The Echo Man jbakb-5

by Richard Montanari

  'Josh, he wasn't really your partner. You were paired with him for one case.'

  'Doesn't matter. Today he was my partner. Today I let him down.'

  Jessica knew what he meant. She had certainly let Kevin Byrne down today.

  'And I didn't even like the guy.'

  Jessica left Josh to his thoughts for a few moments. She then filled him in on everything that Diaz had said.

  'That's ridiculous,' Bontrager said.

  'I know.'

  'What are we going to do?'

  'I'm going to try to find him before they do.'

  'I'll go with you.'

  'No, Josh. I can't ask you to do that.'

  'Well, with all due respect, I don't remember you asking. It's something I'm volunteering for. Okay?'

  Jessica lowered her voice as a pair of CSU officers walked by. 'Josh, there's a good chance I'm going off the reservation here. There's a very good chance I'm going to lose my job tonight. Maybe worse.'

  Bontrager took a few steps away, looked out over the scene. The medical examiner's blue and white van came rolling up slowly. They would soon be loading Dennis Stansfield's body into the back for transport. Bontrager turned back. 'Remember my first days on the job?'

  Jessica remembered them well. They'd been investigating a case that eventually took them up the Schuylkill River into Berks County. Josh Bontrager had been on temporary assignment. 'I remember.'

  'Kevin wasn't too crazy about me at first, you know.'

  'It just takes a little time for him to warm up to people.'

  Bontrager looked at her, offered a smile. 'Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania may not be a hotbed of intellectuals, but we do know people,' he said. 'I knew right away what a closed group this is. I was the new guy, and a really inexperienced guy at that.'

  Jessica just listened. She had gone through a brutal initiation period herself.

  'In those first few months I made a lot of mistakes.'

  'You did fine, Josh.'

  'No, it only looked that way. I can't tell you how many times Kevin took me aside and showed me the ropes. How many times he covered for me.' Bontrager put his hands in his pockets. He looked across the cemetery. 'Nobody wanted me to have this job. Not really. I heard all the jokes, you know. All the stuff said behind my back. People thought I didn't, but I did.'

  Jessica remembered well the hard time Josh had gotten. It was always bad enough for the new guy in the unit, but doubly so for Josh Bontrager, considering his background.

  'You toughed it out, Josh,' Jessica said. 'You've earned the right to be here. You're a damned good detective.'

  Bontrager shrugged. 'Well, it was you and Kevin who went to bat for me back then. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you guys. If I lose it all tonight, I can live with that.'

  'It might get worse than that, you know. Much worse.'

  Josh Bontrager looked at her. Sometimes, with his clear eyes, open smile, and seemingly untamable cowlick, he looked like a kid, some country boy who'd got off 1-95 at the wrong exit and wandered into the city. Other times, like right at this moment, he looked like a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department.

  'The Amish have an old saying,' Bontrager said. "'Courage is fear that has said its prayers."' He drew his Glock, checked the action, holstered it, snapped it in. 'I've said my prayers, Jess.'

  Jessica glanced at the crime scene, then back. 'Thanks, Josh.'

  'I'm going to lock my car,' Bontrager said. 'I'll be right back.'

  As Josh walked across the street, Jessica thought about what Byrne had said.

  It's always been about the music.

  Before she could make a mental list of their options her phone rang. It was David Albrecht. She answered.

  'David, now is not really a good-'

  There was static on the line. 'What's going on?' he asked.

  'What do you mean?'

  'I heard the call go out. Is there another victim?'

  'What do you mean, you heard the call go out?'

  'I heard it on the police radio.'

  'You have a scanner?'

  'Well, yeah,' he said. 'Of course.'

  Jessica hadn't considered this. It made sense. 'Where are you, David?'

  'I'm following Detective Byrne.'

  Jessica's pulse spiked. She waved Bontrager over. 'You're with Kevin?'

  'I'm right behind him. He was parked near the hotel. I saw a woman in the van. I thought you guys were together. I followed.'

  'Where are you?'

  'Hang on,' Albrecht said. 'Let me check my GPS.'

  A few agonizing seconds passed.

  'We're on Bells Mill Road.'

  Bells Mill Road cut through the northeast section of Fairmount Park, traversing the Wissahickon Creek just west of Chestnut Hill.

  'Do you know where he's going?' Jessica asked.

  'Not a clue,' Albrecht said. 'But I kind of like it that way. This is so-'

  'Which way are you heading?'

  'We're going east. Northeast, technically. My GPS says we're coming up on something called Forbidden Drive. Is that the coolest name of all time or what? I think I'm changing the name of my movie to Forbidden Drive.'

  'David, I want you to-'

  'Hang on.' A loud blast of static. The coming storm was playing havoc with the signal. 'He's slowing down. I'll call you right back.'

  'David, wait.'

  Dead air. Jessica hit the button to call right back. She got David Albrecht's voicemail.

  She told Josh what Albrecht had said.

  'He's on Bells Mill?' Bontrager asked.

  'Yeah.'

  'Where do you think they're going?'

  'I don't know.'

  Jessica put the location into the Google Maps app on her phone. Seconds later she had a map of the area. She really didn't know anything about that part of the park. She fished out her keys.

  'Let's get on the road,' she said. 'We'll figure it out on the way.'

  Chapter 84

  Bells Mill Road was a two-lane blacktop that spanned an area between Ridge and Germantown Avenues. At its western end, where it became Spring Lane, there were houses, but as it made its way into Fairmount Park it became wooded and dark. As Jessica and Bontrager drove, the night was cut only by the headlights of their car.

  On the way Josh Bontrager dialed David Albrecht's number twenty times, getting his voicemail each time. At the same time Jessica speed- dialed Byrne's cellphone with the same result.

  'Maybe Kevin left his phone somewhere,' Bontrager said.

  Jessica thought about this. 'No. He turns it off sometimes, but he always has it with him. He's just not answering.'

  Bontrager went silent for a few moments. 'Don't all phones have some kind of GPS in them?'

  Jessica didn't know about all phones. 'What are you saying, Josh?'

  'If we could slip through a warrant, maybe we could get a fix on Kevin's phone.'

  Jessica had thought of this. But it meant bringing someone into the loop. There was no doubt in her mind that an APB on Kevin had gone out. Police were looking for him and his vehicle. If she reached out to someone to help find him, she would be taking the chance that it would leak, and it would all end badly.

  She looked at her watch. It was 10:24. Time was running out. She had no choice. She knew who she had to bring into this. She called Michael Drummond.

  'This is Michael.'

  'Michael, it's Jessica Balzano.' 'Hey, Jessica. How are you?' 'I hope I didn't wake you.'

  'Not a chance. I'm stuck at a Halloween party,' he said. 'What's up?'

  'I need a warrant for a cellphone track.'

  Drummond was silent for a moment. 'What do you have?'

  Jessica told him the bare minimum.

  'Who's the target?'

  Jessica had no choice here, nor did she have a cover. 'Kevin Byrne.'

  Once again, Michael Drummond fell silent for a few moments. 'This is about your serial?'

  Jessica knew she was now on the re
cord with this. If she lied, it would all come down around her.

  'Yes and no.'

  'Spoken like a true politician. But I'm going to need a little more if I'm going to get a warrant. You know it has to go through the chief.'

  All search warrants related to a homicide case had to be approved by the chief of homicide in the district attorney's office.

  Jessica had no choice. 'He might be in some trouble, Michael.' Jessica heard Drummond take a deep breath, exhale slowly. 'I'll need his phone number and his carrier.'

  Jessica gave him the information.

  'I don't know if I can get this through at this time of night.'

  'I understand.'

  'Let me see what I can do,' Drummond said. 'Where are you?' Jessica told him.

  'Are you alone?'

  'I'm with Detective Bontrager.' 'Hang tight. I'll call you back.'

  Jessica clicked off her phone. She stood in the middle of the road, in the impenetrable country darkness. The road stretched into the gloom in both directions. Dark, forbidding, unknown, silent.

  Chapter 85

  Darkness.

  They were moving. There was tape over her eyes and her mouth. Her hands were still bound together behind her back with the plastic band.

  Lucy tried to listen to sounds around her. She heard the sound of the road beneath her. They were on a paved road, smooth, maybe an expressway, although she did not have the sense that they were traveling at high speed. Every so often she heard the sound of something passing. It was a distinct rhythm. Light poles?

  Underneath it all was the sound of the heater fan. There was no music coming from the radio, no conversation. Then she heard humming. She didn't know the song.

  Lucy rolled to her right, then her left. The movements were small but she could feel the plastic on her wrists shift a little bit each time. If she had strength anywhere in her body it was in her arms and hands. You didn't lift as many mattresses as she had without getting stronger.

  Left.

  Right.

  She flexed her wrists, relaxed.

  Little by little she felt the plastic start to give.

  Chapter 86

  Drummond called back ten minutes later.

  'Michael,' Jessica said. 'What do you have for me?'

  There were a few seconds of silence. At first Jessica thought the call had been dropped. She looked at the screen. They were still connected. She put the phone back to her ear. It was now quiet in the background on Drummond's end. He had either left or stepped away from his Halloween party.

  'I don't know how to say this, Jess.'

  This was not good, whatever it was. 'Just say it, Michael.'

  Another pause. Jessica heard the rustling of paper. 'I just heard from the Hudson County prosecutor's office. They issued a search warrant yesterday to the Mailboxes USA location in Jersey City.'

  Drummond was talking about the location to which the tattoos had been mailed from World Ink.

  'Do we have something?' Jessica asked.

  'We do. But it's not good news.'

  'What did they say?'

  'They got the records of where the material was forwarded to from Box 1606. The tattoos from World Ink. The package went to an address in South Philly.'

  Jessica waited. And waited. 'Michael.'

  'It was Kevin Byrne's address. The tattoos went to his home address.'

  Jessica felt the ground shift beneath her. She wanted to speak, but her breath had not yet caught up to her words. 'It's not possible.'

  'It's the only piece of mail the location ever forwarded from this box, under this registration. It was sent about a month ago.'

  Another long pause. Drummond continued. 'Half the department is looking for him, Jessica. If I take this warrant request to the chief they're going to use it to locate Kevin and bring him in.'

  'Okay, Michael. I understand,' Jessica said. 'But I have a favor to ask.'

  'What is it?'

  'I need a head start. There's an explanation for all of this. I just need to get to Kevin first.'

  Silence for a moment. 'I can't break the law, Jess. You know and I know that there is now a record of us having this conversation.'

  'I'm not asking you to break the law. I just need some time. Besides, who's to say what we talked about? Maybe we talked about the Phillies.'

  'How about that Chase Utley, eh?'

  Jessica took a moment, her mind spinning. 'All I'm asking for is a little window. Kevin is innocent. Let me bring him in.'

  The next few seconds were excruciating. Finally: 'If the office brings me into this I'm going to have to drop the hammer. You know that, right?'

  'I know.'

  'But maybe it doesn't have to be immediately. Maybe I can't get a cellphone signal. Maybe my phone was off.'

  Jessica felt a cool wave of relief. 'Thanks, Michael.'

  'Good luck, detective.'

  Jessica clicked off. She filled in Josh Bontrager on the parts of the conversation that he had not heard. She began to pace. The rain began to fall a little harder. She barely noticed.

  'Okay,' Jessica said. 'The killer was working toward this night for a reason.'

  'Danse Macabre,' Bontrager said. 'Midnight on Halloween.'

  'Right. The killer is doing this for Christa-Marie. Why?'

  Bontrager thought for a moment. 'If he is true to form he's going to kill one more person to fill in the last note.'

  'If this is all coming down to Christa-Marie, there must be a connection.'

  'She can't be a target, though. She was convicted of murder. She didn't get away with anything, not like the other victims.'

  'Unless there's something we don't know about,' Jessica said.

  'I'm scared that I made a mistake,' Byrne had said.

  Jessica took out her phone again. She called a man named Gary Peters, a friend of hers who worked the city desk at the Inquirer. They got their pleasantries quickly out of the way.

  'What do you need?'

  'I need you to check something for me.'

  'Shoot.'

  'I need you to look up an obituary,' Jessica said. 'It would be in November 1990.'

  'What's the name?'

  'Gabriel Thorne.'

  'Okay,' Peters said. 'What am I looking for?'

  'I just need the notice.'

  'Got it,' he said. 'Do you want me to fax it to you?'

  'Can you email it to me?'

  'Not a problem.'

  Jessica gave him her email address. 'ASAP, okay?'

  'On the case, detective.'

  Two minutes later Jessica's phone dinged with the arrival of the email. She tapped it, opened it. It was a. pdf file from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

  Prominent Psychiatrist Dead at 58.

  Jessica quickly skimmed the obituary, soon finding what she was looking for.

  '"Services will be held at St. Stanislaus, followed by interment at the Briarcliff Cemetery,'" she read out.

  'Does it have an address?' Bontrager asked.

  Jessica had to enlarge the image. Her eyes scanned the file. 'Here it is. It's at 122 Sawmill Road.'

  They looked at each other. 'Any ideas where that is?' Bontrager asked.

  'No,' Jessica said. 'Hang on.'

  She tapped over to her Google Maps app, put in the address. Soon a map appeared with a big red push pin at the center.

  'Oh hello.'

  'Where is it?' Bontrager asked.

  Briarcliff Cemetery was a small suburban graveyard that abutted a number of large estates. One of them belonged to Christa-Marie Schцnburg.

  They turned onto Sawmill Road. The darkness was complete. A fine mist coated the ground; the headlights barely cut through the miasma. The road was serpentine, and more than once Jessica had to slow the car to a crawl. According to the GPS the back entrance to Briarwood Cemetery was approximately a mile ahead.

  They took a slow bend to the right.

  'Stop!' Bontrager yelled.

  Jessica hit the brakes. 'What is it
?'

  'Back up.'

  Jessica put the car in reverse. She backed up slowly for fifty feet or so. As she did, she saw what had caught Josh's eye. On the right side of the road were tire tracks cutting through the high grass, leading into the woods. A pair of small trees had been recently knocked over and splintered. Jessica angled the car so the headlights shone into the forest. There, about twenty feet in, was a vehicle, its motor still running. The lights were off but they could see warm exhaust spilling into the cold night air.

  Jessica looked over at Bontrager. They drew their weapons, exited the car, walked down the culvert, up the other side. As they stepped closer to the vehicle Jessica saw more of it. It was a van.

  A familiar van.

  Chapter 87

  Lucy Doucette remembered a time when she was about four or five. Her mother had worked for a few months at a Dollar General and the money had flowed in. They were rich. That Thanksgiving they had a Jennie-O turkey breast, gravy, Hungry Jack mashed potatoes. All her favorites.

  The thought of it made her stomach clench. She could not remember the last time she had eaten.

  She had made slow progress on the plastic band around her wrists. She wasn't anywhere close to being able to slip her hands out. Not yet.

  Ever since the van had stopped, a few minutes ago, she had lain motionless. She didn't know where they were or what was happening. It was better to be still for the moment.

  At first she thought it was her imagination, but she heard footsteps. Footsteps approaching.

  Lucy held her breath.

  Chapter 88

  They approached the van, weapons drawn. Jessica took the driver's side, Josh Bontrager flanked right, a few paces behind. The immediate danger was the threat from the back doors.

  At the rear bumper Jessica stopped, raised her left hand, made it into a fist. Bontrager stopped. Jessica put her ear to the back doors, listened. Silence from within.

  Jessica held up five fingers. Bontrager nodded.

  Jessica crept up to the driver door, counted down silently from five. There were no lights in the van, so the side mirror did not reflect the inside. She held her weapon in her left hand, trained on the door, slid her right hand along the panel.