Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (127 page)

CHAPTER 20

I took a long hot shower, trying to scrub away the slithering feeling that Gareth Campbell had left behind.

After drying my hair and getting dressed, I walked over to the university. Although it was still early, the air already had that stifling Amazon jungle quality to it. I could feel the sweat starting to form on my upper lip and under my hair.

The campus was quiet. There were some maintenance people starting their day as well as a few walkers and runners here and there. But no ghosts.

I stopped in front of Matthew Knight Arena, where they played basketball. Jesse would have liked it here. Before the accident, he had big dreams, too. First he was going to play ball at UCLA. After that on to the NBA.

But all that changed in a heartbeat on that icy road as we drove back down the mountain that day.

I wished Jesse were here right now. He always had good insight into this sort of thing. I closed my eyes and sighed, picturing his face.

I kept walking.

There were times when I was almost certain there were eyes on me, making the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But whenever I turned to look, hoping that it was Emily Ross and not her ex, there was nothing there.

I made it over to Hayward Field. I didn’t think I’d find clues there. It was a personal detour. I just wanted to see the track.

It was beautiful. The grass immaculate, the surface made out of state-of the art material. I could feel the cushion in every step. About the only thing the college track back home had in common with this place was that it had eight oval lanes.

Rounding the curve named in his honor, I came upon the bronze statue of Bill Bowerman and stopped to read the plaque. I had seen a documentary on him once, and knew that besides being the U of O track coach, he also was one of the founders of Nike. He had started the company in his garage late at night, making lightweight shoes for his runners using a waffle iron. 

When I finished the lap, I climbed up to the top of the stands and took a seat. I had a bird’s eye view, the track below me, forested hills in the distance.

“Where are you, Emily?” I whispered as a slight breeze blew into my face. “I’m here to help you. Talk to me.”

CHAPTER 21

I walked back over to the bridge.

I stood in the same area where I saw the colored sky and closed my eyes again, letting the sound of the rushing water below fill my ears. But I didn’t see pink or orange or yellow. Or red.

When I opened my eyes I thought back on it and concluded that it had been a sunset. Those bright red clouds looked like the kind of sky Jesse and I saw when we were skiing at Mt. Bachelor back when we were in high school. It was that sky that told us it was time to go home, those bold streaks of red, purple, and orange having their brief but brilliant moment in the sun before fading out into muted grays.

My phone buzzed.

It was Frazier. I told him where I was. I slid my phone back into my pocket.

And then I jumped.

There were eyes watching me from the shadows near the shore.

Someone was down there.

And then they weren’t.

I had only seen them for a second, but the image of those eyes stayed with me much longer.

CHAPTER 22

“That little
shit
,” Frazier said after I told him about my encounter with Gareth Campbell. “I’m sorry, Abby. He lives in the same apartment complex. He must have seen us. He didn’t try anything or threaten you, did he?”

“No,” I said. “He just gave me a little scare.”

“What did he say?”

“He wanted to know what we were doing at her apartment yesterday. He said that he’s innocent. That he didn’t care about Emily. And that he’s sure she’s dead.”

Frazier sat behind the wheel without speaking.

“He is pompous, I’ll give him that,” he said finally and sighed. “I suppose he might just be going with the percentages and then projecting it back as fact.”

I wiped at my face.

“Is it me or is it really humid here?” I said.

“Better not move back East. This is a picnic compared to summers there.”

He started the car and switched on the AC.

“Did you get a chance to look at the disc?” he asked.

“Yeah. I didn’t really see anything, except that I guess I got a little preview of the charming Mr. Campbell.”

Frazier waited for more, but I didn’t have it to give.

“Sorry, that’s all I have,” I said.

“I appreciate you taking it slow and being honest.”

Any slower and I’d put the car in reverse, I thought. But this was just my second day on the case. I knew I had to stay patient. Like they said, it was a virtue. Even if it felt like standing still.

“Where are we headed?”

“I have something I want you to take a look at. A box of her things that we’ve been keeping in the evidence locker.”

We pulled up to a park with a large field of grass and soccer goals off in the distance.

“We took these items from her apartment before it was cleared out. You could see if anything comes to you. Don’t you people do that sometimes? I mean, get feelings from material objects?”

I didn’t like the sound of
you people
, but I knew Frazier hadn’t meant any harm by it. We walked to an empty table under a leafy tree.

“Speaking of feelings, what did the roommate think of Campbell?” I asked.

“Actually, she kind of liked him. She said he was the type of person it takes a while to appreciate. Her words, not mine.”

“So she thinks he’s innocent.”

“She does,” Frazier said, putting the box on the table.

I took the lid off as Frazier’s phone rang.

“I’ve got to take this. Go ahead and get started, Abby.”

He wandered away and I got to it.

There wasn’t much inside. Some framed photos, a silver ring, a few shirts, and one of those thick iPods, the kind that have a lot of memory.

I scrolled through her music collection. Her taste took in most genres.

Bill Evans rubbed shoulders with Billy Squire, Britney came before Bruce, and Miley Cyrus was right there next to Miles Davis. I wondered how Miles felt about that and decided that, like most things, he was probably cool with it.

I picked up the ring, but felt nothing. I unfolded the clothing and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that one of the items was a concert T-shirt from Metallica’s
Escape from the Studio ’06
tour.

I could almost hear Lars pounding away on his drums as I held up the shirt and stared at it, getting lost for a moment in a memory. Metallica was one of Jesse’s favorite bands. He listened to them nonstop back in high school. 

I put it down and took a breath.

I didn’t get anything other than feeling bad about rummaging through Emily Ross’ things. Like I was just another in a long list of strangers invading her privacy.

I glanced over at Frazier, who was pacing as he talked. He seemed agitated.

The last few things were some photos. One was of her and Sophie Richardson. A few others at a Ducks football game, up in the bleachers with thick fog hiding most of the field behind them. Another was a shot of Emily Ross and Gareth Campbell wearing matching university sweatshirts, standing in front of a building on campus.

The last shot was of her with a young man in the snow. He was tall with broad shoulders, wearing a beanie on his head. Their arms were linked and they were smiling. I wondered if he was an old boyfriend.

I began putting it all away.

“Anything?” Frazier said as he came over.

I shook my head.

“Who’s this?” I said, pulling out the picture in the snow.

“That’s her cousin. The one killed in the car crash last year.”

I nodded.

“It looks like they were close,” I said finally.

“They grew up together. Her mother said she took it hard.”

I stared at the photograph.

So often, life didn’t make sense. They were so happy in that moment, no idea what was waiting for them just around the corner.

CHAPTER 23

Frazier drove west of the school and parked in front of a coffeehouse called The Grind.

“Emily frequented this place,” he said, stepping up to the glass and looking through the window. “I don’t see him.”

“Who?” I said.

“Person of interest number two. Casey Korman. He’s a, ah, what do they call you people?”

There he was with the
you people
again.

“A barista?” I said.

“Thank you. Yes, he’s a barista here. And according to the roommate, he asked Emily out on a number of occasions. At first it seemed like a joke to her, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. The week before she went missing, Emily finally stopped coming here. He has an alibi that checks out. He was in Seattle when she disappeared. But I haven’t ruled him out completely. He has a police record and he just smells wrong.”

“What’d he do?”

“He has a history of breaking and entering. Things of that nature. And then last year, he was picked up on a sexual assault charge. An old girlfriend filed the complaint but then dropped it. It never went any further.”

It made me glad to be working at Back Street. It was true that some of the employees there were a little strange, but it was a good strange.

Frazier looked at his watch.

“I think we’re a little early, but I thought you could talk to Sophie. She’s working as a counselor this summer at a camp here at the school. I told her we would stop by when she’s on her break.”

“Okay.”

“The two of you might talk on your own after I introduce you,” he said. “It could help you get a better sense of who Emily is. I don’t know. It might help in some way.”

CHAPTER 24

Sophie Richardson was waiting for us in front of the education building. Her hair was up in a bun and she was wearing jeans and a tank top.

After saying hello, Frazier excused himself, his phone in hand, and headed down to the corner.

“The detective says you’re helping with the case,” she said, staring at me with curious eyes. “But you look way too young to be a cop.”

The comment threw me and I tried to think of something to say other than that I saw ghosts.

“I was abducted once,” I said. “So he thought that I could help somehow.”

“Oh,” Sophie Richardson said.

“So could you tell me a little bit about Emily? How long have you known her?”

“Since we were freshmen. We met in the dorms and then moved out to the apartment,” she said. “Hey, do you mind if we walk while we talk? I’ve been sitting all morning painting with kids.”

“Sure,” I said.

We strolled down a wide cement path.

“That first month we hated each other. Some nights we didn’t even speak. She seemed kind of nerdy to me, and I’m sure she thought I was a huge snob. I hated the old sweatshirt she always wore, and I probably said something. Once I yelled at her for not making her bed. I’m a little high strung sometimes.”

She pulled a water bottle from her purse and drank from it.

“We were both probably just freaking out about being away from home for the first time,” she said.

“So then how did you two become friends?”

“All because of this jerk I was dating,” Sophie Richardson said, smiling. “He bailed on me at the very last minute after promising to take me to a Sting concert. I love Sting and was really upset. I went back to my room and sat there feeling all sad, not sure what to do. I didn’t want to go by myself, so I just started changing into my sweats. Emily was studying there and wanted to know what happened. I told her and she immediately closed her textbook and insisted that we go to the concert together. I knew she had a big test in the morning, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“The concert was great. It was a special night.”

Sophie Richardson looked off for a moment before talking again.

“Grades are everything to her. But she put me ahead of her test, and we weren’t even friends at the time. That’s the kind of person Emily is. She’s great. Genuine and full of heart, you know what I mean?”

I nodded.

“Did she always want to be a veterinarian?” I said, grasping for another question.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “At least since I’ve known her. A lot of people like animals, but Emily took it to a whole other level. She took in birds with broken wings and this one time a squirrel that looked like it had all its ribs crushed. I still don’t know how she did it, but she ended up saving it.”

She shook her head before continuing.

“And she was always bringing home stray dogs. We can’t keep them in the apartments, so she fed them and I would give her a ride over to the humane society to drop them off. I think I’ve gone to that building more than to the library over the years. She was pretty crazy that way.”

She drained the rest of her water.

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure,” I said.

“The guy who took you. Was it someone you knew?”

Nathaniel Mortimer’s face flashed in my mind.

“Yeah, I knew him.”

“That’s what they say, that most victims know their kidnappers. I’ve done some research since this happened. I read that very few abductions are random.”

“What do you think happened to her?”

She shrugged.

“I have no idea,” she said. “But I know it’s not Gareth. He isn’t involved like the cops think. Sure, he’s a little odd and standoffish, but under that accent and stiff upper lip, I think he’s a pretty neat guy.”

I could think of a few different words to describe him.

“Why did they break up?” I said.

“I don’t know. Emily wouldn’t go into it. She was like that with boyfriends. I would tell her everything and she would tell me nothing. All I know is that she was really pissed off at him. And she didn’t get mad too much, so I figured he must have cheated on her or something along those lines. She refused to talk to him. I think his ego took it hard.”