Chapter 68
B
rent pulled into the parking lot of the Fairlane Diner and parked his squad car directly in front of the main entrance. He wanted it to be very visible through the double glass doors.
After walking into the restaurant, he proceeded with a deliberate air of authority to the payment counter. Standing behind it was a young lady, probably in her early twenties, that he’d seen multiple times. Her bubbly personality, set under long blonde hair and behind a dimpled smile, was surely very welcoming to just about anyone who walked in.
“Hi, officer. How many in.… Wait, you’re Elizabeth’s dad—or something like that. Right?”
He stole a glance at her name tag. “Hi, McKinzie. May I see your manager, please?”
The smile that he’d been met with was stifled a bit with his abruptness.
“Sure, I’ll go get him for you.”
“Thank you.”
Probably no more than a minute later, a man in his early to mid-thirties stepped out from behind a red kitchen door with a circular pane of glass centered within it.
“Officer, I’m Curt Corsello. How can I help you?”
“Curt, I’m here because I’m concerned about the whereabouts of one of your employees, a girl by the name of Elizabeth Franklin. And … full disclosure … she’s been living as a part of my family for the past couple of years.”
“I couldn’t immediately place you because of your uniform, but, yes, I recognize you. What’s going on? She’s missing?”
“Well, that’s what we’re trying to figure out. Based on text messages throughout the afternoon, we believed that she and another of your female employees had taken off after work to go and have a talk. According to Elizabeth, the other girl was distraught and needed someone to lean on. Anything like that sound familiar?”
“I can’t say one way or another. I didn’t get here until around the time she left, so I scarcely saw her. But I don’t recall anyone seemingly in dire straits.”
Brent had hoped for more from the man.
“Are there any of your staff who are working a double this evening who may have spent time with Elizabeth today?”
“I think so. I believe I’ve got two servers who are still here that worked alongside Elizabeth throughout her shift. I’ll round them up for you.”
“I very much appreciate that.”
The manager turned and searched the dining area. He spotted the first of the employees and walked to the far end of the diner to a young lady who was cleaning a table. After speaking with her for a few seconds, she looked over at Brent, then nodded.
She gave a final wipe to the table and proceeded to walk his direction.
The manager walked back into the kitchen area and within thirty seconds had returned with another girl.
The first turned out to be a woman probably in her mid-to-late twenties. Her name tag read ‘LeAnn.’ The second was probably slightly older than Elizabeth, but certainly not by much. Her name, Meghan.
“Chief Lawton, hi. I’m LeAnn. I’ve waited on you and your family before. Els is one of my favorite people here. What’s going on?”
Both of the young women looked at him gravely, expecting bad news.
“Elizabeth may be missing. We’ve been unable to contact her by phone call or text. She told us that she was leaving with another employee of the diner—a girl or woman who was a bit emotionally distressed. Does that sync with anything either of you know?”
The two looked at each other for a moment, wondering if the other had anything to provide. Both shook their heads.
LeAnn spoke. “I was with Elizabeth at the end of her shift. She seemed excited about something, but she didn’t say what. It seemed like she was looking forward to what she’d do after she left.”
Meghan added, “Yeah, she seemed happy all day. I actually think she left alone.”
Uh-oh. Not good.
“Can either of you piece together what she may have been looking forward to today?”
Meghan shook her head immediately. LeAnn, on the other hand, took her time to think things through.
“I really can’t,” she said after a moment. “I’m sorry.”
Brent nodded. “I appreciate that you both spoke with me.” He reached into his upper-left shirt pocket and pulled out a few business cards. He handed one to Meghan, then two to LeAnn.
To LeAnn he said, “Can you give one of these to your manager? And I’d appreciate it if either of you would call me if you think of something else. My cell phone is on the card.”
Both of the young ladies said that they would, and he turned around to leave.
“Wait. I’ve got something,” LeAnn interrupted.
He turned back around and was about to ask her what it was, when she said, “Wait here a sec.”
A couple of minutes later, she returned. She looked at Meghan and said, “It’s okay. You can get back to the kitchen.”
Meghan didn’t like being dismissed, but she didn’t argue.
After she was out of earshot, LeAnn said, “A week or so ago, there was a man here from New York. A photographer. Elizabeth took a shining to him. It wasn’t hard to see that she’d taken an interest in his profession. I walked by a couple of times while he showed her some model portfolios. You know, women that he’d photographed.
“I could tell that Elizabeth was amazed by what he did. I didn’t overhear any of the conversations that they had, but I do know that he handed her a business card. He must have dropped one under the table when he pulled out the one he gave her, because later that day, when I had to clean around that table, I saw it. And, well, I kept it. A silly ‘girl’ thing to do, I guess.”
She reached out her hand to Brent, and in it was the card.
Mark Johnson - Contract Photographer - New York City, NY - (646) 511-5431
Brent pulled out his cell phone and looked up the 646 area code.
Manhattan. Could be legitimate.
He pulled out a small notebook from the same pocket and asked, “Is there anything that you can tell me about the man himself?”
“Oh, yeah. He was cute. Certainly twice as old as Elizabeth, but nice to look at. I could tell she thought he was cute too. We waitresses do a pretty good job of fake smiling all day long, but it takes a cute guy to make a waitress really smile.” She whispered conspiratorially, “I’m not supposed to call us waitresses. It’s apparently un-PC. But I like it better than server. That sounds so lame, you know?”
“And Elizabeth?”
“Oh! Sorry! She was really smiling. That’s how I know she thought he was cute. Probably not go-out-with-an-older-guy cute, for her anyway, you know? I mean, he was older than me, for sure. Definitely thirties. But by the time the guy left, I’m sure she wanted to have a portfolio of her own.”
“Okay, I get that he was cute, but to a police officer that doesn’t really help much.”
“Oh. Got it. Umm … maybe five foot ten? He was a little bit tall, but I don’t think he stretched to six feet. Dark brown, almost black hair, with maybe a touch of gray here.” She pointed to her temples.
“Glasses? Any identifying scars or tattoos?”
“Not that I recall.”
“Anything distinctive about his voice?”
“Like I said, I didn’t really hear any of their conversation. I kind of admired from afar, if you know what I mean.”
“His clothes?”
“Wow. I don’t really remember. I just remember that he didn’t look shabby at all. He probably made good money.”
“And lastly. His car?”
“No clue.”
“Does the store have cameras that face the inside dining area and the parking lots?”
“You’d have to ask Curt about that for sure, but I think so.”
“If you can pin down the exact date, and maybe the time, when all of this occurred, will you call me with it?”
“Absolutely!”
“LeAnn, thank you. You’ve been very helpful.” He held up the business card he’d tucked into his notebook. “Can I hold onto this? If nothing pans out with it, I’ll bring it back to you.”
She blushed a little bit. “You can keep it. I may be cute,” she said with a grin, “but I’m not model cute.”
Brent couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t sell yourself short, LeAnn. But thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Brent walked back out to his cruiser.
Good detailed information from what seems like a reliable source.
He wanted to see that camera footage. But since he was out of his jurisdiction, and since this wasn’t an official police inquiry, he’d have to forgo it. But if Elizabeth didn’t show up this evening, he’d be on the horn to Millsville’s Captain Tony Morelli with that request.
LeAnn’s last statement struck him at about the same moment he reached the car. “I’m not model cute.”
Brent closed his eyes as he remembered Elizabeth’s comment just days back.
“Do you think I could make it as a model?”
It was a potential clue that they could not have seen that day. But he saw it now.
Chapter 69
D
rew drove down the country road at nearly eighty miles per hour, hoping there wouldn’t be a close encounter with some sort of animal crossing his path. He had to get as far away from his mother’s house as possible before the phone rang again.
Or did he?
He was only guessing about how the whole tracking process took place. He knew that people could track down certain models of phones that had been lost. He didn’t know if Elizabeth’s phone had that kind of tracking option embedded in it.
Then there were the cell towers. On law enforcement TV shows, they were always “triangulating” to find someone’s location by his or her phone. He supposed that was a viable method, though he doubted that anyone could pinpoint a person’s location as precisely as they made it seem.
He wasn’t going to take the chance though.
Before leaving the house, he’d gone to the kitchen and found a ziplock sandwich bag. Although he was going to have to ditch the phone for his safety, he didn’t want to damage it. It was Elizabeth’s phone after all.
If everything could be resolved in a way that didn’t involve him going to prison, he’d either tell her where it was or he’d take her to it himself.
The car began to slow as he absentmindedly decreased the pressure on the gas pedal. He’d had a thought.
What if Elizabeth had lost the phone? Or maybe it was damaged due to … an accident … or some other thing.
What if Drew was able to work out a viable story with Elizabeth? One in which he got her to a hospital to be checked out. One in which he ended up being the hero.
Maybe I would have to be at fault. We could be walking away from an accident in which I’d lost control of the car. She’d been hurt, so I had to carry her. She thought she had her cell phone in her pocket, but realized it was missing sometime during the time I carried her.
Could something like that work? It would allow both of them plausible deniability.
Drew was getting a little bit excited.
He’d have to actually wreck his car. Or maybe it happened that an animal ran out in front of them, he swerved to avoid it and ended up in a ditch, unable to get the car out, both of them having gotten injured.
The car slowed to fifty miles per hour.
For it to work, though, there’d have to be no holes in the plan.
Okay, so I get her to a hospital someplace. Maybe by hitching a ride with someone passing by … in the country … at night … on a rural route.
Unlikely, but still possible, I guess. Provided I choose the right road.
At the hospital, I’d have to give my real I.D. Is that an issue?
That’d have to be another aspect of the story that he figured out with Elizabeth.
Maybe we could agree that I confessed to her who I really was, and that I had made up a false name to … to… He sighed. …to meet her under false pretenses.
And someone would ask why. Her dad. The cop.
Too many what-ifs with Elizabeth’s willingness and too many holes in his own story to cover up that he had been wanting her for sex.
It wouldn’t work.
It made him both sad and angry.
Who was the biggest screw up that he knew? He was.
He hit the accelerator again, driving the BMW’s speed back up, this time past eighty, then ninety.
Maybe he’d be fortunate enough to hit a large animal crossing the road and just end everything right now.
A spike of fear struck his heart and mind.
Elizabeth, hidden and locked up in a room where there was nothing to keep her alive.
He slowed down again.
What do I do?
What did he need more than anything in that moment? Two things: an alibi and more time.
How would he get either?
The alibi could only come from Elizabeth.
And more time could only come from….
I need to delay the search for Elizabeth!
Where was he right now? He slowed, then pulled his car over to the side of some narrow two-lane road. There wasn’t a light to be seen.
He pulled out his phone, opened the maps app, and pressed the icon to locate himself. He was a good twenty miles from his mom’s house in a neighboring town.
This should be good enough.
He got really nervous as he grabbed Elizabeth’s phone from the passenger seat. He’d have to say exactly the right thing.
He entered her security pin into the phone. Her home screen came alive.
First, he looked through Elizabeth’s contacts. She hadn’t been lying. He saw Brent Lawton’s name almost right away. Then he saw ‘Mom Lawton.’ Maybe this is the one he should use.
He tapped on the name and chose the text icon.
He scrolled through previous messages to see the style that Elizabeth had used in the past to talk with her adoptive mom. After a minute, he thought he could duplicate the feel of one of her messages.
If he were a praying man….
He typed a hopefully believable message … and hit Send.
WHEN TARA HEARD the text chime from her phone, she ran from the kitchen to the living room to grab it.
It was from Elizabeth!
Thank you, God!
She opened it.
Mom! I am soooo, soooo sorry! Lauren and I got Italian in Pearson! So good! My car broke down in the middle of nowhere. No cell service. Hoping this text will still send. Still walking. Got a flashlight. LOL Having fun. Don’t worry. Be home before too long I hope. Love you guys! Tell Jenna and Jamie and Dad I’m OK!
Tara’s hand rose to her mouth as a mixture of relief and joy caused her to sob.
“Oh, thank you, Jesus! Thank you!”
Jamie and Jenna came down from their bedrooms, Jenna already in comfortable PJs and Jamie still in his karate gi.
“What is it?” they both said, almost simultaneously.
“Elizabeth. She’s okay.” The words had been difficult to get out, but she was able to manage a tear-covered smile.
Jamie’s head dropped with a whispered prayer of thanks.
“She sure knows how to shake things up,” said Jenna smiling.
“She sure does, honey. She sure does. Apparently, they went all the way to Pearson for dinner. Some Italian place. Her car broke down, I guess on their way back. No cell service out there, apparently.”
Jenna asked, “Are you going to let Dad know?”
“That’d probably be a good idea, wouldn’t it?” said Tara.
God, you are so good!
WHEN BRENT RECEIVED the text from Tara, he too breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank God that’s over with,” he said to himsel
f.
He’d not returned home after his interviews at the diner. Going home would have left him pacing, trying to figure out what to do next.
No, instead, he had decided to drive the streets of Millsville looking for evidence of Elizabeth or her car. He’d found nothing, and now, thankfully, he knew why.
Foremost on his mind during the past hour of stress had been to call Tony Morelli and ask for a special favor: the filing of a missing person report and the dissemination of the information to his police officers.
However, Brent thought about what he would do if Tony had called him at home about a missing daughter. Would he have counseled Tony to hold off for a while, as there was a twenty-four-hour requirement for someone to be considered missing?
What if, after engaging the men and women of the Millsville Police Department, the whole thing with Elizabeth—as it now turned out to be—had simply been a matter of a teenaged girl being a little rebellious about being home when she said she would? That would have pulled officers away from other important tasks for no reason.
Brent was glad he’d held off, even though Morelli would have told him it was okay to be hyper-responsive as a dad.
Time to head home. Maybe for the first time, I’m going to have to treat Elizabeth like a real Lawton kid in need of a dose of discipline for not letting anyone know where she was going.
One thing that still didn’t make sense, though, was that she was out with someone named Lauren.
Lauren who? From where?
Was there a mix up in what Elizabeth had meant to convey when she said she’d be with a friend from work? Did she maybe pick up a friend from work?
I’ll definitely be asking that question.
SOMETHING WASN’T SITTING right within Jamie.
He was in the bathroom, about to strip down for a quick shower before bed, but the sudden emotion of joy he’d had about Elizabeth being okay was already gone. Replaced with a sense of….
He couldn’t pinpoint what he felt, just that something wasn’t right.
And it would not let him go.
He opened the bathroom door and walked out, his chest bared by the open uniform jacket. Walking into his bedroom, he tossed his black belt onto the bed and grabbed his phone from the dresser.
That Dark Place Page 39
