Chapter
Four
WEDNESDAY 11:28, VIRGINIA
An image of the
goldfish pin sliced through his brain like a sharp pair of scissors.
He had to keep going on, but his body didn't want to comply.
---
"Yeah." Josh answered his phone. Toby
looked out from his office and looked on as Josh nodded his head.
"Where are you?"
"Virginia. I'm almost there.
Any news?" Danny's voice could be heard while he drove.
"No.
Anything on your end?"
"No."
"Keep
me posted."
"Yeah, same to you."
Josh
hung up the phone and Toby gave him eyes. Without saying anything
Toby slipped back into his office.
---
WEDNESDAY 5:25,
NORTH CAROLINA
Danny drove farther and farther away from
Washington at a rapid speed
He stopped at a few roadside motels
and markets, flashing the sketches to anyone he could find. So far,
he had no luck of any kind. Someone directed him to a bar where he
might be able to shop around his pictures.
He pulled into the
little parking lot and noticed the name of the tavern. A rectangular
sign hung above the door that read, Gail's Place. Danny let out a
little laugh. Walking through the carved wooden door, Danny entered
into the smoke filled room and sat down on a stool at the bar.
"What
can I do for ya, honey?" She spoke in southern tones. Danny took
a look around, checking out his surroundings.
"I'll have
a bourbon." Danny had no intention of drinking, the way he felt,
but in that crowd, without a drink in his hand he'd look pretty
suspicious.
"Bourbon." The woman smiled at Danny and
as she was about to turn, Danny noticed her name tag said: Gail.
Danny pulled out his notebook and the copies of the pictures
from his back pocket. After a moment Gail set Danny's drink
next to him.
"Excuse me." Gail turned her head.
"Gail right?" Danny took out his pen. He knew as a reporter
the best way to inter yourself into people's life's was to call them
by their first name. It was a trick that never failed him.
"Yeah?"
She leaned over at him twisting her body toward the bar.
"I
was hoping you could help me."
"Sure."
"I
need you to take a look at these pictures----do you recognize these
men?" Danny pulled the photos out of his notebook and placed
them on the bar in front of Gail.
"Who's asking? You a
cop."
"No, Just a friend-I'm a friend looking for a
friend." She glared at Danny. "I'm not a cop. One goes by
the name of Syd Calhoon-the other Terry Jordan. I just need to ask
them a few questions-that's all."
"I don't know any
Calhoon and Jordan."
"Okay-thank you." Danny
didn't seem too thankful as he paid for his half-drunk drink and
started to walk out.
"But-they do look like-." Gail
called after Danny.
"Yes." Danny walked back to the
bar. "They kind of look like Sharmaine's
boys---."
"Sharmaine?"
"She has a
cabin out on the Tennessee border-not too far from here?"----
------
Crack!
Toby sat behind his desk and hit his baseball against the wall. Crack
and a pause, crack and a pause, one wasn't sure if it was the sound
or the movement that helped Toby think. He looked over what he had
written another time before ripping it off its pad, crumpling it up,
and throwing it toward his garbage wasteland. If he'd had a match,
Toby would have set fire to to the pile. He looked at the blank paid,
writing a few things, before collapsing back into his chair. He
couldn't focus on the right points, or even find them. He went back
to his ball throwing. He lobbed the ball three times, then four, and
on the fifth return he stopped. An idea seemed to pop into his head.
Toby stood, looked back at his desk still thinking, and walked to the
door.
"Ginger!" he yelled as he entered the
communications bullpen.
"Rina." The dark haired
young thing, turned her head toward Toby.
She was the only one
around.
"Yeah. I need some things."
"Yeah."
She picked up her pad.
"I need statistics on how many
women disappeared over the last four
years as well as how many so
far this year. And I need you to get me
someone on the phone from
Kidnapped and Exploited Children, social
services and the National
Organization for Women.
"Ok, do you need this is any
particular order?"
"Yeah, as soon as humanly
possible," Toby walked back into his office
and shut the
door.
WASHINGTON,
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
"Yeah. Danny" Josh Lyman answered his
phone. "What's the news?"
"I'm on my way to North
Carolina—"
"What's in North Carolina?" Josh asked as
he paced the hallway. In his car Danny adjusted the map next to
him.
"I got a women to ID the pictures. Says she knows their
mother—"
"They're brothers?"
"Half—"
"Hence
the different names—."
"Yeah."
"Write down
this name---" Josh put his hand up to Donna for something to write
on. She gave him strange face.
"Paper, paper—"Donna
rushed through her desk and handed Josh a paper and a pen. Josh put
the paper up against the glass wall to Donna's office.
"Shoot"
"Peter Wilson and David Marcus."
"Ok.
These are their real names?"
"The names the FBI has are
aliases. They're aliases, Josh. If theses are the guys they ain't
never gonna find 'em." Danny was annoyed by the ineptness of the
FBI's investigation.
"Ok." Josh paused. "What do I do?
I can't say where I got the names."
"Hang on. It may be
nothing. Let me check it out first. Just see if you can get me info
on these guys. I'll call Maisy—have her do the same thing."
"Ok.
Check in with me again. Even if you don't know anything. Just check
in with me."
"Yeah."
"How ya doin' Danny?"
Josh asked concerned that he was out there on his own.
"As
good as you I'm sure."
"Ok."
"I'll call you
Josh."
"Yeah."
And Josh hung up. Donna looked at
Josh, waiting for some sort of nugget of information to take the
tension out of her entire body.
"I need you to get records
and information on these two names." He handed the paper with
Donna. "Just don't bring up any suspicion."
"And how
am I supposed to do that—?"
"I don't know. Tell 'em
they're the new nominees for attorney general."
Josh walked away leaving a cross Donna.
--