The Promise Read online

  “Fair enough, Gallagher,” she purred. “Off the record, what do you think happened to her?”

  “What I believe off the record?” He glanced at her notebook. She closed it and smiled at him.

  “Off the record, I think she was abducted. She is not the kind of girl to run away or play a practical joke on her friends and family.

  There is a possibility she went voluntarily to help out a friend. We are checking into whether she had any enemies who may have wanted her out of the way. That’s all we have for right now.

  I would appreciate it if you would go slow on reporting this. Can you cancel your interview tonight?”

  The newswoman shook her head, “No, sorry. The station wants this interview and beyond the ratings value, we think it’s a good idea to get the word out and let everyone in Georgia see this girl’s face.

  Someone may have seen her and could help us find her. I would think you would be in favor of that, detective.”

  Gallagher snorted, “I want to find the girl. There are benefits to you covering this and to the potential leads we are going to get in locating her.

  But, it is a giant pain in the butt to work with the press and guaranteed to unleash all the idiots out there who will now be calling to inform us they saw her at a 7/11 in Chattanooga. I was hoping we could find her quickly and move on with our lives.”

  “It’s too late for that, detective. Here’s my card. I would appreciate it if you have any new information. Give me a call. I would like to work closely with you on this. Have a good day, sir.”

  He looked down at the card and realized that now all hell was about to break loose. At that moment he wished he were on a plane somewhere to a deserted island.

  The kind that didn’t have any electricity.

  Chapter Ten-the Roommate

  Gallagher found Elie by the coffee machine and told her about his encounter with Cherise Cannon. “I saw her go into your office, Mike. That’s why I stayed away. I don’t want my face plastered on the news right now.”

  He smiled, “Smart girl, Larsen, let me see you out. I think she’s gone now.”

  After the detective and his partner walked down the stairs and were alone, Gallagher suddenly felt protective.

  "Be careful out there. If this Promise group is tied to the Taylor girl's disappearance you’ll be in danger. Page me immediately if you run into any kind of trouble. Okay?"

  Larsen smiled at the sudden rush of paternal sentiment in her partner. "I got it Gallagher. See you around, Irish!"

  Gallagher couldn’t resist a trivia question, “Hey, who was the original actor cast as Indiana Jones?”

  Larsen looked dumbfounded, “I have no idea.”

  The detective laughed, “Tom Selleck. But, he had a contract to do the pilot of Magnum P.I. so he said no.”

  Larsen was confused. “I have never heard of Magnum P.I. See ya, Gallagher.”

  With that she walked down the hall and out the door to her car. Gallagher suddenly felt old.

  "Hey, Gallagher," a voice rang out, "The lab just came back with something you might be interested in!"

  The detective turned and saw one of Dr. Lowe's assistants coming quickly towards him. He asked the predictable question, "What’s that?"

  The lab assistant smiled, "The outdoor vacuum picked up a hair from Allison Taylor!"

  Gallagher sniffed, "Big deal. That just proves that she walked along the sidewalk. We already know that!"

  The assistant continued smiling, "Yeah, but there’s a fiber intertwined with it, a strand of black hair. Jet black."

  That could be a significant piece of news, or not.

  It could mean that the abductor or the friend who helped the Taylor girl disappear had black hair. It could also mean that the black hair could have been in Miss Taylor's hair earlier in the day.

  It could mean something or it could mean nothing.

  Gallagher was thinking strategically in his mind, “If we finally get a suspect in this case, we can compare hair samples. I need to see Dr. Lowe.”

  "Well, it’s not much, but it’s something!" The lab expert walked with Gallagher down the hall in silence as they both tried to somehow put this newest revelation in perspective.

  The frustration they felt was buoyed a bit by this new finding, but it was still meaningless until they found someone's DNA to match it.

  As Gallagher sputters, Elie Larsen aka Bree Kelly pulls into the parking lot of the Colony school and heads up the back stairs to her new "home." As she unlocks the door she quickly realizes her roommate has moved in as well.

  She drops off her last box of resource books and flops on the bed. As she sits waiting for Verna Oden, she notices some of the items that belong to her room partner.

  She looks around the room and casually drifts over to the other side facing the door in case Miss Oden drops in without warning.

  There is a duffle bag on the bed and it contained basic toiletries. Hairbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, hair spray, shaving cream, razor, hair dye, make up kit, powder, skin lotion and an intriguing bottle of hair dye.

  Elie keeps her eye on the door and pulls out the bottle of dye. “She dyes her hair.”

  Looking at the bottle she noticed it wasn’t purple or orange in coloring but basic black. She thought to herself, “The girl wants black hair, I wonder why?”

  She pokes through the remaining contents of the bag and sees nothing else that is revealing about her roommate. She carefully puts the articles back in the soft case and walks over to the shelf above the desk and looks at the types of books her roommate prefers to read.

  She scanned the tomes along the row, "Society and the Individual", "The Healthy Family", "Woman to Woman", "How to Negotiate Anything", "Tae Kwon Do for Beginners!"

  Only one volume stood out from the norm; it was a volume entitled, "The Art of Seduction." Elie reached up and pulled it out.

  As she is thumbing through the book she hears the door open and she quickly turns to see a very attractive young lady with a broad smile. "And you must be Bree," the smile announces to her.

  "I’m your new roommate, Verna Oden, nice to meet you."

  Taken a bit by surprise, Elie glances quickly at the duffle bag to see if she had put everything back in its place. She had. As she holds the book in one hand, she extends the other one and greets her new roommate. "It’s nice to meet you, too, Verna. I was just, uh, looking at some of your books here and...."

  Verna glances at the tome in Bree's hand and laughs aloud, "That one isn't mine. It belongs to my brother! He thinks he’s God's gift to women. Here, I’ll take that off your hands and make sure he gets it back."

  Elie thinks to herself, “Well, that confirms my feelings towards a certain administrator here at this school. What a sleazebag! I would love to run him in on a statutory rape charge.”

  Her mind is brought back to the situation at hand however, by Verna's next question, which takes her off guard, "You’re only a senior in high school? You look older to me."

  Elie studies Verna's face to see the intent of her statement. As she sizes up her roommate, the same could be said for her looks as well.

  She is tall and slender with a model's build but slightly more muscular. She has jet black hair, high cheekbones, dark penetrating eyes, full lips and a presence that is a little scary even when disarmed by a smile.

  She has a very powerful aura about her and she knows it. It is a sense of control that people around her immediately feel and yield to because of its intensity. Elie decides her best option is to attack Verna’s statement directly.

  "That’s because I’m actually 26 years old and really stupid at taking tests. This is my ninth straight senior year. I keep flunking out of prep schools, please help me?"

  This is accompanied by a pitiful chuckle which immediately disarms her roommate.

  "I thought so,” she laughs. Well, with my help you might just make it through here. But, I have your age figured for at least thirty!"
Both of them laugh and Elie feels safe, for the moment.

  She quickly changes the subject, "Hey, I’m hungry! Are you up for a pizza?"

  Verna smiles, "I think I can handle that! Why don't we go meet some of the girls and head into town. Michaelangelo’s is great. They make a killer veggie combo with a whole wheat crust. It’s very healthy, too. You can stuff your face and make some new friends at the same time.

  How’s that for a promise?"

  That last word chills Elie. The Promise, the secret group mentioned by Allison Taylor's mother.

  Is Verna Oden a part of it or is it just Elie's imagination that is running amok here?

  She looks at the girl and decides to try and find out a little more, "I guess you take your promises seriously around here, huh?" She says it lightly with just a slight emphasis on the key word.

  Verna responds, "Yes, we do. The friends I hang with say what they mean and mean what they say. That’s why we can count on each other, under any and all circumstances."

  “Any and all circumstances were interesting choice of words,” Elie thinks to herself.

  She has no concrete proof that Verna Oden was a major player in The Promise, but now she has her suspicions she may very well be.

  "Well, if you’re looking for someone to count on," responds Elie, "You’re looking at the right person!"

  Verna smiles, "I think you’re going to fit in here just fine!"

  With that, Elie smiles sweetly at her and the new roommates walk out the door.

  Chapter Eleven--justin Shaw

  Saturday dawned in Athens and it was unbearably muggy and damp, even at 7:00 a.m.

  Chief Parker and Detective Gallagher were staring at their coffee cups and wondering aloud about any new possibilities of Allison’s disappearance.

  It had been four days since she was last seen and statistically things were grim; when someone is abducted they are killed within three hours in 76% of the cases.

  The hope, therefore, had been that Ms. Taylor was not abducted. The preferred belief was that she either orchestrated her own disappearance alone or with someone else or had run off with her boyfriend, Justin Shaw.

  It was this tack that the two men focused on. If the boyfriend was somehow involved in a non-violent way; it would overcome the tragedy of this case and make for a happy ending.

  So, they called the young Mr. Shaw and were waiting for his arrival that morning to have him write out a statement. Hopefully, it would reveal something that the case needed, a solution.

  Gallagher smiled wryly as he took another sip of coffee,

  “Justin Shaw has not been in for an interview yet. He sounded calm over the phone when I called him in, overly calm.”

  Parker laughed, “That could mean only two things, that he’s innocent or guilty.”

  The detective smirked, “I think we have him narrowed down now. I vote for guilty. Let’s arrest him and end this travesty!”

  Parker smiled, “If only it were that easy. But, I don’t think he’s our boy.

  He is cocky, yes. But, he has every right to be. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, is working on a pre-law course of study and was voted into, ‘Who’s Who in America.’

  He could probably have his pick of any girl in Georgia for the weekend or the rest of his life for that matter. And, from what I have observed of him, he is relaxed, low-key, self-assured and very charming.

  I don’t think he’s the murderous type, though. That doesn’t mean he had nothing to do with Allison’s disappearance.”

  Gallagher’s eyes narrowed at his boss, “Don’t let his accomplishments fool you, chief. We’ve been down that celebrity road before. I want to talk to him as one man to another and see what he has to say about Allison, her vanishing and life in general.

  I have a lot of questions for him. Until I process his answers, I don’t trust him or anyone who knew that girl one iota. Not one scintilla of one iota.”

  Chief Parker smirked, “Young Shaw has his work cut out with you, Michael.”

  There was a sharp rap on the door as one of the policemen poked his head in and announced, ”Shaw is here, sir. Should I send him in?”

  Chief Parker nodded his assent and in walked a very good-looking and poised young man.

  His athleticism showed in his body language. Gallagher was impressed by the boy’s carriage, “This kid has good breeding,” Gallagher thought to himself.

  He steeled himself for the upcoming interview. This may be a challenge.

  The chief extended his hand to Justin, “Mr. Shaw, I’m Chief Parker, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming down.”

  The young man smiled confidently, “I need to come down. I want to do everything I can to bring Allison back safely and in good health. I think the world of her. I would never want to see her hurt in any way.”

  Gallagher thought quickly to himself, “Why is this guy already defending himself? Doesn’t he know what Shakespeare said?”

  As he thought this, he extended his hand, “Detective Gallagher, Mr. Shaw, pleasure.”

  Justin shook it and smiled broadly. “It’s nice to meet you, too, detective.”

  Gallagher noticed that Shaw’s hands were clammy. Was it nerves, dishonesty? Hiding a secret of some kind? He wanted to know more about this kid and the first question literally flew out of his mouth.

  “Can you describe for us the nature of your relationship with Allison Taylor?”

  Justin Shaw didn’t even hesitate, “Friends, just friends. My parents would probably want more for us, but so far, Allison and I have kept it cool. I have known her since kindergarten. She’s my buddy.”

  Gallagher seamlessly moved deeper into the questioning, “When was the last time you saw her?”

  Again, Justin was on it. He smiled at the detective and explained their meeting, “We went out for pizza the night before she disappeared. We had been to the mall buying some clothes and we got hungry. So, we ate.”

  Gallagher hit him verbally again, “Do you remember much of your conversation?”

  Shaw responded, “Sure, she was really excited about school starting up and she liked her new roommates. It was just typical college stuff.”

  The detective was unfazed by the young man’s confidence, “That’s all she talked about? Nothing unusual or odd that struck you funny?”

  Justin thought a moment than dramatically looked at Gallagher as he spoke in whispered tones,

  “Yes, there was one thing. She told me she was planning on disappearing the next day and joining the circus because she always wanted to be a clown.”

  Gallagher frowned, “Don’t be a smartass, Shaw. We need to be serious here. Can you think of anything that would make her disappearance rational? It would really help us.”

  Justin Shaw put his head down and stared at the rug for an interminable amount of time. Finally, he looked up and said, “Okay, she told me some personal things about her feelings for me. She asked me to promise to marry her someday.

  I was stunned. I had never heard Alli talk like that before. I was so taken aback, I joked about it. I told her dramatically that we couldn’t get married because we were actually brother and sister, that our parents both had affairs with each other.

  She got irritated with me that I was not taking her seriously. She said, ‘Maybe if I disappeared, you would miss me and take stop taking me for granted then!’

  I just laughed and said, ‘Okay, Allison, disappear. That will be a brilliant plan to win me over.’

  Then, she laughed and said, “If that’s what it takes, maybe I will!”

  We finished our pizza and I took her home.”

  Justin Shaw looked down at the floor and then looked up at Gallagher with some doubt in his eyes, “You don’t think that Alli was serious about disappearing do you?”

  Gallagher looked over at Chief Parker. For several seconds none of the three men spoke as they absorbed this new potential development in the case.

  Could Allison Taylor be that insecure t
o voluntarily vanish so she could goad Justin Shaw into loving her more? This was not the profile of the girl they had thought they knew.

  What was going on here?

  Gallagher stared at Justin. “It would have been nice if you had come forward with this earlier. This could have major significance on the case, young man.”