For My Brother (8 page)

Chapter 14

Jason looked at his watch. Four hours of poring over the files of the three missing persons, and still no hint at who might be taking them. Nina was equally engrossed in the phone records, and when she looked up at him, her red eyes told the story. They needed a break.

“Two hours to the press conference. Want to get something to eat?”

Nina stretched out and groaned. “Definitely.”

“Want to bring the phone records?”

“Definitely not!”

*******

They got back with twenty minutes to spare. Lieutenant Banks was waiting for them.

“Let’s go, you two.”

The three of them rode down to the first floor together. When they came out of the elevator, a small group of reporters was waiting for them in the briefing room.

In its early days, the room had been the patrol prep room, but that was done elsewhere now. The department hadn’t spent any money to make the press corps comfortable. It was still just desks and white concrete walls.

Devin James gave a nod to Jason, followed by a big smile for Nina. When Sarah Banks came into the room behind them, Jason saw the reporter’s face go immediately blank. Jason smiled to himself.

Is everybody afraid of this woman?

Jason and Nina stood at the back of the small stage, the only addition to the room, as the lieutenant walked to the podium.

“Thank you for coming. We are investigating the disappearance of three people in the San Antonio area. The cases appear to be connected, and we’re seeking the public’s help.”

On a screen behind the lieutenant, three photographs popped up.

“The first is Ed Garland, 28. The second is Chelsea Burt-Morris, age 28. Last night, a third person went missing. Her name is Suzanne Cooper, age 29.”

Devin James stood up. “What’s the connection between them?”

Lieutenant Sarah Banks did something Jason had never seen before. She ignored the senior reporter from the San Antonio News. But what really surprised Jason, was when James sat down without a fuss. Lieutenant Banks carried on where she left off.

“All three have gone missing in the last six days. We’re asking the public to let us know if they have seen any of these people. We’ve set up an eight hundred number for people to call if they have any information on the whereabouts of these individuals.”

She paused, and Jason expected James to try his question again, but he stayed seated.

“The lead investigators on this case are Detective Strong and Detective Jefferson. I will let them answer any questions you might have.”

With that, the lieutenant stepped back and motioned for Jason and Nina to step up. Jason looked out over the group. “Questions?”

Devin James stood again, and asked the same question. “How are the three connected?”

“First of all, in all three cases, we’ve found fingerprints from the same individual. We do not have an ID on this person yet, but we believe the prints belong to the perpetrator. Also, we have phone records from all three of the missing persons, and there is a number that connects them.”

A different hand went up. “What’s the number?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal that.”

James was still standing. “Do the three know each other?”

“We don’t know. It’s possible, but we’re unable to say for sure.”

Nina stepped forward. “I have a handout, with the full description of each person and the location they were taken from. It will be on the table by the door.”

Lieutenant Banks, moving so swiftly she caught Jason by surprise, leaned in to the microphone. “That’ll be all. Thank you for coming.”

And the briefing was over.

Jason didn’t like these things and treated them as a necessary evil, but he was impressed with the way Sarah Banks handled it. In the elevator, he said so.

“Short and sweet, my kind of press briefing.”

Lieutenant Banks gave him a half smile. “Give ’em what you want them to have, then go back to work.”

Jason thought it might be the best philosophy for dealing with the press he’d ever heard.

*******

As the senior writer at the San Antonio News, Devin James could have a glass-paned office and a walnut desk, but he’d turned the perk down every time it was offered. He’d kept the same heavy schoolteacher-looking desk he got when he moved to crime duty more than twenty-five years ago.

Whenever they would offer him a new office, Devin would politely decline, saying he preferred the bustle of the pressroom. Truth was he didn’t like the idea of being inside a ‘glass cage,’ as he referred to the offices.

He pulled up the rolling chair that matched the age of the desk and got out his notes from the briefing. Something was nagging at the back of his brain, and he couldn’t get it to come out. He knew if he were patient, it would eventually make its way to where he could remember it. Unfortunately, it was taking longer these days to reveal those nagging thoughts in his memory.

Devin’s attachment to antiques ended with the desk. He bought himself a new computer every year, and this year’s model was a very nice Dell laptop. He turned it on, waiting briefly for it to boot up, and began writing the story from the briefing.

As he typed out the three names, he couldn’t shake the feeling he knew them. It was as if he’d done this story before, where he’d typed these names out together. He stopped what he was doing and pulled up the search window for the San Antonio News archives. After typing in all three names, he hit the search button.

In just a few seconds, a story James had written over ten years ago popped up.

The Billy Jarvis suicide. I knew those names were connected somehow.

The reporter began to read his story, and some of the details started to come back. He remembered showing up at the house in the north San Antonio neighborhood after hearing a scanner report.

It was a tragic scene, and it stayed with him for a long time. A screaming mother, crying neighbors, and the feeling it was all so senseless.

As he went through the article, the three names he’d searched stood out in bold print, but there was a fourth name. Dexter Hughes. He was also there that day. If the three missing were connected by the suicide, it could mean Hughes would be next.

Devin opened up a phone book, and ran his finger down the large number of Hughes listed in the San Antonio area. There was no guarantee the man still lived in the city, but the first three people missing had all remained local, maybe Hughes was also still around.

There was over eighty Hughes listed with the initial ‘D.’ Most were eliminated by the entire first name being listed, but James was still left with seven names.

He began dialing, and hoped Dexter Hughes didn’t have an unlisted number.

Four numbers later, no luck. Number five was an answering machine.

“You’ve reached Dex, Trish, and the boys. Leave a message.”

Devin hung up. He checked the address matching the fifth number. It was in West San Antonio.

Next, he got up, and went to the file cabinet behind his desk. In it, Devin kept the files containing his notes from every story he’d ever covered. It took some digging, but in short order, he found the file marked ‘Jarvis Suicide.’

Taking it back to his desk, he opened it up, and read what he’d jotted down ten years before. He was looking for any mention of family of Billy Jarvis. If the disappearance of these people was tied to the death of Billy Jarvis, it made sense to him a family member would be responsible. He hoped he had the names of Billy’s relatives in the file.

Eventually, he found a reference to the family. Billy had a father who was already dead, his mother was named Betty Jarvis, and a younger brother.

James went back to the phone book. He knew this time he was looking for a woman who may have remarried and no longer had the same last name.

James found the last name Jarvis had far fewer listings than Hughes, and only ten with first names starting with B. One listing said Betty. He dialed the number.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is Betty Jarvis there, please?”

“Who’s calling?”

“My name is Devin James. I’m a reporter for the San Antonio News.”

“She’s not here. Can I give her a message?”

“Yes. Could you ask her to call me?”

“Sure.”

James gave the man his phone number and hung up.

*******

Donnie put the phone down and stared at it. The call scared him. He still had one person left to capture. The last thing he needed was a reporter calling and asking questions.

He’d watched the news on TV earlier and had seen the story about the missing people. The same ones he had in his basement.

It was clear he needed to move faster.

Chapter 15

Devin James decided to go past the Hughes house on his way home. He’d called again, and got the answering machine again. He wanted to stop by, check his theory, and then alert the police. After all, he had nothing but his suspicion to suggest anything might be wrong at the Hughes home.

He turned the corner onto their street, and discovered the house numbers in this neighborhood were on the brick mailboxes by the street. He followed the numbers down the road until he came to the Hughes. The house was a large, two-story brick home with dramatic dormers on the second floor and an immaculate lawn. Two trees, the ones you trim into odd shapes, stood guard on each side of the black front door.

There was a car in the driveway with the trunk open. A tall, dark-haired woman in a pantsuit was handing bags of groceries to two children. She grabbed the last bag herself, shut the trunk, and walked toward the house.

James parked and got out, moving across the lawn toward the door. “Mrs. Hughes?”

She stopped and turned to the reporter. “Yes?”

“My name is Devin James; I’m a reporter for the San Antonio News. Is your husband home?”

“I don’t think so, Mr. James. His car’s not here. Why are you asking?”

“I’m doing research for a story, and his name came up as a source for some background.”

She continued up the walk and unlocked the door. The kids took their bags inside. “Oh. Did you call Dex at work?”

“No. I didn’t have the number.”

“If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll get it for you.”

“That would be great.”

She disappeared inside with her groceries, and a few minutes later, returned holding a business card.

“He’s a sales rep for a billboard company. This is his card with his cell number.”

James took the card and gave her one of his.

“If I don’t reach him, would you have him call me?”

“Sure.”

She closed the door, and James immediately started dialing while on his way back to his car.

“This is Dex Hughes with Barnaby Advertising. I’m sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.”

James hung up and dialed the office number, also listed on the card.

“Barnaby Advertising.”

“Is Dexter Hughes in?”

“No, sir. He’s not been to the office today. Do you want his cell number?”

“No, thank you. I already have it.”

Devin James hung up. What to do next? He needed to know the whereabouts of Dexter Hughes, but he didn’t want to create panic based on a ten-year-old news story.

He started his car and looked at the address of Betty Jarvis. It was east of the city. He would pay her a visit in the morning.

*******

Donnie slammed the door on the fourth cell and snapped the padlock shut. A quick look confirmed the other three cells were all still locked.

Tomorrow he would visit Billy one last time before completing the mission. Donnie wished Billy could be present to see the success of the plan, and he would love to be there when Billy received his final rest. Neither was possible, but it would be an exciting day anyway.

*******

Dexter Hughes knew he wasn’t alone. He had seen the other locked doors, and he could smell the stench of trapped humans. He jerked at his chain—it wasn’t going to give—and looked around for an escape. He wasn’t going anywhere, even if he did get loose.

“Dexter?”

He was startled to hear his name from the next cell. “Who’s asking?”

“Suzanne Cooper. Are you Dexter Hughes?”

Dexter tried to place the name. He knew it, but from somewhere way in the past.

“Yes. Do I know you? How do you know me?”

“Well, that seals it.”

This time it was a male voice, and it came from the far end of the room. A female started to cry.

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Dexter asked.

The woman who had spoken first, her voice barely above a whisper, tried to explain. “The man in the far cell is Ed Garland. Next to me is Chelsea Burt. As I told you, I’m Suzanne Cooper. We guessed who you were because we all have a connection.”

Dexter slumped back against the wall. “Billy Jarvis.”

“That’s what we think. Ed was taken first, Chelsea second, and me third. We knew if you were the one put in the last cell, all of this had to be connected to Billy.”

“Who’s the guy that’s locked us in here?”

Ed spoke up from the far end. “Hey, Dex. Never thought I would speak to you again, especially under these circumstances. We think it’s Donnie, Billy’s little brother.”

“But why?”

“We don’t know, he won’t answer us. Just keeps saying ‘we’ll find out soon.’”

“Have you told him you know who he is and that Billy wouldn’t want him to do this?”

“No! We don’t want him to know we’ve figured out who he is. We think it would just increase the danger.”

Dexter tried to get comfortable on the blanket. “Makes sense, I guess. Not that any of this could make sense.”

*******

The next morning Devin James prepared to leave the house, but before he did, he called Dexter Hughes at home. A female voice answered. “Hello.”

“Mrs. Hughes, this is Devin James with the newspaper; we spoke yesterday. Is your husband at home?”

“No. In fact he didn’t come home last night.”

“Is that unusual?”

“Yes, it’s unusual!”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hughes. I didn’t mean to offend. I think you should call the police.”

“I already did, but they said it needed to be forty-eight hours before anything could be done.”

“Do you have a pen and paper?”

“Yes.”

“Call Detective Jason Strong. I know him, and he’ll listen to you. You can tell him I gave you his name. Tell Detective Strong I believe your husband’s disappearance may be tied to the cases he is working on.”

“What cases?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t say more.”

“Jason Strong?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay. Thank you, Mr. James.”

The phone went dead. James felt queasiness in his stomach. He hated when he was right about something like this; Dexter Hughes was missing.