Chapter 7
Afew hours later as the sun began to peek through a crack in the curtains covering the window, Bridget stepped out of the ICU into the waiting room to find Dani Jamison waiting for her.
The woman wore perfect makeup, wide-leg jeans, a crisp, white shirt, and a red blazer.
She looked classy and ready to step on-air the moment a camera pointed her direction.
At the same time, she carried two cups of to-go coffee and a bag.
“I’ve brought sustenance for you.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s an orange scone and plain latte. Sydney assured me they’re your favorites.”
Bridget gladly accepted the cup and inhaled the aroma of the coffee. “I need this.”
“Rough night?”
“Yes.” She would never love hospitals. And her boss had only called back early this morning with reluctant approval to involve the media.
“I’m not sure how we can best spread the word about finding Jane Doe’s family.
We don’t have a good picture of her and sharing a picture of her in the ICU feels invasive. ”
“I can start by interviewing you. If that doesn’t work, we can take more steps. Start with the classic ‘we need the public’s help identifying a child’s family.’”
“That works. My boss doesn’t want a full press conference until we know more.”
Dani smiled. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we know each other. I can have Logan here in half an hour and have the first story on the noon news with something on socials before then.”
“Okay.” Bridget swallowed against the panic at being the one interviewed. She did not love that idea, but she wanted to find this girl’s family more. “Todd Westmont is the detective who found her.”
“Caleb’s partner? That explains why Caleb left so early this morning. I can follow up with him, too. Maybe get video there.” Dani stepped away as she started typing on her phone.
Bridget could practically see the wheels spinning in Dani’s mind. Maybe this would work.
“Any idea what’s wrong with the girl?”
Bridget shook her head, then took a sip of the latte. She needed caffeine to hit her bloodstream fast. “Right now, the doctors seem mystified. They’re focused on identifying what it’s not.”
“Maybe she’s simply exhausted.”
“It’s possible.” But Bridget thought it unlikely. If that was the case, Jane Doe should have become responsive at some point during the night. Instead, she hadn’t responded to any stimuli yet.
Dani’s eyes clouded, much as they had the prior night when she talked about her oldest child.
Then she shook it off. “Well, let’s get started so we can get the story circulated for her.
” She glanced at her phone. “Logan is on his way and should be here in five minutes.” She looked around the waiting room.
“Why don’t we do the interview outside. I bet the hospital will prefer that. ”
Bridget imagined they would, too, but she also wondered what her manager would think.
Why was she the one doing the interview?
She let the warmth from the coffee cup warm her hands as she considered who would be better prepared to represent the state on a matter so important.
“Does it seem odd to you, that I’m the one doing the interview? ”
Dani shrugged. “The division has a spokesperson, but they usually handle official press conferences. Are you having second thoughts?”
“Maybe, but we have to find her family.” It just felt like this colored outside the protocol. “This was my first night on call.”
“You landed a doozy.”
“Yeah.” Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the number. “I’ve got to take this.”
“I’ll get Logan set up outside.” Dani hurried away, while Bridget stepped into the hallway.
“This is Bridget.”
“Anything new to report?” Leticia sounded harried, as if she was half on the call.
“Only that Dani Jamison with Channel Thirteen is here. Sure this is the right approach? We could have the public relations person talk with her.”
“Don’t have time to get them up to speed. It’s all you.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am. There won’t always be a clean procedure for each situation. This is one of those. Time is essential.”
Bridget had to agree, even as she didn’t want to be the person in front of the camera. But that young girl needed her to step up and be her voice when she couldn’t speak for herself. “All right. But I’m going to need help today. I had a couple court hearings.”
“Already been assigned to other people. I reassigned the people who had the cases before you.”
She forced her chin up as she absorbed the blow. It stung that she could be so easily replaced. This couldn’t be the right job for her. Not the way each of those sentences landed.
When this was over, she needed to rethink her career choices.
For now she shoved it to the side because there were more important things to deal with than her thirty-year-old crisis over who she wanted to be when she grew up.
The light started to penetrate the alley, but the aroma was what hit Todd first. He’d barely noticed it the night before, he was so focused on finding whatever waited in the darkness.
Caleb held his sleeve over his nose. “That’s rank.”
“Yeah.” Todd stood with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the space. “She was over there.” He pointed to the space by a dirty old green dumpster. “Makes me wonder if it was the busboy from the bar.”
“Huh?”
“When I came back and talked to the owner, she reluctantly mentioned a busboy who works for her. She tried to misdirect me away from him, but I think she’s concerned he saw or did something. He’s fifteen or sixteen.”
“Fifteen?” Caleb’s eyebrows spiked.
“Yeah, I know.” He didn’t want to get her in trouble for violating labor laws if the kid was under sixteen. “But we must find him first to see if he’s the one who got me back here. He was skittish. If he was underage, that might explain it.”
“It would.” Caleb glanced around then took a step deeper into the alley. “How do you want to approach this?”
“Let’s treat it like a crime scene. Be careful, wear gloves, and see what we can find.
If we see anything, call in the techs. I’m not sure we’ll find anything, but let’s preserve what we can in case we do.
” He pulled a pair of gloves from his back pocket.
They might be overkill, but he wanted to make sure he did everything right now, just in case.
They spent the next twenty minutes combing through the alley but finding nothing.
“Who’s climbing in the dumpster?” Caleb looked at him expectantly.
Todd sighed. “In the effort to leave no stone or bag of garbage unturned.” He hoisted himself up and sighed. “This smells even worse.”
“Why do you think I wanted you to do it?”
“You should pay for the dry cleaning.”
“You need to buy suits that don’t require dry cleaning.”
Todd groaned. “Do you know what my momma would say to that? She’d tell me to do better.”
“But you’d save a lot of money.” Caleb took a couple of steps back. “I’ll just be over here. Taking a deep breath.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Todd shook his head. “Always the funny guy.”
“Not at all. Just enjoying some slightly fresher air.” Caleb leaned against the wall at the front of the alley. “How will you tie anything in there to her?”
Todd wished he could answer that. “Maybe we’ll catch a lucky break.”
It would take some serious luck because all he saw was trash bags. The typical things he’d expect. Then he shifted another bag and spotted a backpack.
“Hey, if you were a thirteen-year-old girl, what kind of backpack would you have?”
“Something pink or yellow. Maybe with emojis or cats.”
Todd frowned. “Really? That seems a bit stereotypical.”
“All right, smart guy. What would you have?”
He held up a bag that was a black with pink Legos stacked along the edge. “I think this looks like something a girl who’s trying to look mature and might be a bit on the STEM side would carry.”
Caleb whistled. “That was worth climbing in the dumpster.”
“I hope so.” Todd waved him over. “Come grab it and let me get out of here.”
Twenty minutes later, they watched as the crime scene techs started unpacking their gear. The lead tech, Angie Clark, walked their way. “Where do you want us to start?”
Todd trusted Angie, a smart and savvy pro, to conduct a thorough effort to find whatever was there.
“Caleb and I didn’t notice anything on the ground, but I found the backpack in the dumpster. Our Jane Doe was on the ground by the dumpster, which is why I looked inside it.”
“Okay.” She turned and looked at her assistant. “Chavez, you’re in.”
The kid grumbled but dutifully walked toward the dumpster.
“We’ll let you know what we find.” She gestured toward the backpack. “You taking that with you?”
“Yeah. We need to figure out who she is.”
“All right. Make sure you keep gloves on.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Angie rolled her eyes. “Get out of here and let us do our jobs.”
Back at the station, Caleb and Todd went straight to an empty interview room. Todd set the backpack on the table. “Let’s see what’s in this thing.”
Caleb leaned into the table. “If we’re lucky, there will be something that tells us who she is.”
“At least what school she attended. That’ll give us a thread to pull.” A quick perusal in the alley hadn’t shown a name in the usual places. He put on gloves and unzipped the bag. “Ready to make the inventory?”
“Yep.”
He pulled out a couple of spiral-bound notebooks and handed them to Caleb. Next was a pencil bag and a sweatshirt from Disney World. “Someone had enough money to take her on quite the trip.”
“Or she found it at a thrift store.”
“Spoil sport.” He liked imagining her having a grand adventure in Orlando. He fished around and pulled out an unopened water bottle and a handful of Kind bars. “Okay, she had some food.”
“Nothing so far indicates she planned to be gone for a long time.”
“Not yet.” He unzipped the small exterior pocket.
“Paydirt. Here’s a school ID.” He looked at the photo of an unsmiling little girl.
Her blonde hair was brushed and cut in a straight bob.
Her green eyes were serious and focused.
“Her name is Eliza Brandenberg.” He frowned at the small piece of plastic. “Should I know that name?”
Caleb reached for the ID, which Todd relinquished. “Doesn’t ring any bells, but it won’t take much to do a search. But not immediately tied to politics or a business family.”
“Why don’t you do that search, while I go to the school. See what I can learn there. Between the two of us, we can find out something about her.”
And maybe begin the process of reconnecting her with her family.