by Kira Chase
“Not everyone. Ellie certainly wasn't afraid.” Frankie chewed her bottom lip. “Why was he even allowed to take Alice for the weekend if he was out on bail for what he'd done to me? That doesn't make any sense.”
“I don't know, honey. That's a question only Ellie would have been able to answer. I'm sure she could have refused. But I suppose she never thought he'd harm his own flesh and blood.”
“Maybe she was trying to get the judge to change his order and until he did, Fellows still had the original order granting him visitation,” Johanna said quietly. “We know how long everything takes to make its way through the legal system.” She frowned. “She probably didn't realize that she could have simply refused and made him file papers in court. Obviously he wouldn't have done that or called the police to say she was violating his visitation order.”
“Or she may have just been too damned afraid of him, after all, to refuse his visitation,” Frankie added. “Either way, I think he intended to kill her.”
“Did the Akron's ever talk about what happened to Frankie?” Johanna asked.
Selma sniffed. “Yes, Effie and Doug talked to us. They were devastated. They had no idea that Carson was a child molester. And they were more distressed that he would even try to go on with his visitation with Alice as though nothing had happened to Frankie. They, of course, would be witnesses when Carson was brought to trial for what he'd done to Frankie. After people around town found out what he'd done to Frankie and that we were definitely going to do everything in our power to see him put away, that's when we began receiving phone calls relating to us that their children, too, had been victimized. This was before he'd molested Alice.”
“Mom, I need to ask you something. How did that bastard gain access to me in the first place?” Her brow puckered. “He had no reason to be in the trailer park since Ellie and Alice were living in Kraton.”
Chapter 5
Selma drew a shaky breath. “It was like something you see in the movies, but don't think could ever happen in reality. Your father and I were having coffee with Effie and Doug. Ellie had brought Alice over for the weekend. She was visiting with some old friends she'd recently reconnected with. I'd put you down for your nap in Alice's bedroom, with her. Effie and Doug had kept Ellie's and Alice's bedrooms for them. Even though Alice was a year older, she still took naps when you did. You two were so close. It was adorable.”
Frankie listened patiently. She held tightly to Johanna's hand. She could tell by the tone of her mother's voice that Selma blamed herself and probably always would for what had almost happened to Frankie. Someday she intended to sit down privately with her mother and assure her that there was no way in hell that she could be held responsible for anything that sociopath had done.
Selma continued. “He'd gotten in through the bedroom window. I think he intended to abduct Alice and when he saw you lying there—” her voice trailed off. “He was sick.”
“Thank God you and Dad got to me in time,” Frankie said quickly. She glanced at George.
“Selma, you said you'd never heard again from the Akrons after they moved near their older daughter and her family. Do you know if they ever formally adopted Alice?” the Sheriff asked.
“I don't know. I do know that Carson did eventually sign the birth certificate. Ellie had named him as the father, but had used Akron as Alice's last name. Alice's legal last name was officially changed to Fellows. Doug and Effie went to court a couple of times to try to have her name legally changed back to Akron, but since Carson refused to relinquish his rights, the judge wouldn't grant them the right. So if they had to get permission from Fellows then I doubt they formally adopted her. For spite he would never give up that right.”
“Even though the bastard had molested her and murdered her mother,” Frankie said angrily. “Even in prison he had rights.”
“Unfortunately you know how the system works, Frankie,” Johanna said trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Don't get me started on that.”
Frankie understood Johanna's bitterness. She glanced at her. Johanna's eyes flashed. That was a frequent topic of conversation between them. Damn, it was hard to have faith in a system that seemed to protect the rights of the criminals before those of law-abiding citizens. She mentally counted to ten or else she would explode.
George leaned forward in his chair. “You've been a big help, Selma. I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions.”
“I hope so. Let me know if I can be of any further help, Sheriff,” she replied.
“I will, Selma, and please get in touch with me if you hear any news about Carson Fellows. No matter how trivial you might think it is.”
“I will. Are you sure Frankie is safe?” she asked worriedly.
“She'll be fine. You have my word.”
“Frankie, I'm sorry I never told you about what happened. I want you to know that your father and I did take you to talk to a therapist. You seemed fine, so she suggested unless you brought anything up, to just let it go. I'm sorry if you're upset with me for not—”
“Mom, I'm not upset. You and Dad always did what was best for me. I would never blame you for anything,” Frankie said softly.
“Thank you, honey.” The older woman hesitated. “You girls be careful and I'll talk to you both later. Love you.”
“We will, Mom. Please don't worry. I'll call you later. Love you.”
George clicked off the phone. He leaned back in his chair and focused on Frankie as he ran a hand over his chin. He sat staring, but didn't speak.
Frankie was unnerved by the way his eyes appeared to be looking intensely through her. Why didn't he say something? After almost a full minute of his deafening silence and penetrating look, she burst out, “What is it, George? You're not telling us everything.”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I want you to promise me, though, that you won't go anywhere alone, Frankie. I don't give a damn if you're only running next door for a cup of coffee. You don't make a move unless Johanna or one of your friends is with you. It would be best if you and Johanna come to work together in one car, too. Promise me.”
“George, you're not telling us everything.” Johanna swallowed hard. “What's really going on? You're scaring me. Frankie's in more danger than you're letting on, isn't she?”
George slowly shook his head back and forth as he looked at Johanna then turned his full attention back to Frankie.
Frankie's heartbeat quickened. “Dammit, George, if I'm in danger then tell me. I have a right to know.”
George pushed his chair back and stood. He turned his back to the women and looked out of the small office window for a full minute.
“George, I also have a right to know if Frankie is in danger.” Johanna's eyes slanted as she stared at the Sheriff's back.
“No one can put anything over on you, two,” he said with a faint smile as he turned around to look at them once again.
“You should know that by now, George,” Frankie said, staring evenly at him. His silence was grating on her nerves. “Besides, the way you're acting makes it clear that something's going on. You'd never win an award for acting.”
George walked back to his desk and tapped the edge for a few seconds. He inhaled deeply and sat back down in his chair. “He's already managed to find two of the victims on his list.” His voice was flat.
Frankie stared at him. He looked like the life had just been sucked out of him. “What does that mean?” Frankie's face paled. “Are they dead? He got to them and roughed them up or did he murder them? Is that what you're trying to say?”
He nodded. “I won't give you the gruesome details, but it was brutal.” He ran a hand through his hair. “He likes knives, but he also has an assortment of firearms.”
Frankie stiffened. “Who's helping him? My God, George, he's an old man. He can't possibly be doing this himself. Besides, if he's on the run then someone is funding his flight.”
“We don't know for sure if anyone's helping him.
But I agree with you, Frankie. I doubt he's acting alone. Someone has to be helping him with money and transportation. One thing we do know is that he's not a frail old man. He worked out every single day he was imprisoned. He's in better shape than some men half his age. Maybe even a third from what I've been told.”
“His daughter?” Johanna asked. “Could Alice somehow be involved?”
Frankie and George simultaneously turned their eyes on her. Frankie squinted. “She'd be the last person I'd think would even want any contact with him since he murdered her mother.” She frowned. “I'd think she'd be upset knowing he's been released and is now on the run. How do we know that he won't go after her, too? After all, he wasn't exactly a model father.”
“Has she been questioned?” Johanna persisted.
George frowned as he looked at her. “No, she hasn't, Johanna.”
“Why not?” Johanna's jaw tightened. “I would assume she'd be at the top of the list.”
“She doesn't exist.”
Frankie's eyes widened. “Now that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I thought the Akrons raised her.”
He shrugged. “A year after she graduated from high school, she vanished. She left no traces. She made sure no one would ever find her. We assume she changed her identity to avoid the stigma attached to the Fellows' name.” He folded his hands. “The old Alice doesn't exist.”
“Where's Doug and Effie…and Barbara?” Johanna asked. “They must certainly know her identity. Wouldn't she have made some sort of contact with them through the years? After all, I imagine she was close to them. Even if she moved away, then certainly she would keep in touch with her family.”
He let his breath out in a rush. “No. They don't have any idea what happened to her. She simply disappeared without even a goodbye. The Akron's filed a missing person's report years ago, but nothing ever came up. They spent almost every dime they had hiring private investigators, but every lead led to a dead end.”
“Then you don't know if she fell victim to someone,” Johanna reasoned. “She could have been murdered and then buried somewhere. Or buried as a Jane Doe.”
He shook his head. “It's highly unlikely. She emptied her bank account a few days before she left. She told a close friend repeatedly over the time they worked together that she wished she could simply vanish and emerge as a new person in a new city and just blend in. My guess is that's exactly what she did.”
“Why would she have to do that? Who would connect her to what happened all those years before? And far from her hometown. Most of those people probably never heard about what he'd done.” Frankie rose and placed her hands on her hips. “Unless she was paranoid.”
“I don't know.” George looked evenly at her. “All I know is that no one has been able to find any trace of her. Another possibility is that she moved out of the country. We might be looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“She never dropped a clue as to what name she planned to use or where she planned to go?” Frankie asked.
“No. Her friend never heard from her again.”
“Was there someone who helped Alice carry out her plan?”
“We don't know that either. Her former co-worker had mentioned a boyfriend of Alice's, but he's since passed away. He didn't date her for long…just a few months. He went to college, became an accountant for a large corporation outside of Houston, married, and had two children. It seems unlikely that he knew about her plans to leave, but even if he did, it's a moot point since he's deceased.”
“Did he have any record?” Frankie asked.
“Not even a speeding ticket.”
“How did he die?” Johanna asked. “Any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death?”
“No…a plane crash.”
Frankie rubbed her chin. “Maybe Alice was pissed that no one ever took her to see her father, so she set out to help him.”
“Anything is possible, but I don't think it's Alice.” His eyes narrowed.
“Is there more, George? Anything else you're holding back from us? If there is, I'd appreciate you telling me now.” Frankie laid the palms of her hands down flat on the desk. “I want to know what I'm up against.”
“I didn't want to say anything to your mother, Frankie, but Alice was deeply disturbed. No matter what her grandparents did for her, it was never good enough. She refused to look at pictures of her mother and talked, and acted like her mother had willfully abandoned her. Later she blamed her family for her mother's death and accused them of not caring about Ellie. She demanded to see her father in prison, but they refused to take her to see him. She acted out. They'd put her in therapy, but she learned very quickly how to play the game. She'd act like an angel in therapy and at school, but at home she was a terror. She'd made many threats on their lives, but they would never think of turning her in or putting her away. They thought in time she'd put everything that had happened in the past into perspective and move on with her life. Until one night she went too far. That's when Barbara's husband stepped in and said something needed to be done and done fast.”
“Thank God.” Johanna scowled. “She sounds messed up.”
“She was finally institutionalized when she was thirteen. After spending a year in the facility she was released and saw a psychiatrist twice a week.”
“What did she finally do to force Barbara's husband to insist on institutionalizing her?”
“Threatened her grandparents’ lives when they refused to give her money. She went ballistic and slashed the tires on their car, slashed the furniture.” He cleared his throat. “She even went so far as to cut her grandmother's arm with a knife.”
“Damn, sounds like she inherited her father's genes,” Johanna said, astonished. “And his love of knives.”
“When she was released they took her back?” Frankie asked incredulously. “I would have said good riddance and put her in juvey hall.”
He frowned. “They loved her dearly. She was all they had left of Ellie. And the year seemed to have straightened her out…or so they thought. She took her prescribed meds, went to her psychiatrist appointments, and maintained passing grades. The doctors and psychiatrists gave glowing reports about the progress she'd made.”
“How long until she showed her true colors?” Frankie asked disgustedly.
“Not long. To those in authority she was a model teen. But behind closed doors, nothing had really changed. She treated her grandparents like dirt, verbally lashing out at them and making threats. They slept with their bedroom door locked.”
“Didn't they report her behavior?”
George directed his attention to Johanna. “They tried, but no one believed them. Alice had convinced everyone that her family was unforgiving because of her past behavior and consequently had refused to give her a chance.” He tapped the desk with a pen. “Their hands were tied. I'm sure it wasn't easy at their ages to deal with her. Barbara and her husband tried to talk to her to see if they could get to the bottom of her bizarre behavior, but Alice shut them out, too. They finally washed their hands of her. I don't know what more they could have done. Barbara's husband tried to use his legal influence to persuade a judge to order Alice into a facility for troubled teens, but after reading the reports, the judge seemed to agree with everyone else…that the family wasn't giving the girl a chance.” He ran a hand over his tired eyes. “Their hands were tied. They couldn't or wouldn't just toss her out on the streets. So, life went on until Alice came of age and moved out. She had little contact with her family after that. They had no clue she'd even left the area. As I said before, they tried finding her to no avail. They were worried sick about her mental health and well-being.”
“What a little bitch,” Frankie stated. “I couldn't imagine putting my mother through anything like that. It makes me sick to my stomach especially after my mother said what wonderful people the Akrons were. She wouldn't say that if it weren't true.”
“Most people wouldn't dream of doing that to their parents or
grandparents, Frankie,” George agreed. “But Alice was deeply disturbed. Doug and Effie Akron passed away several years ago and Alice, if she was aware of their deaths, never showed up at either of their funerals. Barbara finally gave up wanting or caring to pursue Alice's whereabouts by that time.”
“What about Fellows? Did she ever end up visiting him in prison or have any contact with him?” Frankie asked. “Since wanting to see him seemed to have triggered her animosity toward her family.”
“No. He had no visitors or mail. The only time he used the phone was to call his lawyer.”
“Thirty-five years without a visitor or even a letter? Wow!” Frankie cupped her face in her hands. “Fellows' family must be hiding him and helping him. Maybe he contacted them when he was released.”
“That's highly unlikely, too. The members of his family who are left seem to have settled down and are living quiet nondescript lives. None of them have been in trouble with the law or have heard from Fellows since his arrest. The police have been watching them closely though, in case he does make an appearance, but so far there haven't been any sightings of him.”
“Well, someone, somewhere has to be helping him,” Johanna said. “Dammit, George, we can't just wait like sitting ducks for him to make a move on Frankie.” She shuddered. “Obviously, he's doing what he said he would if he's already murdered two victims.”
“I agree and we won't let Frankie be without protection. Whoever is helping Fellows seems to know every move the police are about to make before they make it. That's the disturbing part.” He tapped his fingers on the edge of his desk. “We've got to figure out a way to outsmart him. Something's missing.” He grunted. “I can only go on what information I'm receiving.”
“Dirty cop?” Johanna asked through clenched teeth as she rose. “I hope to God a cop isn't helping him.”
“I hope to hell not, too.” George scowled.
