Tess waited for Michael at Murphy's BBQ, glad to have a beer after her day at work. Murphy’s was a highly rated pit barbecue south of Seattle's downtown area called SoDo. Unpretentious, the restaurant had some of the best barbecue she'd ever eaten and so it was a regular spot for when she and Michael craved grilled meat.
She took a booth near the side window and watched the street for Michael's arrival. Finally, about ten minutes later, his Jeep drove up and he hopped out, crossing the street to get to Murphy's. He came inside and saw her at the booth. When he arrived at the table, he scooted in beside her and kissed her warmly.
"There you are," he said and smiled. "What a day."
"One of those days?"
He nodded. "Too much going on. Too many developments."
She smiled, excited to learn what new had happened in the cases.
"Do tell," she said and pushed his bottle of beer to his side of the table.
He held up the bottle and they clinked bottles together before taking a sip.
Then, he filled her in on everything -- the identity of the John Doe up in Silver Lake, the news about Tracy Kemp and the links between the cases.
"My God," Tess said, shaking her head when he'd finished recounting the developments at the DA's office. "She'll be broken hearted over this. Her son said she held out hope that Tracy was just a runaway, living in a new city with friends."
"Unfortunately not," Michael said and took a long pull on his beer. "She was just another victim in the sex trade."
"What's next for you in the cases?"
"Trying to find out who Mickey is trying to protect and why. Figuring out who killed Gibson and Sutton. How Tracy Kemp is tied into those deaths."
"You think she is?"
Michael nodded. "We know that Gibson worked in Bellingham at the camera shop and produced child porn. Tracy was seen in Bellingham a few days after she went missing. Her body turns up in the forest outside Bellingham. Too many connections for the cases not to be linked in some way."
Tess sighed. It made her sick to think about the depraved world they'd uncovered, at work in every corner of the state. In every state in the union.
Her one solace was that at least she was shedding some light onto it. Light chased away the darkness, extinguished it -- at least, she hoped it did.
When they were finished with their meal, Tess told Michael she wanted to stop by and see Craig, because he'd seemed really upset at the Sentinel.
"Apparently, Craig's taking some time off," Tess said. "He has some time built up, so he turned in his last assignment and said he'd be back in a week."
"Oh," Michael said, frowning. "Is he going somewhere?"
Tess shook her head. "He didn't say. He was in this morning and said he was taking a staycation."
"He still having problems dealing with Rachel leaving?"
Tess nodded. "That's why I want to go check on him."
Michael nodded and after they paid the bill, he walked her to where her car was parked.
"I'm going back to the office," Michael said. "Need to put in a few more hours."
"Okay," Tess said and kissed Michael. "See you when you get home."
He smiled and walked down the street to his Jeep.
Tess got inside her car and texted Craig, checking to make sure he was home.
TESS: Hey, Craig. Are you there? I wanted to talk to you about some stuff I found out about Rachel and Sadie. It's privileged, off the record, but I thought you'd like to know.
She drove off, merging into traffic, wondering if he'd invite her over.
Finally, she heard the chime sound on her cell, indicating an incoming message.
She stopped at the side of the road and picked up her cell.
CRAIG: Come over. I'm here.
TESS: See you in fifteen.
She drove to the apartment Craig used to share with Rachel and Sadie and parked in the rear lot. When she got to the intercom, she saw that Craig's name was no longer on the list of names by each buzzer. There was an empty spot next to his apartment.
She buzzed and he let her in, the door lock clicking to admit her.
When she arrived at his apartment, the door was ajar. She glanced down the hallway and saw that Craig was heading to the garbage room, a couple of bags of trash in his hands.
"Hey, Craig," she called out. He turned and saw her, then held up the two bags. "I'm just cleaning up. I'll be right back. Go on inside."
She did, opening the door to a living room filled with moving boxes. The furniture was all gone.
Craig was moving out.
She stood amidst the boxes and glanced around at the bare apartment. Maybe he felt he couldn't bear to stay in the apartment he shared with Rachel and Sadie. Tess imagined it must hurt him to think she'd left him without an explanation or without letting him know where she was going.
When Craig returned, he closed the door behind him and busied himself closing one of the boxes, wrapping packing tape around the top to seal it shut.
"You're moving out, I take it," she said, keeping her voice light.
"Yes," Craig said, not meeting her eyes. "I can't stay here anymore. It's too lonely."
"I understand," Tess said. "Where's your new place? Is it any closer to the Sentinel?"
He was silent for a moment, merely shrugging like he didn't want to say where he would be living.
Finally, he moved the box to one side of the room and then stopped, finally meeting her eyes. "What did you want to tell me about Rachel?"
Tess put her handbag down on the kitchen counter and sat on the single stool left in the room.
"Michael told me that Rachel was the daughter of a Canadian man who was charged with sexual assault of a minor and who went missing before his court date. Apparently, he came to Washington, lived off the grid and had fake ID. He may have been involved in the child porn industry, and the sex trade. His real name was Thomas Gibson, but he went by Gerry Scott from Deming. He's also Sadie's father."
Craig frowned. "He's Sadie's father? They were sisters? I thought..."
Tess shook her head. "Apparently, he must have raped her when she was twelve and she ran away, came to Seattle and had her baby at the shelter when she was thirteen."
"She always told me it was some guy she met when she was homeless," Craig said and leaned against the wall, scrubbing his hands over his face. He looked at Tess, his eyes bleary, his face paler than normal. "When I pressed her to name the father so she could get some support, she refused. She said it was better that Sadie never knew who her biological father was. No wonder she never told me the truth. Her own father?"
Tess nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"Do you suppose that her father killed her twin sister? That was the body we found up near Mt. Baker, right?"
Tess nodded. "I think so. Maybe, he killed her and buried her. Rachel knew where she was buried so she knew about the death. Maybe he used that to keep her quiet, like a threat. You don't cooperate, this will happen to you, too. Who knows?"
"Rachel never said anything about any of this to me," Craig said, his voice sounding despondent. "All she said was that she had been abused, that she ran away, that she got pregnant by some nameless guy on the street, and that she never wanted to know anything about her family ever again. Then, stupid me, I found that photo and I wanted to know. I needed to know who she was and where she came from, because her past was this big black hole that drove me crazy. So, I traveled up to Bellingham and that started everything."
He covered his face with his hands and Tess could tell he was fighting back tears.
"I stupidly went to that camera shop and asked the guy working there about the people in the photograph. He must have known Rachel's father and told him I was snooping around. I even gave the guy my address and phone number so he could call me if he got any information. Some private detective I was. I put Rachel in danger. It was because of my stupidity that Sadie was raped."
"It wasn't your fault." Tess reached out and touched Craig on the shoulder, even though she knew he hated being touched. Perhaps at a time like that, he wouldn't mind. She squeezed his bicep and didn't say anything else for a moment, allowing him to get control over himself.
"You're too nice," he said finally. "It was because I wanted to know what her past was, thinking I needed to know everything about her. This shit? This should have stayed forgotten. How will Sadie ever get over being drugged and raped by those men? Being taken out of her school and taken to Mexico?"
Tess felt a surge of adrenaline. "So, she is in Mexico?"
Craig appeared to catch himself, rubbing his chin. "Well, I assume she's there because of the sand..."
"Did she contact you, Craig? You better tell the police if she did. Her missing persons case is still open, and if you know something and don't say, you could get in trouble. It's called obstruction of justice."
Craig turned away and went back to a box, stuffing more paper inside. "I don't know anything."
Tess watched him pack for a few moments. "Well, I better go. What's your new address? I'll come by with a housewarming gift."
Craig said nothing in reply. Instead, he wrapped some packing tape around the lid of another box.
It was at that moment Tess realized that Craig wasn't moving into a new place. He was leaving town.
He was going to meet up with Rachel and Sadie.
"Craig..." She went over to him and gripped his arm, trying to turn him around so he had to look her in the eye, but he was much taller than her. "You better not be leaving town and going to her. If the police find out you knew where she was and didn't tell them? You won't be able to come back here. You'll be charged with obstruction. You could go to jail."
He still didn't say anything, and she knew she was right.
"I have to tell Michael. Now that I know--."
"You know nothing," Craig said and finally turned to her, his face flushed. "Keep it that way, okay? It's better that you don't know. I don't want to get you in trouble. I never wanted to get anyone in trouble."
"A lawyer would tell you not to do this. Michael would tell you not to do this. I really think you're making a big mistake if you think you should go down to Mexico to meet with Rachel and Sadie."
"Don't tell me what's good for me. It's because of me that all this happened. Now, I have to do something about it. There's more to this than you know."
"Then tell me," Tess said, frustrated with Craig's refusal to listen to reason. "Let me understand why you feel this way. What's happened to make you want to go down to Mexico? Is Rachel in trouble?"
"Why would she be in trouble?" he said, but to Tess, it sounded like he was hiding something from her.
"Look, Craig, Michael told me that there was someone else at the cabin that night. Mickey didn't do it. Someone else killed those two men. They need to come back and tell police and the FBI what they know so they can arrest those responsible."
He shook his head. "Whoever that is might want to hurt Rachel and Sadie. She can't come back." Craig turned to look in her eyes. "That's it. She can't come back. That's all you need to know, okay? Don't ask me anything more."
Tess sighed heavily, frustrated with Craig's inability to understand that he was getting himself in trouble.
"If you change your mind, call me. I'll always help you. If you need a place to stay, we have a spare bedroom. You should really reconsider this."
He shrugged his shoulders and glanced away, not saying anything. He was going to do what he was going to do. Tess could see he wasn't going to reconsider.
Tess exhaled and grabbed her handbag, then left him alone surrounded by boxes.