“You can’t tell the police. You have to promise me.”
“I promise, Callie. I won’t tell anyone.”
Once again, silence. Then, “I’m so sorry, Jack. I did something bad.
I---”
She was alive and nothing else mattered. “Callie, I don’t care what you’ve done. You just need to tell me where you are so I can come to you and help you. Please, baby, where are you?”
She started to sob. I could barely make out her next words. “I love you, Jack. I’m so sorry … for … everything.”
And then I was listening to a dial tone.
I dialed *69 but got no response, probably because the call had been routed through a switchboard. I dropped the phone to it’s cradle and sat on the edge of the bed with my hands to the sides of my head. “Goddamn it,” I cursed. If I had handled the call better I could have gotten through to her. I blew it. When she needed me most I let her down. Again.
Bix, lying curled in his corner, watched me silently for several moments and then whimpered softly.
The mournful sound of his mewling was perfect accompaniment to the despair I felt.
When the phone rang twenty minutes later I moved so fast to get it I nearly fell in the process. “Callie?”
“It’s me, Jack,” Miles said.
“Miles, she called me but hung up before I could find out where she was and *69 didn’t work.”
“Maybe not fer you,” he said.
“You mean you got it?”
“Yup. She was calling from a grocery store in Lewiston. I’ve got the address.”
I knew I loved this guy for a reason. “Let me get a pencil,” I said. “ … Okay.”
“It’s a place called Cheng’s Grocery on the corner a Fir and Union. I
also checked with the bank. Callie used ‘er debit card in Rumford yesterday to withdraw the maximum allowable amount – five hundred bucks.”
“Rumford? That’s in the opposite direction to Lewiston. What the hell is she doing?”
“You got me, Jack.”
“Okay” I said, “I’m heading to Lewiston right now. Can you describe Fuller’s vehicle for me?”
“White Dodge pickup. Don’t know the exact year but it’s an older one. Probably early nineties.”
“When I get somewhere where I can buy a prepaid cell phone I’ll call you with the number so we can stay in touch. Are you okay without your pickup for awhile yet?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about us.”
“I’ll call you soon.” I stuffed my miserable belongings back into my duffle bag. “Let’s go Bix.”
* *
It was an old part of Lewiston that had been affected to a fair degree by urban blight. Many of the buildings in the area, both commercial and residential, had seen much better days. But there were still lots of homes occupying larger than average sized lots that, although aging, were well maintained. The small grocery store from which Callie had made the calls to us in Colville, however, was a crumbling ruin. A tiny Asian woman of indeterminate age peered at me suspiciously from behind her counter when I entered the dim interior of the store. When I approached her I had the feeling she resented my intrusion. I picked up a few items to make my presence less intimidating and placed them on the counter for her to ring up.
“Seven dollah,” she demanded.
I dug a twenty dollar bill from my pocket and placed it in her hand. “Keep the change,” I said. She hesitated, clearly not in the habit of getting tips, and certainly not generous ones. My gratuity, however, only seemed to intensify her suspicion.
I showed her the picture of Callie that Miles had given me. “Do you know this lady?” I asked as gently and non-threateningly as possible. “I think she phoned me from here this morning.”
I was surprised when she took the picture from me and scrutinized it closely. Then she looked up at me for several seconds before saying anything. When she did speak I was surprised again. “Very nice lady. Not happy. No trouble please.”
“No, no trouble,” I assured her. “She’s my wife and I need to find her. Can you help?”
It probably wasn’t the wisest approach to take in trying to solicit this woman’s assistance. After all, she might well assume Callie wanted to avoid me. But whatever she saw in me must have convinced her otherwise. “Don’t know where she live but maybe close.”
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“She come in three times today. Get only few things each time.”
I nodded, indicating her reasoning was sound. I gave her another twenty. “I’m going to go buy a cell phone, then I’ll come back and leave the number with you. If you see my wife again, ring the number once and hang up. Will you do that?”
“You leave number. I call. Can buy phone across street, one block that way.” She pointed behind me and to the left.
“Thank you very much. I’ll be right back.”
“I Mai Ling,” she announced.
“My name is Jack.”
“Across street,” she said again, pointing. “One block that way.”
The guy who sold me the cell phone was probably Mai Ling’s twin brother. Except for the fact he was two inches taller and had shorter hair, they were practically identical. It explained the emphatically persistent directions.
I made a quick trip back to Mai Ling’s to drop off my number and then returned to the pickup which I had left parked about a half block away. For some reason that was not immediately apparent to me, Bix was unusually animated. He kept shifting around, his nose continually going back to the passenger side window I had left down a couple of inches for him. It may well have been that he was simply uncomfortable in these strange surroundings. Or - and this was, of course, my hope - he sensed Callie’s presence.
I used my newly acquired phone to call Miles and updated him on what I had accomplished so far. He was delighted to think we might be close to finding Callie and professed absolute confidence that everything would be satisfactorily explained, that she would be exonerated of any wrongdoing.
I applauded his loyalty. In all honesty, however, it was impossible for me to share his optimism.
Viewed realistically, the way events were unfolding simply did not augur well for a favorable outcome.
10
In the annals of Colville’s lengthy history a police officer had never been killed during the course of his duties. Although it was still unclear whether or not Reserve Officer John Croop had technically been on duty at the time of his murder, in Kyle Jessup’s mind it was not a particularly relevant point. He sat in his office wearing a menacing scowl with RJ Fordham seated across from him. “I don’t get it,” he seethed. “What was Croop doing out there on Thornhill Road anyway? And what possible reason would Callie Parmenter have to kill him? With his own gun yet! And then, of all things, she kidnaps Mitch Fuller? It just don’t make sense to me.”
“Well, there isn’t much doubt about it, Chief,” Fordham replied. “The State boys found Croop’s blood right where Callie’s pickup was parked. It seems pretty clear she did the deed.”
Jessup ignored Fordham’s comment. “He’s in uniform, out of town, two hours before he’s supposed to report for duty. Why is that?”
“Maybe they had a thing going,” Fordham offered. “Lover’s quarrel turned bad. He’s in uniform so he can go right to work when they’re done.”
“A lover’s meeting? Why way out there?” But, the truth was, Jessup was inclined to think Fordham might be right. “The Staties are going through his place this afternoon. We should know more before long.”
“Chief,” Fordham said, “maybe I should be there when they do the search.”
Jessup sucked his teeth while he thought about Fordham’s suggestion. “Maybe not a bad idea,” he said. “I’ll call Waring and set it up. By the way, I been trying to reach Jack Parmenter. Seems he’s cleared his things out of the hotel.”
“The State boys cleared him of any involvement in Croop’s death,” Fordham point
ed out. “He’s not under any---”
“I don’t care about that. I wanna know where he is.”
“Okay, Chief, I’ll see what I can find out.”
* *
Trooper Don Waring pulled his cruiser up to John Croop’s small bungalow to find RJ Fordham waiting for him. “Chief Jessup tells me you’re going to give me an assist here,” Waring said, approaching Fordham as he exited his vehicle.
“Right.
In truth, a twenty year veteran of the Maine State Police, Waring would have preferred to do this alone. Croop’s murder fell within the scope of the State Police and it was only as a courtesy to the local Police Chief that their involvement in the search had been okayed. “Let’s do it.”
Waring removed a set of keys from his pocket that had been taken from Croop’s corpse and unlocked the front door. They entered a room containing little in the way of conventional furniture but with an abundance of computer equipment throughout. The room was in considerable disarray. Croop hadn’t been much for housekeeping. “I’ll get started in here, if you want to take the bedroom.”
“I don’t mind doing the computer stuff if you’d prefer to move around,” Fordham offered.
Waring looked at Fordham impatiently. “I’ve got it.”
“Sure, okay.”
Waring pulled a chair up to the desk and began rummaging through a thick stack of file folders beside the computer. In less than a minute he had found enough to spark some serious questions about Croop’s activities. A folder containing at least two hundred photographs sat near the top of the pile. The pictures it contained were all of the same woman, innocently engaged in routine activities like shopping, getting out of her vehicle, entering and leaving stores, talking with people she met on the street. All had obviously been taken clandestinely.
And all were of Callie Parmenter.
“Officer Fordham,” Waring called. “Come in here.”
When Fordham came into the room Waring showed him what he’d found. “Looks like your Mr. Croop was not all he appeared to be.”
Fordham paled.
“I’m going out to the car for a minute,” Waring said. “We’re going to have to box all this stuff up. Including the computer.”
* *
“That’s what I’m telling you, Chief,” Fordham reported later. “Hundreds of pictures of Callie. And she didn’t know they were being taken.”
Jessup looked defeated. “After all the goddamn effort I put into getting the town council to okay the hiring of a reserve officer and the son-of-a-bitch turns out to be a fucking stalker? Jesus.”
Fordham stood nervously waiting for his boss to finish venting.
Jessup stared at his desktop. “Where the hell is Mitch Fuller? That’s what I want an answer to. What did he have to do with anything?”
Fordham pursed his lips, hesitant to offer up any opinions.
Jessup glared at him, waiting for an answer.
“Well,” Fordham reluctantly offered, “the way I see it Mitch was an innocent bystander who got in the way. Maybe after Callie shot Croop she figured she had to get rid of a witness.”
“Yeah? So where is he?”
Fordham looked lost. He was out of ideas.
11
When my cell phone finally chirped Bix and I had been camped out in the pickup for three hours. It was dark, I was hungry, and my ass was as numb as a frozen pizza. My first assumption that it was Mai Ling calling to let me know Callie had stopped by, however, proved unlikely when it chirped a second time. “Yeah,” I said.
“Jack, it’s me,” Miles responded.
“Miles. I’m still waiting. Nothing so far.”
“Might have some information ta make the wait a little easier,” he said. “The State cops were around here for a good part a the day goin’ through Callie’s stuff. One of ‘em is a fella I know pretty well, name a Virgil Tull. He confided somethin’ very interestin’.”
“I’m listening.”
“Seems Croop was a stalker. They were able to trace the calls Callie was gettin’ here to his cell phone and, get this, he had a shitload a pictures of ‘er at his house. All taken without ‘er knowledge.”
My steadily increasing pessimism suddenly did an about turn. If Croop was stalking Callie it meant there was at least a possibility the shooting had been justified. At the very least it was an indication she had some reason for being in a confrontation with him. It was entirely possible she didn’t know about the blatant stalking and would, therefore, have no reason to think she might have a case against Croop. It certainly might explain why she would have run rather than face up to the situation. The question of Fuller’s involvement still mystified me, though. Where was he? And how did he fit in to what had gone down with Croop?
“You still there, Jack?”
“Yeah, just thinking things through. It definitely puts a new slant on what might have happened.”
“Ya got that right,” Miles agreed.
“I don’t think there’s much use waiting around here any longer tonight. There’s an Econo Lodge up the road. I’m going to get a room and come back in the morning.”
“Keep in touch, Jack.”
“I will.”
The guy at the motel gave me the room furthest from the street and didn’t bat an eye when I told him I had a dog with me. Dinner consisted of a pizza I picked up from a joint next door. Back at the room I tore off a slice for Bix and mixed it in with his dry kibble. He seemed to like it well enough but I’m not sure it was a wise move. The moment he finished he headed for the door and stood waiting anxiously to be let out. I took him out behind the motel for his business and he didn’t seem at all happy with the results of that particular call to nature. He spent the rest of the evening making regular visits to his water dish.
At eleven twenty I’d been dozing for fifteen minutes or so when my cell phone chirped. Once.
It would take at least ten minutes to get dressed and make it to Cheng’s Grocery but I had to try. I left Bix in the room and burned over to Union as fast as I thought possible without killing myself. I ran into the store only to find Mai Ling with a solemn look on her face. “She leave already,” I was told.
“Did you see which way she went?”
“She went that way,” Mai Ling deadpanned, pointing at the door.
If the circumstances had been different I would have assumed she was joking but such appeared not to be the case. “I mean after she went out the door,” I said exuding patience. “Did you see which direction she went?”
“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “I too busy to see.”
Busy? With what? “Did she say anything to you?” I asked.
“She say hello and goodbye.”
It was like this little woman was going out of her way to be obtuse for some unfathomable reason. “What did she buy?”
“She buy sandwiches, lots of bottled water, some bags of chips.” There was a hint of something else to come.
I stood waiting. “Yes? … Anything else?”
“Map. She buy map.”
The inference was quite clear. Callie had loaded up with enough supplies to get out of town, to places unknown. She was, of course, familiar with most of Maine, and much of the eastern seaboard for that matter, so the map (which Mai Ling eventually divulged had been of the entire eastern United States) might well be to help her escape to some faraway destination. Or maybe not. It was impossible to know.
I drove around the area for half an hour, scouring streets in the hope of spotting Mitch Fuller’s pickup. But to no avail. Eventually, I gave up and went back to the Econo Lodge.
I spent a sleepless night tormented by thoughts of where Callie was, what she was doing, and what she was thinking - whether she had a plan and, if she did, wishing she could trust me enough to confide in me about it.
12
Kyle Jessup was only peripherally involved in the investigation into John Croop’s murder and Mitch Fuller’s disappearance but that didn’t mean
he wasn’t interested in what was happening or that he didn’t take an active role in keeping apprised of developments in the case. The State cops, and Don Waring in particular, had been advised they’d be getting regular calls from Jessup demanding to know what progress was being made.
The call Jessup made on the morning two days after the events in question transpired offered up a surprising bit of news.
“Mitch Fuller turned up,” Waring reported. “Walked into the South Paris Police Department at five o’clock this morning. He was tired, hungry, and pissed off but, otherwise, unharmed.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jessup retorted. “What’d he have to say?”
“Not a lot of nice things about Callie Parmenter,” Waring said, “who is now, by the way, the uncontested suspect in the murder of John Croop. Fuller says the whole thing came together when he heard shots near his place and decided to take a look around before waiting for your Officer Fordham to show up. He came across Callie Parmenter in Croop’s car in that grove of trees. Saw Croop’s body in the back seat but before he knew it she had relieved him of his shotgun. Says it looked like she was all set to end his existence on this earth when she underwent a sudden change of heart. Tied him up, put him in the back of his pickup with a tarp over him, drove him out in the wilderness west of Route 232 between South Paris and Rumford, and turned him loose. Appears she wanted to give herself the day’s head start it would take Fuller to walk to civilization.”
“This changes things a mite,” Jessup proffered.
“It might,” Waring agreed. “At this point she’s wanted for killing a man that was clearly stalking her. Might turn out she had no choice in the matter. Won’t know that till we can talk to her.”
“Any leads yet on where she might be?”
“Not a one at this moment I’m afraid.”
“Keep me posted?”
“Goes without saying, Chief.” Like he had a choice.
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