“Thank you.” Leanne punched in the numbers. “I hope I don’t upset her. She’s seventy-two-years old and not in the best of health; otherwise, she would’ve taken the children herself.”
JP and Bob listened as Leanne spoke to her aunt. They could tell by her side of the conversation that it wasn’t good news. Leanne hung up, shook her head, and said, “Nope.”
10
JP checked with the neighbors to see if anyone had seen Cole and also if they knew a boy named Jacob, hoping he rode Cole’s bus. With the information he gathered from the other students who rode the bus, he was able to track the route to the school. He finally found someone who knew someone who knew Jacob.
It was nearly eight o’clock and dark by the time he approached Jacob’s house, which was directly across the street from the elementary school. A gangly, freckle-faced boy with red hair answered the door.
“Are you Jacob?” JP asked.
“Yes.”
“Are your parents home?”
“Dad,” Jacob yelled. “Someone wants you.”
A short, slightly overweight man in his forties walked out onto the porch. In his right hand were a pair of metal tongs with grease dripping from them. JP introduced himself and explained he was there looking for a lost child, Cole Johnson. “Do you mind if I ask Jacob a few questions?”
“No, not at all,” Albert said. He then turned to Jacob and said, “Have you heard from Cole?”
Jacob shrugged his shoulders and said, “No.”
Holding Jacob’s gaze, Albert pointed the tongs at him and said, “You better not be lying to me, kid. This boy’s life could be in danger.”
“I’m not lying. I don’t know where he is.”
Jacob’s eyes opened wider and his mouth turned down. He took a step back from his father. His father reached out with his left hand and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him forward until he was within a few inches of his face. “Do you know where Cole is?”
Tears started to well up in Jacob’s eyes. “Honest, Dad. I don’t know. He left school a couple days ago. I haven’t seen him since.”
JP stepped forward turning toward the father. “Do you mind if I speak to him alone for a minute?” He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Sometimes kids will tell me things they may not want to tell their parents.”
Albert nodded his head. “Yeah, you’re right. Go ahead.” He turned to walk off and then he looked at Jacob and shook the tongs at him. “You tell him the truth now.” He was still looking back at Jacob as he entered the house.
JP sat down on the wooden railing and coaxed Jacob into taking a seat near him. “Look, Jacob, I’m not here to hurt you. You’re not going to get in trouble if you tell me where Cole is. There are people looking all over the city for him and we just want him returned safely.”
Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”
“Have you talked to him since he left school?”
“No.”
“Has Cole ever been to your house?”
Jacob put his head down, avoiding eye contact with JP, and shook his head from side to side. JP reached under his chin and gently pulled his head up with one finger. “Jacob, please tell me when he was here. I won’t tell your father.”
Jacob looked toward the door and back and said, “Sometimes, at lunch, we sneak off the playground and go to my house to play video games. But we almost got caught last week, so we haven’t done it since. And then a couple of days ago, Cole left school. I didn’t even know he was leaving.”
“I know. There have been a few family problems that Cole’s mom has to take care of.”
“Is he coming back?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you more.” JP stood up and took a business card out of his pocket. He handed it to Jacob. “Please call me, or have your father call me, if you hear from Cole, okay? It’s really important. His mom is really worried about him.”
Jacob took the card, holding it with both hands. He bent it back and forth. “I’ll call,” he said.
JP leaned in toward Jacob. “Will you be all right when you go inside with your father?”
“Oh yeah. He yells a lot since mom divorced him, but he’s okay.”
JP waited until Jacob went in the house and then he lingered for a few minutes to see if he heard any yelling. It was quiet. JP walked to his car thinking he was pretty certain Jacob was telling the truth. Before he started his car, his phone rang.
“Hi, Sabre. I’m sorry, I’m just hitting dead …”
“JP,” Sabre said interrupting him, “Bailey’s missing.”
11
Sabre drove up to the home where Bailey lived with her mother. JP hadn’t arrived yet, but she knew he was close behind. Sabre walked across the dead lawn and up to the door. The house was in serious need of paint, and the broken glass formed a sharp point in the front window. The dilapidated door opened slightly as Sabre knocked on it.
“Who is it?” a man yelled over the loud eighties music that emanated from the house.
“I’m Bailey Lecy’s attorney,” Sabre yelled back. “Is she here?”
No one responded. About thirty seconds passed before an emaciated looking, unshaven man came to the door. His shirtless body bared a large, poorly drawn scorpion tattoo across his chest, and his pants hung below his waist showing the top of his green boxer shorts. His disheveled hair almost reached his shoulders. The front hung down partly blocking the glazed look in his eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, black holes on each side of his mouth appeared where teeth once were.
The man slowly moved his eyes from Sabre’s face all the way to her feet and then back up to her face. “Well, hello,” he said.
Sabre suddenly wished she had waited for JP. The way he looked at her made her feel dirty. “Do you know Bailey Lecy?”
“Come on in. We’ll talk about it.” He moved his left hand toward the door motioning her to enter.
“I’m good.” She backed up slightly. “Are you Scott?”
“Yes,” he said, looking directly at Sabre’s breasts.
Sabre ignored his stare. “Have you seen Bailey today?”
“That fat little wench.” Scott reached up and took hold of Sabre’s arm. When she tried to pull away he held on tighter. “Come on in. I’ll tell you all about her.”
Sabre took a quick step backwards. Scott lost his balance and stumbled but reached with his left hand for Sabre’s other arm. She flung it backwards and his hand landed on her rib cage. He pulled her toward him. “You’re as feisty as your little Bailey,” he said.
Sabre swung her right hand around as quickly as she could, smacking Scott on the side of the head with as much force as she could muster. Her angle was bad and he had pulled her too close to him, but it was enough to make him lose his grip on her side as he tried to stop the blow. Scott’s drugged condition gave Sabre a little extra time to react. She pulled back her hand and with the base of her palm jammed it against his nose. Scott let go of her arm and Sabre fell backwards onto the ground. Before she could stand up, he slammed a bare foot into her stomach.
Suddenly the weight lifted from her abdomen and Scott sailed through the air as JP grabbed him by the arm and flung him to the ground, pinning him down with his knee.
“Are you okay?” JP asked Sabre.
“I’m fine,” Sabre said as she rolled over, stood up, and dusted the dirt off her pants.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me?” JP sounded exasperated.
“I guess you were right this time,” Sabre said.
JP shook his head. “This man is so low he’d steal the nickels off a dead man’s eyes.”
“I expected to meet up with a teenage girl.” Sabre looked at Scott laying face down in the dry grass. “Not some psycho, drugged-out baboon.” The adrenalin still flowing through Sabre’s body, along with the fear and disgust of his hands on her, made her want to kick him, but she held back. Instead she leaned over him and said, “You didn’t answer
my question. Have you seen Bailey today?”
“I can’t remember,” Scott said. JP pushed his knee deeper into the Route 66 tattoo on Scott’s back. “Okay. Stop with the police brutality.” JP pushed a little harder and then let up some as he started to talk. “They came by here about an hour ago.”
“Who was with her?” Sabre asked.
“That little punk she calls a boyfriend.”
“Does he have a name?” JP asked.
“Apollo.”
“His last name?”
“I don’t know.” JP applied more pressure. “I never heard his last name, and I never cared enough to ask.”
“What did they come here for?” Sabre asked.
“She just picked up some of her things. Then the punk threatened to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s been working out and he thinks he’s a super tough guy now.”
“No, what did he threaten you about?” Sabre spoke slowly and clearly.
“About Bailey … like I’d want that little whore.”
JP pushed harder with his knee on Scott’s back and asked, “Did you do something to Bailey?”
“I never did anything she didn’t ask for.” Scott snickered.
JP leaned over him, trying to block Sabre’s view, and popped him in the side of the head with his elbow.
“Damn,” Scott bellowed.
“I saw that,” Sabre said.
“No, you didn’t,” JP responded. He turned toward Scott. “She’s only fourteen years old. You pig.”
“Where did they go?” Sabre asked.
“They didn’t say and I didn’t ask.”
JP let Scott up but not before he threatened to return and do some serious damage if he ever touched Bailey again.
JP walked Sabre to her car. “You need to see a doctor.”
“No. I’m fine.”
“I still think you should be checked out.” JP examined her face for damage.
“I’m really okay. I didn’t hit my head or anything. I was going to go see my mother tonight, but I’ll cancel. I’m just going to go home, take a hot bath, and get some rest.”
JP looked at her and frowned.
“Really. Just promise to call immediately if you turn up any information on Cole or Bailey.”
Sabre called her mother on her way home. She canceled the visit and assured her she would try to make it next weekend.
JP drove off to find Apollo and Bailey. This was the first he or Sabre had heard of Apollo, or any boyfriend for that matter. In fact, Bailey had denied having a boyfriend, but she was a teenager and not exactly forthcoming with any information.
JP drove to see Shellie Ingraham, Bailey’s best friend according to the social worker’s report. As he walked up to the door he heard a beautiful, melodic young voice radiate from inside. He waited until she finished the song before knocking, enjoying every note. A dishwater blonde teenager opened the door. Her soft round features added to her innocent look. Though they matched the voice in their purity, she appeared much younger than her voice.
“Hello,” she said.
“Are you Shellie Ingraham?”
“Yes.”
Just then a man walked up to the door. He was holding a guitar and was apparently providing the back-up music for Shellie’s singing. “Hello, I’m Jim Boller, Shellie’s stepfather. Can I help you?”
“My name is JP Torn. I’m an investigator for Bailey Lecy’s attorney. We’re trying to help her through a rough time. I’d like to ask Shellie some questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Come on in.”
Jim spoke briefly with JP, offered him something to drink, and then left them sitting at the table. He positioned himself across the room. JP was impressed with his protectiveness toward his daughter.
JP turned to Shellie. “When did you last see Bailey?”
“About a week ago, a few days before they took her to Polinsky.”
“I understand you two are best friends. Is that correct?”
“We’re not as close as we used to be.”
“Did you have a fight?”
“Not really.” Shellie said.
“So what happened?”
“I dunno.” Shellie shrugged her shoulders.
“Did it have something to do with Apollo?”
Shellie looked up, wide-eyed. “You know about him?”
“Yes, we do, and we’re worried about Bailey. She’s missing and we think she’s with Apollo.” JP waited to see Shellie’s reaction, but her expression didn’t change. “What can you tell me about him?”
“Not much. I don’t know him that well. He was from a different school and I only saw him a couple of times.”
“What does Apollo look like?”
“I dunno.” She wrinkled her nose. “He’s kinda cute, I guess. He’s short, has dark hair. He had a Mohawk the first time I saw him, but the last time he was wearing a baseball cap so I don’t know if he still had it.” She closed her eyes for a second as if to picture him in her mind. “Oh, and he wears round glasses, like Harry Potter.”
“Anything else?” JP asked.
“He’s built pretty good, like he works out a lot.” She snapped her head toward JP. “Oh, and he has a tattoo of a star on his wrist.”
“A star? How many points does the star have?”
“Just four, I think. Well, I think it was a star. It was about this long.” She held her fingers about three inches apart. “But two of the points were only a couple of inches long. Maybe it wasn’t a star, maybe it was a cross, but it had points like a star. Oh, and it had something written inside it. Numbers, I think. I couldn’t tell for sure.”
“So you only saw him twice?”
“Yeah, that was it.”
“When did you last see him?”
“It’s been a few months. Bailey and I didn’t hang out much after she met him.”
“Why is that?”
“She was different. She spent all her time with him. She started dressing differently, wearing black all the time like Apollo, and then she stopped going to school. I didn’t see her at all for four or five months until after …” She looked toward her stepfather. He was facing them as he quietly picked on his guitar.
“Until after what?” JP asked.
“Nothing,” Shellie said.
“It’s really important that we find her.”
Shellie looked concerned. “How long has she been missing?”
“Not long, but she ran away and we’re afraid she may be in danger.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
JP believed her but was certain she knew more than she was telling. He continued to try to get more information about Apollo and Bailey, but Shellie seemingly didn’t know anything else. “Did you ever go to Bailey’s house?”
“I used to when we were little, but I’m not allowed to go anymore.”
“Why’s that?”
“Ever since Bailey’s mom started hanging out with Scott, my dad hasn’t let me go there.”
“But you’ve gone anyway?” JP had a hunch.
Shellie glanced toward her father and lowered her voice. “Just once.” She wrinkled her face in disgust.
“What happened?”
“Scott’s a creep.”
“What did he do, Shellie?”
“He kept touching my hair and acting all lovey-dovey.” Shellie clenched her teeth, turned her lip down, and shook her head and shoulders. “Aachh,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “I left and never went back.”
JP saw Jim look toward them. “And you didn’t tell your parents?” JP asked.
“No, I’d be in big trouble and Jim would probably kill him.”
JP nodded, thinking he’d like to do the same. When JP stood up, Jim walked back to the table. JP handed them each a business card and then, looking first at Shellie and then at Jim, said, “If you hear from her or think of anything else that may be helpful, please call me.”
12
But Cole, little Cole, was only eight years old and he had been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Where could he be? Did some pervert have him in his clutches? She made herself stop the thought. It was unbearable. She sat up and flung her legs over the side of the bed, paused for a second and then stood up and ran her hands across the pink sheets, removing the wrinkles. She laid her pillow on the side of the bed that hadn’t been slept in, straightened the blanket, and then pulled the soft, pink handmade quilt across the blanket and sheets. Five pillows with matching quilted covers were stacked on the right side of the bed. She put them in place. The pillows covered half the bed, but the bed was still easy to fix since she slept alone and used only half of it. There were some advantages to living alone.
Sabre brushed her teeth and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She grabbed her sweatshirt and phone and dashed out the door to her car, calling JP as she walked to the garage knowing full well he had probably been up for a couple of hours already.
“Did you wake the roosters up this morning?” JP asked.
“I couldn’t sleep. I was too worried about Bailey and Cole.”
“Me, too. I’m on my way now to retrace the ground near his foster home.”
“Can I go with you?”
JP hesitated for a second, then said, “Sure, why not?”
Sabre drove to meet JP, fighting the demons that were reminding her of all the awful things that may have happened to those children. She tried to think positively, but she knew the longer it took to find Cole, the less likely it would be to find him alive. She spotted a coffee kiosk and ordered a medium decaf coffee.
The Advocate - 03 - The Advocate's Conviction Page 5
