move over. "If I didn't know any better I would think you've been a cop for twenty years. You're pretty good at this." The statement got a slight nod from him. "This may not be the right time, and I know that we haven't known each other for a long time, but I know you well enough to say that there's something bothering you – besides Lisa Landers."

"Got a lot going on right now."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Shaking his head he skillfully merged onto I-610. "No ma'am. But thank you just the same."

They rode on for a couple of minutes, the blaring of the siren the only sound aside from the engine. "Is CJ okay? The kids?"

"Yeah." He was trying to block everything from his mind aside from trying to find Lisa and Francine's questions weren't helping any.

"Houston..." The exasperated look on his face spoke volumes. "So I'm nosy; I'm concerned and so is Chuck. What the hell is going on?"

"I..." He paused. "One of our people..." There was another pause. "Can we please talk about this later?"

"Alright – but you better..."

"I will."

"Just so we understand each other."

He nodded again and continued to think about what he was trying to do, all the while fighting a gnawing feeling that they weren't going to find Lisa alive this time. From the moment that Brian had called him a gut instinct told him that they were already too late. The closer they got to the shop on Port Road, the stronger the feeling grew. Her text to Brian kept running through his mind: I love you. Call Houston.

They reached the target – a large metal building on the south side of Port Road, the gravel of the parking lot crunching under the tires of the vehicles. Two units went directly to the back of the building while Matt and Chuck took the front. The plan was to storm the building and surprise the occupants, hopefully taking them down without any problems. As they entered the building shouting for everyone to get down on the floor, Matt saw one person going up the stairs located on the east side of the building. He started after the man, almost certain that it was Brandeis Wiggins. Yelling out for him to stop, he continued to chase him up the stairs dodging a metal barrel that the man shoved down the stairs at him. By the time he made it to the top, Wiggins had disappeared into several rows of metal shelving that were filled with machine parts.

Taking a quick peek around the corner and down the first aisle of shelving, Matt could see that there was no other exit from the top floor; if Wiggins was hoping to escape he had gone the wrong way. "Come on out with your hands in the air." There was no reply and he could hear as the other officers down below were gaining control of the lower level. He worked his way on over to the next aisle, once again taking a quick peek around the corner and seeing nothing, then advancing on to the next aisle. Standing with his back against the solid metal end of the shelving, he took a quick glance back to his right. If Wiggins doubled back and got down the stairs he might have a shot at getting away, although from what Matt could hear, the officers downstairs were in control of the situation. It was then that he saw De la Cruz easing up the steps. Motioning to the other detective to guard the stairs, he continued across to the next aisle and another look toward the back of the building revealed no sign of his suspect. There was only one more aisle left; either he and Wiggins were about to have a face to face meeting or the suspect was going to double back. "You're out of options, Wiggins. Come on ou-..." Before the words left his mouth the man ran out of the aisle and leapt over the railing of the loft area, grabbing hold of a cable that was attached to a lift and swinging out over the lower floor. He began sliding down the cable as it arced toward the front bay door, kicking one of the deputies square in the chest and sending him sprawling out onto the gravel outside the door while Wiggins landed on his feet. As the cable swung back toward the loft, Matt jumped and grabbed it, sliding down quickly. Wiggins was running across the gravel parking lot with Chuck in pursuit of him as well as another deputy. Matt joined the chase and just as their suspect made it to the road, Chuck tackled him from behind. In a matter of seconds he was in cuffs.

After patting him down, the three men began walking him back toward the building. "Where is Lisa Landers?" Matt took a good look at the man. As he shook his head his long dreadlocks flapped against his shoulders and an evil smile spread across his face. "Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Wiggins continued to smile.

Chuck saw the expression on Matt's face and stepped between the two men. "Mike, take this idiot will ya?" He handed the suspect off to the other deputy and took Houston by the arm, lowering his voice so that no one else could hear. "Cool it, pard. I've seen that look before. Just stop right here for a minute and get your act together."

"I've got my act together, Chuck." Anger flashed in his eyes. "Is Young in that bunch?" He nodded in the direction of the building.

"Nope."

"Damn it!"

"Cool it, man." Chuck looked up and saw Martinez walking toward them. "The boss lady is headed this way. Calm down."

"Did you get anything out of him?" The sheriff looked between the two friends.

Wiley shook his head. "Nothin'." Both watched as Houston stalked off toward the building.

Looking at the other five men that had been in the building, the detective walked over to Andre Wiggins and took him by the arm, walking him outside to his SUV where he opened the back door. "Get in." He waited until the man had a seat. Andre Wiggins was about six inches shorter than his brother – hardly more than five feet tall. "Did you know that there's a warrant out for you?"

"No."

"Now why don't I believe that?"

"Believe whatever you want."

"I believe that you're going to get put in with some of the wrong people at the jail if you don't help me out."

"So this is the part where I'm supposed to act all scared?"

"You can act however you want; the fact of the matter is that all I have to do is say the word and your ass will end up bunking with one of the Las Serpientes and you won't last the night."

"Las Serpientes ain't nothin'."

"Think so? What are you – five foot nothing? I bet if I put you in there with one of their members you're going to come out of that cell in pieces." There was no reply and Wiggins looked out the window on the other side of the SUV. "I also know that your brother's friend is the reason that we showed up here today – we didn't come just for you. Brandeis and his friend Zach are the reason that we're here." Even though he didn't say anything, Houston could tell that he had the man's attention. "Because Zach took that woman and now here we are hassling you. And he's off running around somewhere while your ass is on the way to lockup."

"My brother was never good at choosing his friends."

"And because of that – here you are." He paused for a moment. "Now if you were to help me out I might be able to help you out a little bit." Wiggins shook his head. "We're going to go over this place and if we find anything that tells us that Lisa was here, you're going to be on the hook for kidnapping, too." Wiggins turned his attention back to Houston, the look on his face telling Matt that Lisa had indeed been at the shop at some point. "So what's it going to be? Take the fall for something that your brother and his stupid friend did – or are you going to be smart and help me out?" He followed Andre's gaze over to Brandeis who was acting as if the whole raid was nothing but a joke. "Your brother doesn't have a warrant – the most he'll get right now is maybe obstructing. He'll be out on bail in nothing flat. But this is your property..."

"Look – I didn't have anything to do with what him and Zach were doing."

"And?"

"And they had her here for a while. But she isn't here now."

"So where is she?" He waited as Andre fell silent.

"I don't know."

"You're gonna have to do better than that."

"I wasn't here, man – one of my boys called me and told me -" He stopped, looking up at the roof of the SUV.

"Told you what?" Matt's tone dropped down.

"They...damn!" Kicking at the seat in front of him, Andre angrily shook his head.

"Out with it – or so help me you're gonna go down for it." Houston felt his stomach churning, knowing that he was about to hear the very thing that he didn't want to hear.

"They killed her, man." He looked at Matt. "I swear on my kids – I wasn't here."

"What happened?"

"Marcus said that Zach went off on her – beat her with a wrench."

"Then what?"

"He said they loaded her into the back of a truck and left. They came back a while later and were laughing about getting rid of the body."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"How long were they gone?"

"I don't know. Not long."

"Which one of these guys called you?"

"Marcus. The one with the yellow shirt."

Matt looked over to where the man was leaning against Chuck's SUV. As he looked up and saw Andre and the detective looking at him an expression of fear went across his face and he immediately looked down at his shoes. "If you know anything else you better tell me right now."

"That's it – that's all I know about it. I wasn't even here."

Turning away from the man, Houston went straight to Marcus and took him back inside the shop. Martinez exchanged a look with Chuck before following. "Where did they kill her Marcus?" Houston's voice was very quiet.

"I don't..."

"Andre told me that you called him. Tell me now or so help me you're going to be pinned with it." The growl sent shivers down the man's spine.

"Back there." Jerking his head in the direction of the back of the shop he looked at Matt. "It was Zach that did it."

"Show me exactly where it was." Houston allowed the man to walk ahead of him. He followed him back and when they stopped Marcus spoke again.

"It was right here. They used the pressure washer to clean up."

There was a drain in the floor of the shop and as Martinez joined them, Matt knelt down and looked at the covering; several long hairs were clinging to it. Without looking back up he spoke again. "Where did they take her?"

"I'm not sure."

"Where do you think they took her?"

Chuck joined the three as the words were spoken and looked to Martinez who was silently shaking her head, a sick look on her face.

"They weren't gone long – maybe the bayou?"

"What were they driving?"

"A truck. Some old truck that they had stolen. It was blue. When they came back they were in a car. I guess they got rid of the truck, too."

"Do you know where Zach is now?" The answer was a shake of the head. Matt walked out the back door and stood looking up at the sky for a minute. His worst fear had been confirmed, but he still needed to find Lisa's body – not only to make the case against Young and Wiggins but for Brian as well. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" Chuck looked back as Martinez led Marcus back to the front of the shop with the others and called in CSI.

"No..." Removing the ball cap from his head, Houston turned it around in his hands looking at the emblem on the front. "What am I gonna tell him?"

"Just..." The deputy stopped; he was at a complete loss for words. "Man, you did your best. We all did. But from what they're saying she was dead before Brian ever knew she was missing. There wasn't anything any of us could have done."

"I've got to find her, Chuck." He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair and put the hat back on. "I'm going to take a look at the bayou. Marcus thought they might have dumped her there because they got back pretty quick."

"Okay, we'll do it." He patted his friend on the back and looked at his face as he turned around. "You can't blame yourself. I know how you want to make everything right – but sometimes it just doesn't work that way, Houston."

As he waited for units to arrive with a boat, Matt studied a map of Taylor Bayou on his phone and tried to figure out where Young and Wiggins might have disposed of Lisa's body. North of Port Road the bayou wound first through an industrial area before heading east toward Galveston Bay. South of Red Bluff Road was mostly a residential area. In between those two it was mostly open land surrounding it. A closer look at the west side caught his interest: although they would have had to go onto private land, there appeared to be a definite trail that went very near the edge. From what little he knew about the two men, they weren't likely to exert more of an effort than was absolutely necessary to be rid of the woman.

"Find anything interesting?" Francine now stood next to the open door of the SUV where Matt was sitting.

"Yeah..." He turned the phone and showed her. Nodding her agreement, she looked at the phone. "That looks like a good place to start." She paused for a minute. "Did you call CJ?" He shook his head no.

"I..." He paused for a minute. "It wouldn't be fair to tell her over the phone and her there with Brian."

"But you could at least let her know that you're okay."

"And then she would want to know what we found out. I don't want to say anything without knowing for sure." He put the phone down on the console.

"Well since we're waiting on the boat, how about you tell me what else is bothering you?"

Matt looked out across the dusty gravel parking lot. "One of our cowboys – actually he's the foreman of CJ's ranch – just found out that he has cancer. There's nothing they can do for him."

"I'm sorry." She watched as he nodded.

"I am, too. I owe him – big time. He saved my life several years ago." Going on to explain how Ollie had been a rodeo clown back when Matt participated in bull riding, he told her about the incident in Amarillo where the man who now worked for him and CJ had helped him get untangled from a bull.

Chuck had approached and overheard the news. "Can't they do something? Chemo or..."He watched as Matt shook his head no.

"It's too far gone. They say it might be a matter of weeks."

"Damn." Chuck had gotten to know the old cowboy while helping to replace fences on the ranch and get it ready to run cattle again. "And now all this with Lisa..." He removed his hat and fiddled with the velcro on the back of it. "I'm sorry, bud."

"You and me both."

"So...you and CJ have custody of him; have you thought about...?"

"Yeah...I mean, I don't have a problem taking care of him. And CJ won't mind. Hell, he doesn't have anybody else."

"He's lucky that he found you two." Martinez watched as the man looked out across the parking lot again. She looked up at the crunch of gravel as one of the marine units pulled into the parking lot towing a boat. "Let's go see if we can find her."

After showing the crew of the boat where they suspected the body might be, Martinez and Houston followed them down to Breezeway Court and the boat launch that was located there. A short boat ride north and west took them to the area that the sergeant had seen on the map and the corporal who was driving the boat slowed down as they entered the small bay. Matt, Francine, and the other marine patrol officer on board all began searching the shoreline as the driver studied the sonar readout.

"Hold up..." Matt pointed to an area ahead where the branches of nearby trees and bushes appeared disturbed. "If they ditched the truck in here too, they couldn't have..." He stopped as he spotted something floating just at the edge of the bayou, not more than ten feet from where he had seen the broken branches. "Damn it." As they edged closer there was no denying that it was a body. He felt a lump in his throat.

"Oh, my God..." Martinez felt like she was going to throw up as they drew closer. The damage that had been inflicted on the body was unbelievable. Bruises covered every visible surface and the head was a mess of hair, blood, and exposed bone. She pulled out her phone and called it in as Houston stood silently looking at what was left of Brian's mother. Although she was floating face down, he recognized her hair.

Over the years Matt had seen more dead bodies than he cared to remember and admittedly some bothered him more than others. This one in particular got to him. After all she had been through when dealing with Young the first time, then getting herself sobered up and staying off of drugs...it just wasn't fair.

"Go..." Martinez had him by the arm and was leading him toward the back of the boat. "Sit down back there. You don't need to do this." He started to argue with her and was immediately silenced by the woman. "I'm the sheriff – you do what I say; now sit down and let us handle this." She turned and went back to the front of the boat as the crew began the task of recovering the body and documenting the scene.