Pickett’s officers had searched the station and the surroundings thoroughly. There was no trace of John Doe or Maddie.
They had interviewed all the car rental agencies in Toccoa. No one matched John Doe’s description.
They had even spoken to several store owners on Main Street. Madison Kittrell hadn’t been seen in town.
His officers had finished dusting the signboard and the bench where the newspaper had been lying. They would analyze it for results and inform the NYPD.
The newspaper was in his custody and it too would be dusted.
No one had boarded the train that day. His men were still working on who else had disembarked.
He waited after he had finished briefing them, the sun beating down on them relentlessly as if mocking their wasted flight.
The train depot, its yellow and red structure immediately recognizable from the photo, looked empty and forlorn. No other person was visible but for Pickett and a few of his officers.
Two police cruisers and the Tahoe were the only vehicles in the lot in front of the station.
‘There’s a ticket agent in the station. He didn’t see any man or a girl.’
He wiped his forehead with the palm of a hand and dried it against a trouser leg.
‘The station doesn’t get much traffic. It has one service in a day and it’s not as if Toccoa is a large commercial hub,’ he said with a small smile.
‘They were here.’ His smile grew larger when the twins looked at him in sudden interest.
‘The station is also home to the Currahee Military Museum. It’s usually closed that time of the morning; however, a caretaker had arrived early today.’
He broke off when Beth ran to the building, Meghan close behind her.
The caretaker was in his late fifties, and had moon faced spectacles on his face. His eyes were bright behind them and regarded the twins in wonder.
‘You both are genuine twins?’
Identical, not genuine, Meghan corrected him mentally.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Call me Bob,’ the caretaker flashed a gap-toothed grin, visibly pleased at the attention he was receiving.
Yes, he had seen a girl. She was peering through a window when he had approached from the side of the building.
‘I’m waiting for my mommy,’ she replied when Bob had questioned her, concerned that she seemed to be alone.
No she wasn’t alone. Daddy had gone to make a phone call.
Bob hung around for a few minutes waiting for Daddy to turn up, however, he had things to do, stuff to be put away.
The girl was nowhere to be seen when he returned half an hour later. Neither was anyone who looked like a daddy. The ticket agent hadn’t seen her when Bob asked him.
Bob shrugged his shoulders and went back to work, figuring Mommy had collected Daddy and the little girl and had driven away.
Meghan looked at the roof of the station, excused herself and ran around the building.
‘No security cameras?’ she asked when she returned.
‘No cameras, ma’am.’
She looked over to Pizaka and Chang; the NYPD cops were with Pickett who was showing them the likely spot where Maddie had been photographed.
Chang felt her gaze and shook his head imperceptibly.
Nothing more to be seen.
She and Beth went inside the cool interior of the station and spoke to the ticket agent.
He was as old as Bob, his brown eyes smiling at their approach
‘It’s the most excitement I have had in many years,’ he greeted them and introduced himself.
He kept shaking his head, the smile fading from his face as Meghan peppered him with questions.
‘I’m sorry, ma’am. I wish I could help, but I didn’t see anything. I told Roy the same.’
Meghan stood in the station’s shade and watched her sister join the cops.
She forced despair away, breathed deeply, and looked at the blue sky in the distance.
Where are you, Maddie?
The man and Maddie were still in Toccoa. The man knew his message would trigger a man hunt and the local police would be roped in.
He also knew the cops would question car rental agencies and hotels. He had given thought to their escape from the station and had hit upon a plan.
It needed a stroke of luck.
He got lucky.
He had hung around the station when the train had departed, his phone to his ear, when he saw the old lady emerge from a restroom.
She made her way slowly to a pickup truck in the station’s yard.
He approached her, smiled ruefully and spun a story about his cell phone dying on him. That his wife was waiting for them at the elementary school, to check it out for their daughter.
They were from Atlanta and would be moving to Toccoa because of his job. His wife had driven a day earlier, and if his phone hadn’t died, she would be waiting for them at the station.
The old lady was happy to drive them to the school and it was there that he and the girl spent the day.
While the cops search for us everywhere else.
‘He’s mocking us. He’s taking us on a wild goose chase,’ Beth said quietly.
Meghan, following Pickett as he reversed and rolled out of the station, didn’t reply, though she agreed with her sister.
Pizaka or Chang didn’t refute Beth’s comment. There was no other reason for the message to be sent.
Meghan cut her eyes to her sister. Beth was stony faced, her eyes expressionless.
We still don’t know how he got our numbers, but that’s part of his taunt.
They had traveled less than a hundred yards when Meghan slammed the brakes suddenly.
‘Jeez, sis,’ Beth yelled and braced herself with a hand. ‘What happened?’
‘The signboard. The graffiti on it.’