Burn Out (13 page)

“
So, early one Sunday
morning, she went off with her daddy and big brother to Millers
Lake for a day of fishing. It was really a hot day, so her daddy
let her go swimming after they had lunch. Sam didn’t see the other
boat until it was too late. She got caught in the propellers and it
ripped into the right side of her arm, shoulder, and part of her
face.

“
They rushed her to a local
hospital and then life-flighted her to the Atlanta children’s
hospital, when they realized the extent of her injuries.

It was touch-and-go because of all the
blood she lost. She also got an infection, which complicated her
recovery. All in all, she had five surgeries to fix her injuries,
including plastic surgery to help with the deep gashes in her
face.”

“
Wow, I guess it put an end
to her days of pageantry,” Rachel said.

“
Yeah, it did. I don’t
think Nora truly forgave her husband. Sam missed a whole year of
school and got behind. The family had tons of medical bills and
Nora had to get a job to help.

“
Sam became closer to her
older brother. They were at home a lot by themselves. Her brother
always wanted to be a firefighter like his dad. She hung out with
him and all his friends.

“
When it came time to
graduate high school and think about college plans, Sam decided to
follow in her brother’s footsteps and go to Fire College. Her
mother was devastated, to say the least. She wanted Sam to go to
the junior college and get a business degree.”

“
I have the recent pictures
of Sam that Nora gave me. She’s still beautiful. You can barely see
the scars on her face.”

Tammie agreed. “Even though Sam still
has scars on her face, she is very beautiful. She doesn’t think so,
though.”

“
So, she went to Fire
College in Ocala.” Rachel tried to move the story along. She could
hear Tammie’s baby starting to cry in the house. She figured it
wouldn’t be long until Tammie’s husband started yelling for her to
come back inside.

“
Yep. She graduated with
honors from Fire College. She got the job at the fire department a
few months after graduation.”

“
What happened to her
brother?”

“
By this time, Breck had
met a girl, got married and moved to Miami. He was working for the
Miami Fire Department when he was killed. His unit responded to a
fire at a furniture store. Breck was on the roof when it caved in
and he fell to his death. Broke his neck on impact.”

“
That’s horrible. And she
lost her dad as well?”

“
Yes, to a heart attack
about a year after Breck’s death.”

“
I see why Nora is so
emotionally distraught.” Rachel absently chewed on her thumbnail.
“How did Sam and Ken meet?”

“
Sam met Ken soon after
joining the fire department. If I remember right, it was a domestic
violence call that got ugly and the guy had lit his house on fire.
Within six months of dating, she was pregnant with Ken’s baby. They
got married and moved into a trailer on her parent’s land while
they built a house. By the time the house was ready, she was
pregnant again. Another girl. Born twenty one months apart. They
settled into working and family. Ken working his way up at the
police department and Sam juggling the girls and working at the
fire station.”

“
Then Ken gets arrested and
the whole family is thrown into turmoil again,” Rachel finished for
her.

“
Yep. Now with Samantha
missing and Ken in jail, Nora is clinging to those girls. She feels
like a curse has been put on her family. The former beauty queen is
beaten and down trodden. Sam’s little girls are all she has left.
So finding Sam alive and well would be a god-send for Nora. She has
already lost so much.” Tammie shook her head.

“
Did Sam know about Ken’s
marijuana operation?”

Tammie looked a little uncomfortable
at the question.

“
Tammie, I don’t want you
to think you’re betraying Sam’s confidence. This conversation is
between us. I need to know everything I can about Sam if I am going
to find her.”

Tammie took a big breath. “I’ve been
interviewed by the police. I don’t want to get in
trouble.”

“
I promise. What you say is
between us,” Rachel said again.

“
She knew, but she wasn’t
involved that I know of. She kind of turned a blind eye toward
it.”

“
When did she find
out?”

“
Ken hid it from her at
first. He told Sam he was working on project for work. She never
went to the barn. She referred to it as his man cave. After a few
months he started spending more and more time back there. One day,
curiosity got the best of her. While Ken was at work, she walked
back there and found the door locked. She thought it was strange.
He never locked the barn door. When he got home, she mentioned it
to him. He made up some story he had bought some expensive tools
for his project and wanted to lock it for security
purposes.”

“
Did that explanation
satisfy her?”

“
At first. Then she noticed
Ken started buying a lot of stuff. And he started taking her to
nice dinners and he was always buying toys for the girls. Sam did
most of the bill paying for the family and knew how much he made.
When she asked him about where the extra money was coming from, he
made up something about a bonus check. But she didn’t buy it. Once
again, she took a trip out to the barn. This time she brought some
bolt cutters and broke in.”

“
I bet she was
suprised.”

“
Yeah. She was shocked. The
whole barn had been transformed into a grow factory. There were
rows and rows of plants, special lighting, and all kinds of
chemicals and bottles. When she realized what he was up to, she was
pissed. She was waiting for Ken when he got off his shift. She put
the girls to bed early and waited.

“
She confronted him with
what she found and he admitted it. When she found out how much
money he was making, she was shocked. He said he was saving most of
it for retirement. Ken promised he would stop after he made so much
money.”

“
Did she know Paul was
involved?”

“
Yes. She wasn’t happy
about it, but Ken explained he needed some start-up money and cut
Paul in on the deal.”

“
Why didn’t she like that
Paul was involved?”

“
Well, ever since she broke
up with Paul, she tried to keep her distance from him. She
tolerated him. Especially since Ken and Paul were good
friends.”

Rachel looked shocked. “Paul and Sam
dated? Before she married Ken?”

“
Yes, I just assumed you
knew that. She and Paul were high school sweethearts. Paul was
little possessive. I will never forget this goofy heart charm he
gave Sam. It was a heart in two pieces. She wore one half on a
necklace and he had the other.” Tammie leaned back on the bench and
stretched her legs out. “Paul proposed after college, but Sam
turned him down. They had a nasty break up.”

“
Wow. I had no idea. And
Ken and Paul remained friends?” Rachel wondered why Paul didn’t
mention he was in a relationship with Sam when they met at the
Donut Hole a couple days ago.

“
Things had already started
going sour, and if you ask her side of the story, her and Paul were
already broken up when she met Ken. Paul denies it. He begged for
her to take him back, but once she met Ken, things happened fast.
She got pregnant and they got married. Eventually, Paul came back
around. She didn’t really care for him hanging out with Ken, but
she tolerated it. Paul was friends with her brother and his
friends. It’s a small town and all.” Tammie shrugged her
shoulders.

“
Did Paul ever get
married?”

“
No. But he had a serious,
live-in relationship with Mary Anne Lipscomb. She is an older lady
who runs the local pharmacy in town. They broke up a few months ago
– before Paul was arrested. He moved out of her home and bought a
new place just outside of town. I don’t think he is seeing anyone
now. In my opinion, he never really got over Sam. He thought they
would get married and have kids.”

“
Ken was okay with
that?”

“
I don’t think Ken knew
Paul was still pining for Sam. Ken is the most laid back,
easy-going person I know. Even as cop, he rarely raises his voice,
but when he does, people notice. If he knew Paul was still in love
with Sam, he never mentioned it.”

“
What about Sam? Did she
know Paul’s true feelings?”

“
I think so. But she
ignored it. With work and raising two little girls, she rarely had
time to think about it. She hoped Paul would find someone
else.”

“
Is Paul a vindictive type
of person?”

Tammie thought about it for a minute.
“I’m not sure. He went a little crazy after the breakup, but he
never did anything to hurt Sam. I know he is crazy about her little
girls. Always buys them presents on their birthdays and
stuff.”

“
He was pretty upset about
getting arrested, though,” Rachel said.

“
It was his own stupid
fault for going along with Ken’s idea. He knew the risks when he
got involved.”

“
What about Mack Dixon? I
heard him and Sam were close.”

“
They have been friends for
a long time. But I think they became even closer after Ken got
arrested. Mack stepped in to help out. He was always around the
house when they were off shift.” Tammie closed her eyes like she
was trying to remember something. “She was bothered about something
a couple days before she disappeared, though.”

“
Did she say what it
was?”

“
That is what I wanted to
speak to you about.” Tammie hesitated.

“
Go ahead,” Rachel prompted
when she sensed Tammie’s reluctance. “This conversation is between
us. I’m not going to repeat anything you tell me.”

“
She stopped by my house on
the way home from her shift one morning. I could tell she was
upset. I thought it was Ken or the trial. I asked her what was
wrong. She said she had gotten herself into a mess with Mack. When
I pressed to find out what she meant, she said to just forget
it.”

“
Did you find out what it
was?”

“
No. It was the last time
we spoke.”

“
Any idea as to what kind
of mess she was in?”

“
No, but I can guess,”
Tammie said. “She was fooling around with Mack and someone at the
station found out. That’s grounds for termination. I think it is
also why she was looking for another job.”

Rachel glanced at her watch. She only
had a few minutes to get back to the beach house and get ready for
the press conference with Samantha’s family. She was glad it
stopped raining and the sun was making an appearance. “Ok. I will
keep this information to myself. Thanks for your time, Tammie. If
you think of anything else, please call me.”

Tammie nodded her head. “I appreciate
it. I don’t want anything coming back on me.”

“
Will you be at the
conference?”

Tammie shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll
try. It depends on my husband’s mood.” As if on cue, Rachel could
hear Tammie’s husband yelling for her to hurry up. “He’s a little
grumpy. Working all those extra shifts since the baby was
born.”

“
Ok. I hope to see ya
there.”

Rachel drove back to the house
thinking about her conversation with Tammie. She wondered what
exactly Sam meant by getting in a mess with Mack. Sam was already
on probation at the station and was looking for another job. Why
would she care if someone found out about her and Mack? Something
else was going on with Mack. Maybe Stacy would get it out of him
when they met. Mack just might be the key to all this.

Santa Rosa Beach, Saturday
11am

There was a mob of people standing
outside Campbell’s Farmer’s Market when Rachel got there. Nora had
insisted on holding the press conference there since it had been
the last place Sam had been seen. It had been almost a week since
Sam’s disappearance and nothing new had turned up.

The local and national news people
showed up in droves. Sam’s unusual disappearance was turning out to
be a big media sensation. The story had gotten the attention of
Nancy Grace and other cable news networks. Stacy Case was covering
the story for her paper, The Miami Sun.

Chief Gladstone took the podium. “Good
afternoon. I’m police chief Gladstone with the Santa Rosa Beach
police department. We're here today with Samantha Collin’s family
and Rachel Scott with Florida Omni Search. They are not prepared to
answer questions today, but each will make a short statement.
First, I will give you an update on where we are with this
investigation.

“
Let me first say that I
know the public has a very keen interest in knowing every detail of
Samantha’s disappearance, and we appreciate it. We are now
classifying this as a criminal investigation and because of that,
there are still a number of details we cannot get into and we will
not be taking any questions today regarding the
investigation.