Every Second

40

Manhattan, New York

Kate looked at the notes she’d written after ending her call with J. T. Flores at the truck wash in Dallas where Jerricko Blaine had worked.

She’d underlined California twice.

What were the odds that Jerricko and Lori would both be from California?

Whatever they were, it made the possibility of a connection between them even stronger.

But what could it be?

Again, she searched through the clippings of Lori’s shooting tragedy in Santa Ana. No mention of anyone named Blaine, but she was betting the key lay somewhere in that case and she was determined to dig deeper. There had to have been an investigation and an inquiry, but she couldn’t go back to Ben for more help. He was already impatient about holding back the California angle on this story, and Kate didn’t want to lose the edge she had ahead of the other news outlets. She’d have to keep digging on her own.

Checking the time, she was hit with another reality-her daughter would be getting out of school soon.

Kate would have to make arrangements for someone to pick up Grace, but first she needed to do more work on the Santa Ana shooting. Citing the case, she called Santa Ana PD, then she called the Orange County DA’s office and then the California Justice Department. She also called the legal research agency that Newslead used to search for records on the case.

In each instance, Kate was told someone would get back to her.

In each instance, she took names and contact information.

“I’m on a deadline, if I don’t hear back in twenty minutes, I’ll call again.”

Moving on to the news reports that said Malcolm Jordan Samadyh was from Torrance, California, Kate searched for listings of Samadyhs in Torrance, then in all of California and then in all the US. She did the same for Blaines. She’d use the lists she compiled to start making cold calls, hoping that one of these names led to a relative and more information.

Before starting, she checked the time again and called Nancy Clark, her neighbor.

“Hi, Nancy, it’s Kate. Can I ask you for a huge favor?”

“You name it, kiddo.”

“Vanessa’s got classes and I’m going to be working late and-”

“Want me to get Grace at school and keep her with me?”

“Could you?”

“I’d love to, dear.”

“Thank you, Nancy. You’re a lifesaver! I’ll send a message to the school.”

“No thanks needed. You know I love Grace. Are you working on that bank robbery story in Queens?”

“That’s the one.”

“It’s on the news.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s been going on all day.”

“No, I mean it’s live on the news right now. They found the banker’s car.”

“What? Thanks, Nancy. Gotta go!”

Just as Kate turned to check the TV monitors in the newsroom, she found Reeka and Thane standing at her desk.

“How did we not know about this, Kate?” Reeka asked.

“I-I don’t know.”

“This is supposed to be your story. You have sources, don’t you? Why don’t we have this?”

Reeka was right, and the TV footage was proof Kate was getting beaten badly.

“Look, I’ll make some calls and I’ll get out there right now.”

“You’ll never make it through the traffic at this time,” Thane said, sending a message on his phone. “We’ve got a stringer and freelance shooter in Queens. They’re five minutes away. I just sent you their numbers.”

Reeka was frosty as she instructed Kate. “You’re staying here. Focus on the Dallas angle and work with the stringer on the new development in Queens. We need to know what they found in the banker’s car. Any bodies, any money, any bombs-whatever. Do not drop the ball again, Kate.”

“I’m on it.”

Once Reeka and Thane were out of earshot, Kate called Nick Varner.

“Varner.”

“What the hell is going on with the car in Queens? I thought we had a deal!”

The line crackled in the silence.

“Come on, Varner. I sat on a lead for you, but I’m not going to do it much longer.”

“We found his car.”

“Yeah, no kidding! Everybody knows that now. So what else? Did you find Fulton?”

“There’s not much more I can tell you.”

“Come on, the whole country’s seeing this live. Did you find him? Or the money? A note? A bomb? Anything?”

“Listen to me, I can’t jeopardize the case and give you information that will aid the suspects.”

“Given what’s already gone public, I think they know you’re on to them. Did you find Fulton?”

“No, but…” Varner seemed hesitant to continue but eventually added, “We’re looking for a second car.”

“So they dumped his at the mall and switched?” Kate asked, reading the news ticker that ran across the bottom of the TV screen as it showed Dan Fulton’s blue Taurus surrounded by police tape and a gathering crowd.

“It appears that way. We’ll put out details on the second car shortly.”

“Can you tell me now? I need something to report here, Varner-and it’s either this or the details about Lori’s past. We had a deal.”

Varner sighed. “It’s a 2014 green Chevy Impala with New York plates, registered out of Alexandria Bay.”

“Anything else?”

“It was stolen from the airport lot in Ogdensburg. That’s all I can give you for now.”