Pretty Little Killers (41 page)

After Gaskins and Ambrosini finished taking Rachel's statement, a shaken Angotti called Rusty and Patricia back to a private room. There he told them he knew the girls caused Skylar's death, but he
didn't know any details. Angotti said they would need several hours with Rachel and suggested the police bring Rachel home after she led them to Skylar. After Rachel's mind-blowing revelation, Angotti honestly didn't know if Rachel would even make it back home or if the authorities would keep her. Until she actually led them to Skylar, several variables were up in the air, including whether Skylar was buried in Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

“I'm afraid your daughter is directly involved in the murder of Skylar Neese,” Angotti finally said.

Stunned, Patricia's mind began spinning, as she reflected on all the lies Rachel had told her since Skylar disappeared. She thought of Rachel's future—and the life her beautiful, talented daughter had thrown away. One part of Patricia's mind couldn't accept what Angotti was saying. The other part knew it was true. Patricia crumpled to the floor, weeping.

Gaskins and Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney Marcia Ashdown both knew after six months outdoors, exposed to the harsh elements, the crime scene and Skylar's remains weren't likely to yield much evidence for court. The best police could hope for was that there would be enough left to identify.

“Going to be a lot of snow in the woods,” Ambrosini said as he and Gaskins were getting ready to go. Ambrosini's backup had arrived and was waiting in the parking lot outside the law offices. “Might not even be able to search.”

Angotti had Rachel in his office, awaiting Gaskins' signal. It was time for Rachel to give them more than words—leading police to the body was the only way to prove she was telling the truth.

Driving the first of two cars, Gaskins thought Ambrosini might be right. Conditions didn't look promising. The farther out of town they
drove, headed northwest, the more the snow piled up on the sides of the road. Rachel rode in the back seat of the lead car so she could direct Gaskins where to turn when it came time. Angotti sat up front with Gaskins. The second car, with the two FBI agents, trailed close behind the State Police cruiser.

During her confession, Rachel claimed Shelia disposed of the knives, their bloody clothes, Skylar's purse and iPod, the shovel, and the other tools the two girls had used to try to hide their crime. When Rachel said she had no idea where any of those items could be, she seemed sincere. But she had agreed to lead police to Skylar's body in exchange for a plea deal.

On the way there, after passing through Blacksville and turning off onto a narrow gravel road, Gaskins knew they were about to cross into Greene County, Pennsylvania. No one else was surprised, since most of the twisting back roads in that part of the county snaked back and forth between West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Rachel had been up there partying many times before, so she was pretty sure the spot was in Pennsylvania.

Both cars turned onto Morris Run Road, a narrow country lane composed of asphalt and gravel. The entire terrain was bathed in white that cold January day as gravel crunched softly under the vehicle tires. Less than two miles in, along an isolated stretch, Rachel told them to stop. The officers, the lawyer, and the suspect got out. All eyes were on Rachel, as she surveyed the white forest, first turning this way, then that. But it was two seasons later, in the dead of winter, and everything looked much different than it had in July. Finally, she admitted she couldn't tell where she and Shelia had left Skylar.

Gaskins and Ambrosini discussed how to proceed. In those kinds of conditions, who knew how long it would take to find Skylar? If they found her. They hated to admit it, but they had no choice: they would have to wait until the snow was gone.

The neighbors who saw Patricia and Rusty drive away not long after Rachel's return didn't understand why they would leave their daughter, newly released from a psychiatric hospital, home alone. They had heard Rachel's suicidal threats, and could only assume Rachel must be greatly improved for her parents to feel it was safe to leave Rachel behind. Evidently, they didn't see the strange cars scattered around in nearby driveways, or the police officers crouched down inside those unmarked vehicles, so the neighbors had no way of knowing Rachel was anything but alone.

Rachel texted Shelia saying her parents were gone so she could come over—just as Gaskins and Ambrosini had instructed. Then she sat back to wait, trying not to let her frayed nerves get the best of her. It had been a very long day—but it was far from over.

After five full days at Chestnut Ridge, she had left the hospital, gone to Angotti's office and told them about killing Skylar, agreed to help police catch her best friend saying something incriminating, and then led them to the place where she and Shelia had killed Skylar. Rachel knew what she needed—the best actress face she had in her repertoire—and it had better be in place before Shelia arrived.

The authorities say Shelia, of course, didn't know any of that. So Shelia probably stared out the passenger window as her mom drove toward the Shoafs' neighborhood, thinking about Rachel's hospitalization. It must have really unnerved her—God only knew what they'd done to Rachel while she'd been in that place, or how they had tried to brainwash her, but she was out now, and Shelia was anxious to see her best friend and lover. Since it was the first time she and Rachel had been separated since Rachel started falling apart, Shelia would have had a ton of questions. She was also worried Patricia and Rusty wouldn't let Rachel hang out with her. Not now.

She didn't know how much time they'd have. It was evening, and Rachel told Shelia her parents wouldn't be gone long. Tara planned to drop Shelia off and wait for her, killing time by circling the block until Shelia came out again. The cul-de-sac was tiny, and Tara didn't want to attract any attention by parking too close to the Shoafs'. She knew the neighborhood was full of gossips, so word would easily
reach Patricia's ears. Or what if Patricia and Rusty sensed Shelia and Rachel were up to something and turned around and came right back? When they pulled in front of Rachel's house, Shelia breathed a sigh of relief: neither Shoaf vehicle was there.

Shelia had tried at least twice to see Rachel inside Chestnut Ridge. She was so persistent, security had to turn her away repeatedly. The first time was on a day set aside specifically for family visitation. Usually friends can visit, too, but only with permission from the patient or—in the case of minors—the parents. Patricia had left strict orders: “Family ONLY.”

Shelia learned this when Tara dropped her off and she went inside the red-brick medical facility, where she was told her name wasn't on the list of approved visitors. It didn't make any sense. Before, she would have
been
family. Shelia wasn't sure what was going on. Still, she tried and tried—but failed to get past security.

When Patricia arrived to visit her daughter, she was surprised to see Tara waiting outside in her car. She immediately asked why Tara was there—where Tara was, so was Shelia—and sure enough, when Patricia walked into Chestnut Ridge, there was Shelia.

“What are you doing here? I told you only family,” Patricia told Shelia.

Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the security guard and warned him not to let Shelia in.

“She's not getting past us, ma'am,” he assured Patricia.

Shelia tried again two days later. Again she was turned away.

Mother and daughter were together on January 3, when Tara dropped Shelia off at the curb in front of the Shoafs' house, then began to drive slowly around the development. Rachel answered the door and Shelia slipped inside. Some people think Shelia had no clue what
a busy girl Rachel had been earlier that day, that she didn't have any inkling Rachel had told authorities she and Shelia had savagely stabbed Skylar to death. They assumed Shelia didn't know Rachel had spent hours confessing to her lawyer, the State Police, and the FBI, and that nothing seemed amiss because Rachel wasn't in custody.

People speculate Shelia didn't know Rachel had agreed to gather evidence against her best friend, or that everything they said and did was being recorded on audio- and videotape.

They might be wrong, though. Shelia may have suspected all of that when she noticed Rachel's new accessory: she was wearing a really fancy watch.

“Nice watch, Rach,” Shelia said. “I've never seen you wear a watch before.”

Those people also believe Shelia, apparently like some of the neighbors, didn't notice the extra cars, either, or the officers inside those vehicles who were listening and watching the two girls' exchange.