Obsession (20 page)

“Which one?” Jess buckled her own safety belt. “That the girls are found alive and well? That Spears died of a sudden heart attack?” Her eyes rounded in feigned surprise. “Wait no, that my SAIC got transferred to North Dakota?”

“We can’t go back to the office.”

“Oh,” she pouted, “that’s too bad.”

“This thing with Spears is going to become a major issue.” Dan sure as hell didn’t want the guy watching Jess’s every move on the news.

“Maureen Sullivan knows what Dana had planned. That’s the only major issue on my mind.”

“That, too.” Dan wasn’t surprised that Jess had been right about the doctor having moxy.

“Sullivan knows enough,” Jess pressed, “to believe she can find her or somehow intervene.”

“Maybe.” Dan wasn’t going that far but it was clear the doctor felt she could accomplish more on her own than by cooperating with the police. The other side of that was maybe she felt guilty to some degree for not having sounded a warning before Dana disappeared.

“Since we can’t go back to the office right now,” Jess said with enough offhandedness to almost sound credible, “let’s drive past the Sawyer home and see if that white Taurus is there.” She twisted the ring on her finger.

Last night’s conversation and then that kiss filtered through his thoughts, resurrecting the tension even a cold shower and a decent night’s sleep hadn’t fully worn off. Her excuses for still wearing that band were bullshit. She had the lowdown on his personal life while she continued to hold back key aspects of hers.

“We could swing by Mr. Gold’s first and you could take care of that extra baggage you’re carrying around.” 

“We could,” she offered. “But then you’d have to tell me about that pretty reporter you allowed to cross the yellow line the other night down in Tuscaloosa. The one you promised a scoop and who keeps you posted about what her colleagues are up to. Sound fair?”

“I guess we’re headed to Warrior.” Dan had given Jess all she was going to get. He needed to get a handle on this tension building between them. The stress of recent events in both their personal lives combined with the frustrating and colliding cases was a surefire trigger for crossing another line that had nothing to do with yellow crime-scene tape and a mere kiss.

“I see.”

Dan sent her a look. He refused to take the bait. She hoped to goad him into telling her what she wanted to know. Not happening. He also wouldn’t ask her why she slept in his parents’ room last night. Not that he cared but did that move suggest she didn’t trust herself to sleep across the hall from him after the way he’d attacked her in his room?

Frustration twisted a little tighter. What the hell had he been thinking? Waking from a dead sleep, already semi-aroused by dreams he refused to analyze, to find her in his room had obviously robbed him of any good sense. 

Jess settled her eyeglasses into place and focused on her phone, tapping and sliding her fingers over the screen. 

Back to business. “What’s your assessment of the Porters?”

“They don’t know anything, but I want Tim followed up on just in case I’m missing something besides his workplace affair.”

“I’m beginning to wonder, Jess,” it pained him to say the words out loud, “whether we might be wrong. There may not be a connection between these girls.”

She lifted her attention from her phone’s screen. “That is a possibility.” 

He braked for a light, turned to her. “There’s a lot we may be wrong about.”

“That’s always the case. What we have to bear in mind is whether or not the steps we take are hindering any aspect of the investigation in the event these are five separate abductions by five different unsubs. If the answer is no, and it is, then we’re only guilty of wasting resources.”

Dan hoped that was the only part of this strategy they would have reason to regret.

“You said Andrea is strong, Dan.”

She hadn’t called him by his first name but once or twice since her arrival. It shouldn’t have made him want to reach across the console and touch her, but it did. “She is.”

“Then her chances of survival are better than average. We have to hang onto that.”

“With both hands, Jess.” He took a deep breath and gained speed on the interstate. “With both hands.”

“I think I’ll call Mr. Williams.”

“For all the good it’ll do.” Attorneys just loved yanking cops around.

Jess left Williams a voicemail informing him that his client had fled in a borrowed car and that she was now an official person of interest in this case. 

As exhausted as he was, Dan smiled. He was lucky to have her on his team for this one. Finding a way to repay her would be difficult. She had dived right in and focused fully on the case.

He wondered if beneath all that determination she worried just a little about Spears. Her explanation that she had no need to fear him since she wasn’t his type was more BS. Jess was far too smart not to be at least a little afraid. All the more reason not to let her out of his sight.

And to be a lot smarter than he’d been last night.

Dan slowed for the turn into the subdivision where the Sawyers lived. He rolled down the street, slowing as they passed the Sawyer home. No white Taurus. Disappointment pricked him.

Jess muttered, “Shoot.”

“Warrior’s not that big. We could drive around just to kill some time,” he offered. “Give the news hounds a chance to get restless and go sniffing around elsewhere.”

Jess was busy entering information into her phone. 

Dan turned around and headed in the other direction. He slowed as he passed the Sawyer home again. If the Sawyers knew anything…if Sullivan knew something that would help find those girls, he wanted to know, too, because damn it they had nothing. Nothing!

Frustration and fury collided in his gut. He banged his palm against the steering wheel. How the hell were they supposed to find those kids with nothing?

“Dan?”

“I’m all right.” The hell he was. He wanted to find whoever had done this and…

“I’m entering an address on Jasper Lane into your GPS.” Jess awakened the screen and started entering information.

“Jasper Lane?”

“The Murray farm.” She stabbed a few more times at the screen. “Dr. Sullivan treated Dana for emotional problems related to their son’s death. That’s the connection between those two as far as we know.” She sat back in her seat. “Since that’s all we’ve got, that’s where we’ll go.”

Dan inhaled a deep breath, worked at calming himself. God Almighty, he wasn’t sure how he would have gotten through this without her. He blinked. It was true. Maybe it was his personal connection to one of the victims, he couldn’t be sure. But he needed Jess to keep him level.

“Thanks, Jess.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We have to find them first.”

~*~

Less than fifteen minutes were required to reach the address. The farm was one of only two on this three mile lane. The two-story Victorian style house stood several hundred yards from the road, surrounded by mature trees. Between the house and the road was a pond. An old rowboat was tied to a short pier. The dirt driveway ran alongside the pond and disappeared somewhere behind the house. Quiet. Peaceful.

“Keep going so I can get a look at what’s behind the house.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The road came to a dead end at the second farm. Dan turned around and rolled back in the direction they’d come. He slowed to a crawl so he could get a look as well. There was a barn, probably as old or older than the house.

“I see a tan or light brown minivan. A black truck, newer than the van.”

“No white Taurus?”

“Stop!”

Dan hit the brake hard. 

“There’s a man coming out of the barn. Pull in the driveway. I want to talk to him.”

“Jess—”

“We don’t need a warrant to ask a small town neighbor about a missing girl.”

Maybe he’d been in administration too long. When had he become more concerned with appearances and following the letter of the law than following leads?

Dan turned onto the long drive and drove all the way to the house. A man, Mr. Murray presumably, rounded the corner of the house.

“Let me do the talking.” Jess opened her door and bailed out.

“Don’t I always?” Dan muttered.

By the time he caught up to Jess she had already introduced herself and him to the man who identified himself as Raymond Murray.

“Mr. Murray, we’re sorry to bother you, sir, but we’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“’Course.” He looked from Jess to Dan and back. “How can I help you?”

Jess shifted her bag so she could poke around in it. She withdrew a photo. “Mr. Murray, do you know this young woman?”

He took the picture from her and studied it. “Sure do. That’s Dana Sawyer.” A frown furrowed his weathered face. “I saw the news. I sure was sorry to hear about that. She’s a good girl. My Tate was wild in love with her back in high school. She was always over here.”

While Jess continued to question him, Dan absorbed as many of the details about the property as possible. The house had been painted recently. A bright white. Checkered curtains hung in the windows, flanking either side of white shades that could be lowered for privacy but were not. The minivan was a Chrysler. The truck a Chevy. The place was tranquil, a world away from downtown Birmingham.

“All I can tell you,” Murray said, “is the same thing I told the other lady who came by right after lunch asking about Dana.”

“What lady is that, Mr. Murray?”

Dan listened up.

“Maureen somebody. Said she was looking for Dana, too.” He shook his head. “I think she might have been a little crazy though.”

“Why is that?” Jess asked.

“She said she was worried that Dana might try to commit suicide.” He shook his head. “Now, I haven’t seen that little girl in a good long while, but I don’t believe for a minute she would do anything like that. She’s a good girl. My Tate couldn’t have loved her if she wasn’t.”

Jess dragged out her cell phone, fingered the screen. “Is this the woman who visited you this afternoon?”

Murray studied the image. “Sure is. She was driving a white car. I felt bad about the dusty driveway.”

Jess reclaimed her phone and tucked it into her bag. “Sir, would you call me if you hear from her again?” She passed him a card.

“I will.” He shook his head. “I respect the work y’all do. It’s the Lord’s work.”

Jess thanked him; Dan did the same. She made no comments as they loaded up and prepared to go. While Dan executed a three-point turn, she stared at the house, twisting around in her seat as he drove away.

When she remained fixated on the house as he rolled out onto Jasper Lane, he asked the burning question. “You think he wasn’t being completely honest?”

Jess finally settled in her seat. “I think he was very neighborly, cooperative and stated exactly what was in his heart. He believes Dana is a good girl. That his son loved her. And that Dr. Sullivan came by this afternoon in a white car.” Jess took one last long look before the farm was out of sight. “Even so, there’s one thing he didn’t do.”

Dan knew her pause wasn’t to build the drama; she was deep in analysis mode.

“He didn’t ask if we were getting closer to finding the girls.”

Dan smiled. She was right. Most folks they questioned, ask a few of their own, that question being at the top of the list. He made the next turn. “I guess we face the music now.” 

“Actually.” She reached back into her bag. “We need to talk to the Sawyers. Afterwards we need to talk to Amy Porter. If Dr. Sullivan thinks Dana is suicidal, then her parents or her best friend should have at least noticed something was off.”

Dan’s cell vibrated. He slid it from the holster and checked the screen. Text. From the mayor himself. That was a bad sign.

My office. Now
.

“Looks like we have a reprieve from battling the press.” He passed the phone to Jess so she could read the screen. “Unfortunately, we have a bigger problem than reporters.”

The political shit was about to hit the fan.

Chapter Fourteen

“They gone yet?”      

“They’re gone.”

“You think they believed you?”

“Think so.”

Andrea could hear the man and woman talking. Had someone come?
Oh, please, please let them come back
.

The man had shoved Andrea into the pantry. Her back was to the closed door so she couldn’t even attempt to see anything, but she could hear. What were they going to do to her now? They’d dragged her out of the basement what must have been an hour or more ago. 

She fought the urge to struggle against her bindings. She tried not to scream behind the tape. Her body trembled with the effort.

“They’ll be looking for that woman now,” the man said. “You should’ve been patient. I told her I hadn’t seen Dana. She was gonna leave.”

The woman laughed that nasty, condescending sound. “Yeah, right. She didn’t believe you and even if she had of, all we needed was her going to the police with what she knew. That stupid little bitch shouldn’t’ve told her nothing.”

“There wouldn’t have been anything to tell if you hadn’t been messing with her head about his birthday.”

“If you hadn’t brought Dana here we wouldn’t’ve had to worry about her. She hurt him too bad. She’s nothing but a loser. A bitch loser.”

“I got just as much say in this as you,” the man growled.

“Just shut up and get Andrea out of there.”

The door opened. Andrea’s heart swelled with renewed fear. The man grabbed the back of her chair, his fingers snagging strands of her hair. She winced as he dragged the chair, her bound to it like a rag doll, out of the pantry. Her gaze clung to the normalcy of the rows of canned and dried goods lining the shelves. Probably bought with all those damned coupons. How could people who looked so ordinary be so crazy?

Her chair was dragged back to the table, with her facing forward as if she were about to have dinner.

“Pull down those shades, get Reanne and we’ll move on to the next test.”  The woman leaned over Andrea as the man left the room. “As much trouble as you’ve been I think I like you best.” She leaned closer. “Don’t mess up ‘cause he likes Dana better. I don’t want her to win.”