by Becky Durfee
Officer Fazzino stared silently at the picture for what seemed like an eternity, his emotionless face giving Jenny no indication of what he was thinking. She wrung her fingers under the table, bracing herself for the same reaction she’d received in Braddock. Instead Officer Fazzino just slid the picture back to Jenny and said, “So what happened in Georgia?”
“They’re still trying to figure that out,” Jenny said. “The last time Morgan Caldwell was seen, she was tucked safely in her own bed. In the morning she wasn’t there, and her body was found in a remote orchard a few days later.”
Officer Fazzino remained silent once more, rubbing his chin with his hand, staring blankly at the desk. “It does sound familiar,” he eventually whispered, the wheels obviously turning in his head. “It’s like these girls just vanish into thin air.”
Zack added, “It would make sense that the girls are being abducted by a police officer. Someone they trusted. These girls may have willingly gotten into his car, never realizing he had bad intentions.”
At that point Officer Fazzino turned off the recording device, causing Jenny to wonder if Zack had just taken things too far. The officer looked Jenny square in the eye and then did the same with Zack. “Off the record,” he began, “I’ve got to say…something never did sit right with me about that Orlowski kid. Don’t get me wrong…All the young guns are overzealous. The rookies always come onto the force ready to take on the world…But Orlowski…” Officer Fazzino shook his head. “He was just a little too eager to use force, you know? He was the kind of kid who’d kick down an unlocked door. I was always afraid he’d end up shooting somebody.” He let out a sigh. “I know we’re not supposed to say stuff like this about one of our brothers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did do it. He just had such an obsession with violence.”
The officer looked sad.
In an attempt to distract Fazzino from his sorrow, Jenny spoke delicately. “I was planning on retracing the girls’ footsteps today, seeing if I can get any sense of what may have happened to them. I can let you know if I get any more insight.”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” Fazzino shook his head and muttered, “I can’t believe I’m pairing up with a psychic.” The potential harshness of his statement dawned on him, and he quickly held up his hand and added, “No offense.”
Jenny smiled. “None taken.”
“It’s just the other guys on the force would think I’ve lost it if they knew. But at this point I’m desperate. I’m willing to try anything. The people in this town want answers, and I haven’t been able to provide them with any.”
“Well,” Jenny said assuredly, “Maybe the girls themselves will provide the answers.”
Officer Fazzino smiled widely. “Nothing would make me happier.”
Zack drove as Jenny’s phone squawked the directions to the dollar store where Lashonda’s car had been found. As the pair pulled onto Chamberlain Avenue, Jenny noted, “This isn’t as much of a main thoroughfare as I thought it would be.”
“It’s a small town,” Zack added. “The main drag won’t necessarily be all that busy.”
It made more sense to Jenny how an abduction could have taken place along this road without anyone noticing, especially at that hour. There was only one lane in each direction, and cars were sparse, even at mid-morning. Jenny surmised it must have been nearly deserted in the middle of the night.
Soon they approached the store and pulled into the lot. Zack parked in the space closest to the road, assuming that’s where Lashonda would have parked with a flat tire. He put the car into park and declared, “Well, this is it.”
Jenny stayed silent, which Zack respected. Her nerves tingled with anticipation, which she knew was detrimental to receiving a reading, so she did her best to relax. Soon she found herself getting out of the car and walking a few steps toward the building. Wordlessly Zack followed her lead, emerging from the car but keeping his distance.
“Here,” Jenny said. “It happened here.”
Zack didn’t reply.
Jenny closed her eyes, furrowing her brow. “I feel fear.”
Zack hung his head as Jenny continued to receive the message. She stayed quiet for a long time, focusing her attention on the image in her mind. “I see a ring,” she added. “A diamond one.” She squinted, shaking her head slightly, as she struggled to make sense of what she was seeing. “And there’s something about a cell phone.” After a moment she opened her eyes and added, “That’s all I can get.”
Zack rested his elbow on the open door of the car. “A diamond ring? Do you think Michael Boyd proposed to her that night?”
Jenny approached the car again. “In a dollar store parking lot? I wouldn’t think so.”
“Remember…they weren’t dating. Maybe she wouldn’t take his calls or visits. But if he was following her that night, she would have had no choice but to listen to him if she was stuck here with a flat tire.”
Jenny shrugged. “Could be.” She was distracted by a subtle tug that was beginning to stir inside her.
Unaware of Jenny’s feeling, Zack continued. “The cell phone is a good point. These were all young women that went missing. I would think they’d have their cell phones with them. Why didn’t they call people when they realized they were in trouble?”
“Give me the keys,” Jenny said.
“What?”
Jenny walked around the car, holding out her hand. “Give me the keys.”
Zack obliged, quickly running to the other side of the car and taking the passenger seat. Without a word Jenny turned the key and the two headed in an unknown direction. She turned down a series of side roads which were sparsely populated with modest old houses and generously sized yards. Eventually she stopped the car in front of a small white house with a large shed situated off to the side. She put the car in park and said, “This is it.”
“Why are we here?” Zack posed.
“I’m not sure,” Jenny admitted. “But this is definitely the place I was supposed to go to.”
Zack looked out the window. “The house or the shed?”
Jenny silently shook her head as she climbed out of the car. She walked a few feet into the expansive yard with her hand on her chin. After a moment she informed an approaching Zack, “The shed.”
“That shed’s just about as big as the house,” he noted. “You could live in that thing.”
She stared at the run-down white structure, hoping to gain some insight, noting the wood piled against the shed’s side and the old vehicles parked in front of it. Despite the sense of familiarity that undeniably nagged at her, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why she had been led to this place.
During Jenny’s deliberation Zack had begun investigating the mailbox. “The name on the box says Hawkins,” he noted. “Have you heard that name before?”
Zack’s voice pulled Jenny back into the present. “Never.”
Zack began typing the address in his cell phone. “Maybe we should give this information to Fazzino. It might mean something to him.”
“Good idea,” Jenny said as she pulled out her phone. “I’ll do that right now.”
“Fazzino.”
“Hi, Officer Fazzino, it’s Jenny Watkins.”
“Hello Miss Watkins. Do you have anything for me?”
“Kind of,” Jenny said. “I went to the dollar store where Lashonda’s car was found, and I got a vision of a ring and something about a cell phone, although I’m not sure what it all means.”
“Well,” Fazzino replied. “We already know about the ring. Lashonda always wore her grandmother’s ring, everywhere she went. When her body was found, the ring was missing. We put out BOLOs all over the place…oh, sorry, that means be on the lookout…We made flyers, put pictures of it on the news, made pawn shop owners aware of it…everything. We figured if we could find that ring, we’d have our killer. Unfortunately it didn’t get us anywhere.”
Jenny felt a twinge of disappointment, but she continued. “Do you know anyth
ing about the cell phone?”
“Her cell phone was found a few hours after her body during a grid search. It didn’t give us any additional information. No fingerprints, no mysterious calls. Her last call was a brief one to her roommate, which we already knew about.”
Wondering why she’d had these visions if they were of no use, Jenny felt a bit of reluctance to divulge the last detail, fearing it would be worthless as well. With a courage-gathering breath, she mentioned the Hawkins house. Officer Fazzino sounded as if he was jotting down the information when he replied, “That name’s never come up in the investigation.”
Jenny ran her fingers through her hair, feeling like a fraud. “I guess I’m oh-for-three then.”
“Keep trying,” Fazzino said kindly. “You might come up with something.”
“Hopefully,” Jenny replied. She looked as Zack as she added, “Maybe I’ll get something a little more concrete from Allison.”
Chapter 7
Zack and Jenny got out of the car in front of the house where Allison Pope had lived at the time of her disappearance. Jenny looked at the building, which appeared to have once been a single large house but over time became divided into two separate residences. She zipped up her jacket as she examined the place, taking a moment to see if she’d get any kind of reading, but she didn’t feel anything. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she turned to Zack and asked, “You ready?”
“Sure,” he said. “Do you think it’s okay to leave the car here?” He looked at the narrow, nearly deserted street, noting his rental car was the only vehicle along the side of the road.
“I’m not sure where else we would leave it,” she replied. With a shrug she added, “Worst comes to worst we get a ticket.”
“It must be nice to be made of money,” Zack noted.
Jenny couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess I’m getting used to my financial freedom. If I become a bitch let me know.”
They started walking in the direction Allison would have headed to get to the convenience store. “I don’t think you’re capable of being a bitch,” Zack noted.
“My husband would disagree with you.”
“Your husband is an idiot.”
Jenny bit her lip to stifle the smile brewing inside of her, although the conversation was heading in a direction she wasn’t comfortable with. “I don’t really want to talk about my husband.” With a nudge of her elbow, Jenny playfully demanded, “Instead, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”
“Well, you already know I’m lazy, irresponsible, and incredibly handsome. What more do you need to know?”
“Dear God,” Jenny said with laughter she couldn’t suppress. “Tell me about your family.”
“Well, both of my parents are still alive, and I’ve got a brother and a sister.”
“That’s right,” Jenny said. “Your sister made those really good cookies in the model home.”
“You remembered! She makes a damn good cookie, doesn’t she?”
“Hell yeah she does.”
“Her name is Donna. She’s married with a couple of kids, and baking is her hobby. It’s funny; she loves to bake, but then she always gives away the stuff she makes because she doesn’t want the calories in her house. That’s just fine with me, mind you. I’m always willing to help her out like that.”
“You’re a good brother.”
“I know, right? The sacrifices I make for my family. Geesh.” Zack giggled goofily.
“Is your sister older or younger?”
“Older. My sister is four years older than me, and my brother is right between us. I’m the baby of the bunch.”
“What’s your brother like?”
“Okay, picture me. Then picture the exact opposite. That’s Tim.”
“So he’s energetic, responsible and ugly?”
Zack laughed. “Precisely.”
“No, seriously, what’s he like?”
Zack twisted his face, admitting with disgust, “He’s just so gung-ho. When he was a teenager he couldn’t wait to join the family business. He was usually the first one at the construction site and the last one to leave. Everything had to be perfect. If something wasn’t done right, he would insist on doing the whole thing over again. Not me. I was often late to work, and as long as the house looked kind of square I was happy. Honestly, I never really did give a shit about the family business. It was never something I wanted to do.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do your own thing.”
“Tell that to my father. He adores my brother, and he thinks I’m nothing more than a big, giant fuck up. And maybe I am.” Zack shrugged. “All I know is I just want to be happy, and working twelve hours a day at a job I hate isn’t my definition of happiness. I don’t care if it would get me a lot of money. I’d rather live in my shitty little apartment and do something I like than live in a big house and work that job.”
“We need to turn right up here,” Jenny interrupted, pointing to the street they were quickly approaching. Zack didn’t reply, nor did he continue with his story. While she was confused at first, Jenny laughed when she realized why Zack was being quiet. “I’m not getting a reading. I know we need to turn here because that’s what the map said.”
Zack, too, joined in the laughter. “I thought you were being led.”
“Nope. Not this time.” As they rounded the corner, Jenny looked down at her feet as she confessed, “If it makes you feel any better, I know how much it sucks when you feel like you pale in comparison to your siblings.”
“The only way you would know that is if your inadequate sibling told you what it feels like.”
With a roll of her eyes, Jenny replied, “No, silly, I’m the inadequate sibling.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“Oh, believe it,” Jenny replied emphatically.
“How could you have possibly disappointed your parents? You’re, like, the perfect person.”
“I was born a girl,” she said. “And girls can’t play professional baseball.”
“So that’s really what you did wrong? You were born a girl?”
“Well, it wasn’t wrong. My father never came out and told me that he wished I was a boy. It was just painfully obvious that I didn’t measure up to my brothers. His bond with them was clearly a lot stronger than it was with me.”
Zack kicked a small rock as they walked. “I guess we’re just a couple of fuck ups then, huh?”
“Yup,” Jenny said. “A couple of crime-fighting fuck ups.”
Zack laughed. “You make us sound like super heroes.” He put his arm around her shoulder in a brotherly kind of way, pulling her in and giving a squeeze. “Well, hopefully I can make you feel better. If you want to see what a fuck up really looks like,” he pointed to himself with his free thumb, “I’m your guy.”
“You have a lower opinion of yourself than anyone I have ever met in my whole life,” Jenny noted. “And yet you seem almost proud of it.”
“Well, I’ve always said that fuck up is in the eye of the beholder.”
“How profound.”
“Isn’t it?” Zack bragged. “I’m a profound kind of guy. But if you think about it, there’s an element of truth to it. If you had asked Einstein’s teacher, he would have said old Albert was a fuck up. He failed out of school, you know.”
“That’s a myth,” Jenny said.
“It is totally not a myth.”
“I’m a teacher...well, I was a teacher. And it was commonly known among us teachers that Einstein didn’t flunk out of school, but he did fail a college entrance exam, which he was trying to take several years early.” She smiled at him with a glance out of the corner of her eye.
Zack removed his arm from around Jenny’s shoulder and complained, “You just bastardized my hero.”
“Sorry, but you were operating under false pretenses.”
“I was happy in my world of ignorance, thank you very much. But as much as I am not enjoying this convers
ation, aren’t we supposed to be getting a feel for what may have happened to Allison?”
Jenny smiled. “Good point.”
“Have you gotten any feelings yet?”
“No, but I haven’t really been trying to. I actually wanted to walk from the house to the convenience store to see if there are any viable short cuts. Remember she didn’t encounter trouble on the way to the store; she got abducted on the way home. I want to know what her most likely route home was, and when we follow those footsteps back I will focus on trying to get a reading.”
“It doesn’t look like there are any places she would have cut through. It’s all houses.”
“I think you’re right. I guess she just took the road the whole time, which would make sense if Orlowski was going to stumble across her.” Jenny pointed as they encountered an intersection. “We need to take a left.”
As they rounded the corner, the convenience store became visible in the distance. “Is that what we’re looking for?” Zack asked.
“Sure is. I’ll want to hang out in there a while. Maybe you should buy something while we’re there so we don’t look like we’re shoplifting.”
“I’ll have to put that on my expense account,” Zack replied.
“Buy gum.”
Jenny slowly wandered around the store while Zack picked up various magazines, nonchalantly thumbing through them and returning them to the rack. Jenny lingered by the medication aisle knowing Allison must have spent some time there, but she was unable to get any kind of reading. After several minutes of futile effort, Jenny approached Zack and spoke loudly enough for the cashier to hear. “Are you ready yet? You’re taking forever.”
Zack selected an automotive magazine and brought it to the register. After a quick transaction, the pair left the store. “Did you get anything?” Zack asked as soon as the door closed behind them.
“Nope. Nothing,” Jenny confessed. “Hopefully we’ll have better luck on the way back to the car.”
