Where Secrets Lie

by R E Gauthier

  “We took all his cameras and bugs out; he knows he cannot hear or see what we’re doing. We made sure he cannot have access to your grandmother’s house or here at the office.”

  “Yes, but he can still find us out there. He can follow us undeterred while he is in disguise. So, we go out there, and let him follow us. We’ll take him right to his mother. When he sees his mother in the flesh, he won’t be able to ignore the opportunity he has to get her back.”

  “When he does, we’ll be waiting and catch him.”

  “Exactly. We can hold Washburg for suspicion of involvement in multiple murders for ninety-six hours. During which time we can execute our search warrants to look for evidence to connect him to something that we can arrest him for.”

  Nikki and Kelsey put their plan into action after they called and discussed it with Torres. Torres and Deb bagged and logged hundreds of items found in the cabin where Washburg stayed while in Michigan, and inside Ashley Foster and Kyle Nolan’s apartments. They hoped to locate a piece of forensic evidence that could put Washburg in these places to build a case against him for Kyle Nolan’s death and Ashley Foster’s sexual assault.

  Nikki contacted the New York FBI agents to notify them they were coming to see Nancy Washburg. Kelsey and Nikki made sure to be visible outside their office while discussing Nancy Washburg. They also made several anonymous calls to newspaper outlets about Nancy Washburg being in a New York hotel. Kelsey made sure the newspapers would not be able to ignore the anonymous tips by letting it slip that the FBI was looking for Paul Washburg in connection to numerous murders. They were holding Nancy Washburg in an undisclosed place and would be taking her into official FBI custody.

  Now, that they set the trap with a hook and bait, Nikki and Kelsey made a big deal about packing their car outside of the office’s parking structure in hopes, that if Washburg were watching them, he’d see them and be intrigued to where they were going. By the time they arrived in New York, they had hoped that the story of Nancy Washburg would be on every front page of many newspapers in and near New York.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Driving to Buffalo, New York, Afternoon, March 19, 2012

  After driving for three hours, Nikki confirmed that she had also witnessed the same black sedan following them from their office building in Pittsburgh. “If that is not him, I don’t know who it is, because that sedan has been two or three cars behind the entire time since we left our office.”

  Kelsey had been watching the cars in the rearview mirror from the moment Nikki pulled out into the street in front of their office building. “I had my suspicions, but wasn’t certain until we made that move after the last exit.”

  “I thought that if we were to slow down, most people wouldn’t be able to refrain from passing us; since that sedan didn’t; it’s either Washburg or it’s a little old man afraid to pass on the highway.”

  “It could be the latter, so let’s try getting off of the highway and get a bite to eat. We can switch places, and I can drive for a while. If the sedan follows us, we’ll know it’s Washburg.”

  Twenty minutes later, Nikki and Kelsey walked into a roadside diner a short drive from their destination in Buffalo, New York. Sitting down by the large bank of windows afforded them a clear view of the parking area and the cars coming in off of I-90. The small booth table had a few dishes on it, and a waitress came over apologizing for them.

  “Don’t worry about them. It’s our fault for sitting here when we could have sat in any of the booths with a clean table, but my friend here is paranoid about the car. It’s her boyfriend’s, and he threatened to make her pay for any dents she gets in it.” Nikki helped clear the dishes away by stacking them in a pile in the middle of the table.

  “Don’t you concern yourself miss, our parking lot is safe especially if you park nearest the diner entrance. Is that your boyfriend’s car?” The waitress addressed Kelsey as she pointed to the small red convertible.

  Kelsey decided to play along and pointed at the black SUV they came in. “No, it’s that big monstrosity the furthest from the door. I’m sure Travis bought it to impress women. Something about compensating for something, if you get my drift.”

  The waitress smiled knowingly. “You don’t look like the type of woman that would be impressed by the size of a man’s car.”

  “Oh, she’s not. I think I’ve finally convinced her to kick the creep to the curb once we get to Buffalo and return his precious beast out there.”

  After the waitress explained that she’d be right back with a menu and again apologized for the, less than clean, table, she left Nikki and Kelsey alone.

  From her peripheral vision, Kelsey saw the black sedan pull into the gas station across the street, and the driver get out. “Looks like our tag-along made it and he’s going to make it look like he pulled off to get gas.”

  “Let’s see if he gets back on when we do,” Nikki said as the waitress returned with their menus.

  ***

  When Kelsey pulled back onto I-90 after having lunch and filling the car’s tank with gas, it took the black sedan a few minutes to follow them onto the highway. “It looks like he’s back. If it’s not Washburg, it’s someone else tailing us.”

  “Yeah, it could be the spooks who came to my hotel to warn us off of our investigation.”

  Kelsey had thought about that possibility as well. “If it is, they’re in for a surprise because we’re taking them on a wild goose-chase unless my uncle’s case has something to do with Buffalo, New York.”

  Nikki chuckled.

  The rest of the drive to Buffalo went by with Nikki giving Kelsey updates about the forensic tests on the evidence taken from several crime scenes. So far there was still no progress in finding refutable proof Paul Washburg was responsible or present at any of the several crime scenes. Nikki read from emails and text.

  As Kelsey braked for yet another traffic light, Nikki’s phone rang. “It’s the Lab; this could be something we can use,” Nikki said before she said, “Hello, SA Hyland here.”

  Kelsey watched Nikki from the corner of her eye as she kept an eye on the traffic light. Her best friend looked like she listened to something exciting. Raised eyebrows, an open mouth, and then a gasp signified what the person said was significant. The broad smile and a fist pump told Kelsey that the news on the other end of the phone was more than substantial. She tried not to pay attention to the images received from Nikki’s mind, she had promised not to eavesdrop on her best friend’s thoughts, but it proved to be hard not to see some of it. Kelsey saw what looked like a piece of metal and then Nikki’s elation overcame all other musings.

  Nikki let out a whoop and then yelled, “we have him!”

  Taking the next right, towards the center of the city, Kelsey pulled into a business parking lot and shifted the gear to park. “What is it we have on him? Is it the fire at the storage facility or is it—”

  “They found a piece of the delay switch for the incendiary device for the fire at Wilker’s Retirement Home, and on the pieces of metal, they found what appeared to be blood. They tested it, and it’s a one hundred percent DNA match to the sample they extracted from the toothbrush found in Kyle Nolan’s apartment.”

  “Please, tell me it’s the same sample they matched to Nancy Washburg’s Mitochondrial DNA.”

  Nikki nodded. “We have him; we have enough to issue an arrest warrant.”

  Kelsey couldn’t believe it; they were so close to getting Paul Washburg off of the street. Now they had to find him to arrest him. Looking around the parking lot, she realized in the excitement of the news; they had lost sight of the black sedan. Searching the front rearview mirror, she didn’t see the car. Glancing, first into the right-side mirror and then to the left, Kelsey thought she saw the black car parked across the street. “Looks like our friend followed us. Are you able to search the car registration database for this license plate number?” Kelsey gave Nikki the number for the black car sitting across the street.
>
  “It’s a rental car registered with a Pittsburgh dealership. I’m just searching their database for…I have it. It looks like Washburg is using a new alias by the name of Mitchell Wallace. I have his photo, and it looks very much like the late Frederick Washburg.”

  Kelsey looked at the laptop screen displaying the image of a driver’s license with the name Mitchell Wallace and a photo of a younger version of Frederick Washburg. “I’ll call Judge Hogan and get our arrest warrant, you have the Lab-rats send over the evidence to her, and we can go arrest this bastard.”

  ***

  In a motel outside of Greenville, Virginia, Early Morning, March 20, 2012

  Twelve hours later, in a motel room outside of Greenville, Virginia, Kelsey sat in a state of semi-shock. While they waited for the warrant to arrest Paul Washburg for first-degree arson resulting in the murder of fifty-one people. A patrol officer pulled into the parking lot across from where they parked and walked up to Washburg in the black sedan. The officer looked at Washburg and spoke to him for a few minutes. Kelsey was ready to start the car and race over to stop the incident from occurring until she saw the police officer pull his gun and make a call on his radio. They wouldn’t learn until later that the officer had seen the out-of-state license plates and decided to check on the older man sitting in his car. From his suspicions, the officer asked dispatch to pull up any BOLO’s, and he asked the man to get out of the car to look at him closer. The man refused, and the officer asked for back-up. Upon searching the vehicle, the officers found drugs and syringes and arrested the man.

  Without even needing the arrest warrant, police took Paul Washburg to a Buffalo Police Station. Kelsey and Nikki followed close behind the police cars and arrived to see a demasked Paul Washburg led into the station in handcuffs. Although the Buffalo Police officers had no idea of the significance of their arrest, the first officer had thought he remembered seeing a picture of Frederick Washburg in connection with the case of the fire at the retirement home in Richmond. When he asked for a list of BOLO’s his dispatcher sent the one on Paul Washburg, and the officer thought he saw what looked like a peeling mask on the man in the car.

  After months of pursuing a madman bent on killing, it was a police officer with a keen eye for details that was the downfall for Paul Washburg. Kelsey and Nikki introduced themselves with their credentials as the FBI looking for Paul Washburg and armed with an arrest warrant, took him into FBI custody.

  Paul Washburg with a smug look on his scarred face looked Kelsey in the eyes and asked her how did they do it. Kelsey had replied they told him they’d find him and put him away for a very long time. Nikki and Kelsey drove behind a prisoner transport vehicle as it made its way to the airport in Buffalo and then sat next to two Air Marshalls that escorted Washburg to Richmond, Virginia. They arrived at the Greensville Detention Center in Greensville, Virginia six hours later. Although they could have left Washburg in the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections, they felt that it was best to see the man taken to the best facility to house such a dangerous man.

  Because the Wilker’s Retirement Home fire happened in Richmond, Virginia, Paul Washburg’s Murder and Arson cases were put into the hands of the Commonwealth of Virginia that still pursued the death penalty. He would face fifty-one charges of first-degree murder and also fifty-one charges of arson causing death.

  Once Kelsey and Nikki watched Washburg being led off by five correctional officers with strict instructions to keep the man in solitary confinement until his court appearance, they went directly to a nearby motel.

  Here Kelsey sat, unable to believe their ordeal with Paul Washburg was finally over and that Nanna and Miranda could return home. Nikki called Torres to tell her and Deb the news.

  “What do you want to do now? Not that I don’t know your answer, but it’s over.”

  Shaking her head, Kelsey said, “I know it’s crazy that just yesterday we thought we needed Paul Washburg to make another mistake or fall into our trap when what we needed was a keen-eyed police officer in Buffalo New York to pull him over and question him. After I get Miranda and Nanna settled into your fortress of security, I need you to find me all you can on my uncle. I need to see where this investigation will take us, even if it takes us to Scotland. I have a wedding in a little over two months, and I promised Miranda that we wouldn’t be apart again.”

  “I have my contact working on finding out as much as they can about your uncle’s involvement with the CIA. Once they have found something, you’ll be the second person to know about it. What do you want to do right now?”

  “I know we’ve been on the road for hours, but I want to get out of here and be home to greet Miranda and Nanna when they arrive.”

  “It could be a day or two before we can arrange for them to get back home. Torres notified the agents, but your grandmother made plans for a trip to Disney World.”

  Kelsey laughed with more mirth than she had felt in a very long time. For many months the weight of having a man like Paul Washburg walking free made her life miserable. Today, for the first time since the ordeal began back in December, when she learned Paul Washburg was alive and responsible for framing everything on Robert Smith and killing him, Kelsey sighed and genuinely smiled. “I want to get home and stock the fridge and be there to watch Nanna with mouse-ears walk into her home again. I need to tell her that even if she doesn’t like it, I will not stop investigating their murders. Uncle Ethan wasn’t who he said he was and that may have got my aunt and cousin killed. I made a promise, and I’m going to keep that promise.”

  Nikki smiled. “I already booked us a flight out of Richmond, and we can be in Pittsburgh before the grocery stores open.”

  “Thank you, Nikki. You have done it again.”

  “And I always will, my friend.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Nanna’s House, Canonsburg, Mid-Day, March 20, 2012

  Kelsey waited for Miranda and Nanna to walk through the door. She arrived at Nanna’s house with Nikki in tow to set-up and be sure she had the new security system ready for when her fiancée and grandmother returned from their vacation in Florida. Miranda called last night to say they had a flight out of Orlando and would fly into Pittsburgh in the early afternoon. Kelsey said she’d come to drive them home, but Miranda said Nanna wanted to take a limo from the airport. Something about never experiencing a drive in a limousine and wanting to arrive home in style. Kelsey didn’t want to argue with her grandmother, and it gave her time to make the house just perfect. The professional cleaning crew had the house looking the cleanest she had ever seen it. The forensic team swept through and assured her there were no outside electronic devices. The security system had an extra feature that Nikki thought would make Kelsey feel safer, installed. A high-frequency electronic-jamming equipment as a countermeasure to block the signals of any outside cameras or audio devices inside the house.

  Standing holding her hands in front of her, Kelsey heard the limo pull up, and she went to open the door. The driver was out of the driver’s seat and around to open the back passenger door to let Nanna climb out. Kelsey smiled when she saw her tall grandmother unfold herself and stretch before turning around. Nanna’s eyes drew immediately to the amulet hanging on Kelsey’s chest. Kelsey felt the disappointment in her grandmother before she saw the frown form. Here it goes, I hope I can endure this.

  Miranda climbed wearily out of the door and smiled to the driver. Kelsey couldn’t hear what her fiancée said to the man, but he smiled and nodded.

  “Don’t just stand there watching us. Come here and help us with our bags or you’re not getting any of the things I bought you.” Nanna directed her annoyance at Kelsey.

  Smiling, Kelsey tried to remember why she wanted to have Nanna back home. Maybe having her grandmother stay in Florida a little while longer would have been better. “Sorry, Nanna; I’m so happy to see you both.” She stopped and took the bag Nanna pulled out of the car trunk. Kissing her grandmother’s cheek, s
he said, “Is there another car going to pull up with more things you bought? You too look like you brought your entire trip back with you.”

  Nanna chuckled and then she frowned. “We will talk as soon as I get settled so don’t get any ideas of running off once I get inside. You have a lot of explaining to do and more than I thought too.”

  Kelsey’s eyes met Miranda, and she saw the smile in them. Miranda mouthed: ‘I love you,’ and Kelsey mouthed it back.

  “You two can talk freely; I’m sure Dan here has heard and seen it all. Haven’t you Dan? My granddaughter and her fiancée think we won’t want to hear them profess their love for one another.”

  The driver, who Nanna knew as Dan, nodded. “Yes, Isla; I’m afraid I have seen and heard more than I care to on my job. I can put up the partition glass, but it doesn’t always block everything out.”

  Nanna shook her head. “See, you don’t have to mouth what you want to tell one another. These two haven’t seen each other in eight days; maybe I should have stayed in Pittsburgh for an extra day.” She winked at Dan and Dan winked back.

  “Nanna, please,” Kelsey whispered. “Thank you, Dan. I can manage from here. Are you paid or do I have to settle up with you?”

  “No, everything has been taken care of Ma’am.” Dan, the driver, bowed his head. It was a pleasure to drive you around Isla and Miranda; have a wonderful day.”

  Miranda and Nanna both thanked Dan and waved as he backed out of the driveway and drove away.

  Kelsey drew in a deep, cleansing breath. Goddess preserve me, Goddess protect me as I walk through the valley of darkness.

  ***

  “What were you thinking?” Nanna scolded Kelsey.

  Kelsey stood unable to think of the best way to begin her explanation.

  Nanna strode across the floor and looked about the room. “You don’t know what you have done and what could happen. I did everything for a reason. I did it to protect you. Who has been in my house? I can tell someone moved things around.”