the front seat to grab the wheel out of Rachel’s hands away. They almost crashed. Rachel hit the brakes and Charley got out –where they could not remember—and refused to get back in the car. It was close to one o’clock in the morning and they were in downtown Syracuse. Linda ordered Rachel to leave her there. Rachel drove away—leaving Charley there on the street.”
“I don’t believe it,” Joshua breathed in disbelief. “They left her there.”
With the steadiness that comes with acceptance, Sam said, “Susan told me that she knew Charley had money and expected her to get a cab to take her back to the motel. Only problem is, in her condition, it was doubtable if she could remember where they were staying. As soon as she got back to the motel and Linda was out of the car, Susan turned the car around and went back to find Charley, but she was gone.” She let out a breath that, in spite of the passage of years, contained a whimper. “No one ever saw her again.”
“Have you ever talked to Senator Pryor about what she thinks happened to Charley?” Cameron asked.
“She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t ever want to talk to me about it anymore.” Sam added, “Senator Pryor is not the most compassionate of people. She has a six foot wall, complete with guard dogs and motion sensors, built around her heart. No one gets in.”
“That cold, huh?” Cameron asked.
Sam nodded her head with a smile. “I used to be angry with her for refusing to help me find Charley. Now, treating students here, I have come to feel sorry for her. She must be a miserable person. As smart as she is, she has to know that she’s married to a dog.”
“The wife only pretends to be the last to know,” Joshua said. “What about the police in Syracuse? Have they been any help?”
She paused, “In two-thousand and five, they found a serial killer that was targeting streetwalkers in downtown Syracuse. He would keep them captive in his house for months until he got tired of them and then he would kill them and bury them in his basement. I expected the police to call me to tell me that Charley was one of his victims. When they didn’t call me, I called them. They didn’t think so. Charley disappeared about three years before the first murder this guy confessed to.
“It’s funny.” She shrugged. “While I was relieved to find out that she didn’t suffer through months of being kept chained up like an animal, I wished it was her so that I would know what had happened. Then it would have been over.” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Do you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Joshua said.
She looked over at him. Now it was the man on the doctor’s sofa that was being asked the question by the doctor. “Do you really think it’s possible to find out after all these years what happened to Charley?”
He cocked his head at her. “When you set your mind to it, there’s nothing you can’t do. I’ve found that to be true.”
“That’s better than what most people offer me,” she said.
“Linda Pryor killed Rachel Burke because guilt was eating at her and she was about to spill the beans about Linda killing Charley Halston,” Cameron said during their long drive down the turnpike to home. “Not only that, but Rachel was having an affair with her husband, which is the same reason Linda killed Charley.”
“Now all we have to do is prove it,” Joshua said. “We still don’t have a positive ID on the body found in the Allegheny Mountains and I guarantee that no one is going to get anywhere near Senator Pryor without any evidence. Right now, we have none.”
Cameron was studying the screen on her smart phone. “We will. That’s the beauty of 5Gs. I already sent a message to the Syracuse police to match the dental records they have on file for Charlene Halston to the Jane Doe in the Allegheny Mountains. Nowadays, with computers, they should be able to do the comparison in no
“I don’t believe it,” Joshua breathed in disbelief. “They left her there.”
With the steadiness that comes with acceptance, Sam said, “Susan told me that she knew Charley had money and expected her to get a cab to take her back to the motel. Only problem is, in her condition, it was doubtable if she could remember where they were staying. As soon as she got back to the motel and Linda was out of the car, Susan turned the car around and went back to find Charley, but she was gone.” She let out a breath that, in spite of the passage of years, contained a whimper. “No one ever saw her again.”
“Have you ever talked to Senator Pryor about what she thinks happened to Charley?” Cameron asked.
“She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t ever want to talk to me about it anymore.” Sam added, “Senator Pryor is not the most compassionate of people. She has a six foot wall, complete with guard dogs and motion sensors, built around her heart. No one gets in.”
“That cold, huh?” Cameron asked.
Sam nodded her head with a smile. “I used to be angry with her for refusing to help me find Charley. Now, treating students here, I have come to feel sorry for her. She must be a miserable person. As smart as she is, she has to know that she’s married to a dog.”
“The wife only pretends to be the last to know,” Joshua said. “What about the police in Syracuse? Have they been any help?”
She paused, “In two-thousand and five, they found a serial killer that was targeting streetwalkers in downtown Syracuse. He would keep them captive in his house for months until he got tired of them and then he would kill them and bury them in his basement. I expected the police to call me to tell me that Charley was one of his victims. When they didn’t call me, I called them. They didn’t think so. Charley disappeared about three years before the first murder this guy confessed to.
“It’s funny.” She shrugged. “While I was relieved to find out that she didn’t suffer through months of being kept chained up like an animal, I wished it was her so that I would know what had happened. Then it would have been over.” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Do you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Joshua said.
She looked over at him. Now it was the man on the doctor’s sofa that was being asked the question by the doctor. “Do you really think it’s possible to find out after all these years what happened to Charley?”
He cocked his head at her. “When you set your mind to it, there’s nothing you can’t do. I’ve found that to be true.”
“That’s better than what most people offer me,” she said.
“Linda Pryor killed Rachel Burke because guilt was eating at her and she was about to spill the beans about Linda killing Charley Halston,” Cameron said during their long drive down the turnpike to home. “Not only that, but Rachel was having an affair with her husband, which is the same reason Linda killed Charley.”
“Now all we have to do is prove it,” Joshua said. “We still don’t have a positive ID on the body found in the Allegheny Mountains and I guarantee that no one is going to get anywhere near Senator Pryor without any evidence. Right now, we have none.”
Cameron was studying the screen on her smart phone. “We will. That’s the beauty of 5Gs. I already sent a message to the Syracuse police to match the dental records they have on file for Charlene Halston to the Jane Doe in the Allegheny Mountains. Nowadays, with computers, they should be able to do the comparison in no
Similar Books
