by T. R. Ragan
He needed to get Maggie down from there before Lizzy looked out the window again. He jogged across the street to his car, and then drove the Denali up onto the curb beneath the tree. From his trunk, he retrieved a pair of gloves, intent on disturbing as little evidence as possible. Jimmy wouldn’t be happy, but to hell with that. Jared climbed on top of the car and worked the knots in the rope. Within minutes, he held Maggie in his arms. He emptied a box in his trunk and carefully placed Maggie inside. Then he made a phone call.
Twenty minutes later, Jimmy Martin and two others from the task force were making the rounds inside and outside of Lizzy’s apartment. Jared brought Lizzy a cup of hot tea. She sat on the couch with a blanket hanging limp around her shoulders. Her lists were spread out on the floor. She told anybody who tried to mess with her files to back off.
“It looks like you kept Spiderman on the line long enough to make a connection,” Jimmy told her. “The call was made from a downtown Sacramento gas station off of Broadway. We have someone there now checking for prints.”
“How about Lizzy’s office?” Jared asked.
The tip of Jimmy’s shoe crumpled the corner of one of Lizzy’s papers. “More lists?”
“Yeah, and I’m checking them twice,” she answered flatly.
“This last girl,” he said, pointing at a picture stapled to one of her notes, “is definitely a runaway.”
Lizzy scowled. “It’s not your list. It’s mine. With or without your cooperation, I’m going to find Spiderman.”
Jimmy used his chin to gesture at Jared, letting him know he wanted to talk to him privately.
“Say whatever you want to say,” Lizzy said.
“Across the street from the gas station,” Jimmy said, “is a local news station. There were two calls made from the news studio to here.” He looked at Lizzy. “Anyone you know of who might have called from the Channel 10 news station?”
“No idea,” Lizzy said without looking his way.
“Stay away from the media until I give the okay.”
She saluted. “Yes, sir.”
“How did he get the cat if the doors were bolted?” Jimmy wanted to know.
“Maggie must have slipped out when I left last night,” Jared said. “It’s the only way he could have gotten to her.”
Jimmy jotted something in his notebook. He looked at Lizzy. “You’re not planning on going anywhere today, are you?”
“I’m going to the office as soon as you and your men clear out of here. At seven o’clock tonight I’ll be at Granite Bay High School giving a talk to dozens of young girls, showing them how to stay safe in this crazy world we live in.”
“Not a good idea.”
“Too bad. The son of a bitch killed Sophie and now Maggie. I’m not going to let him stop me from living my life.”
Jimmy exhaled.
“For the record,” Lizzy added, “if that maniac comes anywhere near me, I’m going to blow a hole through his head and put an end to this madness.”
Jimmy looked at Jared and lifted his hands in the air. “Talk to her.” Then he disappeared outside where technicians were scouring the area searching for clues.
“Where’s Maggie’s body?” she asked Jared.
“She’s in my car. I’ll take care of her.”
“I don’t want her tossed in a garbage or dumped somewhere.”
“The technicians need to look her over. When they’re finished, I thought I’d take her home and bury her in my backyard. Remember my retriever, Sadie?”
She nodded.
“She’s buried there near a cherry tree.”
She didn’t say anything.
Jared took a seat next to Lizzy on the couch. Leaning close, he brushed his lips across her forehead. “Sadie never met a cat she didn’t like.”
Lizzy looked away.
“I’m sorry about Maggie. I should have been watching for her.”
“It was my fault. She tried to sneak out all the time, but I wasn’t paying attention last night. I was too busy worrying about Spiderman’s next move. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
“We’re going to find him, Lizzy.”
She leaned into him, her cheek resting against his shoulder. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.”
He had become an agent because he wanted to protect those he loved. But until this moment, he hadn’t realized that wanting to protect someone you loved and doing it were two different things.
Chapter 23
Friday, February 19, 2010 1:30 PM
After working for hours on the Internet, searching and gathering information on the missing girls, Lizzy began to feel antsy. Jared had dropped her off at the office hours ago, and he wouldn’t be returning until six. She needed to keep her mind off of poor Maggie. She turned to Jessica. “Did you bring your car today or did your brother drop you off?”
“I brought my car.”
Lizzy stood and waved her toward the door. “Come on then. I’ll buy you a tank of gas.”
Jessica grabbed her purse. “Where are we going?”
Lizzy held up her notebook. “We have at least a dozen doctors on our list of suspects. Let’s get busy.”
Jessica followed Lizzy out the door. “I thought you promised your boyfriend you would stay put until he returned.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“That’s too bad.”
Lizzy locked the door behind them. “Why is that?”
“He’s hot, and, well, he also seems very protective of you, which I think is really sweet.”
“I’ve been on my own for too long to have someone following me around telling me what to do.”
“How old are you?”
“Never mind.”
It was nearing four o’clock by the time Jessica and Lizzy left Dr. Griffin’s office and headed toward Jessica’s Volkswagen van, one of those retro vans so many kids in the seventies were conceived in.
She braced herself against the strong wind as she walked. The trees on the other side of the street swayed to and fro. Wind gusts were expected to reach anywhere from 60 to 80 mph by eight o’clock tonight.
Lizzy climbed up into the passenger seat and shut the door. Jessica came around the front and hopped in behind the wheel. Neither of them said a word. They had visited five doctors and so far all five were crossed off the list. Two of the doctors were well into their sixties. For that reason alone they were no longer on their list of suspects. Another doctor was five-foot-three and much too young. The fourth doctor was in Africa during the time of the first three murders. Patience was a virtue though. This was simply a process of elimination. Like the other offices, the one they just visited had stark white walls, a strong antiseptic smell, and a biohazard box filled with used needles.
Unlike the other doctors, Dr. Griffin fit the age bracket of the man they were looking for. He was also tall, broad-shouldered, and well dressed in a crisp blue suit. He wore steel-rimmed spectacles that balanced at the end of his straight nose, and he possessed a friendly smile that reached his eyes.
Jessica merged onto the main road. “Was there anything about Dr. Griffin that looked familiar to you?”
“No,” Lizzy said. “He was the right age, height and weight, but he had a bit of a cleft in his chin. Spiderman didn’t have a cleft.”
Jessica sighed. “The only thing dangerous about Dr. Griffin was his killer smile.”
Surprised by Jessica’s bluntness, Lizzy couldn’t help but smile at the girl.
“We need to get this guy,” Jessica said.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Lizzy had a premonition the other night where she’d seen Jessica lying in a pool of blood. If Spiderman was after her, it made sense that he might run into Jessica. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Jessica, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be working this closely with me. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy your company and I think you’re a hard worker. You’re worth every penny I’m paying y
ou, but—”
“You’ve never paid me a dime.”
Lizzy wrinkled her nose. “Are you sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“My bad. Write down the hours you’ve worked so far and I’ll take care of that ASAP.”
“Are you firing me?”
“Of course not.” Lizzy scratched her head. “It’s just that I like you way too much to put you in any more danger than I already have. Whoever killed Sophie is just getting warmed up. Who knows who he’ll go after next.”
“You can’t fire me, Lizzy. I’ve never told you anything about myself before because...well, because it’s pretty obvious you don’t want to know about my personal problems.”
“I never said that.”
Jessica snorted. “You don’t have to lie to me. I’m not your boyfriend.”
The girl was getting on her nerves. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Whatever. I’m a psych major, remember?”
Lizzy remained silent, figuring it wouldn’t kill her to let Jessica vent.
“The reason I didn’t go to New Jersey was because my mother recently fell off the wagon and she refuses to go to another AA meeting. Right before Mom started drinking again, my boyfriend joined the Marines. I haven’t told anyone yet, but with everything falling apart around me, I received my first D in psychology. The dean informed me that I’m on probation.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not all. My brother can’t handle watching Mom deteriorate so he’s planning to move in with a friend in New Jersey and leaving me to deal with Mom alone. Sadly, this horribly dangerous non-paying job that you’ve given me is the best thing I’ve got going for me right now. You can’t fire me. I won’t let you.”
“Is that all?”
Jessica stopped at the light and glanced her way. “Yes. Unless you count a stubbed toe and a razor nick.”
“You stubbed your toe? That’s horrible.”
Jessica looked at her as if she were crazy. Then she saw Lizzy crack a smile and she laughed.
Lizzy laughed, too, and pointed at the green light.
After a few moments of silence, Jessica looked into her rearview mirror. “We don’t know what kind of car Spiderman drives, do we?”
Laughing with Jessica felt good, but her question pretty much sucked all the fun right out of her. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I swear that’s the same blue SUV I saw forty-five minutes ago on our way to Dr. Griffin’s office.”
Lizzy unbuckled her seatbelt so she could twist around and get a better look behind her. She turned back and unzipped her backpack, shuffling around, looking for her binoculars. Damn. She’d left them in her car. The blue SUV was three cars back in their lane. “Move to the other lane.”
Jessica did as she asked. Seconds later, the SUV moved over too. Lizzy couldn’t make out any numbers or letters on the license plate. “Move back to the other lane.”
Jessica merged back. After a moment, the SUV did the same. “I want you to pull over to the side of the road the next chance you get. If the SUV passes us, I want you to merge back onto the street and follow it.”
Jessica’s hands were steady on the wheel. Determination settled across her features, her mouth a straight line, her eyes focused ahead.
Lizzy kept an eye on the SUV as Jessica pulled off the road next to a public park.
The SUV sped by. “Let’s go get him. It’s a male driver. He’s sporting a pair of aviators and a moustache.”
Jessica pulled onto the road and gunned it. They were a car length behind when the SUV took off.
Lizzy grabbed a pen and scribbled 4L on the top of Jessica’s notebook sitting between them.
“I think he spotted us,” Jessica said as she swerved into the other lane and sped up. The van’s frame rattled. All four tires felt as if they might come loose.
Lizzy tightened her seatbelt and kept her eyes on the SUV as Jessica swerved in and out of traffic. At every turn, Lizzy was sure the van might tip over. The wind wasn’t helping matters. The light ahead turned yellow. The SUV swept through the intersection. Jessica gunned it. Cars honked as they sped through a red light. “I’m not going to let him get away. He could have Mary.”
Lizzy wasn’t sure what Jessica was talking about, but she didn’t have time to question her. She grabbed her cell phone and called Jared. He picked up on the first ring. “It’s me, Lizzy. I don’t have time to explain, but I need some help. I’m following a dark blue SUV, mid-sized GMC—”
Jessica yanked the wheel. Lizzy’s phone flew from her hands. Jessica cut in front of more than one car in the right lane. The wheels on the left side of the van came off the ground. Lizzy grabbed the console for support. She could hear Jared’s voice, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She braced herself for impact. The wheels hit the pavement with a clunk and Jessica slammed her foot back on the gas pedal. The girl was a maniac.
Lizzy leaned forward. She could almost make out the license plate on the GMC Terrain, but then the vehicle cut through a gas station and Lizzy was sure they had lost him. Jessica maneuvered around a building and once again they were behind the SUV.
The girl made the Daytona 500 look like child’s play.
Lizzy snatched her phone from the floor as it slid back her way. “We’re okay.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“We were being followed by an unidentified man but now we are following him. I think it’s Spiderman. Get somebody on this guy before we lose him. We’re on Sunset, passing by Pleasant Grove. He’s driving a dark blue GMC Terrain.”
Jared Shayne was even-keeled, patient, understanding, and calm under fire. He seemed downright inhuman at times. Just once she’d like to see him get a little riled up. “I called the police,” he said. “They’re connected in on our call. Were you able to see the driver?”
“He’s wearing aviators. He has a moustache. It’s hard to see much through the tinted windows.”
Tires squealed as the SUV cut across a divider and headed into two lanes of traffic heading the other way. A red Honda swerved into the bike lane. The car behind it crashed into the Honda’s bumper.
“Oh, shit!” The phone dropped from her hands again. She grabbed hold of the console as Jessica cut across the divider after him, taking out a row of small newly planted trees.
The front right tire of the van hit something solid and they both jerked forward. The air was temporarily knocked from Lizzy’s lungs as they came to a screeching halt on the grassy knoll. One of the van’s back tires flew across two lanes of traffic and over a fence on the other side of the road.
Cars honked, angry drivers pumping their fists as they passed. Jessica honked at the last guy after he flipped her the bird. “Fuck you all,” she shouted out her window. “We’re trying to catch a murderer, you dumbass morons.”
Lizzy was speechless and at the same time glad to be alive. The girl had gumption, not to mention a colorful way with words.
Jessica squeezed her fingers around the steering wheel. The poor girl looked ready to yank the steering wheel clear off and spit fire at the same time. “I can’t believe we were that close. He was right there in our grasp!” Jessica jabbed a finger in the direction the GMC disappeared. “I can’t believe we lost him. I let him get away.” She shook her head in disgust.
“What’s going on?” Lizzy asked, her blood pumping triple time. “Who’s Mary?”
Jessica reached over Lizzy’s lap, flipped open the glove box, and pulled out a picture. She handed Lizzy a five-by-seven picture of two girls posing for a picture in a backyard. “That’s me and my older sister, Mary Crawford. She’s the one sitting on the swing.”
Mary Crawford, Lizzy thought. One of the missing girls on their list.
“Same mother, different fathers,” Jessica said, explaining the different last names. “Fourteen years ago Mary went missing. I believe she’s still alive. I want to find her. And I want to make sure the man who took her pays for wha
t he’s done to me and my family.”
Lizzy looked at the photo. One girl sat on the swing. The older girl stood behind her, hands on the rope. They were both smiling. Both had big brown eyes and even bigger smiles. Lizzy’s heart sank. There was no mistaking the older girl on the swing. It was her. The girl without a voice was Jessica’s sister.
Friday, February 19, 2010 6:15 PM
Mr. Louis, a tall man with shocking white hair, stood at the front of an audience of seventy to eighty people all gathered inside the high school gym.
Lizzy stood off to the side, next to the projector, while Mr. Louis talked to the crowd of students and parents.
“My two youngest daughters are now sixteen and fifteen and as many of you know they attend Granite Bay High School,” he began. “My oldest daughter, Dana, would have turned twenty next week had she not been taken from campus during her second week in college. That was two years ago.”
Lizzy clicked the button to keep the pictures on the big screen behind Mr. Louis changing. The first picture was of Dana as a baby; next was Dana in her mother’s arms in the hospital, followed by Dana on her first day of pre-school, Dana attending elementary school on a pumpkin field trip, dressed as a princess, and so on.
A bit of light squeezed through the gym door as Jared entered and took a seat in the back row. Earlier today Jared had met Lizzy and Jessica at the scene of the accident. He’d talked to police and made sure Jessica wouldn’t be ticketed for reckless driving, although she was lectured by more than one officer. Unfortunately, the police had yet to track down the SUV. After waiting for a tow truck, Jared drove them to Cosumnes River College where they passed around an eight by ten photo of the courier who had delivered cash to Lizzy’s office. Since the campus was nearly empty, they posted the picture in the main office along with a note asking anyone with information to call.
“They found Dana’s body,” Mr. Louis was saying, “two days after she disappeared. Her body had been dumped on the side of the road as if her life didn’t matter.”
He paused to collect himself. “I came here tonight to tell you that her life did matter. Her life mattered to a lot of people. It took every bit of strength we could summon for me and my wife to keep going. At the time, we still had two daughters at home who needed us. Months after burying Dana, we enrolled our younger daughters in self-defense classes.”