Going Gone

by Sharon Sala

  Everyone wanted the girl’s story.

  The girl who’d run away from home only to find upon returning that home wasn’t there. It was something straight out of a Lifetime movie, and everyone wanted their own sound bite.

  Laura fielded the reporters like the pro she was. It wasn’t the first time she’d been inundated with media, and it wouldn’t be the last. The media were always about fresh blood.

  She was so involved in her job that she never thought about what Hershel Inman might do if she wound up on the local news. Her only thought was to protect the girl. And because of her diligence, she became their sound bite, along with a few moments of film footage on the teenager as the authorities finally arrived and whisked her away.

  Cameron was in Homicide adding a new map to the murder board when Tate stuck his head in the door.

  “Your girl is on TV,” he said, and then ducked back out.

  Cameron bolted for the break room.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  Wade pointed. “Hell of a deal. Some kid who lived in the area of the explosion ran away from home that night. She got scared and came back after not hearing from anyone, and turned up at the Red Cross shelter at the church. Laura is holding her own with the news crews, but I wish the police had gotten there before the media.”

  Cameron’s heart sank. He knew exactly what Tate was getting at. Every time anyone connected with the team got more news coverage than Inman did, it increased his rage.

  “Is that live?” he asked.

  “No, taped from about an hour ago,” Tate said.

  Cameron kept telling himself not to panic, but he was already calling Laura as he walked out of the room.

  * * *

  After the girl was gone, Laura retreated to the motor home with Bea, leaving the police to move the news crews along. She couldn’t shake the emotion filling her at the girl’s plight, and kept remembering how the teen had fallen into her arms, devastated by despair. She’d heard Lisa tell a social service worker that she had an aunt and uncle in Colorado, and two sets of grandparents, one in New York State and one in Massachusetts. It was the only saving grace to her situation.

  One day the girl would realize that she wasn’t meant to die that night and hopefully find reason for her life. But she knew that right now Lisa Welch’s only thought was for what she’d lost.

  As Laura finished up some reports, she was vaguely aware of Bea puttering quietly about the kitchen. But when she suddenly appeared at the little table where Laura was working and set a frothy mug of hot chocolate at her elbow, the ache in her chest began to subside, a reminder that the world does go on.

  “I thought you might like something warm,” Bea said.

  Laura looked up and smiled. “And sweet makes it even better. Thank you so much. Did you make yourself some?”

  Bea nodded.

  “Then, get it and come sit with me. I need some company right now.”

  Bea settled in on the other side of the table and took a quick sip from her mug.

  “Mmm, that hits the spot. I’ve felt chilly all day. I think the weather must be going to change.”

  Laura looked out the window. The sky did look a little gray.

  “This is certainly the time of year for it. So tell me, Bea. Where did you grow up?” She noticed absently that when Bea smiled, her eyes almost disappeared.

  “I grew up in Vermont, the baby of eight. I had five brothers and two sisters. I was a twin, but my sister died in an accident years ago.”

  Laura frowned. “Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry. That’s how my sister, Sarah, and I lost our parents. One day they were there, and then they weren’t.”

  Bea nodded. “Yes, I’ve thought a lot about death lately.” Then she laughed. “I don’t mean in the sense of offing myself. What I meant was that the older one gets, the more solid the knowledge that it comes to all of us.”

  “Is it true what they say about twins having a special connection?” Laura asked.

  Bea nodded. “Leah and I sure did. I knew she was gone before the phone call ever came. Before, I’d always felt her inside me, so when I felt her absence, I knew. Even though I was married, it was scary, wondering if I would know how to live without her.”

  Laura put her elbows on the table and leaned closer.

  “That’s amazing. You really felt it?”

  Bea shrugged. “It was normal to us, the knowing. We always knew when the other one was sick or had been injured. We could feel each other’s emotions. We just didn’t know what caused them.”

  “What a gift, to be that connected to someone,” Laura said.

  Bea’s smile softened. “I was that connected to my Robert, as well. In many ways, losing him was worse than losing Leah. She was my blood, but he was my heart.”

  Laura leaned back, struck by her honesty.

  “I think I know what you mean about that. After meeting and falling in love with my fiancé, I can’t imagine life without him.”

  Bea patted her hand. “That’s the way love is supposed to feel. Now drink your chocolate before it gets cold.”

  Laura smiled and did as she was told.

  Bea finished hers and had left in a borrowed car on a grocery run when Laura’s cell phone rang. She smiled when she saw Cameron’s name pop up on the screen. “Hi, honey.”

  “Hello, baby. I’m just checking in on you. We caught some of the footage about the runaway. That’s a really tough place for her to be in. Does she have other family?”

  “Yes. Both grandparents, and an aunt and uncle.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” he said.

  Laura could hear the tension in his voice.

  “Why did you really call?” she asked.

  Cameron sighed. “Busted.”

  “Did you find Lionel Ricks’ body?”

  “Not yet. What time do you think you’ll be home tonight?”

  “We had to set up a second site today, and Kevin is over there now, so I was thinking I should stay here tonight.”

  “Then send your roommate home and I’ll come stay with you.”

  She smiled. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but maybe I want to.”

  “Would you bring me a change of clothes?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. Text me later and tell me what you want me to bring.”

  Laura waited. “You still haven’t said why you really called.”

  “You were on TV today. Inman isn’t going to like playing second fiddle to a story connected to you.”

  A wave of fear washed over Laura so fast it took her breath.

  Cameron frowned. “Laura?”

  Her hand was shaking as she wiped it across her face.

  “I’m here. I just never thought—”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just want you to pay very close attention from now on.”

  She felt the first stirring of true panic. It was the same kind of fear she’d felt when the wolves were outside the plane, trying to get in. This was the same thing. She was alive, but until someone found Inman, there would always be a wolf waiting to take her down.

  * * *

  It was late afternoon before Hershel ventured out of the apartment. He had an appointment with a chiropractor Lucy had recommended and was hoping an adjustment would help whatever was wrong with his back.

  He found the address without any problem but was a little surprised by the neighborhood. It was very residential. Obviously the doctor had an office in his home.

  There was a small sign near the doorbell that read Enter. The line below read Ring After Hours. He opened the door and walked in. As he did, a buzzer sounded. Moments later a heavyset man walked in wearing a white lab coat.

  “Good evening. I’m Dr. Payne. Y
ou must be Mr. Leibowitz.”

  “Call me Paul,” Hershel said.

  The doctor smiled, and handed him a clipboard with a paper and pen.

  “If you’ll fill this out on both sides, I’ll be with you shortly.”

  “I intend to pay in cash,” Hershel said.

  Payne was still smiling, but it had yet to reach his eyes.

  “That’s fine, but I’ll still need your medical history. Wouldn’t want to make a bad situation worse. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Yes, of course,” Hershel said.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes to answer any questions you might have,” Payne said, and left the room.

  Hershel began reading the form. He had no intention of responding to anything truthfully and began randomly checking off boxes, making sure that whatever he marked wouldn’t cause a denial of services, no preexisting conditions that would preclude manipulation. He needed this pain to go away.

  A short while later he was on the table, grunting with every manipulation Payne made.

  “I just realized the irony of your last name,” Hershel muttered as the doctor pushed against a knotted muscle.

  “Eventually, everyone gets it,” the doctor said, and then moved to the end of the table and put effort into pulling first one foot and then the other, until Hershel actually felt the pain release.

  “Oh, wow. Whatever you just did felt good.”

  “Pinched nerve, I think. You’ll need to alternate heat and ice packs when you get home.”

  “I can do that,” Hershel said.

  “And no lifting. Definitely no lifting anything over five pounds until this stabilizes.”

  “I hear you,” Hershel muttered, which was the truth. He just didn’t have any intention of obeying.

  He left twenty minutes later with seventy-five dollars less in his pocket and a considerable reduction in pain. It was enough. He stopped at a pharmacy to buy some ice and heat packs, then at a bank ATM to get some more cash before moving on to a fast-food restaurant for a meal to take home. He planned to take it easy for the next two nights. Hopefully Ricks’ body would wash up somewhere within that time frame, and then he could finish what he’d come to do.

  * * *

  The urgency to find out what triggered Inman’s choice of victims was growing. The more time that passed, the more people who wound up dead, and still they had no more notion of why the first one had been picked than they did why he’d picked the last. There were no witnesses. They had no leads. They didn’t truly know what Inman looked like anymore. They didn’t know what he drove.

  The official police report that a serial killer was at work in the D.C. area had sparked a flood of phone calls. The P.D. was following up on them as fast as possible, but so far every one had wound up a dead end.

  The two detectives that Burch and Wells sent out on a balloon hunt had turned up nothing. Almost every place that sold helium-filled balloons sold the same brands and styles. It was not lost on the team that Inman had done the same thing when he’d purchased the flowers for his wife’s grave. He’d made sure there was nothing unique about the flowers or the card, and now he’d done it again. The balloons were as generic as they came.

  After receiving a list of the places nearest the dance studio that sold the balloons, Wade left to follow up on an idea. When he came back hours later, he was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Got the little bastard,” he said.

  Every man in the room stopped what they were doing and turned around.

  “Pull up a chair,” Wade said as he popped a disc into the computer. “This is a supermarket. The floral department is small, and the balloons are already blown up. All you do is walk in and buy one, which is what he did. I didn’t catch this at first until I saw the same man in a dark hoodie and jeans show up on the security footage from four other places. After that, I quit looking and went back to get copies. There’s no need looking for all twelve purchases. Not now. Watch this.”

  The scene was typical of a grocery store, shoppers pushing carts, kids tagging along behind or crying for something they couldn’t have. And then the camera caught the back of a man in a dark hoodie and blue jeans walking toward the floral desk. Within minutes, he exited carrying a happy birthday balloon.

  “Can’t see his face,” Tate said.

  Wade popped in the next DVD. “Bear with me,” he said.

  The next scene was inside a flower shop. A man wearing the same dark hoodie and jeans bought a happy birthday balloon and walked out with his head down and the balloon clutched firmly in his fist.

  “He’s making sure we can’t get a good look of his face,” Cameron said.

  Wade grinned and popped another disc into the computer. “Another supermarket buy.”

  This time they got a better look beneath the hoodie. It wasn’t definitive, but they could see the man was the right age.

  “Okay, we can all agree this is the same man who delivered the balloons to Ricks’ studio. But we really need a facial shot. Do you have one?” Cameron asked.

  Wade handed the last disc to Cameron with a smile. “You do the honors.”

  Cameron slipped it in and hit Play.

  “This one is from another grocery store,” Wade said. “There he goes, straight toward the floral department. He makes the buy, he turns around to leave, now watch...watch...boom! How do you like them apples?”

  “What happened there?” Tate asked.

  “Some kid knocked down an entire end cap of soda. Glass bottles exploded all over the place. It was still sticky walking on that floor, even though it happened last night. Obviously the noise distracted him from his need for secrecy. Like everyone else, he looked up.”

  Cameron froze the shot on Inman’s face. They couldn’t quit staring.

  “He’s lost at least fifty pounds, wouldn’t you say?” Tate said.

  “He’s also had reconstructive surgery on his face. Those burn scars are nearly gone,” Wade added.

  “And we’ve got a bald head and a little black mustache,” Cameron muttered.

  “Wade, make copies of that shot. I want them distributed to every beat cop,” Tate said.

  “What about alerting the media?” Cameron asked.

  Tate was the profiler, the one with the inside knowledge of how killers behaved. He shook his head.

  “If he knows he’s been made, I think he’ll run, and then he’ll start all over somewhere else and more people will die.”

  “So no to the media,” Cameron said.

  “For now,” Tate added.

  Wade hit Print and the first of two hundred copies started to emerge.

  “Great job,” Tate added.

  Wade grinned. “Got anything to eat around here?”

  Everyone laughed.

  Having their first real lead was a high they would be happy to repeat.

  * * *

  It was after eight before Cameron arrived at the shelter. He had just parked beside the motor home and gotten out carrying a take-out bag from one of Laura’s favorite Chinese restaurants when he heard her calling his name. He turned around just as she came out of the church at a lope.

  “I was watching for you,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck for a quick kiss. When she saw the bag, she grinned. “Ooh, spring rolls?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, and a few of your other favorites, too.”

  “Thank you! I’m starved.”

  “Are you okay to leave right now? We can go inside if you need to be there. Lord knows I’ve spent plenty of time in shelters with you.”

  “No, it’s okay. I called in another worker to take the night shift. And it looks like this is going to come to an end sooner than we thought. If nothing happens to change the situation, we got word they’ll be allowed to go
home sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. So let’s go to the trailer. It’s chilly and feels like rain.”

  “Good news. Lead the way.”

  She unlocked the door to the motor home and walked in, leaving him to lock up behind them.

  “I’m going to wash up,” she said, and made a beeline for the bathroom as Cameron set the bag onto the little table. He took off his jacket and began looking around, impressed by the luxuries that had been downsized to fit such a small space.

  A few moments later she was back.

  “I’ll get the plates and forks if you’ll set out the food. Do you want me to make coffee or—”

  “Maybe later. I’m good with a soft drink or water.”

  “I have bottles of lemon iced tea.”

  “Perfect,” he said, and began pulling the little boxes out of the bag.

  A few minutes later they were sharing a meal and the events of their day. They were almost finished when he laid his fork down and looked up.

  “Have you heard anything more about your runaway?”

  Laura nodded. “They contacted her grandparents in New York State, who of course thought she was dead. They’re ecstatic.”

  “Oh, wow. Talk about a miracle for them.” He reached for her hand. “That’s how scared I was when your plane went down. I thought I’d lost you. And then we found the wreckage, and the first person we saw was the pilot. Then the two bodies that had fallen against the door, and even as I was looking for you, I was afraid of what I would find.”

  Laura had stopped eating, and her hands were in her lap.

  Cameron frowned. “What’s wrong? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought up such a—”

  “I dragged the bodies there,” she said, and without realizing it, she began rocking where she sat. “The wolves were trying to get to Ken...to the pilot. The windshield was broken. I was afraid they would get in and get me.”

  Cameron felt sick. All this time, and he hadn’t known.

  “The door wouldn’t stay closed. I guess it was sprung or something after the crash. I pulled their bodies against the door to keep it shut. I thanked them for helping save me. I told them I was sorry.”

  Cameron jumped out of his seat and pulled her into his arms.