When Opportunity Knocks - 19. Chapter 19

Three days.

It had been three long, stressful days since Kyle and Kim disappeared and Jett had damn near worn a hole in his floor from pacing. The team had been chasing leads and hitting dead ends left and right. Even Bruce was not immune to the stress, whining softly whenever Jett started his back and forth path across his living room.

The investigation had been late out of the starting gate due to the weather. The snow had continued all day Sunday, coming down in near blizzard-like conditions at times. By the time it died down the area had amassed nearly twenty inches of the stuff. Another half day was lost digging out cars and getting the streets clear. Jett could only hope that Greene had been slowed down just as much.

Monday morning had dawned bright and cold. It was also the day the media caught wind of what happened. The FBI took full advantage of the coverage to plaster Greene’s image all over TV and the internet. Leads had started coming in and Jackson and his team were busy chasing them, so far to no avail.

Jett’s co-workers had set up a blockade at the entrance to his cul-de-sac, restricting access to the residents of the nine homes on it. He was going to owe his neighbors big time for their patience, but at least it kept the media at bay. It was bad enough that Kyle’s parents had a virtual circus camped out in their neighborhood. Jett had spoken to them several times and couldn’t help feeling useless everytime he had to tell them there were still no signs of where they could be.

As a law enforcement officer, Jett knew that the more time that passed, the less likely it was that they would find Kyle and Kim alive. He couldn’t let himself think about that. In the four months that they had been seeing each other, Kyle had quickly become the most important person in Jett’s life and losing him would shatter his heart.

Jett called his parents to check in with them and see how Rosie and Tater were doing. Mom had offered to look after the dogs until Kyle and Kim were back. Her steadfast belief that they were coming back helped Jett stay positive.

“Sweetheart, the dogs are being spoiled rotten by your father and Titan has claimed Tater as his new best friend. He’s using him as a pillow right now,” Beth assured him. “Now, how are you holding up and don’t even think of answering ‘fine’, you and I both know it would be a lie.”

Jett snorted softly. He never could get away with much as far as his mom was concerned. “You’re right, I’m not fine. I’m dealing with it the best I can, but Mom, I’m scared. I’m really, really scared.”

“You love him.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. A correct one at that.

“Yeah, I do. I can’t lose him Mom, I just can’t,” Jett’s vision blurred and he felt Bruce’s wet nose nudge his hand.

“They’re going to find him, Sweetheart. They will.”

Beth was well aware of the statistics and he knew that she was trying to use her mom power to comfort him. He appreciated it, but until he could wrap his arms around Kyle and smother him, he was going to be anxious and uneasy.

“I love you Mom,” Jett told her before ending the call.

Jackson was on the phone again and Ben was laser focused on his laptop. The worst part of all of this was how helpless Jett felt. He needed to be doing something, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. His captain had officially switched him over to reserve duty, which allowed him to stay at the command center set up in his home rather than be out on patrol and still get paid. He could be returned to active status in a heartbeat as soon as they had a viable lead. Jett sunk his hands into Bruce’s thick fur around his neck and the action calmed both of them.

Jackson ended his call, and motioned Jett over, then got Ben’s attention.

“That was my contact in Chicago. Nikki wants a conference call with us. She may have remembered something, he explained. “Ben, will you get it set up for us please?”

Ben got busy setting up a video conference. He had already downloaded a secured app onto Jett’s phone and within five minutes Nikki’s face lit up his screen. She still looked very much like the girl she had been. If he didn’t know better, Jett would’ve thought she was in her early to mid-30’s, closer to his age than Kim’s. Her black hair was now short, styled in a messy kind of pixie cut. Other than a few small laugh lines around her eyes, her skin was youthful. The last call they had with her on Sunday had been short. Nikki hadn’t been able to think of anything to add to the information that they already had.

Jackson didn’t waste any time and got right to the point. “Hello Nikki, thanks for calling. What do you have for us?”

Nikki was soft spoken, but her voice was true and clear as she told them, “I was talking with one of your agents last night and in the course of our conversation we were discussing mental illness, specifically multiple personality disorder and bipolar disorder. I woke in the middle of the night and had a weird memory surface. As you know, there were times when Marc assaulted more than one of us on the same day, sometimes multiple times. As a kid I never put two and two together that one guy having sex four to six times a day was not the norm, especially in a guy who was pushing forty.”

Nikki blushed as she went on. “Now, I’m not positive, but as an adult I realized that my partner and I had certain positions that were, um, I guess, automatic? I’m not sure how to put this, but you know when you have sex with the same person all the time and you sort of default to the same position as your go to?”

Jett nodded, as did Jackson and Ben.

“How does that fit in?” Jackson asked.

Nikki looked uncomfortable and shifted her gaze so she wasn’t looking directly at the camera. “Well, whenever he had sex with me in the missionary position, which was most of the time, he would usually put his head over my left shoulder. Very rarely he would put it over the right shoulder. He had a small scar behind his left ear, sort of buried in his hairline. It was small and you would never notice it unless you were up close. Heather noticed it too, as his head went over her left shoulder too. Kim didn’t. You see whenever he used her, his head would go over her right shoulder, so she never saw the side with the scar up close. Heather once wondered out loud if there could be two of them. The very thought made all of us nauseous. We all just let it drop. But now I wonder if it could’ve been true. The more I think about it, I also realized that the way Marc fucked Kim most of the time was a little different too. With Heather and I, it was steady. When he was with Kim, he was rougher.”

“Did he ever mention siblings?’ Jackson inquired.

“He never mentioned having any siblings, but he once mentioned a name of some cousin. It began with a ‘P’, or maybe a ‘D’? I’m sorry, but I can’t remember what it was.”

“Nikki, there’s nothing to apologize for. This is really good information. It’s something viable we can follow up on. Honestly, this is the first lead that sounds promising. I’ll let you know if we find out anything okay?” Jackson assured her.

“Thank you. And Jett? Kim thinks the world of you. Thank you for being such an important person in her life. She really needs someone like you.”

“She’s special to me too. We’re going to find them, Nikki. Thanks for the information. Let’s hope it’s the break we need,” Jett gave her a wan smile as he hit end on his phone.

“Alright Ben, do your magic and see what you can find on anyone associated with Greene whose name starts with ‘P’ or ‘D’,” Jackson instructed.

“Could there really be a second person?” Jett wondered.

“That’s what we’re gonna find out.”

Ben nodded and immediately his fingers were flying over the keys on his laptop. Jackson got on the phone and got the ball rolling in other departments as well. Jett knew that the search for information was going to be a shot in the dark, but he was willing to pull the trigger and pray that someone would hit the target. Jett wasn’t religious, he more or less considered himself a praygan, basically a pagan who would throw the occasional prayer out there when he needed it. Right now he needed it.

The information highway was a fickle beast. It could be smooth sailing like I-70 at two am heading toward western Maryland, or it could be like gridlock trying to navigate Washington Beltway at 5pm on a Friday before a long weekend. With every minute that passed Jett felt like they were stretching out into hours.

In reality it took about two hours before Ben declared he may have found something and his printer started spitting out paper like a hillbilly at a watermelon seed spitting contest.

“Paul Romano. His parents are listed as Marc Greene’s aunt and uncle. His date of birth is the same year as Greene’s, but three months earlier. School records look legit on paper, but behind the scenes there’s nothing. No high school yearbook picture, no sign of extracurricular activities, clubs, or sports. No paper trail other than an immunization record, which has nothing else to back it up. But that’s not unusual as he would’ve been a kid long before electronic medical records. Even now there’s nothing. No history of hospitalizations, no lab records, not even a flu shot.”

Ben looked up at Jackson before turning his attention back to his computer. “The only pictures I can find are more recent, and look, there’s quite the resemblance to our dear doctor.”

Jett and Jackson leaned over Ben’s shoulders to see the image he had pulled up.

“That looks like Greene’s lawyer from the parole hearing,” Jett remarked. The image disappeared when Ben pulled up another file.

“Well, it seems he only existed on paper until around 1974 when he seems to have hit the mainstream. It looks like he filed taxes starting in the mid 70’s. And what do we have here?” Ben smacked a few keys before breaking into a wide grin.

“Bingo. Real estate. He owned a home in Landover, MD for a while. That corresponds with his tax history working in the DC area. He sold that home in 1988 and then the history shows his income switching from construction work to investments about the same time.” Ben whistled. “Looks like he was really good at playing the market. From 1988 to 1994 his annual income showed high six to low 7-digit figures. After 1994 it stayed pretty steady at the upper six figure range. That’s just the income he claimed. There’s probably a lot more that he shifted offshore. I’ll sic our number gurus on it.”

Jackson looked at Ben. "The dates line up with the girls' abduction."

"Sure seems like we're looking at either a twin brother or a close relative with an uncanny resemblance,” he replied.

Ben tapped a few more keys and broke out in a shit eating grin. “Well, well, what do we have here? In 1998 Paul Romano bought a four bedroom home on the Eastern Shore right on the Chesapeake. It’s pretty isolated.”

Jett and Jackson both leaned over Ben’s shoulders again to look at the Google map he brought up. The overview showed the roof of a house that stood maybe a hundred feet back from the shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Woods separated the house from any neighbors, the closest of which looked to be nearly three-quarters of a mile away. Perfectly situated for not being bothered by anyone.

Jackson moved into action right away. “Jett, get yourself and your dog ready. You’re back on active duty as of right now. I need you ready to go as soon as we head out.”

Jett nodded and headed to his bedroom. Bruce’s tail started wagging the second Jett touched his custom made Kevlar vest. He stood perfectly still as Jett secured it on his body. Jett quickly changed into his uniform and donned his own Kevlar. He gave his utility belt another once over, even though he knew he had everything he needed on it. He unlocked his gun safe, took out his Glock, double checked the safety and then secured it in its holster along with the extra clips, ready to go.

Jett gave himself a once over in his mirror. Dark circles had taken up residence under his eyes and worry lines creased his forehead. He looked like shit.

Back in his living room, Jackson was on his phone barking orders. Within a half hour he gave Jett and Ben a rundown of what wheels had been put into motion. “We’ve alerted the local Police Chief and informed him of what we know. He’s under strict orders to keep his officers away from the area. Jett, your Captain is coordinating with the Eastern Shore division to run a couple of surveillance runs with a helicopter. I don’t think any suspicion will be raised if they keep their distance. I think a couple of runs with a high powered scope should at least give us an idea if there’s been any recent activity around the house. We can use the snow to our advantage. It’s kinda hard to hide footprints. If we see signs that someone is in there then I’ll get one of our guys to send a drone in. I’ve got a team meeting us at the police station closest to the house.”

Jett felt a buzz run through his body. Finally, there was real hope.

“Okay, let’s move out. Jett, you and Bruce can follow us.”

As soon as they were out on the main road, Jett flipped the switch for his flashing lights. Jackson led the way to Route 50 and took the ramp headed east at a fast clip. The highway was free and clear of snow and they made good time. It wasn’t long before they were crossing over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge onto the Eastern Shore. The normal forty-five minute drive only took them a half hour with cars pulling over to get out of their way.

The local police department was in a small brick building just off the town’s main street. Jackson strode in with all the authority he possessed. The local sheriff was more than happy to hand the reins over to him.

Ben got out his laptop and connected to the secured wi-fi. In a matter of minutes, they were looking at the video from the two fly-bys the helicopter made. The exterior of the house showed a few signs of life. There was a big extended cab truck in the driveway that had been cleared off and the driveway and walkways had been shovelled. The long lane leading from the street to the driveway was still untouched, sunlight glinting off of the snow crystals, reflecting thousands of prisms of rainbow colors. It didn’t give them any clue as to who was there, but at least they knew someone was.

Ben’s phone rang and he put it on speaker. It was the agent who would be manning the drone. Dusk had fallen, which would be to their advantage as the drone would be virtually impossible to spot should anyone go outside.

It took a few minutes before the video feed came up on Ben’s screen. They all watched as the house came into view. The drone operator circled the house and they saw lights on on the first floor of the two story farmhouse. The blinds were drawn in all of the rooms except for a small window in what looked like the kitchen. The position of the window gave them a narrow view into the area.

After determining there were no other access points which gave them a sight inside, the operator switched to a thermal detection mode. Bingo. Two heat signatures on the first floor and two huddled several feet apart from each other in a basement. That had to be them! Jett’s heart gave a jolt and tears sprung to his eyes.

“Keep it together,” he thought to himself. He felt Bruce’s nose nudge his hand. The dog had not left his side since they left his house. Even in the SUV he had jumped into the front seat, rather than the back where he usually sat. Jett absently scratched behind his ears, the motion was as much to calm himself as the dog.

As they watched, one of the heat signatures on the first floor headed toward the kitchen. Instantly the drone operator flew the machine back to the window and switched to live view. Marc Greene passed by the narrow field of vision.

“That’s him,” Jett declared.

The drone hovered for a few moments and they were rewarded for their patience with the appearance of a second Marc Greene. From this vantage point none of them could tell the two men apart.

Jackson was on the phone again, trying to secure a warrant for the property. Jett was antsy again. He had been through this type of drill before and he knew that it would take a little bit of time before getting a judge to sign off on a warrant. Full darkness had descended and he knew that Jackson and his team would need to strategize the best approach. The drone was great for getting visuals, but if Greene or his clone had installed any kind of security system, which was likely, it wouldn’t be able to spot the difference between a normal tree and a tree designed to hide a camera or a sensor. When it came time to move they would essentially be going in nearly blind. The biggest advantage they were going to have would be the element of surprise.

It wasn’t long before a full team of agents had assembled in the small police station. The two local officers looked rather lost and more than a little intimidated. Who wouldn’t be when there were a dozen men and two women built like tanks, decked out from head to toe in full riot gear crowding their little station.

The next couple of hours were spent strategizing the best way to approach the property. As a dog handler, Jett and Bruce would be one of the first ones in the house when they gained access. The trick was to enter swiftly and catch them off guard. The biggest problem? Entering swiftly and catching them off guard.

They were all aware that Marc Greene knew how to manipulate things to his advantage and there was no doubt he had planned for this exact scenario, and probably a dozen others. The key was to hit upon a strategy that he didn’t think of. The worst thing that could happen was someone getting killed and no one wanted that. Working with limited information and an excess of the unknown looming over them was a daunting task that increased the risks a thousandfold.

In the end it was decided to approach the house from the Bay. The lane from the street to the house was deemed too lengthy and there had been no signs of it being plowed, which would have greatly hampered their approach. Jackson was positive they would have been noticed long before they got anywhere close to the house. That approach would have given the occupants their best shot at fortification and defense, while putting the entire team at a huge disadvantage.

The big farmhouse was set back about seventy-five feet or so from the water and they could close that distance in a hurry. Even if they tripped an alarm system, Greene and whoever was there with him wouldn’t have much time to hunker down.

By the time all of the pieces were in place and a boat secured, it was nearly three in the morning. The drone had been sent in again and it showed that one of the figures on the main floor was moving about. The two figures in the basement were still in the same position, a probable indication that they were somehow restrained.

Jackson had the team load up for the drive to the marina where the state police boat had been sent to meet them. It was a twenty minute drive and Jett felt on edge the entire time. Jackson’s team looked focused and to Jett it was a major reassurance. In this business your life literally relies on your co-workers knowing how to do their job and doing it well.

The marina was tucked away in a sheltered cove on the east side of a small peninsula that stuck out into the bay. The boat was a forty foot State Police Marine Patrol vessel with enough room for the entire team to take refuge from the bite of the winter air in the main cabin. The Captain and his first mate climbed down from the flybridge. It took less than a half hour for them to be briefed and they could get underway.

There was a decent breeze and while in the summer it would have been welcome, at the end of January it was brutal if you stepped outside. It also made for a choppy ride. A couple of Jackson’s team members were a little green around the gills by the time they slowed to a crawl as they approached the shore.

The boat idled for a few minutes so Jackson could check the video feed from the drone, which had been hovering the whole time. Other than the one heat signature moving around and shifting positions a few times, all seemed quiet. There was no real way to tell, however, if the other figure was asleep or just staying still, playing possum, or guarding a loaded arsenal.

When Jackson was satisfied that they had prepared the best they could, he gave the signal to move in. Jett and Bruce, along with Jackson took lead. The vessel’s captain had used night vision goggles to navigate the dark waterways and he expertly pulled the boat close to the dock sticking out. Jett and Bruce had been poised, ready to launch themselves as soon as they were within jumping distance, and when the boat glided silently up to the dock and gently nudged the bumpers, they both leapt gracefully and then took off at an all out run, straight for the front door, plowing through the snow. Jackson and his team were hot on their heels, each member fanning out to take up their assigned position.

It didn’t take more than ten seconds for them to get confirmation that Greene had rigged the property with alarm systems. Jett was momentarily blinded when bright floodlights suddenly shone from several directions. He switched his focus to the ground and within a few more seconds, he was leaping onto the porch, 110lbs of canine muscles as his back up. Jackson flew by him as planned and hit the front door with the force of an NFL linebacker clearing a path on the field during the last five seconds of the Super Bowl and they were inches away from the goal line for the win.

What happened next could only be later described as pure chaos.