UNSEEN (14 page)

"
So what’d he do?"

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Well, he thought you were after him for driving migrant workers up from Boston."

"
He's helping illegals? That's why he ran?"

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Yup, and he confessed to possession of marijuana."

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So he’s not the guy."

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Not unless your killer is a nervous spaz with a trust fund and entitlement issues."

Perez came in from the break room. "This isn't the guy?" he said in his husky voice.

She pursed her lips. "Nope. He ran for other reasons."

"
So what's next?"

"
Did you talk with Holly's roommate Amber yet?"

"
Yeah. She didn't have much to say. Her job with the airline keeps her away most of the time, and when she is here she’s usually in Dedham with her grandmother."

"
Has she brought anyone home in the last year?"

"
She couldn't remember bringing anyone back to the apartment except a guy named Gary Carter. She’s been dating him for a little over a year. He's lived in Sunbury for twelve years at an apartment complex called The Schoolhouse. So unless the serial killer has come home to roost, he's not our guy."

"
Talk to him anyway."

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We're already on it."

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How about that list of Holly's friends, how far have we gotten with that?"

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It's like shining a flashlight into a sewer. The rats don't like the light."

"
O-kay. Well, we have a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of people to talk to, so let's get on it." She looked at the detective. "Thank you for your assistance."

"
Anytime. You have the complete cooperation of the Sunbury police department. Let us know if we can be of any further help."

She gave him a salutatory nod and left out the door with Agent Perez.

Chapter 16

The blurry man in the photo wore sunglasses and a baseball cap, and his body was hidden from the chest down. His expression looked neutral, but Jake didn't know for sure because of the harsh lighting and the poor quality of the photo. It could have been anyone with a mustache, beard, and baseball cap.

Jake pulled himself away from the screen. "Are you sure?"

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It's him," she said.

"
It's kinda blurry."

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It's definitely him. I've even seen him wear that cap."

Jake looked again. "A lot of people have a Yankees cap."

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Jake. He's been here a dozen times. That's him. Same beard, same round face, same sloping shoulders. That's Amber's boyfriend, Gary. I'm sure of it."

"
Then we need to call Agent Grant."

Holly stepped back, crossed her arms, and bit her lip. Jake knew his sister well enough to pick up on her nervous ticks. She was clearly unhappy about the FBI coming back.

"
It's all right, Holly."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What?"

He didn't bother to pursue it. Half the time he was either flat out wrong about how she was feeling, or she twisted things to make him think he was wrong. He shrugged it off. "I'll call Agent Grant and let her know what we found." He pulled out the card the Agent had given him. It was a switchboard number, but they transferred him to her cell phone.

"
Special Agent Grant."

Jake pressed the phone tighter to his ear. "Agent Grant, this is Jake Paris."

"
Hi, Jake. How’s your sister holding up?"

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Pretty good, considering."

"
That's good to hear."

"
Um. We found something we think you might want to know. It's a photo on the Internet from one of the crime scenes. Holly's swears one of the guys in the crowd is her roommate’s boyfriend."

"
The roommate's boyfriend?" There was a tone of interest in her voice. "Which child was it?"

"
The fourth. The little five year old blond boy."

"
Okay. Well, we talked with Amber this afternoon and she did mention him, but we haven't spoken with him yet. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We'll bump him up on our priority list."

"
Have you heard anything about Gabe?"

"
I wish I could say yes, Jake, but unless our guy makes another move, all we can do is follow the bread crumbs."

"
Have you seen anything that leads to this guy Gary?"

"
I'm not at liberty to discuss case details with you, but I assure you, we have our best people working on this. If you come up with anything else, let us know, okay?"

"
Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

"
Thanks for the lead. We'll be talking again soon."

"
Okay."

Holly's eyes probed him. "What did she say? Is there a connection?"

"
They're not allowed to discuss the case with us."

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Why not?"

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I don't know, but she said they have their best people working on it."

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So what are we supposed to do, just sit on our hands and wait for them to find my son?"

"
I don't know, Holly."

Dan interjected. "Why don't we go to this guy's house and ask him some questions."

It was clear Holly didn't like that idea. "If Gary's the killer, then it would be stupid to show up on his door step and say, excuse me, are you holding my son?"

Jake handed the phone out to Holly. "Why don't you call Amber and ask her about him."

"
Are you kidding me? What if they're in on this together?"

"
I don't think serial killers work in teams. It takes some heavy psychosis to kill little children. I doubt someone like that would be confiding in his girlfriend."

She ran her fingers nervously down her long blond curls and stared absently toward the floor. He couldn't tell if it was his comment about serial killers killing children that had caused her to leave the building, or if it was the nervousness of talking to her roommate about something so emotionally taxing, but he held the phone out toward her and waited patiently for her to return.

"
What do I say to her?"

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Just tell her what you know and see if she can help."

Holly took the phone and stabbed some numbers into it, but didn't immediately put it to her ear. It was only when a voice could be heard buzzing in the earpiece that she responded to it.

"
Amber, this is Holly. Yes, yes, I'm okay. I need to talk to you about something."

Jake motioned for Dan to follow him into the living room.

Once they were out of earshot, Dan said, "I've been waiting to talk to you. What’s going on?"

"
These ghost-kids aren't the killer's victims, they're something else."

"
What do you mean? They don't look the same? So that's why you were so frustrated."

Jake nodded.

"
So what are they then?"

"
I don't know, but I found a little baby on the stairs at my apartment building a little while ago, and when I went back, he was gone."

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Wow."

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Vanished. Into thin air. I checked the stairwell all the way to the first floor. There's no way anyone could have taken him so quickly."

Dan's expression changed, it looked as though he was beginning to second guess his decision to trust Jake. It wasn't a look of unbelief, but more the kind of look one might give someone who just started swatting at imaginary flies.

"
I'm not crazy, Dan, this stuff is real."

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Well ghosts I get, but babies on stairwells..."

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Hang with me, man. I can't have you flaking out on me now."

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Me? Flaking out on you?"

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Look. Forget I said anything about the baby on the stairs."

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Maybe you're hallucinating. I saw a thing on the Discovery Channel about a woman who had a brain tumor that caused her to see all kinds of weird things, like spiders and bugs and stuff."

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I don't know what's going on with me, but this is real. And I think these kids know something. I need to track one of them down to find out what they know."

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So you’re gonna go back out?"

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What else is there to do? The FBI is hunting this guy, and I don't imagine they’re going to come asking me for help."

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What about your sister? What are you going to tell her?"

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Are you two talking about me?" Holly stood in the doorway.

Jake dodged the question. "What did Amber have to say?"

"
Are you two talking about me?" she said, with more emphasis.

"
No, we're not talking about you, we were just discussing how you'd feel if I stepped out to check on Jenna."

That caught her by surprise. "Jenna? What's wrong with Jenna?"

"
Her friend had an accident today at the theater. Jenna thinks she may have broken her ankle. I figure if the FBI is searching for Gabe, and we don't have any leads to follow, I might see how things are going—if you can live without me for a couple of hours."

"
I don't get you, Jake. You were all gung-ho to turn over every rock an hour ago. Now you want to take a break and go check on some girl with a broken ankle?"

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Plus, he lost his job," said Dan.

Jake turned in shocked amazement. "Really, Dan? You thought that was the right thing to add?"

Holly's demeanor shifted. "You lost your job?"

"
It's nothing. I'll find another one."

Holly shook her head. "I’m sorry, Jake."

"
Yeah, well, I just figured I’d check in with Jenna. I was on my way to do that when I got the call from mom about Gabe. You think you’ll be okay with Dan a while longer?”

She looked over at Dan and shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever.”

"
All right, well, just call me if anything comes up, okay?” He turned to leave. "Oh,” he turned back, "did Amber have anything new?"

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All she had to say was she didn't think it could possibly be him, and she wants to see the photo. She's coming home in a couple hours."

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Where is she?"

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At her grandmother's farm in Dedham."

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I thought she was in another state."

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She got back this morning and headed straight to her grandmother's. She’s been sick a lot."

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Did she talk to Gary before she went?"

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She said they’ve only talked on the phone in the past few weeks. Her schedule has kept her away. And now her grandmother needs her. But the FBI spoke with her today and she wants to come back and see if she can help."