“Other people don’t seem to have the same problems we do,” Emma stated matter-of-factly.
Camden’s face clouded over. “What you meant to say is that other people don’t have the same problems I do––isn’t that right, Emma?”
Emma looked into her brother’s eyes. She didn’t like what she saw, and it scared her. She tried to adjust her position. “No, Cam, I meant us.” She gazed down to the floor.
Camden’s hand took hold of Emma’s chin, and he lifted her face. His eyes were piercing. Insane. Emma was shaking. “Don’t be afraid of me, Emma. I would never hurt you. I live for you. I live to protect you from the kind of people that I have to work with day after day. I do that because I am strong and you are not. You must understand that, Emma. You would never survive out there. People would eat you alive and then spit you out! You’re my soul-mate, Emma––my twin. We would be nothing without each other.” He paused, his eyes becoming more intense as anger started to creep into his words. “I thought you appreciated everything I do for you!”
“I … I … do, Cam, I do.” Emma backed away from her brother. “It’s just that I am so tired of moving and, this time, it’s happened so fast. If that Isabella person is giving you a hard time, why don’t you talk to the man who hired you––Mr. Rawlings?”
“He won’t listen to me, not if Isabella has anything to say about it. And she has all the others on her side. Paige hardly acknowledges me anymore, and the rest of the employees think I’m some sort of a creep. Only one who’s half decent to me is Graham, and even he’s been weird lately. You don’t want me to endure that kind of treatment day after day, do you––just so you can stay living here?”
“No, I guess not.” Emma felt weak. She walked over to the couch and sat down. “When will we have to move?”
“I only said that we might have to move,” Camden reminded her. “I’m doing my best to make it work.” Camden’s face softened. “Right now, I better get to work, so I’m not late. That would just give Isabella more ammunition against me.”
Emma finally allowed the tears to flow.
“Please don’t cry, Em. I’ll do whatever I can to stay here.” With that statement, Camden headed out the door. He hated lying to his twin, but he had been doing it now for so long. His thoughts turned to Owen; Camden hoped he showed up today because he had a special surprise for him.
~
Jack drove to the station to pick up the forms he needed for Chris and Caitlin to sign. When he arrived at Chris’, he noticed all the curtains were drawn. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Chris answered the door and reached for the paper. “Where do I sign?” he slurred.
Jack pointed to the spot. “Do you want to read it first?”
“I should be able to trust you, shouldn’t I? You said this was just to give permission to dig up her body and discover the real reason she died, right?” Chris scribbled his signature and handed the paper back to Jack.
Jack thanked him and started to leave. “Oh, by the way,” he said, turning around; “do you have Emily’s computer?”
“Not here. I’ll drop it by the police station later.” Chris shut the door.
“Poor young fellow,” Jack said to Toby when he got in the van. “He’s been drowning his pain in a bottle.”
From Chris’ place, Jack drove over to Caitlin’s. It was a different scene there, with three young boys terrorizing the living room, but the pain on Caitlin’s face was the same as the pain on Chris’. She signed the paper for Jack, and, like Chris, she didn’t bother to read it. Jack asked her about the computer.
“Mitch went over last night and checked her inbox. There was nothing.”
“Would you be willing to let one of our tech guys look at it anyway?” Jack asked. “I know I said if you needed a password, but I really think it might be a good idea to have a deeper look.”
“I’ll get Mitch to drop it off.” Caitlin turned as one of the boys started screaming. “Sorry, Officer Nelson, I need to attend to my children.”
Jack drove to the station and went straight to Bryce’s office. Toby followed close on his heels. A woman was sitting in front of Bryce’s desk, looking over a pile of papers. Bryce looked up and smiled.
“Jack, I want you to meet Tessa Banister. She is the profiler I was telling you about. Tessa, this is Jack Nelson. I’ve brought him out of retirement to work on this case with us. He has been doing a little leg work for me already. And,” Bryce pointed to Toby, who was sitting patiently beside Jack, “this is Toby. Toby is a decorated police investigator––helped us solve a crime a few months ago.”
“What you should be saying, Bryce, is that if it weren’t for me, you guys would not have solved the crime!”
Bryce continued, “With Tyler Acton’s autopsy results showing traces of the same substance in him as what we found in Lauren, I didn’t want to wait any longer to call in Tessa.” Bryce saw the papers in Jack’s hand. “Those the permission slips?”
“Yep,” Jack replied as he handed them over. “Anything on Lauren’s computer?”
“Nope; how about the others? Did they find any nasty emails?”
“No, but I asked for access to the computers anyway. They should both be dropping them off here at the station.”
“Good. Sometimes people delete their junk mail or block the sender so it won’t show up,” Tessa mentioned. “There is a possibility these other people did not even open the emails if they didn’t recognize the sender. Especially since none of them mentioned anything to anyone about a nasty email.”
“I still have to talk to Tyler’s mum,” Jack mentioned.
“Good, get back to me as soon as you do,” Bryce instructed.
Tessa knelt down and patted Toby on the head. “So, you’re a celebrity, are you, Toby?”
Toby liked the feel of her hand. He gazed into her eyes. They were a nice, warm, brown. She had a pleasant smile too. “I think I’m going to enjoy working with this lady. Might not be bad company for Jack either; he does spend a lot of time alone, except for me, of course. Maybe it’s time I allowed him a bit of space.” Toby purred loudly to let Tessa know how much he liked her.
Jack started to laugh. “Well, Tessa, you have passed the first test––Toby likes you.” Bryce and Tessa joined in the laughter. “Come on, Toby, we have work to do. Let’s go pay Mrs. Acton a visit.” He paused in the doorway. “I’ll see if I can get any other information out of her while I’m there.”
~
Owen sat in the bar drinking for three hours. The only person left after the first couple of hours was an elderly gentleman; Owen latched onto him, telling him his life story.
“Mind if I sit with you?” Owen slurred. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled up a chair and sat down.
“Not at all, son.”
“I’ve got big problems,” Owen began. “Have you ever been through times when nothin’ seems to go right?”
“A few times over my seventy-five years.”
“Well, for the past six months––since Diana left me––nothin’s gone right. I got no money, I got no home, I probably won’t even have a job for long. To tell you the truth, it’s probably only ‘cause I work on commission that I’m still there. Sell a house––get paid. If I don’t sell the house, some other agent will.”
“You were married to this Diana?” the old man queried.
“Should’ve been. That way she wouldn’t’ve been able to walk away so quickly.”
“Why’d she leave?”
“Beats me.”
“Has to be a reason. Women don’t just up and leave a good man.”
“Well,” Owen took a gulp of his beer, followed by a sip of whiskey. “She claimed I was out too much––never home. I had to be; it was my job. Real estate’s a dog-eat-dog business. When I lost my sales job––I used to sell industrial tools––I decided to take real estate courses. Oh, she was all for that, thinking we’d be rollin’ in the dough.
“B
ut then the market crashed and I couldn’t sell anything. Girlfriend was workin’ two jobs tryin’ to make ends meet … said I wasn’t supportin’ the household enough. I should’ve been cookin’ and doin’ the cleanin’ … I wasn’t doin’ anything else. She didn’t understand … I had to be out there tryin’ to sell houses, even if I didn’t sell one. If the broker thought I wasn’t tryin’, I could’ve been let go.”
The old man looked at Owen. “So you must have tried really hard then … worked 24-7 did you, son?”
Owen tilted his head.
“Don’t get me wrong, son, I believe you probably did try hard to make your new career go well, but you must have been having a little fun on the side too. And the little lady got tired of paying for it, right?” The old man thrust his face closer to Owen.
Owen backed away. The old fellow had a point. That is what Diana had accused him of. But he had made up excuses, telling her he was trying to do customer relations and build a clientele. You never knew when someone you met would be selling their house, or just wanting to buy one. He emptied his beer glass and called the bartender for another.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough, son?” the old fellow mentioned carefully.
“Just one more.”
Owen spent the next half an hour pouring out more of his problems and in the process polished off another beer and another shot of whiskey.
Finally the old man said he had to get going. His wife would be wondering where he was. “Take care, son, and don’t be so hard on yourself. Things will work out if you work at them.”
Owen watched the old man leave. “What’s he know about hard times?” he grumbled as he downed the last few drops of beer. He looked at his watch and thought to go to the gym for a workout before heading home. He stumbled and almost fell as he left the bar.
~
There was a note on Mrs. Acton’s front door directing visitors to use the side door. Jack knocked loudly; there was no doorbell. A lady, who looked to be in her early sixties, greeted him. Jack flashed his identification. “May I have a moment of your time?” he asked.
“Is this about my son?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is.”
“Come in.” She showed him into the small kitchen and directed him to one of the chairs at the table. “Would you like tea or coffee?”
“Coffee would be nice, thank you.”
As Mrs. Acton was filling her kettle, she glanced out the window and noticed Toby sitting in the van. “Is that your cat in the van?”
“Yes, that’s Toby.”
“Well, bring him in. He doesn’t look too happy sitting out there all alone.”
“He’s okay. Toby is used to waiting for me.”
“Bring him in. I love cats. My Whiskers passed on to kitty-heaven about a month ago … I haven’t had the heart to replace him yet. I have some cat treats in the cupboard that I am sure your Toby might enjoy.”
“I’m sure he would,” Jack grinned as he got up to go and get Toby. There was no sense arguing with a woman who loved cats.
Toby was thrilled. Mrs. Acton put the treats in a little dish for him and poured him a saucer of milk. She poured Jack’s coffee and then sat down at the table. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Did Tyler have a computer?”
“All young people have those things nowadays. He was always on it. That’s why he didn’t call me as much as he should have.”
Jack smiled. “Did he tell you about receiving any unusual emails?”
“Not a word.”
“Would it be possible to get into his computer and check it out? We would make sure you got it back.”
“Oh, I gave it to his friend, Jason. It was just one of those laptop things.” Mrs. Acton got up from the table. “Jason has been so good to me since Tyler died. He was with him that night at the pool hall, you know.” She walked over to her phone and came back with a piece of paper. “Here’s Jason’s number if you want to call him.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Acton.” Jack took the piece of paper and put it in his shirt pocket. Toby was sitting beside Mrs. Acton’s chair. “You sure have made a friend there. Your treats must be more delicious than the ones I give him,” Jack smiled.
“You don’t give me treats––at least not tasty ones in special little packages!” Toby scowled at Jack.
Mrs. Acton sat down again. “The coroner called me earlier today. I have to go and see him this afternoon. He wants to tell me in person what he found out. I knew it wasn’t just the flu or food poisoning. And now you’re here asking questions; can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Jack took a deep breath: “Three other young people have died of the same symptoms Tyler had. One of them, who was in touch with us because of a couple of nasty emails, and who had been found dead at the bottom of her stairs, was autopsied as well. The coroner found traces of poison in her, but as of yet, he hasn’t figured out what kind, only that it is not arsenic. We have ordered autopsies on the other two bodies. I am investigating to see if any of the others, including your son, received the same kind of emails. So far we don’t have a connection between any of the victims.” Jack paused. “Would Tyler have mentioned any of these names to you: Brianna Gates, Emily Foster, or Lauren Dagnell?”
Mrs. Acton shook her head. “No, can’t recollect. He went out with a Veronica a few months ago, but that didn’t last long. My Tyler was a bit of a wild thing, especially after his dad died, but he was settling down. He was working at my brother-in-law’s machine shop; George had just offered Tyler an apprenticeship, and I am sure he was going to take it.”
“Okay,” Jack stood. “Toby and I have to leave now. I’ll be in touch. Thanks for Jason’s number.” Jack bent down and scooped up Toby.
Mrs. Acton went to her cupboard and returned with a packet of cat treats. “Here you go, Toby; you may as well have these.”
Jack put them in his pocket and thanked her. Toby looked at Mrs. Acton adoringly and meowed a thank you. Mrs. Acton stood at the kitchen window until the van was on the street.
“Lonely old woman,” Jack commented.
“Yeah, but she sure knows how to buy treats for cats––not like someone I know!” Toby moved closer to the window and stared out at the passing houses.
Jack pulled over to the side of the road and took out his cellphone to call Jason. There was no answer. “Guess we may as well go home, old man, and maybe have a snooze. I’m not used to working so much.”
Toby’s tail swished, and he continued to stare out the window. He was deep in thought about what had transpired so far today.
~
Owen knew he shouldn’t be driving, but he did anyway. Three hours of drinking without any food in his stomach was not the smartest thing to do, but he had done it before.
“Hey there, Paige, lovely lady of the jungle gym,” he hollered out as he entered the facility.
Paige giggled until Owen came over and propped himself up on the counter. He reeked of alcohol. “What have you been up to, Owen? Had a few too many? It might be better if you didn’t work out this afternoon. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt now.” Paige’s tone turned serious.
Camden finished serving a customer at the drink counter and, hearing the commotion, came around to help Paige. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
Owen looked at Camden. “None of your beeswax, bud! Butt out. This is between the lady here and me.”
“You are drunk, sir. I think you should leave––now,” Camden stated stiffly, emphasizing the word now.
“And if I don’t?” Owen just about fell.
At that moment, Vincent and Nolan came up to the front. “Is there a problem here?” Vincent asked.
Their intervention seemed to settle Owen down. He backed up from the counter, put his hands up and apologized. “I had a terrible day, guys. I’m so sorry. I’ll leave.”
“Maybe you should take a cab,” Nolan suggested.
Owen waved his ha
nd at them. “I’ll be fine.”
Camden was seething. Owen had treated him like a piece of crap. How dare he! He would find out soon enough! He wouldn’t get away with treating people like that for much longer––his time was up. Camden went back to the drink counter.
Later that night, before going to bed, Camden sent Owen another email. He checked the baggie with the powder in it to make sure there was going to be enough to do the job quickly.
Monday, June 29, 2009
T
he weekend passed relatively quietly. Jack talked to Tyler’s friend, Jason, and Jason gave him Tyler’s laptop. However, there was a password on Tyler’s email account so Jack couldn’t access it. He would have to take it to the station Monday morning.
Jack learned from Jason that Tyler had been in a fantastic mood before he ate the chicken wings and downed a couple of beers––said Tyler had met a girl at the gym but hadn’t told Jason her name. He had laughed and told Jack that Tyler hadn’t even gotten the girl’s phone number. When Jack asked him if he knew what gym Tyler was going to, he said Tyler hadn’t told him.
When Jack came home from seeing Jason, he started going over some of his notes. Suddenly he sat forward in his chair. He had just thought of a possible connection. Caitlin had said Brianna had met some really nice guy at the gym. Jack made a note of this. He would tell Bryce and Tessa first thing Monday morning. They had both mentioned they were going to be out of town on the weekend.
~
Camden had Sunday off. He had been upset when Owen hadn’t shown up on Saturday but figured he was probably hung over. Camden stopped by Jack’s on Sunday for a couple of hours. Toby disappeared over to visit Emma. She looked sombre and nothing Toby did could cheer her up.
Monday looked like it was going to be a gloomy day. The rain clouds hung low in the sky. Emma was happy because she had told Camden on the weekend that the flowerbeds needed a good rain. They hadn’t talked about the possible move on the weekend, but the cloud of it had hung over the house.
Are You Listening to Me? Page 16
