Day of Atonement

by Yolonda Tonette Sanders

  But, why would a guilty man voluntarily give up his DNA? Troy came to two conclusions: Either his father was planning to skip town during the time it would take the techs to make a comparison or he had an accomplice, perhaps another member of M.A.G.G.I.E. and the DNA found on Elana’s body belonged to that person. “Hey, babe.” Troy was relieved to see a call from his wife instead of his mother.

  “Where are you?”

  “At Lilly’s. I crashed on her couch.”

  “Where’s everyone else?”

  “El, Nikki, and the boys are all upstairs still. Jeff took Lilly away for a few days so she could get a break from all this craziness.”

  “That’s good. I need you to go to your parents’ house. Your mom called me and there are some things going on that you should be aware of. Tracy and his attorney will be there as well.”

  “Natalie, my dad is guilty. Don’t be bamboozled like my mom.”

  “Listen to me, Troy. Things are not how they seem. You need to go over there ASAP.”

  “What are you not telling me? I don’t like all the secrets you’ve been keeping from me lately. I found out last night that you knew Dad was supposed to pick me up from over here that day.”

  “And I told you that I’m sorry. Now please go to your parents’. It’s important and I don’t think it’s my place to fill you in. Please go.”

  There was a desperation in her voice that he could not ignore. He could picture those big brown eyes pleading with him. Reluctantly, he agreed. On the way to the house, he kept talking to himself, willing himself to be calm no matter what his father said. Any progress they had made in terms of their relationship had been undone and was beyond repair now that Troy suspected his involvement in Elana’s disappearance.

  Tracy’s car and another were in the driveway when he pulled up. Again, he prayed for strength. This time he added wisdom and restraint as he wanted to make it back to Ohio to see his family instead of being a permanent inmate in Harris County. He followed the voices into the dining room and one of the four people waiting for him stood up. “Salome?”

  “Hello, Troy. I wish we didn’t have to keep meeting under dire circumstances. I’m Reed’s attorney.” She held out her hand. He left her hanging. She was dressed more professionally this time.

  “Elana was your friend. Why would you get involved?”

  “Because…” Salome looked around the room and then back at Troy. “Reed is my father.”

  Chapter 32: Safe and Sound

  “I know you have a lot of questions and there will be a time and place for them,” Salome spoke matter-of-factly. “Right now, the goal is to find out what really happened to Elana and clear Reed from all suspicion. I’m the person whom Tracy saw years ago when she came over to the house. Like I told you at the wake, I have a tattoo that is similar to Elana’s birthmark. Stupid idea? Maybe. At the time I was paying homage to a missing friend. The items you found in the house belonged to me. I lived there for a while with Reed, not Elana.”

  The weight of information overload made Troy dizzy and caused his knees to go weak. He grabbed hold of one of the dining room chairs and managed to have a seat before falling. Both Tracy and his mother had blank expressions. His father kept his head down in shame.

  “Despite what you may think or feel, your father, our father, is not responsible for kidnapping Elana. He did see her that day and his mistake is not being forthcoming with what he knew. Reed, tell Troy everything you told me and the police at the station.”

  With his head still hung low, his dad began.

  “I’d gotten your mother’s message asking me to pick you up from Elvin’s. Since I had to drop some money off to Raquel anyway—”

  “That was my mom’s name in case you don’t remember,” added Salome.

  “I figured it would be no big deal to pick you up. I had some drinks while I was there. I knew your mom was aware of my relationship with Raquel and I was afraid that if I took too long getting you, she might come by and cause a scene. Raquel and I had messed around off and on since your mother and I got married. I knew Salome was my daughter and I took care of her financially, but we decided not to tell her.”

  “Yeah, my mom didn’t want me to be burdened with the knowledge of being a love child. I found out after Elana went missing because I overheard my mom and Reed arguing. He was adamant about moving us out of that neighborhood after what had happened.”

  “Anyhow, Raquel tried to get me to stay and sleep off the alcohol, but I left to get you. As soon as I pulled in front of the house, Elana came up to the window with tears in her eyes.”

  “Troy was being mean to me. Him and my brother both, so if he asks you to buy him a push pop you can’t ’cuz my mama said they had to be good to get one and they weren’t being good ’cuz they were being mean to me.”

  Reed laughed at how eager she was to tell on the boys. She always informed him about Troy’s behavior toward her whenever they saw each other at Raquel’s. Elana had pegged him as Troy’s father before he had known who she was, stating that she’d overheard conversations about him between her mom and Diane. Reed didn’t ask for details. “I promise I won’t buy him a push pop or anything else today, okay? Will that make you feel better?”

  Elana nodded affirmatively. “I want a push pop and Mama is taking too long to come back. Will you take me to get one? I have some money.” She pulled eighty-five cents from her pocket to show him.

  Reed had a soft spot for little girls. He thought about his own daughters and how they oftentimes melted his heart. Elana was so darn cute the way she pleaded with him. If he could make her day by buying her a push pop, why not? He’d plan to stop at the convenience store for beer anyhow. He’d go now and come back to get Troy. “I’ll buy it for you. Hop in.”

  It only took them minutes to get there. As they were headed into the store, Reed realized that he’d left his wallet. “I forgot my money in the car. Go in and get what you need and I’ll meet you at the register.”

  “Okay.” Elana bounced away. It was amazing how fast her tears had dried up.

  Reed got his wallet and upon entering the store, headed to the cooler for beer. It took a while for him to decide what he wanted. Ultimately, he bought a six-pack and went up front. There was no sign of Elana.

  The small convenience store was no bigger than a 7-Eleven, so Elana could not have gone far. Reed walked around the shop thinking that perhaps she went in another aisle as a kid would sometimes do. Still no Elana. The clerk was no help. He had been looking at a magazine instead of paying attention as customers came in and out. Nervous, Reed decided to see if she’d gone outside. He walked out the door just in time to see Elana riding away in a cop car waving to him and holding what he assumed was her push pop. Relieved that she was safe and sound, Reed went back in, got his beer, and decided to go to his father’s.

  Troy was having a hard time understanding his dad’s version of events. “That doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t you come back to Lilly’s?”

  “I figured Elana had gotten scared when I didn’t come up front right away and went to the officer for help and he took her home. I knew what happened would get back to your mom. She was always fussing about me not picking you up. I wasn’t doing it that day out of the goodness of my heart. I was actually trying to shut her up. I knew after she’d found out about the cop taking Elana home, I would not hear the end of it, especially since I’d been drinking. It was a couple days before I learned that Elana had disappeared. I was scared to tell anyone what happened because I didn’t want to get blamed for doing anything to her. The last I knew she was safe in the hands of law enforcement. If that officer did something to her, no one would ever believe me because I was a drunk. I couldn’t risk losing everything. I had to take care of all of you, and my dad.”

  When Troy’s father lifted his head, he didn’t have to say the words “I’m sorry” out loud for Troy to hear. They were written all over his face. His bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks, the sadness
of his countenance, said it all. He hadn’t slept either. There was a part of Troy that was still angry with him for the simple fact that he’d kept this information and Salome a secret. There was also a part that felt sorry for him and the weight he must have carried. Overall, Troy was relieved to have some kind of explanation though there were still many pieces of the puzzle still missing.

  “Did you get a description of the officer?”

  “No, I didn’t. I’ve hated myself for the last thirty years for not speaking up. Maybe if I’d done so sooner or if I had even thought to follow them back to the house, none of this would ever be.”

  “What do you know about M.A.G.G.I.E.?”

  “Nothing. I swear. Every now and again, your grandfather would randomly yell that name. Like I told you before, he also carved it into a few pieces of furniture. I think it was his conscience getting to him. I found pictures of your grandfather doing things to a little girl. Bad things. I don’t know who she was and I would have turned him in, but by that time he’d started to deteriorate mentally and as horrible as those pictures were, I did not want my elderly sick father to spend his last years in prison. I was his only son and he was my responsibility. I burned them and stayed at that house to care for him until he died. The best thing I could do to protect my own children is not have you guys around him.”

  “Dad, M.A.G.G.I.E. is not a person.” He shared with his family everything he had learned from Cheryl. “Do you think it’s possible that granddad could have been involved?”

  “I would like to say no simply because I’d hate to think that my father could be that cruel. Then again, I never expected to find pictures of him molesting a little girl. I guess the answer to your question is that I honestly don’t know.”

  “If what you say about M.A.G.G.I.E. is true, that’s horrible. However, that’s not our concern right now and we need to leave that to the FBI.” Salome was blunt. “My goal is to keep Reed out of jail. He’s turned over every gun he owns and we are certain that there won’t be a match to the one that killed Elana. I’m not sure how much his statement will help in the case, though. Unfortunately, the convenience store was torn down a long time ago. At least fifteen years, if not more.”

  Troy’s mom and Tracy had been so quiet that he’d almost forgotten they were there. His mom looked as if she was trying to hold it together emotionally and Tracy looked frozen, like she was still trying to digest everything. She looked peaceful though. No longer wrestling with their father’s guilt. She seemed certain that Salome had been the person she had seen at the house. With one mystery solved, a bigger one still remained.

  Chapter 33: Prized Possession

  Instead of waiting for B.K.’s police friend to pass along Troy’s father’s version of events, Troy thought it would be best to have his dad talk to B.K. directly. Together, they rode to the investigator’s office. His father sobbed and apologized along the way. Troy didn’t have the words to console him. He simply reminded his dad that everyone made mistakes and that it was good to have everything in the open now.

  B.K. was in the lobby waiting for them when they arrived. There was no formal introduction between the two men. They said “hello” to each other and then B.K. got right to business. “By the way, I won’t be meeting with Bill,” he announced as they walked back to his office. “I have been informed that he went to the FBI and confessed to being a former member of M.A.G.G.I.E. He’s in their custody now and will hopefully be able to help the feds bring down that organization once and for all.”

  Troy wasn’t as optimistic. Bill was the maintenance man for an apartment complex. Based on what Cheryl had said about members of M.A.G.G.I.E., Bill wasn’t powerful enough to have a significant impact in its destruction.

  “I also heard from Edgar Campbell regarding the adoption,” Bill continued, “Turns out, the baby is biologically his. He had an affair with someone he claims he didn’t know was a minor. To cover things up, he paid the family to keep quiet and he and his wife adopted the child. I don’t think she knows he’s the father, which is why he was so nervous when I inquired about the adoption. Anyhow, I told him that if he could somehow corroborate the story, I would not keep pressing. Overall, Edgar has been a deadbeat father who claims he wants to do right by this last child. Now to the issue at hand.” He turned his attention to Troy’s father. “Thanks for coming. Let’s cut to the chase. Tell me everything that you’ve told Troy.”

  Once again, his dad repeated the events of that fateful August day.

  “Did you get a description of the officer?”

  “No.”

  B.K. looked solemnly at Troy. “This doesn’t give us much. Maybe I can get him in with Shauna. Otherwise, the best we can do is try to track down the clerk who was working that day. It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack, but who knows, we might get lucky.”

  “I’m only going to be here a few more days.” Even as he spoke, Troy felt defeated. He hated leaving loose ends. “Tell me what you need from me and I’ll get on it immediately. The way I see it, we have two possible theories. A, the officer took Elana back home and someone else got her or B, the officer is the one who abducted her. As much as it disgusts me, I’m inclined to believe the second theory because I would think that any cop who brings a lost girl home would want to have a word with her parents. Elana was not friendly to strangers, but she would have gone with a police officer. In those days kids were taught to trust cops and firefighters, so it doesn’t surprise me that she would get in the car so easily with one.”

  “What if the cop was someone she knew?” B.K.’s eyes met with Troy’s. Each man read the other’s mind as the answer became painfully clear.

  “Jeff!” they said in unison.

  B.K. wasted no time calling his buddies on the force while Troy contacted Elvin. “Have you heard from Lilly?”

  “No. I’ve called her and Jeff a couple of times to check on them, but I got their voicemails.”

  “Do you have any idea where they went?”

  “No. I’m guessing maybe over Jeff’s. I know Mama was eager to see his place for the first time. I would go by there if I knew where he lived. Is everything okay?”

  “Keep trying them. If you get ahold of either of them, tell them that my dad has confessed and that Lilly needs to come to the station to identify Elana’s clothing.” Elvin had a lot of questions that Troy did not want to answer over the phone. “Just do it and I’ll explain when I get there. I’m on my way.” Blaming his father was a ploy to buy them some time and hopefully avoid tipping Jeff off.

  Lilly and Jeff had been divorced by the time Troy’s father had discovered that his mistress lived in the same neighborhood as Troy’s best friend. Troy distinctly remembered Salome being with Elvin, Elana, and him on several occasions when Jeff gave them rides in his patrol car. His dad hadn’t been aware that Lilly’s ex was a police officer and somehow he’d missed or had been too drunk to recall hearing stories about the joyrides, which was why he never put two and two together.

  “I’m sorry, son,” his father said as Troy raced over to Lilly’s. “I wish I would have gone back to the house to make sure she’d gotten home safely.”

  “We all could have done things differently,” Troy replied. When he turned down Lilly’s street, he was initially excited to see Jeff’s truck outside until he remembered that Jeff and Lilly had taken Lilly’s car last night. Elvin’s confusion was apparent seeing Troy accompanied by his father. When Troy explained what he and B.K. believed happened, his best friend’s expression turned to horror.

  • • •

  Troy left Elvin in the comforting arms of his wife, dropped his father off at home, got Jeff’s address from B.K., and then met him at Jeff’s home where the Houston P.D. were executing a search warrant.

  “You can’t be on the premises,” an officer growled at him.

  “He’s with me,” yelled B.K., quickly coming to Troy’s defense.

  “I don’t care who you’re with, stay out of the way,”
he said, giving Troy a once-over before walking away.

  “They usually don’t mind me lingering around as long as I don’t touch anything. Many of the guys know me or know of me. Still, for legal reasons I’m not permitted inside, but I like to observe to see what’s being carried out.”

  “Any word about Lilly or Jeff?”

  “No.” B.K. hung his head. “I think he knew the walls were closing in on him and that’s why he wanted to get Lilly away.”

  “We all co-signed her leaving with him. I pray she’s okay.”

  “How’s Elvin?”

  “Worried, but he’s holding his own. Elvin’s a strong man, but even the best of us have our breaking point. For his sake, I hope there’s a happy ending to all of this somehow.”

  “Me, too. Normally, I don’t take my cases personal, but I feel like a fool. Jeff played me. He got me on this case because he didn’t think I would ever make the connection to him. And I didn’t because I broke my own rule about everyone being a suspect until proven otherwise. Never once did I think Jeff would be involved. I didn’t see this one coming, Troy.”

  “None of us did.”

  Like water boys sitting on the sidelines at a football game, Troy and B.K. watched as the officers did their due diligence. From the conversations taking place among those around them, Troy learned that there was a mountain of evidence inside pointing to Jeff’s guilt as a member of M.A.G.G.I.E. and Elana’s abductor and killer. One room had a bullet hole through the wall and Jeff had apparently done a sloppy job cleaning up the blood splatter. In addition, nude photographs were found of Elana and other girls of various ages. Jeff had a separate album for Elana filled with images from her youth to adulthood, decorated and marked with her name as a special memorabilia item. In some, she was bound and chained to a wall or bedposts. In others, she was performing lewd sexual acts. Troy didn’t get a look at the photos, nor did he want to. The officers were descriptive enough during their exchanges with one another that he was able to get a clear picture. Elana was the only girl with a photo album to herself, which meant that she was probably his favorite, his prized possession and likely the one who suffered the most sexual abuse.