“Uh...yeah. I think I heard something about that.” Costas spoke with the enthusiasm of a person whose lunch break had been rudely interrupted.
“I see,” Barrington said. “Did you ever consider that your incident might be related?”
“Well I wasn’t here that night but it doesn’t look like the officer who wrote it up made that connection, no.”
“Okay, do me a favor. Send me the full report. First name Barrington, last name Dunn, D-U-N-N.”
“Will do.”
Barrington slammed the phone onto the receiver, shaking his head in disbelief. He stewed for a few minutes before clearing his mind. It wasn’t the time for scorched earth. He would have plenty of time for that later, but for now, a monster needed to be captured. And he was close. He could feel it.
The full report hit his email a few minutes later. He read it and ran to his car. He needed to talk to Miss Aria Joseph.
“CAN I HELP YOU?” ASKED the woman who answered the door.
“Yes, my name is Barrington Dunn. I’m a detective with Townsend County. I’m looking to speak to Aria Joseph about an incident she was involved in a week ago. Does she live here?”
The woman sized him up before answering. “Yeah, that’s my daughter.”
Barrington was a little thrown by how attractive she was. And young. She wasn’t wearing any makeup that he could see and she had a brown bonnet on her head but she was still cute. Thick and shapely. What they would call a “big fine woman.”
He realized he was staring. “Ma’am, would it be okay if I spoke to your daughter?”
“Is this about the man who followed her? Did y’all catch him? Because if I find him first, it’s gonna be a problem.”
“Actually—”
“Well it won’t really be a problem for me, it’ll be a problem for y’all,” she said with a smirk. It was hot and he was tired of standing and sweating on the porch. He tried to keep his voice even to mask his irritation. “No ma’am, we haven’t caught him yet. That’s why I’m here. I would like to get some more information. Details. About that night.”
The woman hovered in the doorway and Barrington wasn’t sure she would let him in until she finally let out a small sigh. He recognized the sound. Capitulation. “Alright, come on.”
He followed her through the door and into the small foyer. The door lock clicked behind him. “You’ll have to excuse the mess, I just got home from work.”
Barrington looked around in amusement. Besides the rogue pair of shoes near the couch and a glass on the coffee table, the room was spotless. “No problem. It looks fine to me, you have a nice home,” he said politely. Her satisfied smile told him his compliment landed. She turned off the television. “I’ll go get her. Have a seat.”
Barrington eyed the loveseat, a purple velvet marshmallow decked with glittery pillows, and decided to stand. His eyes drifted downward and he realized he was standing on white fur. He backed up until his feet hit the worn beige carpet.
The woman descended the staircase with a younger girl in tow. “Should I take my shoes off?” he asked, gesturing toward to rug.
“Oh no, you’re fine. Have a seat,” she instructed.
Still unsure, he slowly crept back into the room. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna smash these nice pillows,” he said with a chuckle. It was obvious there were no men living there. The woman laughed too. “It’s fine. You want something to drink?”
“No, ma’am.” The couch was surprisingly comfortable. It only looked ridiculous.
“Okay. And my name is Maya.”
He involuntarily shot a glance at her left hand. No ring. He caught himself and looked away quickly. “Maya, if you want to stay in the room, you can.”
She addressed her daughter. “You need me to stay?” The girl shook her head. “Okay, I’ll be in the kitchen. Cooking dinner,” she said pointedly as she sauntered away. He willed himself not to look. Don’t do it.
“Aria, I wanted to talk to you about what happened to you last week. I read the report but it wasn’t as...detailed as it could have been. I was hoping you could help me clear up some things.”
It was important for him to tread lightly. She was still a child, and therefore fragile, and he didn’t want to re-traumatize her. “You don’t have to talk to me. I know it was a scary experience and it might be hard to relive it. If you feel uncomfortable you can stop at any time, okay?”
She nodded.
The next part was tricky. “I really hate doing this but my boss wants me to and I have to answer to him. He’s kind of like my parent.” She smiled at that. “Technically I’m supposed to record our interaction. If you don’t want me to, I won’t. I won’t get into too much trouble.” Teenagers needed to feel they had some measure of control.
“It’s fine,” she said, her voice low and thin. Barrington pulled out his recorder and turned the volume up to capture her quiet voice. “We don’t have to rehash everything, but I had a few specific questions. Had you ever seen the man before that day?”
She shook her head.
That wouldn’t do. “I’m sorry...I need you to answer out loud for the recording.”
She cleared her throat. “I had never seen him before.”
“Where do you work?” The idiot who took the report hadn’t even bothered to include that detail.
“I work at Wendy’s. Mill’s Crossing.”
“I know that one. What time did he enter? If you can remember. Approximate is fine.”
“I know exactly because I was closing up. It was 6:24. I was supposed to leave at 6:30 so my register was closed. I was cleaning.”
“Okay. Did he order anything?”
“Yes, but not from me. The girl who works with me, Stacey, she came in from the back and took his order.”
“The report indicated that he scared you. Why were you scared of him?”
Aria took a deep breath. Her hands trembled slightly. “There was just something about him. He was creepy. It wasn’t anything he said, it was just...He just creeped me out. I can’t really explain it, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. So he didn’t say anything weird, it was his behavior?”
“Yes. He kept staring, even past how men normally stare. It was like...he was obsessed or something. And then afterward I was sitting in my car making a phone call and he came up to my window to tell me to have fun at my dance.”
“Dance?”
“Yes. The homecoming dance, it’s tomorrow. He heard me telling Stacey about it and then he came to my car and said that. It kind of freaked me out.”
“Of course it did. Did he say anything else?”
“No. After that, I left and then I noticed he was still behind me when I was halfway home. That’s when I called my mom.”
“What can you tell me about his car?”
“It was dark, probably black. It had four doors. It was a Toyota or something with that body style.”
“Okay. You’re doing good, okay? One more question. Does your Wendy’s have cameras?”
“Yes. I told the other guy that, the one at the police station. He didn’t write it down though.”
“No, he didn’t.” Mistakes were forgivable. Laziness was something he couldn’t abide.
Aria fidgeted. “Do you think you can catch him? I mean...he didn’t actually do anything to me but he might have if...” she trailed off. “You can’t really arrest him for following me, right?”
Barrington cleared his throat, stalling so that he could come up with a reasonable answer. “Not necessarily but I want to have a word with this man. I don’t need him following any more young women like yourself.”
Aria stared at her hands. “Some kids at school were talking about some man kidnapping black girls and killing them and taking their organs and stuff, and that I would have been next.”
Nothing gets by kids. Little assholes. “While there are missing girls in this area, I don’t have any reason to believe the person responsible for those crimes was the one who
followed you.”
She didn’t look convinced. Barrington was struck by how young she seemed. Beneath the makeup and hair, she was just a scared little girl. “Do you believe that? What your friends are saying?”
“I don’t know.” It was clear she did believe it. He searched for the words to reassure her. She beat him to it.
“I know it’s dumb to think it’s the same person. My friends were probably just trying to scare me. I missed three days of work because I was scared to go back. But I did work yesterday and today. He didn’t come back in. That made me feel a little better.”
“Good.” He had what he needed and was ready to go but she kept talking. She seemed to need to talk about it.
“Do you think it’s safe for me to go to the dance tomorrow?”
“I think so. There will be other kids and teachers around, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll be fine. Are you going with a date?”
“No, just some girlfriends. A lot of people are going without dates. Boys don’t really ask.”
“Hmm. Well, that’s a shame. When I was younger it was customary to escort a young lady to a dance.” He paused and thought about it. “That makes me sound old, doesn’t it?”
She giggled, and he was happy to take her mind off of things for a brief moment.
“Anyway, thank you for speaking with me. I will keep you and your mom posted, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Don’t worry about tomorrow. You’ll be fine. Have fun.”
“I’ll try.”
It was much harder to get off the couch than it had been to sit on it. It took some effort but he managed to propel himself to his feet in one motion. Aria hadn’t given him a lot to go on but he already knew it was a long shot. Still, the car fit and the timeline made sense. The surveillance tapes could be the key. His hand was on the doorknob when Aria spoke again.
“Oh, Mr. Dunn?”
“Yes?”
“You should probably go to Wendy’s today. I’m pretty sure they record over those tapes every week.”
Chapter 35
I TOOK THE STREET WAY to Youth Rising. It added an extra 25 minutes to my trip but there were no bottlenecks anywhere along my route. You would think fifteen years of driving would have desensitized me to the experience of navigating Atlanta traffic but it still made me anxious. The changing leaves on the trees along my route were gorgeous and helped me forget, just for a moment, that there was a little dead girl guiding my steps.
The closer I got to the center, the more potholes I ran over, jostling me up and down, making me fear for my poor tires. It was insulting. Thirty miles to the north were roads as smooth as glass. There was no good reason for the difference. None.
As I turned into the parking lot, I saw kids everywhere. They ran this way and that, although some stood in the spaces and stared me down as I tried to pass. I had a strong urge to lightly tap one of them with my bumper so they would get the message but I restrained myself. Kids could be such assholes.
An empty waiting area greeted me. Three well-worn folding chairs rested against the wall. I sat opposite the unmanned receptionist booth and waited, watching the kids flitting about, free to roam and explore and yell as loudly as they wanted. I probably would have had fun there as a young girl and it definitely would have been healthier than sitting at home alone watching the news all day. But my mother would have never gone for it. She was extremely selective about the company we kept and the Youth Rising kids would have been too rough around the edges for her taste.
The smell in there was so familiar, like some kind of cleaning solution mixed with old food smells. The aroma of school. It was comforting. I stretched my legs out in front of me to quell the aching in my knees but it didn’t help.
“Tamara! It’s good to see you! What brings you here?” asked Mr. Reggie, popping out from the door behind the receptionist booth. I stood and walked into his waiting arms, giving him a polite hug and pat on the back. “It’s good to see you too. I actually have something I want to talk to you about.”
He pulled away, concern on his face. “Uh oh. Is Tony okay?”
“Oh he’s fine, it’s not about him.”
“Okay, well that’s a relief. You can come on in here then,” he said, leading me into a small office. Clutter filled the space, but there was a well-worn path from the door to Mr. Reggie’s desk. It wasn’t warm or inviting but it showed that someone clearly worked in there. Mr. Reggie grabbed a stack of file folders off of the lonely chair opposite his desk. He must not have had many visitors come by.
“Have a seat there Ms. Lady. What can I help you with?” He settled into his chair and it cried out in little squeaks. It had to be almost as old as he was.
“I know you’re busy so I’ll just get to the point. Did you know a little girl named Leah Boyd?”
His smile slowly faded. “Of course. She was one of my kids. Did you know her?” One of his kids. Such a sweet thing to say. I wondered if every adult who worked with children thought that way. I suppose it depends on the kids.
“Yes, she was a friend of mine. She lived on my street.”
“Terrible thing that happened to her. Terrible, terrible, terrible,” he said, his head shaking rhythmically with each repetition.
“It was. I’ve sort of been...looking into what happened.”
“Why?”
I didn’t have a good answer. “It’s a long story. But I was wondering if you could tell me about Leah when she was here.”
“Well if you’re asking me if she was a good kid, she was. Definitely. She wasn’t into anything that would have led to her being hurt.”
“Did she have any friends here?”
“I don’t recall her having any problems with any of the kids. No fights or anything. She mostly hung out with some of the other little girls. Doing cheers and such.”
“What about boys?”
Mr. Reggie frowned. “Boys? What about them?”
“Did she hang around any boys in particular? Or did she have a boyfriend?”
“No,” he answered quickly, shaking his head for good measure. He seemed awfully decisive. I remembered Ms. Glenda and her misgivings about Mr. Reggie and wondered if there was something to it. I decided to push him.
“Are you sure?”
He rolled his eyes. “Like I said, it’s been a very long time and I’m afraid I’m an old man with a spotty memory,” he said with a forced chuckle. “She was a pretty little thing so I’m sure some of those boys had a crush on her.”
A pretty little thing.
“But nobody in particular that you can remember?”
He shook his head. “I wish I could help you. I’ve had thousands of kids come in and out of this place for years. A lot of it runs together.” I wanted to believe him. He sounded believable enough. But something was gnawing at me.
“Did you know they looked at the stepfather?” he asked.
“I think I heard something about that.”
“Oh yeah, they sure did. You know, the stranger thing is actually rare. It’s usually somebody close to you. Mm-hm, they looked at her stepfather and her brothers. I knew them too. They were good boys. I never suspected them.”
“Who did you suspect?”
He looked surprised by my question. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “Well, I thought it was probably the stepdad. I’m always suspicious of unrelated males when it comes to little girls. I have three girls myself. Not so little anymore, though.” He picked up a three-by-five frame and turned it toward me and I was greeted by the sight of three young women who looked exactly like Mr. Reggie but with hair.
“They’re beautiful,” I said.
He beamed and put the photo back in its place. “So anyhow, I would look at the stepdad if I were you.”
“The police cleared him though.”
“Yes...that may be true but police make mistakes.” I sat on that for a moment. It was possible they’d make a
mistake about Andre, too. Anything was possible at this point.
“So how’s Tony? He still waiting to hear back on the promotion?”
“Actually he didn’t get it. We just found out a few weeks ago.”
“Oh no. I’m truly sorry to hear that. He’s worked so hard.”
“Yeah he’s upset but you know him. He’s not gonna let that stop him.”
“Good. Good. That’s what I like to hear.”
I nodded. “Well, I don’t wanna keep you from the kids so I’m gonna head out.”
“Okay, dear. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”
I waved my hand. “It’s okay.”
“And listen, you take care of that husband. He was never good at handling hardships. That self-destructive streak is no joke. You have to be his support so he doesn’t fall too far, you understand?”
“Oh definitely.” Except I didn’t, not really. I had never seen Tony self-destructive. Mopey and brooding, sure. That was every day of the last few weeks. But not self-destructive. I chalked it up to the ramblings of an old man with a bad memory.
I sat in my car and pondered our conversation, and the way he had abruptly changed the subject after steering me to look at Leah’s stepfather. His reaction to my question about boys still wasn’t sitting well with me, either. It was incredibly frustrating. I didn’t have the training for investigating anything and I wasn’t able to make sense of any of the details I’d collected so far. A hundred thoughts were jumbled up inside my head but they were an equation I couldn’t solve. The answer was there, I could feel it, but it wouldn’t reveal itself. I was going to have to work for it.
Chapter 36
BARRINGTON PULLED OUT of the Wendy’s parking lot, dejected and frustrated. The manager had already recycled the tapes from the night Aria had been followed, and to make matters worse, apparently the man in question had used cash to purchase his meal. There was no video, no card number to trace, and who the fuck still used VHS tapes anyway?
Back at square one without a single lead, Barrington weighed his options. In order to convince Price and his buddies that Charles Hansworth wasn’t their guy, he would need another suspect. A viable suspect, wrapped up in a bow with a smoking gun and a confession to match. Right now, he had neither.
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