Daylight

Chapter 47

“Did you find Peanut?” asked Cee-Cee Blake when she answered their knock.

“We did. Turns out he really couldn’t help us, but I was wondering if we could speak to your daughter.”

Blake looked confused. “To Jewel? Why?”

“We wanted to ask her a few questions about her brother.”

Blake shook her head. “She’s really upset. Can barely get her to eat anything. And she won’t come out of her room.”

“We will be very gentle, Cee-Cee. We have experience speaking with young people. And I really think it might help with finding out what happened to your son.”

“Well, okay. I guess you can try. You want me to go with you?”

“Just to introduce us. Then we’d like to speak with her alone.”

“No guarantee she’ll see you, though, and I ain’t gonna make her.”

They followed Blake up the stairs and down the short hall to a bedroom door. She knocked.

“Honey? It’s them two ladies from the FBI again. They want to ask you some questions about your brother.”

“No!” a voice screamed out. “Tell them to go away.”

Before Blake could answer Pine stepped forward and said, “Jewel, it’s really important.”

“I said no.”

“I’d like to know why your brother did what he did.”

“Go away.”

“Because I think he did it to protect you.”

Silence.

Blake looked astonished. “What the hell do you mean by that? Protecting Jewel? From what?”

They turned when they heard the door start to open. And then there was Jewel, tall and beautiful and well-developed for her age, with long dark hair swirling around her shoulders. She had on pajamas, with characters from Mulan on them. Her eyes were reddened and swollen.

“It’s okay, Momma, I’ll talk to the lady.”

“You sure, baby?”

Jewel nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Blake gave Pine a disapproving look. “Well, okay, but don’t take too long, honey, you need to rest.”

She slowly walked back down the stairs.

“Can we come in?” asked Pine.

Jewel stepped back and let them pass through.

The bedroom was cluttered, with clothes on the floor, books lying around, an iPad on the unmade bed, and a smartphone on the nightstand. And used tissues littered over seemingly every available square inch. The walls were painted with a mural of what looked to be female superheroes.

“Who did that?” asked Blum, motioning to the wall.

Jewel rubbed her nose. “Me and Jerome.”

“It’s really excellent. You’re both wonderful artists.”

“Jerome ain’t anything anymore ’cept dead.”

Pine leaned back against another wall and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s what we want to talk to you about.”

Jewel slumped on her bed and looked down at her bare feet. Pine began. “A man met with Jerome at his school. After that meeting Jerome was totally changed. Then that same night he ends up in an alley holding a gun. And then he’s shot by a cop who might not be a cop.” She paused and glanced at Blum, who was standing rigidly by the mural wall.

“Jerome said something to me right before he died, Jewel. Do you want to know what he said?”

Jewel didn’t look up, but she nodded. “What’d he say?”

“He said that no one would believe him when I asked what he was doing there. Then he said something else. And that’s why we’re here to see you.”

Jewel looked up now. “What did Jerome say?”

“He said, ‘We’re in deep shit.’ Why would this man be able to make him do something that would end up getting him killed?” She stopped and looked at Jewel, who seemed to be withering to nothing under the gaze. “It must’ve been someone very important to him. Like maybe you, Jewel?”

Tears spilled down the girl’s cheeks. Blum sat down next to her and took her hand.

“I know this is so hard, Jewel. So very hard. But we’re trying to find out who took your brother’s life. And any help you can give us would be very appreciated.”

Jewel wiped her eyes and stared up at Pine with a composed expression.

“Jerome knew.”

“Knew about what?”

“The man who came to get me.”

“What man?”

“Just a man. He would come at night. When Momma’s at work.”

“Where does your mother work?”

“She cleans buildings at night. Then she comes home in the morning and goes to sleep for a few hours. And then she has another job at Subway for the lunch crowd.”

“Okay, maybe you should start from the beginning,” suggested Pine.

Jewel collected herself. “It started one night. I went somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. Momma had to go see Willie, my other brother in Delaware, cause he was sick. Jerome was supposed to be home, but he got called to do this thing with the robots. I told him I’d stay in. But I didn’t.”

“Where did you go?”

“A party in Newark. I look a lot older than I am. I had a fake ID showing I was twenty-one. I went with a couple of friends from school. We got a ride with another friend.”

“Where was the party?”

“At some guy’s parents’ house. I was there for a while, had a couple of drinks. And then someone said there was a van taking people to a place in New York. A guy came over and said I’d been picked to go.”

“How? What guy?”

“I don’t know. He was older than me, early twenties. Tall, good-looking. Said he was in college.”

“White or black?”

“Oh, he was a white dude.”

“Color of his hair?” asked Pine.

“Brown, sort of wavy. I mean, he was real handsome.”

Pine pulled out her phone and brought up the picture of Jeff Sands that she had gotten from Puller. “Was this the guy?”

Jewel looked at the screen. “Yeah, that was him. How’d you know that?”

“I didn’t, until just now.”

“Do you know his name?”

“I do. Did he give you one?”

“Just said it was Charlie or something like that.”

“Did he tell you why you were picked?”

“No.”

“And you just went?”

“Well, it was a bunch of us, so I felt safe. And... and it sounded exciting. Charlie even said there would be some real celebrities there. I mean, some A-listers, not like old dudes. And I could meet them. And then he said I’d be given a ride back to my house.”

“What happened after that?”

“We drove to this building in New York.”

“Do you know where?”

“I don’t know New York. I’d only been to the city one time when I was a kid. But the building they took me to that night had a doorman and a private elevator and stuff like that.”

“So you went up there with all the others?”

Jewel shook her head. “See, the thing was, everybody got sort of separated. I ended up by myself heading up in the elevator. I was scared, but what could I do? I mean, I was already there.”

“What about Charlie?”

“He sorta disappeared. I didn’t see him in the van. Everything happened so fast.”

“Then what?”

“The elevator opened right into someone’s apartment. I never seen a place like that for real. I mean, it was like being in a movie. I mean, Jesus. I didn’t know nobody lived like that, not really.”

“And then what happened?”

“A woman came out to greet me.”

“Describe her,” said Pine.

“She was maybe thirty-five, sandy hair. Shorter than me. I... she just looked normal.”

“Lean and fit with freckles?”

“Yeah, that sounds like her, and she did have freckles on her face.”

Pine looked at Blum, who said, “Probably Lindsey Axilrod.”

“Okay, what happened next?” Pine asked Jewel.

“She said that I was to make myself comfortable and someone would be out shortly. She asked me if I wanted a drink.” Jewel stopped for a moment. “I... I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I’m only fourteen. So I told her just a Coke. She came back with it and I sat down and drank it.”

“And then what happened? Did someone else come out to see you?”

Jewel shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “The... the next thing I know, I woke up in bed. I was naked. And...” She bent over and sobbed.

Blum put her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “I know this is so terribly hard. So painful for you. Just take your time, Jewel, take all the time you need.”

A minute later Jewel composed herself, wiped her eyes, blew into the tissue Blum handed her, and continued. “There was a man lying next to me in the bed. He was naked, too.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?”

She nodded. “Older, white guy, maybe sixty with gray hair. He was snoring really loud.” Jewel wiped at her eyes. “I was totally freaked out. I didn’t know what the hell had happened. I mean, I was drinking a Coke and then this? But then when I sort of looked around, and the sheets... I... I knew that...” She seemed unable to say it.

“That he’d had sex with you while you were unconscious?”

She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I got out of bed really quiet, I didn’t want to wake him. I ran to the door and opened it... and...”

“Was someone there?”

Jewel nodded. “The same woman. She had my clothes, all ironed and on hangers. She helped me get dressed. She calmed me down. She got me a ride home.”

“So they drugged your Coke, and the man had sex with you?”

“I was so scared.”

“And when you got home, did you report this to the police?”

“I was going to, but...”

“But what?” said Pine.

“I got a call on my phone. I don’t even know how they got the number. It was a man.”

“And what did he say?”

“That if I told anyone I’d get in big trouble.”

“Jewel, you were raped. You were drugged and then raped.”

“I know, but—”

“But what?”

Looking even more miserable, Jewel stuck her hand under her bed and pulled out a pillowcase. She held it up and dumped the contents on the bed.

It was cash, a lot of it.

“Where did you get all that?” asked Blum.

“That’s the part I didn’t tell you. The lady who helped me, she gave me two thousand dollars that night. Said it was to help me get over it.”

Pine looked at the money. “Jewel, that looks like a lot more than two grand.”

“It is. Because—”

“Because you went back?”

Jewel started talking fast. “They told me they’d pay me every time. Pick me up and take me back. I’d be home before Momma would get off work. One time they even flew me on a helicopter to New York, and we landed on top of the building. It was, like, unbelievable.”

“And Jerome?”

“He didn’t know. At first. But then he caught me coming back in one night. I tried to blow it off. But then he’d been asking around. He knew I suddenly had money. I bought some stuff, a ring and some earrings and a real Prada bag and a new iPhone and some cool clothes. I never let my mom see them. She would’ve been all over me. But Jerome found out. He got on my case about it big-time.”

“And did you tell him the truth?”

“Some of it. He was real upset. Told me to stop going. And I did. I really did.”

“But after the first time, they didn’t still drug you, did they?”

“No.”

“Was it the same man each time?”

“No. It was always different guys. But they all looked the same to me. Old white guys. But...”

“And what?”

“But once I did it with a woman. She was old too, maybe forty.”

Pine said, “Did you recognize her, or the men?”

“No.”

“Did they talk to you?” asked Blum. “Mention a name, anything about themselves?”

Jewel looked down and shook her head. “I wasn’t there for them to talk to. They just wanted me for one reason.”

“You’re underage. That’s statutory rape,” said Pine.

“They might not have known. Look at me, you think I’m fourteen?”

“Doesn’t matter. That’s why they call it statutory.”

“You really think they got Jerome to do what he did because of me?”

“I think it’s a safe bet, yeah,” said Pine.

“Then I’m the reason he’s dead.”

“No, you’re not. But you can help us find out who did it.”

“I’ve told you all I know.”

“No, you haven’t. When did you stop going to that place?”

“They called the day before Jerome got killed.”

“Can I see your phone?”

“Why?”

“I want to run the number they called from.”

“I already checked. It’s blocked. No number comes up.”

“When they called, what did they say?”

“That they weren’t going to bring me anymore.”

“Did they say why?”

“No.”

“Can you tell us the address of the place in New York?”

“I don’t remember.”

Pine sat forward. “How many times did you go there?”

Jewel shrugged. “Maybe a dozen, maybe more.”

“And you don’t remember the address?”

“I never paid attention. I was usually sleeping in the car.”

“Can you describe the area of town? What the building looked like? The street it was on?”

“Like I said, it was real what you call high dollar. I mean, everything about that area was dope.” Jewel thought for a few moments. “But it was a number street.”

“Like Seventh Avenue?”

“No, higher than that.”

“Fifty-Seventh Street?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Was it near Central Park?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I saw it one time when they were driving me back to Trenton.”

Pine glanced at Blum and then pulled out her phone again. “Would this be the building?”

Jewel looked at the screen. “Yeah, that’s it. That’s the one.”

Pine looked at Blum again. “Well, they don’t just use that place for parties, then.” A text came over her phone and she said, “We have to go. But thank you for being so honest with us, Jewel. I know it wasn’t easy for you. But what you told us will help us catch whoever killed your brother.” She gave Jewel a card. “Call me if you think of anything else.”

As they were leaving, Cee-Cee Blake tried to ask them what was going on. Pine said simply, “Keep an eye on your daughter and have someone come over here to stay with her when you go to work at night.”

She jogged out to the car and Blum followed as fast as she was able.

“What’s up?” asked Blum as Pine started the car and drove off fast.

“Puller’s fully conscious and is out of post-op and they’re getting him a room. By the time we get back there the attending physician will be able to brief us on his status.”