The Promise Read online

  Gallagher straightened up. "A young woman? No, I have a partner we work together just fine!"

  "Yeah, well, your partner is thirty-nine years old and I don’t think he could pose as a female high school student and go undercover on this.

  Gallagher looked at him, “We’re going undercover on this one?”

  Parker nodded, “If she is the right gal for it, yep.”

  "So, my male partner buys a whistle and becomes the new football coach."

  "That's not a bad idea, Michael, but they don’t have a football team in a girl’s private school. You can relax under a tree with a few books and let your partner do the grunt work."

  Gallagher stiffened, “I don’t want to work with a woman. I’m not cut out for that kind of partner.”

  “Give it a chance, Mike. This is a special circumstance. We need an undercover cop here.”

  The detective finally relented, "So, when do I meet Nancy Drew?"

  "It's actually Elie, Detective Gallagher, pleased to meet you even if you’re not equally amenable to the relationship!"

  Mike Gallagher turned to see a young lady who looked about eighteen years of age, maybe even younger. He valiantly tried to stop the words before they left his mouth, but failed miserably, "How old are you?"

  Parker spoke up, "She’s old enough to know better, Mike and young looking enough looking to get carded when she orders a beer. And wise enough to know how to get the information she wants without getting caught.

  Meet Elie Lee Larsen. She just arrived from the FBI Academy where she graduated third in her class."

  The young profiler laughed, "Actually it was second, but who's counting? That makes me even with Allison Taylor who also came in just behind the front runner, too."

  Mike Gallagher spoke, "You’ve done some homework here, impressive. I like your name, but then again, I always wanted to be like Tiger!’”

  Elie looked at him blankly.

  The detective shrugged, “Tiger Woods, the golfer? His wife’s name was Elie.”

  Chief Parker laughed as he looked in Larsen’s direction, “One thing you will have to get used to Elie, is Gallagher’s love of trivia! He’s a walking dictionary. He knows a lot of information about everything. Humor him.”

  “You’re a trivia expert, huh?” She looked coyly at Gallagher, “Then, you would know the name of Tiger’s ex-wife is Elin, not Elie. Looks like you missed one. Now, are you ready for some trivia on Allison Taylor, sir?”

  The detective saw her folder and mildly argued, “Elie, Elin, close enough. You have some background on the missing girl."

  “Yes, sir, I always do my homework, detective. You can count on that. Ask anyone who knows me.”

  Elie Lee Larsen.

  She was a Scandinavian girl who was born in a working-class neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.

  The same area which spawned three of that city’s illustrious mayors, including the legendary and no holds-barred, Richard Daley who ruled the city with charm and an iron fist until his fatal heart attack in 1976.

  That explains a lot about Elie Larsen and who she is today. But, there would be emotional and familial flaws in her toughness. She had a dysfunctional childhood and her father passed away when Elie was nine years old.

  He was her idol.

  She not only took the loss hard, she spent the next several years alternating between not trusting any men and being manipulated by them.

  She was a tender lamb in a tough world and Elie herself knew it more than anyone. Given the right circumstances with the wrong man, especially one who was a father figure, Elie Larsen was scarily fragile, both emotionally and psychologically.

  Even after five years of therapy, she had to fight the urges to not allow certain men to get inside her mind and use her for their devices. That’s what losing a father can do to a nine year-old girl who would give anything to have him back.

  As far as accomplishments went, Elie was an overachiever.

  She worked two different jobs in high school while presiding over the National Honor Society. She was a captain of her lacrosse team and any girl who thought they could out tough her on the field was soon sadly mistaken.

  In three years of play, Captain Larsen broke three different fingers, a leg and an ankle but you should have seen the injuries she inflicted on the other team’s players.

  She was a fighter.

  Perhaps as compensation to cover up her emotional fragility, Elie Larsen was fiercely competitive in her extra-curricular activities being recognized by her classmates as, “The Most Likely to Succeed,” which was more of a tribute to her determination than her talent.

  Elie never gave up.

  Her favorite quote on the importance of persistence was, “Keep going along the wall until you find the door.”

  She always found the door.

  It was no surprise to anyone that Elie Larsen entered the police academy to become a cop. She wanted to save the world. She was a fixer.

  Her specialty was criminal profiling.

  But, the truth was, Ms. Larsen had met a young man with the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, who reminded her of her father.

  She went there to be with him, learned the art of profiling, saw their relationship crumble and served as a consultant to police stations across the United States for undercover work.

  She was perfect for her job. Now, she was ready to find a missing girl who was also very close to her father.

  Elie reads from the missing girl’s dossier,

  "Allison Lynn Taylor. Age eighteen. Born August 20, 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia to Archer and Ashley Taylor. Attended Westminster school. Charleston Preparatory school. The Colony School. Graduated with a 3.96 GPA with a full scholarship to the University of Georgia.

  Plans to major in Business with a secondary in special education. Her hobbies included parasailing, scuba diving and whitewater rafting.

  Mike Gallagher interrupts her, "Her hobbies include, Miss Larsen, not included, she’s not dead."

  "I stand corrected, it was an unfortunate usage of tense. I would very much like to believe that she will be found in good health. I will make every effort to make that possible."

  "Well, you're off to a good start," interjected Chief Parker, "You have obviously done your homework. Did the Taylor girl have any boyfriends?"

  "Not really, sir, she keeps most guys at a distance. She has a lifelong friend who many thought would wind up as her husband but obviously that has not happened yet.

  It is the son of her father's business partner."

  Gallagher looks at the file, "Justin Shaw?"

  "That's him. He is not exactly Archer Taylor's favorite person but he is the closest thing to Allison's love life."

  Chief Parker continued, "When we put this file together this morning, Taylor kept bringing his name up and not always in a complimentary way."

  "Does he think that young Mr. Shaw had something to do with Allison's disappearance?" asked Gallagher.

  "At this point he thinks anyone and everyone had something to do with her disappearance! He doesn't even trust you, Gallagher."

  "He doesn't even know me."

  "Doesn't matter, he doesn't trust anybody.

  Until he gets his daughter back, he’s on a mission and the whole world is his enemy. He will pay any price to see her return unharmed."

  "I guess we better get to work, sir. C'mon Elie, let's get some coffee and start putting some pieces together. We have a few little ones and no picture yet.

  My concern is media interference. Once the press gets hold of this we’ll really have our work cut out for us."

  A patrolman sticks his head in the door, "Chief Parker! There’s a telephone call for you on line one."

  Gallagher grimaces, "Don't tell me the press has found out already!"

  The chief smiles wanly, "Who is it?"

  "Someone named Allison Taylor. She says it's important."

  Parker, Gallagher and Larsen look at each other in disbelief. The missing
girl is calling them?

  Parker picks up the phone and mutters, "This ought to be interesting."

  Chapter Three-The Promise

  "Hello, Chief Parker here. Ms. Taylor?”

  “Yes?”

  “You have a lot of people looking for you. You gave all of us quite a scare!"

  The voice on the other end of the line drips with sarcasm, "Are you trying to make some kind of joke?"

  The chief was taken aback. "No, I’m not, I am happy you called in. Your family has been worried sick about you."

  "Mr. Parker, this is Alice Taylor. I am Allison's mother. Would you please explain your comments to me?"

  Chief Parker is more than a little embarrassed. His words did not come easily at that point.

  "Mrs. Taylor I sincerely apologize. I was told I had a telephone call from Allison Taylor. My officer must have misunderstood you when you called and gave him your name."

  "I made my name clear when I called but I did mention that I was calling on behalf of my daughter, Allison. That is probably where the confusion occurred.

  In any event, I am offering to meet with you and your people to help in whatever way I can to find my child."

  "I understand Mrs. Taylor," whispers Chief Parker as he wipes his forehead with a handkerchief, "Maybe you could come in this afternoon and sit down with our detectives and make a formal statement.

  It’s standard procedure for family and friends. It would be very helpful at this particular time."

  "I can come in at two o'clock. Is that be convenient for you?"

  "Two o'clock would be fine. Please ask for Detective Gallagher. He will be expecting you. May I ask you a question?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you have any possible explanation for what may have happened to your daughter?"

  "I do not. I saw Allison the day before she disappeared. We had lunch together. We were supposed to have lunch again today until her father's secretary called and told me about Allison's situation."

  The chief was flabbergasted. "You mean you didn't know about your daughter's disappearance until this morning!"

  "That is correct."

  "And your husband had his secretary call you?"

  "Mr. Parker, Allison's father and I are not very close. It is however, very distressing news. I will be there at two o'clock. Thank you."

  As Chief Parker hangs up the phone, he looks at Gallagher and Larsen and whistles softly, a habit he uses whenever he is surprised by something intriguing.

  He speaks softly, "As you heard, we still have an active case. Mrs. Taylor will meet with you at two o'clock this afternoon. Interesting that her ex-husband never informed her until today and even then, he used his secretary to do the dirty work.

  Now why would he do that?

  Gallagher mused, “Maybe he’s hiding something and is taking his time to get his story figured out.”

  Elie laughed, “Or maybe he just doesn’t like his ex-wife!”

  The Chief gently dismissed them, “You two go spend some time coming up with all the options on this case. I need a moment to regroup here and I’m fresh out of coffee."

  The detective and the profiler walked down the hall and into a conference room. For the next two hours they went over the file and wrote down all the possible scenarios for the missing girl.

  Their ideas ranged from the predictable to the ridiculous but they were necessary to keep all their options in front of them. The list included:

  KIDNAPPING FOR RANSOM

  KIDNAPPING FOR REVENGE

  KIDNAPPING FOR LOVE

  KIDNAPPING FOR SEX

  KIDNAPPING FOR SEX SLAVE TRADE

  A RUNAWAY

  WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM

  ELOPEMENT

  PLOY BY ALLISON AND/OR HER FATHER FOR BUSINESS REASONS

  INSURANCE SCAM

  COVER-UP FOR A POTENTIAL SCANDAL

  A SECRET MISSION FOR PERSONAL REASONS

  A SECRET MISSION FOR BUSINESS REASONS

  PRACTICAL JOKE

  The two investigators looked at the various scenarios. Larsen spoke first. "Maybe it was abduction for obsession like the movie, 'Misery.' Maybe she had a number one fan somewhere and this person is holding her at his house and she can't get away.”

  "Nice try, Larsen, but I think you're stretching on this one."

  She shot back, "That's my philosophy. You keep expanding the parameters until you see a possibility emerge and then you go back and start putting the clues together. You have to eliminate before you can focus. You have to break down before you can build. You have to,"

  "Do you always over talk, Larsen? Point made, let's move on!"

  "For the record, detective, do you think it was a kidnapping?"

  Gallagher mused for a moment, "I’m leaning that way. It could be an abduction, yes. In that case, we should be getting a ransom note any day now. I favor that possibility over a psycho which I don’t believe is involved here.

  The disappearance was in broad daylight with lots of people around. Someone would have seen something at that time. Psychos are generally not that precise and they tend to work at night.

  I think it was someone she knew."

  Elie asked him, "And you believe she never made it back to her home that afternoon?"

  Gallagher nods, "According to the report made by Mr. Taylor she didn't. Maybe she snuck home, packed up her things without anyone seeing her and disappeared that night."

  Elie nodded, "That would explain the vanishing a little easier. Obviously, it is easier to disappear at night with only a few people around than it is during the day with a cast of thousands.

  Let's begin with the locations and roads between the library, where she was last seen and her home. We might see something that could give us a clue.”

  Glancing up at the clock, Gallagher exclaims, “Hey, I think I see Mrs. Taylor out there. It’s time for that interview."

  Mike Gallagher went to the outer reception area to greet a well-dressed lady in a red fur coat. Everything about her projects a sense of class, from perfectly styled hair to her designer shoes,

  Mrs. Taylor was someone who understood what it meant to live well and she had experienced that concept for quite a long time.

  She had also been crying and the lines in her eyes told Gallagher it had probably been non-stop since the tragic news had hit her.

  "Ms. Taylor? I’m Detective Gallagher and this is my partner, FBI agent Larsen. Thank you for coming down."

  The lady turns and faces them. Up close the pain in her eyes was even more evident. She looks completely helpless.

  It is clear she wants some hope. It is obvious that her daughter means a great deal to her.

  "Detective Gallagher, I’m glad to make your acquaintance. This is so unreal. I am sorry, I did not get your name dear?"

  "Agent Larsen, ma'am."

  "Yes, it is nice to meet you, too. Oh, please excuse me, I am on some medication and I do not even know if I can do this today. This is just so difficult, perhaps another time."

  She gets up to leave.

  Gallagher moves quickly. "Ms. Taylor maybe you better sit down for a few minutes. Please come with me to our conference room. You’ll feel more comfortable there."

  The detective moves the distraught lady into the room and quietly shuts the door. As she sits down, he hands her some ice water giving her a chance to calm down and collect herself.

  He waits several minutes before he speaks to her. "Thank you, again, for coming down to see us. We want to help you at this very difficult time."

  Mrs. Taylor nods calmly and seems to understand that she is safe with the police department. She begins to speak slowly at first and as her composure returns she relaxes and talks about her daughter,

  "Allison means a great deal to me. I do not know what has happened to her or why I just want to see her face again.

  I want to tell her that everything is going to be all right. I want to tell her that she is safe and that no one will hurt her, but, I don
’t know if that is really true."

  Ashley Taylor is struggling with her emotions and Mike Gallagher senses it.

  "Mrs. Taylor, we all want Allison back and she knows that you love her. Can you think of any reason why this happened?"

  This question causes the lady to stop and temporarily halt her emotional slide. She thinks about the question while the two interviewers sat there patiently.

  Finally, she speaks, “I don’t know. I have been thinking about this all day. Knowing my daughter and how caring she is it might have something to do with it. And, of course, “The Promise,” that’s all I can think of right now.”