Day of Atonement

by Yolonda Tonette Sanders

  There was still a calm feeling over him, but there was more edginess to it. “Weird. Sort of like I took a nap, but watched myself do it.”

  “You did great. I was a little concerned after meeting you yesterday. What did you do between last night and today to become so relaxed?”

  Flashbacks of his last encounter with Natalie raced through his mind and Troy felt his insides tingle. “Uh, I got a good night’s sleep.” He smiled to himself.

  “Good for you. Most people would be surprised at how much sleep or lack thereof can impact these sessions. Anyhow, I’m going to give B.K. your recording and he will go over it with you. I don’t think we’ll have to do this again, so do you have any questions for me?”

  “No.”

  “Well, nice to meet you. Best of luck in solving this case. Hopefully, I’ve been able to help.”

  Troy left without any real destination in mind. B.K.’s meeting with Bill and his attorney wasn’t until next week and, as far as he knew, there wasn’t any additional information about the baby that Edgar Campbell and his wife supposedly adopted. Last night, when Troy filled Natalie in on their visit with Herbert, he purposely left out the part about Herbert’s sexual molestation of Elana. Troy didn’t think it was necessary to share that information with his wife, knowing it could possibly bring up painful memories for her.

  “Maggie hurt her,” Herbert repeated. If there was any credibility to Herbert’s words, it would be revealed through Bill or Edgar and whatever connection they had to this mysterious woman named Maggie.

  Chapter 24: A Straight Answer

  After leaving Shauna’s, Troy decided to swing by his sister’s, still concerned that he hadn’t heard back from her. Tracy and Al lived about fifteen minutes away from Troy’s parents in a neighborhood that wasn’t the best and yet could have been a lot worse. Their house was small, maybe 1,200 square feet, if that, but it was very nice. Surrounded by a wooden privacy fence, it had a brick exterior and a huge yard with a mini basketball court that Al had put up in the back for AJ, but AJ was more interested in wrestling.

  Troy did not like popping up unannounced and spending time at his sister’s crib was not something he did often when he was in town. The last time he came over here was when he and Al had gotten into a fight. A fight, which Troy admittedly started, but Al provoked by grabbing on his baby sister like she was some rag doll. He figured it would be safe to stop by this time of day. Tracy, a schoolteacher, was off work during the holiday break and Troy was not concerned about seeing Al since he expected his brother-in-law to be at work. Unless, of course, Al had gotten drunk last night and was too hung over to go in. That had been known to happen a time or twenty.

  Troy had already rung the doorbell twice when he realized that it was after four and that Al could very well be at home, depending on his hours. As he considered turning around, the door opened. Relief fell over him when Tracy answered. “What’s going on?”

  “That’s what I want to know. You left me urgent messages and when I tried getting ahold of you, you never called me back.”

  “My bad. I was freaking out about something that still isn’t quite making sense to me, but I know I can sometimes overreact. Everything’s fine.” Sincerity was lacking in her tone as if she were trying to convince herself, in addition to him, that all was “fine.”

  “Is Al here?” He asked the question all the while reminding himself to stay calm, suspecting that whatever Tracy was hiding from him involved her husband. He glossed over her for bruises. There were none. Good!

  “Naw. No one is here but me. He’s working and the kids are at their friends’.”

  “Well…are you going to let me in or continue to treat me like a Jehovah’s Witness.”

  She seemed to hesitate for a split-second before moving from the doorway.

  Immediately, Troy was ready to leave. There was a depressing aura. The living room had all the perks one might expect in the twenty-first century—flat-screen, large sectional, and glass end tables, but there was a natural gloom that fell over the space. Maybe it was the drawn shades or the dark painted walls. Whatever the case, Troy was reminded that a house wasn’t always a home. He took a seat without being invited to do so. “What’s going on, Trace, for real?”

  “Nothing.”

  The sing-song manner in which she answered made him believe her even less. Troy spent the next few minutes trying to get her to open up, even mentioning the fact that for there to be “nothing” going on, she’d obviously shared something with their father and if she could share it with their dad, she could share it with him. Tracy maintained her stance that she didn’t want to talk, explaining that she thought she may have misconstrued some details and if that were the case, her sharing would only complicate things. Troy’s interest was piqued even further, but he gave up pressing. “All right, if you say so. I’m not going to ask again.” He was sure that he’d failed in his attempt not to let his frustration with her show. He would never understand why she stayed with Al any more than he would why their mom stayed with their dad. It made no sense for two beautiful women to subject themselves to verbal and physical abuse from men who should cherish them. “I love you and I’m always here for you,” he added, in a softer tone.

  “I know and I love you, too.” Her smile was forced, but her tone was sincere. “How are things going with Elana’s case?”

  “Slow. It’s difficult to say for sure because I’m like the third wheel in this investigation. It’s hard to let someone else take charge when the case means so much to me.”

  “Any idea who could have taken her or where she’s been until her body was found?”

  “I think we’ve narrowed it down to two suspects.”

  “Who?”

  Her inquiry caught Troy off guard. He wasn’t used to discussing his work with his baby sister. “Since when did you become so interested in the case?”

  “I’ve always been interested. Well, I guess not always since I was little when it happened, but the discovery of her body has everyone talking and speculating about where she’s been all this time. You got any ideas?”

  He toyed with how much to tell her. He’d never known Tracy to be a gossip. Still, he did not know who her closest confidants were and did not want to risk telling her anything that could possibly get back to Bill or Edgar. “So far, there’s nothing concrete to go on, but we are making progress. I’m pretty sure things have been narrowed down to one of two suspects.”

  The answer seemed to pacify her for the time being and she began asking how he and their father were getting along. She seemed pleasantly surprised to know that things were going well and yet there was a look on her face that Troy could not quite read. He thought about asking what was on her mind, but assumed he would not get a straight answer. They engaged in small talk for a while until they heard Al’s car pull into the garage. That was Troy’s cue to leave. He managed to be out the front door and back in his rental before Al ever walked into the house.

  Troy went back to his parents’ house only to discover it was empty. He knew Natalie and his mom had taken Nate out, but he assumed his father would be there. Probably working on the house again. With nothing except time to kill, Troy went for a run. No one was home by the time he returned about an hour later. Troy showered and started looking over his case notes again, also thinking about the things that had taken place in his session with Shauna. He knew there was something he was missing. He just didn’t know what.

  Chapter 25: Hot Topic

  On Friday, Troy managed to keep his promise and took Nate and Natalie to the Johnson Space Center. The three of them had fun and it was a welcome break for Troy, who stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading and rereading notes from the case file, hoping something would jump out at him that he’d missed before. Nothing did. When B.K. called and asked if they could meet that morning to discuss Troy’s session with Shauna, Troy had been tempted to postpone his outing with his family. Ultimately, he arranged to meet B.K. af
ter taking Natalie and Nate to the airport the next day.

  Now, the next day was here and Troy was trying to figure out how to break the news to his wife that he would not be returning with them.

  “When are you going to start packing?” Natalie had gotten her and Nate’s things together before going to bed last night. Though there were still several hours to kill before they had to be at the airport, she’d already told Troy that he could put the luggage in the car at any time. “I will be so happy to get home. The next time we come here, we’re getting your mother a new mattress for this room. I refuse to sleep another night on that one.” Seeing how she was stretching her neck while holding her hands to her lower back, Troy got behind her and began rubbing her shoulders. “Mmm. That feels good. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, that Corrine is getting Nate New Year’s Eve. Instead of going to church, I thought maybe we could bring in the New Year together with a romantic candlelight dinner.”

  “Babe, I have a confession.” He turned her around to face him, still massaging her shoulders. “I should have said something a while ago, but I honestly could not find the right time.” Her concerned expression worried him. “Relax, I’m not having an affair.” He kissed her forehead for reassurance, recalling how paranoid she was one time last summer that he might cheat on her after it was discovered that Aneetra’s husband had committed adultery on more than one occasion.

  “That didn’t even cross my mind,” she said unconvincingly. He had noticed her eased expression. “What’s up?”

  “I’m not going back with you and Nate. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I need to stay here and see this case through to the end.”

  If this scenario had been a scene in a movie, the deep tones of the dun dun dun music would have played and the screen would have faded to black…no, red in this case to indicate the possible blood that would be shed if Natalie were a violent person. Like a dragon spitting fire, every word out of her mouth singed his flesh as she educated him on the difference between wants and needs. According to her, he needed to get his priorities straight, quick, fast, and in a hurry if he truly wanted to return to Columbus to a happy home.

  “I’m sorry, babe, I—”

  “Hush! I don’t want to hear it. This wasn’t a mistake. You purposely chose to withhold this information from me. I understand that Elana’s case is important to you and I probably would have been a little more supportive of you staying if you had been honest about your plans in the first place. What else are you keeping from me?”

  He wanted to say “nothing,” but a quick reminder of the texts he received Christmas morning from her kept him quiet. He made a promise to himself that when he got back to Columbus, he would tell Natalie everything about his past with her. Disclosing that information right now could be dangerous.

  Natalie shared a few more unpleasant thoughts about his decision and timing before storming out of the room. The moment after Natalie left, he got a text message from her, almost like she had been a fly on the wall listening to their argument.

  ThinkN of u & wanted 2 say hi. Hope all is well.

  All was far from well, he thought while deleting her message.

  Natalie didn’t say another word to him the rest of the afternoon, but he was sure that she had plenty to say about him. Troy’s suspicions were confirmed when his mom later came up to the room to scold him.

  “Why’d you wait until the last minute to tell Natalie that you were stayin’?”

  “Mama, I’m not trying to be rude, but you don’t like me getting in the middle of things between you and Dad, so let Natalie and me handle this on our own.”

  “Your wife is tryin’ her best to be supportive of you. Besides yesterday and on Christmas, she’s barely gotten to see you. The least you could have done was communicate openly with her. I think that’s what has upset her more than anything.”

  “It’s not like she doesn’t ever keep things from me.” He thought about the sex of his twins. Originally, he wasn’t upset that she didn’t tell him, but now that his mother was attacking him, resentment began to build.

  “Boy you’re so bullheaded at times, I want to smack you!” Then, as usual, his mom began to adorn her speech with colorful words as she continued telling him exactly how she felt about his method of doing things.

  When Troy had had enough, he grabbed Natalie’s bags and headed to the car, but not before telling his mom as respectfully as he could that she needed to mind her own business.

  • • •

  The ride to the airport was eerily quiet. Nate, who was usually a chatterbox, had not said a word since they left Troy’s parents’ home. At first Troy thought he was asleep. A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed that the youngster was simply staring out the window. It wasn’t until they got to the airport that Nate spoke.

  “I see an airplane!” His face lit up as though he was finally making the connection that he would be flying home. “Is ’dat plane comin’ back to get us?”

  “No, honey. We will be on a different one.” Natalie spoke as she continued a texting conversation she had been having during the ride, which Troy assumed was with Aneetra and that he’d been the hot topic of discussion between them.

  Troy hated for Natalie to leave being so angry with him. He decided to try one last-ditch effort to smooth things over as he pulled into the parking space. “Babe, I’m sorry. I should have handled things a lot differently.”

  “Okay,” was her reply as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the vehicle.

  Her one-word response did not reek of anger as Troy had anticipated. It was hurt and that pained him deeply. He made sure that she and Nate got checked in okay and gave her the keys to the truck so she’d be able to drive home once they landed. “I love you, Natalie,” he said as they began to part ways. “I’m sorry and I promise to make this up to you somehow.”

  She looked up at him with those big brown eyes that screamed disappointment. “Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep.” She gave a slight smile and that was all the assurance Troy needed to know that, despite her being upset with him, things would be fine.

  After giving her a kiss and saying goodbye to lil’ man, Troy instructed her to call him when they got back to Columbus. He watched until they got through security before heading to B.K.’s office.

  Chapter 26: Ill-fated Adventure

  “How’d you feel things went yesterday?” B.K. sat at his desk casually dressed in jeans and a sweater.

  “Okay, I guess. That was my first time ever being hypnotized, so I’m not sure. Shauna seemed pleased.”

  “I am, too. We now know that when Elana walked out, she didn’t go too far. Both you and Elvin heard her cries coming from the front porch. You, however, provided us with one additional clue. You mentioned hearing a car door and I think whoever took Elana came to the house.”

  Troy could have kicked himself for not zeroing in on that piece of information. “Man, I’ve been investigating for a long time, yet I’m starting to feel incompetent. I recall sharing that with Shauna, but I didn’t think twice about hearing the car. I assumed it was a neighbor.”

  “And it could have been. We also need to explore the possibility that it was her abductor. Do you remember anyone who was supposed to come by that day?”

  “Nope. Well, Elvin’s dad. He was actually supposed to come by the night before.”

  “What about your dad?”

  “What about him?”

  “The other day when your mom and Lilly were in my office, I could tell that Diane was hiding something. I took her out to lunch during Lilly’s session with Shauna because I wanted to see if I could get her to open up and she did. She admitted to me that your dad was supposed to pick you up from Elvin’s that morning and that he never showed.”

  Troy guessed that his mom never shared that information with him because she knew it would only make him hate his father more at the time. “Did she tell you that his not showing was nothing unusual? My dad never
followed through with what he said he would do.”

  “Yes, she did. She also told me that he claims not to have gotten her message, but I tracked down the guy who used to work for him and he tells a different story.”

  “Look, I sense where you’re going and you’re completely wasting your time. Besides, what are the odds that the message this guy remembers taking was on the same day as Elana’s disappearance? That, in and of itself, is reasonable doubt. Whoever kidnapped Elana had to have a place to take her and my father lived with my granddad at the time. Actually, my dad was his caregiver. He would not have been able to hide an eight-year-old girl and take care of an elderly man all at the same time.”

  “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not accusing your father of anything. I’m simply trying to get all the facts. I don’t mean to offend you.”

  “I’m not offended. My relationship with my dad is rocky at best. If I thought for a second that he was involved with Elana’s disappearance, I’d be all over him like fleas on a cat. There was nothing odd about him not coming. It would have actually been strange if he had.”

  “Okay, fair enough. I stopped by Edgar’s yesterday. I told him about Elana’s baby and unless he could prove otherwise, I’d take my suspicions to the boys with legal authority to make an arrest.”

  “Wow. How’d he respond?”

  “Both he and the missus were appalled at the accusation that he could have raped Elana. She made this stink about me upsetting the ambiance of their home. I’m surprised the dimwit even knew that word. Anyhow, Edgar walked me out, but this time he was more willing to help, so he says. He’s supposed to be sending me confirmation of the adoption.”

  “What’s taking so long? It can’t be that hard.”

  “It shouldn’t be. If he doesn’t cooperate, it will make things a little more difficult.”