Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Tuesday morning came early, but Jane didn’t mind, pleased to be back after hours of waiting around the hospital yesterday to get cleared to return to work. Worse than Rapp acting like a stickler for protocol had been him saddling her with Gina while she waited.
As if she couldn’t have returned to the office herself. She had a feeling he hadn’t trusted her to see a doctor without supervision, and of course Gina would narc on her if she didn’t.
A mild headache and more bruising to her face, but since most of it had been healing well enough and they didn’t see any fractures—more wasted time on an X-ray—she had a clean bill of health to return to work.
The only good thing to come from her doctor visit was that it allowed time for Diego to grab her car and drive her back to her apartment.
Jane did a light workout before heading into the task force, not surprised at the cold rain that fell. The weather had been a bit sunny lately, so she knew they were due their typical wet winter. Fortunately, it promised to stay warm enough not to ice over.
Inside the warm building that served as her temporary office, she found Gina out, but Diego and Rapp working at their respective desks.
Diego perked up when he saw her holding a cup of coffee.
“Hey, Jane. Come look at what we found.”
“When did you find it?” Had no one called her last night to let her know something important?
He didn’t answer. “It’s our guy. Phillip Keiser.”
“You have an ID? Wow. That was fast.”
Typically, they’d have to send an image—a photograph, not a sketch—to the Biometric Technology Center, part of CJIS, in West Virginia to the facial recognition unit.
And though they found results faster than many other areas of the FBI’s crime lab due to the technology used, this result had come back a heck of a lot sooner than she’d expected.
“I know. I used some software a friend of mine’s been tinkering with to get a better image off the sketch before sending it in. It helped that our guy was already in the system. CODIS had him on file. He served four years in the Army.”
CODIS, the Combined DNA Indexing System used by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, would have had his information through the DOD since he’d been in the military. A lucky break all around.
“Ah, gotcha. So what do we know about Phillip Keiser?” She sat next to Diego at his desk and stared at his monitor, where a clean-shaven, younger version of the man she’d wrestled the day before looked back at her.
Rapp joined them, looking tired despite his crisp, fresh suit. “Great work you two. Diego, fill her in. I’m just going to sit and listen.”
“Listen again, you mean.” Diego grinned, brimming with excitement as he read off a report he pulled up on his computer.
“Right. So Phillip Keiser, age twenty-seven, is the only son of Dr. Adam and Lena Keiser, deceased. Phillip graduated high school then served four years in the Army before going to college. Unfortunately, his parents died, and he dropped out. Fell off the grid two years ago.”
Rapp interrupted, “Tell her about the hit-and-run accident. Who hit them?”
“Who?” Jane asked, picking up on the intrigue.
“Anton Kaminski, August Kaminski’s youngest.”
“Kaminski? As in the other crime family—if I can really call them that—in Seattle?” The wheels in Jane’s head were spinning.
The Kaminski name had appeared a few times during her investigations into the Mazzucas but never went anywhere.
“So Keiser isn’t connected to the Mazzucas but to the Kaminskis? ”
“We don’t know that he’s tied to anyone,” Rapp answered. “But the fact is, Anton Kaminski was charged with a hit and run that killed Keiser’s parents. But then the charges got dropped.”
“And with Phillip not around to protest, no one cared?” Jane ventured.
Diego nodded. “So maybe he’s upset the EMTs couldn’t save his parents. I don’t know. But it’s a motive.”
“Do we know for sure his parents died in the ambulance? Or did they get to the hospital and the doctors and nurses couldn’t help? I mean, he’s targeting them all, not just EMTs.”
Rapp nodded. “Good questions. We’re still looking into it.” His phone buzzed, and he frowned at it. “I need to take a few meetings, so I’ll be out. Call if you need me.” He stood. “Try not to get slapped around today, Jane.” Then he headed toward his office.
She scowled at his back then turned to find Diego grinning. “He’s not funny. And wipe that smile off your face.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jane sighed. “I need more coffee.”
A few hours later, she rubbed her head and, spotting no one watching, popped an ibuprofen for her growing headache. Staring at computers all morning hadn’t helped advance anything, so she took a break and followed a hunch she hoped would prove fruitful.
An old professor of Phillip’s had been listed in the hit and run case as a point of contact for Phillip. Apparently, the professor had been good friends with Phillip’s parents.
She called Professor Lito’s number, not expecting him to answer since most people ignored numbers they didn’t know. When he picked up, she asked to speak to him face to face on a matter pertaining to a current investigation. He agreed, and before she knew it, she was headed out the door.
She found him in Queen Anne in a lovely Victorian situated on a street that spoke of old money. Despite the season, his yard looked well-tended if dormant. And the charming two-story made her feel at home the moment she stepped inside.
“Thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me, Professor Lito.”
“Oh, call me Kyle.” The older man had a slender frame, white hair threading dark at his temples, and gold wire frames over intelligent eyes.
In khakis and a button-down cardigan, his look screamed academia.
He nodded to the attractive white-haired woman smiling next to him. “And this is my wife, Maria.”
“Jane Cannon.” She shook their hands, careful not to say “Agent” Jane Cannon as she wasn’t here under the aegis of the FBI.
“You said this is about a case you’re working on?” Kyle looked interested while Maria excused herself from the room.
“Yes. I’m investigating alongside the FBI. This might involve what happened to Phillip’s parents.”
“Really?” Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
Maria returned bearing a tray holding a teapot, cups, and cookies. “I was already making our late afternoon tea. Please have some.”
Jane gazed at the plate of cookies. “Are those homemade?”
“Best chocolate chip in the state,” Kyle boasted.
Maria blushed. “I just baked them today. I tell Kyle he’s spoiled.”
“Don’t I know it.” He smiled at his wife, his heart in his eyes.
Jane didn’t know what to make of their affection, as she’d never seen that kind of romantic love up close. But she appreciated the open communication she sensed between them.
“Thank you. I’d love some.”
While they settled into comfortable seats in the living area, Jane brought up Phillip.
“Phil? Why, I haven’t thought about him in too long.” Kyle sighed. “Such a bright boy. And so sad about his parents.”
“They were killed in a hit and run, I read.”
Maria nodded, but Kyle’s pinched expression warned Jane to tread warily.
He nodded. “Yes, a little over two years ago. It was a travesty.” He took a sip of tea.
“Phil was always such a smart kid. An honor student. He wanted to be a doctor like his father, but he’d also been a fan of the military, like his grandfather, who’d served in the Army.
His plan was to do a few years to serve his country then transition out and become a doctor. ”
“But he didn’t. He left college before getting his degree.” And without that, he’d never be able to get into medical school.
Maria patted her husband’s knee. “His mother was my cousin, who was more like a sister to me. And of course, Phil took some classes from Kyle before he dropped out. Such a lovely and talented boy. It broke his heart when his parents died.”
“That boy was so bright and full of life. Losing his parents crushed him.”
Maria gave her husband a sad smile. “After he lost his parents, Phillip came to live with us for a while, but then he left. He had to start fresh somewhere without so many memories, he said. He used to call but stopped even that six months ago. I miss him.”
“We both do.” Kyle clasped his wife’s hand, his eyes glassy.
“I saw that Anton Kaminski was behind the hit and run but never prosecuted for it. How did Phil take that?”
Kyle scowled. “That Kaminski brat hid behind his gangster father. Crooked, the lot of them.”
Maria sighed. “You’ve always hated my family.”
Jane paused in the act of taking a second bite out of one of the best cookies she’d ever had. “What now?”
Maria shrugged. “Lena, Phil’s mother, and I shared the same grandmother. August Kaminski is my uncle.”
“Phillip’s great uncle?”
She nodded.
Another tie to organized crime. Or was it?
What the hell was going on?