A Ride Home: Tampa FBI Two

by C. Soto

  He didn’t find anything else online, besides it’s a frequented park, on why the killer chose this location. He did write a note to ask the victim’s family if the park had a special significance to Marley.

  He shot a text to Tammy and James to have them ask the families of the other victims to see if their locations were significant to the victim. If not, they would know it was significant to the killer only. He knew the killer had to choose each location for a reason. He needed to find out who it was momentous to, the victim or the killer. He hoped if it were an important or frequented place to the victims, the family would know. They needed every detail of information they could to build upon the profile.

  He noticed Emily and Derrick veered away from him. He jogged towards them to see what their thoughts were.

  Once he caught up to them, John asked Emily, “Do you get a sense of anything from the killer or victim here?”

  Emily responded, “No, however, it has been seven years, so a long time for her energy to hang around. Hopefully, that means her soul is at peace now.”

  John shook his head in frustration, he knew that would probably be the case, but he was hoping for better news, especially since the killer had a new victim and escalated his behavior with Tammy.

  “Yea, it was worth a shot though. I looked online and this place is known for photography shoots. With the trees as the backdrop and the veranda, it’s a beautiful place to come capture that beautiful moment.”

  “Yes, I was admiring the scenery here. It has a peaceful serenity here. I could enjoy coming out here, laying a blanket on the grass under one of the trees and reading a good book.”

  “Well how about we head on over to the next location where victim two, Cassidy, was found.” John asked.

  Derrick replied, “Sounds good, lead the way.”

  They hopped in John’s car and went to the next location. It was a historical district, which was vastly different than the peaceful serenity of the park. This place had a liveliness to it. There were people walking all around, going in and out of shops. There were clubs for the music scene and other shopping centers. As they walked up the street, they checked out the shops that had cameras pointing at the bench that Cassidy was left at four years ago. They chose the closet shop first, that would have better clarity if the cameras were operating back then.

  When they walked in, John spoke to the owner, “Good morning sir, how are you?” He then took out his badge and introduced himself, Derrick and Emily.

  The owner replied, “Doing fine, how may I help you all today?”

  “I noticed your cameras outside and wanted to see if you had them four years ago? I know it’s a long shot, but I needed to ask anyways.”

  “Oh, I wish I had better news for you, I had them, but I don’t retain the footage for that long. The storage automatically erases after a month’s time. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you guys.”

  “No problem, thank you for taking the time to meet with us.” John shook his hand.

  They walked out of the store and tried the other shops that were closest to the bench. They lucked out with those shops as well. As they walked further away knowing the angle of cameras wouldn’t have caught the bench, they wanted to try the shops and bars to see if they still had footage, as maybe it would capture a vehicle that night.

  They didn’t find any success, which they knew was a long shot with being four years ago. However, they had to at least ask, for the off chance they got lucky.

  John, Derrick, and Emily moved on to the other locations. They didn’t have any luck with the other two victims either. Which having that many years in gaps they weren’t expecting a different outcome.

  For the couple, Mr. and Mrs. East, who were the killer’s seventh and eighth victims, they didn’t go to their old home. The home had new owners and they didn’t want to disturb the new owners with a reminder of the gruesome event that happened in their home.

  Once they got to Addie’s location, the sixth victim, they finally caught a break. One of the gas stations nearby the location had footage from that night. They upgraded their system a few years back and everything was stored in a cloud. They had the manager contact the owner for permission to forward them the image.

  John finally felt a shred of hope. This was the type of break they needed. Sara was still missing. They had to find her soon, before her fate was sealed by the killer. He knew from the past victims what she was enduring, the agony she must be in, being captured by ‘The Hacker’. He thought, Please let the killer or his car be on this video or one of the other videos that are being reviewed.

  Once they were able to get a copy of the video, they left the store and headed towards the car. Since video footage was already requested for Elisa and Laura, they didn’t need to canvas the mall or bagel shop.

  John asked, “You guys want to stop and get lunch before we head to the interviews?”

  Emily responded, “Yes, that sounds like a good plan. I’m starting to get hungry and best to eat now while we have a break in the momentum.”

  John pulled up to the restaurant and parked and told Emily and Derrick, “Go ahead and grab a table, you can order me a coke. I’ll be right in. I want to call Samantha while we have a break.

  John pulled out his phone and called Samantha.

  She picked up on the second ring. “Hello”

  John eagerly replied, “Hey beautiful, how is your day?”

  “It’s going good. Just got done running some errands. I’m glad you called, I missed you last night.”

  “I missed you too. I hope we wrap up at a decent time, so I can come by tonight.”

  “That would be great. If not I understand, you’re working a big case. Either way, give me a call.”

  John replied “I will. Thank you so much for understanding, unfortunately this is my life, a case will always come first as people are relying on us.”

  “I understand completely. You have a big responsibility and I’m proud of the work you do, in helping keeping people safe and trying to get the bad guys off the street. You do important work. I know you must be getting frustrated, knowing someone is actively being held.”

  “Yes, I feel the pressure of trying to find Sara. We’ll find something eventually that will help us track this monster down. We are getting ready to eat an early lunch while we have a quick break. I wanted to call you since I missed your voice and tell you I miss you.”

  Samantha smiled at his sweet words, “I miss you too, but I’m a big girl don’t worry about me. I’ll be here when you get done. I’ll let you get back to it. Talk to you later.”

  “Okay, talk later.” John then hung up and walked in the restaurant and found where Emily and Derrick were sitting.

  He pulled up his phone and found a florist delivery and showed Emily an arrangement he wanted to send to Samantha.

  “What do you think about this arrangement, Emily?”

  “Those are beautiful, she’ll love them John. That is such a sweet gesture. I didn’t know you had a romantic side to you.” Emily joked.

  John laughed, “Of course I do. I just hadn’t found anyone to share that side with. We’ve been so busy lately, that I have had to cancel plans and not be there like I wanted. I wanted to send her something to let her know I was thinking of her and appreciate her.”

  “That’s sweet John, she’ll love them. Anything that came from your heart, she’ll appreciate.” Emily told him.

  He felt like the luckiest guy in the world having met Samantha. Her understanding of his work and her patience with him on having to cancel last minute on plans they had. He felt blessed at having found a woman with the patience she had. He wanted to show her his appreciation of her.

  He had the flower order completed and the expected delivery time showed delivery would happen in two hours.

  They placed their order when he was browsing the floral arrangements. By the time he was done, the food had arrived, and they hurried and ate. They still had much to do. They
had to be back at the office by 2:00 p.m. for a conference with IT and Eric.

  John hoped the IT unit would have updates on the many surveillance videos that were sent to them. He knew it was a large job and the team was remaining patient while they did their work. However, the pressure was building now that they had a current victim. He believed she was still alive since her body hadn’t been found yet.

  Once they finished eating, they paid their bill and hopped back in John’s car and drove to their first interview of victim one, Marley’s parents. They pulled up to Mr. and Mrs. Dixon’s house. You could tell the upkeep was minimal in the last few years. As John looked at the house, he could tell the care wasn’t there any longer. He could picture the house of what it was during the happier times. Now the deck was missing the yearly power washing and the grime on the side of the house which was caked on. He could see the garden, where once it must have flourished under a loving hand. Now the flowers had a wilted look to them. The weeds overgrown around them. The bushes on the side of the house hadn’t been trimmed in a while and had a wild look to them.

  They walked up the path to the front door and stood while they knocked waiting on Mr. or Mrs. Dixon to answer the door. John called and spoke to Mrs. Dixon yesterday, so they knew they were coming. After two or three minutes they heard footsteps walking towards the door. They watched as the door opened and a frail looking Mrs. Dixon stood and looked at them with a confused face, waiting for them to introduce themselves.

  John clearing his throat, “Hi Mrs. Dixon, I’m John Cullins from the FBI, and my partner Derrick and our consultant Emily. We made an appointment yesterday to stop by.”

  Mrs. Dixon replied, “Oh yes I remember now, please come in. Sorry my memory isn’t what it used to be.”

  They walked in and looked around. The house had a dusty appearance like they gave up on that daily upkeep of looking neat and pristine. The house wasn’t falling in, but the love and care it once had was no longer evident.

  John speaking softly to Mrs. Dixon, “Is Mr. Dixon around ma’am?”

  Mrs. Dixon’s voice replying shakily, “No, my husband passed away two years ago from a heart attack. After our Marley died, his health deteriorated and the will to live wasn’t there any longer.”

  John’s heart broke for Mrs. Dixon after hearing about her husband’s passing. This poor lady was now alone in the world, with first her daughter and then her husband passing away. As he looked at her, her body showed the signs of aging exponentially the last six years, she didn’t look far behind her husband.

  John holding her hand, “Mrs. Dixon, I am so sorry to hear that. We stopped by today to see if there was anything additional that you remember around the time of Marley’s abduction.”

  Mrs. Dixon’s voice cracking, ‘No, I’m sure whatever I told the detectives back then is the same thing. Have you any new leads on my baby girl? I’m just hoping to stay alive to hear they caught the guy who hurt my angel.”

  John replying, “No ma’am, we haven’t had any new leads yet, but we are still investigating the case, which is why we wanted to come and check to see if there was anything new you remembered. Do you have any of Marley’s stuff we could look through?”

  “No. I donated her belongings a few years back to my church’s garage sale. My Marley was such a sweet soul. She used to volunteer at the church all the time. Working the food pantry and serving meals to the homeless. She was very involved in community service and giving back.”

  John asked, “Was there a significance to the park she was found at? Did she frequent it?”

  Mrs. Dixon looked in deep thought, “I don’t think so, if there was I’m sorry I don’t remember. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t be more help.”

  “That’s no problem.” John replied. “She sounds like a remarkable woman, Mrs. Dixon. I am so very sorry for both of your losses. We won’t keep you any longer.” John pulled out his card and handed it to Mrs. Dixon, “If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you for not giving up on looking for Marley’s killer.” She replied with a sigh in her voice.

  “Absolutely, Ma’am. Well, we’ll see ourselves out. You have a nice day.”

  John, Derrick, and Emily walked out of the house deflated from the interview.

  Emily spoke to the men, “You could feel the grief that clung to that woman. It was hard to even breathe in there. That poor woman, now all alone in this world. I felt her only purpose for hanging on to life now was to find Marley’s killer. We need to find her that justice.”

  Derrick hugging Emily, “I know, we will do our best for her and all the families.”

  They all piled into the car. John looked at the time, “Well it’s 12:30 p.m., we have time to do one more interview, then we can head back to the office.”

  Emily and Derrick agreed, and John drove to the next interview on their list, the third victim Rose’s parents’ house.

  They pulled up to the house and got out of the car and walked up to the door. They could hear the dog barking and noise coming from inside. As John started knocking, the door opened, and a flustered Mrs. Riley opened the door.

  “Hi ma’am, my name is John, we spoke earlier.” John stated as he showed her his badge.

  “Hi yes, please come in. Please don’t mind the circus, we have our grandson over, as I watch him during the day. He’s a handful.” She said laughing.

  John could see Rose’s mother was faring better than Marley’s mom. However, she had other remaining children and now a grandchild and a husband. It appeared they had a great support system in place. He was happy to see their late daughter’s death didn’t crush the remainder of their lives. They still had people to live for, a purpose to wake up each day and keep going. Not that their grief was any less than anyone else’s. However, it helped when other people depended on you to keep going. Also, to be surrounded by a little kid who demanded your attention and someone to play with them. He could see that their grandchild breathed new life into this family.

  As they walked through the hallway leading to the living room, they could hear a child’s laughter from his grandpa tickling him. As they all entered the living room, the child’s laughter continued. This bought a smile to John, there was nothing better than hearing laughter from a child.

  Once Mr. Riley put his grandson down, he walked up and shook hands with the team.

  “Hi, please come in and sit. Do any of you want anything to drink?”

  “No thank you sir. Thank you for offering though.”

  Mrs. Riley went in the kitchen and grabbed some snacks and a sippy cup and set them on the coffee table so their grandson could sit while they talked, and he could be distracted by his snacks.

  John spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Riley, “Thank you so much for meeting with us. We wanted to re-interview you for Rose’s abduction. Sometimes after a bit of time, some new details might surface that you didn’t think of before. Can you walk us through that time in Rose’s life? What she did, where she worked, who she hung out with? Did she have her own car, or did she ride public transportation?”

  Mrs. Riley replied, “Rose was a sweet girl. She turned 22 a few months before her abduction. She had her own apartment.” Her mom said with such pride. “She was such an independent young lady, always wanting to make it on her own. She graduated the year prior with a marketing degree. She started at a marketing company right out of college, at entry level, just starting her career out.” She said with a smile, remembering her late daughter’s determination.

  She continued on, “She had a lot of friends, always out on the weekends with them. To know Rose, was to like her. She was one of those people that others were drawn to, as she treated everyone with kindness. She didn’t have any enemies or anything like that. She did have her own car, she had upgraded her old car for a newer model not long before her murder. She was settled in her own apartment and her career was going well.”

  “Thank you for that informatio
n, do you know, did she ever feel like she was being followed or if anyone gave her the creeps?” John asked

  “No, not that she mentioned to us. I would like to believe that she would have told us if she felt that way. We were close and talked a few times a week.” Mrs. Riley said with a tear rolling down her face.

  “Okay, thank you. Do you have a list of Rose’s friends, people she hung around with that you could provide to us?” John asked.

  “Yes, no problem, I already made a list in case you wanted it. Have you found any new leads? I’ve been hearing on the news of those girls and couple that were found murdered recently. Are they connected to Rose’s case? It sounds very similar.” Mr. Riley asked.

  “We believe the cases are connected. At this time, I cannot say more, but your daughter’s case is still active and being investigated.”

  “Thank you.” As she clutched the Kleenex in her hand. “We have been waiting for the monster responsible to be locked up. Please don’t give up on searching for him. It has already been four long years of having no answers.”

  “We won’t give up until we find the guy. We’ll let you know as soon as a killer is apprehended. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. We appreciate it.” John said while looking at Mr. and Mrs. Riley.

  Mr. Riley reached out his hand to shake John, Derrick, and Emily’s hand. “Please let us know if there is any additional information you need. We’ll be here.”

  John responded, “Will do. You guys have a good rest of the day.”

  The team walked out with the list from Mrs. Riley and headed to the car. They got in and headed back to the office. They felt a little discouraged that they didn’t learn anything new than what was in the initial interview. That could be expected though, as there weren’t any statements from any family members of the victims, that they knew they were being stalked.

  The victims were going about life with their guard down, which may have cost them their life. It was a reminder John took with him in life, to always be aware of his surroundings, who was in the vicinity. He tried to pass this message along to family and friends all the time. They mostly thought he lived in paranoia, however, how could he not with his job and what he saw? He wanted his loved ones to be aware, to always notice things. Had these victims had the same mindset, they may have realized a person following them, or the same car was in multiple places as them, that could have alerted them to something wasn’t right.