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“If you could identify who killed your father, why wasn’t he arrested?”
“Charles Saxton was an experienced street cop of fifteen years when I ran into his and Dorthea’s lives. He knew who killed my dad. He knew how bad that gang was, and he also knew that if they found me, they’d kill me. He didn’t have faith in the system to keep me safe. He knew I was too little to testify, but I very well may get called to. He was a good man and wouldn’t let anything like that happen to me.”
“From what I read, your birth parents were good people too, trying to make your neighborhood a better place. They miscalculated how bad the bad guys really were.”
“Yeah,” Laura Lee agreed. “I have very few real memories of them. The Saxtons saved pictures for me and told me what they knew or had found out. My father talked to people in the neighborhood who knew my parents and made notes of what they’d said about them. They were well liked by those who knew them. He recorded stories about times they’d had with my parents. When I was old enough to understand, he read them to me, and we talked about it. I have those written records back at my mom’s house in my old room.”
“It sounds like you had a good life with the Saxtons,” Garcia said as he pulled into the hotel parking lot.
“I did,” Laura Lee agreed.
She followed him in, and they checked in. Garcia handed her room key to her. Her room was on the second floor. Garcia’s was on the first. “I’ll meet you back here at zero five fifteen. It’ll take about forty-five minutes to get to the airfield.”
“I’ll see you then,” she said and then stepped to the left to go to the elevator as he entered the hallway that led to the first-floor guest rooms.
Once in her room, she took a few moments to process the events of the day. She ran the conversations with the two women and the parents of the third girl through her mind. She was sure Lansing had been a victim. She hoped Garcia was right and that she would call him tonight. They needed multiple women to go on the record against the two professors. And they didn’t want her to fill anyone in that questions were being asked about the abuse and blackmail scheme.
She wondered how Madison and Cooper were doing. She’d find out in the morning. A video meeting was scheduled for after they landed in South Carolina. From there, they were supposed to fly to Florida to interview two more sets of parents whose daughters killed themselves, one at the college, the other two months after she abruptly dropped out of school and moved home. For those parents and the Roses, she wanted to get the professors and get justice for their daughters. There was also a district attorney in Florida who fit the profile they would visit.
She tapped out a text message to Lassiter after she’d mentally prepared herself for the call with him. He replied immediately that he was ready. She logged in and joined his video chat room. A half hour later, after telling Joe Lassiter about their day and how she felt about each conversation, she admitted she was mentally exhausted from it. She also confessed her initial trepidation about working with Garcia, but admitted how wrong she’d been about him.
Joe was pleased with her openness. Lieutenant Laura Lee Saxton had turned a corner and, for the first time in a year, was being completely honest with him. Furthermore, she was finally feeling like a member of the team. This case and this trip had been good for her, personally and professionally.
When they disconnected the video call, Laura Lee sat back on the bed. She closed down her laptop and then pulled her phone out of her pocket. She brought up her text message string with Brad. She wanted to talk with him but wondered if they really have the type of relationship that she could just call him or text him for no real reason besides she wanted to talk to him. Based on how he had abruptly left the apartment the night before and given the fact that he hadn’t told her what had happened at the gas station, like a friend would have, she decided that they didn’t. She was still bothered by it.
She tried to push him out of her thoughts, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how the night before ended, even as she switched the bedside light off. She was disappointed with him and with herself. Then her text message chimed, and she excitedly viewed the screen to see an incoming text from him asking if she was awake and able to talk. She eagerly hit dial.
“Hi, I’m glad you were still awake,” Dupont said when he answered. He sat reclined on his black leather sofa in his condo.
A smile curved her lips. “Me too.” She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, just barely illuminated by the parking lot lights that glowed around the edges of the curtains. “Are you still at the office?”
“No, I’m at home.”
She conjured up an image of his place, the kitchen, and the living room. She hadn’t seen his bedroom, and she wished she had. She would have liked to picture him lying in his bed talking to her. She mentally kicked herself with that thought. “Are you still working tonight?” she asked. She wouldn’t allow herself to think this call was personal.
“No, just thought I’d check in on you and see how you’re doing after your first full day in the field with Garcia.”
“Thank you, but I had a video call with Lassiter.” She knew her voice sounded colder than she intended. She’d been going for sarcastic, but it came out sounding almost hostile.
Dupont huffed out a small laugh, not sure how to take her reply. “I’m glad to hear that. I was reaching out as a friend, though.”
“Is that what we are, Brad?” she demanded, more upset with herself than him. “Because friends share things with each other. You wouldn’t have shared what happened to you at the gas station had I not seen your reaction to Shepherd’s news.”
“Oh, man, Laura, I didn’t tell you because you had enough going on. You didn’t need to be dumped on with my problems. I thought we were friends. Aren’t we?”
Now Laura Lee felt foolish. “Yes. I consider you a friend, and I’m the one who’s been dumping all over you.”
“Not at all. I’m glad you confided in me. You sound a little surly tonight. Is that what working with Garcia does to you?” he asked with a laugh.
Laura Lee sighed out loud. “It’s not him. He’s actually been great to work with. It’s the case. When we talked to the parents of one of the girls who killed herself, Brad, I felt so damn bad that I maybe could have prevented it had I pressed charges against him,” she began.
Dupont cut her off mid-sentence. “Don’t do that to yourself. You were a victim, too.”
“I know.”
“You’re doing a lot of good now. And that first girl you talked to opened up to you. You made more headway today than Madison and Cooper did, as you’ll find out on the call tomorrow.”
“Really? They didn’t get either woman they talked with today to open up?”
