He was blown away.
CHAPTER 39
The house was registered to Adam Donnelly. How was Melinda’s brother involved in all this? Matt struggled to remember if Chris had mentioned that Melinda’s brother or grandmother had property in Lake Charles. When they vacationed together, they always went to the beach in Florida or skiing in Colorado. Matt’s mind raced with all kinds of questions.
What was Melinda doing at this lake house? Matt knew that Adam lived and worked in New Orleans. There wasn’t another vehicle in the driveway. Was this a house Melinda kept a secret from Chris? If so, why, and what was she using it for? He wondered if Melinda was planning on staying the night. He looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was getting close to two o’clock, and it would be suspicious if he parked here all day long. Besides, he was starving. After thinking about it for a few minutes, Matt decided to go get something to eat and then check into the Holiday Inn—he’d noticed one less than a mile down the main road. There he could investigate Gavin Beckwith on his computer. Also pull up a background check on Adam. He knew from Chris that Adam had been in trouble with the law before, but he thought it was just petty stuff. There had to be something useful he could find. Then, later on, when it was dark, he would head back and snoop around the house, whether Melinda was there or not.
Matt was thankful he’d grabbed his backpack that had his laptop and gym clothes in it before heading out to follow Melinda. As soon as he secured a room at the hotel, he pulled out his computer and went to work investigating Adam Donnelly as well as the art dealer his wife was involved with.
As a bail bondsman, Matt had plenty of access to websites that helped produce background searches, employment histories, and credit reports. He decided to do a full report on Gavin as well as Melinda’s brother. After typing in the pertinent details and starting the process, which usually took about an hour, Matt took a quick nap. If he was going to snoop around the property tonight, he needed to rest. His doctor had warned him that his head was still healing and that rest was essential. The headache that was starting to creep up on him now confirmed that.
After a two-hour nap, Matt checked his computer to see if the reports had come in. He took a look at Gavin Beckwith first, and woke up quickly. There was some interesting stuff. Gavin had filed for bankruptcy earlier in the year. His art gallery hadn’t been doing all that well. Was that why he’d wanted Erin to partner up with him in selling her paintings? Thinking she could help him get out of a hole? Or was it merely a ploy to get in her pants? Beckwith didn’t have a criminal history other than a DUI charge from twenty-one years ago. Probably from his college days, Matt guessed. He sighed. Nothing in the report gave him reason to believe that the man was involved in his family’s disappearance. Other than the fact that the guy was a douche bag and had been sleeping with his wife.
Adam Donnelly was next. Like Matt had thought, the background check had reported mostly misdemeanors, petty criminal stuff. It didn’t prove a lot. Adam ran with a sketchy crowd, according to Chris. Chris and Melinda were always bailing him out of trouble. Matt scrolled through the report on his computer until the last page, which included a black-and-white photo of Adam. Matt hadn’t seen him in almost two years. The kid never came to any family functions. However, looking at the photo now, Matt realized he had seen him recently. Closing his eyes, Matt realized a crucial piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Adam had been the one holding a tire iron over Matt’s head that night.
CHAPTER 40
The lake house was dark except for a couple of lamps illuminating the second level of the house. Matt’s thoughts ran over the details turned up when he’d searched the property records earlier. The original owner, Melinda and Adam’s grandmother, had the house built in the midseventies. When Melinda’s parents died in the automobile accident, the grandmother deeded the house as a trust for Adam. Looking at the terrible shape the house was in now—shutters barely clinging to the frame, tall weeds taking up residence around the lawn, thick coatings of dirt on the windows—Matt didn’t think anyone had occupied the residence in a very long time. As he sat in his truck watching the decrepit house across the street, he wondered what the hell his sister-in-law was up to. The ringing of his cell startled him. The name flashed up on the screen—it was Chris.
“Thought you’d be back by now, brother. Where are you?”
“Hey,” Matt said, trying to sound casual. “I decided to stay in Baton Rouge for a couple days. See the guys, hang out a bit.” Chris was silent for so long that Matt thought he’d lost the cell connection. Finally Chris said, “What’s really going on with you?”
Matt knew that Chris would see through the lie, but he didn’t want to let him in on his suspicions just yet. Chris would’ve been knocking down the door to the lake house by now, wondering what exactly his wife was doing up here in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t have Matt’s patience.
“Okay, you got me. It’s not just guy time. I just wanted to come back to the area where they found me. See if that would help with getting my memory back. I feel so hopeless just sitting around.”
“Matt, I would’ve gone with you. I can drive up tomorrow after meeting with Red. He wants to show me a video from the gas station where you stopped to get gas that night. I was hoping you would come along to watch it.”
“What’s the point of that?” Matt asked, running his hand through his thick hair.
“I guess to see if I recognize anyone. Maybe it will help get your memory back. They think someone was following you that night.”
“I can take a look at it when I get back. Let me know if you come up with something.”
“Look, Matt. Melinda is out of town with some of her girlfriends. She called tonight and said she’s not coming back until Monday. It’s really no big deal for me to drive up there tomorrow. Keep you company.”
Well, isn’t that a surprise, Matt thought, mentally rolling his eyes. Melinda wasn’t with her girlfriends on some spa trip. She was either using this house for a secret rendezvous with a lover or up to something more sinister. Matt hadn’t seen another vehicle other than Melinda’s Mercedes since he followed her to the lake house. He wondered if anyone else was going to show up to the party.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m good. I should be home in the next day or two. Everything okay at the office?”
“Busy as ever. But nothing we can’t handle. Take some time to do what you need to do.”
Matt watched the lake house as the front door opened. “Gotta go, brother. Call you tomorrow.” Matt disconnected and watched as Melinda walked to her car. Oblivious to anything else, she opened the trunk and pulled out a large suitcase. Matt slunk lower in the front seat, even though he didn’t think she would spot him. She slammed the trunk and headed back inside the house, cutting a ridiculous figure as she toted the heavy luggage in her spindly high heels. Five minutes after she disappeared inside, he got out of the truck. There was no other activity on the street. The other houses still looked to be vacant. That made sense. This area was mostly second homes and fishing camps for hunters and families. He expected it would be a little busier by the next morning. It was supposed to be a nice weekend coming up.
Matt quietly made his way toward the side of the house. The design was a two-story wooden A-frame that sat on a large wooded lot. The abundance of pine and oak trees made a good cover for him as he sneaked around. He decided to continue around the back and see if he could look inside. He wished he’d come more prepared. What he could really use was his hunting kit, complete with binoculars and a night scope.
The back of the house featured a dock with a large fishing boat on a lift. A white gazebo that had seen better days was surrounded by a rock garden and a path that led up to the deck of the house. As soon as he came around to the deck, a light flashed. He looked up and froze, his eyes resting on the motion detector light secured to the eaves of the house. He’d never understand why people put motion detector lights in an area like this
that was abundant with wildlife. Any stray cat, raccoon, possum, or even gator would set that light off. When he didn’t detect any sound from the house, he carefully walked on the edge of the lot toward the water. He entered the gazebo and sat there under the cover of darkness contemplating his next move.
The back of the house was mostly glass. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the first floor. The second floor had a light on in one of the rooms. A bedroom, Matt presumed.
The back door opened and Matt held his breath as Melinda walked out onto the deck. He watched as she lit a cigarette and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. Matt didn’t dare to move or even breathe as he watched Melinda smoke. She seemed to be looking right in his direction. He heard the faint ring of a cell phone. Melinda answered and started animatedly talking to whoever was on the line. Matt was about fifty yards away and could barely hear what she was saying. He felt bad for the person on the other end of the conversation, because Melinda was obviously angry, her hands flying everywhere and sparks cascading off the tip of her cigarette while she talked. The back door suddenly opened, and a man walked out to the deck.
She wasn’t alone? Matt strained to get a good look. He was pretty sure it wasn’t Adam. This guy was really tall. Something in the way he moved was familiar to Matt, though. He wished the motion detector light would come back on so he could get a good look at this guy.
Matt watched in fascination as the guy leaned over and kissed Melinda when she got off the phone. Nope, definitely not her brother. Then the kissing turned into more. It was like a train wreck. Matt knew he should just shut his eyes until it was all over with, but he couldn’t help himself. His sister-in-law and her mystery guest were getting down and dirty on the deck. He couldn’t believe that he’d once been involved with this woman. Yeah, it was back in high school, which felt light-years away, but he’d had feelings for Melinda once. Now she was married to his older brother. Sure, she was the aunt to his kids. She was in the family. But what seemed very clear now was that he didn’t know Melinda at all.
After about half an hour, Melinda and the tall man went back inside. Matt quietly made his way back to the truck. He tried hard to erase from his mind the fact that he’d just seen his sister-in-law have sex. That was one memory he could afford to lose, he thought. Just as he was about to start the engine, the front door opened and the mystery guest walked to Melinda’s car. Matt wondered who the man was and how he’d arrived, since the white Mercedes was the only car in the drive. When the man opened the car door, the interior light flashed on, and Matt realized he knew who the man was. For the third time in one night, Matt was shocked.
The mystery man was Moses.
CHAPTER 41
Rachel didn’t have high hopes that showing Chris the video was going to yield anything helpful. But as O’Malley sat down on the couch and Red opened his laptop, beginning the video, she hoped it might.
“It’s a little grainy,” said Red, “but I think you’ll be able to see faces pretty well. We know that Matt stopped for gas around six thirty that evening. It was time-stamped on the receipt. Unfortunately, the outside camera wasn’t working, so you won’t see Matt on the tape. However, we’re hoping that someone came inside during that time frame that you might recognize.”
Red stayed seated next to Chris on the couch, while Rachel paced the room.
Within a minute, Chris sat up straight. “Stop the video.”
Red reached over and clicked the mouse.
“Rewind a bit,” Chris instructed.
Rachel stopped pacing and watched as the black-and-white video showed a guy walking to the register with a soft drink and a pack of gum. It was hard to tell his age, but he looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Blond, shaggy hair, baggy blue jeans, a lanky frame.
“I know that guy,” Chris said, clenching his fists.
“Who is it?” Rachel asked.
“Adam Donnelly. Melinda’s brother.”
Now that she got a better look, she agreed. The man in the video resembled the photo in the yearbook Rachel saw earlier. Red shot Rachel a look of satisfaction while he froze the picture on the screen. Rachel had shared with him the information she’d gotten from Alanna the day before about Melinda’s little brother. They had decided to keep it quiet until Red and Stacy could look into Adam’s background a little further. Now it was obvious that this had been the right choice.
“Matt never said anything about running into Adam,” said Chris. “Of course, with his memory loss maybe he didn’t remember.” Chris stared at the computer screen, a look of worry and confusion crossing his face.
“Or maybe he never saw him,” Rachel added quickly. She could tell that Chris was upset. Whether it was because he was afraid that his wife and his brother-in-law were involved in the disappearance of his brother’s family or because Chris was somehow involved and felt like she’d just caught him, she wasn’t sure.
“New Orleans is more of a small town than a city sometimes,” said Red. “This could mean nothing.” But Rachel knew he didn’t mean the words. This was a breakthrough, and they both knew it.
“We’d like to keep this quiet for now,” Rachel repeated.
“Are you going to turn this over to NOPD?” Chris asked.
Red nodded. “We have to.”
After Chris left, Rachel sat down on the couch, balancing her laptop on her knees. “Let’s give it twenty-four hours. If we don’t come up with something, then we let Detective Jones know what we found on the tape.”
“Twenty-four, Rach. And not a second more. I don’t want to lose my license over an obstruction of justice charge.”
“Of course,” she agreed. The last thing she wanted was to compromise the investigation, but she had a feeling that they were close to finding out what had happened to Erin and to finding the kids.
“I’m going to pick up something for lunch at the café downstairs and stop by and see if Stacy wants to join us. She’s still working on some leads of her own.”
When she got back, Red was just getting off the phone. Rachel placed a couple of to-go boxes down on the coffee table. “Two chicken-salad plates. Stacy is working on something big, she won’t say what just yet, but you know how she gets when she’s in the zone. She’ll join us later.”
“I just got off the phone with my contact at the PD.” He waved a piece of paper in Rachel’s face. “The favor that I called in? It’s come through. I’ll have a full background report on Melinda’s brother in the next few minutes. I already got one little tidbit over the phone.”
Rachel’s ears perked up as she closed her laptop. “What’s that?”
“Stacy was right. Melinda’s brother Adam does have a rap sheet. Mostly petty stuff. Marijuana possession, DUI, fraudulent credit card use.”
“Right. We already knew that.”
“What you didn’t know was that Adam was seeing a shrink.”
“How’d you find that out?”
“Medical records.”
“I thought those were private.”
Red just smiled and turned his hands over. “Helps to have friends in high places.”
“Well, then, it’s worth talking to him. Where does Adam live?” Rachel asked.
“New Orleans. I have his last known address and employer. Waiting on the rest,” Red answered.
Rachel ate her salad in silence, thinking about how all these pieces could fit together. Red devoured his lunch as he scrolled through the reports coming in through his e-mail.
“Ah, here’s another report.” Red quickly scanned the e-mail. “I ran a cross-check on Adam and Melinda. Guess what came up?” he asked excitedly. “Property records in Lake Charles show that Adam owns a home there. Looks like his grandmother put some property in a trust for him.”
“Where is Lake Charles?” Rachel asked.
“It’s about a three-hour drive west of here. Straight shot on I-10. And guess what?”
“It’s near Lafayette?”
“Ding ding ding. We ha
ve a winner!” Red said, slamming down the piece of paper in his hand. “Lafayette is the halfway mark between New Orleans and Lake Charles. Same place where the O’Malley kids were supposedly spotted at a McDonald’s.”
Rachel tried to contain her excitement. “How soon can we leave for Lake Charles?”
“I’m ready when you are. We could be there by sunset,” Red said, consulting his watch.
“Let’s tell Stacy what’s going on. She may be able to stay here and keep an eye on things while we’re gone. What about Agent Krapek?”
“She’s got herself wrapped up in looking over O’Malley’s clients. I say we go check it out. Anything looks suspicious or out of place, we’ll sit on it until the posse arrives.”
Rachel didn’t need any more convincing. “Okay, let’s do it.” She grabbed her overnight bag and threw a few clothes and essentials in it. “Lake Charles, here we come.”
CHAPTER 42
The drive to Lake Charles was exactly three hours. Rachel followed the directions to Adam Donnelly’s lake house that Red had pulled up on their GPS unit.
“What are we going to do when we get there?” Rachel asked.
“We’ll do a drive-by and check out the place. If anything looks promising, then we’ll call in the troops. But it’s totally possible that we’ll just find an empty lake house. Adam won’t be there, I don’t think. Since his job and life are three hours away in New Orleans.”
Rachel nodded. “At this point, anything is possible.” She turned off the interstate onto a two-lane highway. Checking the GPS system, she said, “Looks like we are about ten minutes from our destination.”
“Look for a road called Terre Belle. Should be coming up on our right.”
The sun was just setting, which made it hard for Rachel to make out the street signs. Even through sunglasses, she squinted to see.
“Here it is,” Red called out.
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