In The Shadows (27 page)

 Chapter Fifty-Three

On her drive back to the campus, Tonya thought of her conversation with Myron last night. Myron was as excited as Tonya and the girls were after hearing the news. Before Tonya could make a suggestion, Myron was already making plans to come to Tuscaloosa. Myron told Tonya he would leave right after formation on Friday and would try to arrive before visiting hours were over. Tonya heard and felt the excitement in his voice. She couldn’t blame him and knew he would stop at nothing to see Danielle now.

Tonya found herself dialing Danielle’s mom. She knew they had to be excited as well. When her grandmother answered the phone, she seemed excited to hear Tonya’s voice.

“Hi, Ms. Grace, this is Tonya. How are you?”

“Oh Tonya, I’m doing just fine. It is so good to hear your voice. How’s school going?”

“School is great! I was calling to see if there were any updates on Danielle?” Before Tonya could continue, Ms. Grace began speaking.

“Oh yes! The doctor called this morning and gave Danielle’s mother a positive report on her condition. He has been made aware of all the developments and incidents she’s experienced over the last several weeks and feels hopeful she’ll have a complete recovery. He also said he felt she could wake up any day now. So we are just thrilled beyond belief over the news. Her mother and brother are down at the hospital right now, visiting her.”

“Wow, that is great news. The girls and I were there last night right after she had an episode of some sort, and her nurse was there to witness it all. We were all so excited and remain very hopeful as well. We plan to visit her again tomorrow.”

* * *

Tonya was so happy to confirm what she’d hoped. The doctor had reached out to the family and validated the girls’ beliefs all along that Danielle’s condition was improving. Tonya’s feeling of elation was suddenly overshadowed by her concern for Katy.

Tonya then prayed for Danielle’s recovery. She hoped Danielle could finally shed some light on her abductor and that information could help them save Katy. Tonya was thankful Friday was a free day for her. She knew that if there was anything she could do to help Katy, she had to do it now because she knew Katy was running out of time.

* * *

When Brandon entered the house, he walked into the operations center after hearing his father’s raised voice. He was surprised to see his father in rare form and wondered what could have set him off.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Brandon said, walking in the room and standing next to him. The room quickly fell silent as Brandon waited for an explanation from his father.

Rubbing his head vigorously, he looked at his son. “Well, it seems as though the good doctor has disappeared without a trace.” The room remained silent as Brandon stood in the middle of the room confused about what had taken place.

“What good doctor, Dad?”

Beginning to pace the floor, he said, “Son, remember when we reviewed Johnny Rush’s case file the other day?” Brandon nodded but was still confused as he looked on intently. “Well, I stumbled across something on the drifter, and I tried to locate the local doctor who held the free clinic once a week in downtown Selma.”

“Okay, yeah, I remember the doctor now, but what’s the problem? And why is he now a person of interest?”

“Remember when you cut your finger and we went to his clinic? We found out he had relocated. Well, I had tasked the guys back at the office to find out where he moved to so we could review Johnny’s record to reach his next of kin. We have been unable to locate a doctor matching his name.”

“Yeah, well, if he has a driver’s license and a medical license, it shouldn’t be that hard to find him,” Brandon said, rushing to his desk and taking a seat in front of his computer.

Brandon’s father stopped midthought and smiled at the quick thinking and prompt action of his son, who was perfect for this job. “Yes, son, we’ve checked out both databases and still came up empty-handed.” The sheriff began rubbing his head again and plopped down on the couch. “It’s like he disappeared into thin air.” Thinking back to his visit to the coroner’s office in Birmingham, the sheriff fell quiet.

Things remained quiet for a while after their conversation. Brandon worked diligently on the computer as his father seemed fixated on something else. After a few minutes had passed, Sheriff Masterson quickly jumped to his feet. “Check with our guys in Birmingham. Run a check on the entire family!” he said loudly.

Before Brandon could question what was going on, his father began to recall his trip to Birmingham months ago. He then shared with Brandon how he’d run across a familiar face while visiting the state fair that weekend.

“Son, I don’t forget faces, and I think I ran across the good doctor’s son. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it was his boy that I saw that day.” Brandon hadn’t given much thought to Dr. Benson or his family but did find their sudden departure odd. His father may have just stumbled onto something.

Soon the buzz of the operation center return to its normal state, which was loud and chaotic, and Brandon searched every city for Dr. Benson starting in Birmingham and was disappointed to confirm what his father had stated earlier. This doctor was nowhere to be found, and that just didn’t sit right with Brandon.

The search for Katy continued, and Sheriff Masterson went out to oversee the search as its intensity picked up, realizing that if Katy was still alive, her time could very well be running out.

* * *

It was late morning before the doctor made his rounds and stopped to visit Mrs. Bradford. The doctor explained to Mrs. Bradford that he would schedule a follow-up appointment with another doctor on staff there. Mrs. Bradford and her husband didn’t bother asking questions as they were focused on getting home and preparing for the next day’s service.

Danielle wondered why the change in doctors, but if the Bradfords weren’t concerned, why should she be? Besides, they may have already discussed the reason for the change. Danielle knew that night would be the next opportunity
he
would have to get rid of her for good, and she needed to regain consciousness and soon.

* * *

Natalie and Janelle decided to take their lunch outside that day during school. Everywhere they turned, there was chatter about Cody and his memorial service being held the following day in the school’s gymnasium. The girls tried to keep their conversation light and positive as they began to talk about Danielle’s condition. Since they wouldn’t have school on Friday, the girls planned to go visit Danielle after the memorial service.

With all the terrible things going on in their community, Danielle’s condition improving was the only good thing to focus on.

No one had been arrested for Cody’s death, and little Katy was still missing. The town seemed to go from one extreme emotion to the next, and the girls feared for their safety. A curfew had been established in the town, and all after-school activities had been suspended. The girls would normally have club meetings immediately after school, but that day they would go straight home. They had a big assignment due on Monday and would use their early arrival home to work on their homework.

As they walked along the grassy path, the girls decided as long as they were together they could take the shortcut to Natalie’s house. Janelle remembered her last terrifying experience she’d had on the trail and swore to never travel that path again alone. The girls’ chatter suddenly stopped as they neared the Bensons’ property. It was obvious they were both a little hesitant about the trail’s safety, but it was still broad daylight as they listened and looked around for anything out of the norm.

The girls hadn’t seen Joey in a few weeks and wondered if he was still in the area. Natalie wondered if he really had a job at the hospital or if he just happened to be there for an appointment the other day when they went to visit Danielle. Just as the girls were halfway down the path, they saw a service van sitting in the driveway with two men loading boxes into the rear of the van.

The girls didn’t recognize either of the men and initially thought they were there to repair something in the Bensons’ home. As they made their way across the path, Natalie heard a noise in the shed and glanced back to the side window just in time to see someone inside the shed covering something with a tarp. Maybe Joey was out in the shed working again. Natalie didn’t think twice about it; she simply wanted to get home and fast.

* * *

Brandon had been on the computer for hours when Tonya showed up. He had become frustrated at not finding anything on Dr. Benson and needed to clear his head. He’d been away from the search long enough and figured he and Tonya would help with the search for the last hours of daylight. He agreed to let Tonya drive his truck as he felt somewhat distracted having run into so many dead ends. Brandon left his father to continue the research, but he had begun to feel that perhaps the Bensons didn’t want to be found.

He and Tonya talked briefly before their drive to the site. Once they were inside the vehicle, Brandon sat in the passenger’s seat staring out the window, obviously deep in thought. Feeling the tension as they traveled, Tonya knew Brandon’s mind was elsewhere, and she needed to get him to open up. Tonya became concerned as she looked over at Brandon’s tense face as they traveled down the road.

“Brandon, what’s bugging you? You have to tell me what’s going on. Something is certainly eating away at you.” Tonya couldn’t take the silence anymore.

Finally breaking away from his thoughts, he turned to look at the concern on Tonya’s face. He didn’t realize she had picked up on the turmoil he kept within.

Brandon’s mind was on Katy as he tried to find some way to track down her kidnapper. He knew they were running out of time, and he also felt it was important to track down this doctor too. Although it wasn’t discussed by him or his father, he knew finding this doctor would shed some light on many things. Brandon felt so helpless since he was unable to help Katy at this moment. Somehow he felt focusing his attention on finding this doctor would somehow right the wrong he felt when it came to Katy’s disappearance.

Brandon reluctantly shared what he’d been feeling with Tonya. She listened intently as Brandon described how the doctor vanished from Selma years ago and was then nowhere to be found. Tonya’s instincts immediately told her there was more to the story than she was hearing. She felt there was something missing but said nothing as she tried to concentrate on what Brandon was saying.

 Chapter Fifty-Four

Carlos had made it through the day and that somehow seemed like the easy part of his day. Now the tough part would be surviving the night. His wife and daughter were going away for a wedding and were scheduled to depart later that evening. Carlos felt he could certainly use that time to himself. It had been so long since Carlos had been home alone that he honestly had to think about when he was last afforded that opportunity.

When he walked into the house, he turned the stereo on XM radio and before he could undress completely, his and Andrea’s song played on the radio. He smiled at her memory as he danced around the room wishing he could hold her in his arms again.

* * *

Natalie was quieter than normal that afternoon, and Janelle noticed but was hesitant to say anything. The whole town was in an uproar over the senseless crimes that plagued the city, and Janelle figured Natalie was simply trying to understand it all. Then out of nowhere, while in the middle of working on their homework, Natalie dropped her pen and stared at the television.

Natalie had a startling thought. What if Joey was the hit-and-run driver? What if he hit Cody along the dark highway and panicked? The old shed was certainly a good place to stash a vehicle. Natalie then explained to Janelle how she’d seen someone cover something large up in the shed. What if Joey was really hiding his vehicle at that exact moment and now was literally trying to cover things up? This thought alarmed the girls but affected Natalie in a way to where she couldn’t let it go.

As it was almost dark then, Natalie wanted to take a closer look at the shed. She knew Janelle would want no part of it nor would she allow Natalie to go back on the path alone. With everything going on, Natalie knew any citizen in town could be a suspect, but Joey made a better suspect because of his suspicious behavior.

* * *

Tonya and Brandon were quiet as they focused on retracing Katy’s steps that day. As Tonya looked over at Brandon, she saw something she’d not seen before. Brandon appeared to have lost some weight. Tonya had been so preoccupied with the thought of him not getting proper rest that she didn’t notice he’d not been eating regularly. Making a mental note to address it later, Tonya continued with the search.

After searching the park, the two drove in the direction of the store, hoping to see anything out of the norm. They agreed to park at the store and walk down one side of the road to the park and head back on the opposite side of the road. The roads weren’t well lit, and it would be nearly dark when they returned to the truck. The search party had moved out to other locations, but Brandon knew he had to start over. He couldn’t afford to leave a stone unturned.

Tonya and Brandon were both athletes and began to cover the distance in no time. They grabbed their reflective vests and flashlights before leaving the truck. Brandon took the path just off the road while Tonya walked next to the road. They searched for anything that seemed out of place or shouldn’t be out beside the road.

It wasn’t until their trip back when Tonya stepped on pieces of hard plastic. As she slowed down, she discovered more plastic. After looking around the area, she realized the plastic began to take on the shape of a cell phone case.

“Brandon!” Tonya’s voice sounded loudly as they were out in the middle of nowhere. She was now squatting over the area where she’d been searching, careful not to touch anything as she scanned the area. It was almost as if Brandon had been standing right behind her the entire time. Brandon appeared, standing over Tonya only seconds after she’d called out to him.

“Baby, what is it? What did you find?” he asked with the adrenaline beginning to pump faster.

Without answering, Tonya blankly looked into his eyes. Then looking in the area she’d just searched, Brandon quickly kneeled down, grabbed a pen from his pocket and began to turn the plastic pieces over. Before Brandon could collect all the shattered pieces, he knew right away it was Katy’s hard case for her cell phone. It was white with pink hearts covering the entire case.

Brandon sighed loudly, relieved Tonya had stumbled across the case. Suddenly he stood and began to track the pieces down the grassy hill until he located larger pieces. Tonya looked on as Brandon worked quietly and quickly while he studied the ground intently, careful not to step on anything he thought was a part of the crime scene.

When Tonya saw him stand straight up, she knew he’d found something else odd, and she rushed to be by his side. There, hidden under the shallow grass, was Katy’s crushed cell phone. The battery was on its side just a few feet away from the phone. Brandon’s heart began to pound so loudly it felt as though his ears shook like speakers.

As Brandon began looking up and down the road, he pulled the map from his back pocket. He’d marked off the areas the search team had covered in black. The areas he’d covered were in green. Still not saying anything, Brandon walked back to the top of the road, orienting himself with the area according to the map.

Tonya couldn’t take it anymore. “Brandon, what is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, feeling the fear quickly rise into her throat. She was now standing beside him, reviewing the search area on the map. It was just beginning to get dark, and the temperature would soon start dropping.

“Tonya, are you familiar with the hit-and-run case or its developments? I could kick myself for being so focused on Katy’s disappearance that I didn’t follow the case at all,” Brandon said, pounding his fist into his hand.

Then Tonya walked a few feet down the road and soon found herself standing in the middle of the road, looking in either direction.

“Wasn’t the accident on this highway?” Brandon asked then, not believing it to be true. “Why would Katy’s phone be here? The search team combed these roads for two days and found nothing,” he said, reaching for his cell phone.

Tonya could hear Brandon in the background speaking with his dad, but her mind was moving faster than she could control. As she began pacing up and down the street, she realized no cars had been on the road in the three hours they’d been out there.
Why
would
Katy
’
s
phone
be
on
this
road?
How
could
the
search
team
have
missed
it?
Tonya thought to herself.

Just then Tonya heard Brandon tell his father of the news. Tonya had found Katy’s cell phone, which was the best news they’d heard since she disappeared and her necklace was found. When Brandon ended his phone call, he looked over at Tonya who seemed to be in deep thought. Brandon stretched the map out again, taking note of where the necklace was found. It was at least three miles away from where they were. Then turning to face one another, Brandon rubbed his hair vigorously while pulling on the ends of his curls. “Looks like they missed this area.”

Slowly jogging to Brandon’s location and finding herself out of breath, Tonya asked, “What do you mean, they missed this area? That’s not possible.”

“Well, they assured me that they searched every inch of this field all the way down to the fence, but there’s no way they could have and not stumbled across this,” he said, holding up Katy’s phone which was now secured in a ziplock bag.

“No, Brandon. I was here. Remember? This is first area they searched, and with all of the volunteers at that time, I’m sure they conducted a thorough search. Something’s not right. Why did you ask me about the hit-and-run?”

“I don’t know. Something just didn’t sit right with me. It’s more than a coincidence that two tragic events took place within two hundred feet of each other within days apart, and now I find out the search was bogus!” he said, raising his voice, clearly upset he wasn’t out there from day one. Tonya knew Brandon was upset, but something still wasn’t sitting right with her either.

“Brandon, while I cannot verify the searchers combed this area, I wholeheartedly believe they did . . . what if . . . ?” She let her words trail off. Brandon stopped walking the roadway when he noticed Tonya had stopped talking.

“What if what, baby?” he asked, alarmed.

Walking to him Tonya said, “Baby, what if the phone wasn’t here when the searchers came through?”

Brandon took a seat on the side of the road, and within minutes, the area was covered with cops from everywhere with Brandon’s father leading the pack. Brandon cursed when he realized the search would soon have to end because they were losing daylight and fast. At least the area would be cordoned off until they could return at daybreak.

Brandon pulled his father aside and beckoned for Tonya to join them. She finished talking to the officers and trotted over to the side of the road where Brandon and his father were in a deep conversation.

Once Brandon explained to his father Tonya’s theory, the sheriff was more willing to buy that version rather than the ineffective search.

Then turning to Tonya, Sheriff Masterson said, “Okay, Miss Tonya, what exactly do you suspect happened?”

Tonya was grateful they included her in the conversation and that Sheriff Masterson trusted her enough to explore her theory to save Katy’s life.

“I think there are a number of things that could’ve taken place here,” she said, not wanting to make matters worse than they were. “I think there are a couple of ways to look at this. Could it be possible that Katy may have misplaced her phone and somehow Cody found it, and when he was hit, it ended up where we found it? Or is it possible Katy and Cody met out here? Perhaps they knew each other.”

Both men fell quiet and looked at each other, giving what she’d said some thought. “Where’s the point of impact from the hit-and-run accident?” Brandon’s father asked.

Brandon was walking in the direction of the accident scene and drew a blank. He began talking to himself. Why would Katy’s phone be out there in the middle of nowhere yet even closer than they originally thought to the accident?

“Or there’s one other possibility,” Tonya said as the men stopped in their tracks to listen to the novice detective. “What if the person responsible for taking Katy is the same person responsible for Cody’s death?” Both men were stunned by the last theory as they stared at Tonya then at each other.

Brandon immediately walked away from Tonya and his father and dialed Mrs. Johnson. He needed to speak with Claire to see if she knew Cody. When Mrs. Johnson handed Claire the phone, Claire sounded really excited about speaking with him. Claire hoped he had good news or was at least getting closer to finding Katy. Her mom walked back into the kitchen, not wanting to hover over her daughter.

“Hello,” Claire said, somewhat hesitant, not sure what to expect.

“Hey, Claire. How are you holding up?”

“I’m doing okay. I just can’t wait until this nightmare is over,” she said, exhaling slowly.

“Same here. Listen, the evening you and Katy met up at the park, do you remember seeing her cell phone?”

Claire was quiet as she thought back to that dreadful day. “Yes, she had it with her. I’m certain of it. She made mention of her battery not being fully charged.”

Brandon exhaled slowly. “Okay, good. That’s very good. Now I have to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me. No one is trying to get you in trouble. I really need to know if you or Katy knew Cody. Maybe the two of you had run into him or some other teens at the park during—”

“Um, sometimes there would be some other students there but not to meet up with us. I mean, we would talk to them when and if we saw them because I wanted people to know Katy, in case she started school here. We never planned a group meeting with any of them though.”

Brandon heard what Claire said and was fine with it, but it still did not confirm Cody had Katy’s phone. “To be honest with you, I don’t believe Cody or his friends were at the park on Saturday. If so, Katy and I didn’t see them.”

That was it, she’d said it. Brandon quickly ended the phone call and thanked Claire again for speaking with him. Brandon jogged back to Tonya and his father. “Katy doesn’t know Cody!” he said, feeling the excitement from this significant break in the case.

His father was in shock as he took a step back. He was feeling the excitement too as his adrenaline began racing throughout his body. “That same SOB that ran that boy down is responsible for Katy’s disappearance,” the sheriff shouted.

Tonya already felt they had gotten what they came looking for there, and she was just as excited watching everything unfold right before her eyes. She had grown tired and hungry, and Brandon asked her if she wanted to get a ride back to his truck. Since Tonya realized she’d not eaten or drank anything for hours, she knew that was a sure way to go to bed with a headache. She knew Brandon would stay until he collapsed.

* * *

Back at the house, the operations center gave Sheriff Masterson an update on Dr. Benson. They told Sheriff Masterson that Dr. Benson dropped off the radar shortly after leaving Selma, and no one had seen nor heard from him since. He encouraged them to keep trying to track him down. Sheriff Masterson knew finding him would answer the mounting questions the department had.