Betrayed (A Jenny Watkins Mystery Book 2)

by Becky Durfee

  The air felt chillier after the warmth of the convenience store, so Jenny zipped her jacket up a little higher and pulled her hood over her head. Zack remained quiet as they walked down the road, and Jenny made every effort to keep her mind free of thought. At one point she closed her eyes, loosely holding on to Zack’s arm to guide her. Before she knew it they had arrived back at the car, and Zack posed, “Anything?”

  Jenny’s disappointment was obvious as she shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “Wow, that’s a shame,” Zack noted.

  “Actually, it might not be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s a bad thing for us, but I think it might mean something good for Allison.” Jenny raised her eyes to look directly at Zack. “I think Allison may have crossed over.”

  Chapter 8

  Jenny and Zack once again sat across the desk from Officer Fazzino. “I’d like to talk to Allison Pope’s mother if she’ll allow it,” Jenny explained. “I can’t offer her any information about her daughter’s killer, but I do have an observation that might bring her some comfort.”

  “I’ll give her a call,” Fazzino said. “She’ll probably be happy to hear there’s some renewed interest in this case.” He looked solemn. “I think she’s becoming convinced it’ll never get solved.”

  He picked up the receiver of the landline on the side of the desk. He dialed the number, which Jenny noted he knew by heart. “Hi, Natalie, Danny Fazzino…No, not quite. But I do have a woman here from Georgia who would like to talk to you. She says she’s a psychic.”

  Jenny didn’t like the phrase she says.

  The officer continued. “Okay, thanks Natalie. We’ll be there in a bit.” He hung up the phone and stated the obvious. “She says she’s willing to see you.”

  “Does she happen to still live in the same house that she did at the time of the kidnapping?”

  “No,” Fazzino said. “She moved a couple of years ago. She got remarried, and she lives in a bigger house on the other side of town.”

  Jenny didn’t respond, but she thought of what a disadvantage that would be if she had been wrong about Allison crossing over. Perhaps a few quiet moments in Allison’s old bedroom would have inspired the contact that had previously eluded her. Silence in her bedroom would have been equally as telling; it would have been evidence that Jenny’s suspicions about crossing over were correct.

  Fazzino continued, unaware of Jenny’s thought process. “Why don’t you two follow me there? I’d like to be there for this.”

  Natalie Easton opened the door and greeted her visitors with an expressionless face and tired eyes. “Hi Danny,” she said without acknowledging Jenny and Zack.

  “Hello Natalie,” Fazzino replied.

  “Come in,” she recited mechanically. “You can take a seat in the living room.”

  Jenny crossed the room, immediately noticing two framed photographs above the fireplace, accentuated by candles on the mantle beneath. One picture featured a woman in her thirties that Jenny had never seen before, the other was a teenage girl Jenny recognized to be Allison from the pictures in the newspapers. Allison appeared much more alive in the large color picture than she had in the small black-and-white clippings. Jenny felt saddened by the image, knowing that the girl who posed for that picture was painfully unaware of the short amount of time she had left on this earth. This should be just another picture in the house, Jenny thought, not the subject of a memorial.

  Upon Natalie’s urging Jenny sat down, albeit uncomfortably, next to Zack on a floral loveseat. Natalie was not nearly as welcoming as Jenny had anticipated, appearing exhausted and skeptical rather than intrigued. Her demeanor reminded Jenny of the unpleasant officer she had originally encountered back in Braddock, invoking an uneasiness that made Jenny want to run away. Your presence reminds this woman that she lost her child, Jenny told herself. What do you expect? Smiles and pleasantries?

  Jenny desperately hoped what she had to say would bring this woman some relief from the agony she clearly still endured.

  Fazzino broke the painful silence. “Natalie, this young woman is Jenny Watkins and her friend is Zack Larrabee. Jenny is a psychic from Georgia here to work on Allison’s case. She says there’s been a similar crime down in her home town and she thinks the two might be related.”

  Natalie glanced skeptically at Jenny. “What makes you think my daughter’s murder is related to a case in Georgia?”

  Jenny swallowed. “I believe I may know who the perpetrator is down there, and he used to live here.”

  Natalie sat back in her chair and crossed both her legs and arms. “And just how do you know who the perpetrator is there?”

  With a hint of shame, Jenny admitted, “I saw it in a vision.”

  Rubbing her eyes, Natalie let out a sigh.

  “I know how it sounds,” Zack chimed in. “But she has solved cases in the past; she’s a legitimate psychic. And she saw the face of the murderer in a vision before she even knew there was a murder.”

  “So who do you think it was?” Natalie asked distrustfully.

  Jenny glanced at Fazzino, wondering if she should disclose that she suspected it was a police officer. Fazzino had clearly been on the same page; he replied, “A stranger. We can’t disclose his name quite yet, but she believes these were random crimes of opportunity.”

  “Didn’t we know that already?” Natalie snapped.

  The tension was palpable. Feeling remarkably uncomfortable, Jenny spoke softly. “I have come up here to see if I can prove the man who committed the Georgia murder…the man I believe committed the Georgia murder…also committed the crime against Allison and possibly Lashonda. I do feel like Lashonda tried to send me a message earlier today when I went to the dollar store parking lot. However, I haven’t been able to get anything from Allison all day.”

  Natalie ran her fingers through her hair and drew in a deep breath. She was clearly struggling to understand the point of the visit, and her patience was running out.

  Fearing she was going to be asked to leave, Jenny got straight to the point. “Mrs. Easton, I believe Allison has crossed over.”

  “Crossed over?”

  “Yes ma’am.” Gathering a breath Jenny added, “I have learned that spirits linger when they’re feeling unrest of some kind, or if they feel like they have some unfinished business. I know Lashonda’s spirit lingers because she was trying to send me a message earlier. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to make much sense of her contact, but I’m working on that. But Allison…I haven’t been able to get anything from Allison at all. That’s what I mean when I say I think she’s crossed over. I don’t believe she is still here. I think she was able to make peace with what happened to her and she’s moved on.”

  Tears began to fill Natalie’s eyes. “Allison is with the Lord,” she said with resolve. “I’m sure of that.”

  Jenny smiled compassionately and whispered, “I agree with you.”

  Clasping her hands, Natalie cleared her throat and began, “What you said...about Allison being at peace with what happened to her. It wouldn’t surprise me. Allison was always such an easy going child. She rolled with the punches better than anyone I knew.” An expression of both overwhelming love and sadness appeared on Natalie’s face. “I always admired her for that. It figures she wouldn’t hold a grudge against the man who did this to her.” She shook her head. “That would be just like her.”

  “If it makes you feel any better,” Jenny added, “from what I understand you’ll get to see her again. Once you cross over, you get to reunite with all the loved ones who’ve gone before you.”

  “Oh, I believe that,” Natalie said emphatically. “I realize not everyone does, but I do. Actually…” Natalie looked shamefully at her lap, “I used to be one of those people who didn’t believe it. I used to think that once you died that was it. It was over. But if I’m going to wake up every morning, put my feet on the floor and go about my day, I have to believe I will see All
ison again. Otherwise there’s no way I could function.”

  “I’m glad you have that faith,” Jenny whispered.

  Natalie nodded. “I need my faith. And I have discovered that the Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways. I started going to church shortly after I lost Allison, and when I first started going they talked a lot about God’s plan. I really didn’t understand it at the time. Did God really plan for Allison to die so young? And so horribly? I couldn’t buy into that. But just as I was ready to throw in the towel and stop going to church, I met Craig there. He has truly been a life saver. I can’t imagine how lost I would be without him.”

  Sensing Natalie’s need to vent, Jenny stayed quiet. “Craig had lost his wife in a car accident the year before.” Natalie raised her eyes to the picture above the mantle. “She was only thirty two. So young. And poor Craig found himself in the unenviable position of having to raise his daughter by himself while coping with the loss of his wife.

  “But when we met, we hit it off right away. Our personalities clicked, and our lives complemented each other nicely. We were like two broken puzzle pieces that happened to fit. We were both alone, and while he had a daughter who needed a mother, I was a mother who needed a daughter.” With another loving glance up at the pictures on the wall, Natalie added, “I like to think that Sherry is looking out for Allison up in heaven, just like I’m looking out for her Savannah here on earth. We couldn’t raise our own daughters, but God made sure we crossed paths so we could raise each other’s.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Jenny asked.

  Chapter 9

  The glares of the other three people in the room made Jenny aware that an explanation was necessary. “That’s what I just heard in my head. Are you out of your mind?”

  Jenny closed her eyes and held up her hand, signaling to the others to remain quiet and allow her to receive the message. “I’m seeing a boat,” she said, squinting as if to try to get a better view of the image inside her own mind. “A small boat, like a row boat or a canoe or something. And I see a couple in the boat. It looks like the man is proposing to the woman.” She remained silent as she made sense of the vision. “The spirit watching this is not happy about the engagement. The spirit is screaming, Are you out of your mind?

  “It’s desperate to communicate,” Jenny went on. “It’s frantically trying to tell the person in the boat that this is a bad idea.” She shook her head. “I’m thinking rain. The spirit generated some rain to try to get the message across.” Jenny struggled to process more, but the contact was gone. She opened her eyes and posed, “Does that make sense to anyone?”

  “Me,” Fazzino said, white as a sheet. All eyes in the room turned to the officer. “I was the man in the boat.” He wiped his face with his hand. “And the spirit was my brother.”

  “My brother Jimmy was four years older than me,” Fazzino began somberly, “And he kept me out of trouble, or at least he tried to.” With a chuckle he added, “I probably shouldn’t admit this being a cop and all, but I was always up to something as a kid. And whenever I did anything stupid, my brother would say, Are you out of your mind?” Fazzino’s slight New York accent became much thicker as he quoted his brother.

  He shook his head and blinked back tears when he recalled, “Jimmy had epilepsy. For the most part he had it under control, but every once in a while he’d have a seizure. One day he went swimming by himself in my cousin’s pool, and he apparently had a seizure while he was in the water. My aunt found him floating face down when she got home from work. He was twenty one years old.”

  Jenny’s heart ached as she saw the pain on Fazzino’s face. Why is it always the young ones? She thought.

  “My entire life changed after that,” he admitted. “I couldn’t figure out why God took him and not me. He had always been the good one; if either one of us deserved to live it was him. But that’s not how it happened.” Fazzino hung his head but was able to quickly gather his composure. “After that I decided I needed to live right. I needed to be the man my brother never got to be. He’s the reason I became a cop, you know. He always kept an eye out for me, making sure I did the right thing. I wanted to do the same thing for other people, so I joined the force. I figured it was the best way I could honor my brother.”

  The silence in the room was deafening. Jenny’s eyes shifted over to Natalie, whose entire demeanor had changed. The skepticism and sadness had left her face, replaced by awe as she listened to Fazzino’s confession. Jenny was hopeful that she had just gained credibility in Natalie’s eyes.

  Fazzino went on. “That girl in the boat was my first wife Mary. At the time I thought she was the greatest thing on the face of the earth, but it turns out my brother was right about her. I don’t know how many times she cheated on me, and then she left and took half my money with her. Bitch.” Suddenly aware of his surroundings, Fazzino raised his hand and said, “Sorry. Habit.”

  For the first time since they’d arrived, Natalie cracked a smile.

  “But I remember that rain,” Fazzino whispered. “We were out there in the middle of a lake, and it was a beautiful sunny day, but right after I proposed to her this freak shower came out of nowhere. Mary and I laughed because we thought it was a sign.” Sadness filled his eyes. “And it was a sign; it was just telling us the opposite of what we believed. My God, I can’t believe that was Jimmy.” A tear leaked down his cheek. “He was still looking out for me, even though he was gone.”

  Another intense silence followed, which was broken by Natalie’s gentle question. “Why do you think your brother’s spirit lingers?”

  “To watch after me,” Fazzino said without a moment’s hesitation. “It’s got to be.”

  Natalie looked over at Jenny for validation, but Jenny had no answer, responding only with a subtle shrug and shake of the head.

  “Wow,” Fazzino cleared his throat. “This is intense. I’m sorry, but I think I need to go outside and get a little fresh air. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” Natalie said. “Let me get you a glass of water.”

  “That’d be great,” Fazzino said as he stood up and walked shakily out the front door. Natalie quickly left the room in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Nice work,” Zack said to Jenny once they were alone. “Although the timing was a little rough.”

  “I didn’t do it,” Jenny replied. “All of the credit…and blame… needs to go to Jimmy.”

  “I’ve got to admit, this whole thing still fascinates me,” Zack said. “What view did you have when you saw the people in the boat? Were you in the boat with them?”

  “It was from above, like I was looking down at them.”

  “Could you hear them talking?”

  “Not this time,” Jenny said. “But sometimes I can. It’s kind of like remembering dreams. Sometimes you can remember every detail, and sometimes you can only recall little snippets. This time it was just that one snapshot of the people in the boat.”

  “Incredible,” Zack said.

  “Unfortunately with Lashonda I’m only getting little feels for things. She wanted me to know something about a ring, something about a cell phone, and something about the Hawkins property, but I don’t know exactly what.”

  At that point Natalie walked back into the room and sat down in the same seat as before. She looked fifteen years younger than the woman who had greeted them at the door.

  “I want to apologize to you, Jenny,” she began. “I know I wasn’t exactly welcoming when you first got here. I have to admit I was very skeptical about you until I saw what just happened. That was amazing. You apparently hit the nail on the head. You should see Danny…he’s really shaken up out there.”

  Jenny made a face.

  “No, don’t feel bad,” Natalie said. “I think once the shock wears off he’ll be delighted to know his brother is still in his life.” She leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees. “But what you’re telling me about Allison…you’re saying she has moved o
n?”

  “I believe so.”

  “And that means she’s at peace?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “And I will see her again?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Natalie sat straighter and took in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on her heart, pausing for a moment before snapping back into the present. “So what happened down in Georgia?”

  “A fifteen year old girl named Morgan Caldwell was last seen in her own bed, and her body was found a few days later in an orchard. She’d been raped and strangled.”

  “Dear God,” Natalie said shaking her head. “That’s absolutely horrible. But what makes you think that case is related to Allison’s?”

  “Because Orlowski used to live here,” Jenny blurted. Realizing what she had done, she bit her lip in an attempt to suck the words back in, hoping her comment would fly under the radar.

  It didn’t.

  “Orlowski?” Natalie asked. “Orlowski,” she repeated with a whisper, clearly trying to remember where she’d heard that name before. Suddenly her expression changed as the recollection hit. “You mean Officer Orlowski?”

  Jenny winced and nodded slightly.

  “I don’t believe it. He worked on Allison’s case. He was a good man.” She looked up at Jenny. “You honestly think he did this?”

  With a sigh Jenny confessed, “I don’t know if he killed Allison or Lashonda, but I’m pretty sure he killed Morgan Caldwell.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Because I watched it happen.”

  Natalie’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Did you actually watch it happen, or did you watch it in the same way you just watched Danny propose to his ex-wife?”

  “The same way I just saw Officer Fazzino propose. It was in a vision. I got a very clear look at who killed Morgan because I saw the crime happen through her eyes.” Jenny’s voice softened. “It was as if he was strangling me.”