Ollie
Elliot and I arrived at the Elser Hotel at about 6:45 on Wednesday morning. We needed to talk to the hotel staff that worked from 11pm to 7am on the night that Cody Williams went missing. Jeff had the front desk clerk, security guard and cleaning staff waiting for us when we walked in. The bar closed at 11 during the week, so there would be no bartender to talk to.
We started with the security guard. Les O’Neill told us the same thing that Nick Houston told us the day before. We watched the video monitors for most of the night and checked the doors every hour and a half. He said that he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
We talked to the cleaning staff next, again, they were mostly doing laundry and stocking the cleaning carts for the next day. They didn’t actually clean any of the rooms during the night as they didn’t want to disturb any of the hotel’s guests.
The last person we interviewed was the front desk clerk, Carl. He told us that he had not seen anything unusual either. He did see Jared leave the hotel just as he was starting his shift, that lined up with the information that we already had. After four hours, we had no new leads to follow. Elliot and I drove back to the station and once again, I updated the Captain. He agreed that we needed to keep reviewing the surveillance footage, there had to be something in that footage.
When we talked to Jeff after our interviews this morning, he said that he would continue to review the footage as well and he would keep talking to his guys in case any of them remembered anything. I sent the footage to Mark and Kyle, our tech guys. They were going to analyze the footage to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with. We wanted to make sure that someone didn’t erase any footage that might show Cody being taken from the hotel.
Elliot and I sat at our desk to discuss our next move. I sighed. “We have to be missing something.”
He asked, “But what? Every witness we have talked to has the same story. Cody arrives in Miami on Sunday. He has meetings at the Barlow office on Monday. He meets Jared for drinks and a little extracurricular activities Monday night. We don’t think Jared is our kidnapper, he’s just an old friend.”
I nodded, “Yeah, but that bothers me a little bit. Cody is married, why did he hook up with an old friend?”
Elliot shrugged, “He wouldn’t be the first straight guy to get together with another man.”
I chuckled, “I guess that’s true. And they did hook up when they were in college, maybe he just had to scratch that inch again.”
Elliot said, “No one that we have talked to has anything bad to say about Cody either.”
I nodded, “Yeah, he doesn’t seem to be involved in anything shady. Who would want to harm him?”
Elliot asked, “Could this be a random kidnapping?”
I shook my head, “I don’t think so. One thing Ridge has taught me is that these things are rarely random. If someone is taken from their home, or any place like a hotel, there is a reason.”
He nodded, “That makes sense, besides, if it was something like that, we would probably have gotten a ransom note or some demands for the return of the victim by now.”
I asked, “But who knew Cody was going to be here besides his wife, his company and the guys at Barlow?”
The Captain walked in and said, “That will be a good question to ask Cody’s wife, Ella. She just called from the airport; she is on her way here right now. I think you guys should have a talk with her when she arrives.”
I nodded, “Yep, that does sound like a good idea.”
An hour later, we were in the interview room, Captain introduced us to Ella Williams. She clearly looked upset. The Captain had called her yesterday and told her what we knew so far. She told him that she was flying in from Atlanta as soon as she could get a flight.
She asked, “Do you have any news on my husband, Detective?”
I said, “Nothing more than we told you about yesterday. We do have a man that Cody met for drinks before he went missing.” I didn’t tell her that Cody and Jared were more than just friends.
I asked, “Do you know Jared Adams?”
She shook her head, “No. Is that who you think kidnapped Cody?”
I said, “No. He is a college friend of Cody’s. We just know that they met for drinks. We have talked to him, and he is cooperating with the investigation.”
Ella sighed, “Cody and I met in college, but I don’t remember a Jared. Cody had a lot of friends, and I have only met a few of them. It’s been a couple of years since then and there are only a couple of guys that Cody is still in contact with.”
I asked, “Did anyone else know that Cody was coming to Miami?”
She sighed, “Other than the people he was meeting with and his boss, no. I mean our family knew, but they are all back in Atlanta.”
Elliot asked, “Do you know if Cody was having problems with anyone else. Anyone that would want to harm him.”
She now looked even more worried, “No, not that I know of. Detective, Cody and I live a pretty boring life. Cody is actually a little bit of workaholic, if I would let him, he would work seven days a week. He never goes out without me; I am the one that has to get him to go have a drink with friends or go out for dinner. He’s certainly not involved in anything that would get him kidnapped.”
We asked her more questions about the time leading up to Cody’s trip to Miami. She was right, she and Cody did lead a boring life. They just did normal married couple things, they both had decent jobs. When they weren’t working, they just spent time together, walking in the park, riding bikes around town, that sort of thing. They had a good relationship with their families and in the next year or two, they were planning on starting a family of their own.
Ella told us she was going to stay in Miami until we found Cody. The Elser gave her a free room for as long as she needed it. Her employer had paid for her flight and was still paying her while she was away from her job. They did have a good support group; there was no reason for anyone to want to harm Cody from what we have heard so far.
After she left for the hotel, Elliot and I were still scratching our heads. We went back out to our desks to decide what to do next.
I said, “We really need a break, I have no idea what to do next.”
Elliott sighed, “Sorry Ollie, but I got nothing either.”
The tech guys, Mark and Kyle walked in. Mark said, “There you guys are, we’ve been looking for you for an hour.”
I said, “Sorry, we were talking to our victim’s wife.”
Mark said, “We think we might have found something.”
I stood up and said, “We could really use something to follow up on. What have you got?”
Kyle said, “It looks like the video footage was edited.”
Elliot asked, “Is there any way to find the original footage?”
Mark sighed, “Not from the file that we have. We need to work with the original file. Do you think the hotel will let us work from their system?”
I nodded, “I’m sure they will, but I’ll find out for sure.”
I called Jeff Taylor and he quickly agreed to help Mark and Kyle. We all drove to the hotel. Jeff met us at the front door, and we followed him to his office, and he showed Mark and Kyle the main computer. They quickly went to work. I know my way around a computer pretty well, but I looked like a first-time user compared to the way that Mark and Kyle’s fingers were flying across the keyboard.
About an hour later, Mark said, “There, here is where the edit starts.”
Jeff nodded, “Yes, I can see it now. How did I miss that before? I must have viewed this 20 times and didn’t see that.”
Kyle said, “The time stamp says 11:06, then jumps to 11:18.”
Elliot asked, “Is the deleted footage anywhere?”
Mark sighed, “Yes, it’s out there someplace. Now we just have to find it.”
I asked, “What do you mean? Where is it?”
Kyle said, “Whenever anything is deleted on a computer, it never really goes away. The computer just marks the area that has been deleted as available to be written on again. That means as long as too much additional information hasn't been saved, it’s still out there.”
Jeff said, “I start a new file for each day as soon as I get here. It shouldn’t have been written over in just the eight hours between 11 and 7.”
Mark sighed, “Okay, let’s get started on our search.” He turned to me and Elliot, “This could take a while guys. You are welcome to stand there and watch over my shoulder, but I wish you wouldn’t. Besides, you probably have other things to do. It could take hours; we might not even find it today.”
I chuckled, “We can take a hint, we’ll let you guys do your thing. Please call me as soon as you find anything.”
Mark said, “You’ll be the first to know.”
Elliot and I drove back to the station. Ella had given us the names of Cody’s coworkers and some friends back in Atlanta. We spent the next few hours making phone calls, they gave us no new information. Cody is a good guy and seemed to have no enemies. I sure hope Mark and Kyle are able to find that missing footage, I think it may be our only hope.
Zach Baker had dropped off the forensic report while we were at the hotel with Mark and Kyle. It confirmed that the DNA from the condom belonged to Cody and Jared. They didn’t find anything else that would point to another perpetrator. Another dead end.
It was after 7 when I ended my last phone call to Atlanta. Mark called me a few minutes later.
I asked, “Did you find it?”
He chuckled, “Sorry Ollie. Not yet, but we’re going to call it a day. I’ll be seeing footage of the hotel’s hall in my sleep. We’ll hit it hard again, first thing the morning.”
I said, “I understand, I really appreciate your help. Tell Kyle thanks for me too.” I ended the call.
Elliot asked, “Anything?”
I shook my head, “Not yet. They’ll keep working on in the morning. I guess we can call it a day too.”
He nodded, “Until we have that missing footage, I’m at a loss where to look.”
I gave Ella Williams a quick call to let her know that we may have a lead with video footage and I would call her again in the morning. She thanked me and we ended the call. Ridge always said he hated making these calls, and now I know why. It seemed pointless until we found our victims, but I know the family feels better if they are kept informed.
I sent a text to Andy to let him know I was on the way home, again, he had dinner and gin and tonic waiting for me.
He gave me a kiss, “Did you make any progress on your case?”
I nodded as I washed my hands, “A little, we think the surveillance footage was edited. The tech guys are working on it.”
Andy smiled as he set dinner on the table. We talked about our days as we ate and did the dishes. We sat on the couch to relax a bit, but my mind was thinking about Cody and what I was missing. There has to be something, but what?
Andy said, “You are so tense, how about a nice hot shower and then I will give you a massage.”
I sighed, “That does sound nice.”
We took a quick shower; I really wanted to get to that massage. Andy did have magic hands and I was feeling stressed. We wrapped a towel around our waists and went to our bedroom.
Andy said, “Just lay on the bed and I’ll try to make you feel better.”
I chuckled, “You always make me feel better.”
Just as I went to lay on the bed, Andy grabbed my towel and threw it to the floor. He grinned, “You won’t need this.”
I smiled, “Whatever you say, you’re the masseur.”
I tucked my rapidly swelling dick away as I crawled onto the bed. Andy threw his own towel aside as he straddled me, his swelling cock nestling in my ass crack. He began to rub my back and shoulders; I instantly began to relax. My pole was getting even harder with every touch from Andy. I could feel his hardness sinking deeper into the crevasse between my cheeks.
I was a little disappointed as I felt Andy move away from my ass as he slid down my legs. He quickly replaced his cock with his nibble fingers. They danced over my glutes, and he let a finger push in between my crack, going a little deeper with every movement. When his finger raked across my pucker, I was limp as a wet noddle. Well, my body was, my cock was the exact opposite.
Once Andy had massaged my ass thoroughly, he did the same to my thighs and calves. He leaned forward and kissed the back of my neck. He whispered, “Would you like me to do your front?”
I moaned, “mmm hmm.”
Andy chuckled as he went to his knees so that I could roll over. My cock was so happy at not being restrained, it drizzled a large pool of precum. Andy again straddled me, his hard manhood rubbing against mine. The feel of his bare cock rubbing mine coaxed out another generous drop of clear love juice. Andy’s juices mixed with mine as he worked over my shoulders and chest.
He leaned down for a kiss and I panted, “I want to suck your cock.”
Andy grinned as he worked his way up my chest until his dick was within reach of my lips. I licked the precum from the purple head and he moved even closer. I suck him in and began to feast on the trouser snake that I was pleased to be married to. That dick was mine to enjoy for the rest of my life.
Andy moaned and pulled out of my mouth. He said, “You are going to make me cum.”
He moved down and inhaled my aching cock, sending me to such a state of euphoria, I thought I was going to explode. Just as I was about to climax, Andy let my cock fall from his mouth. He spat in his hand and rubbed his hole, then positioned himself above my spit slickened rocket. His eyes locked on mine as he lowered himself down. Both of our eyes rolled back in our heads with pleasure. Andy began to bounce up and down, only making us feel even better.
With everything that Andy was doing, I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. Andy grabbed his cock and began to stroke, he panted, “I’m going to cum.”
Because his dick is so big, it was near the center of my chest. His jizz flew from his cock, landing on my face. The first three ropes hit my nose and lips; I greedily licked every drop that my tongue could reach. I felt my nuts tighten and I flooded his bowels with a huge load of my steaming hot seed.
Andy leaned down and licked some more of his cum from my cheek, he fed it me with a passionate kiss. My deflating cock slipped from Andy’s hole as we continued to make out like a couple of lovesick teens. He rolled to my side and we held each other tight.
Andy kissed my cheek, “I think you are a little more relaxed now.”
I sighed, “Yes, I am. Thank you. I love you.”
He smiled, “I love you too.”
We held each other for a few more minutes, Andy said, “I got a call from our real estate agent today. She has a couple of houses to show us; I set up an appointment for Saturday morning. Is that okay?”
I nodded, “Sure, that is unless I have some leads to follow up on. If we get some clues from the hotel footage I may finally get something to investigate.”
Andy smiled, “You have two days, you may just solve the case before then.”
I chuckled, “I’ll need a miracle for that to happen, but I appreciate that you have faith in me.”
He gave me a kiss, “Of course I do, you’ll always be my hero.”
I grinned, “And you will always be my hero too.”
I asked, “So, how late do you think you be tomorrow night?"
Andy shrugged, “The other guys told me that they were home by 9, so I expect it will be about the same time.”
I asked, “Are your visitors good guys?”
He said, “Yes. They are really impressed with our new procedure and ask a lot of questions. They are even giving us some good suggestions on how to improve it even more.”
I smiled, “Will Lucas be pleased that you guys handled the week without him?”
Andy chuckled, “I think so, he told us he has all the confidence in the world in us. He said he knew we could handle everything. So far he’s been right.”
I gave him a kiss, “I hope Ridge feels the same way about me when he gets back to work on Monday.”
To be Continued…
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