A muffled, feminine voice was heard coming from beneath the blanket. “What’s going on?”
Addison stood up. She noticed her bra was still on the carpeted floor beside the bed, so she picked it up. “I’ve got to go. I’m on call.”
Stephanie groaned as she raised her head up. Her blond hair was a tousled mess. “What time will you be back?”
Addison moved over to the dresser beside the bed and opened the top drawer. “I don’t know.”
Stephanie propped her head on one elbow while staring back at her. “This was supposed to be a fun day for us. You’re still up for the tequila shots at Brannigan’s tonight?”
Addison smiled at her before putting her bra back on. Her hair was cut short, so all she had to do was brush it a little and add some hairspray to make it look presentable again. “You know I’d love nothing more than to do that, but I don’t know how long this will take.”
Stephanie sighed as her head flopped back down onto the pillow. They had been up all evening, doing the Saturday night bar hopping routine in downtown Springfield. Her head ached, while Addison looked completely rested. They had been seeing each other for three years now, and Stephanie had been overjoyed when they moved in together. It seemed like a match made in heaven, but what she didn’t like were the odd hours her partner kept. “You know, of all the jobs you had to take,” she said. “Why did you have to be like your dad and become a cop?”
Addison had already put on a pair of dark blue slacks and was now in the process of buttoning up a white dress shirt over her chest. When it came to wearing clothes, she was fast. “I’ve always wanted to be one. My daddy was a cop. My grandfather was a cop. My brothers are cops.”
Stephanie let out a deep breath. “Okay. Call me if you can make it. If you don’t, I’m going by myself and get picked up by a bunch of strange men.”
Addison giggled as she attached a holstered SIG-Sauer P229 pistol to her waistline, just beneath the bottom part of her coat. She snapped on a gold badge at the opposite side. “Stop it, you’re making me jealous.”
Just as she made it towards the door, Stephanie blew her a kiss. “See you later.”
Addison winked at her before closing the door. “Count on it. Bye.”
The traffic along Interstate-95 wasn’t so bad on a Sunday, and Addison made it to the Sherptons Mill Animal Shelter in under thirty minutes. As she pulled her unmarked car into the parking lot, she saw that a patrol vehicle was already parked in front of it, displaying the five-pointed sheriff’s star of Stafford County, just below the blue stripes by its side. The police vehicle’s driver side door was open, and a uniformed deputy was standing beside it. Addison parked her car alongside and got out.
Deputy Jamal Smith, with his brown and black sheriff’s uniform barely adequate for his bulk, walked over to her. “Hey, Addy. Thanks for coming over.”
Addison shook his outstretched hand. “No problem. So what have we got here, Jamal?”
Jamal looked sideways as he placed his thick hands along his bulging hips. “We got a call about a hysterical volunteer here at the animal shelter. I had a talk with her, and she says that a cat that they found yesterday has got her daughter’s earring on its collar.”
“Okay, and?”
“She reported her daughter as missing about eleven years ago. She kept asking if we could contact a Detective Tom Breen. She says he was handling her daughter’s case. You know him?”
Addison nodded. “Yeah, he was in CID while I was still a deputy. He’s retired now, though.”
“Oh, okay. It’s just my third year working here so I guess I never knew him.”
“I’ll handle this,” Addison said before turning around and heading for the front door.
“There’s two other people in there,” he said just before she placed her hand on the door. “One of them has got prison tattoos.”
“Thanks for the heads up, Jamal,” Addison said before she pushed the glass door open.
Sitting on a metal bench beside the receptionist’s desk were two women. The first looked to be in her early forties, and she was clearly distraught. The second woman was older, with grey curls and thick glasses. She continued to rub the younger woman’s shoulders, telling her that everything was okay. A Hispanic man wearing a t-shirt and jeans with tattoos along his arms sat at the other end of the room. His expression was neutral, but serious.
Addison smiled as she walked over to the two women. “Hi, I’m Detective Addison Draper. I’m with the Criminal Investigations Division. What can I do to help you?”
The younger woman stood up. Her trembling hands were curled in front of her, like she was praying. She had a lithe body, and still retained the beauty of her younger years. “Please, my daughter was reported missing eleven years ago. I’m Brenda DeVoe, and I found her earring just today.”
“Okay, Mrs. DeVoe,” Addison said. “Where is this earring?”
The Hispanic man pointed at the receptionist counter. “It’s up there, on the tray.”
Addison gave him a curt nod as she walked over to the desk. “Thank you, and your name?”
“Fernando Lopez,” he said.
“I’m Cherry Wilson,” the older woman said. “I manage the shelter and they both work as volunteers here.”
Addison leaned over the table as the two other women joined her. Deputy Jamal had walked into the room and stood by the door while keeping his eyes on Fernando, who continued to sit obediently on his chair.
“Please,” Brenda said. “You should call on Detective Tom Breen. He’s the one in charge of my case.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. DeVoe, but Tom Breen retired four years ago,” Addison said. “I’m not too familiar with this incident, so is it alright if I ask you a few questions alone?”
Cherry gestured towards the meeting room. “You could use that.”
The room had a small table and a number of chairs along with posters of pet animals attached to the walls. If it wasn’t for the banners, Addison could have sworn it looked just like one of their interrogation rooms back at the station. She sat across from Brenda, and she could tell that the other woman was nervous. Brenda’s eyes kept staring down at the floor while her hands continued to fidget in her lap.
Addison had her notepad out and was writing on it. “Okay, let’s start at the beginning. Could I have the name of your daughter, please?”
“Samantha Catherine Brice DeVoe,” Brenda said. “But my daughter preferred to be called Sam.”
“Okay. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? And your husband?”
“I’m divorced. Forty-five years old,” Brenda said. “My parents are dead. I have one sister up in New York. I met my husband Jeffrey and we got married when I was twenty-two. He’s a year older than me.”
“Alright.”
“When I married Jeff, he inherited his daddy’s construction business and he was doing pretty well,” Brenda said. “Jeff’s not only a good builder, he’s a great salesman too. He got a lot of government contracts up in Washington DC so the business expanded. I helped him out by becoming a realty broker. My husband knows a lot of people and we worked as a team, his company would purchase and refurbish old houses and I would sell them. The sky was supposed to be the limit for us.”
Addison continued to write. “Okay, can you tell me about your daughter?”
“Sam was born the year after we got the house in Sherptons Mill,” Brenda said softly. “She was a wonderful child. We used to play a lot in the woods just outside the house.”
“Okay, how old was your daughter when she disappeared?”
“She was eleven, going on twelve,” Brenda said.
“And how long ago was this?”
Brenda took a deep breath before answering, her voice almost a whisper. “Eleven years ago. She just turned twenty-two this year.”
“Could you give me some details about what happened?”
For a short minute, Brenda failed to answer. She just blinked several times to hold back the tears.
There was an invisible vice around her jaw, and she seemed powerless to open it. There was an iron chest inside her mind that she didn’t want to reopen again.
Addison leaned back on the plastic chair. “I know this is hard, but the more you can tell me, the better I can help you.”
“I-I still remember that night like it was yesterday,” Brenda said. She was practically willing herself to look back into the past now. “It was late, and I was about to prepare dinner. I know Jeff was going to be out most of the evening, so it would just be me and Sam. I … remembered asking her to do a chore for me. What it was exactly I don’t even remember anymore.”
“Okay, then what happened?”
“Sam … she talked back to me,” Brenda said, her voice breaking. “I knew then she was growing up in a hurry and we were drifting apart, but her words really hurt. I-I must have been stressed out too. I had a long day meeting up with clients and … I just reacted without thinking.”
Addison leaned forward. “What did you do?”
“I … think I just snapped and … gave her a slap,” Brenda whispered. “I apologized immediately, but it must have shocked Sam too.”
“And what did she do?”
“She said, ‘I hate you,’ and then she turned around, grabbed her coat from the rack and then opened the front door and ran out,” Brenda said.
“What happened next?”
“I … I was like, numb,” Brenda said. “I just stood there for a long time and my mind was blank. Then I figured that she went out to the woods to let off some steam before coming back inside for dinner. I-I just went ahead and started cooking.”
“At what point did you realize that something was wrong?”
“After dinner was done I just sat on the dining room table and ate by myself, I was thinking she might walk through the front door any minute so I kept the food on the table.”
Addison nodded. “How much time had passed after she left the house?”
“It must have been an hour or an hour and a half.”
“Did you call anyone then?”
“I figured she must have contacted my husband Jeff and they were together, so I just waited,” Brenda said. For a brief moment she thought the tears would flow again, but she bit her lip to rein in her emotions.
“Okay, what time did you husband return to the house?”
“It was late, half past nine I think,” Brenda said. “As soon as I saw the lights of his car I walked out to the porch. When I saw him come out of the truck that was when my heart sank.”
“What was Jeff’s reaction?”
“He was surprised when I asked him if Sam was with him,” Benda said. “He said he thought she was with me.”
“Did you call the sheriff’s office then?”
Brenda shook her head. A single tear rolled down her left cheek before she wiped it with a tissue from her handbag. “N-no. We took o-our flashlights and started shouting her name in the woods around the house. We didn’t find anything. After about an hour, we called the sheriff.”
“So around half past ten or eleven, thereabouts?”
“Yes,” Brenda said. “The deputies and Detective Breen showed up. Then came the volunteers and everybody started going through the woods all night long. When the sun came up, I think I must have collapsed in Jeff’s arms.”
“Okay,” Addison said. “And you’re positive she was wearing these particular earrings when she disappeared?”
“Yes. That’s why I was shocked when we found the earring with this cat,” Brenda said. “The set comes with different colored gems, but she liked the blue one.”
“Alright,” Addison said. “I can review the relevant files when I get to the station from here on in. Let’s join the others now, okay?”
As they walked back into the main room, Brenda pointed at the cat’s head earring sitting on the counter. “That’s hers. That’s my daughter’s. I know it.”
Addison took out a pen from underneath her coat pocket and used it to examine the piece of jewelry. “This looks like a fairly common earring for a child. How do you know it’s really your daughter’s?”
“I … I just know it,” Brenda said. She remembered that Sam wanted the blue eyed ones. It just couldn’t be a coincidence; it had to be a sign from God or something.
Addison looked at them. “Who else has handled this earring?”
“I did,” Brenda said.
Fernando raised his hand so they would notice him. “And me.”
“So just the two of you? Nobody else?” Addison said.
“And the couple who brought the cat over, I guess,” Cherry said.
Addison pulled out a small notepad and started writing on it. “What do you know about this couple?”
“A family of hikers found the animal at the Crow’s Nest Natural Preserve. The cat had a broken leg—that’s why they brought it to us,” Cherry said.
Addison nodded. “I’ll need to get some fingerprint samples for you two,” she said, gesturing at Brenda and Fernando before making eye contact with Cherry. “Do you have any contact information for this family?”
Cherry walked over behind the counter and pulled out a cardboard folder which contained some paperwork. “Yes, it’s right here.”
Addison looked at the documents. Just a name, email, and telephone number. “Okay, we’ll go ahead and check this out.”
“What … what do we do now?” Brenda asked nervously.
“Well, I’ve noticed that you’re supposed to be closed, so it’s best you all go home,” Addison said. “I’ll have the forensic technicians go over this earring so I’ll be taking it with me. Was this the only thing you found with the cat?”
“That’s it,” Fernando said. He was feeling defensive because of his prior history with the law, and being this close to cops always made him feel uncomfortable. “Can I go home too?”
“I don’t see why not,” Addison said to him before facing Brenda. “Do you have someone who can drive you home?”
“N-no,” Brenda said. “I live … alone right now.”
“I would suggest you not be by yourself for the time being,” Addison said. “Do you have any relatives who could with you for the next few days, at least?”
“My parents have passed away. Maybe I could call my sister. She lives in New York,” Brenda said.
“Okay, do that,” Addison said before looking at the deputy. “Jamal, could you drive her home, please?”
Three
Brenda waved goodbye through the window as the police cruiser drove away. Deputy Jamal had volunteered to stay for awhile until she could call her sister, but Brenda told him it was okay, and he left with Fernando so he could be dropped off at the nearby bus stop. The veterinary assistant had driven her car for her and parked it right in front of the house, before handing in the keys. While he was bringing her back home, the deputy asked her if she ever had any problems with Fernando, and she denied he ever made any trouble. Whatever issues Fernando had with the law in his days as a youth were well and truly in the past, she told him.
Sitting down by the window, Brenda exhaled slowly as she tried to calm herself down. She wasn’t going to call her sister. Laura had her own family to think of, and she had already spent a lot of time with supporting Brenda in the past. She couldn’t possibly ask her sister to drop everything and drive down south just to be with her. Detective Draper had told her not to get her hopes up, for the earring they found was a very popular accessory for girls back then.
Despite the afternoon sun, the surrounding trees cast tall, looming shadows over the house. Brenda usually had the drapes drawn halfway, adding more shades of gloom to the outer edges of the rooms. After a short while, she got up and walked over to the kitchen. Putting a filled kettle on the electric stovetop, she opened a cupboard and took out a box of jasmine tea. Her days were spent cooking, cleaning the house and going over to the animal shelter. This routine had been going on for almost ten years; it gave her an emotional stability she felt was des
perately needed. Now everything seemed out of place, and the demons that were lurking at the back of her mind were beginning to be drawn out again.
Samantha grinned as she strolled in front of her mom. The little girl leaned over so that Brenda could see both earrings. Her sky blue eyes were only inches away from Brenda’s. “Look, Mom. I got six blue eyes now! Two in between my nose, and four on my ears!”
Brenda’s fingers shook, and the cardboard box of tea fell from her hands and landed with a muffled thud on the linoleum flooring of the kitchen. The demons had come back again. It had been just like this during the first few days of Sam’s disappearance. Her memories came flooding back, consuming her.
A single sob came out of her mouth. Brenda’s eyes started tearing up. “Oh, Sam. Where are you? Where in God’s name are you?”
She remembered Detective Tom Breen. He was portly, had graying hair and had sat beside her on the couch. His hand had been warm and soothing when he'd placed it on her forearm. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll do our best to find her.”
Memories of the recent past were a jumble of disjointed scenes. A few friends had come over and Brenda made finger foods and coffee for them. Lots of handshakes, cordiality, and concerned looks. Brenda tried to keep a straight face, but she could barely contain the torrent of dread within her. Small talk was discussed, and everyone was doing their best not to say anything about the elephant in the room. In due time all the guests made their excuses and left. A few months after Sam’s disappearance, Jeff had invited a few of his friends and workers over for a backyard barbeque in an effort to get back to normalcy. Brenda stayed in the kitchen, keeping busy by preparing the potato salad and making sure the beer was ice cold while Jeff handled the grill outside. There was plenty of camaraderie with the men, but as soon as Benda walked out to bring them more food and drinks, everyone suddenly went silent and looked the other way.
The months rolled by, and the media stopped their interviews with them. Their ordeal had become old news and the vultures went away to look for fresher carrion. Brenda could no longer work, and spent her days inside the house. She always sat by the front window, expecting Samantha to come walking down the driveway at any minute. Every time she saw a silhouette of someone walking behind the trees that covered the front of the property, her heart jumped, and she hoped that it would finally be her, but Samantha never came.
The Girl in the Darkness Page 2
