“This is Dex Hughes with Barnaby Advertising. I’m sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.”
James hung up and dialed the office number, also listed on the card.
“Barnaby Advertising.”
“Is Dexter Hughes in?”
“No, sir. He’s not been to the office today. Do you want his cell number?”
“No, thank you. I already have it.”
Devin James hung up. What to do next? He needed to know the whereabouts of Dexter Hughes, but he didn’t want to create panic based on a ten-year-old news story.
He started his car and looked at the address of Betty Jarvis. It was east of the city. He would pay her a visit in the morning.
*******
Donnie slammed the door on the fourth cell and snapped the padlock shut. A quick look confirmed the other three cells were all still locked.
Tomorrow he would visit Billy one last time before completing the mission. Donnie wished Billy could be present to see the success of the plan, and he would love to be there when Billy received his final rest. Neither was possible, but it would be an exciting day anyway.
*******
Dexter Hughes knew he wasn’t alone. He had seen the other locked doors, and he could smell the stench of trapped humans. He jerked at his chain—it wasn’t going to give—and looked around for an escape. He wasn’t going anywhere, even if he did get loose.
“Dexter?”
He was startled to hear his name from the next cell. “Who’s asking?”
“Suzanne Cooper. Are you Dexter Hughes?”
Dexter tried to place the name. He knew it, but from somewhere way in the past.
“Yes. Do I know you? How do you know me?”
“Well, that seals it.”
This time it was a male voice, and it came from the far end of the room. A female started to cry.
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Dexter asked.
The woman who had spoken first, her voice barely above a whisper, tried to explain. “The man in the far cell is Ed Garland. Next to me is Chelsea Burt. As I told you, I’m Suzanne Cooper. We guessed who you were because we all have a connection.”
Dexter slumped back against the wall. “Billy Jarvis.”
“That’s what we think. Ed was taken first, Chelsea second, and me third. We knew if you were the one put in the last cell, all of this had to be connected to Billy.”
“Who’s the guy that’s locked us in here?”
Ed spoke up from the far end. “Hey, Dex. Never thought I would speak to you again, especially under these circumstances. We think it’s Donnie, Billy’s little brother.”
“But why?”
“We don’t know, he won’t answer us. Just keeps saying ‘we’ll find out soon.’”
“Have you told him you know who he is and that Billy wouldn’t want him to do this?”
“No! We don’t want him to know we’ve figured out who he is. We think it would just increase the danger.”
Dexter tried to get comfortable on the blanket. “Makes sense, I guess. Not that any of this could make sense.”
*******
The next morning Devin James prepared to leave the house, but before he did, he called Dexter Hughes at home. A female voice answered. “Hello.”
“Mrs. Hughes, this is Devin James with the newspaper; we spoke yesterday. Is your husband at home?”
“No. In fact he didn’t come home last night.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Yes, it’s unusual!”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hughes. I didn’t mean to offend. I think you should call the police.”
“I already did, but they said it needed to be forty-eight hours before anything could be done.”
“Do you have a pen and paper?”
“Yes.”
“Call Detective Jason Strong. I know him, and he’ll listen to you. You can tell him I gave you his name. Tell Detective Strong I believe your husband’s disappearance may be tied to the cases he is working on.”
“What cases?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t say more.”
“Jason Strong?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mr. James.”
The phone went dead. James felt queasiness in his stomach. He hated when he was right about something like this; Dexter Hughes was missing.
Chapter 16
Donnie pulled up at ‘Gates of Heaven’ cemetery before sunrise. Today was the fulfillment of the plan he and Billy had been working on since that awful day ten years ago. Now they were finally going to make things right. It was going to be so sweet to see all their work pay off.
Donnie couldn’t sleep, so he’d gotten up early and come to visit Billy for the last time before they played out the final step of the plan. Parking the van, he walked through the damp, morning grass to his big brother’s grave. He felt a peace inside, a calm that came from knowing he had accomplished his task. The most important task his brother could ever give him. To bring him eternal rest.
“Good morning, Billy.”
Donnie crouched down, listening intently.
“I know you’re ready. I’m sure going to miss our talks when you’re gone.”
Donnie smiled.
“Thanks. I did it all for you because you deserve it.”
Donnie brushed the leaves off his brother’s name.
“Don’t worry about me, Billy. I don’t think they know who I am, and if anyone survives, I’ll make sure they don’t know where to find me.”
Donnie lingered by his brother for a little while. It reminded him of the visits he made with Momma when she was alive. They would just enjoy being together. But the events planned for this day would not allow Donnie to stay. Today was a day for action. “I’ve gotta go now, Billy.”
Tears welled up in his eyes.
“I love you, too. You’re the best brother a kid could ever have, and I’m gonna miss you.”
He stood up.
“You’re welcome. Tell Momma ‘hi’ when you see her. Make sure she knows I miss her.”
Donnie hesitated a moment or two longer.
“Bye, Billy. I love you.”
Donnie walked away with the usual sadness, but now it was mixed with anticipation. He was coming to the end of a decade-long journey. He fired up the van and sped for home.
*******
Jason arrived at work around his usual time. Waiting for him on his desk was a note.
Call Mrs. Hughes. Urgent. 555-230-4210.
Jason got himself a cup of coffee and sat down. He dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Hughes, please?”
“This is her. Is this Detective Strong?”
“Yes, ma’am. I had a note to call you?”
“Devin James, from the San Antonio News, he gave me your name. He said I should call you.”
Jason did his best not to sound irritated, but he didn’t like James using him as an inside contact. He would have to talk to him about it.
“Okay. What can I help you with?”
“My husband is missing.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“I haven’t talked to him since yesterday morning, and his work said he’d never checked in.”
“Well Mrs. Hughes, we don’t consider an adult missing for at least…”
“Forty-eight hours, I know. Mr. James said you would help me. He said to tell you my husband’s disappearance might be connected to some cases you’re working on.”
Jason had been leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, but now he sat bolt upright and put down his coffee.
“Did he say what cases he was referring to?”
“I assume missing persons, but I’m not sure.”
Nina came in and gave a nod before sitting down at her desk. Jason grabbed a pad.
“Mrs. Hughes, what is your husband’s first name?”
“Dext
er.”
Jason wrote down Dexter Hughes.
“Okay. Can you hold on for a minute?”
“Sure.”
Jason punched the hold button and gave the note to Nina. “Check and see if that name is on our reunion list.”
Jason watched her intently as she scanned the sheets. It wasn’t long before she looked up at him. “Yes. Dexter Hughes. Why?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.”
He punched the hold button again. “Mrs. Hughes?”
“Yes.”
“If you’ll give me your address, my partner and I would like to come talk to you.”
“Oh, thank you so much.”
Jason wrote down the address and hung up. Nina was watching him, waiting for an explanation.
“I found a note on my desk this morning to call a Mrs. Hughes. When I called her, she said her husband was missing. Apparently, she has somehow got hooked up with Devin James, and he told her to call me.”
“Oh, wasn’t that nice of him!”
“Wait, there’s more. James told her to tell me her husband disappearance was connected to the cases we’re working on.”
“You’re kidding! How would he know that?”
“A very good question, one I intend to ask him as soon as I get a hold of him. Anyway, that’s when you came in and confirmed the name on the list.”
“So we’re going over to talk to her?”
“Yes, but first I have a call to make.”
Jason picked up his phone and found the reporter’s number in his contacts. He pushed ‘call.’
“You have reached the phone of Devin James, crime reporter for the San Antonio News. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon possible. Thank you.”
Jason waited for the beep.
“Devin, this is Jason Strong. I received a call today from a Mrs. Dexter Hughes. Please call me; I have some questions for you. Thanks.”
He hung up and looked at Nina. “Ready to ride?”
“Of course.”
*******
Devin James recognized the phone number of Jason Strong and let it go to voice mail. He figured Jason had talked to Mrs. Hughes and would have questions James wasn’t prepared to answer. He would call Jason back when he got a handle on the situation at the Jarvis farm.
The reporter turned down the gravel lane leading up to the farmhouse. He could see a van parked by the front porch, but no sign of anyone moving around outside. He crossed an old cattle guard and slowed to a stop next to the van.
Devin shut his car off, reached for the door handle, and froze. A young man surprised him at his side window.
He was maybe twenty, tall and thin, with dark eyes. James wasn’t sure where he’d snuck up on him from. Perhaps he was in the van.
Devin rolled the window down and felt the blast of the late morning heat. The boy appeared tense. “You lost?”
James put on his best reporter’s smile. “No, I don’t think so. I wanted to talk to Betty Jarvis. Is she here?”
“Nope. She’s gone to town. Are you the reporter who called the other day?”
“Yes. Are you Donnie?”
“Maybe. Is there something I can help you with?”
The boy stayed close enough to the door as to prevent Devin from opening it. Only by pushing him out of the way, could the reporter get out.
“I’m investigating the disappearance of four people. I wanted to ask your mother about it?”
“Momma doesn’t know nothin’ about no missing people.”
“I’d like to ask her myself. Will she be back soon?”
“I told you she doesn’t know nothin’, and I don’t know when she’ll be back. I’d like you to leave now.”
“I don’t mind waiting.”
“I said you need to leave!”
A gun appeared from behind the boy, and James didn’t want a confrontation he would obviously lose, so he hurriedly rolled up his window. The young man watched him turn around, and continued to stare after him all the way down the lane.
James didn’t turn right, the direction he’d come from, but went left instead. He’d seen a row of trees running across the back of the Jarvis property, and he thought they would serve as cover while he waited for Mrs. Jarvis to return.
Sure enough, he was able to pull off the road into the shade of an oak tree, and watch the house from a distance. He reached into the glove compartment and got out his binoculars. His instincts told him it wasn’t a time for action, but a time for waiting.
Waiting and watching.
*******
Donnie watched until the reporter had turned at the end of the lane. He felt very uneasy. The timing of the visit couldn’t have been worse. Today of all days needed to go smoothly, and unexpected visitors were not part of the plan.
He turned and walked back to the house. He had preparations to finish and sensed his time was getting short.
Chapter 17
Jason and Nina pulled up at the Hughes house forty-five minutes later. Mrs. Hughes opened the door before the detectives could ring the bell. “Detective Strong?”
“Yes, ma’am. This is my partner, Detective Jefferson. May we come in?”
“Of course.”
She let them in, and after closing the door, she guided them through an oak-paneled hallway, which opened up into an expansive kitchen. White cabinets, black granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. It was right out of a magazine.
“Would either of you like coffee?”
Jason shook his head. “Not for me.”
Nina also shook her head no and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. Jason sat with her while Mrs. Hughes grabbed the coffee cup she had been using, refilled it from the pot, and joined them. As she held her cup, Jason noticed the shaking of what he guessed were normally steady hands.
Nina opened a notepad while Jason turned his chair to face the elegant woman. “Mrs. Hughes…”
“Please, call me Barbara.”
“Barbara. I assume you haven’t heard from your husband since we last spoke, is that right?”
“That’s right. I keep trying his cell phone, and checking with his office, but there’s no answer. They haven’t heard from him either.”
“Do you have a picture of your husband?”
“Yes, of course.”
Barbara Hughes left the room and returned with a photo frame. She slid the picture out of the frame and handed it to Jason. Jason took a look before giving it to Nina.
Barbara followed it with her eyes almost as if it might be the last time she saw the image of her husband. Jason felt for the woman, and his frustration at not being able to tie everything together was starting to eat at him.
“Barbara, had your husband mentioned his upcoming class reunion?”
Jason could see the surprise on her face.
“Yes. About a week ago. Does that have something to do with him missing?”
“We’re not sure. The other cases we’re working, the ones Devin James mentioned to you, are from the same high school class as your husband. We think it’s likely there’s a connection. When we found your husband’s name on the class list, we came to see you without waiting the forty-eight hours.”
“How many cases are there?”
“There are three others that we’re aware of.”
“Three! My husband is the fourth?”
“Yes, ma’am. Had your husband mentioned being concerned about the reunion, or being contacted by someone he wasn’t comfortable with?”
Mrs. Hughes was still clearly trying to get a grasp on the thought her husband was one of four missing people. Her answers took on a robotic feel, as if she’d gone to autopilot.
“No. The only thing he said was the school had called to give him the date and place of the reunion.”
Nina looked up from her note taking.
“Mrs. Hughes…”
“Barbara, please.”
“I’m sorry…Barbara. We would like to access your
husband’s phone records, and it would be much faster if you just requested them for us.”
“Of course. I’ll call our provider now.”
The tall brunette got up and left the room.
Jason looked at Nina.
“What do you think?”
“Four people from the same school, same class, and all in a week. We’ve got somebody who has a bone to pick.”
“Yeah, but how many? This is four, how many more could there be?”
“Until we find the connection, the phone list is the only thing we have. There must be a smaller list, not all one hundred-plus classmates can be targets, and we need to figure out what that smaller list is. There must be something connecting these four that doesn’t connect the rest of the class.”
Barbara Hughes came back into the room.
“They’re e-mailing the record from our last bill to me now. Here are last month’s.”
Nina took the sheets and they stood. Barbara Hughes walked back out of the room and, in less than a minute, came back with one more printed sheet.
She escorted them back to the front door and opened it for the two detectives. When Jason had stepped outside, he turned to face Mrs. Hughes. Jason looked into the woman’s eyes and saw a pain there he recognized.
She wasn’t whole. A part of her was missing and her life was out of balance, like a teeter-totter with no one on the other end. She couldn’t make it move, couldn’t do it alone. The fear she might have lost her partner in life visibly weighed on her, and Jason’s heart ached for her.
“Barbara, we’ll do everything we can to find your husband. Hang in there and we’ll be in touch.”
Tears started to well up as the stress began to come out the only way she knew how.
“Thank you, Detectives. I appreciate it.”
As the door closed, Jason’s face turned hard.
“We need to find the animal taking these people, and fast!”
*******
Devin James had waited long enough. There was no movement around the farm, but something wasn’t right and he could feel it.
FOR MY BROTHER (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 3) Page 8
