His car was not as brilliantly hidden as he had thought but certainly concealed enough to avoid being spotted by a lazy flashlight. As he made his way to where he parked his BMW, Straus kicked a few empty bottles, sending them bouncing across the rough concrete floor.

There was no reaction to the noise.

“If that doesn’t alert someone, nothing will,” he said out loud.

He removed the boxes that he had stacked up around his car, opened the driver’s side door, and sat down. He had turned off the overhead light when he parked the car, again to aid in his concealment. He had also left the keys in the ignition and made certain that he had a straight shot out of the dock if he encountered an emergency situation.

His plan was working flawlessly.

He reached over, picked up the car charger, connected the it to his iPad. He then turned the key to “on,” plugged in the charger, and smiled as his iPad reported that it was receiving a charge.

“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “Twenty at the most. Just get the battery over ten percent.”

Five minutes after his iPad started to charge, its screen came to life; filling his car with a dull, gray light. Straus quickly held the iPad to his chest to cover the light, but the iPad’s illumination was present long enough for him to see the person sitting in his back seat through his rear-view mirror.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Derek wasn’t concerned about Captain Smith tracking him. He figured that Smith would be too busy trying to prevent another murder than to worry about some freelancing detective.

He searched for and found the address for Hilburn Business Center, plugged the address into the Google Maps app on his cell phone, and headed south. The computerized voice of the Google Maps told him he would arrive in just over four hours.

He dialed Thomas O’Connell’s cell number and listened as the ringing ended with Thomas’s voicemail message. Next, he dialed Ken O’Connell’s cell and again, heard his call answered by a voicemail message. His final call was to Ralph Fox.

“Well, hell, I just spoke with you. Now what do you want to ask?”

“Any way you can get Janet O’Connell’s cell number?”

“I suppose doing so is possible. What are you planning?” Ralph asked.

“I want to find out how many O’Connells are involved in this case.”

“Give me a bit to get her number. Your buddy Captain Smith ain’t been around, but he did leave his files behind.”

“Thanks, Ralph,” Derek said.

“Yup. You just make sure you don’t go running into any situations that are likely to get yourself all dead. Hear me?”

“Freelancing is tough work sometimes, but I’ll be smart.”

Ten minutes after hanging up with Ralph, Derek received a text message from Ralph with Janet O’Connell’s cell number. Derek dialed the number and hoped that he wouldn’t hear another voicemail message.

“Hello?”

“Janet O’Connell?” Derek asked.

“Yes. Who is this?”

“My name is Derek Cole. I’ve been hired by your son, Thomas, and your husband to assist in locating the doctors that perpetrated the crime against your family twenty-two years ago. Janet, I need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?”

“If you are referring to the doctors who told us that our son Alexander died after birth, then you can ask any question you want,” Janet said, her voice stern and crisp.

“I know this may be hard to understand, but I think Alexander Black is being assisted by your husband and your son. Have they told you anything that might lead you to believe that they are assisting Alexander in these murders?”

“They would never!” her voice assumed the tone of someone intentionally revealing their being offended. “How dare you suggest such a thing. My husband is paying you, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Then as his employee, you should be showing more respect. I can assure you that I will make my husband aware of your accusations and will see to it that whatever payment you are expecting is not sent.”

“I am not making accusations up from my imagination, ma’am. If you’ll listen to me. I am concerned that your husband and your son are in danger.”

“My son is on a boat out on Lake Michigan, being well looked after by my husband’s employees, and my husband is quite busy working with his lawyers in Chicago.”

“Neither are where you believe they are, ma’am.”

Her voice, hesitating, suggested doubt.  “And just how do you know that?”

Derek went on to explain everything that had happened from the time he met with Thomas in Grant Park to the last call he had with Ken O’Connell. He told Janet about what the police had found in Brian Lucietta’s office and how Ken told him that his resources had a good idea where to find Straus.

He told her about Stanley Mix and Michelle and how he had spoken with Michelle. He told her that he helped them remain hidden from her husband and how he would continue to keep them away from her husband for as long as he could.

He told her everything he knew as she listened in absolute silence.

Finally she spoke.  “Ken was furious when that Michelle Mix told him what the doctors in Chicago had done. I was too, but I was more heartbroken than angry. Imagine, all these years I’ve been grieving for a son that was still alive. I should have known.”

“Janet, what those doctors did was horrible. There’s no excuse for their actions. But now, Alexander Black is out in the world somewhere, and there are six people dead because of it. I need you to help me.”

Janet paused before speaking. “What do you need me to do?”