‘Certainly is,’ Jake said. ‘One of the bodies found in his basement belonged to sixteen-year-old Lindsey Johns. She disappeared from the Fly Fishing Festival on the South River in Waynesboro, Virginia, less than two years ago.’
‘Well, there you go. Listen, I’ll update you as soon as I know anything. Right now, I need to get back to it.’
Jake got off the phone pumped up and ready for action. He wanted to hop the first flight headed west. He knew, though, that unless Mack Rogers was actually in custody, his travel request would be denied with the generic ‘there are plenty of trained personnel on the scene at this time. Your presence is non-essential’.
Not being there made him a bit crazy. Just sitting here and stewing about it would make him totally bonkers. He had to do something. He picked his phone back up and continued the round of calls. It was after six p.m. in Virginia but offices in the Mountain and Pacific Time zones were still open.
The call to the Denver Special Agent in Charge was less than productive. ‘Damn it, Lovett, you are draining our resources. Seems like half the population of Colorado thinks they’ve seen Mack Rogers. Every single lead turned out to be an obvious case of mistaken identity or seemed to be based on some idiot’s dream or a psychic’s vision. We need to drop the priority on this one, buddy.’
‘Hold on a minute. We’re talking about a serial predator of teenage girls here. He’s been operating for years. He remains a top priority until he’s captured; the lives of young women are on the line,’ Jake insisted. ‘And besides, if you’re following up all that many leads why do I not have the paperwork to back it up?’
‘Because we’re too damn busy to file the reports. It’s not like a single one of them amounted to anything.’
‘You still have an obligation to keep me informed.’
‘Obligation be damned. I’m lowering the priority on this case in my office. And I imagine you’ll hear the same thing elsewhere. We can’t handle the work load and do everything else that needs to be done. I can’t neglect homeland security issues and survive in this job. You got a problem with that, call DC,’ he said and slammed down the receiver.
Jake felt a surge of anger building in intensity and rushing its poison through his bloodstream. He got up and paced the room, resisting the temptation to kick the trash can again. He calmed himself with the knowledge that despite what Denver was saying, no one else was complaining. Everyone accepted the seriousness of this capture. Not one of them cared to have Mack Rogers settle into their jurisdiction and start killing again.
What could he do now? He pulled out the interview files and made a list of the best possibilities for a re-interview. He hoped that at least one of those people could lead him to someone who’d not yet been contacted – someone who knew Mack Rogers and might have an idea of where he was now. He’d start the second round of interviews first thing in the morning.
He had a plan to move forward in the search for Mack Rogers as well as one active hunt going on right at that moment. But what, if anything, could he do for Lucinda? He considered calling her and rejected it as quickly as it crossed his mind. Unlike most of the women he’d known, Lucinda needed solitary time to process the new developments and find her comfort level with them. She would not welcome any intrusion on the subject that was troubling her until she gained some acceptance of it.
She was not a whiner, rarely one to vent. Good qualities on the one hand but on the other, it created distance between them – a barrier that he’d tried to cross many times without any success. He knew that finding Mack Rogers was the best thing he could do for her at this time. He hoped he’d be able to report to her on success in Idaho. Short of that, even a hint of a promising outcome would be a good reason to give her a call. He had to find a reason every single day so she’d never forget that he cared or that he was always there for her. He checked to make sure the volume on his cell was all the way up, walked out of his office and headed home.
EIGHT
Lucinda got into her work space at six the next morning. At seven, she took a break from her review of Emily Sherman’s autopsy report to call Charley. The line barely began to ring when it was answered. ‘Did you find her?’
‘Dr Spencer?’
‘Yes. Who is this? Did you find her?’
‘This is Lucinda, Evan. Is Charley or Ruby missing?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Did you find her?’
‘Who, Evan? Charley or Ruby?’
Evan grunted with impatience. ‘Charley, of course. Is she with you?’
‘No, Evan.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘If she were here with me, I would tell you.’
‘Are you at work?’
‘Yes.’
‘Maybe she‘s sitting outside of your apartment. You remember – she did that once before.’
‘She promised she wouldn’t do that again but considering that possibility I’m just sending a text right now from my cell to the building super. He’s on his way to check. While we’re waiting to hear back from him, fill me in, Evan. When did you last see her? And when did you notice she was missing?’
‘I saw her last night about nine. She gave me a kiss goodnight and then went to her bedroom. On a weekday, I usually get up at six, and brew a pot of coffee. She wakes up a little bit after I do. By the time I’ve gulped down my first cup, she’s gotten Ruby out of bed and come downstairs ready for breakfast. But not this morning. I realized that I hadn’t even heard a single sound of movement from the girls’ bedrooms and wondered if Charley stayed up late reading and overslept because of it. I went to her room to wake her up but she wasn’t there. Her bedroom light was on but she was gone. I looked in Ruby’s room – Ruby was still sound asleep. I looked in their bathroom. I called her name. No Charley. I ran down to the lobby and no one there remembered seeing her either.’
‘Did she say anything last night that might indicate what she’s up to?’
‘I don’t know, Lucinda.’ For a moment he was silent and then he said, ‘She seemed distracted last night, but she gets like that a lot when she’s up to something. More often than not, it just means her mind is on a science project or on one of her creative flights of fancy. Nothing she said indicated that it was anything more than that. And you haven’t heard from her?’
‘She left me a message but by the time I got home, it was too late to return her call. Something about someone she knew doing something bad. That could be behind her disappearing act this morning but then again, with Charley, logic isn’t always the answer.’
‘What do you mean a bad thing?’ Evan said, the pitch of his voice raising a notch higher with each word.
Lucinda winced. Too late to take those words back. ‘I don’t know. That’s all she said.’
‘Is she mixed up with some bad kids?’
‘I don’t think—’
‘Are there drugs in her school? You’d know that, wouldn’t you?’
‘I am certain Charley is not involved in drugs.’
‘You didn’t answer my question. Are there drugs at her school?’
Lucinda sighed. ‘I’m sure there are some there, Evan.’
‘You’re sure!’ he shrieked. ‘These kids are just children! What about DARE? Don’t you still have that program in the schools? Aren’t they supposed to keep drugs away from the school children?’
‘Yes, they still do, but Charley is in middle school now and—’
‘So, you’re telling me that your DARE program is a failure. It’s just a waste of time and money? An opium for the masses of parents? Pabulum for the taxpayers?’
Lucinda was as frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the so-called war on drugs, leaving her without much of a basis to mount a defense. ‘Well, Evan, they do believe those programs keep it under control.’
‘Oh, that’s a comfort – it’s under control. And now my daughter is under the control of one of those druggies and that’s just some insignificant anomaly?’
‘Evan, stop it! Y
ou are jumping to unwarranted conclusions. Did you check with the school to see if she was there?’
‘Of course, I did, but I got a recorded message that the regular school office hours are from eight to four thirty. They have the whole damn summer off. Can’t they get in a little earlier?’
‘I understand your concern and how stressful it is when your child is—’
‘You, understand? How do you understand? You’ve never been a parent. You have no idea how I feel!’
Evan’s words left Lucinda reeling with the sting of truth. He’s right, she thought. How do I know how he feels? I think my love for Charley is as strong as any mother’s for her child. But, I’ve never been a mother. What do I know? The silence stretched long, as Lucinda struggled to find the right words to say in response.
Finally, Evan broke the awkward hiatus. ‘I’m sorry, Lucinda. I know how much you care for Charley. I shouldn’t have . . . well, what I said . . . I mean, it was unfair and even a little cruel. I am ashamed that I lashed out at you of all people.’
‘No, no it wasn’t unfair. You’re right. I am not and have never been a parent. I should not make assumptions about your feelings. I’m sorry, Evan. But, really, for Charley’s sake, you do need to calm down. You need to think clearly right now.’
‘Point taken. I’ll do my best. But where is she?’
‘I wish I knew. Sit down someplace quiet and run through everything she said last night and see if you can remember anything that might provide a clue to what she’s up to this morning. You know Charley – she’s got the spirit of a crusader. If she thinks something needs to be done and she thinks she can do it, she’ll go galloping off on her white horse without a thought about the consequences.’
‘You got that right. And lately she’s been growing more obtuse and secretive.’
‘Girls get that way when they’re growing up. It’s going to get worse as she enters her teens. Wait a minute. I’ve got a message. She’s not at my apartment, Evan. The super checked there and circled around the exterior of the building to make sure she wasn’t just arriving. I’ll alert the patrol squad to keep an eye out for her.’
‘Call me if you hear anything?’
‘Certainly, Evan. I’m sure everything will be fine,’ she said before disconnecting the call. That last statement was a lie. Lucinda was not anywhere close to sure. She just wanted Evan to think that she was. But in fact, she was very worried. Someone Charley knew had done something bad and now Charley was missing? Lucinda hoped the two facts weren’t connected but she strongly suspected – and feared – that they were.
NINE
The previous morning Charley had been in a stall in the girls’ restroom, when she heard the door to the hall bang open and a loud voice of a girl entering. ‘You really wrote that on the wall?’
‘I sure did. In big red letters. I love writing with spray paint,’ a second voice said.
‘And I made a big daisy in the center of that fancy white carpet in the living room,’ a third voice added.
‘How did you get in there?’
‘One of the guys busted out a bathroom window. We climbed up on one of those big rolling trash cans and hoisted ourselves in.’
‘What guys?’ the third girl asked.
‘High school guys – one of them was your brother.’
‘Tyler? Really? Who else?’
‘Nick and Matthew.’
‘That Nick is cray-cray,’ the third girl said.
‘You telling me? He had this wild idea to pee in the closets, the kitchen cabinets and the bathroom vanities. And all three of them pulled their things out and let it fly.’
‘My brother did that?’
‘Oh yeah. He sure did.’
Charley belatedly realized that she should have spoken up, made a noise, or come out of the stall when they first arrived. Now it was too late.
Outside her confined space, the conversation continued. The third girl asked, ‘What else did you do?’
‘Nick had a knife and we all took turns slicing up all the sofas and chairs.’
‘Sofas? Chairs? I thought nobody lived there.’
‘Don’t. It was a model apartment where they show off the place to people on weekends. Nobody’s living in the whole complex yet.’
‘And then we left water running in every faucet.’
‘And plugged up the bathtub. That should be running all through the place by now.’
‘I want to see it. Where is it?’
‘You know that construction at Twelfth and Jefferson.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Which is the model place?’
‘You can’t miss it – there’s signs pointing to it. But make sure nobody’s watching so you don’t get caught.’
‘Hold on a minute,’ the first girl said.
Silence followed her remark. Their sudden quiet unsettled Charley as the ominous possibilities for it tumbled through her mind. She held her breath. She thought about stepping up onto the commode to hide her feet but decided any movement at all would give her away. The sudden erupting cacophony of multiple fists banging hard on the stall door made Charley cry out.
‘You better come out of there right now,’ the second girl said.
‘Or we’ll come in and get you,’ said the first.
Charley slid back the latch and stepped back. The door slammed open just missing her. A hand reached in, grabbing her shirt and pulling her out to the main space where they circled her. Charley looked at their faces: Madison, Ashley and Jessica, all eighth graders – intimidating eighth graders, the kind with boobs and heavy make-up.
‘You spying on us, baby bitch?’ Madison asked.
‘You gonna go running to your mama and tell on us?’ Ashley added.
‘You tell on us, you are in big trouble, girlfriend,’ the third girl, Jessica, said, backing up her friends.
‘You tell anybody what you heard in here and we’ll make sure everybody thinks you did it.’
‘Yeah, there’s three of us and one of you – our word against yours. You think you can beat those odds, asshat?’
Charley held up her hands. ‘Hey, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I heard the sound of your voices talking but I didn’t get any of the words.’
Madison gave Charley a one-handed shove to the shoulder, sending the smaller girl staggering back two steps but maintaining her balance. Madison leaned into her face, each word sending spit into Charley’s face. ‘It better stay that way, munchkin, or you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.’
The three girls turned to walk away from her. Charley almost breathed out a sigh of relief but choked on it when Ashley spun back around to face her. Two of Ashley’s hands flashed out, pushing Charley hard. Charley staggered backwards and, failing to regain control of her equilibrium, crashed down hard on her backside. The three girls laughed. ‘You should have seen the look on your face when we opened that stall, you stupid little shit,’ Ashley said.
‘Remember that moment of fear,’ Madison added.
The three roared with laughter as they exited the restroom, leaving Charley sitting on the floor. Charley felt her fear morph into anger. She’d tell Lucy about what they did just as soon as she could.
She slipped into her American History class trying to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible, hoping not to be noticed. She realized she’d failed at that, too, when Ms Gardner stopped talking about Fort Sumter and said, ‘Charley Spencer. You are late for class. See me after the bell.’
As the teacher laid out the events in South Carolina that signaled the commencement of the Civil War, Charley let her mind wander back to her own conflict in the restroom. What if Madison and Ashley were just trying to impress Jessica? Did they really do what they said they did? And what would they do to her if she told Lucy? They couldn’t do anything, Charley thought, because they’d be arrested and they’d be expelled. At that moment, she was certain about her course of action.
However, she changed her mind throughout the day
and she encountered the girls over and over again in the hallways as classes changed. She tried to cling to the walls and become invisible but one of them always spotted her, glaring and pointing fingers in her direction. No doubt about it, she knew she now had three sworn enemies. She hoped they wouldn’t be waiting for her after school.
In class after class, she was chastised for not paying attention or belittled for not having an answer to a question. Only one teacher, Mr Spinnato, seemed to care enough to ask her if she was OK. She nodded mutely and hurried out into the hall. She could tell no one in school what she knew because everyone would know about it in an instant. She wanted to get home without being cornered again.
When she left the building at the end of the day, she made sure she flowed outside with a large crowd of students, positioning her body next to the tallest, bulkiest guys she could find. Her breath caught in her throat as she boarded her bus, fearful that one or all three of them would be waiting for her in that confined space. She scanned the seats looking for one of their dreaded faces.
Behind her, someone shouted, ‘Hey, move it!’
She hurried down the aisle and slid into the nearest seat as she continued to look at the faces of the other riders. No sign of Madison, Ashley or Jessica. A slight edge of tension eroded away during the ride. It ratcheted up again when the bus reached her stop. What if they’re waiting for me here? she wondered.
She went down the steps to the sidewalk. The doors to the condominium building seemed so far away. She wanted to run inside and cower behind the security desk until she was sure no one was following her. Instead, she straightened her spine and took deliberate steps, shuddering with relief when she was inside. She scanned the lobby, waved at the security team behind the desk and pressed the up button for the elevator.
The ascent seemed eternal. The walk from the lift to her door seemed interminable. Finally, she was there. Her hands trembled as she struggled to get the key in the lock, missing every time she turned her gaze up or down the hall to make sure no one was creeping up behind her.
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