But she couldn’t focus on every story she’d ever written so first she’d try to figure out what she was working on at the time. It might not have anything to do with her disappearance. But then again, it might. And unfortunately, she didn’t have that laptop any longer to look anything up. Did the monster have it? Probably.
She was almost sure it had been in the car the night she disappeared. Had he destroyed it? If he still had it, could she access it remotely? Did she even have her computer set up for remote access? It was a long shot but she’d never know if she didn’t try. She wasn’t a hacker. But she needed the user name and password to access the computer. Going to the settings on this computer, she tried to remember what they were. Frustrated, she stared for a while. And then it came to her.
The cloud.
She didn’t need access to her old computer to get to her files. It was all backed up on the cloud. Why hadn’t she remembered that before?
Ten minutes later she was staring at the files from her old computer.
And she was still frustrated. Not one of the files seemed to be about some big story that she was pursuing at the time. She clicked her fingers on her keyboard, still staring at the files. Now what? She’d been positive that finding out the big story would lead her to the monster.
Back to the beginning. She scrolled through each file. Her cursor moved from the As to the Bs to the Cs. And then she stopped at the Es. Her email files.
Who knew? Maybe she’d find something in one of them that might hold a clue as to what she was working on. From the beginning of the year forward, she meticulously opened every file and read the contents. As she scrolled through, her pulse began to race.
And then she found it. She went back to the beginning and read it again.
Ms. Marks,
I have a secret that I’ve never shared with anyone else. Like many secrets it could destroy lives. Not just mine but the life of someone very important. I don’t know if you’re the right person to tell but I think you might be.
I read your story about that coach who was seducing his players and embezzling money from the team. You seemed to really care about the people that coach hurt. And you helped those people to get justice.
That’s what I care about now.
Justice.
If the secret comes out my life may be destroyed but if it stays a secret even more lives could be destroyed. If you’re interested in writing a story about my secret, contact me.
Sydney Bartrum
After rereading it several times, she looked for more emails from Sydney. None. So then she searched for emails she’d sent to Sydney. And she found her reply.
Sydney,
Of course, I’m interested in your story, but I need more information before I decide if it’s a real story. I’m sending you my phone number so we talk and set up a time to meet. I’ll be glad to come to you—where ever you are.
Raven L. Marks
That was it. No more emails to or from Sydney. Had he changed his mind and decided it wasn’t worth it to ruin his life to expose this supposed terrible secret where she’d agreed to meet with someone at the West Virginia Welcome Center? It must have been Sydney. Was Sydney her kidnapper? Or was it the person Sydney wanted to expose? She copied Sydney’s email address and then went to her present email program and pasted into an email.
Sydney,
I know it’s been a long time since we were in contact with each other. For my part, I had to take some time off work due to a medical condition. But I’m ready to get to work on your story again. I would love to hear what you wanted to tell me.
Please contact me as soon as you get this.
Thank you,
Raven L. Marks
She hit send and then sat staring at the screen, praying for a quick response. After five minutes, she realized she was being ridiculous. A look at her watch told her it was time for her self-defense class.
33
As she walked toward the building, Raven thought of the conversation with Hunter. At the beginning, it sounded as if he was breaking up with her which was ridiculous since they weren’t actually dating. By the end it sounded as if he’d changed his mind—sort of.
She still had a chance to show him how much he meant to her.
But he was right. One couldn’t really have a relationship with someone—whether as friends or something more— if one kept secrets. And right now she seemed to have a lot of them.
But that would stop—soon.
Hunter was talking to the receptionist. He made his way toward Raven with a smile. “How are you today? Did you sleep well?”
Just seeing that smile made her happy. He was friendly and just making small talk. How was she supposed to tell him about the flood of memories she’d had after he left last night? More secrets. “How about you?”
“Like a baby.” He didn’t seem to notice that she hadn’t answered his question. “You ready? Great. We’ll do some warm-ups and then running. I know how much you love the running.” He held the door open to the gym.
She walked through.
Forty-five minutes later Hunter handed her a bottle of water. “Great work out. I can’t believe how much you’ve improved in such a short time.”
“It doesn’t seem that short to me, but thanks.” She took a long drink of water.
“See you next week.”
She took a deep breath. She promised herself she’d tell him all about her memories then. And maybe even the book. “Actually, I was hoping I could cook dinner for you. For us. Not pizza but real food. I’m pretty rusty at the cooking thing but if you’re willing to take a chance.”
His smile faded.
Not good.
She rushed on. “I…I …I want to talk to you. I need to tell you some things. About what’s been going on with me. Unless you don’t want to know.”
“I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. After last night I thought we’d just stick to training sessions for the time being.”
“It’s important, Hunter. I have things I need to tell you.”
He looked at her for a moment then nodded. “Sure, let’s do it.”
“Do you like Italian?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Perfect.”
When she got back to her house, she checked her email. Sydney Bartrum had responded.
I’m sorry to inform you that Sydney passed away last year. I’m her sister, so I’m still handling email for her though I will be closing down the account soon.
Your email was a bit of a shock and I really have no idea what she might have wanted to tell you so I’m afraid I can’t really be of help to you. But thank you for following up with her.
Fran Baker
Her? Sydney was a woman. And she was dead.
Raven’s fingers clicked on the keyboard.
Dear Fran,
I’m so sorry about the loss of your sister but I really do have more questions for you. She wanted me to tell a story—her story. She seemed to think it was an important one that needed told.
I understand that you don’t know what it was either but I would still love to meet with you so we could talk and I could get to know a little about Sydney through you. Together we might be able to figure out her story and share it the way she wanted.
I will be more than happy to come to where you live. Please let me know as soon as possible so I can make arrangements.
Raven L. Marks.
She sent the message and immediately began a search for Sydney Bartrum on the Internet. It was a little difficult since she still didn’t know where Sydney was from. But she typed in the name and waited to see what would come up.
She scrolled through the choices until one caught her eye. An obituary. She opened it. No real details other than the date and place. Both made her a bit more attentive.
The funeral was held in Marietta but said she’d lived in Columbus. She must have been from the Marietta area which would explain why she’d contacted Raven in the first p
lace.
But even more interesting was the date of her death.
May fourth of the previous year.
The day before Raven disappeared.
34
Raven was a bit jittery about the whole investigative reporting thing, but something inside kept telling her to learn more about Sydney Bartrum and her secret. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the woman had died the day before Raven’s disappearance. So Raven decided to take a trip to Marietta.
Unfortunately, she’d had to cancel another session with Gracie yet again. She’d called to let Gracie know with a promise to make it up to her. In an effort to be more open and less secretive, she’d told her that she was working on a story that couldn’t wait. Gracie had been shocked but understanding. Raven admitted she’d thought she’d never work as a reporter again and promised to give Gracie more details later.
Raven was early. She pulled into the same restaurant parking lot she was supposed to meet Marnie at the night she’d disappeared. She willed herself back to that night. Had she got here? Or had she driven to the West Virginia Welcome Center where her car had been found? She remembered getting into a car with a stranger but not the location. Maybe she’d go over to the Welcome Center before she left the area.
She should have come last night. The dark might have triggered a memory. Details. That’s what she needed. More details. Up to this point all she could remember was getting into a car. The man wore a hoodie that hid his face.
Sydney was a woman, so Raven hadn’t got into her car. Besides Sydney was already dead when Raven met the person. Sighing, she stepped out of her car—the same car she’d been in that night. She stood outside the door, waiting to see if being here brought on any new memories.
“Excuse me.”
Panicked, Raven swirled around ready to fight. Nobody would hurt her again. She leaned against the car and readied to kick him.
The man stepped back, clearly surprised at her reaction. He held his hands up as if to surrender. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“Just a few dollars, so I can get something to eat.”
She dug in her purse and pulled out a five.
“Thanks so much.” He headed to the fast food place across the street and went in.
She still stood grounded, pleased that her first reaction had been to defend herself. Of course, Hunter was always telling her the best response was to leave the situation. Even though she agreed, it was good to know she’d defend herself if necessary. But Hunter was right—it was better that it hadn’t been necessary.
She walked into the restaurant.
The hostess was at a little podium.
“I’m supposed to meet someone. Fran Baker.”
“She’s already here. Follow me.”
After they introduced themselves and food was ordered, Raven smiled. “I really appreciate you meeting me.”
“Oh, you’re very welcome. I needed to come here anyway and check on Sydney’s…burial site.”
“So you don’t live here?”
“No. I live in West Virginia. Charleston. But Sydney and I were born here. Our dad got a job in Charleston when we were young so that’s where we grew up. But my parents were buried here and so when Sydney died, I had her buried beside them.”
“I see. So the obituary said she lived in Columbus.”
“True. About six months before she died, she abruptly quit her job in Charleston and moved to Columbus. She was working part time and going to school at Ohio State. She was going to be a teacher.” Fran’s eyes filled with tears. “She would have been a good teacher.”
“I’m sure she would have been. So what did she do before she moved there? What did she do in Charleston?”
“Oh, she worked at a restaurant. A fancy restaurant where she made great tips. I thought she really liked it there. And she had a boyfriend and everything. And suddenly one day she up and quits and moves to Ohio. It was surprising but she seemed really happy every time I talked to her.”
“That’s nice. Did she quit because she broke up with the boyfriend?”
“No, they were still dating even though it was long distance. According to Syd he was actually planning on moving to Columbus to be with her before she died.”
She nodded. “So how did she die?”
Fran bit down on her lip. “It was a stupid accident. Really stupid.”
“A car accident?”
She shook her head. “No. She was doing her laundry. Apparently some of the tenants in the apartment building liked to hang their laundry on the roof. That’s what she was up there doing and somehow she fell.”
“Oh, how awful.”
“A tragic accident. She must have tripped or something and then lost her balance. She always was clumsy.”
But was it an accident? How could the woman who wanted to tell her a secret just happen to die on the day before Raven disappeared? And in such a bizarre way? “And you don’t have any idea what she might have wanted to tell me?”
“I can’t come up with anything.”
“Do you think she might have told her boyfriend?”
“I was wondering the same thing, so I called him. He did say that he felt as if something was bothering her, but he had no idea what. Every time he tried to talk to her about it, she’d just say it was in the past and she didn’t want to talk about it.”
But she’d wanted to tell Raven.
Their lunch came and the conversation turned to more pleasant things. They walked out of the restaurant together. As they said their good-byes, Raven asked, “What was the name of the restaurant where Sydney worked in Charleston?”
“It’s called The Capital Dining Room. Because it’s near the state capital building. Why?”
“Oh, no reason, just curious.”
35
Raven got on the highway but instead of heading north, she drove south toward Charleston. She couldn’t quite explain why she was going, only that it felt like the right thing.
She’d spend the night there, find out what she could. Then she’d drive back early to have the day to prepare for the dinner with Hunter. Her plan was to come clean—to tell him about her recovered memories and the book. She wanted him to know he was special and that she did trust him. She thought maybe spaghetti or baked ziti rather than the lasagna she’d considered. It would take less time.
Why was she even heading to Charleston? As an investigative reporter, one had to let the leads take one to the story she reasoned. Sydney’s boyfriend felt she was hiding something but wasn’t sure what it could be. Maybe one of her coworkers knew.
Raven knew from her own experience she often shared bits and pieces of her life with the people she worked with. She was hoping Sydney did the same.
She found the Capitol Dining Room without a problem. And just as Fran had said, the golden dome of West Virginia’s capitol building was in view as she walked into the restaurant.
She’d barely made it through the door when the hostess was there with a smile. “Good afternoon. How many?”
“Actually, I’m not here to eat.”
“Oh.” The smile faltered. “Then how can I help you?”
“I…uh…I’m a reporter from Ohio, and I’m looking into a story that involves Sydney Bartrum. I know she used to work here, and I wanted to talk to some of her coworkers.”
“Of course, we know... knew Sydney. We loved Sydney. We were all so sad when…well you know what happened.”
“Were you close to her?”
“Not really.”
Of course not. It couldn’t be that easy.
“She worked the afternoon shift and I work the day shift. So we’d see each other but…” She shrugged. “You know what? It’s almost time for shift change so her crew’s back in the employee lounge if you want to talk to them.”
“That would be great.”
Her smile was back. “Follow me.”
They walked through the ne
arly empty restaurant except for a few customers sitting by the windows. The hostess opened the door marked employees only. “Hey, y’all. This woman is doing a story on Sydney and would like to talk to you.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and left.
“What kind of story?” A woman with short brown hair asked.
“I’m not sure yet.” Might as well be truthful.
The woman nodded. “Well, Sydney was a nice person. So sweet. Always willing to help out when you’d get swamped in your own section. You could count on her if you needed to switch a shift for some reason.”
A young man nodded. “That’s so true. And she was a great server. She could carry six glasses of water at a time without a tray.”
The woman laughed. “Except that time when a customer stood up just as she was passing.”
The three at the table started laughing. “True. But she got a huge tip out of it anyway.”
“Yes, she did.”
“She sounds like a gem.” Raven said and meant it. “Were you surprised when she quit so suddenly?”
“I certainly was.” The young man responded. “One day she’s talking about moving in with her boyfriend, and the next day she tells me it’s her last shift. I was dumbfounded.”
“Yeah, me too.” The brown-haired woman agreed.
Raven noticed the third person at the table wasn’t saying much so she looked directly at her. “Did you know Sydney?”
The door opened before she could answer. The hostess yelled in. “Two minutes until shift change, people.”
The young man smiled. “Sorry, we gotta go.”
“No problem.”
The two of them walked out. The third woman at the table didn’t move. Instead, she motioned for Raven to sit. “Sydney was my best friend. Not just work friends but real-life friends. She helped me get my job here.”
“So what do you know about her deciding to quit?”
“A lot. But I can’t talk now.”
“It’s important.”
“I know it is. Can you wait until I go on break?”
“Absolutely.”
The young woman obviously knew something. But if Raven left now, she could get home tonight.
Jane Doe Page 15