Monday
Night
Keri and Ray pulled into the parking lot for the Lawndale Division 22 Metrolink maintenance and storage yard. Artie North, it turned out, wasn't just a security guard at Ashley's school, but also worked a second job as a security guard at the yard housed just off Aviation Boulevard near Rosecrans Avenue.
Keri didn't love the look of the place. Even in the day, it would have been unsettling. But at night, with limited light, the sprawling yard, full of motionless, hulking metrocars, was downright creepy. It was the sort of place she imagined Evie being held when her nightmares got the better of her.
Suarez had called her back on the drive south and let her know that Artie North owned a van, but it was white, not black. Obviously that didn't clear him, as painting the thing would have been easy.
And what's the deal with all the vans? Is every abduction suspect required to have one?
They walked up to the entrance. There was a large automatic gate in front with a security office off to the right. Keri noticed there was no van in the main lot but she couldn't see the employee lot on the other side of the gate because of the office. No one was visible through the window so Keri pushed the buzzer by the door. Her hand went involuntarily to check her holster. Ray saw her do it and frowned slightly.
"Let's not shoot anyone until we have to, okay. All we have on this guy is the word of your new boy band boyfriend."
"And the van-don't forget the van, Megatron."
Before Ray could respond, a pudgy, sleepy-looking guy walked in from the back room of the office. It appeared they woke him up. Keri didn't like to make snap judgments, but looking at him, she didn't know how he could secure a waist belt, much less a school or a municipal rail yard.
As he walked toward them, Artie North's whole body jiggled. His uniform shirt spilled over his front, seemingly propelling him forward. His face was pale and pimply and his pale blue eyes watered under the fluorescent lights. He looked to be about five foot eight but was well over 250 pounds.
It wasn't hard to imagine that a guy who looked like this spent most of his time watching porn by the dull light of a computer monitor and might have to blackmail compromised teens to get any live action.
As he got close to the window, Keri held up her badge.
"LAPD. Are you Artie North?"
"Yes."
"We'd like to ask you a few questions. May we come in?"
Artie hesitated.
"I should probably call the site manager."
"Mr. North, I wasn't really asking. I was just being polite. You need to open the door."
He did so without another word. As they stepped inside, Ray picked up the questioning.
"You also work security at West Venice High?"
"Uh-huh."
"Are you familiar with a student named Ashley Penn?"
"Sure. She's a sophomore. Why, is something wrong?"
"She's gone missing," Keri said. "You haven't heard?"
"No, I haven't."
That seemed dubious. It had been all over the news. Once they sent out the Amber Alert, the press had been in a permanent frenzy.
Once they were inside, Artie locked the door again and turned back to them.
"Please have a seat."
Keri glanced around. Inside was a first-class security center with radios, landlines, all the equipment a guard could want, and a locked gun case. The back section of the building held sleeping quarters, a small kitchen, and a bathroom.
"What happened to Ashley?" Artie asked.
Keri answered his question with a question.
"Mr. North, how is it that you've heard nothing about this? It's been all over the media."
Artie smiled ruefully as he spread his arm out to showcase the room.
"All this fancy equipment but they don't allow me a TV. And they monitor web use on the computer so I just leave it on the company website. A guy got fired a few months ago for checking out ESPN dot com while on duty."
"Is that hard for you Mr. North, not being able to surf the web for such long stretches?" Keri asked.
He looked at her quizzically.
"What?"
"Never mind. Let me get right to the point. We've received a report that you have a compromising video of Ashley; that you were threatening to release it publicly if she didn't have sex with you."
Artie looked genuinely shocked.
"Absolutely not," he said.
"That's not true?"
"No. Who said such a thing?"
"That's confidential. Do you ever talk to Ashley at school?"
"A little. I talk to everyone."
"What do you say to her?"
"Hi, have a nice day, get to class, typical stuff."
Ray got up and started walking around, as if he were curious about the security equipment. As Artie's eyes followed him, Keri stifled a smile. This was a standard Raymond Sands maneuver to make a person of interest a little less comfortable-wander, loiter, hover. Having a large African-American cop making himself comfortable in their personal space tended to throw most people off their game. Sometimes they let things slip.
"You're working two jobs?" Keri asked, forcing Artie's attention back to her.
"Yes. I work at the school until three and then come here to the yard. I'm on active duty until ten and then go to sleep but I'm here all night if they need me."
"Then you go directly to school in the morning?"
"Yes."
"What days?"
"Monday to Friday. On the weekends I go home."
"Which is where?"
"I have an old farm up near Piru, west of Santa Clarita. It's not really a farm anymore but the property is pretty valuable so I try to keep it in decent shape. Why?"
"When were you there last?"
"This morning, when I left to go to the school. I won't be back there until Friday night, after my shift here ends at ten."
"Do you have a van?"
"Yes."
"Can we see it?"
"Sure. It's at the side of the building."
They took a look. It was still white and very dirty. Ray went over and scratched at the side with his fingertip. It hadn't been washed in weeks and Keri doubted it had been painted since it left the plant where it was assembled. She turned back to Artie.
"Does the rail yard here have any vehicles?"
"Sure-"
"Are any of them vans?"
"No, no vans. They're pickup trucks, mostly, and a couple of old SUVs."
Keri switched topics. She could tell that bouncing around was keeping Artie uncomfortable, which was good.
"Ashley's been hanging out with a guy with long blond hair," she said. "He's the singer in a group called Rave. Have you ever seen Ashley with him?"
The man nodded.
"Oh, yeah," he said.
"Where?"
"He'd hang around out past the bleachers where some of the equipment sheds are," he said. "Ashley would go there and meet him after school sometimes."
"To have sex?"
"And sometimes more," he added.
"Meaning what?"
"Well, I got suspicious that they were dealing drugs or something, so I started keeping an eye on them. A couple of months ago I snuck up on them. They had actually broken into one of the sheds. When I looked in, they were, you know, having intercourse."
"Did you take video of it?"
Artie looked horrified.
"No. I told the guy to get the hell off school grounds. He got this real angry look on his face, like he was trying to scare me or something, but I didn't back down. I told him to leave, now, and never come back. He looked like he wanted to punch me but he didn't try. Good thing for him because I was ready for it. In the end he just left. Ashley went with him. The next day she begged me not to tell anyone what I'd seen. I told her I wouldn't as long as her boyfriend stayed off campus."
"When was this?"
"Early last week."
"Did he ever come back?"
"Not that I know of."
"What about any of that made you think they were dealing drugs?" Ray asked, reminding him why he'd started the story in the first place.
"Oh yeah. After they left the shed that day, I noticed some vials on the floor, like four of them. It seemed like too much for just personal use."
"Could you tell what it was?"
"They were all white powder. Could've been coke, heroin, maybe meth. I'm no expert."
"Did you turn it in?"
"Are you kidding? That girl's father is a United States senator. What if she said it wasn't hers and I'm left with all these drugs in my possession? Who are people going to believe? Who's got more power? I tossed the vials in the trash and moved on."
*
Five minutes later, back in the car, Keri drove silently back to the station, lost in thought. Ray finally broke the silence.
"It seems that the stories from Artie North and your boyfriend are a tad contradictory."
"You think?"
"Who do you believe?"
"Do I have to pick? Maybe they're both lying. All I know is my brain is fried. Every lead we get ends up leading us back to the beginning. And if she was taken, she's running out of time."
"Are you starting to doubt that?"
"Ray, I don't know what to believe anymore."
Suddenly her phone rang. She put it on speaker and an unfamiliar female voice said, "Keri Locke?"
"Yes."
"My name's Britton Boudiette. I'm a friend of Ashley Penn's. I'd like to meet with you right away if that's possible."
"What about?"
"About some stuff I'd rather not get into over the phone. Please. It might be important. Don't bring anyone with you. Just you."
Keri took down her info and hung up. Then she turned to Ray and said in a cynical tone she didn't even know she was capable of, "Don't bring anyone with you? In the history of law enforcement, has anything good ever resulted from that sentence?"
