GIRL JACKED (Crime and Punishment Mystery Thriller Series) Page 14

  Now it was Jack’s turn to say, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Aunt Haddie softly touched his arm. “Jackie, what do you think happened to Michelle?”

  Jack looked at his hands and thought about what he should tell her. He chose the only way he ever spoke with her, honestly. “I think…I think someone killed her.”

  Aunt Haddie nodded, but her lower lip trembled. “Jackie, I want you—”

  “I’ll get the people who did this.”

  “Jackie, Jackie.” She was crying now. “I want you to stay safe. God will get the people who did this. He’ll punish them.”

  God will punish them. I just want first dibs.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Good and Bad

  The following day, Jack started the Impala and pulled out. The police station was a fifteen-minute drive, so he tried to take his time as he practiced his version of events.

  Sheriff Collins, I originally was not aware this had been officially…don’t lie. Damn. Collins was so by-the-book he wouldn’t listen to any excuse for breaking protocol. Fall on your sword and tell it like it was. I didn’t… Damn. Ben Nichols? Do I tell him that? The stupid Mohawk kid? I didn’t tag the phone…

  Every angle that he tried to think of to minimize damage ended the same way: with Collins ticked off. The ride went by way too fast. Driving around the block a few times wasn’t an option. Jack didn’t want to go in, but he didn’t hesitate. He hated that. He hated indecision, so he marched straight into the station.

  Cindy came out from behind the desk, her arms open wide. She was still smiling, but it was a sympathetic, comforting smile. Jack welcomed it. Cindy was the type of person you couldn’t help but like.

  “Just remember to apologize and let him do most of the talking,” she whispered in his ear.

  She gave him a reassuring pat on the back and a little push toward Sheriff Collins’s office.

  The police station was large. It was mostly two floors of open space with unassigned desks. The people who had an official office were the sheriff and the undersheriff. There were plenty of rooms, but the layout furthered Collins’s philosophy of chain of command. He was chief; everyone else was an Indian.

  The door was open as Jack approached. Sheriff Collins was behind an ultramodern desk with little on it. Two large computer monitors reflected in his glasses. Picture frames, diplomas, and certificates covered the back wall. He swiveled in his chair and stood as Jack entered the room. His hand shot out. “My condolences, Jack.”

  Jack shook his hand.

  The sheriff sat, and Jack remained standing. With Jack’s Army background, it was routine for him, but some of the other officers still had a hard time with Collins’s habit of having you stand while he asked you questions.

  “You could have taken some more time, but I’m glad you’re here.” Collins didn’t smile, but he wasn’t scowling either, Jack noted.

  “Thank you, sir, but I need to get some things settled now. First, let me offer my apologies for not notifying you directly.”

  “You didn’t notify me indirectly either, Jack.” Collins’s eyebrow rose and his jaw slightly clenched. “Save the apologies and just tell me what happened.”

  By the book. I should have thought of something about the phone.

  “This past Thursday night, my friend’s sister came to my apartment.”

  Leave off the naked part and the fight with Gina.

  “She informed me that my foster sister, Michelle Campbell, was missing. Her foster mother filed a missing person’s report in Fairfield earlier.”

  Sheriff Collins nodded.

  “Michelle’s brother and I served in Iraq together, and it sounded out of character for her to just up and go. I thought I should look into it. We took a ride over to the college and spoke with Michelle’s roommate and the campus police.” Jack paused to see whether he should provide more details. Silence seemed to be permission to continue. “The campus police said Michelle had transferred but we…” He cleared his throat. “I decided to look up the car Michelle had been driving and located it at Sullivan’s.”

  Sheriff Collins’s eyes narrowed and deep lines formed on his tanned face.

  He looks a little like Clint Eastwood when he’s angry. Is he ticked at me for looking into the car or Murphy for not entering it into the database?

  Jack cleared his throat again. “After speaking with Sully, I spoke with Ben Nichols, who had called in the abandoned car report.” Jack pulled out his notebook and noted the approving look of the sheriff. “Mr. Nichols informed me he witnessed some teens around the car before he called it in. One of the teens had a distinctive helmet, and on the way out to Reservoir Road, where the car was found, I noticed the teen and followed him to the high school.”

  Sort of true. He doesn’t need to know I went there to look specifically for the kid.

  “The teen, Rick Matthews, indicated he’d been in the car and started the car. He also informed me he found this phone.” Jack had placed the phone in a police bag, but he didn’t look at Collins as he placed it on his desk.

  “Immediately after that, I headed out to Reservoir Road, and it was then I followed the debris trail and located…the victim’s body.” His eyes burned as he spoke the last few words and he paused while he waited for the sheriff’s reaction.

  “Jack…” Collins fiddled with a pen on his desk. “Right now I want to apologize for Murphy. He’s the one who should be apologizing anyway. You shouldn’t have had to run this down.”

  Jack nodded. Collins released the grip he had on the pen. Jack’s anger had started to rise too. Murphy’s ineptitude had always made the sheriff’s blood boil. With noticeable effort, Collins straightened his notepad and laid the pen next to it.

  “You’ll need to write it all up in a report. I’d appreciate it if you got to it directly. After that, take a few days. When is the funeral?”

  “Saturday.”

  Collins gave a brief nod. “We’ll talk again after that.”

  “Sheriff?” Jack hated to wait, especially for a reprimand. “I’m sorry, but can you let me know…?”

  “Let you know?” Collins had started to rise but sat back down. His face turned red. “The same way you should have let me know but didn’t.” Sheriff Collins exhaled slowly but loudly. “As of now, you’re going to help the traffic detail for the next month.”

  Not too bad. It’s the night shift.

  “On days when there’s no traffic detail, Cindy needs assistance getting caught up on reports.”

  Suck. Jack hated paperwork.

  “We will need to review your training schedule at a later date to see if that busy roster impacted your judgment.”

  Good and bad. Jack tried his best to keep an “I’m sorry” face and not show any surprise or anger. Collins said review, so he hadn’t canceled anything, but I’m on notice. If I do anything else, he takes away my training. Collins might as well have said, “you’re fired” because it would have the same effect.

  “Jack, let me make this clear: this is Joe Davenport’s case now. Additionally, Michelle is your foster sister; that’s a conflict of interest. I’ve talked to Joe about reviewing the case, and I’ll personally examine it. Now you have my utmost sympathies, but if you even think of going around me and looking into this, I’ll have your hide. That is all.” Collins turned back to his computer.

  As Jack turned away, he let the mask fall off his face. He walked straight out of the office to the back room to complete the report.

  Get it done and then get out.

  Now it was Jack’s blood that was boiling. He stormed by Cindy, and she held out a stack of papers to him. He grabbed them like a relay runner, never breaking stride, and headed to the back office.

  He carefully shut the door because he wanted to slam it—badly.

  Murphy’s a stupid moron. If he’d done the bare minimum, they…damn.

  Jack flopped into the chair and let his head fall into his hands. After a minute, he sat up and looked a
t the stack of papers. He couldn’t help but smile a little. Cindy had filled out the sections she could. He flipped open a few of the pages.

  I could be out of here in a couple of hours. He paused. Why rush, Jack? Where do you have to be?

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  So Much for Green

  Jack rolled over and looked at the clock. One thirty. He was glad but also ticked off. He couldn’t sleep, but he didn’t want to get up before the bar around the corner closed. He didn’t want a drink; he wanted nine or ten. His pain was still raw. That burn he couldn’t put out seemed to be always on now. He tried to bury it, but it seared its way back into the open.

  Drown it. Head off the rails one night and into oblivion.

  He tried to convince himself it would be okay but fought that urge. He refused. He could be a blackout drinker. He knew that even before he enlisted in the Army. His drinking had never bothered him when he was younger, but it put a completely different spin on things when you woke up, clueless, surrounded by high caliber weapons.

  He got up and headed into the kitchen for some water.

  Don’t drink. The service is tomorrow. Anyway, it’s too late. Everything’s closed.

  “Nice butt.”

  Jack grabbed for the dishtowel and then dashed back into the bedroom as Replacement laughed.

  “You should warn me,” he called out as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants.

  “Warn you?” She giggled. “How? Danger, Jack. You’re about to come into the kitchen with your butt uncovered?”

  “I didn’t know you were up.”

  “Do you normally go around naked?” She kept giggling.

  “You know…” he stammered. “I just forgot you were here.”

  He was beet red. Clearly, Replacement couldn’t decide whether he was embarrassed or truly upset, so she changed her tune. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t—it’s my fault. This will take some getting used to.” Jack tried not to shake his head. He returned and got a glass of water, and Replacement turned back to the computer. He poured two glasses and then walked back over to her, handing her one. “What’re you working on?”

  “Michelle had a fitness app on her phone. It’s called Get in Shape Girl.” Her eyes stayed on the screen. Replacement sat in her old Fairfield High jersey with her legs tucked underneath her.

  “And?” Jack stood behind her.

  “Part of the app monitors all of your exercise. There’s a walking program that shows everywhere she had been.”

  “Great job, kid.” Jack grabbed the back of her chair and leaned over her shoulder to stare at the screen too. “Does it give dates and times? Everywhere she had been?”

  “It has everything. I just got in her phone—”

  “Michelle’s phone? But I gave it to Collins?”

  “Umm…” She hunched up her shoulders and looked at him with emerald eyes that hinted at a secret.

  “You couldn’t have taken it. Did you switch it? How—?” Jack squeezed the glass.

  She looked nervously at his tightening fingers. “I made a backup. That’s all.”

  “You backed up her phone before I gave it to Collins?” His grip relaxed a bit.

  “It’s a smart phone, so it was easy. I did it after we came home from the hospital. I didn’t think it was wrong.”

  “Don’t think, ask. It’s my job.” Jack winced after he shouted the last two words. She looked hurt, and he felt sorry.

  Don’t feel bad, you idiot. He cursed at himself. Keep your job. If Collins knew we went into the phone, he’d have your head on his wall.

  “How did you get in? Aren’t they password protected?”

  “They have a four-digit pin. Michelle always used the same one.” Replacement shrugged.

  He tried to glare at her, but she grinned like a little kid. Jack rolled his eyes and looked back at the screen. It looked like a spreadsheet of times and dates, and his thoughts shifted to the hunt for answers.

  “Can you start backward? What were her last whereabouts?”

  Replacement turned and began to type. “The phone was at Reservoir Road in the same place for twelve hours. December twenty-first.”

  “So Michelle got there on the twenty-first? What time?”

  “Twelve thirty a.m.”

  She wouldn’t just go for a drive out there after midnight.

  “What happened to the phone after twelve hours?”

  “The phone must have died then…” Her choice of words made her trail off.

  “Where was she before? How long—”

  “Hold on, I don’t know the program that well.” Replacement’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “She was there for…almost four hours.”

  “Where?” Jack leaned in, but the data on the screen didn’t make sense to him.

  “I have to map the coordinates.” She pressed more keys, and a mapping program appeared. “Here. General Alexander Davidson Circle.”

  They both stared at the map for a minute. There was a large building out there, but the location puzzled Jack. He hadn’t been there. He’d driven around most of the county, but not out there.

  “What was she doing out there?”

  “The building is listed as a nature center.” Replacement zoomed in.

  “Why from eight thirty until after midnight?”

  He looked at the clock. One fifty. Replacement raised an eyebrow, and he did too. “I can’t sleep anyway.”

  They snuck out of the apartment like little kids, careful not to wake Mrs. Stevens. The ride to the nature center would take about twenty minutes because of the winding roads. It was below freezing, so Replacement ditched the seat belt along with any notion of personal space and shivered next to him as the car tried to warm up during the drive.

  They rode with their teeth chattering. He was glad to be doing something, and she looked that way too.

  “Life’s hard.” Jack rolled his eyes at his own comment. Life’s hard? What else was I going to say? How you doing? Her sister died. She’s in pain. Stupid.

  “It is.” Replacement smiled. “Thanks for everything.” She curled up closer to him.

  Thanks for everything? I gave her a couch instead of a closet. Everything wasn’t much.

  They drove past an old open gate as they made their way up the last curving road. As they neared the nature center at the top of the hill, they pulled into a small, empty parking lot.

  The building was a large, two-story, circular structure. A curved driveway led up to a large entrance. It was a mixture of granite and stone, and looked as though it was constructed in the 1960s.

  As they got out of the car, light snow fell. A large modern sign at the front of the building read: White Rocks Eastern College – neuropsychology CENTER.

  “It looks like the college converted the nature center.” Jack looked at Replacement.

  Her face contorted. “So much for green,” she mocked.

  They both went to the door. Apart from a faint hallway light, the building looked closed. There was a large greeting desk in the front, behind which were two doors. Staircases led up on both the left and right.

  “It’s opened weekdays at nine o’clock.” Replacement pointed to a blackboard with white snap-on letters.

  Jack walked to the left to go around the building but stopped. The ground sloped off and revealed another level below. It had the same large windows as the rest of the building. Another look to the right showed there was not an easy way to walk around the building.

  Replacement headed back to the car while Jack scanned the outside of the building once more.

  “Wish I could get a look around back.” He slid back into the Impala. “How accurate is that phone?” He chastised himself for shutting the car off as his hands shook with the cold.

  “You mean distance?” Replacement slid up against him; her teeth chattered. He looked down and saw that her jacket was more suited to fall than winter.

  “Can it tell if she was in the building?” Jack whipped his coat off, an
d before she could protest, he wrapped it over her legs.

  “Thank you.” She looked at Jack as if he’d just done something monumental. “The app gives a rough distance, like she was around here.” She made large circles with her hands when she said around.

  “So, she came out here at eight thirty at night. She had some reason. Did you find anything else on the phone yet?”

  “I went through her emails and texts. It wasn’t much. A bunch of school stuff. She didn’t have many friends. She focused on school. I’ll go back and check.”

  “She came here for something. We just need to figure out why.”

  “I’ll go through her phone and look for any connection to here. When are we coming out on Monday?” Jack tilted his head, and he could feel Replacement stiffen next to him.

  “Look…Collins is going to go after my head. I’m supposed to go through him.” Jack shrugged.

  “What if we came up with some reason you were out here? Some reason why you’d come back.” She stopped when she saw Jack’s face. “Jack?”

  He gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead. His voice was soft when he spoke. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t come back.”

  “You should be.” The words were softer than Jack expected, as was the hand that enclosed his, prying his fingers from the steering wheel. “But you’re here now. And we’re going to find who did this.”

  The certainty in her words calmed Jack, and he put the car in gear.

  “We will.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Homecoming

  Jack shifted in his seat. He sat next to Replacement, and she was next to Aunt Haddie in the front row. He hated funeral homes. Subdued lighting and the scent of flowers hung in the air. The thick carpet and chairs were in neat rows. Men in suits, who you’d never met, had looks of empathy and pity carved onto their faces. He hated it all.

  People filled the funeral home. He couldn’t believe how many were there.

  How many really knew her? When someone young dies, every young kid turns out. It’s their first taste of death for someone like them, someone who shouldn’t have died. It makes them think, “It could have been me.” How many here were really her friends?