The Thomas Girls: Book 4 of the Adelaide Henson Mystery Series

by William Cain

  captain, call me tomorrow? i’ll have actionable news then

  She shows the text to Frank,

  “Christmas comes early.”

  3

  The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vince Lombardi

  Inside her stationhouse the next morning at 100 Court Plaza, Addie opens her case file on Reggi Thomas and Madison Bouknight. She’s understandably perplexed over how life plays out. Addie met Frank at his mother’s house, Reggi Thomas’ home, when she was investigating the murder of Elsie Battaglia. She fell in love with Frank, and when it was found Reggi had murdered her, albeit mentally ill, ‘awkward’ itself arrived and set in for a while. Addie arrested Reggi Thomas, but she still married Frank. Now Reggi has escaped with Madison’s help.

  Addie bites her lip when she thinks about how close she was to recapturing Reggi in Las Cruces, just last week. But Madison’s work with the women’s shelter brought the Underground into play and they’ve proven to be a monumental roadblock. She doesn’t quite get why the Underground would help an escaped murderer. Maybe they didn’t know. Maybe they didn’t ask. Maybe they didn’t want to know. The Underground is a very complicated network, and no one person knows too much.

  From the file, she takes out the grainy video image of the man that released the girls in Las Cruces. Studying the still image, she recalls how he told the arresting officers he was ‘Deputy Byford’, but Madison knows him as Greg – not his real name either – and he’s Madison’s contact and handler. He tricked the officers into handing the handcuffed Madison and her grandmother over to him because he was supposedly Captain Henson’s second in command. She puts the image on top, inside the file. If they found him, they’d find the girls, maybe. But that’s a long shot since they can’t make him talk. The Underground can’t be broken, and you can’t get wiretaps or search warrants on an estimated guess or probable outcome.

  Working within the confines of the law has its drawbacks. Addie would like to circumvent her restrictions and once, just once break into someone’s home – like Greg’s, if she could find it – and learn where the women are. Where their new, final home is. That would be very satisfying. But then reality sets in and her little daydream is over. That won’t happen. She tells herself she doesn’t need that anyway since she’s almost one hundred percent sure Madison will reach out to Jimmy. Maybe the call she’s about to place will blow her case wide open.

  Addie phones the Tyler, Texas Police Department. Once answered, she’s connected to Captain Boyer, who’s expecting her call around this time. After he answers, she’s placed on speaker and the short meeting begins. She’s more interested in speaking with Haines, but will go through the usual channels, following protocol.

  “Good morning, Captain Henson. I have my detectives here with me. Say hello to the nice captain, boys.” And the salutations are made.

  “I remember your men, Captain,” Addie tells him. She says to the two detectives, “Hey guys, how’s things? Hot down there?”

  “It’s like an inferno, Captain ma’am.”

  Captain Boyer steers the meeting. “Let’s get started. I know you want to speak with Haines. I’ll call him in a few minutes. Let’s bring you up to date from last week. Go ahead, men, you have the floor.”

  One of the detectives starts in, “We’ve conferred with the Panama City Beach police and determined the same perp committed both murders. There is so much coming and going on video, it’s impossible to pin down a list of suspects. We don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman. However, the blood found on the second victim’s knife will tell us that, and we’re waiting on those results. When we see them, you will see them.”

  The detective then adds, “Both forensics teams have come to the same estimates about height. We conducted a second national database search, widening our parameters. Still nothing. There aren’t a lot of serial killers that work like this. Evidently, using someone’s head for batting practice isn’t the first choice when it comes to this sort of thing. And, no other cases like this have surfaced.”

  Now it’s Addie’s turn, and she tells them about the daily monitoring, searching news sources nationwide. “I’m looking for fatalities with blunt forced impact to the facial cavity, as gross as that sounds. I have a techie on call, working with me. He sets this stuff up. He does dark web things, and I met him when working a case similar to these two men’s murders. He also works for the mob.”

  “Whoa, that’s fringe employment,” the men remark.

  “Nothing illegal. You know how we game the system. Anyway, he’s the one that helped me locate the two fugitives in Las Cruces, but they got away. These two people, these two fugitives, are the ones that reported the murders of the men … the cases you’re investigating. These men were killed because they had a relationship with the two fugitives.”

  Captain Boyer asks, “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  “Yes, very intuitive. These fugitives are those I’m actively seeking. That’s my case. One is a murderer, an escaped mental patient.” Addie waits before she drops the bomb, and she visualizes the three of them in Tyler sitting on the edge of their seats, even the captain.

  “The escaped killer is my mother-in-law,” and she hears the men speaking to each other excitedly.

  “The other fugitive is my niece, my husband’s niece.” Addie pauses here.

  Captain Boyer asks again, “There’s more?”

  “Yes,” she answers. “It appears the Underground is helping them.”

  “What the hell is that?” Boyer asks loudly.

  “In my home town of Asheville, there is a women’s shelter. Battered women seek refuge there, but it’s not enough for some. These women are on the edge, constantly in fear of a controlling husband, or worse. It’s very hard to stop the abuse. Years ago, a network was formed by two women in Colorado. Modern day, this network is huge and highly secretive. Women that need to start over are taken in and they disappear. Forever. My second fugitive, my niece, is part of the network.”

  Addie hears a loud whistle, someone on the other end vocalizing his disbelief. “Guys, they’re bad news for me, and maybe for you, too. If you think they don’t have sympathizers in Tyler, you are wrong. Forget about breaking the Network, as they call it sometimes. Normally, the Underground wouldn’t disregard the law, but in the case of these two women, they are. My niece is trained in the art of escape, and has received other training. At first, I thought my mother-in-law was responsible for the murders before you. But my niece convinced me she wasn’t, and I believe her.”

  “How did she convince you, what did she say or do?” Boyer asks.

  “Madison and Reggi were in close proximity to each killing. The first victim was discovered by Reggi. The second had just finished walking Reggi home, and was returning to his own apartment. It’s safe to assume Reggi Thomas had started killing again. But she was ruled out.”

  “How?”

  “My niece examined her grandmother after each murder.”

  “What?!”

  “It’s part of her training. She examined her to rule her out. She knows the Underground won’t be party to murder, and won’t help if they believe my mother-in-law started killing again.”

  “I see,” Boyer replies. “I’m rubbing my head over this. Anything else?”

  “Yes. The commissioner here, in Asheville, wants to talk to me. He said something about a task force. He said the words ‘FBI’ and ‘nationwide’, right before he said ‘bullet’ and ‘brain’. He wants this to end, and he’s pretty fed up. Now, I have one question for you.”

  “Go ahead, Captain. Nothing will shock us now.”

  Addie pauses a brief moment to let all this soak in, then asks, “Do you want in?”

  ◆◆◆

  Haines enters Boyer's office, and the detectives remain where they are. They’re not missing any of this, and the captain doesn’t ask them to leave.

  “Good morning, Captain,” Haines says when greeting Addie.


  Addie is very grateful for Haines’ work. Without it, she probably wouldn’t have very much. Haines is thankful for the work she gives him, too, to repay his debt for the poor behavior he showed when Addie was last in Tyler. “Good morning Sergeant. Been busy watching our mutual friend?”

  “Yes, I have. Captain Boyer receives the same report you do. We’re all a little excited today over the news I have. Our work may bear fruit. So, let me tell you what I have.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Jimmy has been receiving calls, lots of them, from a certain cell phone. And, he’s been preparing for something – secured a new car, new luggage, and has put in for one month of vacation at the component plant he works at as a software developer.”

  “Go on,” Addie urges, eager to hear what she has longed for.

  “I’ve made my calls. I don’t want to brag but I’ve put together a lot of contacts. Some owe me a favor and some don’t, and then some just want to be involved, knowing the payoff will be theirs one day. I have Jimmy’s new car make and model, license plate, driver’s license number, his photo id. I even have the results from his latest physical.”

  “Some of my contacts work at the airport. Those contacts have contacts. Spotting Jimmy boarding a plane is not a problem. I’ll have his flight number when he makes his reservation. Even if he boards in Dallas or Houston, I can have him tracked. I’ll know where he’s going, and he’ll be going soon.”

  “Wonderful, Sergeant. Keep me in the loop.”

  The meeting ends and before they drop the call, Addie asks to speak with Boyer. Alone now, just the two of them, Addie asks again, “That task force. Do you want in?”

  Captain Boyer affirmatively replies, “You bet I do.”

  “One more thing,” she says, leading him.

  “Shoot.”

  “I want Haines on that, too.”

  4

  Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

  The women are getting along in their new abode, settling in, happy. They arrived a few days ago, and are happily busying themselves furnishing their home with knick-knacks and wall art. It’s been a welcome diversion from the many days prior, and all that nasty business with a killer following them and making them miserable, murdering their new friends Benny and Morris. They had liked them and every time life seemed to be returning to normal, the killer would reappear. Talking about it, Madison and Reggi hold their own homemade therapy sessions. It’s the only way to go beyond the sadness of those memories. The poor men, their only fault was befriending Reggi and Madison, and they paid with their lives. The killer made brutal examples of what their friendship meant, making a lasting impact on the two women.

  Now, in their permanent home in San Luis Obispo, there is no one following them. No one is lurking behind that house over there, or the elementary school building across the street. No one is hiding behind that bush there, bat in hand, waiting to attack an innocent soul. No one is watching them, and with the help of the Underground, Madison and her grandmother Reggi believe they are finally free from the fear of arrest and the fear of attack. They’ve been taking it hard on both sides of the law, finding themselves in the middle. Without Greg and the Network, they’d be alone.

  Madison knows they can’t make it without help, and she’s grateful to have it. But not that kind of grateful. The grateful kind her handler Greg thought he could use to bed her. That is not happening. The thought makes her shudder, and she knows she doesn’t think of him like that. Maybe Greg was just exercising poor judgment, and it won’t happen again. Maybe it was just a one-off and he forgot it as soon as he left their home that night. It was a long day for everyone. Maybe it was an innocent move on his part and she misinterpreted his intentions. Thinking about it, analyzing those moments, what he said, what he suggested, won’t help. Still, her attempts to forget it don’t work, and that night creeps back into her mind when she’s not preoccupied.

  Madison is determined this day will be a good day. As will all the others to come. She’s been speaking to Jimmy a lot, that man she met in Tyler. He’s so funny and handsome. Smart, too. Knowing him as briefly as she did, she doesn’t know why she thinks of him almost every waking moment. All those times they shared, inseparable during her time with him. Sometimes they’d just watch a comedy at home, eating popcorn and laughing. He’d even watch a chick-flick with her. Then they’d be serious sometimes and talk about their futures, and cautiously touch on a future together. And the petting sessions – those were hot. He never went too far, careful of Madison’s feelings, and his feelings, too. Madison knows she’s fallen in love with him. She hopes he feels the same. She thinks he does.

  Madison longs for him, even though it was a short romance. She talked to her grandmother about it. Is this love? Reggi told her it is if you smile when you think about him.

  She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s decided to ask Jimmy to come to her, to come live near her in San Luis Obispo, and to move in with her soon after. This is her new home and she wants him there. This past week, when she finds herself lying alone in the darkness, her eyes are wide and unblinking as she fantasizes about him, holding her, stroking her, on top of her, kissing her. Later, as she sleeps, he is there.

  Madison misses Jimmy.

  Her grandmother enters the living room where Madison’s been seated, lost in her daydream over her boyfriend. She’s holding flowers, freshly cut from the garden out back. When she sees Madison deep in thought, she stops and watches for a moment. She’s worried Madison is thinking about the murders they’ve left behind, but when she sees the soulful expression on her granddaughter’s face and the upturned lips, a small smile framing her, Reggi knows what’s she’s thinking about. And it’s not that guy Greg, who Reggi has come to find tedious and ingratiating. There’s something about that guy, she believes, thinking He’s hiding something. Reggi knows they need him, but she’s been around the block a few times in her day and knows trouble when she sees it. Still, she’ll tolerate Greg. He’s leaving in a few days and maybe he won’t come back. Madison shut him down the other night, so maybe he’ll leave with his tail between his legs.

  “Madison, help me with these, please,” she implores, breaking Madison’s contemplative thoughts.

  When Madison turns and sees the flowers, she breaks into a wide smile, and bounces off the ottoman she’s been resting on. “Those are just beautiful, Grandmother. Let me get a vase or two, the tall ones over there, in the curio.”

  “What are these?” she asks pointing to an odd conical type flower.

  Reggi looks at the bunch, answering Madison, “These are called Picasso flowers.”

  When she sees Madison’s skeptical look, Reggi tells her, “Even I had to look it up. These are Calla Lily’s. And they’re known as Picasso flowers. Just go with it. Come on, I’ll cut them down a little, and we’ll put them into a couple of vases. Let’s go to the kitchen.” She begins walking toward it, Madison in tow.

  While working on the arrangement, they hear a knock at their door. Reggi doesn’t react, but Madison can feel her grandmother’s mood change a little, becoming a little more serious, failing to carry the morning’s contentment forward with this new interruption. She knows it’s Greg, and she knows her grandmother doesn’t like him.

  “I’ll get it. You be nice. He’s leaving and probably just here to say goodbye,” Madison tells her as she turns for the door, Reggi staring after her.

  When she returns, Greg is with her. Reggi greets him cheerfully, “Good morning, Greg. You’re in time for lunch.”

  “Good morning, Reggi. Nice flowers. You take them from the garden?”

  “Yes, just now. Would you like some for your room?”

  “Next time. I’m leaving for Asheville later. My bags are near the door. I checked out.”

  “Aww, that’s too bad,” Reggi laments, laying it on a little thick. “What’s going on in Asheville?”

  Reggi’s hoping he’ll be away a long time, and she fo
rces herself to not smile broadly when he tells the two of them, proudly, “I have a new case. The director there likes my work with the two of you, especially the way I handled Las Cruces. She wants me to consider becoming the handler for a new, high profile subject.”

  Greg’s dripping with self-praise and Reggi gives Madison a secretive, repulsed look. She almost bursts out laughing at his self-importance, but remains as before, smiling politely.

  Strangely, his voice strained a little and changed slightly, just like the other night when he was bragging about himself. It leads Reggi to think, Maybe he’s trying to impress Madison. Well, it’s not working. It’s just weird.

  Madison’s countenance remains unchanged as Greg goes on, “Before I go, I’d like to help around here and do what I can. I’ll leave after lunch. So, what do you need to be done?”

  Before Madison can answer – and she’s sure Madison will tell him nothing needs to be done – Reggi steps in. She’s already decided to give Greg a few things to do in order to keep him occupied until he leaves. Otherwise, he’ll hang around and be even more annoying. “Madison, take Greg into the living room and show him those framed works we want to hang. I’m not getting on a ladder and neither are you.”

  Greg smiles at this chance to be with Madison. The other night has been forgotten, and Greg hasn’t brought up his offer again. Madison has ignored it, too. The three of them have returned to a more business-like arrangement, as it should be. Still, Reggi watches the two of them leave the kitchen, Greg following, perhaps a little too close. And she thinks, If he touches her one time, I’ll kill him.

  She’s not kidding.

  ◆◆◆

  After lunch on the patio, they clear the plates and say their farewells. Greg will be taking car service to the regional airport for his flight back to Asheville. When it arrives, Reggi and Madison both wave goodbye, secretly holding back their satisfaction and relief as his car service disappears around the corner. Nothing needs to be said, each knowing the other’s thoughts as the front door is closed and they retreat into their home, alone at last.