by C. M. Sutter
Chapter 12
Robert
With the seven pages of paperwork read and signed, Robert Lynch was given a cloth sack and five minutes for a final gathering of his personal belongings from the cell. He pulled ten years of faded photographs off the walls and rubber banded the two dozen letters he had saved. He dropped a few toiletries and several magazines into the sack and had a final look at the six-by-eight-foot space that had been his home for the last ten years. He nodded and was escorted to the discharge holding area where his clothing, wallet, and watch had been stored for a decade. Robert signed the final release papers, changed into his street clothes, and dropped the wallet into his pocket. He shoved everything else into the sack, then continued on with the guard. They reached and passed through four sets of heavy steel doors before the final one opened to the freedom that awaited him.
“Good luck, Robert,” the guard said. “I hope we don’t see you back here again.”
The command to open the two-story outer door was confirmed, and USP Atlanta prisoner #440286F no longer existed. Robert Lynch walked out to his first day of freedom in ten years. The solid steel door groaned as it closed loudly at his back. He opened his wallet and checked the contents as he walked out—eight bucks and an expired driver’s license.
His smile widened when he saw the rusty red-and-white pickup truck idling in the outer courtyard of the visitors’ parking area. The driver’s-side window opened, and Tony, his younger brother by two years, popped his head out and grinned. He looked up from the driver’s seat and flipped off the guard watching them from the tower.
“It’s about damn time I see you in something other than that ugly orange jumpsuit. Get your ass in the truck. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Robert pulled open the door on the 1995 Dodge Ram and climbed in. “I can’t believe you’re still driving this hunk of shit.”
“Hey, it’s a ghost truck. It isn’t registered to me, and the plates are stolen. It’s perfect as long as I don’t get pulled over. I stay off the main roads, anyway.”
Robert jammed his belongings in the footwell and gave his brother a hearty slap on the shoulder, then grabbed the pack of menthol cigarettes off the dash and shook one out. He lit it, inhaled deeply, and blew the smoke out slowly through his nose.
He stared at Tony for a moment then laughed. “What’s with the hair?”
“Always a critic.” Tony pulled the visor down and checked himself in the mirror. “What’s wrong with the way I look?”
“Just giving you shit, man. Don’t get so defensive. It’s just that I’ve never seen you with a full beard and hair that long.”
“And I’ve never seen you with a buzz cut. Was that their going-away present to you?” Tony pointed at Robert’s temples. “Looks like there’s some gray coming through too.” Tony cranked the steering wheel to the right and peeled out onto the street.
“Has to be the anxiety.” Robert rubbed his forehead and heaved a sigh. “It’s damn good to be out of that hellhole. I’m looking forward to making up for lost time, but first I want a greasy burger and fries.”
“You got it, man. Ma’s on pins and needles waiting to see you, though, so we better use the drive-through. Don’t mention we ate. She’s putting snacks together.” Tony leaned toward Robert and looked down at his leg. “No tracker?”
Robert chuckled. “No tracker, and my first parole meeting isn’t for another month.”
Tony slapped the steering wheel and laughed. “Sweet.” He tapped a cigarette out of the pack and lit one for himself. “Sounds like we have a plan, dude. There will be plenty of time to get the job done, have a little fun, and be back in Atlanta before anyone knows we’ve left.” He pulled up to the window of the fast-food restaurant and ordered.
At the house on the southeast side of downtown, Robert and Tony’s mother, Lea, their cousin, Mark, his wife, Pam, and their uncle, James, would be waiting, according to Tony. Robert had pictured them surrounding the table in that cramped kitchen and watching anxiously out the window for the truck to return. An hour after he’d left, Tony pulled into the driveway and parked.
“Looks like our company is already here,” Robert said when he noticed several vehicles parked at the curb.
“We have to celebrate your homecoming, dude. Come on. Ma’s waiting.”
Tony and Robert entered the modest white bungalow they grew up in and into the waiting arms of Lea, their mother. The family matriarch, and only remaining parent, hugged her eldest son and wiped the tears clouding her eyes.
“Bobby, you’re finally home, and nobody is ever going to take you away from me again.”
Robert embraced his mother and kissed her cheek. “That’s right, Ma, but justice still needs to be served.”
Lea swatted the air. “Let the good Lord handle that. I just want to enjoy seeing you here every day.”
James, Lea’s brother, slapped Robert on the back. “It’s been a while, Bobby. Let’s have a seat outside and get reacquainted over a beer.”
The men gathered on the patio. They sat on mismatched chairs under the sun-faded umbrella, each holding a cold beer and a lit cigarette.
James stared at the ground as if he were counting the cracks in the aged cement. “You know I worry about your ma. She’s the only sister I have. Tony has done a good job helping out since your old man got sent up for the second time. You heard he died in the can.”
“Yeah, and I don’t care. Just tell me what you’re getting at.” Robert glared at his uncle as he took a swig of beer. James was an outspoken man and someone Robert had never liked. He had a way of sticking his nose in places it didn’t belong.
“Well…you’re a lot like your pa. I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, with the both of you spending years in prison. There’s something in your blood, the two of you. You have an itch that can’t be satisfied. Your old man never took care of your ma when he was around. He beat her regularly, and he was a mean drunk. You need to be there for your mother, Bobby, and you need to control your temper and impulses or you’ll be back in prison sooner than you think.”
“I don’t need your advice, old man. Stay out of my business.” Robert stood and clenched his fists.
Tony grabbed Robert’s arm. “Hey, bro, take it easy. Sit back down. This is supposed to be a homecoming party. You don’t want Ma to see you upset.”
“I’m not trying to agitate you, Bobby. Lea’s my sister, and she needs both of you. The woman isn’t getting any younger. I don’t think she’d survive it if you ended up back in the joint. That’s all I wanted to say.”
Pam opened the screen door and peeked out. “The food is ready, guys. Come on in.”
Tony pulled Robert aside before they entered the house. “We’ll talk later after everyone leaves. Right now, just be cordial for Ma’s sake.”
“That man has an issue with me. He likes to get under my skin—always has.”
By four o’clock, the visitors had left, and Lea retreated to the living room to relax on her favorite corduroy recliner and watch TV. Robert and Tony sank down on the couch and got comfortable, their feet resting on the coffee table.
“What do you want to watch, Ma?”
With the remote in hand, Robert channel surfed until Lea told him to stop on a nature show. They watched the program with her until she dozed off. Robert turned off the television when Tony stood.
“Let’s talk in the garage,” Tony said as he glanced at his sleeping mother. “We have plenty to discuss privately.”
Robert nodded and quietly closed the kitchen door at his back. “So, are you sure it’s her?”
Tony smirked as he turned on the garage light and pulled out two folding camp chairs that were leaning against the wall. “Here”—he pointed—“have a seat. I’ve been tracking this bitch for nearly ten years. Damn straight, it’s her.” He rose and went to the row of shelves at the back of the garage. He reached for the cardboard box on the second shelf. “Check this out.” Tony lifted the lid and passed the box
to Robert. “I’ve saved these newspaper clippings over the years. How stupid can someone be to give away their whereabouts—especially after your threats? Did she think you were kidding? I’ve tracked her to Nashville, Chicago, and now she lives in some shit hole small town in Wisconsin.”
“Small town? Then getting to her should be a piece of cake. Nothing ever came to light about Louise and Joy?”
Tony shrugged and laughed. “Never heard a word, but what a night, right? Those two hookers were a handful, that’s for sure. In my opinion, hookers are still the best way to go. Shit happens, and nobody cares if they go missing. It’s the price they pay for living that kind of lifestyle.” Tony huffed. “I still have scars on my face from Louise.”
Robert tugged on his brother’s beard. “That explains the hair. A little self-conscious, are we?”
“Whatever. Anyway, if we hadn’t caught up to them before they found help, we would have both ended up in prison a lot earlier than you did. Bad move, bro. Never do the deed in your own backyard. And if you’re going to do the crime, try not to do the time.”
“Yeah, nice advice in hindsight, but I didn’t know that one would end up living. I cut her neck twice for crissakes.”
“She was a tough one, but she won’t be so lucky next time.”
Chapter 13
“Hey, Dad, are you getting excited to visit us in gray, gloomy Wisconsin?” I sat on the recliner with my feet up after work and made the weekly call to my old man in California. The patio was lit up with spotlights even though it was too cold to be outside deliberately. Looking out helped me envision how nice the backyard would look next summer. Hopefully, that would get me through the six long months of winter.
“I sure am, honey. In a week and a half, I’ll be there driving you girls crazy. I’m looking forward to seeing your new place, Jade. From your description, it sounds beautiful.”
I grinned. “Hang on, I’m putting you on speakerphone. Amber has a few questions for you.” I pushed the speakerphone icon and set my phone on the coffee table.
“Hi, Daddy.” Amber handed me a cup of tea, then sat on the couch with Spaz tucked under her left arm.
“Hi, pumpkin. What do you need to know?”
Amber chuckled. “That was funny, Dad—pumpkin, Thanksgiving. Anyway, I’m planning the menu. So far we have turkey, of course, dressing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes and gravy, unless you’d rather have sweet potatoes.”
“I’d rather have mashed potatoes and gravy.”
“Okay, what else?” Amber had a pencil and paper at the ready.
“Hot biscuits, corn, and pumpkin pie.”
“Hmmm…easy enough. Do you want finger food too, like pickles, olives, cherry tomatoes, or celery sticks?”
“That’s up to you, honey. I’m good with the basics. No need to fuss.”
“That’s what Jade said too. Okay, sounds good. I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, and I’m looking forward to hearing all about your studies. See you soon.”
“Okay, bye.” Amber scooted off with her pencil and paper, probably to go check what was in the pantry.
I clicked off of speaker phone and re-engaged my earbud. “Hey, Dad, I need your opinion about something.” I reached for my cup and bobbed the tea bag up and down.
“Go ahead, shoot.”
“What’s your take on psychics, as in the kind that help law enforcement?”
“Funny you should ask.”
“Really? Have you guys used them before?”
“We are right now on a case where an eight-year-old was abducted from her bed while she slept.”
“Oh my God, that’s awful. Why did you guys bring in a psychic?”
“We had nothing to go on, honey. This case has been dragging along for more than a week with no clues and no evidence. There aren’t any ransom demands, which is a bad sign in itself, and we’ve exhausted what few leads we started with. We’ve used psychics in the past on occasion. Sometimes they can help, and sometimes they can’t. They aren’t a lot different than when we go off our hunches except the way they can pinpoint things to the last detail. It’s almost spooky. Are you going that route?”
“Nah—this is completely different. The psychic here is dreaming of women getting murdered. She says it’s very real and disturbing, but we have nothing to investigate.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a tough one. Bring her in on a case you already have and see how she does.”
I laughed and set my cup on the end table. “Must run in the family.”
“What’s that?”
“Amber said the same thing. We’re short on serious crimes this month. We’re kind of in a killing drought.”
“Be thankful for that, honey. Let’s talk more about it when I’m there. By then, we should know how our psychic did on our current case.”
“Sounds good, Dad. l love you.”
“Love you too.”
I clicked off and joined Amber in the kitchen. It was time to swap out the tea for a nice glass of red wine.
Amber set the can of cranberry sauce she was holding on the counter and reached for me. She gave me a tight squeeze.
I laughed and hugged her back. “What was that for?”
“For being a wonderful big sister. I love living with you, Jade, and I’m so happy Dad is coming for Thanksgiving. He sounded great, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he did. He’s living the life, Sis. San Bernardino County isn’t a half-bad place to live and work. Plus, they don’t get snow.”
“They get earthquakes and wildfires, though. I don’t think any location is absolutely perfect.”
I smiled dreamily. “Yeah, but no winter and a house in the foothills like Dad’s is damn near perfect in my opinion.”
Chapter 14
Kate was scheduled to arrive in thirty minutes. I checked my messages, returned whatever calls needed to be made, and cleared my desk—again. I figured if I took care of the tedious things every morning before I got my day started, I wouldn’t have a mountain of paperwork constantly growing on my workspace.
I did a quick check of my emails to see if any looked important. I opened the one from the courthouse that showed Mandy’s trial was scheduled to resume next Monday and would be in closed court going forward. I figured as much. No reporters and no cameras would be allowed in the courtroom after the commotion that had unfolded yesterday. I made sure to enter on my desk calendar Mandy’s follow-up appointment with the doctor in ten days too.
After logging off my email account, I put my computer in sleep mode and got up. At the beverage station, I checked our tea selection and filled the basket with new varieties for Kate to choose from. I started a fresh pot of coffee and got busy with the few documents I needed to sign and file away.
I called downstairs and asked Billy if he would set up an extra laptop in the conference room for Kate and have the unidentified-persons website ready to go. He said he’d do it right away. Ten minutes later when he had finished, he peeked around the corner of the bull pen and asked if I wanted to take a look.
“Sure thing.” I pushed back my chair and walked alongside Billy to the conference room.
“Here’s everything she should need.” Billy sat at the computer and showed me how to operate the website. “Just drop in Jane Doe’s description the best you can, by height, weight, hair and eye color, and approximate age. You’ll have to narrow down the area or you can do a nationwide search. Just a heads-up, she’ll be on the computer all day if you take that route.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess I’ll run that by her. You can do it by state too, right?”
“Yep—state, region, or nationwide.”
I noticed the pad of paper and a pen, along with a carafe of water and a glass on the table. “It was sweet of you to do all this, Billy. I appreciate it.”
“Sure, no sweat. If you need anything else, I’m just a shout away.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I walked back to the bull pen to wait f
or Kate. She was set to arrive any minute. The coffeemaker beeped that it was finished brewing at the same time my phone rang. Jan was calling to say Kate had just entered the building.
“Thanks, Jan. I’ll be right there.”
I pushed open the steel bull pen door and invited Kate through. She greeted my coworkers and hung her coat. She selected her beverage of choice, and we headed to the conference room.
“Have a seat, Kate. I’ll show you how this website works.”
She set her briefcase on the chair to her left, opened it, and took out the yellow legal pad she had the descriptions written on. Her cup of tea was placed beside it. Next, she pulled out the two sketches Marie had drawn. She placed them within view to the right of the laptop.
“Okay, I think I’m ready. Now what?”
I tapped the mouse and woke up the laptop. The screen had gone black after five minutes of inactivity.
“All right, here’s the website. All we have to do is enter your dream girls’ descriptions. Do you have a preference of which one you want to start with?”
“I guess the blonde since we have better details for her. I want to know if she’s actually a real person and if she’s gone missing.”
Moving the mouse with my fingertip, I showed Kate what she needed to do.
“Hover over the drop-down menu. That will give you the description choices to pick from. There’s hair color, eye color, height, and so on. You get the idea. All you have to do is click on the appropriate descriptions and it will start searching. My question is, where do you want to begin, as in a location?”
I was surprised how quickly Kate had an answer.
“Definitely the Midwest. She was in a cornfield, remember? The ground was totally flat, no mountains or hills, and it was a country road. She had been detoured off the interstate. Isn’t there a way to know what interstates are under construction?”
I saw the sparkle in Kate’s eyes when we both realized that she’d made a pretty good suggestion.
“Not bad, not bad at all. You’re beginning to think like an investigator. Start entering all her parameters on the website, as far as appearances go. I’ll be right back.”
