AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wish I could take credit, but when Felicia visited Maeve last spring, those two bought out Murphy’s entire stock, knowing that whenever Graeme visited, he’d always ask for beans on toast. Felicia says it’s his comfort food. I’ll help with breakfast. Jack should be calling in an hour. He has information about the Dolworths.”
For the next hour and a half, things were busy. They finished breakfast, saw Graeme and Gavin off back to Santa Barbara, then settled in the office with a second cup of coffee on a Zoom call to listen to Jack’s update.
“First of all, were you aware that the FBI monitored the Dolworth case?” Jack began.
“No. No one mentioned that,” Brogan replied. “It’s not in Rivkin’s notes, no mention at all in the box of stuff.”
“That’s what I figured. I checked with local law enforcement. That would be the Sheriff’s Department. They swear to me no one called the FBI. If that’s true, how and why did two agents out of the San Francisco office get word of the murders and then decide to show up on Lynley Circle? Did they have nothing better to do?”
“Kidnapping is a federal crime,” Brogan pointed out.
“Absolutely. But when the FBI arrived on the scene, nobody knew that yet. For all law enforcement knew, the kids were hiding in the woods. Or maybe their bodies were in the woods. See what I mean? Nothing pointed to an abduction, yet the feds entered the picture early in the game. The FBI arrives at a double murder homicide before the kids are determined missing. You can bet there’s a reason for that. And if the FBI showed up at the crime scene early on, the Behavior Analysis Unit at Quantico would have the report on file.”
“Why?” Brogan asked. “Why is that significant?”
“The Behavioral Analysis Unit keeps track of similar crimes. It all goes into a database for comparison.”
“Why do you think the FBI got there so fast?” Lucien prompted.
“Witness protection would be my guess,” Jack reasoned.
Lucien scratched the side of his jaw. “But isn’t that handled by the U.S. Marshals’ office?”
“You would think. Yet, I can’t find out a lot about Mack’s family. The entire West Coast Dolworths didn’t exist until 1982 after popping up in Reno. But here’s an interesting tidbit. Before he died, Mack kept making phone calls back to New Jersey to a number belonging to a trucking company. There are at least two hundred calls. This is the same trucking company his parents—Bruce and Betty Lombardi—inherited from Bruce’s parents. The couple owned and operated it back in the 1970s and 1980s. Then one day, the Lombardis closed up shop. The whole family suddenly leaves New Jersey and turns up in Reno as the Dolworths, except now they own a donut shop.”
“How did you get that information?” Brogan asked.
“The same way I know the FBI showed up at the crime scene to ‘monitor’ the case. That’s the term the FBI used to describe their involvement—monitoring. They were there to write a report and send it to Quantico. If you’d like, I could try to track down the file. But I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s probably conveniently disappeared by now.”
“But you think Bruce and Betty ended up in witness protection?”
“I think Bruce and Betty got involved with something bigger and badder than themselves. They ended up selling the company to a family out of New York that had a known involvement with drug pipelines in and out of Canada. But there’s more to the story. Mack had an older brother who was shot and killed in an alleyway outside a casino in Reno two years before Mack died. Now we’re creeping up on June of 2001. Is it a coincidence that Bruce and Betty’s youngest son gets gunned down inside his vacation house? Mack’s little family has now disintegrated. This is after his parents dragged him and his brother across the country to start over in Reno. Revenge or karma—whatever you choose to call it—sometimes takes its time circling back.”
“It’s interesting how Chad Pollock decided to keep a bunch of stuff to himself,” Lucien said.
“Why would he?” Jack challenged. “Think about Chad’s role here. He admits he doesn’t give a fig about Mack. All he wants from this endeavor is to find out who killed his sister. I checked him out. Over a twenty-year period, Chad Pollock never hired any private detectives. I can’t find a single instance where he did that.”
“And holding information back about Mack’s family could be critical in finding the killer,” Lucien pointed out. “If Pollock wanted us to find out the truth, that is.”
“Pollock might’ve held back the information and used it as a test to see if you’re worth anything,” Jack countered. “He’s one of those record producers in the business with a bad rep. And Chad’s reputation hinges on how much of an asshole he can be.”
“Are Bruce and Betty still alive?” Brogan prompted.
“Bruce died two years ago in an assisted living facility in Reno at eighty-five. Betty is still hanging on by a thread in the same place.”
“Great job as always,” Lucien noted. “Thanks.”
“If that’s all you need from me, Maeve and I plan to take the RV and head to Sedona for a month. She sent Brogan an email about it this morning. You can always reach us by text or phone.”
Brogan had skimmed the email. But the news hadn’t sat well with her. Spending a month in a camper caused panic to form along her spine. Claustrophobia didn’t sound like a vacation to her.
Instead of conveying her fears and anxiety about the trip, she tried to remain upbeat. “Have fun. Just be safe on the road. Be aware of your surroundings while you’re camping. Remember, some of those RV camps can get spooky at night. And keep in touch. Text us your daily itinerary. And don’t forget to send pictures of the area where you are. Oh, and use lots of sunscreen. And carry plenty of water with you when you go hiking.”
In the background behind Jack, Maeve smiled and waved at Brogan. “We’ll be fine. Thanks for worrying about us. But we’re out to have some fun and see places we haven’t seen before. I’ve always wanted to see Sedona and all those red rocks and go on a hiking trail through the bluffs. It’s not as hot there in September, so it’s the perfect time for us to go.”
Red Rocks? Hiking trails? What alien had come down from Planet X and inhabited her surrogate mother’s body? The old Maeve never thought twice about hiking, let alone camping for a month in an RV.
Brogan tried to conjure up an outdoorsy Maeve and couldn’t do it. Had she ever really known the woman as well as she thought she had? But she mentioned nothing as they said their goodbyes and signed out of the Zoom call.
