Skip to main content

Pandora's Children - Part 19

"Where's the club? What's it called?" Jaci asked.

"It's on McCart. A basement club. It's called #Alcoholiday," Sarah answered.

"I've heard of it. Cops are frequently called to deal with angry drunks or sexual assaults there."

"Why am I not surprised," Jaci muttered.

***

"Do you know what days she plays at the club?" I asked.

Sarah shook her head. "You'd have to check with the club. I know the band is called #Ragpicker and the Bums. She's the lead guitarist."

"That's an odd name for a band," Jaci replied. "Who's the lead singer?"

***

"The lead singer is Dana Weals. She used to be known as #Rainwater," Sarah answered.

"I have all of her albums," Jaci said. "I always wondered what happened to her. She just dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Actually, she joined Pandora's Children. She got out too."

***

"How did she get out?" I asked.

"Grace expects a certain level of maturity and intelligence from her girls. Dana was one of those. She wasn't mature. She was always smoking, and when Grace needed her to do something, she was always #baked. Grace had to let her go."

***

"What do you mean, Grace let her go?"

"She figured that if Dana disappeared, people would talk. It was easier to just let her go, but she did do one thing to make sure Dana didn't talk. She cut out her tongue."

"That's why Dana's not singing," Jaci said. "What #bathos."

***

"Wait a minute," Jaci said. "I thought you said that Grace allowed her to leave once a week."

"Let's not have any #arglebargle," I interjected.

"I was getting to that," Sarah replied. "Dana didn't want to stay out, and kept going back, so Grace kept her under wraps."

***

"I doubt she'll be of much help if she can't talk," Jaci said.

"She communicates perfectly well with sign language," Sarah countered.

"Perfect. Let's go talk to her."

"Now?" Sarah asked.

"Now," I said. "I have a good feeling about today."

"If wishes were #horses."

***

As we were leaving the shelter area a young girl ran up to Sarah. "Where you goin', Miss Sarah?"

"I'm going to see some friends, Jayla, but I'll be back, OK?" She looked down and added, "You need to tie your #shoelaces up."

"Yes, Miss Sarah," she said and knelt down.

***

As we drove toward the club, Jaci sat in the back with Sarah because she didn't quite trust the young woman. It was obvious that Grace was a #chimera, and I wondered if her followers were the same. I glanced back and Sarah seemed a little nervous, maybe it was about Dana.

***

"How far is the club from here?" Jaci asked.

"We're about #nine minutes away," I answered, glancing at the GPS.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Jaci wondered aloud. "Ask her if she has any leverage against Grace?"

"Basically. Did you have a better idea?"

***

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atlas Missing - Part 12

Hannah chimed in. 'You need to reach #satori.' 'Isn't that like nirvana?' Jaci asked. 'Something like that,' Hannah replied. 'Are you ready to focus on the case again?' Jaci took a deep breath. 'I'm ready.' 'Good. Are we going through the timeline this morning?' *** 'We'll go through the reports for each victim, jotting down notes about times and places, then we'll go #back and write it all down on the big board. Hopefully by combining all the data we can get an idea of what happened when.' 'How long will that take?' Hannah asked. *** 'It depends entirely on how much is in the reports.  Based on what I saw yesterday, it could take us a couple of days to go through everything.' Hannah smiled. 'I'm not a delicate little #flower. I can handle it.' 'Good. This is just the start. It's going to get worse.' *** 'Hey, watch out for that #cat,' I yelled as the small black furb
Post a Comment
Read more

Atlas Missing - Part 9

The #nudistertian day began with me moving everything I owned into storage except for what I needed for a cheap one-bedroom apartment, and now here I was just a few days later, pawing through the remains of someone else's life. I wondered if I would ever get mine back. *** 'Why is it always a post-#jentacular jogger that finds the bodies?' Jaci asked. 'Is no one else up that early?' 'Who else did you want to find them?' I countered. 'Dog-walkers? Little old ladies?' 'It's such a cliche.' 'There's a reason for that,' Hannah interjected. *** 'It's a cliche because it's true,' I told Jaci and held up an evidence bag. 'This is a hair sample, but it hasn't been tested. Why not?' 'They don't have the funding to test for DNA on cold cases,' Hannah said. 'According to the police report, the hair is #ulotrichous.' *** 'And?' 'All of their suspects had straight hair, not curly.
Post a Comment
Read more

Atlas Missing - Part 2

I looked around the lake shore, admiring the #viridity of the trees and grass. Today was my last day of freedom, for tomorrow I would be Special Agent Annie Thibodeau, FBI. "I thought I'd find you here," a female voice said and I turned to see my friend, Jaci Garcia. *** "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Came to find my new partner," she answered. "I'm not a police officer any more." She grinned. "Neither am I, but I am looking forward to our next #escapade." "You're not? What are you doing now?" "Same thing you are," she replied. *** I blinked. "You joined the Bureau too?" She nodded. "Hard to say no when the assistant director asks you personally." "Same here," I said, glancing back at the boat half submerged with one #scull floating alongside. "Come on, let's go. The memories are getting to me." *** "I know what you mean," Jaci said. "Shall
Post a Comment
Read more