Last Girls Alive: A totally addictive crime thriller and mystery novel (Detective Katie Scott Book 4)
Page 11
As usual, McGaven stayed near the door in case someone tried to sneak up on them or do a runner.
“Hello?” Katie repeated, her voice sounding funny and far away in her ears. She had the strong urge to run out of the store and just keep going.
Not now…
A shuffling noise came behind the counter and a short woman wearing a tie-dyed dress in a dizzying array of blue, yellow, and pink appeared. She had too many colorful bangles on her wrists and every finger carried an oversized ring adorned with colorful stones. Her eyes slowly scrutinized Katie, taking in her badge and gun. “Yes, can I help you?” she said with a forced smile.
Katie knew it wasn’t Tanis Jones because the woman was easily in her sixties.
“Hi, I’m Detective Scott from the sheriff’s department. And this is Deputy McGaven. We were given information that a Tanis Jones works here.”
“No,” the woman replied. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Katie watched as the old woman could barely keep her eye contact and it was clear that she was lying. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
“I’m Mandy, the owner of the shop.”
“Nice to meet you, Mandy, but we have received credible information that Tanis Jones worked here, or still might be working here. Are you sure she isn’t here?”
“I’m sorry, Detective.”
“I tell you what. Here’s my card with my personal cell phone number on the back. If you happen to remember Tanis, please give this to her.” Katie put her business card on the counter. “Tanis is not in trouble, by any means. I would like to speak with her about her friend Candace and anything that she tells me is confidential. Alright?”
The woman nodded but made no move to pick up the card.
“Thank you, Mandy, for your time,” she said and left with McGaven.
Once outside, Katie said, “Now we wait.”
“What? You think that she’s going to give your number to Tanis Jones?”
“Trust me. I know a thing or two about people who are distrustful about the police. I bet she’s calling Tanis right now.”
“Twenty bucks.”
“What?” she said.
“Twenty bucks that she doesn’t contact Tanis.”
“You’re on. Double or nothing that we hear from Tanis in an hour.”
“Detective Scott, you have a bet. Now what?” he said looking around.
“A very late lunch.”
Katie and McGaven stepped out of the deli after finishing their food. Katie carried some extra turkey and bacon in a napkin as a snack for Cisco.
“Well, somebody is going to owe me twenty bucks,” said McGaven looking at his watch. “It’s been about an hour.”
“It’s been forty-one minutes,” Katie corrected.
“Okay. We’ll wait another nineteen minutes.”
Katie opened the driver’s door and fed a very thankful German shepherd his treats. “Good boy. I didn’t forget about you.”
Katie’s cell phone rang. “Scott,” she answered.
McGaven stepped forward, waiting to hear who was calling.
“Is this Detective Scott?” the woman’s voice asked.
“Yes.” Katie looked up and down the street, trying to see if she could see Tanis Jones.
“I heard that you wanted to talk to me.”
“Is this Tanis?”
There was a hesitation. “Yes.”
“I have a few questions about Elm Hill Mansion and Candace Harlan. And the other girls if you feel up to it.”
Tanis didn’t answer.
“Ms. Jones?”
“I know that you have questions, but…”
“I can promise you that it will be discreet.”
“I don’t want to end up in court.”
Katie looked at McGaven, biting her lip. “I don’t see that happening. We’re trying to get some background information. Please, Ms. Jones, it would be very helpful in our homicide investigations.”
“Investigations? There’s more than one?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. We’re still identifying the second body—but we believe it was one of the girls at Elm Hill.”
“No…” she said, her voice weak and fading.
“Where can we meet you?”
“If you go up the street past the real estate office, there’s an alley. Take it and there will be stairs at the end. My studio is up there.”
“We’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
The call ended.
“Damn, I’m out twenty bucks,” he said.
Cisco barked and suddenly darted from the car.
“Cisco!” Katie yelled after him.
The black dog trotted up the street and took an immediate right to the alley.
“Where the hell is he going?” said McGaven.
“I think to Tanis Jones’s house.”
The partners jogged up the street and turned up the alley, following the dog’s trail. There were two dumpsters and the intense aroma of the back kitchen of a bakery.
“He better not be tracking a doughnut,” McGaven chuckled.
“Cisco,” Katie said again, ignoring McGaven’s comment.
A painfully thin woman peeked out over the railing as the dog zoomed up to greet her. Cisco nudged her hand and she bent down to meet him, petting him constantly. “You are beautiful,” she said.
Katie recognized the woman as Tanis, older than her twenty-three years, thinner than expected, and her hair had been dyed with red and brown streaks. She was about to say something but stopped. Cisco seemed to have a calming effect on her as she spoke to him quietly.
“Is it okay if we come up?” Katie asked.
Tanis nodded.
Katie and McGaven slowly ascended the stairs. “I’m Detective Katie Scott and this is Deputy Sean McGaven.”
She shyly invited them into her home.
“That’s Cisco. He’s a retired military dog,” Katie said.
“A war dog?”
“Yes.”
Tanis said, “You were in the military?” She sounded surprised as she studied Katie.
“Two tours in the army with Cisco here. We were an explosives K9 team.” She smiled and sensed that it meant something special to Tanis, but she didn’t push to find out more.
“Please come in,” she said.
The studio apartment had been decorated in a similar style to the gift shop with bright colors and plenty of knickknacks. Katie figured that the owner was letting Tanis stay there.
A folded futon took up one corner of the room and there were two mismatched fabric chairs on the other side. At the other end was a small kitchen with a microwave and hot plate and then a closed door which she assumed to be the bathroom.
Instead of standing awkwardly at the threshold, Katie took a seat in one of the chairs. She eyed McGaven and he took the other. They patiently waited.
Tanis quietly petted Cisco and then sat on the makeshift couch with the dog nearby. She pulled her bare feet under her to get comfortable. “What did you want to know, Detective?”
Katie had all sorts of questions she wanted to ask, but as she watched the frail young woman petting Cisco, she hesitated. “Well…” she began. “You lived at Elm Hill Mansion?”
“Yes.”
“How long did you live there?”
“Since I was thirteen,” she said.
Katie assumed that to mean about five years. “What was it like there?”
Never looking up from Cisco, she said, matter of fact, “It was like living in a jail waiting for the she-beast to attack.”
Katie carefully worded her questions, realizing that not only was Tanis physically frail, she was emotionally frail too. “The she-beast—are you referring to Shelly McDonald?”
She nodded.
“Did everyone call her that?”
“Yes. Because she was,” she replied, looking directly at Katie. Diverting her attention to Cisco, she continued, “She was horrible. She was moody, taking things out o
n us and making us do things that were wrong, especially when the police officer visited. But her anger was mostly fixated on me.”
“Why was that?”
“Because I complained the least and I was quiet. It made her mad that I kept quiet, unlike the others who resisted, threw fits, and called her names.” She paused. “The others were different. Heather was the cheerleader, she kept it positive and smiled through it all. And you never knew what Terry would come up with, such a drama queen.” Tanis smiled, as if remembering better times.
“And Karen?”
Tanis’s expression turned sour. “Karen was a dark person, but it was an inward kind of dark.”
A slight breeze blew through the tiny apartment and one of the wind chimes jangled. The sunlight seemed to sparkle through some of the trinkets and ornaments.
“What was it like with Candace? The discipline?” Katie looked to McGaven who had been listening intently and seemed to have a melancholy expression on his face—a look of sadness as if recalling a memory.
Cisco sat close to Tanis, reveling in all the attention he received, but it was also as if his sixth sense knew that Tanis needed some comfort and love. Dogs were like that—and Cisco was no different. He quietly panted, ears straight ahead as the pets kept coming.
Tanis looked up. “Oh, no. It wasn’t like that for Candace. She was special.”
“Special. How?” Katie gently pushed.
“Well, she was beautiful. Everyone loved her and wanted to be her friend. She was one of those people that you noticed, know what I mean?”
Katie nodded.
“She stood up for people. She didn’t take crap from anyone. Life was too short.”
“You two were close?”
“Yes.”
“She watched over you?”
“Oh yes. Things changed for me when she came to stay at Elm.”
Katie smiled. “I had a friend like that. Who looked out for me. We were inseparable.”
Tanis looked up. “Really? What happened to her?”
“She… passed away.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Tanis…”
The young woman stopped petting Cisco for a moment. “You want to know about that night? The last time I saw Candace?”
“Yes, I do. Can you tell me?”
“I told that police officer who took the missing persons report everything I knew. He was always at Elm. And I never lied.”
Katie searched her phone photos and stopped on one showing Deputy Hugh Keller, which was from his academy photo. “Is this the police officer that came to Elm all the time?”
“Yes.”
“I would like to hear what happened from you. Can you tell me?” Katie kept her tone low as if talking to a child.
Tanis took a deep breath and observed Katie. She remained quiet, studying Katie’s face for a moment before speaking. “There’s a sadness about you, Detective. You feel torn. Part of you is here and part of you is still there. Don’t worry, it will be okay.”
Katie blinked in surprise, completely taken off guard. Like Tanis had looked right into her soul and really seen her. She felt her pulse jump and her voice caught in her throat. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Did you plan on escaping before that night?”
Tanis smiled and went back to petting Cisco. “We talked about it for a while. We talked about our dreams and what we would do when we left Elm. We both wanted to get married and have children, live in a big house with a maid, and… always live near each other so our children could play together…”
This time, Katie looked away.
“Then one night Candace woke me up and said it was time to go. We had already packed our small suitcases with what we could and hid them outside. There was no time to change. We were both in our nightgowns.”
“What was Candace’s mood?”
“She was her usual upbeat self, ready for an adventure.”
“What happened? Why didn’t you go with her as planned?”
Tanis readjusted her seat and smoothed her skirt. “You don’t understand, Detective. If I would have left, then one of the other girls would have to take my place for the discipline. I couldn’t let that happen. I only had a few more months before I was legally able to leave.”
“I see.” Katie had to strain to hear Tanis. At times she spoke so quietly that both she and McGaven had to lean forward to better hear her.
“I’m not sure that you do. Oh, I think you understand a lot about good friends, teamwork, and doing everything within your power to make sure that they’re okay—that you are all okay. But…”
Katie felt the ping of prickly energy shooting down her limbs. The mention and memory of her army team evoked so many emotions that it was difficult to process them all at once.
“The girls at Elm, we were like a team. And I was the one that was most able to take the discipline. I knew it wasn’t forever. Just like it was Candace’s place to protect us from…” She couldn’t finish. Her voice went hoarse and tears welled up in her eyes.
Katie swallowed hard, knowing what she was going to say, but she had to hear it from Tanis.
“Candace protected the rest of the girls from what?”
“From whatever he wanted… and whatever the she-beast wanted…”
“Tanis?” she said, and waited for the young woman to look at her.
Finally Tanis met her gaze.
“What did they make Candace do?”
“Awful things.”
“I know this is uncomfortable… but…”
Tanis blurted out. “They made her have sex with them. And they told her if she didn’t that they would do to us what they did to her. She protected us, just as I did from the physical abuse and so-called discipline.” She began to cry. Cisco snuggled close to console her.
It took everything inside Katie not to hug her and tell her that things would get better. But she had to remain professional and keep herself removed emotionally in order to work the investigation to the best of her ability. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do in police work.
“Tanis, are you aware that there was a body found at Elm Hill Mansion on Monday?”
“Um,” she said. “No.”
“They found a body that they thought was Candace, but it wasn’t.” Katie waited for her reaction.
Tanis took a deep breath to steady her emotions. “It wasn’t Candace?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“You said they thought it was her, but it wasn’t… I don’t understand.”
“We’ve just recently learned that Candace had a twin sister, Carol.” Katie thought there would be a reaction from Tanis, but there was none. “Tanis, did you know that Candace had a twin?”
“Yes.”
“You did?”
“That’s how Candace was able to sneak out all the time. Her sister was homeless for a lot of years and didn’t want to be put in the system and possibly lose contact with her sister.”
“So you’re saying that Candace and Carol would switch at Elm Hill and no one knew it.”
“No, not even the other girls.”
“Do you think Mrs. McDonald knew?”
“No way. Trust me, she never knew. She would have freaked and someone would have had hell to pay. Most likely, me.”
“What was Candace doing when they switched places?”
“She was setting things up for when we escaped.”
“Who did she come in contact with?”
“I’m not sure… the only name I knew was Ray. He was going to take us away from there. That’s why Carol wasn’t there. It was all planned out.”
“Did you ever see Candace or Carol again after Candace escaped?”
Tanis pulled her legs close to her body, wrapping her arms around them. “I saw her leave that night. It seems like yesterday…”
Katie felt compassion for the young frail woman and the emotional distress she was under.
“I… never… saw either of them again.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t know. I just knew his name was Ray and he was older.”
Twenty-Two
Thursday 0715 hours
The early morning golden light had barely broken through above the hills around Pine Valley and the temperature was only just touching fifty-two degrees. It had rained overnight, leaving the trail and the forest area filled with a beautiful aroma.
Katie had been able to get to bed at a decent hour and was ready for the early morning to spend some extra bonding and training time with Cisco before work. She had already booked the time with Sergeant Hardy. Dressed in blue jeans, long-sleeved blouse, dark brown jacket, and brown boots, she prepared for the drill. She even wore her gun and badge for the exercise.
Katie knew it was as difficult for Cisco to retire from the army and just relax and be a civilian as it was for her. His days had always been filled with searching for IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and pieces of detonators. Depending upon their mission and special orders received, they searched for specific devices or did sweeps to clear buildings and key areas for other military teams. The least she could do to help him adjust was work him through training and simulations every so often, to help satisfy the high drive of his breed.
Standing amongst towering pine trees with his ears perked and amber eyes forward, Cisco’s shiny black coat glistened in the light. His muscles tensed. His back. His legs. He waited with all the patience of an expertly trained dog for Katie’s commands. With the anticipated excitement, the dog began to lightly pant—it was like a relief valve.
“We’re set,” came a voice over her walkie-talkie.
Katie pressed the speak button. “Roger that.” She unclipped the six-foot leather leash and snapped on the trailing lead which was about twenty-five feet.
As soon as the lead clicked into Cisco’s harness, he began to bark furiously, wagging his tail. It was difficult for him to stay still, but he had to wait.
There was a piece of a torn black shirt lying across the trail. Katie guided Cisco toward it to make sure he had a good whiff before moving ahead. “Find,” she said.