by Kathi Daley
“Just as well. I want all the credit and glory when I take you down and make you beg for mercy.”
Tony choked on his corn bread. “Beg for mercy?”
I grinned. “You know what I mean. I realize I sometimes take it easy on you, but tonight I’m out for the sweet joy of victory.”
Tony chuckled. “Okay. Fairly warned.”
We both knew the only way I ever beat him at anything was if he let me win, which wasn’t often, but the pre-event banter was part of the fun, so I gave it my best, even if I didn’t have a chance of winning the sure-to-be-complex and fast-paced game.
“Before I forget, I wanted to invite you to my place for a barbecue on Mother’s Day if you don’t have plans.”
Tony looked surprised by my invite. “Won’t you be spending the day with your mother?”
“She’ll be there. Mike too. She suggested I invite Brady because he’s new in town, but I know he’s busy, and it occurred to me that you probably wouldn’t have plans. Mom’s always been fond of you. She said it would be good to catch up.”
“Are you sure?” Tony looked uncertain. “It seems sort of like a day you’d want to spend with family.”
“I’m sure, and you are family. So how about it?”
Tony shrugged. “Okay, if you’re sure your mom and brother are both fine with it.”
“They are. Come after church. Maybe around one-thirty. I hope the weather cooperates. It snowed on Mother’s Day a few years ago and we ended cooking the ribs in the oven and eating in the kitchen.”
After dinner, I helped Tony with the dishes and then we headed out for our walk. Tilly and Titan were thrilled as they chased squirrels and splashed around in the water, and I was happy and relaxed from the warm weather and excellent company. Tony and I chatted about nothing and everything as we made our way around the lake. He told me about the plans he had for the property, now that the snow had melted, and I shared that I’d been thinking about doing some remodeling on my little cabin. It had been old when I’d bought it and I hadn’t done much to it since, so it could use a face-lift.
We were rounding the far end of the lake when my cell rang. “It’s my brother,” I said. “I should answer.”
Tony just nodded.
I hit the Answer button and said hello.
“I talked to Rupert,” Mike informed me. “He said Chip was the only name he ever used; if he had a legal name, he didn’t know what it was, although if you ask me, I think he was lying.”
“Why would he lie?”
“I have no idea, and I don’t know for certain he was. It was more of a vibe I picked up. Anyway, Rupert said he hadn’t heard from Chip since he left town. He seemed to indicate Chip had reasons to want to disappear, but he wouldn’t say what those might be. I asked if he knew of anyone who might have Chip’s contact information and he said he didn’t.”
“That doesn’t help much.”
“Like I said, I had the feeling Rupert knew more he wasn’t telling me, but I didn’t have any reason to push him for details. I might call him again on Monday, as sort of a follow-up. That’ll give him time to think things over. I got the feeling he knew something that happened in the past. Something significant. Maybe he even knows what caused the rift between Chip and his mother. Like I said, though, if Rupert’s protecting some long-held secret, it’s up to him to share it or not.”
“It’ll be hard to find the guy if the only people who know where he might be aren’t straight with us.”
“I’ll put out some feelers tomorrow. I called Bree, as you suggested, and we’re going to dinner tonight, so I don’t have time to do it now.”
“Okay. If nothing else, we can see if there’s a male of about the right age living in Chicago with the last name Fairchild.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to check it out. Listen, I gotta go if I’m going to have time to change out of my uniform before I pick up Bree.”
“Have a nice dinner and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I hung up.
Tony looked at me with an expression of interest on his face. I explained about the card Bree had received and our desire to track down Edna’s son.
“If you’d like me to look around, we can go down to the computer room when we get back to the house.”
“I don’t have a lot to go on.”
Tony shrugged. “It seems we rarely do. Did Chip grow up here in White Eagle?”
I nodded. “I don’t think he was born here, but I’m pretty sure he went to high school here.”
“If that’s true, there’s probably a legal name and photo in the yearbook. If not, he must have had a driver’s license. As long as we have some dates to work with, we should be able to find something.”
I took Tony’s hand in mine and began to walk. “Thanks, Tony. You’re a good friend. I probably should have asked you in the first place, but I was sure one of the old-timers would have the information I needed.”
“If we don’t find what we need tonight, I can set up some programs to work in the background. It might take until tomorrow or even the next day to get a hit, but it’s a good starting point. Did I hear you say you were going to the lake with Brady tomorrow?”
“Dog training. We’re working on water skills with Bowie and Jagger. I’m meeting him at ten. I should be back by noonish. If it’s okay with you, I might just leave Tang and Tinder here. That way I can come back when I finish with Brady and we can work on whatever case we might have new information on. Except for the training, I’m free the rest of the weekend.”
Tony squeezed my hand. “Sounds like a good plan. I have a couple of programs working on the Luciana Parisi murder, so we might have some follow-up to do with that.”
When we returned to the house we fed the animals and got them settled in their beds in front of the large flat-screen television. We’d only be downstairs for a little while and they never seemed to mind staying behind as long as we turned on Animal Planet or some other pet-friendly show. I wasn’t sure if it was the colors or the noises they enjoyed, but all four pets seemed to be watching the story play out on the monitor in front of them when we left the room.
In the basement, Tony sat down at one of the terminals of his huge computer system and I sat down on a chair near him. There was a hum in the background as banks of hard drives with flashing lights worked on programs he’d left running. I knew a lot of the work he did involved decoding files and hacking into secure databases, which meant that while Tony seemed to keep long but reasonable hours, the computers were never at rest.
He keyboarded some commands, and the screen in front of him came to life, displaying a series of folders, each neatly labeled. He created and opened a new folder, then logged onto a program and began typing in search parameters.
“It looks like the high school digitized their yearbooks, which will help. What did you say Chip’s last name was?”
“Fairchild.”
Tony typed in some commands. “No one by the name of Fairchild. I’ll look for someone named Chip.” After a moment, a photo of a group of people standing at the end of the football field came up. The names of the individuals were listed, and the last boy on the left was identified as Chip Townsend. “Chip isn’t a common name, or even nickname these days, so I’m going to assume this is our Chip. Maybe his mother was divorced from his father, which would account for the differing surnames.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Assuming Chip Townsend is our guy, how can we find him?”
Tony typed in a set of commands. “First, I’m searching the yearbook for additional instances of the name Chip Townsend. If that doesn’t provide us with anything useful, I’ll search the entire high school database. We’ll widen the search from there. We can search the local newspaper archives as well as other public records. We’ll just keep broadening the net until we hit something. In the meantime, I’ll print this photo. Maybe someone in it still lives in town and knows what became of Chip.”
I pointed to the screen. “That’s Rupert Hanson. Mike al
ready spoke to him and he said he didn’t know anything.” I moved my finger to a girl with long dark hair standing next to Rupert. “And that’s Sue Wade. She looks so different now.”
Tony glanced at the photo. “She’s older, of course, and she’s lightened her hair, but the basic facial structure is the same. There are eight teens in this photo and it appears they’re friends. In addition to whatever we can find online, we can speak to whoever’s still in White Eagle.”
Tony turned back to the keyboard, and I watched in fascination as he worked. His long fingers, which were covered in dark hair, caressed the keyboard in an almost sensual fashion. He certainly could type fast, but it wasn’t just that. Tony seemed totally in charge when he was at a computer, demanding that it surrender exactly what he was looking for with every stroke.
“Chip Townsend is listed as a senior in the group photo, but he doesn’t have a senior photo and he isn’t listed on the page of graduates.”
“Do you think he dropped out or was kicked out?”
“Maybe.” Tony continued to work. “I’m not finding any additional entries in the yearbook. I’m going to check school records.”
I sat forward as images flashed across the screen so quickly, I couldn’t tell what Tony was pulling up and then discarding. I had faith he knew what he was looking for and figured he’d know it if he saw it.
“Chip Townsend’s legal first name is Greg. He entered White Eagle High School as a sophomore and left in January of his senior year. He was expelled for bringing a gun to school and threatening another student he’d been having problems with.”
“You said threatened another student. I take it he didn’t actually shoot anyone.”
Tony shook his head. “All the school record says is that he threatened the student. It doesn’t say much of anything else, but I’m betting there was a corresponding police report. Hang on and I’ll look.”
I knew hacking into the database for the local police department would take longer than it had taken to get into the school’s records, so I got up and began to pace around the basement. In times of stress, I found pacing relaxed me. What I didn’t understand was why I was stressed in the first place. Chip wasn’t someone I knew personally, nor was he anyone who still lived in the area. I’d decided to try to find him so I could have Mike break the news of his mother’s death to him, but I didn’t have a vested interest in this one way or another. So why the nerves?
“I’m in,” Tony said. He worked for a few more minutes, then frowned.
“Problem?”
“The incident occurred when Chip was a minor, so the records have been sealed. He does have an adult record that appears to have been established on his eighteenth birthday. He was arrested for knocking a man unconscious in a bar fight. Over the course of the next two years, there are maybe a dozen other arrests, all minor. Shoplifting, fighting, public intoxication, failing to provide ID to an officer when it was requested. Stuff like that.”
“And then?”
“And then nothing. I guess that’s when he left town.”
I sat back down on my chair. “From what I understand, Chip was about twenty when he left. Is there any indication where he went next?”
“No. I’m going to do a general search using both the names Chip and Greg Townsend. It’ll take a few minutes. If nothing comes up right away, I’ll have the computer continue to search while we go upstairs and start the game. We can check back every hour or so. If we find what we’re looking for, we can take a break from the game.”
“And let’s not forget the blueberry cake.”
Tony smacked his lips. “I’ve been thinking of that since you brought it in.”
Nothing popped after fifteen minutes of looking, so Tony set the search engine up to run and we went upstairs. The two dogs and two cats were curled up on their beds as they were when we’d left them, but they all got up when we entered the room. Tony took the dogs out for a bathroom break while I went into the kitchen, sliced the cake, and opened a bottle of wine. If we were going to settle in and relax, I might as well partake of some of Tony’s expensive vino. I picked up the bottle and looked at it. It might very well represent generations of tilling the soil, growing the grapes, perfecting the aging process, and developing new blends, but to me it was simply a beverage to be enjoyed. I knew Tony bought only the very finest wines, so chances were this came from a family vineyard with a long tradition and legacy. I could appreciate that as much as the next person, but then I thought of Romero and wondered if it was worth killing for.
Chapter 5
Saturday, May 5
Tony and I played Atonement until after two in the morning, yet neither of us managed to beat either the game or the other, so we decided to pick up where we’d left off the next evening. Tony’s program hadn’t had any luck locating Chip or even finding a clue as to where he might have been for the past twenty-five years, but he promised to work on it today, so maybe he’d have news by the time I returned to the house after the training session.
When Tilly and I arrived at the lake, Brady was already there with Jagger and Bowie. He released them just before I opened the Jeep door to let Tilly out. We’d decided to work on the far-eastern side of the lake today because it was less popular with sunbathers, thus less crowded in general. It was an exceptionally warm day, so I’d worn shorts, as had Brady.
The puppies greeted Tilly with wagging tails, delighted yips, and excited jumping, and then Brady and I walked with all three dogs to the place he’d selected for our swimming lesson. Tilly loved the water, so the minute I pulled out the ball I’d brought and tossed it into the lake, she went after it, swimming like a pro as soon as her paws could no longer reach the sand. Bowie and Jagger ran to the edge of the sand and began barking like crazy, but neither entered the water.
Tilly dropped the ball at my feet and I praised her lavishly and offered her a small treat. Then I tossed the ball again, this time instructing Tilly to stay so the boys could have a chance to play. The ball landed at just the edge of the water and both Jagger and Bowie went for it. Bowie was the successful brother this time around, and I offered him praise and a treat. I repeated the behavior, tossing the ball just a bit farther into the water each time. The brothers would go so far as to get their feet wet, but the minute the water touched their underbellies they stopped cold.
I released Tilly from her stay and instructed her to heel. We walked toward the water with Jagger and Bowie nipping at our heels. We reached the water and walked in until we were about knee deep. I offered Tilly a treat, then began an energetic game of tug-of-war with the rope I’d brought along.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see the brothers wanted to join in on the fun. Brady entered the water and we both began to play with Tilly. Jagger, who seemed to be the braver of the two, threw caution to the wind and joined us. After a good ten minutes of play, Bowie finally overcame his reluctance and slowly waded in as well.
Not wanting to push the boys too far too fast, Brady and I worked on entering and exiting the water, not venturing any farther than the boys could easily stand with their heads clear of it. After a lot of play, tons of reinforcement, and an overall good time, I felt they might be ready for the swimming portion of their training on our next visit.
“I want to get them back to the lake right away,” Brady said. “Unfortunately, I have a friend coming into town tomorrow, so I’m tied up all day. Would you mind meeting me here on Monday when you get off work? Say six o’clock? I’ll even bring food. We can have a picnic.”
I used the towel I’d brought to dry my legs and then began drying Tilly. “Monday will work. I think it’s supposed to be warm and sunny all week. They did really well today. I think they’ll both learn to love the water once they get over their fear.”
Brady tossed a couple of balls down the beach and the dogs took off after them. It did my heart good to see the brothers playing and interacting with Tilly and me.
“How’s the training going now that
you’ve started with the individual sessions?”
“Much better,” Brady answered. “They understand basic commands—come, sit, and stay—better than I thought. I spoke to Jimmy today, and he’s willing to come to some of the training sessions. I think he wants to commit to adopting the boys, but the water thing is really important to him, so he’s hesitant to get too attached until he sees how it goes.”
I leaned over and ruffled Bowie behind the ears. I was awarded with a sloppy kiss. “I think things went well today. Based on the progress we made, I have a feeling we’ll have the boys swimming by the end of the week. Which reminds me: Whatever happened with that Newfoundland that was brought in a couple of weeks ago? The one who was found wandering on the highway. Now there was a dog who loved the water.”
“I was able to track down his owner, who, as it turned out, had recently passed away. The next of kin didn’t want the dog, so I asked a couple of folks I knew who I felt would be good with such a large dog, but those initial inquiries didn’t pan out. Eventually, I found him a home near Bigfork that I think is perfect for him. The man who adopted him lives alone in a little cabin on the lake.”
I smiled. “That does sound perfect.” I loved Brady for taking so much time with the animals he placed. There were those who would adopt the orphans entrusted to them out to anyone willing to take them, but Brady’s attitude was that they were better off with him than with the wrong person, and I agreed.
We firmed up plans for Monday, and Tilly and I headed to my Jeep. I wanted to stop at my cabin to pick up a few things to bring to Tony’s, and it occurred to me that I might be able to track down Sue Wade at the quilting circle gathering before I went.
Sue’s Sewing Nook was next door to the Black Bear Café, and the women in the group met at the store on the first Saturday of every month to work on their latest project for a few hours before going there to have a meal. When I arrived at the café, the group was just breaking up. I indicated to Sue that I needed to speak to her, and she suggested we head next door, where we could speak in private. Tilly was still wet from her morning swim, so I left her in the Jeep with the windows rolled down.