Page 77 of Zero Divergence
Mick growled and lowered his hands. “I tried, okay? I couldn’t get it up, and Bonnie mocked me. She told me I wasn’t a real man. So, as you can understand, I was glad when I came home from my trip on Sunday and discovered she was gone.” He looked up at them with pleading eyes and a trembling lip. “She’s not hurt, is she?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Royce replied.
“Have you talked to people at school? Any of her professors? She might’ve missed work and blown off dates with me, but she never missed school,” Mick said.
“She hasn’t shown up to any of her classes either,” Royce said, hoping Rocky’s intel was accurate.
“Oh, it’s much worse than I realized,” Mick said. “My dad used to tease us that we wouldn’t have college tuition money for our kids because Bonnie would use it all on herself. She always countered how archaic it was for him to assume we would get married or have children.” He shook his head sadly. “Bonnie already had two degrees and was studying for a third in psychology. I asked her what she wanted to do with it, but she couldn’t give me a definitive answer. I just wanted her happy and going to college seemed to give her joy.”
“Are there any particular professors we should talk to at the university? Any that she was especially close to or spoke about often?” Sawyer asked.
“The one she talked about most was Humphries. He was the case she couldn’t stop obsessing over the past few months. She’d always liked the guy and had taken as many of his classes as she could, but nothing like the insanity she exhibited recently.”
“What about any classmates we should talk to? Can you think of anyone she might be staying with?”
“Honestly? No. She’d said all her friends no longer understood her.”
“Mick, would it be possible for you to provide a list of deliveries she made over the past six months?” Royce asked. “Maybe Detective Key and I can look for patterns that might give us some answers.”
“I don’t see why not,” he asked. “It should be easy enough for me to access and compile the data into a spreadsheet.”
Royce removed his card from his wallet. “Can you email it to me today?”
“Yeah, sure,” Mick said. “I’ll get started right away.”
Royce and Sawyer shook his hand and thanked him for his help.
Once outside the shop, Sawyer said, “We’re getting closer, Sarge. I can feel it.”
Chief Mendoza looked from Sawyer to Royce and back again. “Did you say Operation Venus Flytrap, Detective Key?”
“Yes, sir,” Sawyer said, gesturing for Royce to explain the significance.
A few minutes later, Mendoza nodded and studied them closely. “Okay, this makes up for the gag gift. This is damn fine work, gentlemen.”
“We had a lot of help,” Royce said modestly.
“For the sake of plausible deniability, maybe you keep those details to yourselves.”
“You got it, Chief,” Sawyer said.
Mendoza’s computer chimed, capturing his attention. “It’s about damn time. I asked for this security camera footage twenty-four hours ago.” A smirk spread across the chief’s face as he quietly read the email. “It would seem the security at River’s Crossing Estates isn’t as tight as they’ve led their tenants to believe.”
“What do you mean, Chief?” Royce asked.
“According to their website, they have security cameras strategically placed throughout the community to deter and prevent crimes before they occur.” Mendoza snorted. “They have security cameras at the entrances and community buildings, but none at residential intersections or streets. So, we might be able to place Bonita Brothers at River’s Crossing, but proving she was at Ms. Gross’s residence is another thing.” He glanced up. “You guys have done a great job at connecting dots, but we need definitive proof to say Bonita Brothers is Bonnie Parker and Beatrice Ryen.” He moved the mouse, then clicked. “Hopefully, we’ll find something on this footage, then we can recanvass the neighborhood for a witness who can place Bonita Brothers at Gross’s house.” He gestured for Sawyer and Royce to come around the desk and look at the footage with him.
“According to the motor vehicle records, Bonita Brothers has a 2013 light blue Dodge Dart registered in her name,” Royce said.
“Should be easy enough to spot,” Chief replied. At five thirty, a light blue Dodge Dart pulled into the community. Mendoza paused the video feed so they could match the license plate to the one they had on record for Bonita Brothers.
“It’s an exact match,” Royce said excitedly. Like Mendoza pointed out, they needed more to arrest Bonita and bring her in for questioning.
Chief played the tape on slow motion, pausing when the car moved directly in front of the cameras, giving them the best view through the windshield. Even though the driver wore a Sattler and Sons ball cap, they could see enough of her face to make a positive identification. A white florist’s box sat on the passenger seat.
“That’s Bonita Brothers,” Sawyer said. “Let’s hope one of the other cameras picked up something we can use as evidence.”
They spent the next hour looking through footage from all the cameras, but she stayed off the feed until she was exiting the community nearly ninety minutes later. Just as the chief had the first time, he paused the video to confirm Bonita Brothers was driving. This time, the flower box was gone, and a briefcase sat on the passenger seat.