“Matt, I would’ve gone with you. I can drive up tomorrow after meeting with Red. He wants to show me a video from the gas station where you stopped to get gas that night. I was hoping you would come along to watch it.”
“What’s the point of that?” Matt asked, running his hand through his thick hair.
“I guess to see if I recognize anyone. Maybe it will help get your memory back. They think someone was following you that night.”
“I can take a look at it when I get back. Let me know if you come up with something.”
“Look, Matt. Melinda is out of town with some of her girlfriends. She called tonight and said she’s not coming back until Monday. It’s really no big deal for me to drive up there tomorrow. Keep you company.”
Well, isn’t that a surprise, Matt thought, mentally rolling his eyes. Melinda wasn’t with her girlfriends on some spa trip. She was either using this house for a secret rendezvous with a lover or up to something more sinister. Matt hadn’t seen another vehicle other than Melinda’s Mercedes since he followed her to the lake house. He wondered if anyone else was going to show up to the party.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m good. I should be home in the next day or two. Everything okay at the office?”
“Busy as ever. But nothing we can’t handle. Take some time to do what you need to do.”
Matt watched the lake house as the front door opened. “Gotta go, brother. Call you tomorrow.” Matt disconnected and watched as Melinda walked to her car. Oblivious to anything else, she opened the trunk and pulled out a large suitcase. Matt slunk lower in the front seat, even though he didn’t think she would spot him. She slammed the trunk and headed back inside the house, cutting a ridiculous figure as she toted the heavy luggage in her spindly high heels. Five minutes after she disappeared inside, he got out of the truck. There was no other activity on the street. The other houses still looked to be vacant. That made sense. This area was mostly second homes and fishing camps for hunters and families. He expected it would be a little busier by the next morning. It was supposed to be a nice weekend coming up.
Matt quietly made his way toward the side of the house. The design was a two-story wooden A-frame that sat on a large wooded lot. The abundance of pine and oak trees made a good cover for him as he sneaked around. He decided to continue around the back and see if he could look inside. He wished he’d come more prepared. What he could really use was his hunting kit, complete with binoculars and a night scope.
The back of the house featured a dock with a large fishing boat on a lift. A white gazebo that had seen better days was surrounded by a rock garden and a path that led up to the deck of the house. As soon as he came around to the deck, a light flashed. He looked up and froze, his eyes resting on the motion detector light secured to the eaves of the house. He’d never understand why people put motion detector lights in an area like this that was abundant with wildlife. Any stray cat, raccoon, possum, or even gator would set that light off. When he didn’t detect any sound from the house, he carefully walked on the edge of the lot toward the water. He entered the gazebo and sat there under the cover of darkness contemplating his next move.
The back of the house was mostly glass. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the first floor. The second floor had a light on in one of the rooms. A bedroom, Matt presumed.
The back door opened and Matt held his breath as Melinda walked out onto the deck. He watched as she lit a cigarette and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. Matt didn’t dare to move or even breathe as he watched Melinda smoke. She seemed to be looking right in his direction. He heard the faint ring of a cell phone. Melinda answered and started animatedly talking to whoever was on the line. Matt was about fifty yards away and could barely hear what she was saying. He felt bad for the person on the other end of the conversation, because Melinda was obviously angry, her hands flying everywhere and sparks cascading off the tip of her cigarette while she talked. The back door suddenly opened, and a man walked out to the deck.
She wasn’t alone?
Matt strained to get a good look. He was pretty sure it wasn’t Adam. This guy was really tall. Something in the way he moved was familiar to Matt, though. He wished the motion detector light would come back on so he could get a good look at this guy.
Matt watched in fascination as the guy leaned over and kissed Melinda when she got off the phone. Nope, definitely not her brother. Then the kissing turned into more. It was like a train wreck. Matt knew he should just shut his eyes until it was all over with, but he couldn’t help himself. His sister-in-law and her mystery guest were getting down and dirty on the deck. He couldn’t believe that he’d once been involved with this woman. Yeah, it was back in high school, which felt light-years away, but he’d had feelings for Melinda once. Now she was married to his older brother. Sure, she was the aunt to his kids. She was in the family. But what seemed very clear now was that he didn’t know Melinda at all.
After about half an hour, Melinda and the tall man went back inside. Matt quietly made his way back to the truck. He tried hard to erase from his mind the fact that he’d just seen his sister-in-law have sex. That was one memory he could afford to lose, he thought. Just as he was about to start the engine, the front door opened and the mystery guest walked to Melinda’s car. Matt wondered who
the man was and how he’d arrived, since the white Mercedes was the only car in the drive. When the man opened the car door, the interior light flashed on, and Matt realized he knew who the man was. For the third time in one night, Matt was shocked.
The mystery man was Moses.
R
achel didn’t have high hopes that showing Chris the video was going to yield anything helpful. But as O’Malley sat down on the couch and Red opened his laptop, beginning the video, she hoped it might.
“It’s a little grainy,” said Red, “but I think you’ll be able to see faces pretty well. We know that Matt stopped for gas around six thirty that evening. It was time-stamped on the receipt. Unfortunately, the outside camera wasn’t working, so you won’t see Matt on the tape. However, we’re hoping that someone came inside during that time frame that you might recognize.”
Red stayed seated next to Chris on the couch, while Rachel paced the room.
Within a minute, Chris sat up straight. “Stop the video.”
Red reached over and clicked the mouse.
“Rewind a bit,” Chris instructed.
Rachel stopped pacing and watched as the black-and-white video showed a guy walking to the register with a soft drink and a pack of gum. It was hard to tell his age, but he looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Blond, shaggy hair, baggy blue jeans, a lanky frame.
“I know that guy,” Chris said, clenching his fists.
“Who is it?” Rachel asked.
“Adam Donnelly. Melinda’s brother.”
Now that she got a better look, she agreed. The man in the video resembled the photo in the yearbook Rachel saw earlier. Red shot Rachel a look of satisfaction while he froze the picture on the screen. Rachel had shared with him the information she’d gotten from Alanna the day before about Melinda’s little brother. They had decided to keep it quiet until Red and Stacy could look into Adam’s background a little further. Now it was obvious that this had been the right choice.
“Matt never said anything about running into Adam,” said Chris. “Of course, with his memory loss maybe he didn’t remember.” Chris stared at the computer screen, a look of worry and confusion crossing his face.
“Or maybe he never saw him,” Rachel added quickly. She could tell that Chris was upset. Whether it was because he was afraid that his wife and his brother-in-law were involved in the disappearance of his brother’s family or because Chris was somehow involved and felt like she’d just caught him, she wasn’t sure.
“New Orleans is more of a small town than a city sometimes,” said Red. “This could mean nothing.” But Rachel knew he didn’t mean the words. This was a breakthrough, and they both knew it.
“We’d like to keep this quiet for now,” Rachel repeated.
“Are you going to turn this over to NOPD?” Chris asked.
Red nodded. “We have to.”
After Chris left, Rachel sat down on the couch, balancing her laptop on her knees. “Let’s give it twenty-four hours. If we don’t come up with something, then we let Detective Jones know what we found on the tape.”
“Twenty-four, Rach. And not a second more. I don’t want to lose my license over an obstruction of justice charge.”
“Of course,” she agreed. The last thing she wanted was to compromise the investigation, but she had a feeling that they were
close to finding out what had happened to Erin and to finding the kids.
“I’m going to pick up something for lunch at the café downstairs and stop by and see if Stacy wants to join us. She’s still working on some leads of her own.”
When she got back, Red was just getting off the phone. Rachel placed a couple of to-go boxes down on the coffee table. “Two chicken-salad plates. Stacy is working on something big, she won’t say what just yet, but you know how she gets when she’s in the zone. She’ll join us later.”
“I just got off the phone with my contact at the PD.” He waved a piece of paper in Rachel’s face. “The favor that I called in? It’s come through. I’ll have a full background report on Melinda’s brother in the next few minutes. I already got one little tidbit over the phone.”
Rachel’s ears perked up as she closed her laptop. “What’s that?”
“Stacy was right. Melinda’s brother Adam does have a rap sheet. Mostly petty stuff. Marijuana possession, DUI, fraudulent credit card use.”
“Right. We already knew that.”
“What you didn’t know was that Adam was seeing a shrink.”
“How’d you find that out?”
“Medical records.”
“I thought those were private.”
Red just smiled and turned his hands over. “Helps to have friends in high places.”
“Well, then, it’s worth talking to him. Where does Adam live?” Rachel asked.
“New Orleans. I have his last known address and employer. Waiting on the rest,” Red answered.
Rachel ate her salad in silence, thinking about how all these pieces could fit together. Red devoured his lunch as he scrolled through the reports coming in through his e-mail.
“Ah, here’s another report.” Red quickly scanned the e-mail. “I ran a cross-check on Adam and Melinda. Guess what came up?” he asked excitedly. “Property records in Lake Charles show that Adam owns a home there. Looks like his grandmother put some property in a trust for him.”
“Where is Lake Charles?” Rachel asked.
“It’s about a three-hour drive west of here. Straight shot on I-10. And guess what?”
“It’s near Lafayette?”
“Ding ding ding. We have a winner!” Red said, slamming down the piece of paper in his hand. “Lafayette is the halfway mark between New Orleans and Lake Charles. Same place where the O’Malley kids were supposedly spotted at a McDonald’s.”
Rachel tried to contain her excitement. “How soon can we leave for Lake Charles?”
“I’m ready when you are. We could be there by sunset,” Red said, consulting his watch.
“Let’s tell Stacy what’s going on. She may be able to stay here and keep an eye on things while we’re gone. What about Agent Krapek?”
“She’s got herself wrapped up in looking over O’Malley’s clients. I say we go check it out. Anything looks suspicious or out of place, we’ll sit on it until the posse arrives.”
Rachel didn’t need any more convincing. “Okay, let’s do it.” She grabbed her overnight bag and threw a few clothes and essentials in it. “Lake Charles, here we come.”
T
he drive to Lake Charles was exactly three hours. Rachel followed the directions to Adam Donnelly’s lake house that Red had pulled up on their GPS unit.
“What are we going to do when we get there?” Rachel asked.
“We’ll do a drive-by and check out the place. If anything looks promising, then we’ll call in the troops. But it’s totally possible that we’ll just find an empty lake house. Adam won’t be there, I don’t think. Since his job and life are three hours away in New Orleans.”
Rachel nodded. “At this point, anything is possible.” She turned off the interstate onto a two-lane highway. Checking the GPS system, she said, “Looks like we are about ten minutes from our destination.”
“Look for a road called Terre Belle. Should be coming up on our right.”
The sun was just setting, which made it hard for Rachel to make out the street signs. Even through sunglasses, she squinted to see.
“Here it is,” Red called out.
Rachel made the right. Within a couple of minutes, the lake came into view. “Wow, the lake is beautiful.”
“Slow down. There’s the house; Terre Belle.”
Rachel pulled up just short of the driveway. The large A-frame house sat on a heavily wooded lot that gave way to views of the sparkling lake in the distance. However, Rachel observed, “The house is a dump. Looks like no one has taken care of the place. I wonder whose white sedan is in the driveway.”
Red got out the binoculars he kept in his backpack and took a look. “Copy down the plate numbers and send them to my e-mail.” He read the numbers slowly to her. “It’s a Mercedes. Doesn’t Melinda drive a Mercedes?”
Rachel nodded as she e-mailed the plate numbers. “I remember seeing her and Alanna getting into Melinda’s car when I left Madame Verdene’s.”
“I’ll see if I can get someone to run them to verify that it’s her car.” Red shifted in his seat and scanned the area. “Wonder what Melinda is doing at her brother’s lake house?”
“Not sure, but I don’t like where this is going. I can call Chris and ask him if he knows Melinda’s whereabouts.”
“Let’s wait and see what we can get off the plates. I’ll forward this to my buddy at the department. Hopefully, we’ll hear something soon.” Red shifted around in the car, scanning the area. “I don’t see any activity from here. Looks like a couple lights are on. Hard to tell from this angle. Drive a little farther down the road and let’s turn around.”