The Night Stalker_ A Novel of Suspense - James Swain [27]
“There’s an e-mail stored in my computer that Sampson’s kidnapper sent me,” Lowman said. “I will explain what it is. It will help you find the boy.”
Lowman gave me the password to his e-mail account. Using the mouse on his computer, I entered his e-mail account, opened it using his password, and went into his Saved box. An e-mail from someone calling himself Big Daddy jumped out at me. I clicked on it, and found myself staring at a photograph of a little boy sitting in a dog crate. It was Sampson. I ejected the DVD of Lowman’s confession from the computer, and broke it in half.
“Start talking,” I said.
“Burn it,” Lowman said.
“Excuse me?”
“A broken DVD can be restored and played. Burn it.”
You learn something new every day. I put the DVD into an ashtray on the coffee table. Lowman directed me to a drawer containing a collection of restaurant matchbooks. I lit a book, and dropped it in. We watched the DVD catch fire and melt.
“Now tell me what this photo means,” I said.
“Sampson is giving his kidnapper problems,” Lowman said. “The boy fights and screams and tries to escape whenever he can. His kidnapper couldn’t handle him, so he turned the boy over to a pair of drug enforcers. These men are used by drug dealers to collect money. Sometimes they take children into their possession as collateral.”
“That’s who has Sampson now?”
“Yes.”
“And they’re keeping him in a dog crate?”
“That’s right.”
Sampson’s photo was still on the computer screen. Instead of being scared, the kid looked fighting mad. I didn’t know this little boy, yet I admired the hell out of him.
“Did the kidnapper say where they were keeping him?” I asked.
“In a hotel in Fort Lauderdale,” Lowman said.
“Is that where this photo was taken?”
“Yes.”
I brought my face inches from the computer screen. The photo said a lot. Along with the dog crate, it contained a night table, a worn patch of carpet, and wallpaper with a logo embedded in the design. There were cops around the country who were experts in identifying hotel room interiors, and I felt certain one of them would be able to tell me in which chain Sampson was being held prisoner. Knowing that, and the fact that he was in Fort Lauderdale, would make it easy to track him down.
I printed the photograph on Lowman’s laser printer. It was sharp and clear. I held it in my hand, and felt my heart race.
I was one step closer to finding him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
From another part of the house I heard a door open. Then Cheeks staggered into the living room. He’d pulled off his sports jacket, and his chest was heaving.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Cheeks didn’t reply, and fell heavily against the wall. I rushed to his side. The look in his eyes bordered on helpless, and it appeared that he couldn’t breathe. I punched 911 into my cell phone without taking my eyes off Lowman.
“Tell me your address,” I said.
Lowman gave me the address, which I relayed to the 911 dispatcher. Hanging up, I made Cheeks lie down on the living room floor, and elevated his legs with a pillow.
“Where’s the aspirin?” I asked.
Lowman led me to the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom.
“Unlock these handcuffs, and I’ll help you,” he said.
If a snake could talk, I imagined it would have sounded like the reptile standing in front of me. I escorted Lowman back to the living room and fed two aspirin to Cheeks. I saw Lowman inching toward the front door.
“Sit down,” I said.
Lowman returned to his chair.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked Cheeks.
“Take him in, and book him,” he said.
“That will be a pleasure,” I said.
Within minutes an ambulance came and two medics entered the house, tied Cheeks to a gurney, and loaded him into the back. I stood in the doorway and watched, while keeping one eye on Lowman. Cheeks was not my friend, but he was still a cop, and I did what I always did when a cop went down, and said a silent prayer.
The ambulance backed out of the driveway. I made Lowman get up and pulled him outside. Cheeks’s car was in the driveway, the keys still in his pocket, while my Legend was parked at police headquarters.