by Teri Ames
“Maybe you needed more people to be more thorough,” Olivia said.
“We got every available law enforcement officer in the county to come out.”
“What about using volunteers? I’d be willing to search.” Jack said.
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not trained to deal with what you might find.”
“Oh.” Jack Dawson slumped in his chair. “Is there any place else worth searching?”
“There’s ninety thousand acres of national forest in Adams County. We can’t search it all on foot.”
“Would the dogs have been able to find her trail if you had searched that house sooner?” Olivia asked.
Dustin started to say, “Probably,” but changed his mind. The Dawsons already thought MFPD was incompetent. No need to give them more reasons. Fortunately, Halliday seemed to be more interested in his phone than running them down at the moment. “If she got into a vehicle, the dogs would have lost the scent regardless,” Dustin said.
“There’s no point second-guessing,” the chief said. “The holiday slowed our investigation. We can’t change that. Besides, every time we eliminate a possibility it brings us closer to figuring this out.”
“We appreciate that you’re still working on this,” Jack said. “We know you don’t expect to find our daughter alive.”
The chief looked at both Dawsons before continuing. “We’re sending up a plane to search a broader area. They’ll take aerial photos. But if she’s buried under the snow, we may just have to wait until it melts. We want to bring you folks some closure...”
Jack nodded. Olivia’s eyes welled with tears.
“We won’t get closure until we know who did this,” Olivia said, “even if you do find her.”
“What’s your theory on what happened at this point?” Jack said.
“I’d rather not share it yet,” the chief said.
“Don’t you think we deserve to know?” Olivia said. “It’s our daughter we’re talking about.”
“Everything we have is very circumstantial. It’s dangerous to jump to conclusions this early.” The chief pursed his lips before continuing. “The students are trickling back onto campus right now. Dustin’s got interviews scheduled. We’ll let you know as soon as we have something concrete. How much longer are you folks going to stay in Middleton Falls?”
“I’m moving to an efficiency apartment on campus next week,” Olivia said. “The college has some apartments they use for visiting professors. I’ll be here until you find my daughter.”
“I’m going back to California at the end of the week. I have to make sure I don’t lose my practice.”
“That’s understandable,” the chief said.
“I guess we all have different priorities,” Olivia said.
JACK KNEW that Olivia was still clinging to hope that Shannon would turn up alive and well, but he also knew it was no longer realistic. That realization led to his decision to make plans to go back to California and start the process of grieving. He’d keep trying to convince Olivia to come with him, but he knew her well enough to know that, as long as Shannon was missing, it would be a hard sell.
“YOU NEED to find out what they’re not telling us,” Olivia said. She and Jack were meeting with their private investigator in their hotel room. The small round table was designed for two people to drink coffee. It felt too intimate for this meeting even though it had accommodated the addition of the desk chair.
“They’re probably trying to protect you,” Evan said and set his phone in the middle of the table.
“We don’t need protection, we need information,” Olivia said.
“What are they protecting us from?” Jack said.
“The inner workings of a college freshman,” Evan said.
“What does that mean?” Olivia said.
“That Shannon had things going on in her life that you’d rather not know about.”
“That’s ridiculous. I know my daughter,” Olivia said. “You’re not going to convince me she was a drug addict or anything.” Olivia realized that she had used the past tense. She waited for one of the men to correct her, to tell her there was still hope.
After a few seconds, Jack said, “Look, Evan, have you reviewed the entire police file?”
“Yes.”
“You did some interviews of your own?”
“I did. I spoke with everyone on the list of friends from California that you gave me.”
“What else have you done?”
“I’ve been scouring the internet once a day. I also went around town looking for surveillance videos for that Friday between 10:00 p.m. and midnight. Frankly, I can’t believe the police didn’t do it themselves. Then again, there are a lot of things I would have done differently in this investigation.”
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes and no. This place is amazingly backward. There’s not a single traffic cam in town. The gas stations had the only cameras with views of the street. I got copies of four tapes, but there was no sign of Shannon or her car on them.”
“What does that tell us?”
“That her car didn’t go up Main Street on its way back to the dorm.”
“Is that helpful?”
“It means that if Keenan used her car to dump her body, he probably didn’t head north toward the national forest.” Evan’s words cut through Olivia’s soul, bringing images of her beautiful daughter dumped like trash in the lonely woods. Where she would be eaten by starving animals trying to survive the harsh winter. Olivia rubbed her eyes trying to erase her own imagination.
“But it doesn’t rule him out as a suspect?” Jack said.
“Not at all. It just rules out some exit possibilities.”
“Do you think he did it?” Jack said.
“I don’t know. He comes across as a nice kid. Good family. No criminal record whatsoever. But it could be an act. Ted Bundy was the epitome of clean cut.”
“We need to know what the police have on him,” Olivia said. “I’m tired of people withholding information from us. We’re capable of making our own judgments.”
Chapter 20
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
SHANNON WAS glad she and Keenan had his room to themselves on the night before they left for Thanksgiving break. There were no classes on Wednesday, so they slept late again. After breakfast, they went for a run. Then, Keenan went back to her dorm with her and sat on her bed, watching while she packed. When she was done, he carried her suitcase out to her car.
“What time are you leaving?” Shannon said as they were walking back to her room.
“My mom’s picking me up after lunch, around one o’clock,” he said. “Stop for a second.” He took her hand and led her to a nearby bench. He sat and pulled her into his lap and kissed her. After a minute, she pulled away, but stayed in his lap.
“I should go,” she said. “I’m supposed to meet Amy in a few minutes.”
“I love you,” Keenan said.
Shannon looked up at him. She wanted to say it, but something was holding her back. She could see his mood falling with each second that she didn’t respond.
After about fifteen seconds, he said, “I’ve never said that to anyone before. Anyone outside of my family, that is. I’m underwhelmed by your response.”
Shannon still hesitated. Maybe it was time for the plunge. The past month with Keenan had been magical. This was the happiest she’d ever been. She didn’t want to blow it, but she still had this unresolved thing with Jake.
“I love you, too. There. I said it. Now do you feel better?”
“I’ll feel better when you get back from Thanksgiving and I can be with you again.”
“It’s only four nights.” Shannon stood.
“I know. Have a great time with Amy.”
Keenan wrapped her in a hug that made her feel safe and loved. Then, he kissed her one last time so tenderly she almost changed her mind abou
t leaving.
Shannon pulled away.
“I have to go or I’ll be late.”
“I know. Drive safely.”
She started to walk away, then looked over her shoulder and waved. He was still standing there watching her walk away. He waved back, but didn’t move. It was the most romantic thing she’d ever experienced.
WHEN KEENAN’S mother arrived, she had his younger sister in tow.
“I call shotgun,” Kaitlyn said before he even said hello. He hugged his mom.
Riding alone in the back, it was hard to participate in the conversation, so Keenan balled up his jacket, wedged it between his head and the window, and closed his eyes. He thought about Shannon, imagined her driving to the city with Amy. He was smiling when he dozed off.
When they got home, his father and brother came out to greet them.
“When did you get in?” Keenan said, embracing his brother.
“An hour ago,” Liam said. “We managed to get ahead of the Boston traffic.”
Keenan hugged his dad. “How’s the ice?”
His father laughed. “One-track mind. Some things never change.”
Liam smiled. “I haven’t been down to check yet, but Meg said it was solid yesterday. And it’s been hovering below freezing all day,” he said.
“What are we waiting for?” Keenan said. “We’ve only got an hour ’til it gets dark.”
“Are you girls in?” Liam said.
“I promised Mom I’d help with the baking for tomorrow,” Kaitlyn said, “but I’ll definitely be on the ice with you guys tomorrow afternoon.”
“Meg’s still over at a friend’s house,” his dad said.
“Their loss,” Keenan said and grabbed his bag from the trunk of the car.
Ten minutes later Keenan and Liam were down at the pond playing one-on-one. As ponds went, it wasn’t much. His grandfather had made it using a backhoe when Liam was a toddler. There were better, less muddy swimming holes nearby in the summer, but in the winter it was a great place to skate as long as they put the effort into keeping it clear. Someone had carried down a goal and cleared the ice. A shovel leaned against a nearby tree.
“We need to get the other goal out of the barn before tomorrow’s game,” Keenan said as he drove by his brother, keeping the puck out of reach and slapping it into the goal.
Liam recovered the puck. “Let’s try to remember to bring the big brown bucket too. We’ll need to resurface and I don’t see any Zambonis parked around here.”
The brothers skated until the darkness made it hard to see the puck. As they collected their discarded jackets, three deer came out of the woods and stared briefly before scampering across the field. Liam and Keenan both stopped to watch them.
“That reminds me... that Facebook video about rescuing animals was awesome,” Liam said.
“I was hoping you saw that.”
“Yeah. I shared it too. It looks like it’s going viral.” They sat down on a log and started unlacing their skates.
“How’s it feel to be a senior?” Keenan said.
“I don’t know. I was so busy this fall, getting my applications done for vet school on top of my regular coursework.”
“When will you find out where you got in?”
“You mean if I got in. It’s more competitive than med school.”
“Wow. I had no idea Dad went through that to be a vet.”
“Neither did I, until recently. They send out acceptance letters in the spring, but first there are interviews.”
“You probably don’t have time for girls,” Keenan said. He put his skates over his shoulder and picked up his stick.
“I don’t have time to date, if that’s what you mean,” Liam said. “But, I certainly have time to notice them.”
Keenan laughed. “I guess being pre-vet is like being a priest.”
“Not exactly. I have a ‘friends-with-benefits’ thing with a girl in my major. Her name’s Bree and she’s cool.”
“I had a deal like that with a girl at St. J Academy,” Keenan said as they started across the field toward home.
“Really? Who?”
“Her name was Bethany. She liked to have sex in the locker room after hockey games.”
“Bethany King?”
“Yeah.”
“She was in my class.” Liam said. “I had no idea you dated her.”
“I didn’t. We just had sex my sophomore year. Then she graduated.” Keenan thought about Bethany for the first time in ages. The summer after she graduated, she had sexted him a few times. He had considered responding, but ultimately decided he would feel too exposed. He assumed she was off at college somewhere giving him no more thought than he was giving her.
“You’re unbelievable,” Liam was shaking his head. “My brother, the stud. And here I thought Anna was your first girlfriend.”
“She was.”
“If you say so.”
“And for the record, I dated Anna all of senior year and never had sex with her.”
“Correction. My brother, the enigma.”
“Look who’s talking. That ‘friends-with-benefits’ thing working for you and Bree?”
“It has to. I know she’s not The One, but I don’t have time for dating. And celibacy isn’t my thing either.”
“How do you know she’s not The One? She ugly or something?”
“No, she’s cute and smart and funny. I like spending time with her, but something’s missing. I’m hoping I’ll know it when I find the right girl.”
“Yeah, you’ll know it all right,” Keenan said. He wondered where Shannon was. Probably just getting into the city.
Chapter 21
Thursday, January 9, 2014
THE AERIAL search had been conducted by a medical rescue team out of Maine. They went up in a bush plane and took hundreds of high-resolution aerial photos and then sent them to a lab in Ohio for analysis. Dustin had clicked through his copy of the DVD full of photos. There was too much snow for him to see anything. He hoped the experts would see something he couldn’t.
While waiting for the expert analysis, he had gone back through all the evidence. What they had was really a lack of evidence. They had ruled out just about every possibility. Wasn’t it Sherlock Holmes who said that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? Shannon probably didn’t get lost in the woods behind the party house. They would have found her. She didn’t drive her car back to the dorm. Keenan admitted that he did that, although only after they had him dead to rights with the keys in his possession. If she had left on her own, they would have found her or her body. Public Safety had been searching the campus for weeks. As far as Dustin was concerned, there were only two possibilities: (1) Keenan killed her and disposed of her body; or (2) an unknown perpetrator (serial killer?) abducted her. In light of the argument on the back deck, there was an obvious choice. Now, he just needed to prove it.
Jenna Davidson was waiting for him in the interview room when Dustin walked in. She was wearing earbuds and texting furiously. She pulled out the earbuds and stowed her phone in an oversized shoulder bag.
Dustin introduced himself. “I need you to think back to that last night on campus. I know it was three weeks ago, but the details of that night are extremely important. We need to figure out what happened. So, try to put yourself back there, remember what you were feeling, and let’s see if we can fill in the details. Okay?”
“Sure.”
“What were you and Shannon up to?”
“We were just letting off steam. It had been a hard week.”
“Okay. Were you drinking?”
“I was not.” She said it like she was expecting the question and had rehearsed the answer. Dustin didn’t believe her, but it didn’t make sense to alienate a key witness at the beginning of an interview.
“Was Shannon drinking?”
“She might have had a few.”
“Did you go to the party on Maple Street?
”
“We did.”
“How did you get there?”
“Shannon drove.”
“What time did you go to the party?”
“I don’t know, ten or ten thirty.”
“What happened when you got to the party?”
“We ran into some friends. We danced.”
“Was there alcohol at the party?”
“I’m really not sure.” Again, the answer didn’t sound credible. Again, he let it go.
“Okay. Who did you talk to at the party?”
“I talked to some people from my dorm.”
“Who did Shannon talk to?”
“We were all together.”
“Did you see Keenan Brody at the party?”
“Yeah, he showed up looking for Shannon.”
“About what time?”
“I don’t know. We’d been there for a while.”
“But you said he was looking for her?”
“Definitely.”
“Because she told him she had slept with her old boyfriend?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” At least she was being honest about the stuff that mattered.
“Did he seem agitated to you?”
“Yeah. He really wanted to talk to her.”
“Did she want to talk to him?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was she afraid of him?”
“Well, I know she was afraid to tell him about Jake.”
“Because he was going to be angry?”
“Yeah, I guess. He’s a jock. Definitely not my type.”
Dustin knew the next few questions were critical. He set his pen down and leaned back in his chair, studying Jenna. “So, what happened when Keenan got there?” he asked slowly.
“He tried to get her to leave.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Jenna shook her head. “I don’t remember, but he got her to go outside with him.”