Obsession (15 page)

“Agent Harris,” Wells said, “I hate to interrupt, but I need a moment of your time.”

“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer.” Jess skirted Dan’s chair and joined Wells in the foyer.

While the two conferred, Dan distracted the worried parents whose attention had followed Jess from the room. “I saw the trophies in your daughter’s room. Is she still involved with dance competition?”

Andrea had only stopped recently. Her mother said she’d danced before she walked. But after her father dropped back into the picture she’d lost her enthusiasm. The idea that she was still missing after five days twisted inside Dan like razor sharp barbed wire.

“That changed with college, too,” Elaine said, her voice trembling. “She is a very focused student.”

Other than Reanne, all the girls appeared to be intently focused on their educations.

“How long has your family lived in Warrior?” Dan already had the answer to that question and numerous others, but he, too, needed to keep his attention in the room when he wanted to look into the foyer just as much as they did. And the more specific questioning was Jess’s. The quickest way to put off a pair of terrified parents was to start hammering them with pointed questions from two different sources.

“I apologize for the interruption,” Jess said as she returned to her seat. She readied her notepad and pencil. She apparently didn’t care for technology beyond the cell phone she appeared to use for nothing but calls.

“We…ah…we’ve been here all our lives,” Steve said in answer to Dan’s question. “Both our families.” He patted his wife on the hand. “Dana is the sixth generation of Warriors.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, you know what Facebook is, I’m sure. It’s a popular social network for teenagers and, really, people of all ages.”

Elaine nodded first. Steve seemed to do so just because his wife did. 

“Dana has a Facebook page,” Jess explained, “and there was a private message to her from a female friend who calls herself Beautiful Mind. She seemed worried that Dana hadn’t called her since yesterday.”

The Sawyers shared a questioning look then shook their heads. “I have always respected my daughter’s privacy,” Elaine responded. “I have no idea who her Facebook friends are.”

Dan wondered if Annette knew Andrea’s friends.

“Detective Wells discovered that Beautiful Mind is actually Dr. Maureen Sullivan. She’s a psychologist in Birmingham who specializes—”

“We know who she is,” Steve said. He looked confused for a moment then visibly shook it off. “She was Dana’s therapist for the first year after the accident. The Murray boy had been a part of her life all through high school. His sudden death was difficult for her even though they had ended their relationship several months prior.”

Elaine seemed to have a more difficult time absorbing the implications of Jess’s announcement. “Why would Dr. Sullivan be talking to Dana now? Their last session was over two years ago.”

“We’ll find the answer to that question for you, Mrs. Sawyer,” Jess promised. “It may very well be as simple as bumping into each other on Facebook. It happens all the time.”

The worried parents nodded in unison. Dan hated to see another family going through this nightmare. It was bad enough four families had been devastated. Fury burned in his gut. Who the hell was doing this?

“I believe I have all I need for now,” Jess said. “If you think of anything at all that might help our investigation, please call the chief’s office.”

It was Dan’s turn. “We’ve had Dana’s car moved to the lab to check for anything the evidence techs may have missed. With your permission, we’ll take her laptop for additional analysis. Our hope is that we will find any communications with anyone who may know something about who she intended to meet at the flower shop.”

According to the witness, Dana had gotten into the truck of her own free will.

“You’re aware, I’m sure,” he explained, “that considering your daughter’s age, technically we have no jurisdiction over her decision to leave, alone or with anyone else, when no coercion is suspected. But, we have four other girls who have gone missing in the past three weeks. All around the same age as Dana and under similar circumstances in terms of the abruptness of their departures and the lack of advance warning to even their closest friends.”

“Generally,” Jess added, “a girl of Dana’s age will tell someone when planning a decision of that magnitude. The cooperation of all her friends is essential, as is yours.”

“Whatever we can do,” Steve guaranteed. “Anything. We have friends all over town looking for her.”

Numerous search parties had been organized for each of the disappearances, to no avail. If Dana was number five in this unnamed case, search parties in the woods and throughout nearby neighborhoods might prove pointless. But Dan appreciated the need to go through the motions. He’d beat his share of bushes for the first forty-eight hours after Andrea went missing.

As if fate had decided he needed a break, he, Jess, Wells and Vernon were on their way out as the attorney arrived. The minister pulled up behind him.

“I’m going to the lab with Vernon,” Wells said. “Unless there’s some place else I need to be.”

“Keep doing just what you’re doing, Wells,” Dan agreed. They had to catch a break soon. “Let me know when you’ve got something.” Assuming there was anything to get.

Gina was going to be royally ticked off that he’d had to postpone the scoop he’d promised. She would use that for future leverage, he felt sure. 

While he deliberated the way to make Gina happy and keep Jess out of trouble, she climbed into the driver’s seat of his SUV. He went to the passenger side and opened the door. “Is there a reason you want to drive?”

On the drive here he had broken every speed limit encountered. He’d never known her to be afraid of pushing the limits, but then that had been a long time ago.

“Maybe I just want to see how one of these extravagant SUVs handle.” She smoothed her hands over the leather steering wheel.

Dan resisted the urge to loosen his tie at the idea of how many times she had run her hands exactly that way over his naked skin. He banished the memories. 

“Why not?” He passed the keys to her and climbed in. As soon as he closed his door, she eased away from the curb.

Jess passed him a note. “Enter this address into your GPS. That’s our destination.”

He should have anticipated a hidden agenda. Dan looked at the Mountain Brook address. “Who we going to see?”

“Dr. Maureen Sullivan.”

No surprise there. Jess had been in a hurry to go from the moment Wells gave her the news. “She won’t talk to us, Jess. You know that. Doctor-patient privilege. There are steps we need to take first. And she might not talk then.”

“She doesn’t have to tell us anything.” Jess headed for the interstate. “We tell her and then we watch what happens.”

Dan shook his head. She was grasping at straws. “You feel this compelled from a simple
call me
message?”

“No.” She flipped open her notepad with one hand while she drove with the other. “I feel this compelled by the one that came after the
call me
message.” She passed the notepad to him.

Dan stared at her neatly written notes. Underlined twice was:
Don’t do it
.

~*~

Mountain Brook, 7:00 p.m.

Jess parked the Mercedes at the curb in front of Dr. Sullivan’s home. “Looks like she has company.” The doctor was unmarried and lived alone, according to what Wells had passed along while they were en route.  She drove an Infinity sedan. The Volvo parked behind her sedan was the unknown variable.

“What do you want to bet it’s her attorney?”

Jess wasn’t in a betting mood. “I guess we’ll just have to see.” No need to run the plate. They would soon know.

With scarcely more than an hour before dark, Jess wanted this woman under surveillance twenty-four seven but that required additional manpower on a case that wasn’t even really a case. Five girls were missing and they didn’t have a speck of evidence indicating foul play.

Even if Dan went for it, he had a hierarchy to whom he had to answer. As much as the mayor and every other powerful politician and influential citizen in the Birmingham area wanted these girls found, there was a limit to how far they could bend the law and extend resources. And the Bureau was waiting for BPD to prove there was a connection before doing any more than the cursory efforts already in place. Not even another missing girl had swayed their position.

Jess could kick herself for leaving her car at Dan’s parents’ house. If she were in her own car, she could do the surveillance. She wasn’t on the city or the county’s payroll. In a few weeks, she wouldn’t be on any payroll.

Dan rapped on the ornate door of the Sullivan home. The door opened immediately. The man who towered in the doorway was forty or better, had an enviable tan and wore wire-rimmed eyeglasses. But it was the haute couture suit that gave him away. The lawyer.

“May I help you?”

The lavish foyer behind him was empty but Jess, now in the betting mood, would wager that the good doctor was close by listening.

“Yes, you may.” Jess smiled and flashed her soon-to-be useless creds. “I’m Special Agent Harris and this is Chief of Police Burnett. We’d like to speak to Dr. Sullivan.”

The lawyer thrust a card at Jess. “I’m Edward Williams, her attorney. You and the chief may speak to me.” He acknowledged Dan with a nod.

“In that case,” Jess suggested, “may we come in out of the heat?”

“I’m comfortable right here.”

Jess supposed he was. He had all that climate-controlled air circling around him. “Since you’re here, Mr. Williams, I assume you know a former patient of Dr. Sullivan’s has gone missing.”

News in small towns traveled at the speed of light, straight to the local news networks, all of which were poised and salivating for actual news. When would people realize that no news was generally good news?

“We have heard, yes. It’s tragic.”

Jess adjusted the strap of her bag on her tired shoulder. “Your client left a couple of messages for Dana Sawyer on her Facebook. I’d like to know what those messages mean.”

“I’m afraid my client is constrained by doctor-patient privilege. There are steps you will need to take if you intend to pursue questioning.” He puffed out his chest and smiled smartly. “Good day, Agent Harris, Chief Burnett.”

“Your client is also aware,” Jess said before he could close the door, “that Dana Sawyer is one of five girls who have gone missing under the same circumstances.”

“As I said, Agent Harris,” Mr. Williams returned, “we saw the news and we sympathize with your position. You must, in turn, understand ours.”

“Any information your client has,” Jess pushed when he attempted to shut her out a second time, “could make the difference between whether those girls live or die.”

Movement beyond the fancy attorney drew Jess’s attention.

Williams turned to his client. “Maureen, do not allow this agent’s dramatics to influence your emotions. We have already discussed these possibilities. Our position on the matter cannot change.”

“You can make up your own mind, Doctor,” Jess said, ignoring the attorney’s glare.

“And lose your license,” Williams warned.

Sullivan had been crying. Her eyes were swollen and red. She wrung her hands as if she couldn’t decide what to do with them. She wanted to talk but she was afraid of the consequences; that was obvious. Ultimately, she looked away, mouth shut tight.

Jess acquiesced. For now. “All right, Mr. Williams. I’ll be sure to notify you and your client first when we find the bodies.”

She turned her back and descended the steps. Sullivan launched an argument with Williams but he closed the door before Jess could hear what she had to say.

Fury scaled her rigid backbone as Jess strode to the SUV. She would never understand how a doctor could hold back information when a life or lives were at stake. Wherever Dana Sawyer had been going, her therapist knew something about it. That information could lead them to all the girls.

If
they were together.

Reanne Parsons may have gone off with a boy named Tim. Dana obviously had someone she intended to meet. There was not a single shred of evidence that connected these five disappearances. Only that hard, cold instinct of Jess’s that warned this was all tied together.

Jess climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the vehicle door. She didn’t want to drive anymore. She wanted her Audi so she could sit out here all night and watch this woman. If nothing else maybe the effort would save Dana Sawyer.

 When Dan was behind the wheel, Jess turned to him. He wasn’t going to like her request but that would be nothing new. “If Detective Wells or Harper could bring my car, I’d like to keep an eye on Sullivan tonight. If she has any idea—”

“Out of the question.” Dan started the engine. “First—”

Her cell rang. She grabbed for her bag. Damn. Damn. Damn. “Why won’t you listen to reason, Burnett?” Jess fished for her phone. “Sullivan may very well try to track down Dana herself. If she does something stupid like that she’ll need backup—protection, I mean.”

Burnett stared at her, his expression somewhere south of furious, but not more than a hop, skip and a jump.

Her cell blasted another ring. She hit the screen and shoved it to her ear. “Harris.”

If she were lucky it was Wells. Jess could persuade the ambitious detective into pulling an all-nighter with her.

“Harris, we have a problem.”

The rush of cold and then hot that dashed over Jess’s skin, soaked all the way to her bones, left her speechless for a moment.

She summoned her voice. “And what would that be?” She refused to bother with the formalities of addressing her superior by the book at this point. Why cater to Special Agent in Charge Gant’s rank? He had probably already submitted the paperwork for her dismissal. In reality, they had several problems, starting with him. Besides, Burnett was listening. He already knew too much.

“
He
walked two hours ago.”