The Promise Read online

  She had just met the assistant headmaster of her school and already she hated him.

  Chapter Five-the mystery Deepens

  "I am not going back there!"

  Agent Larsen's face was flushed and her voice was shaking. "This is not an effective basis for undercover, I have already been compromised!"

  Chief Parker came out from behind his desk and his expression took on that of a father figure. He calmly waited for Larsen to stop talking and used the silence to relieve the tension in the room.

  Finally he spoke, "I realize you’re not happy with the living arrangements at the Colony. But, it is our main chance to uncover the possible involvement of, ‘The Promise’ in Miss Taylor's disappearance.

  I am confident if there is a connection, you will find it. I am also confident that you are professionally and personally strong enough to make this a successful operation, Elie."

  The use of her first name and the caring look on his face gave Detective Larsen a ray of encouragement.

  It lasted about ten seconds.

  "Chief, I just can’t do this job. Every instinct in my body tells me this is a disaster waiting to happen. I need a private room, I don’t trust that Oden character and with his sister I,"

  Chief Parker cut her off, "We need to go ahead and give this a try Agent Larsen. It is critical to this case."

  The fatherly image was gone. The Chief was giving her an order. Elie Larsen stopped talking and hopelessly stared at her boss.

  "So, this is a command, sir?"

  The fatherly expression returned, "I’m afraid so, Elie, and I know you will follow it to the best of your ability. Do your job. Get as much information to us as soon as possible.

  I need to see if there is any connection between this secret group and Miss Taylor. It means a lot to this department, Elie.”

  Agent Larsen knew there would be no more discussion on this subject. She was committed to this plan whether she liked it personally or not.

  The Chief was ordering her to make this damn thing work. If she refused, he would find someone else and she would be on her way back to Quantico as a failure.

  "I move my stuff in tonight, sir." "I’ll give it my best shot."

  Chief Parker smiled, "That’s what I wanted to hear, Larsen. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to handle this job."

  Elie Larsen grumbled to herself, “That’s because no one is dumb enough to take this job. I should have listened to my instincts and become a therapist.”

  She asked him, "Are there any updates on the investigation?"

  Chief Parker returned to his chair and sat back for a few moments before speaking. He turned away from Larsen and looked out his office window as he collected his thoughts.

  After a long pause he spoke slowly and with a little pain. "I was on the phone today with Archer Taylor and he was naturally distraught over his daughter's disappearance. It was a difficult conversation. He said a lot of things I expected an upset father to say."

  Parker's voice trailed off at that point.

  He seemed to be musing over his conversation with Mr. Taylor as though he was searching for the proper perspective on it.

  After more pausing, he continued, "I had met Arch Taylor on a few civic occasions and I had seen his business side. He is a self-made individual with very little tolerance for personal weakness.

  He can be very intimidating at times. He would have made an excellent detective and probably a better chief than me."

  Elie Larsen smiled at that last revelation.

  Chief Parker was a very humble man who combined his toughness with a sensitivity to those he worked with in his profession.

  He knew he was a good leader and an excellent director of police operations. His respect for Arch Taylor was obvious. But, there was something behind his statement and she waited for him to complete it.

  Parker continued, "As a professional businessman, Arch Taylor has no equal in this town or in most towns. He built his furniture store into a multi-million dollar empire that rivals Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

  He has done it virtually alone and the only thing he cares about more than all his money is his daughter, Allison."

  At this point, Elie Larsen frowned to herself.

  She was getting a feeling that Chief Parker was a little obsessed about Arch Taylor and his money and power in the community. She hoped her superior could keep an open mind on Taylor as a potential suspect in this case. As a result, she was relieved to hear his next statement.

  "At first, Mr. Taylor was asking the kinds of questions that a parent in his position is supposed to ask. Things like, 'Why haven't you come up with any real clues?' and, 'Your investigation doesn't seem to be moving very fast!'

  But, then,"

  Elie leaned forward in her chair. It was obvious that her chief was about to reveal some things that could be significant in terms of the family Allison came from. The words from Chief Parker confirmed that very fact.

  "Mr. Taylor said something that was totally out of character as a grieving parent in this situation and it jolted my senses, Larsen!"

  Elie spoke up, "And that was?”

  Chief Parker got up from his chair and walked to the window. He peered out for almost an entire minute before answering.

  Her superior was still having trouble believing it himself. Then he looked at his detective and stated bluntly,

  "Arch Taylor asked me that when they find his daughter's body would they notify him in person or by telephone!"

  Larsen thought for a moment and responded, "That’s not so unusual Chief, he is obviously so upset he’s going to ask stupid questions like that. I mean who cares if it is by telephone or,"

  Chief Parker cut her off, "Elie, that is not the part of his question that concerned me! Who cares if he is worried about the method of notification. But, listen to his wording here.

  He did not say, 'if’ they find my daughter's body."

  The full force of Archer Taylor's phrasing hit Elie Larsen hard. It was the kind of wording that reveals familiarity with a crime.

  She thought back to Susan Smith, the woman in South Carolina who went on national television when her two boys were allegedly kidnapped and sobbed as she spoke about their lives in the past tense.

  It was one of the statements that alerted law enforcement authorities to direct their suspicions towards her as the murderer.

  "Chief, do you trust Taylor?"

  Parker worded his next statement carefully even in front of an FBI agent.

  "I’m not suggesting he did anything to harm his daughter, but his statement to me was something that definitely got my attention."

  "Are you going to ask him to submit to a lie detector test?"

  "His attorney is Alexander White if you want an answer to that question!"

  Larsen knew the name and the reputation behind it.

  Alexander White was considered one of the top defense attorneys in the entire Southeast. There would be no way he would allow his client to submit to a test even if Arch Taylor was totally innocent.

  "Why doesn't Taylor just use one his regular lawyers for his defense? If he’s innocent, they should be able to handle the job!"

  Parker smiled, "I thought his choice of Mr. White was a smart move. He’s covering himself by hiring the best attorney. If I had his money, I’d do the same thing whether I was innocent or guilty."

  Elie and the chief sat in the office silent for several moments. Their collective thoughts crisscrossed in the quietness only interrupted by the sounds of typewriters in the adjoining office.

  Finally, Larsen spoke up, "Do you think he had anything to do with his daughter's disappearance?"

  Chief Parker spoke quickly, "I really don't think he did. He seems to be an honorable man and one who adores his daughter.

  But, his statement to me has made me wonder about the possibility of something more to this case. I want to believe she is alive and that he is not involved in any way.

  I want to belie
ve she is a runaway and she did it to get away from the pressure of being who she is and whose daughter she is.

  But, I just don't know."

  Larsen nodded her head. She didn’t know, either.

  At that point, Detective Mike Gallagher walked through the door. Glancing at Larsen he went directly to Chief Parker's desk and smiled, "Sir, I’ve uncovered something that’s very interesting.

  The week before Allison Taylor disappeared her father took out a life insurance policy on her for five million dollars. The company granted it on the basis of her being the sole heir and probable CEO when her father died.

  What do you think about that?"

  Chief Parker just shook his head, ”Okay, my mind is now open concerning Arch Taylor,” he blurted out, “Extremely open.”

  Chapter Six-initial Clues

  The campus library at the University of Georgia is one of the finest in the south. It is large and imposing as it sits in the heart of the educational institution.

  Students flock to it like worker drones to the queen and from early morning until late night for it is the thriving hub of the academic system that nurtures the future generation of scholars from that fine school.

  Of all the places least likely to participate in a disappearance of a student, this ongoing center of human research would be the leading architectural candidate.

  That is why the investigators had one thing in mind when they realized Allison Taylor's point of departure and the way she disappeared there.

  That particular day, there were hundreds of students swarming around that area of the campus. For Allison to be forcibly taken was unlikely to say the least.

  The prevailing thinking, if she was kidnapped, was that she knew her abductor. It just didn’t seem possible that Ms. Taylor, as physically strikingly as she was, could vanish as quickly as she did in when the sun was shining high in the sky.

  It was on this premise that the police detectives pursued the family and friends of Allison Taylor. That type of crime told them that there were much better places for a stranger to strike if he or she wanted Miss Taylor.

  The time of day, around noon, was significant. That told them she was probably safe from unknown assailants who would generally wait until darkness fell.

  Yet, as the next two days went by and no new evidence turned up, the statuesque library seemed to stand as a symbol of illogic, mocking the notion that someone so charismatic and striking could evaporate so easily.

  Something was not making sense.

  If that library could only talk and tell the police what it saw and what it knew. But, it's staid silence was chilling and its presence reminded everyone involved in the case that in America there is no safe time or place to be a crime victim.

  The forensic people had combed the sidewalk and lawn looking for hair samples, footprints, fibers, anything that would give them a remote hint of the vanishing.

  But, like a rock tossed in a lake causing circular ripples which soon smoothed over, Allison Taylor found the same fate and was gone.

  The evidence revealing what might have happened had disappeared with her. So many students had walked that same sidewalk and cut across that lawn that it was almost impossible to find any physical clues to suggest anything.

  In that sense, the potential abductor was smart. He or she knew it was practically untraceable.

  If Allison Taylor had been abducted.

  At the morning briefing, Chief Parker addressed the team of officers on the case. "We have several reports this morning on the Taylor disappearance and we need to pay close attention to what evidence we have so that we can pick up something, anything; to get this case going in our favor.

  I would also like to introduce all of you to Elie Larsen. She is a special agent out of Quantico as a profile specialist and is now working with Detective Gallagher, primarily in an undercover role.

  Larsen, come on up and brief us on your new residence."

  Elie moved to the front of the room with her file folder. She spoke as a matter of fact, "We have received some information that Allison Taylor may have been involved in a secret cult in her prep school called, ‘The Promise.’

  As a result, I was transferred here from Virginia to join all of you in this investigation. My role is to infiltrate this group to see if there is any credence to the possibility they may have something to do with her disappearance.

  I have moved into a dorm room at the Colony school as a high school senior. I am now located there and classes begin the day after tomorrow.

  Any questions?"

  One of the younger officers, Frank Murphy, spoke up, "Hey, if you meet any good looking classmates, send them my way." This statement brought laughter to the room.

  Larsen never hesitated, "Since all of them are under 18, I’ll send a judge with ‘em!" she laughed.

  This made the officers roar with delight, for they knew that Murphy had a reputation for being a ladies’ man.

  Score one for Larsen.

  Gallagher interrupted, "Okay, okay, we’re all having fun now. Let's get serious, we have a missing woman here.

  Any other questions?

  Another officer raised his hand, "Is the possibility of this cult group being involved strong enough to warrant Detective Larsen's undercover assignment? Shouldn’t we wait and see if there is any fire burning with that smoke first?"

  Gallagher was quick to respond, "I wouldn’t label it a cult group at this point. But, because of the secretive and tight-lipped nature of this secret society, we believe we need an insider to infiltrate it, yes.

  It may be nothing more than a harmless version of a high school sorority. But, if this Promise group is more than that and is capable of doing harm to others we think it could be integral to our investigation.

  Any other questions? No? Okay, take a seat, Larsen.

  Frazier? What do you have on the insurance policy that Taylor took out on his daughter?"

  Officer Frazier stood and reported from his seat, "We have confirmed there was a five million dollar policy taken out in Allison Taylor's name with Washington National Insurance one week before she disappeared.

  It lists one beneficiary, Archer Taylor, in the event of her death and it pays double-indemnity if she dies unnaturally.

  They are willing to pay if she is found uh, harmed, assuming, of course, that Mr. Taylor is not involved in any way in that result."

  It was apparent even the officers on this case respected the young woman and were reluctant to refer to her in a sordid way. This was due partly because of her reputation and partly because many of them had children themselves. They were also sensitive to Detective Gallagher's tragic loss as well.

  "I have a question on that, sir!" Gallagher turned in the direction of the shouting officer, "Go ahead Simpson!"

  "Who would be stupid enough to buy a five million dollar policy on his daughter and then take her out a week later? That doesn’t make any sense to me, especially a smart guy like Arch Taylor!"

  Gallagher stepped up to the microphone, "A desperate man that's who.

  But, my question is why a multi-millionaire would do that to his child for five million dollars. He could borrow that amount without any problem, or find investors. The amount doesn’t make sense to me.

  Although it’s a significant amount of money, it’s not enough for a man of his financial stature to do in his child."

  Another officer stood up with his theory, "Maybe he just didn’t like his daughter and saw a way to make a cool ten million with the double indemnity clause."

  No one in the room said a word.

  Some just glared at the guy and some just shook their heads with amazement at his conclusion. He sheepishly responded, "Hey, I’m just trying to help here. I mean it was just an idea!"

  He quickly sat down.

  Another hand went up, "Maybe he figured what we are figuring, that he would never do that for five million in the event she is never found. She’s gone and he collects and we think, ‘no way.’


  And, he still walks away with the cash."

  Gallagher again, "The more I think about it, the more I eliminate Arch Taylor for the insurance reason. There has to be more.

  He loved his daughter too much for that amount of money, for any amount of money. You have to understand, a father's love is,"

  He couldn’t finish his sentence.

  The words choked in his throat. It was obvious he was no longer talking about Archer Taylor. No one in the room spoke until he regained his composure.