by Liz Bradford
“Patty, when was the last time you saw Samantha?”
“Yesterday evening. She was still here working on lesson plans, like she does every Thursday evening, when I left around 4:30.”
“Do you know what else she normally does on Thursday evenings? Does she work out anywhere?”
“No, I don’t know. But you should talk to Miss Perkins, one of the other third grade teachers. They are close, and she may know.”
“Would it be all right if we talked to her now?”
“Sure, I’ll take her class while you speak with her. Hold on a minute though, I need to let the principal know I won’t be in here. Oh, and I should tell him you are here, too.”
Patty disappeared briefly but came back out a moment later followed by the principal, Mr. Withers. He said, “Thank you so much for looking into Ms. Allen’s disappearance so quickly. I hope we are wrong and she is all right, but please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.” He then reached out his hand to Jared, “We haven’t met, I’m Principal Robert Withers.”
“Detective Jared Johnson, I am Becca’s partner, and I also happen to be Callie’s dad.”
“Well, it is good to meet you. Sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
“Me too.”
Jared and Becca followed Patty down the hall to Miss Perkins’ classroom. As they waited in the hallway and Patty went in, Jared leaned slightly closer to Becca and said, “We took Tony in at, what, 6:30 yesterday?”
Becca nodded.
“So, he could have grabbed Samantha before that.”
“Would explain where he was while we were searching his house and business.”
Jarred nodded. A few moments later a perplexed Miss Perkins emerged. Becca didn’t know the young teacher but recognized her from church.
“Hi, I’m Ella Perkins. How can I help you?”
Jared spoke, “Hi, Miss Perkins, I’m Detective Johnson, and this is my partner Detective Palmer. We just learned that you are well acquainted with Samantha Allen. We also just learned that it is possible she has gone missing.”
“Missing? I just spoke with her this morning before school.”
Becca interrupted, “This morning? You talked to her this morning?”
“Yes, I texted her to remind her to bring the baking soda she said she could bring for my experiment with my kids this afternoon. She said she had it and was on her way out the door. It was early, but she always leaves early because she walks to school as long as the weather is decent. Says she doesn’t have to go to the gym that way. Are you telling me she didn’t make it to school?”
“That’s correct,” Jared said. He turned to Becca and said quietly, “Then he couldn’t have taken her.”
“Ella,” Becca said, “Do you know if Samantha received any flowers this week?”
“Yes, she did. A bouquet of white tulips was waiting on her doorstep Wednesday afternoon when she got home from school. She’s been flirting with the gym teacher a lot lately, so she assumed they were from him. Oh no, do you think that serial killer took her?” Ella was starting to panic, so Becca reached out and took her arm. Ella pulled back from her touch and quickly composed herself.
“We don’t know, yet, Ella, but we will do everything we can to find her, alive. This is going to seem like a very odd question, but do you know why Samantha and her husband got divorced?”
“Yeah, he cheated on her.”
Becca looked at Jared who had pulled out his phone and was searching on it. “There,” Jared said. He showed her his phone; the words on the website said, “white tulips represent forgiveness.” Becca’s heart sank. One more confirmation that the man they were hunting had taken this young teacher.
“Thank you so much for your time, Ella,” Becca resisted giving Ella’s arm a squeeze. “Please let us know if there is anything else you think of that could be important, even if it doesn’t seem important, all right?” She handed her a business card.
After Ella walked back into her classroom, Becca turned to Jared. They didn’t exchange any words, but both of their faces held determination. As they made their way back to the front of the school Becca’s phone rang.
“Palmer,” she answered it before it even rang a second time.
“Hey. It’s Miller. We are at Samantha Allen’s house. Everything looks normal. Breakfast dishes are in the sink and the coffee pot is still warm, so it looks like she was here this morning. Car is still in the garage though.”
“Yeah, we were told she normally walks to work.”
“Does that mean we have the wrong guy in custody?”
“Probably.”
“Oh, and there is a bouquet of white tulips on the table.”
“I know. I didn’t really expect anything new from her house. Walk the route she would have taken to the school see if you notice anything. Talk to anyone you see. We’ll do the same from this direction. See you in a bit.”
“Sure thing, boss.” They hung up. She shook her head at Miller calling her boss. Rick Miller was probably ten years her elder and had been a detective for probably fifteen years, but he had no problem working under her or anyone else. He was a good detective, but didn’t like having the responsibility of being lead detective on a case.
Becca and Jared headed out the front door and through the parking lot. Her mind wrestled with the reality that she had most likely berated an innocent man the night before. She felt horrible. And now, someone she knew was missing.
Halfway through the parking lot Jared touched her back and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Eh. I was so hard on Tony last night… and it probably isn’t even him. I should’ve listened to your doubts.”
“You were just doing your job.”
“Yeah, but I still feel bad.”
He squeezed her arm and stopped walking. “I know, but try not to beat yourself up. We have to find Samantha.”
She nodded.
They walked down the sidewalk toward Samantha’s house, the opposite way than they would go to get to Becca’s. Along the way they looked for anything suspicious at all. There was nothing. Someone was getting in their car as they walked by, so they stopped them and asked if they had seen her that morning. They hadn’t. It wasn’t long before they met up with Jamison and Miller.
“Hey, guys, anything?”
“Nothing,” Adam replied.
“Maybe it’s time to knock on a few doors. Maybe someone saw her. You guys take that side of the street, we’ll take this one. Take note of where you go and if you are able to ask them or not. A bunch of people are at work, I’m sure, so we may have to canvas again later,” Becca instructed.
Splitting up, each team of partners took a side of the street and knocked on door after door after door. It seemed to be to no avail, but then they had a glimmer of hope. Jared knocked on an elderly lady’s door and when he asked if she had seen Samantha Allen she thought for a moment.
“Samantha, she’s that nice young teacher with the two little kids, right? Short brown hair?”
“Yes, ma’am, that is her.”
“Ah, she walks to school almost every mornin’. Now, let me think, did I see her this mornin’? I believe I did, yes. I do remember seeing her when I glanced out the window this mornin’. I do seem to notice when she walks by some mornings. Seems to me this mornin’ is when I saw her talking to a gentleman.”
“Really? Can you tell us more about this man?” Jared asked.
“Unfortunately, no. If I had thought it mattered I would have paid attention, but I do remember she seemed comfortable talkin’ to him, like she knew him, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Can you describe what he looked like, what he was wearing?” Becca asked.
“I don’t know, dear. My memory isn’t what it used to be. I’m sorry. I don’t recall. Like I said, I just glanced out the window.”
“Would you say he was short or tall?”
“Average. Taller than Samantha, but not near as tall as you, sonny.”
&
nbsp; “Dark hair? Light hair? Caucasian? Hispanic? Black?”
“Pretty sure he was white. No idea on the hair. He may have been wearing a hat, wait, no, I don’t think he was.”
“Did you notice a vehicle nearby that was out of the norm?”
“Nope, sorry.”
“That’s okay. Thank you so much for your time, ma’am. It was a great help.”
“You are welcome, sorry I couldn’t remember more. It was early, and I didn’t realize somethin’ could be wrong.”
They left the house hopeful that maybe someone else had seen her with this mysterious Caucasian man as well. They knocked and knocked to no avail. No one else had seen anything.
By the end of the day, they had made little progress figuring out who took Samantha other than cementing the fact that it was not Tony. He had been released, because they were confident that whoever killed his wife was the one who had Samantha. The detectives had connected with every person who lived on that street by six pm, but no one other than the elderly woman had seen the man. A few others did note waving to Samantha, but no one after the elderly lady’s house had even seen Samantha that morning. No suspicious vehicles had been noticed. Nothing. They had spent extensive time talking to the other teachers and staff at the school as well, and no one reported anything out of the ordinary. She had been taken before seven that morning, before the sun had even risen in the sky. The clock was ticking. Day one was almost done, and if he continued his pattern Samantha would be dead by Monday morning. They had two days to find her alive, and the sooner the better. He was probably already torturing her.
Becca felt as though she could be sick. It was one thing to know there was a victim out there being tortured, that only left a queasy feeling in her stomach, but this was too close to home. She knew Samantha, well enough to wave at her when she saw her as she dropped off Callie at school or to sit and chat while the kids played at the park. She jumped up from her chair in the conference room and dashed out the door as fast as she could. She sprinted down the hallway and into the women’s bathroom. Once in the bathroom she stood outside the stalls not sure if she was going to be sick or not. She fought the urge to throw up.
Someone knocked on the door. “Becca? Are you okay? Is anyone else in there? Can I come in?”
Unable to speak out of fear that she would toss her cookies if she opened her mouth, she walked over and opened the door hand over her mouth. Jared stepped in, and she couldn’t fight it any longer, running into a stall she lost her lunch into the toilet. Jared was right behind her and helped her hold back her hair, something he had done many times before. What had she done without him the last five years?
She wiped her mouth, and Jared helped her to her feet. She went to the sink to wash up and rinse out her mouth. Once she had, Jared spoke softly, “You okay?”
“Do I look okay?”
One side of his mouth rose.
“I just started thinking a little too much about what could be happening to Samantha right now.”
“This is hitting a little too close to home, huh?” He placed his hand on her back.
“For sure.”
“Hang in there. Let’s get this scumbag!”
“Definitely.”
“Better now?”
“Almost.” She looked up into his face, debating of whether or not to blur the line between personal and professional. She needed a hug. But she would never hug Doug, so she probably shouldn’t hug Jared, but they were in the privacy of the women’s bathroom. But maybe she shouldn’t, especially in the privacy of the women’s bathroom.
Jared made the decision for her. He drew her in and enveloped her in his arms. She held him tight in return. They stood there for several moments until Becca felt she had regained her strength enough to put on her tough face and lead these detectives to catch the worst serial killers ever to hit Hazel Hill, North Carolina.
Thankfully, no one had come into the bathroom and no one seemed to notice when they exited the bathroom together. While Captain Baker had made his expectation clear that he wanted all hands on deck, he had let some of the detectives go home for the evening since they didn’t have anything to go on. But since this was their case, Becca and her team weren’t leaving anytime soon.
As they walked back into the conference room, Adam asked, “You going to be okay, Palmer?”
“Yes, I’m fine now. You guys ready to figure out who this guy is and find Samantha?”
“Absolutely,” Rick said as Adam nodded. “But first I was thinking about ordering pizza for dinner. You guys hungry?”
“Not really but I will be, so that would be great,” Becca replied.
“Extra pineapple?” Adam smiled.
“Absolutely not!” She shook her head at him. She would never understand how he liked pineapple on his pizza.
Becca was spent. She had briefed the last shift of uniformed officers before she got sick, so exhaustion didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. She longed for her bed, but she wasn’t willing to surrender to sleep until Samantha was safe. Leaning back in her chair she let the guys do the talking. They tossed around more ideas, nothing really new, attempting to pull together the facts into a path they could follow. They needed direction; they needed focus. They had gathered a lot of information about Samantha that day and had added her movements around town to the map in a new color. But it didn’t seem to help. There was no one place that all the victims would come across the same people.
“Guys,” Becca thought out loud, “what are we missing? Is there a company that works at these places that we are missing? A cleaning company? A landscaping company - just because Tony wasn’t our guy doesn’t mean that we aren’t looking at someone who works in landscaping? Are we looking at mail routes? How about garbage routes? Who would see all of these ladies? And where the heck is he taking and holding them? That’s what we need to know.”
They worked most of the night and after they had each only gotten a few hours of sleep, they reconvened to hit it again Saturday morning.
Becca paced back and forth across the conference room, coffee in one hand while the other rubbed her forehead. She stopped and turned toward the table where the guys all sat milking their own cups of coffee. “It’s like we are back at square one,” she said. “Have we not learned anything from the last four victims that would lead us to the unsub? We just went through everything earlier this week looking for clues, but they led us to Tony MacDonald, who couldn’t possibly have taken Samantha. So, did he kill Michelle and the others? How do we know the same guy took Samantha?”
“The flowers, that’s how we know it’s the same,” Adam said. “The pattern fits.”
“Are we sure? Is it possible someone else sent the flowers? Did we check with the gym teacher that was said to have been showing interest in her?”
Jared spoke up, “I did. They were definitely not from him. He was clueless as to anything developing between them.”
“Okay. Phone records? Anything in them to give us a clue about anyone else that might have be a person of interest?”
Rick answered, “Nothing. She called her mom, her sister, and one friend. Everyone she texted checks out too. Nothing suspicious, no red flags.”
“She’s a teacher; some parents are a bit neurotic. Any problems with any parents we should be aware of? Jared, did you pick up anything like that from talking to the other teachers?”
“Nope. All the parents loved her. She had a few tiffs last year with one set of parents, but they moved over the summer and thus aren’t an issue this year.”
They were getting nowhere.
How were they going to find Samantha? Two days down. Only one left to find her alive.
Jared was concerned for Becca. It was already Sunday evening and time was running out, and they still had nothing. The ticking sound from his watch seemed to mock their efforts. Becca was struggling not to take it personally. This was the first big case she had been assigned as lead detective. It was too big for such a gree
n detective. She was good, he could tell that already, but inexperienced. And now she knew one of victims… all things considered, she was holding it together well, but he knew her and knew that beneath that tough exterior she was a mess inside. He also could tell she was exhausted. They all were. They were almost sixty hours in and none of them had gotten much sleep.
The Captain came into the conference room. Jared was leaning against the wall near the door while everyone else was huddled over the table. Captain Baker leaned up against the wall next to him. “How’s Palmer holding up?”
“She’s holding it together. We are all frustrated that we have zero leads. At this point all I can do is pray that someone sees him try to dump the body in the morning. We’re out of time, but I don’t think Becca is acknowledging that.”
“She is doing well on this case even though she may not feel that way. When the clock has run out, everyone needs to go home and get some sleep. Unfortunately, I am sure we will have a body tomorrow morning, and we can hope and pray that he leaves some sort of clue that we can work on tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir. And Captain, is it possible that dispatch could skip calling Becca if there is a body. I’d like to be there for her when she finds out.”
“I’ll make that happen.” The Captain turned and left before Jared could say thank you.
Jared checked the clock. It was eight o’clock. They were out of time. He walked up to the table and gently put his hand on Becca’s shoulder. She jumped, but he left his hand firmly on her shoulder. “Becca, the clock’s run out.”
“No, she is still out there. We have to find her before he kills her and dumps her body.” Her eyes pleaded with him.
“Becca, look at the ME’s reports for the other ladies. What’s the time of death?”
He removed his hand from her shoulder as she grabbed the files and flipped through all four. He glanced at the other men standing around the table. They knew he was right but waited for Becca to acknowledge it too. His heart ached for Becca as he watched her face drop and then her shoulders as defeat washed over her body. She looked as though she would break in two. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath drawing up her last reserve to hold herself together.