I pulled the door handle on the passenger’s side of the cruiser and climbed in. J.T. had the heat already set to the highest temperature. I thanked him and rubbed my hands together in front of the vent.
“So, where are we off to?” I asked.
“Back to the station to regroup. Sullivan is expecting an update, and there are plenty of officers here, anyway.” He gave me a thoughtful smile. “They’re better dressed for the outdoor elements than you are. Where did you leave your warm gloves?”
“I think I left them in the bull pen. I was anxious to interview the employees at Paul’s Tap and forgot to pick them up.”
“Maybe we should pin them to your sleeves like they do with kids so you don’t forget them.”
I smirked and shot him a sneer. “You’re a funny guy, Agent Harper.”
We entered the parking structure and drove up to level four. We exited the cruiser and went inside the station. Through the glass, I saw Sullivan sitting at his desk, a distressed look on his face. He placed the receiver on the phone’s base and waved us in.
“Have a seat, guys. The officers on site just informed me that they found Bethany Kelly’s car. It was about three blocks away from Kristen’s vehicle. Forensics is going to tow hers too as soon as they do an initial sweep of the area and take photographs.”
I groaned. “That’s somber news. I’m sure the girls are together, but where? That’s the million-dollar question. How soon do we want to alert the parents?”
Sullivan pressed his fingertips into his forehead and swirled them like a mini-massager. “We don’t know an actual crime has been committed, but considering what has taken place in the last few days, the likelihood is high.”
“For what it’s worth, I found out a bit of information from one of the bartenders at Paul’s Tap. I guess the girls go there often enough that the wait staff knows them by name. They usually show up on Tuesday nights. Jen, the bartender, waited on Bethany and Kristen throughout the night and said just before they closed last night, she saw them walk out with a blond-haired guy wearing a black parka.” I drummed my fingers on the desk then waited. I didn’t want to influence my colleagues one way or another, and I needed my recollection of what Jen said to come out correctly.
Sullivan stared at me. “Jade?”
I nodded. “Just thinking, sir. I want to word my comments cautiously. Jen did mention that the place was very crowded. The blond guy might have been walking out at the same time and nothing more. It could have been that innocent, and he was only another person leaving the bar.”
J.T. scratched his chin as if something had just occurred to him. “Still, Erin McNare said the guy on the bench with Molly looked to have blond hair. Jeff Simmons said the same thing, and now, the bartender said the guy walking out with Bethany and Kristen had blond hair too. Jeff said the guy wore a black goose down jacket. The bartender described a similar jacket. Did she notice his build?”
“I think it was too crowded to see anything below his shoulders, but she did say he didn’t tower over the girls. That would fit with the general description from Erin and Jeff as well.”
Sullivan nodded. “Go with that as a starting point—blond hair, medium build, and a navy or black goose down jacket. Hopefully we can gather more information.”
“We’re assuming the guy is in the general age group as the ladies, sir.”
“Go on, Jade.”
“Well, the millennials seem to trust him enough to engage with him, and Jeff Simmons said the guy running through his backyard wore baggy jeans—something the younger generation does.”
Sullivan glanced at the wind-up clock on his desk. “Good information for now. At least it’s something we can work with. It’s closing in on midnight, guys. Go catch some sleep. We’ll reconvene in the morning and decide how to proceed after we hear from forensics. I don’t want to cause undue stress on the parents, especially if there isn’t any evidence of foul play in the vehicles.”
“I assume you mean blood.”
“Precisely.”
J.T. and I left the police department and headed back to the hotel. I was ready to close my eyes and, with any luck, fall asleep quickly.
After an update text to Amber, I climbed into the snuggly hotel bed and turned off the light. My worries faded, and dreams took over.
A sound startled me awake. I sat upright in bed and checked the time—2:57. Had I dreamed it, or did I actually hear a noise? I waited and chalked it up to hallway chatter from late-night guests returning to their rooms. I snuggled deeper into the pillow and repositioned my head into a comfortable spot then heard the sound again. Knocking—and it was at my door.
“Damn it.” I jumped from the bed and slipped my robe over my pajamas. I peered out the peephole. J.T. was pacing in front of my door with his hands buried deep in his pants pockets. Whatever had him there at three a.m. was serious enough that he didn’t bother with his usual finger-over-the-peephole antics. I pulled the door open and ushered him in. “What the hell is going on?”
“I’ve been trying to call you, but you didn’t pick up.”
“Seriously?” I grabbed my phone off the night table. It was still set on vibrate. I had forgotten to turn the volume back up when I crawled into bed. “Shit. Sorry, J.T., my bad. Have a seat and tell me what happened.”
“Sullivan called. The forensics team found blood in Bethany’s car. They thought the location of the blood was odd, though.”
I rubbed my eyes and yawned, even though I felt somewhat alert. “Where was it?”
“On the passenger side doorframe. That could give us a number of different scenarios. The first being, the assailant whacked her in the head, threw her in the car, and took her somewhere. But then what was Kristen doing during all of that? They didn’t find any blood in Kristen’s car, and both cars have dozens of fingerprints inside.”
“I would imagine so. Young people are always catching rides somewhere with anyone who has an extra seat in their car. So now what?”
J.T. sighed. “Now we get dressed and pay the parents an unwelcome visit. Since we don’t have DNA for either girl, we’ll have to collect something of theirs to take with us. During their face-to-face interviews with the families, Stone and Mills got the description and plate numbers for both cars and a repeat of what the parents said earlier about the girls’ plans for the night. Since there wasn’t evidence of wrongdoing at the time, they didn’t ask for DNA to take back to the station with them.”
“This is the part of our job that’s the toughest.” I stood and opened the dresser drawer. “You have their addresses?”
“Yeah, Sullivan forwarded them to me from the interview reports.”
“Okay, scoot so I can get dressed.” I waved him toward the door.
J.T. turned the knob then looked over his shoulder at me. “Fifteen minutes?”
“Yep, I’ll be ready.”
As soon as J.T. left, I changed into a pair of black slacks and a beige sweater. I slipped on my cashmere socks and black Merrell boots. In the bathroom, I ran cold water over my face and brushed my teeth and hair. I still had five minutes, so I dabbed on a touch of blusher and a bit of lip gloss. I slipped on my coat, grabbed my purse, and then dropped my phone and room key into my pocket. J.T. knocked on the door just as I reached for it.
“Good timing,” he said. “Got your gloves?”
I turned back and grabbed them off the credenza. “I do now, and thanks, Dad, for asking.”
After a twenty-minute drive on nearly deserted streets back toward the city, we reached the home of Bethany Kelly.
I let out a deep sigh. “Ready to do this, partner?”
“Unfortunately, I’m getting used to giving families bad news. It seems we do that a lot more often than we report good news.”
“Well, we don’t know she’s dead, so that’s something.” I jerked my chin toward the sidewalk that led to the front door. “Come on. It isn’t going to get any easier with us sitting here.”
We exited the cruiser and followed the sidewalk to the double wooden doors. J.T. rang the bell. I looked up and saw a second-story light go on.
I pointed upward. “Bedrooms must be upstairs. Let’s give them a few minutes.”
I pulled out my badge in preparation for the husband and wife peering out the window to see who woke them in the middle of the night. As the sound of footsteps got closer to the door, the porch light went on. Just as with every other late-night surprise visit, the curtains moved to the side, and Mr. Kelly stared out at us. J.T. and I turned our badges toward him so he could see them clearly. The dead bolt turned, and the door creaked open. A look of anxiety washed across the faces of him and Mrs. Kelly. She stood five feet behind him with her arms crossed protectively in front of her chest. They both wore nightclothes with robes over them.
I began the conversation. “Mr. and Mrs. Kelly, we’re from the FBI. I’m Special Agent Jade Monroe, and this is my partner, Special Agent J.T. Harper. Sorry about the late hour, but we need to speak to you for a few minutes.”
Mrs. Kelly wiped her eyes as the tears flowed freely. She led us into the family room. Her husband, with his arm around her shoulder, tried to comfort her as they took a seat on the couch. J.T. and I followed and sat on the love seat facing them.
“We know Officers Stone and Mills paid you a visit earlier in the evening and took your statements. What they didn’t feel the need to do at the time was collect Bethany’s DNA sample. Having the sample is standard procedure in a situation such as yours, especially when two girls go missing together. It doesn’t mean anything directly other than the fact we need it on file to compare any biological evidence we may find,” J.T. said.
“And have you? Why else would you be here at this time of night?” Mrs. Kelly asked.
I took over at that point. From my experience, women usually had a more delicate way of presenting bad news. “Ma’am, we found both vehicles in the vicinity of Paul’s Tap. Right now the cars are being processed at the police department’s evidence garage. Bethany’s car came up positive for traces of blood.”
“Oh no, this can’t be happening.” Mrs. Kelly sobbed against her husband’s shoulder.
“Ma’am, at this time, we can’t conclude that the blood belongs to Bethany or if it’s even fresh blood. Can you think of any past incidents where somebody might have bled in, or against, her car? It was found on the passenger side doorframe.”
“No, nothing she’s ever mentioned.”
I looked at Mr. Kelly, and he shook his head.
“Okay, as of now, we don’t have any leads to the actual location of either girl. Do you know if Bethany had a male friend, someone in her general age group, with a medium build and blond hair?”
“Right now I can’t think at all,” Mrs. Kelly said.
“Understood.” J.T. pushed off the love seat and stood. He fished two cards out of his wallet and handed them to the parents. “If anything rings a bell, please call anytime. Now what we’ll need is Bethany’s hairbrush and toothbrush in a plastic zipper bag.”
Mrs. Kelly left the room to retrieve those items and returned minutes later. She handed the zipped bag to me, and I thanked her.
“We’ll be in touch as soon as we have something new to tell you. Rest assured, we have plenty of people on this case,” I said.
J.T. and I shook their hands and showed ourselves out. Now we had to repeat the process with Kristen’s family and collect her DNA samples. At least we could tell them with certainty that no blood had been found in her car.
As J.T. backed out of the Kellys’ driveway, I fastened my seat belt and pulled up the address I had programmed into my GPS for the Henry home.
“I’ll keep my eyes peeled for an all-night drive-through restaurant. I’m going to need some coffee before we reach their house.”