by Robin Mahle
It pained her to see Nick admit such a thing. She’d never known him to quit on anyone or any investigation. This was different, though, and his gravitas had begun to border on angst. “Of course. I’ll go right now.”
She stepped outside where the officer had done what was asked and had begun to disperse the crowd. A brief nod of appreciation toward him and Kate continued across the parking lot to the registration office. The chime mounted above the door clinked as she walked inside. “Mr. Truleson?”
Truleson had his back turned, appearing to organize files behind his desk. At the call of his name, he turned to Kate. “What can I do for you now, Agent Reid? Haven’t you all caused enough commotion around here?”
“I apologize, sir, but we are trying to find a missing child. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
It seemed her message was received. “How can I help you then?” Truleson’s tone softened considerably.
“I’d like to get copies of surveillance video both from this office as well as the parking lot and any other locations throughout the exterior of the property.”
“It’ll take me a minute. I’ll have to sift through the past few days to find it. We only keep one week at a time, so you’re lucky in that event.”
Luck didn’t seem to capture just what it was Kate was feeling right now, but she acknowledged the man with a kind smile, regardless. The lack of empathy was astonishing. Then again, this was a world in which people rarely spoke to one other, but rather chose to text message or tweet or like on Facebook. It was easy to be emotionally distant, or in Truleson’s case, emotionally dead. But she’d come across his type plenty since joining the FBI. People just didn’t seem as receptive to the federal authorities as they were to their own local police.
Kate waited at the front counter while Truleson disappeared around the back. She watched the television that was broadcasting Three’s Company. She could just barely remember the show, being very young at the time. And, most of the humor went over her head.
Several minutes past, in fact, the show was rolling credits before Truleson’s return.
“Okay. This is all I got.” He was holding a disk in his hands. “This is your copy.”
Kate looked at the disk. She didn’t have a disk drive in her laptop and didn’t think any of the FBI laptops did. “Do you happen to have any flash drives you could copy this to?”
“Flash drives?” He looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.
“Uh, yes, sir. A flash drive. It’s a little rectangular thing that gets inserted into a slot on a tablet or a laptop.”
Truleson looked down at his disk. “Oh. No. I ain’t got that. My systems are a little outdated.”
Kate smiled. “That’s okay. Would you mind if I just use your computer to take a look? We really don’t want to delay this any further.”
“Certainly. Come on back.” He unlocked the latch on the small door that swung open from the side of the counter. “I’ll put this in for you.”
The images began to load and Kate studied the date and timestamp of each file, confirming that she was viewing the correct videos. “That’s his truck.” She pointed to the older model Ford F150. The video was gray, but she knew that was the one.
“Yes, ma’am. That’s his vehicle. License plate number VCF-8493. I write ‘em down just to be safe.”
Kate continued to watch the video. She saw Colton emerge from the back of the extended cab. He was walking slowly but appeared to be lucid. A hoodie obscured his face, but there was no doubt it was the boy. Stroud took his arm and pulled him close, taking control of the boy and walking him toward their room. She covered her mouth and shook her head.
“Are you okay, Miss?”
“I’m fine.” She continued to watch and then fast forwarded, noting Stroud’s use of the vending machine on more than one occasion that night. It was, however, the video of their departure that was of most interest to her. “They’re leaving.”
“Yes. He checked out at ten a.m., just like I told him. He didn’t come back in here, though. He left the room key inside and they were gone.” Truleson looked at Kate. “If I’d known you all were looking for him; if I’d known the car.”
She finally saw an element of humanity appear in his eyes. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” Although she did wonder how it was that nary an eyebrow was raised at the sight of a thirty-something man with a young boy who looked to be of no relation whatsoever. Then again, she was used to being suspicious of people. It seemed all this man wanted was his room’s rent.
The truck began to back out of the parking lot. Kate leaned in and watched it turn east. “What’s east of here?” She whipped around to ask Truleson.
“Not much, till you hit round the Lake Manassas area and that ain’t much bigger than here.”
Kate ended the video and retrieved the disk. “Can I still keep this? There may be something else of interest on here.”
“Like I said, that’s your copy.”
She rose from the chair. “Thank you, Mr. Truleson. I appreciate your help.” She began to walk out without waiting for a reply.
Her steps took her quickly back to the room where Nick and Dwight were speaking. “Hey.” She moved in toward them. “They were headed east. The manager said there wasn’t much until a place called Lake Manassas about forty miles away.”
“Could be where they were headed.” Dwight reached for his phone. “I’ll put a call into State Highway Patrol and have them be on the lookout.”
“That was still two days ago,” Nick replied.
“If he’s heading east, which would still fit in with the call Mason got from the hotline, we’ll get everyone on their toes and hope someone spots them.”
EIGHT
The room had been scrubbed of any evidence they could find. The tapes scoured for information. Stroud was the man they were after, but maybe, if he was getting some kind of help, that might be revealed. It was a stretch, but they seemed to be two steps behind and the team was growing frustrated, especially Nick. His fuse was short and his temper long and that was a union primed to ignite a hell fire of self-destruction. And God help anyone who would try to extinguish it.
A brief moment of reprieve arrived when the team needed food to see them through the day, and a drink wouldn’t hurt either. Kate sat at the high-top table of a nearby chain restaurant alongside her colleagues. “It shouldn’t be this hard. We know the car, we know the direction they were headed. We should’ve found him by now.”
“We know the car he was in,” Nick began. “If he caught wind that an Amber Alert went out, chances are good he’s already dumped it. That being said, don’t discount what the both of you did here today. We’re closer now than we were.” He raised his glass.
“My concern now is that he’s going to start getting antsy,” Dwight started. “If he thinks we’re close, he might accelerate his method.”
“You talked to his co-workers. What about family? Has anyone reached out to his parents? Background indicated they were still alive. And that he has a sister,” Kate said.
“Mason took a trip yesterday while we were at the dairy farm and spoke to Stroud’s parents. Father’s is in a nursing home—Alzheimer’s, so he wasn’t much help. And when she spoke to his mother, she did what most mothers would do.”
“Defended him,” Dwight said.
“Exactly. Even though her son had already been in prison for a felony sex offense. In her eyes, he seemed to do no wrong,” Nick replied.
“How could any mother defend such actions?” She was slightly biased, considering her once-strained past with her own parents. “What about the sister?”
“Haven’t found her yet.” Nick grabbed a newly arrived chilled bottle of beer and gulped it down. “Mason said the sister had been married a couple of times, a few drug possession charges, changed back to her maiden name, and hadn’t filed a tax return in four years. Her team went to her last known address, but she no longer lived there. She seem
s to have dropped off the face of the planet.”
“You and Detective Mason seem to be getting along well,” Dwight said.
“She’s a good detective. I think her team is a little on the defensive since we got officially involved, but they’re cooperating,” Nick replied.
Kate eyed Dwight, recognizing his intentions. Perhaps this hadn’t been the best time, but when was it ever a good time to have a life outside the Bureau? They both knew Nick hadn’t been the same since Georgia left. Kate had only met Detective Mason the one time, but she couldn’t get a read on her. Professional, courteous, but held back from revealing any sense of her personality. Maybe she had with Nick. It would come as no surprise. Nick was an attractive man; single, great job that paid well. But he was a no-strings kind of man and not a lot of women appreciated that quality, with the exception of Georgia, and she broke his heart. Most women Nick’s age were divorced with kids and looking to find a man who could commit to a ready-made family. Hell, most men Nick’s age were divorced with kids too and they were looking for the same thing. He was a man in a class of his own; an anomaly that required a deep understanding of what drove him. Kate knew. She knew because it was what drove her. The day he asked her to consider joining the FBI, Kate knew it was because they were so much alike.
After a final swig of her beer, Kate encapsulated what they were all feeling in that moment. “Let’s hope they’re making better progress than we are right now.”
» » »
Scott Talbot, a gangly teenaged boy who often couldn’t be bothered with the likes of his younger brother, now sat alone in his bedroom, headphones on and listening to rap music. He didn’t hear his mother shout through the door that it was time for dinner. It wasn’t until he heard her raised voice as she stood behind him did he realize she was there.
“Time for dinner. Now come downstairs, please. I’ve asked you three times.” Rachel turned around and headed back into the hall and down the stairs.
Scott pulled the headphones from around his neck, placing them on his floor. He sat there, leaning against his double bed, knees raised high, and stared off into someplace only he knew.
He wished he could take it all back; all the mean things he’d said to Colton. All the nasty tricks and pranks he’d played. He’d take it all back just to see his brother again and he sometimes wished it had been him. He was older, taller, and felt he knew the ways of the world and would have been able to fend off a would-be abductor.
But that wasn’t life. Abductors didn’t go after the ones who could take them on. They went after the young, the weak, preying on their naiveté and their kindness. Scott pounded his fist against the carpeted floor. His face turned red and his eyes welled. He blamed himself for not picking up Colton from practice. He shouldn’t have left him to walk home alone.
Scott glanced at his open bedroom door. He was angry with them too—his parents. They shouldn’t have made him responsible for his little brother. Colton was their responsibility and instead they trusted Scott with his care.
Finally, the tears came, as they had every day since his brother’s disappearance. His anger was directed at everyone, himself included. He just wanted Colton back and all his mother could do was make dinner and yell at him to come downstairs.
Scott wiped away the tears and pushed off the floor. His fists curled into tight balls of white-knuckled anger. If he didn’t calm down, he knew he would punch a hole in his wall. He couldn’t let his parents see him this way. It would only add to their distress and he didn’t want to be the cause of that. No matter what, they were all he had now, and he was all they had; their first-born son. What Scott couldn’t be sure of was if he would ever be enough for them.
As he wandered down the stairs, Scott entered the kitchen, where dinner awaited him. He noticed the FBI agent. Scarborough, he recalled. It seemed everyone was looking for his brother and no one was doing their jobs very well, not even the man who now sat at their dinner table in the same spot as Colton usually sat. He looked at his parents to silently convey this travesty, but their unspoken reply meant he should say nothing. They hadn’t told the agent, that much was clear. The seat had been left vacant since Colton disappeared until now.
“Did you wash your hands?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, Mom.” He rolled his eyes and sat down at the table. He was fifteen, for God’s sake. He knew how to clean up for dinner.
“Mr. Scarborough stopped by and will be staying for dinner.” Jake patted Scott on the back and took his place at the head of the table.
“Great.” Scott turned to the agent. “Hi.” A teenaged boy’s irreverent tone emerged.
“Hi, Scott,” Nick replied without instigating any further conversation.
They began to eat dinner and the sounds of forks scraping along plates filled the room with what would have otherwise been absolute silence. Scott directed a look to his mom, then dad. Neither appeared to want to speak about the elephant in the room. In fact, whenever Scott was around, they said as little as possible about the investigation. It was as though they thought he couldn’t handle it. Like he didn’t know his brother was missing and probably dead.
“So,” Scott stabbed his fork into the thick breast of chicken, “having any luck finding my brother?” He shoved a piece of meat into his mouth and glared at Nick. “That’s kind of your job, right?”
“Scott.” Jake aimed his sights on his son. “Apologize to him.”
Nick preempted the occurrence of any such thing. “No, it’s okay. He’s right. It is my job.” He looked to Scott. “I’m afraid I don’t have much new information about your brother. We are getting close to finding the man who took him, I can promise you that.”
Scott dropped his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Mr. Scarborough. I know you’re trying to find Colton and so is everyone else. It’s just.” He shook his head.
“You’re angry, frustrated.” Nick locked eyes with the boy. “I understand that more than you know, Scott. Look, you want to talk to me or ask me about something, if you’re parents are okay with it, I’m happy to tell you what I know.” Nick turned to Jake. “Your parents are just trying to protect you and shield you from the worst of this. But I think maybe if you knew just how hard everyone’s been looking for Colton, maybe it just might make you feel a little better.” He returned his attention to the kid. “And if I can do anything to make you feel better and help you get through this, then I will, without hesitation.”
“Thank you, Nick,” Rachel replied. “Let’s finish dinner and then, Scott, if you’d like to sit down with all of us in the living room, Nick’s going to update us on what happened today. You do have a right to know, a right to be involved, and I’m sorry. We’re sorry; we haven’t been doing a very good job of that.” Rachel reached for Jake’s hand and unveiled a warm but hesitant smile.
At the end of the meal, they gathered in the living room. Rachel brought in some coffee while Jake held a tray of cookies.
“In case anyone wants a little something sweet,” Rachel said.
Nick retrieved his laptop, which contained a copy of the surveillance video from the motel. “I thought you had a right to see this. My team and I were here today after we received confirmation that Stroud’s vehicle had been spotted. The hotel manager was able to capture Colton on video. Unfortunately, the manager was unaware of the Amber Alert at the time.”
The video loaded and a near-empty parking lot flashed onto the screen. Nick turned his laptop at an angle so that the three could see. “Remember that this was two days ago.”
Scott moved in between his parents as they looked on, waiting to see a glimpse of Colton for the first time since he’d gone missing.
The video played on and within moments, the hazy headlights of a truck cut through the darkness outside the motel’s office.
“That’s the vehicle we’re on the lookout for.” Nick pointed to the screen. He began to fast forward the video just a little, as it seemed Stroud remained inside the truck for some time be
fore finally emerging.
“Oh God.” Rachel cupped her mouth with both hands.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Jake said. “That’s Lyle Stroud.”
Nick concurred. Moments later, Colton stepped out under Stroud’s watchful eye.
“Is that him? Is that Colton?” Rachel asked. “Oh, my boy.” Her fingertips just touched the screen.
The video played on, showing Stroud walk inside the office and re-appearing moments later, only to step back inside the truck and pull away.
“Where’s he going?” Scott pushed in for a better look.
“There are other cameras in the lot. Stroud is about to drive to the front of the room,” Nick replied.
And he did just that. Stroud stepped out of the truck, scanned the area to ensure no one was around, and finally, he stepped around the rear passenger side and pulled Colton out.
“Goddammit. I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.” Jake’s lips snarled and his eyes turned dark as he watched Stroud lead his son into the motel room.
“He’s alive, Jake. We have to remember that at least he’s alive,” Rachel said.
Nick ended the video. “There isn’t much more to see. They left early the next morning. We know Stroud was headed east and we’re doing everything we can to find him.”
“But like you said, this was two days ago. Why haven’t they found them yet?” Scott’s eyes revealed confusion, hurt, and uncertainty. He was grateful to see him alive but took no comfort in the knowledge that no one could offer assurances that that was still the case.
“There’s a good possibility that Stroud has become aware of the Amber Alert and that he may have dumped the vehicle for another,” Nick replied.
“So you’re back at square one.” This time, Rachel’s irritation emerged.
“No. Not at all.” Nick closed the lid on his laptop and stowed it away again. “He’s left a trail, albeit not a strong one, but it will have to be enough for now. He can’t hide. His face is out there now and so is Colton’s. Because of this, I don’t think he’ll get away with staying at a motel or hotel.”
