by Susan Harper
“It’s Monte, Patrick,” Jack said. “Of course I was going to help. Chief knows it. You know it. And, like I told the chief, we live in a small town. Every case is going to be personal in one way or another. He’s just singling me out now because he knows I’ve worked with a civilian on cases, and it embarrasses him.”
“I guess that’s true,” Patrick said. “If he had really just pulled you off the case because it was personal, he would have had to do the same for me. I’m friends with Monte too. I mean, I’m not as close as you guys are, but still…”
Felicity made her way out of the car and looked out across the mountain range. They were not too far from a slight cliff, and it was a rather breathtaking view. It was late afternoon, so the sun was hiding a bit behind some of the distant mountains and cluster of clouds. “Beautiful,” she said. “I sure wouldn’t mind getting a cabin out this way.”
“We should all go in on a cabin together,” Jack said. “That would be an awesome investment. I’d rather do a cabin than a beach house.”
“I don’t know,” Felicity said. “I’m kind of partial to the beach.”
“Are you two done chit-chatting?” Patrick asked, waving his hand toward the cabin. “Let’s go.”
They began their walk up the steep incline, and as they went, Felicity pointed a good distance off. “There’s a car parked over there by that shed,” she said.
“Someone is definitely here,” Jack said, nodding.
Felicity took a moment to take in the scenery as they arrived at the cabin. It was lovely. Not too far from the creek, and once you made it up the steep incline, there was plenty of yard room. There was a wooden swing in a tree near the house, but that was not what caught her eye. “Look,” Felicity said, pointing toward a small tricycle. She scanned the yard. There was a ball lying in the grass, a sandbox full of plastic dinosaurs, and a few toy trucks lying around. “You guys, a kid lives here.”
The mystery of Edgar Uldrige’s death only seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. “How do you want to do this, Patrick?” Jack asked.
“Just knock on the door,” Patrick said. “There’s a good chance whoever lives out this way doesn’t even know that Edgar is dead. We’re probably going to be bringing some bad news to someone today.”
Felicity frowned. That was something she definitely did not want a part in. Informing someone that someone they knew was dead was not exactly appealing to her. That alone was enough reason for her not to take up Agent Ryan’s offer. Being in the FBI, she was certain that would be something she had to deal with quite often. Patrick knocked on the door, and they waited around for a moment. “Maybe they’re not home,” Jack suggested.
“There’s a car here,” Patrick said. “And a light on, and smoke coming from the fire place. Someone’s here.” He knocked again, this time a little louder.
Felicity twiddled her fingers. “You don’t think there’s a back exit, do you?”
“Not unless they want to jump out the window,” Jack said.
Felicity glanced around the corner, and she was pretty certain that Jack was right. The back of the cabin backed up to the ridge, so this door was the only way out unless the person inside wanted to climb out a window and risk falling down the edge of a cliff. Suddenly, they heard footsteps inside. It sounded like someone was frantically stomping around. They heard someone whispering and the sound of an interior door closing.
Then it was silent again. Patrick huffed and knocked on the door. “Open up!” he shouted. “This is the police!”
There was another long pause, and Felicity glanced to her left and realized someone was peering out of the window at them before drawing up the blinds. “Ease up a bit, Patrick,” Felicity whispered. “I think you’re making them nervous.”
Patrick crossed his arms, frustrated. “Is anyone there?” he called. “We’re here to talk about Edgar Uldridge. Can we please come in?”
Felicity could see a shadow from the other side of the blinds, and after a moment, it disappeared. “I think they’re coming,” Felicity said, and almost immediately, they heard footsteps on the other side of the door. She smiled slightly, ready to finally see who it was that was keeping them waiting. She could see from the corner of her eye that Patrick had been growing increasingly impatient, and Jack did not seem all that thrilled himself. They had been waiting for a good bit, but Felicity was certain the person on the other side of the door was merely frightened. Being this far out in the boondocks, Felicity was sure whoever this was had not been expecting someone to come knocking on their door at this hour…or any hour, for that matter.
“Hello?” Patrick called, giving the door a gentler knock this time. “My name is Officer Patrick. Please open the door so that we can talk.”
The door remained closed, and Felicity could see Patrick rubbing his temples in frustration. “Be nice,” Felicity warned, but Patrick didn’t hear her.
He banged on the door. “Open this door right now!”
The door flung open, and the three of them came face to face with the wrong side of a shotgun’s barrel. And, while that was certainly alarming, the scene before Felicity was almost comical. The person holding the shotgun was nothing but a teenage girl, her hair pulled back in braided pigtails. She was dressed in pink zebra print, Felicity’s personal favorite, and had on giant pink slippers. The girl snarled at them, though, like she was some tough grizzly man wielding that shot gun. “Door’s open,” she said, gritting her teeth and glaring at them with a ferocious look. “Show me a badge or I’ll blow your head off.”
Chapter 11
Felicity watched Patrick fumble for a badge. “See? Police,” he said. “Put down your weapon, right now!”
The girl slowly lowered her gun, but she certainly didn’t put it down anywhere. “Why are you here?” she hissed.
“Does the name Edgar Uldridge mean anything to you?” Jack asked.
“Maybe,” she said, looking quite defensive. “This is his cabin, if that’s what you mean. Unless you have a warrant, I think you should leave.”
“Did you know Mister Uldridge personally?” Jack asked.
The girl crossed her arms. “Why?”
“Are your parents home?” Jack asked.
“I live here,” she said. “Me and my son do.”
She’s so young, Felicity thought. The girl looked to be about sixteen. Jack suddenly piped up. He nudged Patrick and asked. “Doesn’t she look like our missing person?” he asked.
“She’s too young, Jack,” Patrick said.
“That’s not what I meant,” Jack said.
“Oh, wow, are you people finally looking for my mom instead of sitting on your butts?” the girl snapped, and she looked near irate about it.
“Your mother is Lilly?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, so?” she barked. “You here to tell me you finally found her or that you’ve once again given up looking for her?”
Felicity gave Patrick and Jack a stern gaze, a silent shut-up, and then looked at the girl. “Would you mind if we come inside?” Felicity asked. “We can sit and talk. I think we have a good bit to talk about.”
The girl hesitated for a moment, but she eventually opened the door a bit wider. “Sure, whatever. Come in.” She headed further into the small cabin. They heard a slight crying from a back room, so the girl dipped out for a moment, waving toward some couches by the fire. “You can sit down, I’ll be right back.” She put up her gun in a cabinet in the small kitchen before hurrying down a slight hallway, returning a moment later with a small toddler. The little boy was holding a toy car that fit well in his little hands.
The girl sat down in the rocking chair near the couches where the rest of them had sat, placing the boy in her lap. Felicity sat closest to her, and she asked, “What is your name?”
The girl barked back. “What’s yours?”
“Felicity Overton,” Felicity said. “This is Officer Patrick and Officer Jack. I’m a friend of theirs.”
“I’m Naomi,” s
he said at last. “This is Kristopher.” The little boy smiled up at his mom and then slowly slipped out of her lap to begin rolling the toy car around on the floor. Naomi crossed her arms, scowling. She clearly was not pleased about having uninvited guests. “So, how do you know my mom?” Naomi asked, looking toward Jack.
“We pulled a file on her missing persons case,” Jack said. “It had her picture in it. You are in fact Lilly’s daughter?”
“Yeah,” Naomi said. “She’s been missing for a few years now. Not that anyone cares. No one cares about a missing hooker.”
“I’m sorry you’re having to deal with that,” Patrick said.
“You’re not here about my mom, are you?” Naomi asked. “I looked out the window through some binoculars when you first pulled up. You’re Senoia cops—I saw it on the side of your patrol car. What are some cops from Coweta County doing looking at an Atlanta missing persons case and driving all the way up in Blueridge?”
“Did you know Edgar Uldridge personally or were you just renting a cabin from him?” Jack asked.
Naomi paused, staring at him. “Why did you say it like that?”
“Pardon?”
“Did you? Were?” Naomi asked. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m afraid Mister Uldridge has been murdered,” Patrick said. “We are looking into his case.”
Naomi’s eyes swelled, and while she fought it off for a moment, eventually the girl started crying. Her son came waddling up to her and he mumbled, “Mama.” She picked him up and held him close.
“I’m very sorry,” Felicity said. “He was close to you?”
“Well, yeah,” Naomi said. “He was my daddy.”
“Oh, geez,” Jack mumbled under his breath. They let the moment sink in with Naomi before pressing her for anymore questions.
“How did your parents meet?” Felicity asked, half-expecting to a hear an oops-I-got-my-hooker-pregnant type story.
“High school,” Naomi said. “They dated their senior year. Dad went off to college, and my mom dumped him over the phone while he was away because she didn’t want to be with him but had found out she was pregnant with me. Dad never knew. He wound up finishing school and marrying that Valerie woman.”
“Does Valerie know about you?” Felicity asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Naomi said.
“How did your father find out about you?” Jack asked.
“Someone he knew from high school, I don’t know that story exactly,” Naomi admitted. “But, basically, he ran into someone they both knew back then and he asked about Lilly, not realizing Dad didn’t know about me. Dad tracked Mom down, but they never met up. They just spoke over the phone for a while, and he started sending Mom checks to help send me to a better school up in Atlanta. He wanted to meet me, but Mom didn’t think it was a good idea. Dad got mad, and he wound up getting in touch with Mom’s pimp and hiring her out for a night so that he could talk to her. I was pregnant at the time.”
“And that’s the night he was arrested?” Jack asked.
“Yeah,” Naomi said.
“How did you wind up living here?” Felicity asked. “Did you come here after your mom went missing?”
“No,” Naomi grumbled. “Mom’s pimp wanted to start hiring me out too, so Mom called my dad and told him about it. He freaked out and came and got me. I stayed with Dad for a while in his apartment, but I got antsy. I wanted to leave and get my own place and start taking care of Kristopher, but Dad was afraid I would wind up back in the sort of position my mom was in. He wound up taking out some loan for this place, and he moved me in. He had it built pretty quickly, so it didn’t have power for the longest time. That was a new addition. Believe me, it’s a lot better living here now. I owe Dad everything. He stepped in and made sure I wouldn’t wind up just like my mom, you know? But, not long after I moved in here, Mom went missing.”
Kristopher had climbed down from his mother’s lap again and was now rolling his toy car toward Patrick. He hit Patrick’s boot with the car and laughed. “Nice kid,” Patrick said. “I can’t help but notice it doesn’t seem like the boy’s father is around? Have you considered filing to get child support for—”
“No!” Naomi practically hissed. “Why do you think we thought it was a good idea to hide me up in a cabin? How did you even find this place anyway? It’s supposed to be off the books so that Kristopher’s father can’t find me.”
“Who is his father?” Felicity asked.
“Mom’s old pimp, Sonny,” she said, and they all cringed.
“Sonny?” Patrick asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “I was pregnant when Dad came and got me. Sonny wanted me to start hooking after Kristopher was born. He got weird and controlling after I became pregnant. Abusive too. He said since Mom was his, then that meant I was his too and he could do whatever he wanted. That’s why I wound up pregnant. We started dating and stuff. He bought me nice things and all, but it’s not like I could have turned him down to begin with. I didn’t want to be with Sonny. And I definitely didn’t want him anywhere near Kristopher.”
“I thought you said Sonny had turned over a new leaf?” Jack asked Patrick.
“That’s what I thought,” Patrick said. “He runs a battered woman’s shelter and works at a boys and girls home.”
“Oh, I know all about that,” Naomi hissed. “That had been his plan around the time I was pregnant. He had been getting more pimps to work with him. He helps some of the women at the home, I’m sure. Got to keep a front up and going, but he said he’d use it as an opportunity to introduce the women to his pimps. He’d get more hookers that way. More hookers meant more money.”
“You’re telling me you think that Sonny is using a battered women’s shelter as a front for sex trafficking?” he asked.
“He used to talk about doing that. Called it his grand scheme,” Naomi said with disgust. “Don’t know what he’s doing at a boys and girls home. Probably trying to get them young; he likes them young. I was fourteen when he got me pregnant.”
“Patrick, we have to call the Atlanta police,” Jack said frantically. “If what Naomi is saying is true, those women and kids are in a lot of danger.”
“Not a lot of service out this way,” Naomi said. “Besides, are the Atlanta police going to believe you anyway if your informant is some sixteen-year-old girl with a toddler? You’re going to need proof before they do anything.”
Felicity’s blood was boiling. The whole situation disgusted her and angered her. Looking at Naomi, she felt sorry for the girl. How could anyone have put her through something so terrible? Why had Lilly put her daughter in that situation? How could a man like Sonny think it was appropriate to force a relationship on a fourteen-year-old girl like that? This entire time, they had thought Edgar was somehow the villain of this tale. A creepy guy hiring hookers and taking out sketchy loans… It had seemed like he had just crossed the wrong person. Instead, he was just a dad trying to take care of his daughter and grandson.
“We’re so sorry about what all you’ve been through,” Felicity said. “But, we’re going to try to make this right. Starting with finding out what happened to your dad.”
“I hope you can find out what happened,” Naomi said. “I might be able to help. I know Dad had just recently hired a PI. The police had obviously stopped looking for Mom, but he was determined. He used every bit of his savings to hire this guy. I have his business card. Dad gave it to me. Dad came up and visited me about a week ago. Told me he was meeting with the PI in a couple of days because there had been a break in Mom’s case and that he wanted to talk to Dad about whatever it was he found.” Naomi stood and scurried into her kitchen. She opened up a drawer and located a business card; she hurried back and sat right next to Felicity on the couch. “The guy works up in Atlanta.”
“You know what I’m thinking?” Felicity said to the two men in the room, who both looked up at her curiously. “I’m starting to think that Edgar’s murder had nothing to do with him p
ersonally. He hired someone to look into Lilly’s disappearance, and the PI tells him he gets a break in Lilly’s case and suddenly Edgar is dead. Sounds like whoever killed Edgar killed him because he was looking into what happened to Lilly.”
Jack nodded. “I agree. And, if that’s true, that investigator got made. And, if he got made, he could be in trouble.”
“We need to get him into protective custody,” Patrick said. “Same to you, Naomi.”
Naomi laughed. “With all due respect, Officer, there is nowhere I am safer. I have security cameras all through these mountains that Edgar set up. I have guns. And, this place is off the record. No one can find me.”
“Maybe,” Jack said. “But do you want to take that risk? We found you.”
“You got lucky,” she said. “I’m safe here.”
“If you saw our patrol car, why did you put a gun in my face and make me show you my badge?” Patrick asked.
“Seemed like a good opportunity,” she said. “I hate cops.”
“Well, aren’t you just a sweetheart,” Patrick groaned.
“My mom has been missing for years now,” Naomi said. “And the police haven’t done a thing. You guys are nice, though. Maybe you can find out what happened to her.”
Felicity nodded in agreement. “We’re going to try.”
Chapter 12
It took a lot of prodding and pleading, but eventually, Patrick was able to convince Naomi to come with them for her own safety. She had been incredibly convinced that the cabin had been her safest option, but with how easily they had managed to find it, Patrick had not been so sure. The plan was first to take Naomi and her son to the Atlanta police station where they could get Naomi on record talking about Sonny. Hopefully with Patrick’s rapport with the Atlanta department, he would be able to convince them to help with the investigation against Sonny.
That would leave Patrick tied up making deals with Atlanta, but the PI Edgar had hired would remain in danger until they could get a warrant out on Sonny. Initially, they thought to let Jack and Felicity head out in the patrol car while Patrick took Naomi and her son to the Atlanta station in her car, but Naomi’s car was out of commission. So, Felicity called up Jefferson. They needed to get in touch with the PI before the Atlanta police attempted to take over the case so that they could interview the man appropriately.
