Chapter 43
Ben was nearly to his freeway exit when his phone rang. It was Mark.
“Where are you?”
“On the freeway, almost home, why?”
“Something’s happening in Long Beach. I just got a call from Detective Collins at LBPD. Two house fires just erupted in the city. One house belongs to Stan Moffit, the other to Elaine Jensen.”
Ben nearly stomped on the brake. “What?”
“According to LBPD, the fires were called in roughly five minutes apart. Neighbors to both houses reported hearing an explosion and then a vehicle speeding away.”
“Where’s Lai—ah, Detective Jensen?”
“At her parents’ house. She called in an unknown trouble, then went off-air. They can’t raise her.”
“Can you give me that address?”
A short while later, Ben saw two black-and-white police vehicles on the street when he turned the corner a block from Lainie’s parents’ home.
He also saw Lainie’s car parked in front of the next-door neighbors’.
As he drove past her car, he noted the black SUV.
He continued past the police cars, then parked. He got out and identified himself.
“Who is in charge?” He held up his ID.
A sergeant stepped toward him. “I am. Why are you here?”
“I’m working with Detective Jensen. This incident might be related to our mutual case.”
“Do you know what is going on in that house? We can’t raise her. All she told dispatch was that it was unknown trouble. Something to do with that black SUV.”
“I’m not certain what’s happening in that house, but Jensen’s own house is on fire—”
“Fire?” the sergeant said. “Does that have something to do with this situation?”
“I don’t know every detail, but I’m afraid that if Lainie went into the house, she may be a hostage. My guess is that whoever torched her house is here now. It’s just my gut. The black SUV is suspect.”
The sergeant nodded. “Yeah, Lainie told dispatch that. We ran the plate. It’s registered to Quartz Enterprises. Do you know anything about that?”
“I do. It’s a front for Dallas Vine.”
The sergeant frowned. “The guy who sued Lainie?”
“Yes.”
The officer considered this for a minute. “If this is a hostage situation, we need to notify SWAT and hostage negotiators.”
“Do that. In the meantime, do you mind if I get eyes on the situation?”
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I’ll go around into the backyard and see what I can see.”
“I can’t authorize that, Isaacs.”
“I don’t answer to you. Contact SWAT. Hopefully by the time they get here, I’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”
The sergeant clearly didn’t like what he heard. A uniformed officer stepped up. Ben recognized her—Sara, the officer from the tow yard incident.
“Sarge, I’ll go with him. I know the house, the layout. Lainie and I have been friends since we were kids.”
“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll make the situation worse?”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take. We all need to know what’s happening,” Ben said. “I think it’s worth the risk.” He turned to Sara. “Do you know who should be in the house?”
“I know that her parents are at the hospital, so it’s got to be Archie and the boys—Evie’s boys—in the house. They’ve been here since Stan was arrested.”
“All right, Sara.” The sergeant nodded. “I think that we have exigent circumstances here. We’ll switch to channel four and you keep us apprised.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned to Ben. “The house is a three bedroom, two bath. The living room is in the middle, the master bedroom on this side, two smaller bedrooms on the other side.”
“Where do you think we can get the better eye?” He motioned with his hand, and they began to walk toward the house. She fell into step with him.
“Let’s go into the backyard on this side. Knowing Lainie as I do, I would guess she’s already in the backyard, if not in the house.”
“Is it easy to get in the house?”
She nodded. “It’s an older home; the windows are low. When we were kids, we would sneak in and out of the house, you know, to do kid things. Lainie’s parents haven’t changed much over the years.”
“I get it.” They reached the neighbors’ house.
The houses shared a side fence. The neighbors had a gate to their backyard, but there was not a gate to the Jensens’ yard on this side of the house, and Ben did not want to cross in front of the house to get to the gate.
All the blinds to the Jensen home were closed.
Sara lowered her voice. “We can enter the gate here and climb over the fence, if you’re game.”
“Let’s do it.”