Chapter 3
Once Rachel was back in Miami, she involved herself in finding out more about Scotty Jensen and the Amsel couple, hoping it would bring fresh leads to finding Mallory. At the same time, she was fielding calls on other cases. Her second morning back, Red Cooper called her from Baton Rouge.
“We’ve got a pretty interesting case going on out here,” Red said. “Think you could fly in and help us out? We could use you on this one, Rach.”
Rachel smiled at the sound of his voice and leaned back in her chair. She remembered first meeting Red when he was a detective with the Miami police department. He’d been assigned to Mallory’s case and worked tirelessly to find her. During that time, Rachel had become close to him and treated him like a second father. When Red had told her he was getting ready to retire from the force and go into practice as a private investigator, Rachel had offered him a position at Florida Omni Search and he’d taken her up on the offer. This turned out to be a win-win arrangement for both parties. Rachel gave Red free office space in exchange for his expertise on some of her bigger cases. Lately, he had been working more of her missing-persons cases than his own jobs, but he never complained. Rachel benefited from the situation because it meant she got to work with a pro every day, one who also brought plenty of smarts to her daughter’s ongoing case. That Red still had ties to the police department and was able to use them to help with Rachel’s other cases was just the icing on the cake.
“This is the missing family you told me about?” Rachel asked, juggling her cell phone and a manila file folder. As much as she tried to absorb the details of other ongoing cases, they remained vague in her mind; that was always the case when she was focused on chasing down leads about Mallory.
“Yeah. We got an interesting twist in the case, though. Saturday night, we got a call on our tip line. The husband was found at a truck stop in Baton Rouge.”
Janine hadn’t mentioned anything to Rachel about that this morning when Rachel had come in. Janine managed the office, including all the staff and the volunteers who ran their toll-free hotline. They got lots of calls because the number was publicized by the media so anonymous tips could be reported about missing people.
“Just the husband?”
“The wife and kids are still missing,” Red confirmed.
Rachel put down the file she’d been staring at for the last hour and rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Bring me up to speed.”
“Our crew had put up flyers in the usual truck stops and convenience stores within a three-hundred-mile radius of New Orleans. We got a call last night from someone who spotted one of our flyers at a truck stop in Jackson, Mississippi. The trucker, ah, his name is…”
Rachel could hear paper rustling on the other end.
“Keith Brunswick. He told us he bought Matt O’Malley dinner two nights ago in Baton Rouge. I guess Matt approached him in the truck stop parking lot and asked him for money. Keith, who seems like a friendly, honest type, invited Matt inside to eat dinner. Keith said Matt didn’t seem homeless, but that something about him was a little off.”
“What was off?”
“Matt looked…‘down on his luck’ is how he put it. Described him as dressed in a wrinkled T-shirt and track pants. Other than that, he was clean, but didn’t talk much.”
Rachel grabbed her pen and started taking notes. “Did he tell Keith where his wife and kids were?”
“He didn’t mention a wife or kids to Keith.”
“Where is Matt now?”
“Still in Baton Rouge. The police found him sleeping behind a Dumpster near the truck stop.”
“Have you talked to him?” Rachel asked.
“Not yet. The police are questioning him. From what I’ve gathered, Matt’s not saying much and his brother Chris has retained an attorney.”
“Chris is the one who asked for our assistance in finding Matt and his family?”
“Yep.”
“What’s your gut telling you?”
“I’m at a loss on this, Rach. He has an obvious head injury and may have suffered a concussion. He’s telling the cops he doesn’t remember what happened to him. Amnesia maybe?”
Rachel tapped her pen on the pad of paper in front of her. “How long are they going to hold him?”
“Don’t know. I’m going to talk to Chris later today. We can meet with them when you get here.” Red hesitated for a minute. “What’s going on there?”
Rachel lowered her voice. “Janine is in the office today. It’s very awkward, Red. I know she feels bad about the whole situation with her ex-husband, that Scotty might be implicated in Mallory’s kidnapping. She’s offered to take a leave of absence until this whole thing blows over.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her that wasn’t necessary. She has no reason to feel that way. Scotty is the bad guy here.”
“Anything solid on Scotty or the Amsels yet?” Red asked.
“No,” Rachel answered. “I’ve looked through the file you gave me on Scotty a hundred times. It’s on my desk now. All his cell phone records, employment history, witness statements. I can’t find anything that links him to Mallory other than the brief employment at Rick’s dealership prior to Mallory’s birth. I’m still waiting on your contact at the police department to find out something about the Amsel couple.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be there to help,” said Red, seeming to sense her frustration. “Just give Janine some breathing room. Something will shake loose. It always does.”
“I have a meeting with one of Scotty’s former drinking buddies.” Rachel checked the name in her file. “Dalton Bedford. We are supposed to meet at the Fish Shack in the next hour. I’ll see if I can catch a flight to Baton Rouge after that. I don’t think there’s much left I can do here.”
“It’ll probably do you some good to get out of the office for a bit. Call me back and let me know how the meeting goes and when you’ll be here. I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
“Sounds good.” Rachel disconnected, and picked up the file on her desk. Lately she felt like she was running in circles. She needed a break, and going to help Red on this case would get her mind off Scotty for a bit. Then she would come back to Miami and look at everything again with fresh eyes. There was something she was missing. She was sure of it.
Janine popped her head in the doorway. She was a few years older than Rachel, in her late forties. Janine wore her long dark hair in a braid and favored the hippie look, frequently wearing Birkenstocks with her jeans and peasant blouses. “Want to go out for a bite to eat?”
“Sorry, I can’t today.” Rachel saw the hurt on Janine’s face. “That was Red on the phone and he needs me in Baton Rouge. Can you take Maggie for a few days?”
Maggie was Rachel’s black Lab, who Rachel usually left with Janine and Jack while she traveled. This, unfortunately, was quite frequent lately.
“Sure. I’ll go by your house this afternoon and pick her up.” Janine hesitated outside Rachel’s office. “Are we okay, Rach?”
Rachel got up from her desk and walked over to Janine. “Of course. Things have been a little crazy for both of us.” She gave her friend a hug.
“I feel terrible about all this.” Janine started crying.
Rachel knew that the FBI had been questioning Janine about Scotty and that it was starting to wear her down. That was something else that Rachel and Janine had in common. They were both divorced, yet still involved with their ex-husbands because of their children. You hope that once you divorce someone, Rachel thought, that’s the end of the relationship. Sometimes, it’s only the beginning.