The Castaway - Chapter 12

Carlton Williams was a sick man. He was tired and he was weak, but he was very happy to have someone to talk to. At least he was happy to have someone to talk to that wasn't sticking a needle in his arm or checking his blood pressure.

I started my tape recorder and walked up to his bedside. I introduced myself and told Carlton that I was working a case of a missing girl from 1986. I handed Carlton the picture of Becky and told him that Becky was last seen attending a party at his apartment on California Street.

I was quite surprised when he looked at the picture and said, "Oh yeah, sure I remember her."

"You do?" I said.

"Sure. It's not easy to forget waking up to a pissed off mother banging on your front door and screaming that her 13-year-old daughter was kidnapped from your house. That shit scared the Hell out of me."

Carlton looked at me with concern. "I swear to God detective, I thought she was at least 15 or 16."

It took everything inside of me not to reach over and rip the tube out of his arm and strangle him with it. 15 or 16 years old? Like that was okay?

"Tell me what you remember about that night Carlton." I calmly said.

"She was drunk." He said. "And I told those kids I didn't approve of them drinking. I told them I didn't want to go back to jail. They must have brought their own booze cuz I didn't give it to them."

Bullshit!

"You're not in trouble Carlton." I said. "Just tell me what happened."

"She got sick and passed out on the floor. Then Angel's friend got her out of there and took her home. I told her sister I didn't want no pooh-butt light-weight hanging out at my crib no more. That shit ain't cool."

Carlton was describing the same thing that Kelly told me. He knew Angel. I was trying to contain my excitement. I wanted him to talk faster but he was straining in between bouts of pain. Every time he winced I pictured Becky reaching down and squeezing his one kidney. I grinned a little, but I don't think he saw it.

"Tell me about Angel's friend." I said.

"Shit, I don't remember his name. He was always with Angel, they went everywhere together. Mexican kid about 16 or 17, drove a really nice little Toyota hatchback."

"Where did he take Becky? Where did they go?" I said.

"Shit I don't know, he never came back. All I know is the next morning this pissed-off lady is banging on my door and screaming at me. I said shit lady, he told me he was taking her home. That's all I know. I saw him again a few days later and I gave him shit for bringing that drama to my crib. I told him the cops better not come around asking questions or I would take that shit out on his face."

"What did he say happened to Becky? Did you ask?"

"He said he took her home. Said everything was cool. Shit, I just figured the girl didn't want to go home cuz she was drunk. Figured she went home the next day or whatever and everything was cool." Carlton looked at me with suspicion. "Are you telling me she never went home? She's still missing?"

"That's what I'm telling you." I said. "She never went home."

"Oh shit." Carlton said quietly. "That's messed up. Have you talked to him? What's he say happened to her?"

"I don't know who he is." I said. "That's why I'm here. I need your help to identify him."

"Well, he was Angel's best friend so he's probably in the same place as Angel."

"Do you know where that is?" I asked.

Carlton looked at me. "Most likely still in prison. That's where Angel usually is."

Carlton couldn't remember Angel's last name but he remembered the street Angel lived on. It wasn't far from California Street where Carlton lived. Carlton told me that Angel was in a local gang known as Los Coyotes. He said Angel had been arrested numerous times for narcotics, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon. Even without a last name I figured I had enough information to identify Angel.

"What was that other fools name?" Carlton said to himself, trying to remember.

I thanked Carlton for his time and gave him my card. "Please call me if you remember anything else. My cell phone number is on the card and you can reach me 24/7."

As I started to walk out of the room Carlton blurted it out.

"Miguel!" Carlton grabbed his side in pain and regretted the outburst.

I stopped and looked back.

"His name was Miguel! Mexican kid. He and Angel had a carpet cleaning business together. I don't know what ever happened to him but I'll bet Angel will know. Not that he'll tell you anything, Angel hates cops. Hates them bad."

As I left the kidney dialysis center I wondered how long Carlton would stay alive. Regardless of my personal feelings about Carlton, I needed him to stay alive long enough to testify in court against Miguel. Carlton's testimony would be powerful evidence in a murder trial and I had it all on tape, but I couldn't use anything he told me in a trial. Carlton had to testify to it himself. Stupid law.

I went straight to Oceanside PD and met with the same detective that I talked to previously. I gave her the information I had on Angel and, just as I expected, she had Angel Martinez identified within about 10 minutes. And just like Carlton said, Angel had spent a good portion of the last 20 years in state prison, but he was not currently in custody. Angel had been paroled about two months ago and his current address was in the nearby city of Vista.

I contacted Angel's parole officer and found out that Angel hadn't reported this month. That was a parole violation and, with a little persuasion, it was enough to generate a warrant for Angel's arrest for absconding.

The following morning I joined Angel's parole officer and members of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in a Vista shopping center parking lot. Twenty minutes later we were crashing through the front door of Angel's house with an arrest warrant.

The rented house was only occupied by Angel's girlfriend and she was not pleased to see us. At least that's the impression I got when she jumped out of bed naked and ran through the house screaming. God I love this job. It's never boring.

After a barrage of colorful language that should never come from a woman's mouth, she informed us that she had not seen Angel in several days. I knew that finding Angel anytime soon just became even more difficult. Now Angel knows the cops have a warrant for his arrest and he'll be going underground.

I put an APB out on Angel Martinez and alerted all of the surrounding law enforcement agencies that he was wanted for questioning in a murder.

The waiting game begins.